Vintage 2008
Earlier this year I decided to 'hang up the apron and step back from the stove' for a time to concentrate on our wines which in turn led to all sorts of trouble.... We made the decision to bring our fruit home to be processed, which under normal circumstances is a relatively easy thing to do - that is if you have an established winery to begin with....
Undaunted, and after much laughter, angst, some tears and general hilarity we were set (apparently). In the initial stages of vintage we dealt with all sorts of industrial commotion. Not only did I insist on knocking a wall through to the lounge room at home, (and this during vintage too - will I never learn!) but I had to oversee the set up of our new winery too. With the courage of the uninitiated and the strength of the eternal optimist how hard could it be?!
In my exuberance to conquer all I found myself dealing with at least 5 different contractors at one stage, having a slab poured, drains dug and in the midst of it all dealing with grapes that just kept coming in. Having to 'fork' them off the back of the 'Betty' into the crusher, whilst rallying the Transport Minister to keep up with the pickers and supply buckets / bins and the general paraphernalia required during vintage. And then it started to go wrong....
The vintage that was to be 'a Chef and a Ballerina' floundered in the early stages with our gorgeous ballerina being poached by my husbando for a cellar down the road - needless to say Mrs Lehmo would not have been worked to the bone had she stayed here...!
So vintage 08 became, 'a Chef, the Cook/Gardener & Ben's dad Reggie (nominated as 'Minister for Transport which was more than apt .... as long as he didn't go AWOL too often). And then there was Mighty Mouse - a tightly bound package of dynamite with lashings of enthusiasm - who had the occasional walk on part - and a good part that was too, as well as being rather auspicious - this being the Chinese year of the Rat and all (I must confess that my enthusiasm is not solely based on the current Chinese year, but the fact that I'm a rat too.)
Vintage is such a convivial and inspired time of the year. Having brought the fruit home, we were rewarded by so many friends, neighbours and family popping in to have a yarn, shovel some grapes (although that never seemed to last too long), help with a pump overs and, in the case of Mel & Fi, stay up with me until 4am in order to chill a ferment. Ben's mum, Jude took up the post of Minister for Home Affairs' - with a special mandate to oversee the 'Minister for Transport' - yes SPECIAL MANDATE!!! Her presence meant much nourishment, a clean pair of jeans every now and again and a smiling face @ the end of a sleep deprived night (and more importantly maintaining a steady, reliable & consistent transport system....)
Luckily some extra labour presented itself in the form of my young niece and nephew (and as family, surely that's not considered child labour). Being 3 & 5 - they're really great for small jobs - washing buckets, cleaning press cages and the like, and in order to lure them back for next vintage (got to encourage them when they're young), I'll apparently need to accommodate a pig, probably some donkey's and possibly even a horse or two - sorry Beno, but all things considered....
Whilst the 08 season was almost 2 vintages in one and saw the latter half of the season's temperatures soar to 35 degrees and above for 15 days, we were fortunate to be spared from most of the heat in Eden Valley. While we experienced really hot days, the evenings dropped quite dramatically in temperature (which is typical of Eden Valley). So the grapes attained maturity, yet still had really cool evenings to ripen more slowly, which is so important to the elegance of Eden Valley wines. Although this vintage has been one of extremes; the concentration of fruit is second to none - yields may be down, but flavour and intensity have been magnified. Not only will the reds be incredibly intense, but the whites will have a delicate powerfulness that will be hard to resist.