Introduction

Welcome everyone to our first real edition of the “The Worx” The Vintage Wineworx official monthly newsletter!

This newsletter will now become a regular feature on our website updated monthly by myself. Those clients who have subscribed will receive their monthly newsletter sent to the email address of their choice, anyone who hasn’t previously received a newsletter - and would like to do so, please subscribe using the link below. The aim of the newsletter is to keep people up-to-date on the happenings within the winery whether it be show results, staff changes, equipment updates or general news and information.

I hope you find the newsletter useful and entertaining, if you have any news you would like added please email the details through to myself on colleen@wineworx.com.au

Kind Regards,
Colleen Ryan – Marketing and Logistics Co-ordinator

James Halliday Opens the New Winery and Bottling Line

11th October, 2007. Official opening of the new extension

James Halliday kindly accepted our invitation to open the expansion for us which we were very pleased about. The day was a great success. We are very excited about being able to offer our clients a premium winemaking service that goes from the vineyard to the packaged wine. The new bottling line means improved quality control at the final step which is one of the most important steps in the whole process. We can also now offer storage of dry goods and packaged wine at competitive prices to our clients.

New Staff

From left to right: (back row) Greg Jones, Kevin Purnell, Brett Turble, Bill Crappsley (middle row) Sandra Cluning, Tammy Sims, Colleen Ryan and Di Miller (front) Colin Kerr, Jacob Longwood and Sam Hambley.

Jacob Longwood who was previously our cellar manager has joined us again to be our Production Manager. Jacob and his fiance own Fio’s Café in Mt Barker and so are heavily involved in the food and wine industry. Jacob has many years experience in the cellar and the vineyard and is a real asset to our team.

Colleen Ryan has joined us as a new team member. Her role is that of Marketing and Logistics Co-Ordinator. Colleen was born and grew up in Albany and has spent 6 years with Telstra. She is keen to learn about wine and vineyards and will come out and visit each of you in the coming months.

Colleen’s email: colleen@wineworx.com.au
Colleen’s mobile: 0419 931503

Current Staff

Sandra Cluning, our assistant winemaker, enjoyed a month in Ireland in July where she attended a friend’s wedding and discovered she didn’t like real Guiness after all. (What a wasted opportunity!) Colleen and Sandra have both recently attended a HACCP Food Safety course in Perth as part of the winery’s plan to become HACCP certified which is something export markets are asking for. We are also researching carbon emissions as it is such a hot topic in the UK market in particular. We’ll update you on both these projects early next year.

Greg Jones, our winemaker extraordinaire, is busy trying to study and work as usual and he is doing an excellent job. His patience over the new bottling line has had to be seen to be believed!

Sam Hambley, with us in the cellar since January this year is continuing his studies as a Cellarhand Apprentice, and is enjoying the study.

2007 Awards

So far this year, we have once again, had great show success and we’d like to congratulate all those involved in the production of these magnificent wines.

We have triumphed with a Trophy at the 2007 Royal Perth Wine Show, won Top Gold at the 2007 London International Wine & Spirits Competition and received scores of Gold, Silver and Bronze at various wine shows including the 2007 New Zealand International Wine Show, Qantas Mt Barker Wine Show just to name a few.

To view our full Awards list please visit our new website at www.wineworx.com.au

Latest Equipment Update

We of course now have a brand new bottling line capable of cork and screw cap application, and new labeler which has 3 heads so we can apply medals where requested, and glue carton sealer.

We have a new shed capable of storage for our clients.

We also have a new battery operated forklift purely for the bottling line and storage use, with special clear tyres that will not mark the floor with black rubber marks. Being battery operated means that it can be operated in the shed with the doors closed, which is important during bottling, and not spurt out fumes on our staff or the wine!

We have just placed an order for 4 Tankmate micro-oxygenation systems capable of micro-oxygenating 4 tanks of wine at a time. These units will be available for use in clients wines at a fee per litre per month.

Micro-oxygenation mimics the action of what happens in the barrel and means wines can be created without barrels. We have had almost 4 years experience in using this technology and advice from Australia’s guru on the technique, Robert Paul.

We have used cross-flow filtration extensively this year for the first time, and plan to do so again next year. This filtration technique means wines only need to be filtered once and so saves on volume losses and also decreases movement of the wines around the winery which helps to improve their quality. The cost of the filtration is part of the normal winemaking rates.

Website and Client information flow

Our new website is up and running. And very soon, it will enable us to give our clients current information on all their wines and stock here at the winery at any time of the day or night. This will prove especially helpful at harvest time when we can put all the grape analysis and vineyard visit feedback on the site.

Meantime, you are welcome to ask us for information any time. Colleen answers the phone most times it rings and when she is unavailable, my mobile number is 0427 411 152 and Greg is on 0428 531020. Please leave a message if we don’t answer and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Visiting the winery

We now ask that all visitors to the winery let us know in advance that you are coming by either emailing or phoning Colleen and then please come up the office first to say hello so we can record your visit in our visitors book. This is a Worksafe requirement and it also means we can meet your needs more efficiently if we know when you’re coming and what you would like to taste/obtain when you’re here.

Di Miller Update

Yours truly has had a big year. I passed my first year of the Master of Wine course in July and I am now in second year which is very exciting. As part of being an MW student, I was lucky enough to go to Bordeaux in April and visited many Chateaux. Soon I will visit Spain as part of my professional development (it’s tough but someone has to do it!). Studying the MW has already helped me broaden my wine experience and perspective and it is a good way to keep my palate ‘global’ rather than settling in to just the wines we make and see here at Wineworx. I think this has already been of great benefit to my winemaking skills.

I was also fortunate enough to be invited back to associate judge again at the Perth Royal Show this year. I have since been Judge at the Swan Valley Show and will do the Geographe Show tomorrow. The more wines I get to taste, the more trained my palate remains and shows also provide me with the opportunity to discuss winemaking tricks and latest techniques with colleagues from across the state and the nation.

Earlier this year, I was nominated for Telstra Businesswoman of the Year and I have made it through to the state finals. This is something of which I am very proud as it reflects well on the winery and on all our staff and clients. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your business and the opportunity to work with your fruit. I look forward to continuing to do so for many years to come.

Best wishes and see you soon,

Di

Diane Miller
Senior Winemaker/Winery Manager
THE VINTAGE WINEWORX