Country Life is fun...

May has arrived. Thanks to all Bellbrook Friends who helped with the bottling and the harvest. The wine is safely in tanks and barrels and the wine we bottled is selling well. We are still behind on our annual rainfall but the pastures are green again. Pictures below show activity at the Royal Bathurst show, parrots waiting to start the tumult of desire, and brochure for the upcoming night markets to celebrate the bi-centenary of governor Macquarie's visit to bathurst in May 1815. The latter will be a good party!

Nets on as grapes are ripening.

It's still too early to pick and we don't mind a long slow ripening period. The birds will have to make do with blackberries now. Bottling last years vintage is planned for early March so all the barrels and tanks are ready for the new seasons wine.

Here we go with 2015 coming good for harvest just after easter.
We are bottling the 2014 chardonnay, the pinot noir and the pinot rose soon.

Great News from National Cool Climate Wine Show

From 163 exhibitors with 824 wine entries from around Australia, Bellbrook Friends 2013 Chardonnay was awarded gold medal points and trophy for best wine from Bathurst Region.
Our 2013 Pinot Noir was awarded Bronze, Backing up our bronze last year fro the 2012 Pinot Noir.

The vines are dormant but great things are happening under ground and in the bottles

A few pics from the files.

Nearly Finished Pruning

BRRRR, winter has brought a lovely snowfall just 4 days ago which is only just melting into the soil. We have had some nice pruning days and now have a big pile of tangled prunings. Last years smaller vintage is sitting quietly in the winery, being tasted every month.

A view of our table at the mid winter party, with a house full of 12 guests plus 2 who drove back to Hartley.

And I almost forgot, our clever cows have started calving, 5 out of 60 so far

g'day mates. recent activities invoving a serious earthmoving machine
are new fence lines, new tracks in steep country and ripping up rabbit burrows.