On the move...
Wangolina Station is “On the Move” as far as winemaking is concerned. As from next vintage (2008), we will be shipping our fruit to Bird in Hand winery in the Adelaide Hills where the wines will be made. Anita has been searching for someone to help her put more “polish” on her wines for a while, and we think that we have come up with a combination that will do just that.

Bird in Hand (www.birdinhand.com.au) are a relatively young winery that are making their presence felt in the market place. Some of you may already be aware of them and some may have seen in the press that their Rosé was served with the strawberries and cream at the Wimbledon Tennis championship this year.

They also won the ‘Wine of the Year’ award from Winestate magazine with their 2005 Shiraz. Bird in Hand retains the services of Kym Milne MW as their winemaking consultant.

Kym has agreed to provide consultancy services to Wangolina Station and we are very pleased about this. Kym has graduated as a Master of Wine and has had enormous experience in the world wine industry. He has played a large role in the expansion and success of the New Zealand wine industry. He was very involved in the success of Villa Maria winery at Marlborough which is renowned worldwide for Sauvignon Blanc.

Kym has and still does consulting work all around the world. We are excited to be able to have input from him and we look forward to being able to present to our customers and friends the “fruits” of our combined efforts. Anita has also started working at Bird in Hand two days a week as their Laboratory Manager.

Vineyard and Farm News
Again for this season the news is “so far so good”. The potential for frost damage has diminished and so far no problems. The next event on the viticultural calendar is flowering, so we are hoping that we get good weather over the next few weeks to accommodate this.

The fruit load looks as though it is promising, but as always the yield is always determined at picking so there is a long way to go. We have planted some Pinot Gris this year which is proving to be a very popular wine locally, so hopefully in a couple of year’s time we will be able to offer you all some.

The farm is in good heart at the moment because we received 100 mm of rain some weeks ago. The cows are all in prime condition now and are looking after their calves very well. It all looks much better than the later part of 2006 when conditions were extremely dry and made life difficult for livestock.

We all hope that the rainfall pattern returns to normal soon so that all livestock Australia wide can enjoy the land of plenty again along with all those of us who are struggling with water shortages.