http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/index/ en sales@threewishesvineyard.com Copyright 2008 2008-04-28T06:51:00+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2008_vintage_closes_its_curtains_on_a_cold_sunsetfinally/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2008_vintage_closes_its_curtains_on_a_cold_sunsetfinally/#When:05:51:00Z 2008..the year that could have been a perfect Tassie vintage ! What do you get when you combine an unseasonal, record prolonged heatwave at the end of vintage, with a sudden antarctic jet stream cold snap..highland snow, near frost and then a week later a hurricane (180km winds) ? Im not sure just yet, but the tale will unfold when our Rielsing finishes its ferment in a few weeks..nearly one month later than last year ! Luckily for Three Wishes, it looks like our french friends Chardonnay and Pinot, picked on the last two days of the heatwave prior to Easter (late march), is our best and most bountiful fruit yet ! But not their German neighbours next door...caught by General Winter again ! Poor old Rielsing the late ripener, always left to fend for itself when the winter blues start their tunes ! I was told by a wine merchant in Melbourne about a vineyard in the Coonawarra which jumped 6 % alcohol (6 be in sugar) in just 10 days during Adelaides record heatwave in march this year… Apparently the final juice was 20be (degrees alcohol) and had to be given the hose treatment prior to ferment to get it back to an acceptable 15%..! If this is true..well Tassie went the other way !! Large crops of grapes on the vine in late march didnt take too well to the heatwave..Tassie didnt quite cop the same intensity of heat but Three Wishes clocked up a few in the old centrury and one controversial measurement of 38C ! This all one week prior to harvest, just when vines were shedding leaf and grapes are especially prone to Sun damage… We wipped our chard and Pinot of in two days, back to back picks, and they both look superb, but the Riesling seemed to just shut down ..Not two weeks prior my winemaker confirmed what I had already though..the Rielsing block looked superb, healthy canopy and disease free fruit..almost bankable ! I did a quick phone around and it seems other vineyards in the Tamar had the same trouble in the weeks following EAster through to mid may. The sugar levels just didnt seem to move at all..normally we can count on one Be per week..but we got one in 3 weeks ! Why ? Probably better left to someone more qualified than myself..but I think the vines went into survival mode with the cold snap (after such a stressfull two weeks of hot weather), heavy leaf senesence, saving their sugars for vegetative growth (trunk, canes, leaves) rather than for future drinkers ! Anyway well see...A quick few words of summary for 2008 : Uneventful spring this year (no severe frosts like 2007 or Western front style rains and mud as in 2006 !), calm flowering (hence good crop levels), some disease pressure in december leading to a small powdery Mildew outbreak that was nipped in the bud (pardon the pun !), and a slow steady, dry summer ripening period from late january until late march..when it started going haywire...last highlight WASPS !! Everywhere, we lost 30% plus of our Rielsing this year to the nasty little turds..ah yes, they are all gods creatures (?). The long wait, big nest numbers, throw in wild bees and possums...and whats left is for you and me ! Understandably its going to be different challenges every year...just hang in there for the ride and roll with the punches (and it gives me different tangible things to reflect on when Im drinking the profits in future years ! ) Adios AMigos Peter 2008-04-28T05:51:00+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/photo_gallery_finally_updateddaily_cellar_door_sales_close_for_2008some_win/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/photo_gallery_finally_updateddaily_cellar_door_sales_close_for_2008some_win/#When:09:48:00Z Its raining cats and dogs..finally ! A good chance to catch up on vineyard blogs ! We have now closed our daily cellar door operations, and are only open weekends and public holidays until the end of May. Ive also finally added an extra 40 photos to the gallery, including of the Cellar Door and Vineyard/Farm surrounds..please check them out ! Thanks to my cousin Jo Perry for the photos and me old mate Dr Thomas Moore ! Back to the cellar door and whats left in the cellar… TWV News 2008-04-02T09:48:00+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2006_vintage_mailout_details/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2006_vintage_mailout_details/#When:04:06:01Z Three Wishes is now one month into its cellar door sales for summer and has only a little stock left of our gold medal winning 2006 Rielsing (38 cases) and Reserve Pinot Noir (42 cases)...wine is selling fast. Three Wishes Vineyard has decided to do its first annual wine mailout to those who have expressed an interest in our wine...to get the vintage finished up so to speak !  If you received an e-mail from us, you left your details at our cellar door, or you have previously bought wine or expressed interest. If this is not the case (pardon the pun) please let me know ASAP and I will remove you off the list...More details on the wines and prices can be found under “our products” tab but just a quick summary anyway..(ie winemaking techniques etc) 2006 Riesling -One of 3 Gold Medal winners at the Tasmanian Wine Show in 2007. 93/100 by James Halliday who outlined 10plus years cellaring potential. A most complex but pleasing wine, with heaps of character and potential. Has been sold in most of Launceston’s top restaurants, and by the glass in ARIA Restaurant in Sydney...(Winner of Australia’s best Restaurant Wine List last year). Hurry, not much left ! 