Oh lala

2013 Vintage to start soon

Looking through the shrubbery, I was SURPRISED to see that verasion has been and gone in less than two weeks as far as the Shiraz and Pinot are concerned! I was going to post on that, but breen busy and lax.

Today I thought I better do a sugar level test and most of the varieties are at 15 Brix or about 8 Baum,  getting there, close to what I want in my Portable Vineyard Backyard Wines- that is 12% Alcohol or better; that is, I need 22 Brix or better!

Vintage should be in less than two weeks if this is the case, end of February.

Shiraz

Shiraz

Pinot

shiraz

Shiraz

Pinot

 Today a large Carrawong(?), a crow sized native bird, bigger than a magpie, was scouting the vines for morning tea.... Not happy, may have to re-organise the whole yard, net the lot of them in one go rather than this poor attempt to keep them away.

Summer starts in the Portable Vineyard

Summer preparations in the Portable Vineyard

Two Fruitful Shiraz rows to left [east] and Pinot at right, barren Shiraz center.

This week, the portable Vineyard has been rearranged, expanded even.

Last years cuttings, and older ones too, have been re-potted.

Pinot

The nine Pinot potted vines are fruitful, mostly, but I think there will only be a liter or two of wine to be made- added as usual to the Shiraz. The four three-year-old cuttings are to be re-potted as soon as new mix is found, at a cheaper price! There surviving year old cuttings have been re-potted into small nursery size plastic containers, and arranged under a potted vine [13].

The Shiraz.

It seems that the Shiraz, in the pots anyway, have not all produced fruit!

In fact, 18 are barren this year! A three year old cutting was found to bear a bunch, so that was re-potted this week, so there are now 16 fruiting, as well as the original 6 planted vines.

The pruning and re-arranging of the growth patterns of the potted vines- trellis wise- may have not been such a good idea now. By not leaving two older canes in place, there is instead a profusion of canes, and not all with fruit.

At least the orphans from Harry are going okay, some with bunches too.

The Shiraz vines have been sorted into fruiting and non-fruiting.

Garage Foxey Grapes

These are bountiful again, growing over the pathway, many bunches!

Portable Vines Pictured

Pinot and a profusion of growth

A Portable Vineyard!

3-yr old and 1-year old cuttings

Young Pinot

maybe...

Ideas of planting in the yard are stirring- not sure #2Son will like the idea of not being able to ride his quarter-pipe down the yard- but he does not use it that much anymore anyway.

So there are about forty six Shiraz now plus the new new ones [21], and thirteen Pinots [and13]

Flowers forming

Flowering time in TPV

I am a little confused about this. I thought there would be quite a few more branchlets forming before any flowers would arrive, because there may be less fruit from what I can see!
Maybe I am being a little pessimistic, as it is only the first week of October, and we have had plenty of rain as well as watering and feeding and spraying them...

Speaking of, there are a few degraded leaves, even a few yellowish ones today, so I will have to get the mildew sprays out so to avoid last years cockup!

Garage grapes

Shiraz

Pinot Noir

Shiraz

Shiraz

Last years cuttings Shiraz

Last years cuttings Shiraz

Last years cuttings Pinot Noir

Vintage 2012

Almost Vintage 2012... 
The Garage Foxey grapes: Are we ready?

The nice perfumey smell of the IMBY grape vines has deteriorated a little bit like a decaying smell around the garage grapes! Looks like the bees and butterflys are in there sucking that sweet syrup from MY grapes and leaving just husks behind. The birds have tried to get in under the netting to a small degree this year, but not a lot.


This is the usual time for harvest, going back to 1999 at least. The primary school has a Maypole and fete and my dad goes trout fishing at Eucumbene Dam with his brothers. I panic, worry and fumble around for the winery kit. Measure the sugar content, whinge about some diseases erupting in some bunches, scare off the ants.

Pinot Noir

Have to tidy the Alcoholery up, move "spare timber and stuff" A to B, and tools from B to C so I can move out the grape processing gear- crusher, press, SMS/PMS, buckets, vats and snippers...  And power tools from C to D...

Not ready, or excited.

Only because, I suppose, my Shiraz crop failed completely due to mildew.

Foxey 

Anyway, there looks like a nice crop of garage grapes and maybe some Pinot Noir to throw in it. If it turns out okay, great, otherwise... Brandy or rum. At least a couple of bottles.

Should have a home made wine made by this time next week.

recovering the Shiraz

Deleaf the diseased vines
Fighting the moulds

By Christmas time 2011, I had to do something about the mould afflicting the vines, so the pots were spread around the car-parking spot in the backyard. For the next week or two, I spent time taking off the yellowed leaves or obviously infected leaves and binning them. This was the poorest sorriest looking vines in the world before the new year.

poor old shiraz

This weeks losers
NO GRAPES

a new borrowed cat

Pinot Noir, not bad

Garage Foxey grapes- look at the berries!

Should get about 30kg foxey grapes

Cemetary for goners

Only Shiraz doing ok

Woeful Syrah/Shiraz, pruned all mildew infected canes and removed as many leaves as possible

Another Save

Just walking around the yard
Another reborn vine

My good friend Travis was down to stay a few days last week. He has been in on a few vintages, and has a little interest in the Portable Vineyard. 

He also loves the cat, and she loves him, specially when the brush comes out!

I showed him around the PV, and to my surprise, I found another vine regenerating! Two in a fortnight.

The vineyard is expanding incrementally as the adopted vines stir into life finally, and there are a few to go yet [fingers crossed]. There looks like some fungus growing on the little ones, and some on a really vigorous adoptee- which also looks suspiciously like a chardonnay bush after all!

Pictures this week:

 Shiraz/Syrah

Pinot Noir

A Lazarus Effect

Reviving slowly?
A catch up on some lucky lucky vines.

A walk around the vineyard tonight, and a vine I have nearly given up on has revived.
Depending on how the weather treats it, it may survive summer.
That makes five adoptees adapting to their new yard.
One has bountiful grapes-to-be, one is vigorous, and three maybe okay by next year.

The rest of the Portable Vineyard is very vigorous- looking just great.

Shira/Syrah

Older Shiraz

Possible rivivees

Pinot Noir

lazarus A, B and C

Garage Foxey Grapes

Cuttings Collection

Close up on the lazarus vines

November Vines

Pinot Noir

Shiraz

2 years old

The imported

The Lazarus Vines

The best imported Vine

The Cemetary Vines