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New Stonecroft Labels
August 2010
August has been a productive month for us. Dermot went to Melbourne and Sydney for the Red Hot Hawke’s Bay events. Stonecroft’s wines were very well received, and the tastings got some good press in Australia.
The vineyards have now been pruned and mulched. The new undervine weeder has also been in use. This should reduce weed pressure come spring without using spray. We have had some unseasonably warm weather, so are hoping that will not bring on early bud burst. Our first organic audit was completed on Wednesday. Following on from that, we have added a new Environment page to our website.
This week the 2010 Gewürztraminer was bottled (see photo of our 'state of the art' bottling line taken today), filling the winery with a rich mix of rose, lychee and tropical fruit aromas - the Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé will follow in the next couple of weeks. Look out for pre-release offers in September.
Not content with signing on to Twitter, we are now also on Facebook. Any suggestions about what you might like to see on our page would be welcome.
July 2010
Although we are not great at keeping up with technology, we have now signed on to Twitter. Actually, it’s easy to use once you get the hang of it. Feel free to get some conversation going as it’s been very quiet so far!
To update you with where we are at with the 2010 wines; the reds have now gone through malolactic fermentation and been racked. They will have another 16 months or so in barrel. The Gewürztraminer, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc are on their lees and will be fined and bottled in August. The Chardonnay will spend another few months in barrel. Although 2010 will go down as a cool year with smaller than usual yields, the wines are looking very good with great flavours and should be top quality.
In the vineyard, winter pruning has started. In a few weeks time we plan to put some sheep into the vineyard for weed and grass suppression. We are also moving forward on the organic front. Our organic management plan has been approved and next up will be the audit.
June 2010