Wine and Tasmania

Wine making at Henty Estates is a complex process but the skills of Peter and Glen Dixon has gained them envious status within the Australian wine industry with their 2006 Shiraz making the top 100 wines of Australia. I really like their 2005 Shiraz also with a distinct Blackberry flavour from their choice of yeast and oaks. Wine tasting for me will never be the same, having developed a much more critical palette to the one I had before coming down here!!

But there is a lot of work involved in the running of a vineyard, from pruning the grapes, putting nets over to help against the birds, taking the nets down, watching the sugar levels to math the right picking time and then recruit the picking crew. The last bit of Shiraz had to be picked as the grapes were well ripened and the weekend allowing for the best recruitment of friends and neighbors. It unfortunately coincided with cool wet autumn weather descending on the farm. The work got done, perhaps leaving a few extra grapes on the last few rows for the birds and the sheep that would be allowed to graze in vineyard after wards.The sheep especially like when it is time for the Chardonnay. The grapes are crushed only and the sweet leftovers are "to die for" in a sheep's world. Then after the red varieties (Shiraz and Cabinet Shauvignon) have fermented in the vats for a week or so and taken on the deep red color from the tannins there comes another good time for the sheep at Henty Estates as they fight over the alcohol laden grape pulp that is hauled out in the paddock after the liquids are pumped off. Many a sheep stagger around dazed by the effects of the magic feed, the older ones likely saying: "I remember last year and how lousy I felt the next day, better take it easy".

This blog will also take you to Tasmania, a fantastic little island south east of the mainland accessed by air or in my case a ferry ride of 12 hrs. The island is very different in landscape as well as climate from the extremely wet west coast to the drier south east. The lakes and the mountains are stunning and almost on par with the "Rockies"! A great many hikes were enjoyed in and around the famous world heritage sites of Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair and an awe inspiring river cruise on the Macquarie Harbour, a massive bay just inside the ocean, and up the slow flowing and very deep Gordon River, which flows into the bay and out to sea.










Back to work in the next blog, wild dog management and weed spread risk assessment.