Brown Magpie Wines - The Warble

Veraison, bottling pinot noir, chardonnay and late harvest gris

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:47:00 GMT

Hi Everyone

We have had a busy month here at Brown Magpie Wines while you have been sitting on the beach. Not that we are complaining. We have enjoyed your visits to our cellar door on those days you were looking for a change. The number of customers were up and you all certainly enjoyed our extensive wine tasting.

Chris, our winemaker, is busy racking, blending and filtering the Pinot Noir Premium 2011, the Chardonnay 2011 and the Late Harvest Pinot Gris 2011 for our February bottling. He is very pleased with the year's efforts, so we have some great wine to look forward to.

Robert and Tim have been busy in the vineyard getting ready to put the bird nets on. The ripening seems a little early this year, so we have birds everywhere. We have had to put a scare gun on, but the neighbours do not have to worry, it will only be for a couple of days while we get the nets on. Roger, Nick, Ian and John our netting team will be coming this week, so we hope it will not be too windy for them.

We will be attaching this blog to a newsletter soon, so our members will receive a link on their email. It is ok, we will keep the letter short and sweet.

Well almost February and we are back to opening on weekends only again from the 1st between 12 noon and 3 pm.

Hope to see you soon!

Kind Regards

Loretta

Merry Christmas

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:37:00 GMT

Hi Everyone

Well it has certainly been busy here! Robert and Tim have finished the weeding, mowing and whippersnipping. The vineyard looks lovely. We will be looking forward to seeing you over January. We are open everyday this month between 12 noon and 3pm.

We have a lovely range of wines to taste over this month. We are going to open the Shiraz 04 for tasting. We are also having a special on the 07 Pinot Noir at $12.00 a bottle.

We have had a great year for winning awards this year. I will put an update on our site, but our 2010 Shiraz winning the the top gold in its class in the National Wine Show and the Trophy for Best Wine in the Geelong Wine Show was pretty impressive. Our Pinot Noir 2010 also medalled in the Royal Melbourne Show against some pretty tough opposition. I think this wine is going to be a real winner with a little more time in the bottle. It will be worth keeping your eye on this one!

Don't forget that you can order through our website any time and we can give you free delivery, unless you live on top of Uluru or somewhere else remote.

Anyway, have a peaceful and safe Christmas.

Kind Regards

Loretta

Best Wine in Geelong Wine Show - 2010 Brown Magpie Shiraz

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:54:00 GMT

Hi Everyone

We have had a very successful month at the wine shows. In particular, the Geelong Wine Show, which is our most important Regional Show. Our Brown Magpie Shiraz 2010 won the The Williams and Jackson Trophy for Best Wine in Show. The Brown Magpie Shiraz 2010 also won the NZ Kauri Trophy for Best Shiraz - category 7

We also won silver medals for our 2010 Brown Magpie Late Harvest Pinot Gris, 2010 Brown Magpie Pinot Noir, 2011 Brown Magpie Pinot Grigio and 2008 Modewarre Mud Shiraz. We won a Bronze for our 2011 Rose. Well done Chris Sargeant and the rest of the team.

We are busy in the vineyard. Robert and Tim are mowing. You can see the weeds growing at the moment. They are also putting the wires up. This holds the canes in place and not only prevents the canes from breaking in the wind, but also keeps the canes from touching the ground and allows the air to circulate through the vine, which helps to prevent downy mildew.

Thank you everyone who visited us on the Toast to the Coast Weekend. We had a lovely two days, drinking wine, savouring the pizzas and listening to music. It was lovely to catch up with our old customers and get aquainted with some of our new ones.

We will open everyday in December and January, except Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Cheers

Loretta Breheny

Toast to the Coast. Geelong Wine

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:15:00 GMT

Toast to the Coast

Oct 29, Oct 30 2011 (Long Melbourne Cup Weekend)

Brown Magpie Wines

125 Larcombes Road

Modewarre 3240

11.00am - 4pm

The Toast to the Coast is on again. It is on between October 29 and October 30 2011 the Melbourne Cup long weekend. The website if you want more information is www.toasttothecoast.com.au . This is our 10th anniversary of the Toast. The three sub regions of Geelong will be celebrating and 27 wineries will be participating. Everyone has been working hard to give you a great weekend of wine, music and food.

If you are looking toget off the beaten track, a visit to Brown Magpie Wines is just the thing. Our vineyard is nestled in the Surf Coast Hinterland just a few minutes from the pretty township of Moriac. Try our wines, warm yourselves near the wood fire oven, enjoy a sausage and listen to great muusic.

Wine

Full tasting of wines including past vintages.

Food

Sausage sizzle

Wood Fire Oven Demonstration

Fun

Saturday - Jason Coghill from J Band

Sunday - Guthrie Pastiche, acoustic artist from the Surf Coast

Designated Driver - One complementary drink or sausage.

All the team at Brown Magpie Wines will be here, So drop in and have a chat with us.

