http://www.margaretriverblog.com All about Margaret River, Western Australia Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:10:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's been a while - where shall I start?  My last posts were from my trip to Italy.  On return there was heaps to do.  I will try to bring you all up to date with what has happended over the past months in the now famous  Gherardi Viognier/Merlot vineyard. July:  Here in ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/10/its-been-a-while/ After leaving the more open spaces of Puglia, the mountains of central Italy certainly impose themselves on you as do the winding roads test your nerves.  As Umbria is a land locked region these mountains eventually meld into more rolling hills somewhat like Tuscany with that rural patch work scenery.     For ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/06/vineman-in-umbria/ Yes it’s been a while but worth waiting for. Vineman has taken a month off and traveled to the southern region of Puglia in Italy, the heel of the boot. This region is renowned for its hot climate, rugged landscape, robust red wines and Trulli (cone shaped stone dwellings). The area ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/06/salve-pulgia/ Following the Viognier harvest, everyone braced themselves for a bigger day with the Merlot.  Given that we were a few pickers short the previous day, I was right on to stressing with the picking contractor that more bodies were needed to ensure that the fruit is off before the peak heat of the ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/04/vintage-2008-merlot-bring-it-on/ The bunch sampling carried out on Monday 24th March together with impending weather lurking later in the week, all helped to convince me that harvest was to take place later that week.  The aim was to take the Viognier off on Thursday and the Merlot on Friday - much organising to be done. First job was ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/04/568/ The past weeks have seen weather conditions range from a run of extremely hot days and nights, rain and currently mild to warm days with cool nights. Ten days ago when we received 25mm of rain over two days I must say I was looking for the worry beads as I ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/03/yes-on-the-home-run/ Well, following on from my last post, the nets won the race but not after incurring a small amount of collateral damage. Organising a netting contractor proved more difficult than usual.  Not because they were all busy applying nets but because they had'nt realised that things were going to get frantic, the ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/02/no-food-for-the-birds-and-the-bees/ The fact that it's Australia Day (26th January) soon is my reminder that veraison is close, vines need to be prepared and bird nets have to be applied. Closer inspection of the vineyard yesterday showed that since the weekend berry softening and colouring (veraison) has commenced.  What this means is that the early ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2008/01/the-race-is-on-birds-v-nets/ I am sorry it has been a while since I last posted.  While the usual excuse could be that things have been rather hectic, I must say that I have been trying to get my head around the current season, what it has been dishing up and what it means ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2007/12/what-is-a-normal-season-anyway/ When recently I was recommended to read a book on the wine industry scurge Phylloxera (a root eating louse), I was rather scepticle to put it mildly.  How interesting a read was this going to be? Why would I want to learn about the history of this vine pest and how it ... http://www.margaretriverblog.com/2007/12/phylloxera-its-role-in-the-french-wine-industry/