Vintage Vibes

Posted: 20/04/2010 2:00:16 p.m.

Hoards of grape pickers like bees swarm through blocks snipping away, gently removing the delicate bunches and placing them in shallow picking bins. The days start cool and fresh with a pale blue, cloudless sky overhead. By morning tea the blue has deepened and the pickers have shed a layer or two of clothing as the sun warms their backs.
Quad bikes zoom around collecting the grape-filled picking bins on the back, the rider speeds them off to a shady spot before loading into a truck and off to the winery or straight to the press, sorting table or destemmer if the winery is on site. Eager hands take over anxious to examine the latest delivery. Berries tasted, bunches sorted, maybe Pinot Noir off to cold macerate for a while or fresh Sauvignon Blanc tipped into the press to yield its flavour-packed juice.
I’m not involved in vintage, and as I sit at the computer looking at the stunning day outside, I often wish I was! This morning it was just too much. I jumped in the car and went to look at some freshly picked Viognier and Pinot Gris at Terrace Heights Estate, then nipped to Seresin just to take photos from their terrace – what amazing views. Next was Te Whare Ra and a look at some wonderfully flavoursome Sauvignon Blanc on the sorting table (though it was so clean you’d wonder why it was necessary to sort it!) and then Mahi where some Pinot Noir is sitting in tank, quietly waiting before ferment gets underway.
All these wineries are less than a few minutes from my house - Forrest, Whitehaven, Grove Mill, Dog Point, Highfield, Spy Valley, Framingham to name just a few. I have so many great wines at my fingertips!
OK, back to the computer. Tap, tap, tap at the keyboard....oh is that the time? Just enough to nip to another couple of wineries before I pick up the boys from school...see ya!