her time out
Harvesting
for the future
As dormant vines spring to life wines of pure prestige are discovered
SPRING HAS MOST DEFINITELY sprung in our vineyard! I look from our deck across the new lettuce-green ruffled tops
of the vines, out to the now iconic outline of Mt Riley and feel that sense of purpose as the cycle of yet another season stirs up from the ground, in the air and in the cellar itself. As the previously dormant vines spring to life they are
vulnerable to spring frosts, the prospect of which will keep us sleeping lightly till any danger passes by. There is always the hope that this year will be "frost free", but we must wait and see. Jim the 'Weather Man' is the bearer of 'the good news' and the 'bad news' each night. The warning lights and alarms are placed strategically in the vineyard in front of the house, in fact in front of the bedroom! They all keep us on our mettle to protect the crop till vintage arrives in late March or early April next year. On the other side of the world, in France, Daniel's family, who still make champagne, are at the other end of cycle. The family
92 | December/January 2012 | HER MAGAZINE
