Vineyard Update: Not just grapes

It's not just about growing grapes here at Seresin; we see ourselves as farm, not simply a vineyard: 

At Seresin, vegetables are planted in amongst the vines and we grow large volumes of garlic, shallots, beans, potatoes, corn and many other interesting things.

This integrated farming philosophy means that we treat the farm as a reflection of the whole dining table, rather than focusing just on the wine glass. 

In many cultures wine is regarded as a food and so we see no separation in growing many different foods on our land. The food we grow is distributed to our staff, who are all passionate consumers of organic produce, plus we are able to use it when entertaining and also in our occasional restaurant at Waterfall Bay.

Vineyard update: making hay while the sun shines

A midsummer update from Colin Ross, our estate manager:

Midsummer in the vineyards at Seresin Estate and we have just cut and gathered our hay crop. Over 2000 small bales have been cut from our meadows and areas surrounding the vines. About 200 bales will be used as supplementary feed for our animals, with the balance forming a vital ingredient for our compost making. 

Compost is the primary form of adding balanced nutrition to our land. It is comprised of 25% grape waste, 25% hay, 25% wood-chips from our willow trees, 20% mulched woody weeds and grasses, and the balance being manure from our own herd of cows.

After the summer solstice our vines' canopies have almost reached their full height. After weeks of shoot-thinning and wire lifting, we have just begun hand leaf plucking. The aim is to give the grapes as much ventilation as possible so that they can fully ripen, with minimal chance of late season bunch rot. It is also important to leave a protective layer of leaf to provide shelter from the harsh sun and any rain that falls.

Vintage 2014 is slightly ahead of normal and, with wonderful growing conditions, we have vibrant healthy canopies and an excellent crop. It is still too early to make a prediction as to the vintage's final outcome, but at this stage all the elements are in place for the harvest of some wonderful fruit.

New year, new start

Happy New Year!

It's been a little while since this blog was updated, but we're turning over a new leaf (which makes a change from plucking them I suppose) and will be here a lot more this year with our news, views and updates. 

We're looking forward to a great year ahead and are keeping ourselves busy with a lot of exciting new projects in the vineyard and the winery, so watch this space for more information about these. Vintage is also always on our minds of course, and 2014 is looking very promising; plenty of good quality fruit on the vines and all going according to plan thus far. More on this soon... 

First on our calendar though is our series of dinners and lunches at our occasional restaurant in Waterfall Bay between 6th and 9th of February. Anna Hansen, owner of The Modern Pantry in London is joining us to prepare what promises to be a delicious five course menu, based around local produce and designed to complement our wines. More information about the dinners can be found online or via our facebook page, and if you'd like to book you can call +64 3 572 9408. 

In the meantime, let us wish you all the very best for the coming year. 

“For last year's words belong to last year's language 

And next year's words await another voice.” T S Eliot, Four Quartets