10% Discount for cases (A$25.00 per bottle as part of a dozen) 2006 Chardonnay -Just released, not shown in any wine shows yet. More in the chablis style than an Aussie chard, delicate, complex with confectionary stone and citrus fruit and savoury overtones. Great served chilled on a summers day or an even better wine paired with food. Funky nose from wild yeat fermentation, will continue to develop the “stink” with a few more years in bottle..my guess is this one will cellar for 5-10 years no problem. (A$20 per bottle as part of a dozen). 2006 Landbridge Pinot -The best selling wine at our cellar door. Earthy, savoury sweet pinot fruit on the nose with a silky smooth palate of spicy plumb, cherry and red fruit. Has power but finesse and will continue to develop . Bronze Medal Winner at Hobart International Wine Show (just missed a Silver by half a point !) ...did well compared to many Tassie Pinot’s from this vintage.  (A$20.00 per bottle as part of a dozen). 2006 Three Wishes Pinot -Very limited supply, being shown in Tassie Wine Show this week. Big bold and complex (as usual !), the wine has spicy, perfumed aromas of violet, betroot and red fruits, with a dark colour and great consistency of palate. Starting to develop “the funk” on the nose with earthy, barnyard overtones..should continue to develop with time-drink now or put down for 2-10 years. (A$35.00 per bottle). Order via e-mail, please send your order and address. I will confirm price and get in touch for payment details (we can take orders via email or phone using credit card facilities) or we can send you direct debit details if you prefer. Have a great new year, and dont forget our 07 Vintage is the best we have made yet..to be released late 2008 (see Blog -Vintage Update for 2007 “From the Winery"). Adios Amigos Peter Vintage updates 2008-01-13T04:06:01+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2007_vintage_update_and_comments_from_the_winery/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/2007_vintage_update_and_comments_from_the_winery/#When:19:14:01Z Early vintage woe and peril (frost, bush fires -see previous Blog ) led to a long and drought stricken, but largely uneventful 2007 vintage (we however did have golf ball size hail stones land within a few hundred meters of the vineyard on boxing day, the same storm trashed my uncles garden across the road !). Yields from our 3 hectare vineyard were predictably low at harvest after frost, poor fruit set and no rain during veraison (ripening period), but were on average better than I originally expected. If our cloud has a silver lining, its that the quality of our fruit was superb. Its an early call, but Id say tasting all three wines will be our best yet ! What makes me proud is this vintage quality has been achieved with a chemical spray program which was virtually organic...we had only one non organic pesticide this 2007 vintage (out of a recommended spray program of dozens of chemicals) and no insecticides...we have 3 years to go to get to 100% organic …although weeds could be our downfall here without some serious mulching or re-sowing of clover… TWV News, Vintage updates 2007-12-05T19:14:01+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/three_wishes_gets_a_straight_flush_at_tassie_wine_show/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/three_wishes_gets_a_straight_flush_at_tassie_wine_show/#When:01:46:00Z Wine shows are serious business for small boutique vineyards, especially new businesses like us, who are trying to get their name and brand established. In fact, as a wine grower, if you were granted three wishes, one might very well be winning gold medals and trophies in your first three wine shows ! Last weeks 2007 Tasmanian wine show was another pleasant surprise for Three Wishes Vineyard. Following on from a gold medal in our first release Pinot from last years show, we were fortunate enough to win a gold medal again this year, but surprisingly in our 2006 Riesling.  TWV News 2007-02-10T01:46:00+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/earth_wind_and_fire/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/earth_wind_and_fire/#When:01:29:00Z Flowering time in the vineyard is one of the most dangerous times of any vintage. Flowers bloom, and then set to fruit…which ripens and eventually makes its way to the fermenter to make wine (well for grapes at least !). Flowering time in the Tamar Valley is usually around latish november, through to early December on a cooler year. Tassie can be a bitch of a place around flowering time ! Windy, wet and cool on bad years, windy, hot and dry on good years…but always windy. Grape vine flowers don’t like strong winds in case you hadn’t guessed! The 2007 vintage started after the driest winter in living memory, during the driest spring on record, . . . TWV News, Vintage updates, Tamar Valley Wine Region News 2007-01-30T01:29:00+10:00 http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/welcome_to_the_three_wishes_vineyard_blog/ http://www.threewishesvineyard.com/index.php/site/welcome_to_the_three_wishes_vineyard_blog/#When:20:35:00Z I am not yet wise, nor am I old, so I’ve had to borrow a few lines for an introduction to this blog site from someone who was. The classic Greek philosopher Epicurus, much loved in food and wine circles for his challenge to individuals to indulge in nature and its bounty, was believed to have summarized a three step path to happiness in life. He said to be truly happy, one must firstly chose a life of self sufficiency over one of accumulating wealth and power, with special emphasis on the pleasures that relatively simple things can bring in life...such as herbs, gardens...food, wine.... “The wealth required by nature is limited and easy to procure, but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity”. Secondly, he said an individual should try to surround themselves with loved ones and close friends as much as is possible, and lastly one must have regular time out for quiet self contemplation and philosophy. Epicurus ???? Vineyards ???? TWV News 2006-12-07T20:35:00+10:00