Cheers

Loretta

Fed Square Wine Showcase Melbourne 2011

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:50:00 GMT

Fed Square Wine Showcase 2011

Hi Everyone

Join us at the Fed Square Wine Showcase on Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October 2011

We'll be showcasing some of our finest drops in the city along with other boutique wineries from Geelong, Henty, Western Victoria, the Grampians and the Pyrenees. Chris Sargeant, our wonderful winemaker, will be there to talk about the wine, so drop in and have a chat to him.

Guests will also have the chance to sign up for City to Cellar - a new initiative that rewards visits to regional Victoria with special offers and discounts at participating wineries.

Date: 5 and 6 October

Location: The Atrrium, Federation Square

Time: 4.30pm - 8.30pm

Info: www.fedsquare.com/wine

Cheers

Loretta

Four and a half stars -James Halliday -Excellent Winery

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:06:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely Brown Magpie Pinot Noir near the fire. We certainly need something to cheer ourselves up.

The good news is that the dams are full and everything is preparing for a spring burst. Cross your fingers for a new baby brown magpie!! Craig has brought in the pre-pruner and prepared the vines for the finer pruning by Long's wonderful pruning team. He will be coming this week. We have also ordered the poles to repair our vineyard after the storms we had last year.

James Halliday has awarded us 4 and a 1/2 stars once again. This means we are an excellent winery knocking on the door of a 5 star rating. Our 2009 Shiraz has won a rating of 94 points or five cups. This is a limited release because of the drought, so if you want some please contact me directly. Our Chardonnay 2010 and Geelong Pinot Noir 2009 both received 90 points with an excellent value star. Chris Sargeant our wonderful energetic winemaker had his name misspelled. Completely my mistake, I am afraid.
We will be opening up in September 3 and 4, so please come and see us then.

Kind Regards

Loretta Breheny

Gold - Wine Wise Small Vignerons Award

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 03:45:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
Well are having an exciting month. We entered several wines into the prestigious Wine Wise Small Vignerons Awards and received some wonderful Awards. Our wonderful 2010 Shiraz has one the top Gold in its class. Our 2010 Chardonnay won a very high Silver and 2010 Pinot Noir came in with a very sound Bronze. Well done to our winemaking team! The Chardonnay will be released at the Toast of the Coast which is coming up on 29 and 30 October. However the 2010 Shiraz and 2010 Pinot Noir will not be released until probably sometime next year. It will be even better by then!

Kind Regards
Loretta

Wine Awards - Closed for Winter

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:52:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
We have done very well at the first international wine show for 2011. We entered in The International Cool Climate Wine Show 2011. We received bronzes for our Pinot Gris 2010, Pinot Noir 2010, Pinot Noir 2009, Pinot Noir 2008 and Sparkling Pinot Noir 2008. Congratulations to our great team Chris Sargeant and Robert Steel and my sweet self of course.
Also, we would like to remind you that the cellar door is closed for June, July and August. We will reopen in the first weekend in September.
We have been busy in the vineyard preparing our vineyard for the pre pruner. It is a big machine that comes in and roughly cuts the canes off the vines. This makes it easier for our pruners to do the finer pruning work.

Any way keep warm and drink plenty of our lovely Brown Magpie reds this winter.

Kind Regards
Loretta Breheny

A Great Easter

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:53:00 GMT

Hi Everyone

It was lovely to see you all over Easter. The weather was lovely and the leaves on the vines are slowly turning lovely yellow, orange and red. What an amazing time to visit vineyards.

The picking has almost finished, but the work is just starting in the winery. The whites have to be prepared for bottling. We have to cold stabilise the whites in refrigerated tanks. This stops the tartrates from forming. We have to fine the wine with a special clay to take the proteins out. This stops the wine from clouding up in a warm room. It then has to be filtered to take out any micro organisms. This stops the wine from developing any bad smells. All of this works gives you a lovely sparkling clean wine. The reds have to be racked to take out the dead yeast cells, stored in barrels and checked to see when the malo-lactic fermentation or secondary fermentation has finished. While this secondary fermentation is progressing, the wine is protected. However, once it has finished, the wine has to be racked to rid of any sediment and has sulphur added to protect the wine. Chris is busy right through winter to get ready for our September bottling.

When you see our lovely 2011 vintage, you will now appreciate all the care and attention we have given it.

Regards

Loretta

Happy Easter!!!

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:45:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
I suppose everyone is getting ready for the Easter Bunny. I hope you all enjoy the much deserved break. Remember, if you are down the coast, except for Good Friday, we are open Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We look forward to you dropping in. If you come down you will notice that most of the nets are off the vines. We have picked everything except the late harvest pinot gris and the shiraz. The last of the pinot noir is coming off today. The wine, so far, looks wonderful. I think it is going to be a great year inspite of all the worry of disease. At least, we have had plenty of water.
Please remember to drive safely, particularly around the back roads if you are visiting us, and remember "small egg - long walk" and drink plenty of our wonderful wine- when you are not driving of course.

Happy Easter!!

