Looking fine! Vintage 2009

Vintage 2009 came and went in what seemed the blink of an eye. We were struck with an early heat wave and thought here we go again, repeat of '08. Thankfully the heat subsided and vintage went smoothly. Ferments were healthy, fruit quality was excellent, despite some yield losses our 'Plains, Bibaringa and One Tree Hill fruit had great colour and flavour depth.
Undoubtly the standout is the '09 Grenache, picked a little earlier than previous vintages, during ferment and basket pressing the flavours were off the Richter Scale.
Pictured from top left: relaxing with a beer after a long day crushing. Grenache grapes from the Gagliardi vineyard and horses take an interest in harvest at Uleybury

2008 USA Range Tasting

The USA importer of Old Plains & Longhop wines, Vine Street Imports hosted their first ever range tasting in Philadelphia in September 2008. With 20 plus Australian and New Zealand winemakers in attendance, Vine Street sent out invites across the 'States to distributors, retailers and trade punters.
With approx 120 wines on offer and approx 400 attendees on the day, they were treated to possibly the most diverse "list" of wines ever shown in USA.
Old Plains launched Raw Power Shiraz with great success, described as the wine of the tasting for delivering value for money, quality and a sharp marketing edge, consumers in the US have since embraced Raw Power for its sheer quality.
Tim Freeland in attended for Old Plains, went onto Wichita in Kansas, for trade tastings, before attending the annual Corks for Kids charity event in North Carolina. A series of dinners, tastings and gala auction night combined to raise approx $75,000 for the North Carolina Childrens Hospital.