Greylands Ridge Newsletter May 2008

Greylands Ridge Newsletter april 2009

Autumn greetings to you all. We have some news but not all of it good.

Chandos our vineyard dog (14 year old English Collie Huntaway cross) went to the great barking ground in the sky last month. The place is very quiet without him and the whole family grieves. In the spring we are going to get an SPCA pound puppy when we launch our second label ridgeback "ALEX" named after our Ridgeback cross dog who died in 2004. Chandos will get his name on a vintage in due course.

The Economy

The economic situation for small vineyards is very tough at present especially those still needing capital for growth and marketing. The Australian Banks have decided that investment in vineyards is not a priority probably because of the Australian wine lake. They do not understand that New Zealand produces top end of the market wine which is a premium product. Unfortunately the development of a tasting facility has gone on hold for 2009/2010.

Grape Crop & New Vintages

The grape crop this year is not going to be large but the quality is good and I estimate around 7-10 Tonnes instead of the 21 from last vintage. We harvest in around 2 weeks weather permitting.

New Wines

We have finished bottling the 2008 vintage. 157 cases of Greylands Ridge 2008 and 1300 cases of ridgeback ‘ALEX”. These will be released in September.

We tasted and sold very well at The Clyde Wine and Food Festival on Easter Sunday and Judy is working very hard on a marketing initiative for 2009.

STOCK: We still have some 2006 and 2007 both of which are getting better and better in the bottle.

New Idea

Would you be interested in the establishment of a Greylands Ridge Wine Club where you could buy 2 bottles every 3 months rather than case or half case lots. Perhaps better in this economic climate. Let us know.

We will be sending out a Winter Flyer and order form next month and can assure you that the 2006 is excellent with good winter ‘comfort food”.

Kindest Regards
Patrick and Judy