03/05/2012 » News
We have pretty much broken the back of the 2012 vintage, having harvested 450 tonnes of fruit. We have approximately 100 tonnes of fruit still to harvest mainly Sauvignon blanc from a couple of our local contract growers. The harvest has run smoothly thanks to a fantastic crew in the winery & to the weather which held on, as we all prayed!
The dig-out challenge has gone down to the wire with the 2 teams level however we had a clear individual winner – Tom who broke all records doing it in 3.47 minutes or 362kg/minute (the nearest competitor 280kg/minute). Tom is now going to take on Beauden Barrett of the Hurricanes in a dig-out challenge next Thursday10th May @ 3.30pm. Palliser is sponsoring Beauden this season & he is being a great sport for coming up to get involved in the real winery action. For those of you who were wondering, a “dig-out” is when the Pinot noir tank has finished fermenting, the wine has been drained off & the remaining skins are “dug-out” & pressed to get the remaining good bits out. It’s a dirty & hard job but someone has to do it & hence the competition to make it fun.
Yesterday Richard put on his vintage lunch special for the whole team – an impressive feast of white-bait fritters, crayfish & paua, plus a few extras from his sous-chef Jo! The 2012 vintage will be remembered fondly as one with a great team, great food & weather that came right when needed & saved us! Hopefully this time next week all our fruit will be off the vines & happily doing its thing in the winery.
Author: Pip
15/04/2012 » News
Jane kicked off our 2012 challenge – digging out our first tank of completed Pinot noir for the season in 8.26 mins (or 0.102 tonnes/min). Jane is in the day team (vs the night team) and has got them off to a great start. The prize is yet to be decided, well other than pride that is! Check out our facebook page for the latest photos & the leader board results through-out the harvest http://www.facebook.com/PalliserEstateWines
Author: Pip
11/04/2012 » News
The team is all assembled & vintage officially kicked off with our first vintage lunch today. It is the first time everyone has had an opportunity to get together to celebrate the start of the 2012 harvest & there is no better way than with a meal prepared by Jo plus a quality wine or two!
Our team for the harvest joining Allan & Pip in the cellar is – Jane (Kiwi lady who is returning for her 2nd vintage with us), Alex (German), Pippa (Scottish) & Tom who is another Kiwi & who has worked previously at Villa Maria. We have a great team on board & I am sure a lot of fun will be had in between making some great wines & hard work.
Author: Pip
08/04/2012 » News
The clone 15 Chardonnay from our Om Santi Vineyard was picked today – a glorious sunny Easter Sunday in Martinborough. The fruit is looking good, the winery a hive of activity and a buzz in the air. Alex (our German intern) has been the first to get the forklift stuck but luckily for him everyone still has their sense of humour intact!
Author: Pip
02/04/2012 » News
The team is starting to assemble, picking bins being cleaned & the winery being prepared for the up-coming vintage. We are anticipating picking within the next week which as everyone knows is a little later than normal due to the cooler season. Pippa from Scotland has started today & Alex from Germany is now also in the winery after serving his first few weeks apprenticeship in the vineyard. The rest of our winery crew will be on board next week when hopefully we will be into the 2012 harvest.
Author: Pip
