Vintage 2011 just doesn’t seem to want to happen here.
It’s been pushed so far back that Hoops thinks it’s the latest he’s ever seen, and this year it’s his 20th vintage. Happy Anniversary Hoops! May all your Grenache, Sangiovese and Zinfandel wishes come true...
Sure, we’re impatient for the first crush, but we’ve still had a good couple of weeks – maybe the highlight being our pre-harvest party in honour of the shy fruit which we held at the Cellar Door, which is fast gaining itself a reputation as the place to have a rollicking good party in this area.
It happened two Sundays ago, and to really treat us all, Steve sacrificed one of his suckling Berkshires which live in the field behind the winery for the big day.
Once the dirty deed was done, and Momo, our hyperactive Jack Russell landed himself some macho red spots to go with his new masculine collar (which recently replaced his diamante-encrusted metrosexual one), we called on the expertise of local hero Mario Pieri, who can teach us all a thing or two about being in possession of a sharp knife and a vat of boiling water. But on this occasion it was to clean up the pig.
On the morning of the party, the hog was massaged lovingly in salt and olive oil, then wrapped tenderly in foil, and then, rather unlovingly, rammed into the centre of the cellar door pizza oven.
Hours later, and the pig looked like some advert warning you of the dangers of skin cancer and sunbathing... check out the arse on that!
The unsightly buttocks didn’t deter two our two Studio Member winemakers, Phil (left) and Andrew (right), from eschewing their responsibility of feeding the masses...
With the tunes ripping up the cellar door-cum-dance floor well into the night, the party went down a storm and RedHeads’ reputation as McLaren Vale’s home of a good time remains well and truly in tact.
Fast forward to today, and the winery has been gearing up for vintage, but after a burst of rain last night (4mls instead of 40mls as predicted thank god), it’s delayed by yet a few more days. And as we type it is hammering down outside too.
At least soemone got some action this week, though. Phil was lucky enough to see his first crush yesterday morning, and he was loving the dark colour and small size of the seven tonnes of Shiraz which were delivered early yesterday from Sellicks - one of the more coastal vineyard locations in McLaren Vale and nearly always one of the earliest to ripen.
We hope to see some of it ourselves here very, very, very soon.....
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