Loretta Breheny

Picking Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:06:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
Well, we are slowly picking our grapes. We have brought in all of our sparkling base, some grigio, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, and finally this week some pinot noir. The grapes are ripening very slowly, so we only have a small team of pickers at the moment. It is coming into the winery in good condition. We now have some full vats of pinot noir. I hope you are thinking our our dedicated crew that are plunging these vats three times a day including early Sunday morning and Saturday and Sunday night. Winemaking is not always glamorous I am afraid. Thanks guys! The flavours and aromas are already looking very promising. The long slow ripening is what cool climate wines are all about. I think this vintage will produce some quality wine.

I would just like to remind you that we will be open on Easter Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but we are closed on Good Friday. Please come and visit us if you are down the coast.

Anyway, I must go now. Betty our new cocker spaniel is so bored she has fallen asleep and is snoring under my desk!!!

I hope you have a good week.

Kind Regards

Picking Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Easter Hours

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:54:00 GMT

Hi Everyone

Well, there is a lot of excitement at Brown Magpie Wines at the moment. We have started to pick the pinot gris. It is looking magnificent. This early pick is for our Pinot Grigio, which will have lime, grapefruit and pear flavours. Chris and Tim are up at the winery processing the grapes, and our netting team that have just put the nets on are now taking them off! It is perfect weather for picking whites this year. We are having lovely cool mornings, so the grapes are coming into the winery nicely cool. Next, we will be picking our pinot noir for our sparkling wine.

We had a busy time at the cellar door this weekend. It was lovely to see all of our customers. We have just put our barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc on tasting. It has been very well received. We are still open for weekends, but will be open over Easter. We will be closed on Good Friday but will be open on Easter Monday. Easter Tuesday will probably closed if we are processing fruit in the winery.
I hope you are making use of our new website, which has a Paypal facility. You can log in and buy 6 bottles or more. The delivery for most areas is free.

Kind Regards

Loretta

Nets, Baby Hare, Betty the Cocker Spaniel and Cellar Door Prize

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:44:00 GMT

Hi Everyone.
The vineyard looks amazing today. The shimmering white nets are completely covering the vines. Robert and the crew have been very busy not only putting the nets on but also mending the nets from last year, and securing them to the wires so they do not blow away in the next wind. The crop looks magnificent. It looks like we will be picking the pinot gris for our Grigio in the week after Labour Day, and this will be followed by the pinot noir for the sparkling.
Betty, a nine week old Cocker Spaniel, has joined the winemaking team. She has been very busy with Barney chasing the birds out of the nets. She also spied a baby hare, which was bigger than her, caught in the nets. We released the hare and the he safely ran away. He has been in our vineyard for some time and is called Harry. It is a busy time, because we have to walk around the vineyard on a daily basis to make sure that no animal is trapped. The nets will be finished completely on Monday, so hopefully there will be no more gaps for birds and hares to enter.
Our monthly winner for our cellar door prize is Paul from Gherang. Congratulations Paul! I hope you enjoy your lovely prize of two bottles of wine.
Kind Regards
Loretta

Storms, Bottling and Harvest

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:09:00 GMT

Hi Everyone.
February has turned out to be a very busy month. We have just bottled our wine. All went well except our cardboard case suppliers sent us the wrong boxes. If the cases do not fit correctly, the wine can break in transit. Therefore, we had to get plain cases instead of our lovely printed ones. The boxes are ok, but I must admit I was a little disappointed. We had a new bottling caravan this time. It was a very smooth affair and very fast. Thanks everyone for working so hard.

We have had two big storms this month and both have blown down poles. We have come in after the storm and found a lot of the vines on the ground. It has been a big job staking them all up again, but we have managed. We have had to get them up quickly because we need to get the nets on to protect our ripening crop from the birds. Robert, John, Ian, and Roger are busy putting on the nets today. We also have a new cellar hand for this year's vintage, who will be helping today. Welcome Tim!!!

I had better give you some good news! The crop looks great, and it is quite big this year, so a busy March, April and May I suppose.
Well must go. If there are any pickers out there please contact me.

Kind Regards
Loretta

New Cellar Door Hours and Veraison.

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:41:00 GMT

Hi Everyone
I hope everyone enjoyed the Australian Day Celebrations. I was at the cellar door. It was fairly quiet, so I had a nice relaxing day too. I had one couple who complained about the road signage. Unfortunately, inspite of pleading, I am not going to be given any more. If you check on our Contact Us page however, there is a pop up map that might help.
Veraison or ripening of the berries is starting. Especially in the pinot noir and pinot gris. The shiraz normally starts about two weeks later. Firstly, the berries become quite shiny, then they start turning a reddish colour. We are therefore starting to plan on putting the nets on in the next couple of weeks. We will leave it as late as possible this year as the nets add to the disease pressure. If it rains, the canopy takes longer to dry out, and it also more humid inside the nets. Hopefully, we will now have a long, warm autumn, so the grapes will ripen slowly and stay disease free. Unfortunately, hope has nothing to do with it.
You will soon be able to order on line using paypal. Hopefully this will make it easier to buy your wine directly from us.
We are now open on weekends only, although we will open over Easter. The hours are between 12 noon and 3 pm as usual.