November 2019
New vineyard planted and Cellar Door NOW OPEN!
With a few more days of Spring time in remaining, it's interesting to reflect on the past few months weather. Despite some beautiful warm days, Spring this year has been fairly cool with below average temperatures and plenty of cold nights. I think we even had to light the fire last week!
The weather has been kind to the vines and they are now all in full flower and looking good with plenty of bees helping with pollination.
As usual we've been busy at 3DE preparing for the upcoming summer, erecting a new shed and planting the new vineyard! 350 Monastrell vines went in a few weeks ago and so far all but one have taken and are looking green and healthy. Over the last few days we have been getting the vineyard infrastructure (posts and wires) in and the irrigation lines off the ground.
Monastrell (or Mataró /Mourvedre) is another Spanish grape that was once widely planted in Australia, in fact some say it was Australia's first ever commercially grown wine grape.When James Busby returned to Australia in 1828 after travelling through France and Spain, he brought with him many grape cuttings which were initially cultivated in the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Monastrell was one of the few that survived and a large proportion ended up in the McLaren Vale in SA where the varietal continues to be cultivated to this day.
The new vineyard is located towards the front boundary of the property, down the hill and more protected from the wind. There are 7 rows of Monastrell and next year another 6 rows of Grenache (also Spanish!) will be planted out, taking the total number of vines to around 1000.
The other news is that after much hoop jumping, the Cellar Door was approved by Council and the Liquor Licence issued. Monthly Cellar Door openings have now commenced and will continue on the first weekend of the month. Stay tuned for our special Tapas y Tempranillo events!
2019 Vintage Update
Wines available early in the new year will be:
2019 Estate grown Tempranillo
2019 Tempranillo Grenache
2018 Reserva Tempranillo (24 mths in old oak)
2018 Tempranillo (limited quantities)
2017 Heathcote Shiraz (Limited quantities)
Visit the Cellar Door or purchase securely online.
