Winter

Winter feels like a real winter this year.
Good solid rains have put some much needed moisture back in the soil and the lily pond at the cellar door is full. Pruning is well underway, the biggest single job in the year and one of the most important. It requires considerable skill and understanding of the vineyard.
The first day can be very daunting if you stand and look at the thousands of vines to be pruned. It becomes a case of head down, prune the vine in front of you, then move on to the next one, prune that and so on, focussing on the immediate and ignoring the magnitude of the task in front of you. It's a variation on the old footy cliche', "we'll take it one week at a time", here its one vine at a time.

This has been the hardest pruning season for some years. Cold and wet, with the wind so strong sometimes that the rain comes in horizontally stinging the face and finding any gap in protective clothing. We all owe our gratitude to the workers in the vineyard who day after day climb into their wet weather gear and gumboots, and stoically march out into the rain and the mud to spend hard days wielding the secateurs. It's a tough job and there's no saying "oh its too cold today lets do something else". The seventy acres has to be pruned before the sap starts to move in spring and that means no stopping. Vineyard work is never less romantic and the necessity to concentrate and work carefully never more important.
The release of the 2008 wines in May was a great success with the wines well received and reviewed very favourably by the trade and journalists. The finishing polish put on these wines by Paul Bridgeman I think points to a very strong future. One of the pleasing aspects was the attention given to the Dry Red Wine No.3, to quote James Halliday in "The Weekend Australian" May 8-9 2010.

"One of Bailey Carrodus's secrets was the 23 varieties that inhabit the 26ha vineyard; here touriga nacional, tinta cao, tinta amarela, alvarelhao, roriz and souzao are unmasked. Deeply coloured, it is exceptionally complex, rich and deep, with multiple layers of spice, plum cake and licorice on the medium to full bodied palate, its great balance makes it light on its feet. 100 cases made 14.5%alc. Rating 95 points. Drink to 2030. Price $75 at cellar door.
We still hold some stock of this wine and it's worth getting while you can.
There was a nice little boost for us earlier this month when we recieved the news that American "Wine and Spirits Magazine" included Yarra Yering in their list of the worlds top 100 wineries for the year. An unsought accolade but a welcome one. Remember the cellar door is now open 7 days a week and we would love to see you at the vineyard.

All the best
Tim Hampton