The winemaking The vineyard 

Wine making.

 The Vintages

The Portable Vineyard

Update march 2014 there were 14 pots producing a crop. According to one book, for my own consumption, I need 50 100 vines.

Vintage 2014

Varieties Foxy Grapes, Pinot Noir, Shiraz

PProduction

This year I was going to be a little careful. Than previous years.
Well, that did not happen, I got a new job. Or two!

During the flowering period I was up at Innamincka- or was that the Strezlecki track- no Innamincka- and the pots were left to fend for themselves as far as watering regularly was up to a helper- not! So for 6 weeks, not much water- no spraying, no food.

This year the portable vineyard  had about ten pots with about 2 buckets of fruit, from the four at the back of the house block and from about ten pots of Shiraz, and three Pinot Noir pots- wow- not much- about 5L of must and skin

Like years 2011 2012 2013 I did not spray a lot, again some shiraz clusters were long but sparse, and some were easily rotted or insect affected. Again

Shiraz Yard 2011

   

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Vintage 2014

Foxy Garage GrapesOn 9 March 2014- brix approaching 25. These bushes of this grape variety are so productive, and somewhat sickly sweet as you walk by.
Ended up with six 9l buckets- so ended up crushing and pressing out about 17 litres of must

Currently 50 pots Shiraz, 7 pots Pinot with 2 foxey grapes vines next to the Alcoholery  may be just an ornamental as the grapes are not table or wine grapes and six plants in the ground at the rear- facing North, 4 one side and two in front of the Shed/Bungalow.

At pruning time endeavouring to propagate cuttings 3-6 pots plants per year.

The Alcoholery
Where some of the crafting of wine, beer and spirits is done, bottles and bins and tools stored.

Woeful Dark Ale

What went wrong? What made a Woeful Dark Ale?

The constituents too old?

two dead soldiers and a craye or two of Woeful Dark Ale

Three weeks ago, I decided that time was up for a new stout batch.

Digging[true] through the Alcoholery's cupboard, on the shelves were a can of Oatmeal Ale mixture, some old dark liquid malt, bag of lactose and a bag of glucose. And a bag of choclate'd malt grain. And liquorice essence. Should be enough to make a dark ale at least.

Hmm.

I wanted to make a "Whitbread/Mackesons Milk Stout" type.

This would have to do.

The can was at least four years old, so the yeast was probably not going to work.
The malt was looking a bit sad. So I boiled the lot up, grain was pressure cooked then rinsed through, and the can instructions said it made enough for only ten litres. Whoa- but I thought with all the extra stuff, made it up to about 25 litres.

Added the yeast and        nothing.

Down to the homebrew guy, got some more yeast and verily started again. A slow ferment this time, v e r y s l o w...

A week later, tasted okay, racked to another 30 litre vat to settle it out.

Should have been sooner, sue me, but also let that vat sit for a week too. WRONG move. Two days should have been enough.

Worked out at about 5% on the vinometer.

Bottling the lot was easier said than done, and the capping was difficult too. I think the rigid old capper has gone too bell shaped to seal the caps onto the bottles properly. Because...

Last night, cracked one bottle  in order to share with eldest progeny, and then a second in disbelief. The dang ale/stout was FLAT!

No carbonation after almost two weeks.

Either the seals are buggered, or there was no yeast left in the liquor to carbonate with the teaspoon of sugar per bottle.

Looks like a batch to d'stil from, at 6% should recover something from the odd 25 liters.

If you make home brew- any suggestions? What went wrong with my Woeful Dark Ale? I welcome some comments on this.

Vintage 2012 rack off #1

This week at the alcoholery
Wine Review and Winery Work

review

This week, we had a roast beef Sunday dinner, with a bottle of Saltram's 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, from the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

The meat was great, the wine superb. The wine was not heavy or tannic, a lighter red but not brownish, so is holding well visually. Smelt just great, no worries there. Tastes fine, definitely a little hot and peppery as it should be for a cold climate wine, just not like a shiraz. For an eleven year old bottle of the best, it was the best. Allowed two glasses, one with the meal, and one after, followed by a quick snooze....
Good thing is there are three bottles left from the carton.

Today, some winery work

Vintage 2012 Rack Off#1 of Garage Grapes

Vintage 2012 rack off #1 the wine made the other month.
Smell is typical of the type, and the taste is almost of a Rosè. I will have to source a bottle of Traminer, and try to satisfy the curiosity of this strange garage foxey grape. Looks like it won't be made into brandy/rum. Just yet.

Winter Garage Grape Vine

Red Wine Vintage 2011 Pigeonholed

I mean Red Wine Vintage 2011 LABELED
Three takes and done

Well, I bottled the blended Red Wine Vintage 2011 vintage of Shieaz and Pinot Noir, the whole NINE yards bottles.

As there was some special oil used to protect the wine whilst in vitro while maturing, 'cos I like 12 months bulk aging prior to bottling, I had to sacrifice the last bottle.

For tasting and to have with some cabonara penne!

Well, it was Good, thank you, and I will enjoy sharing the bottles of the 2011 special blend over the next couple of years with family and friends for sure. Smooth and tasty, not as peppery as it was freshly made last year. Slightly tannic, short lived, and nice nose, not sweet.Rounded and warming At 12%, the Red Wine Vintage 2011is perfect. IMO.

Eight left over

Setting the label up was a bugger, as I only do it once or twice a year, and the previous year's label was lost... But I had saved the 2008 label, so changed it up, and printed it off the laser first- by mistake. Then printed it in colour on the ink-jet. With the sheet upside down, as per laser... In the end- you can see, done.

Red Wine Vintage 2011 Bottling Time

Time to Bottle 2011 Vintage
Screwtops this year

From the recycling and hoarding instincts of a some what very diluted Scottish heritage(?), I decided that the 2011 Red Wine Vintage blend of Shiraz/Syrah and Pinot Noir will be bottled in recycled screw-tops.

Hmph! I hear you say. Well, being a Scrooge, I like to satisfy the independence and unconformity thing I have too you know! Well, if you don't, you will over time.

The screw-top type bottles are accruing faster than normal corked types these days. There is enough to satisfy 'demand' for at least three years at the moment. Not much use for corking if possible- laziness is the mother of invention?

Sunday- prepared and washed and scrubbed  and rinsed out and sanitised nine bottles. Yeah, I know. Nine. 

Racked over the 2011 vintage into a larger container and added PMS for future protection against vinegar and other nasties. Leave it overnight to settle out some lees that went in, slackarse.

This time of the year is probably the only time I can walk in and out of the Alcoholery without tripping over anything or everything. Press, crusher and de-stemmer moved out to the backyard. When used and filthy, easier to hose out!