BBC Good Food Show Winter

Cathryn and I flew over to the UK at the end of November for the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham. This was the ninth consecutive year that we’ve done the show and we love meeting visitors year on year.
Cathryn and I flew over to the UK at the end of November for the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham. This was the ninth consecutive year that we’ve done the show and we love meeting visitors year on year. It was a real family affair this year as our son, Harrison, who’s currently living in the UK, and his girlfriend, Jade, were able to join us too.

People love to chat about our wines – and sample them of course. This year we had two limited edition wines to taste and buy: Felix Langhorne Creek Shiraz and Felix Peace Estate Chardonnay which are crafted from my premium, low-yielding grapes. They are currently available online from Vinceremos – http://www.vinceremos.co.uk/.

It was a hectic few days but we all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came along to see us.

We are expanding again!

This month is building month in the winery. We are expanding again and concrete has to be poured to prepare for more tanks. This month is building month in the winery. We are expanding again and concrete has to be poured to prepare for more tanks.

This is in response to you guys drinking more and demanding more and we are, of course, happy to oblige! There will be 28 more tanks, each with a capacity of 275,000 litres, bringing us to a capacity of 31,500,000 litres. We’re also adding a new crushing pit, a new press and extending the weighbridge.

We had a few days of electricity issues recently – basically, we didn't have any! The power company arrived to upgrade a fuse at the main power pole so we wouldn't get as many blackouts.

When it came time to pull the switch, the circuit breaker played up. There was no ready and available part in the whole of Australia to replace the broken one. We had no power. So the power company hot-footed a portable generator to run the whole winery. It was little bigger than a camping generator that would power a couple of lights. We’ve now received a V12 diesel powered generator rated at 1000KVA - we're talking serious power! Luckily, we have been reinstated to the main electricity grid.

We had some visitors to the winery to check out all the building work. Normally our visitors drive or come by foot but these flew in. We were all hard at work when two native Australian welcome swallows arrived, had a bit of a fly around the tanks and settled on the railing to preen themselves. Beautiful.

In the pipeline!

Work never stops here at the winery and we currently have a big job “in the pipeline!” We are digging trenches at the moment to make way for some water pipes. Work never stops here at the winery and we currently have a big job “in the pipeline!” We are digging trenches at the moment to make way for some water pipes.

The water will be pumped from the Murray River and be carried through the white 300mm pipes. The black pipes are being welded together to go under the road.

This will allow the water to be pumped directly into our dam at the winery rather than going into a channel and then entering it. There is too much evaporation in that process and this will mean that we get more water into the dam – and that's a good thing!

Here, Anthony is in the hole on top of a pipe ensuring it is appropriately placed and joined correctly. The welding of the black pipes ensures a greater seal quality as we don't want any leaks once it's in the ground.

Hope it will all go with the flow!
We also drew the winner of our quarterly competition this month. Congratulations to Katherine Hesketh from Cambridgeshire who received her year’s supply of wine.

Vintage 2011 is over - woohoo!

To celebrate the end, we had a big party at the local club with a great roast carvery. It was an opportunity to have fun dressing up in fancy dress bought from charity shops. To celebrate the end, we had a big party at the local club with a great roast carvery. It was an opportunity to have fun dressing up in fancy dress bought from charity shops. During the evening – we’re not sure how they managed it – but some regal-type people turned up. They must have been diverted from their honeymoon after hearing where the good life is bottled! We certainly believe we are in the best place around.

Bonus Spiritus Solum was our vintage 2011 slogan – everything sounds good in Latin! We created this image which includes a silhouette of the tanks that face east to west at the winery. The geese in the bottom corner are symbols of the favourite pets of Pam and Jim Peace. They pretty much have free rein of the place! We used this image on the backs of hoodies which we gave to everyone who worked vintage as a memento of their time here.

Here is a photo of two Italian exchange students who did the vintage with us, Luca and Marzio, along with our Assistant Winemaker, Dave. We’re going to miss having them around the place.

A mad month at the Winery...

It was a mad month of March down at the winery. We were rushed off our feet with vintage, and the hectic pace that comes with it, and then we played host to a wedding too.
It was a mad month of March down at the winery. We were rushed off our feet with vintage, and the hectic pace that comes with it, and then we played host to a wedding too.

The bride and groom were Michael and Jodie, who are from the area, and wanted to celebrate their special day at the winery. It wasn’t by the tanks, pumps and filters but in a picturesque, grassy spot by the dam around the front of the winery where we erected a marquee.

One hundred and fifty friends and relatives came to share Michael and Jodie’s Big Day.

In this picture, Father of the Bride, John, is leading his daughter towards the aisle. Doesn’t she look gorgeous? And here is the bridal party during the ceremony.

The wedding table had elaborate Champagne glasses and we provided piccolo bottles and special labels for the occasion.













It was a wonderful, unforgettable day and it only rained in the evening after the ceremony so all the photos were fantastic!

January floods...

January has been rather wet here, to say the least. Luckily, we haven’t had the floods that have hit Queensland but we have had a large amount of rainfall.

January has been rather wet here, to say the least. Luckily, we haven’t had the floods that have hit Queensland but we have had a large amount of rainfall.

In the photo, you will see the house where our Assistant Winemaker, David, lives. It was immersed in water as a result of the heavy rain we received - almost 8.5 inches in the space of a week.

This photo shows the front of the property being pumped out with a culvert pump. The water has thankfully been dispersed and David can access his house again now. The pump also sucks the water away from near the vines and sends it over the driveway onto the empty block which now looks like a lake.

At least, this has removed as much water as possible from the vines as we don't want their feet to be too wet. The 2011 vintage is drawing near and it is looking good so far.