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VINTAGE NEWS
grapes

Sunday the 21st of January 2012 - fine and warm at 31 degrees.

All the wines are now bottled and for the first time in over 25 years we have no bulk wine at all.

Looking after the bulk wine is essential to the finished product and any mistakes as to ph, sulphur levels or exposure to air can ruin a wine very quickly. It is the type of load that you do not realise you are carrying until it is gone - and what a relief that is

So far the vintage has been particuarly difficult due to the rain and absence of very hot days. The rain and humidity are the precursors to both powdery and downy mildew - however if an "event" is followed by very hot weather ie. 35 plus then that is sufficient to kill the active disease in the vineyard at that time. Our climate during the growing season usually has cool changes and associated rain/showers followed by a high whith very hot weather before the inevitable next change. This has not happened this year and in fact we have seen a number of sub-tropical lows arching in over us bringing considerable moisture. Some days have seemed more like Brisbane than Melbourne.

The result of all this is I have had to spray weekly rather than 10-14 day intervals.

Nets are the next thing on the agenda, followed by picking and retirement until I return to prune in July.

Cellar Door

Special

2005 Cabernets

2006 Cabernets

Twin pack

$30

Triple pack

$40

Normally $25 per bottle

 

Fine Wines from the Yarra Valley

Welcome to the Lirralirra Estate Website:

Our tiny family owned winery at the western end of the Yarra Valley is less than an hour from the centre of Melbourne. Although tiny in size our reputation is anything but, having achieved a 4 1/2 star rating from James Halliday, which puts us in the fore-front of small wineries in Australia.

We produce small quantities (maximum 100 dozen of each of the 4 varieties) of premium crafted wines using hand picked grapes from the vines we first planted in 1981. Our yields of unirrigated Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Cabernets rarely exceed 1.2 tonnes per acre. These small yields from hungry, extremely weathered clayey, siltstone soils have resulted in beautifully concentrated fruit and wines noted for their purity and length of flavour.

Because we sell all the wines we make through the cellar door we rarely sell wholesale, and then only if approached by a restaurant or retail establishment that we frequent. Thus you are unlikely to see our wines except on the tables of our discerning customers.

The cellar door is open for tasting and sales on weekends and public holidays, and everyday during the Christmas holiday period, from 10am till 6pm. As Jos and I live on the property we welcome visitors at other times ‘by chance’.

Next time you are visiting the Yarra Valley wineries, drop into our cellar door and discover why our Yarra Valley wines are so sought after– we look forward to seeing you.

Alan & Jocelyn Smith

 
The hail on Chrismas day was our only disaster so far this year
  

Doogle & Harvey behaving!


Doogle searching for grapes - when he can no longer reach
them he waits for the birds to knock them onto the table.