I had the same early start as yesterday (7.45am pick up) and went straight into pumping over the last open red wine vat that had been macerating for a week. Testing the thickness of the cap, cleaning into the vat a little, I caught a massive nose-full of CO2, which made me see stars for a moment! Definitely a reminder of the danger of winemaking and brought me back to my lack of disclaimer and need for a Rottweiler solicitor.
We used some dry icing to take the oxygen out of the closed tanks and took 16 samples that I had ran off (200ml whites from 8 vats and 10x100ml red) to drive to the lab 20 minutes away for analysis. I had a lovely drive through the Barossa past Jacobs Creek, Miranda, St Hallet, Penfolds wineries, some of the more industrious producers.
After lunch, we did some racking off of the white wine from a 50,000 litre tank to smaller tanks followed by a little cleaning then another little road trip to collect some grape samples from two vineyards. One was a sweet Semillon that is being trialled, which has a little botrytis and some late Grenache which was simply perfect. Not a bunch that had raisoned.
On our return we pumped two barrels of Chardonnay from one set of new oak to another making sure they were filled up fully but as there was a 10 litre difference I needed to grab some from a tank then seal the barrel. To finish up a further pump over of the previously mentioned red, which had already taken more colour. Now this vat was ready to be put in the vacuum press.
We had dinner at a lovely restaurant in town called 1918 - it wasn't that old but had a lovely feel to it with bubbly staff and a killer menu and, as most Aussie restaurants are BYO, a few bottles from Scott the winemakers' cellar that made the evening even more interesting. We were joined by Wines of Barossa 'always happy man' Jimmy March whose family own a vineyard in the Eden Valley called Heath Vale who brought a cheeky little number for us to taste blind that no one guessed as it was so left field.
Scott's wine number 1
Faugères - Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan 2008 Silky, weighty, peppery, lush.
Jimmy's blind wine
Heath Vale Sagratino 2009
I went for Nebbiolo so not a million miles away but the intense blueberry nose and palate was delightful and certain something to treasure.
Sami Odi Shiraz 2008
Great packaging looking like an old tawny port with a bespoke label every year ala Mouton and number 274 out of a batch of just 1000 bottles. Rich with chocolatey backbone and good structure but more time or food needed but this was cracked after the meal - Kangaroo for main course was simply Skippy!
Another great day with the Schild team and enhanced my love for their wines and their ethos.
Written by Jason Busby, Director
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