Brown Magpie Wines - The Warble

Hi Everyone

Well winter is well underway here. We are expecting 40 mils of rain in the next 24 hours. We have been busy over autumn bringing in our harvest. The vintage was successful. The quality of both the whites and reds are looking extremely promising.  Daniel Greene, our winemaker, is busily preparing for bottling the 2013 whites:  Rose′, Three Brown Magpies, Sauvignon Blanc , Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris; and the 2012 Reserve Reds:  Paraparap Pinot Noir and Modewarre Mud Shiraz. This will be in early September.

Robert Steel is working in the vineyard preparing for pruning. He has been reworking the old and damaged vines and is currently pruning our recently regrafted Shiraz. We have also laid down some lime to improve the pH of our soil and are currently re-sowing the inter rows with some Victorian Rye.

The Cellar Door is currently closed, but don’t forget that you can order online through the website and we will deliver it free of charge in a few days.  No need to go without your winter reds!

On Sunday 14 July 2013, we are going to be going to be at the Extravaganza – Geelong - Eat Drink and Discover Geelong and Great Ocean Road regions at the Cunningham Pier, The Pier. Geelong. Come along and taste our wine and buy a bottle or two as well.

On 21 September 2013, we will be in Anglesea at Surf Coast Century 100km. This is a 100 km ultra-trail run marathon. No need to run, just come and find us and enjoy a drink!

On the Melbourne Cup Weekend 2013, we will be open at the winery as part of the Toast to the Coast – Geelong Wine Region’s winery weekend. We have music and food, wine tasting and wine sales here so drop in and join in the fun.

On 7 – 8 December 2013, we will be near the start and finish line of the Adventure Fest Weekend – Lorne providing tastings and sales. This is a premier 50 km event but includes the famous pier to pub swim course. This is a event not to be missed, so come and enjoy it with Brown Magpie Wines.

 

We have a great winter planned for you, so please come and join in. Light up the fires, open a nice Pinot Noir and enjoy a lovely winter roast.

 

Kind Regards

Loretta

Hi  Everyone

I hope everyone has a very, peaceful and safe Christmas. Quite a few customers have dropped into the cellar door to buy some wine for Christmas presents. We are open from 26 December through January every day from 11.00am to 4.00pm, so if you are down the coast, we would love you to drop in to see us. Remember that we have free delivery around Australia. So hop onto our website and make an order. We will be delivering from 7 January.

We have had some successes at the wine show. Our Pinot Noir 2011 has received a gold at the Geelong Wine Show this year. It has also received a bronze in the Jimmy Watson's Young Wine class at the Royal Melbourne Show. Our Pinot Grigio received a silver at the Geelong Wine Show. Our Late Harvest Pinot Gris has also been medalling well. Have a look on our website under Our Wines and see the full list.

The vineyard is looking amazing. Robert has been busy mowing and tucking up the vinesinto the wires. We have a lovely crop this year. The vintage looks like a good one. You will be delighted when you come to see us over the summer. We are also grafting some shiraz onto some of our pinot noir. We have done this to increase our production of shiraz, which is so popular.

We have two new winemakers helping us: Daniel Green and Sebastien Long. They are both bring some amazing new skills to our winery; so watch out for some really great results.

Well, Merry Christmas and I hope to see or hear from you in the New Year!

Kind Regards

Loretta

 

 

 

Hi Everyone

Well! Spring is in the air and our chardonnay is now sprouting. It is always an exciting time in the vineyard when the vines start to show signs of new life. The grass and weeds are also growing I am afraid, which is keeping Robert very busy!

I hope you have put 3 and 4 November (Sat and Sun) the weekend before Cup Day in your diary. The wineries around Geelong will be buzzing. We will have live music, snack food and an extensive tasting here! Also Scotchmans Hill has opened up in the old Petteval site on the Princess Highway and the Moriac store is hosting the Otway Wineries. Bellbrae Estate will also be open! The Surf Coast will have a few things happening this year! For more information, go onto our Wine Geelong official website.

We have prepared new look labels for our September bottling, so our whites, Reserve Whites and our sparkling Blanc de Noi 2010 r are all coming out with a new look. Our Cellar Door is opening on 3 November, with the Toast to the Coast as our official opening, and you will be able to try our new 2012 vintage then!

Well enjoy the Spring. It is time to open a bottle of our Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio and enjoy the warmer weather.

 

Kind Regards

Loretta Breheny

Hi Everyone

Just a quick post to tell you about the wine dinner coming up! Chris Sargeant,our wonderful, talented winemaker, will be hosting a share - gustation dinner at the trendy new Graze on Grey Bistro on Gray St. St Kilda on Friday 31 August . It will be a seven course share-gustation with matching wines for the sizzling price of $85.00. How does Neil make a profit out of this one. If you want to go, please get in early, as it is an intimate group of 12 - 15 people.

Bookings (03)90770421 or email neil@grazeongrey.com.au

www.grazeongrey.com.au

Chris and Neil would love to see you there.

Cheers

Loretta

 

 

 

Hi Everyone

I had to share the news with you. We have just been awarded five stars in the James Halliday Wine Companion. Listed under both Best Wineries of the Geelong Region and Ten Dark Horses, James commented on our first class wines and attractive prices. He added that we produce high quality Pinot Noir and Shiraz and compelling Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio.

Don't forget that we are at Federation Square on Wed and Thurs August 1st and 2nd, from 4.00pm to 8.00pm in the Best of the Best Awards night for Victorian Wineries. It is a good chance to drop in and speak to our wonderful winemaker Chris Sargeant, myself and our amazing Marketing Manager, Samantha Breheny (biased maybe)

Anyway have  a glass of Brown Magpie Wine tonight and be assured you are tasting the best.

 

Kind Regards

Hi Everyone
It is winter In the vineyard. There are virtually no leaves on the vines. Robert is busily re working the dead and broken vines. He has been mowing and hoeing in order to maintain a weed free vineyard.
Chris is preparing for our September bottling. He is racking the Pinot Gris and Grigio. Most of the Pinot Noir and Shiraz has finished its malolactic or secondary fermentation.
The cellar door is now closed. We will be opening for the Melbourne Cup Weekend for our Geelong Wine Festival: The Toast to the Coast. We will then be open every weekend from 11 am to 4 pm.and everyday in January,
We have some wonderful birds here. The Scarlet Robyn has arrived. We have some Plovers, a Grey Faced Heron, Kookaburras and many different parrots.
If you need any wine, you can order it on the website and we will deliver it free if you are in a central location.

Well keep warm and try some of our lovely Pinot Noir and Shiraz with your slow cooked dishes!
Kind Regards
Loretta

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

 

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

 

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

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