DECEMBER 2016
After a cool wet winter and spring our grapes were slow to start and as befits our cool climate vineyard at 1000m altitude we suffered some frost damage. All the vines survived and are now running about a month behind a normal year.
We had a wonderfully successful bottling in november with BELLBROOK FRIENDS... Alasdair McGregor, Jeff Rigby, Tudor Anderson, Nic and Josee Moodie (to be wed next year!), Scott and Karen Varker, Matt Lousada, Doug Rolfe, Dick and Coke Pollitt, Ross and Sally Smith and Felix and Corinna Clark. Diana Hosking and George Clark are looking forward to marketing our wine under our new labels designed by us in collaboration with the clever Elisa Wood. May fortune favour you all...

SPRING OF 2016

27th OCTOBER 2016
We have had a wet winter and we were bogged in places never wet before including twice in the vineyard while trying to control the grass between the rows. Very late budburst and frost lurking until 23rd October...
It is going to be a great spring for the grass and the weeds, and we marked and tagged 55 very fat calves yesterday.
We racked of our Rose, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this year's harvest and look forward to bottling before Christmas under our new label design introducing colour for the first time!
Pruning was a big task again but look at the pile of prunings ready to reduce to ashes.

Vendage for 2016 nearly complete, after a record harvest all picked over three weekends in March.
Visit Australianpoetryandwine.com/ for full list of wonderful bellbrook friends. The harvest was started in high temperatures and finished in cooler autumn weather which brought the fverments under control.

A Good Start to Spring 2015

After a dry Sept in 2015 we had budburst on the first weekend in October and haven't had a frost since then. The rain fell in November and warm weather gave the grapes a big growth and the risk of mildew was reduced by our spraying program.
At this stage it looks like the best start to our season for quite a while.
Come and see us at the "Taste of Bathurst " on Sat 14th November with other vignerons and local food producers outside the Bathurst Regional Gallery. We will be showcasing our Pinot Noir wines from 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 as well as our gold medal winning Chardonnay from 2013.

Grapes dormant but a big prune will give us a great spring growth

Bathurst winter illumination festival was a lot of fun with iceskating, circus performers and a great gypsy band.

May 2015, Bathurst Bicentenary of Gov Macquarie's visit

Great week in Bathurst in spite of the cool weather and sprinkling rain. See new entry on <www.australianpoetryandwine.com> explaining picture below

Don't forget to drink more Pinot Noir and read poetry every day, as Ecclesiates says "there is no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink and be merry".

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!