Broomstick Newsletter Winter 2007 2007 Vintage CrushAfter carefully nurturing the vines from the first bud burst in Spring, through the heat of summer, it is a great relief to reach harvest and the culmination of the year's work. With one eye on the weather and the other on the ever increasing baume readings we carefully select the day when the grapes reach their optimum ripeness. Then we call in the harvester to begin harvesting the grapes.This year was a fine vintage albeit with a few challenges to keep us on our toes. The surprising early prediction that most of the vintage would be completed before Easter was borne out! This is a month in advance of usual harvest date. December was exceptionally dry and with the dry conditions continuing in January and February the season settled into a classic Indian summer. Usually the dry, ripening and harvesting, season in Margaret River produces full and balanced reds and very fine whites but the run of hot weather before vintage this year forced us to start picking the whites earlier than usual. The temperatures started to climb around Australia Day with a strong south easterly, a sign of very hot days to come. By late January the gauge read 39°C with the nights only dropping slightly below 25°C. Weather conditions, during the ripening phase, could really only be described as outstanding. By mid February the flavours in the reds had started to soften and colour and sugar levels rise; whilst the early white varieties were picked with fresh flavours and great acid levels translating into some great, crisp white wines. We’re so sorry… It’s tough being a small winemaker but we’re sure it is also tough being a wine lover of Broomstick Estates limited wines. So with apologies aside there is really only one way to break this to you – we only have one wine available at present. Ahh but what a wine!! Our Broomstick Estate Shiraz is from the excellent 2004 vintage, rated by James Halliday, Australia’s pre-eminent wine judge and writer, as a 9/10 vintage! Halliday also rates our wine estate as *** ½ stars – ‘….a maker of very good wines’. Not a bad result from only four vintages. Ray Jordan, Wine judge and wine writer for the West Australian described the wine as, review the 2004 Shiraz as ‘Intense’ and ‘Concentrated’. ‘…more savoury earthy character that previously. It’s remarkably soft and supple on the palate while the flavour is intense and quite concentrated. Really well integrated.’ 89/100 Ray Jordan’s Guide to WA Wines 2006/07 Order NOW and receive FREE delivery anywhere in Australia (metro areas) Our Frog Princes I can imagine it's tough in the frog-dating world. Having to describe yourself as: ’short arms and legs with a heavily built body, my back is light brown with large raised dark spots and my belly is white and I like to live in swamps!’. Might not generate a huge mating response unless you’re a Geocrinia alba ("White Bellied Frog"). So we were very excited to find the Dept of Conservation came calling to advise us that we have these little fellas in our creek area. With only 1000-1500 of them trying to survive in the area north and west of the Blackwood River, between Margaret River and Augusts, their habit is extremely restricted and fragmented. With creek clearing and the lowering of the Margaret River due to declining rainfall over the last six years their habitat is in real danger. The latest Good News is that the Perth Zoo has recently begin a breeding programme but the little blitters seems a little slow on the uptake as it takes 3-5 years for the eggs to develop into mature frogs and start calling for dates! Four years ago Gary and the Frog Crew moved some eggs and they have just started to record some calls so things are starting to hot up in the swamp!! Check out the White-bellied Frog love talk. At Broomstick Estate we make a concerted effort to work with our environment, utilizing frog friendly sprays and respecting their habitat. As a testament to our green credentials, our frog tenants are happy and thriving in the Broomstick creek. Our aim is to live together as neighbours for a long time to come. The Virtual Tasting Room Welcome, great to see you again. Today we are going to enjoy some great Shiraz and learn a little bit about how to taste a wine and what to look for in a good Shiraz. Hopefully you have a glass of Broomstick Estate 2004 Shiraz in front of you. You will have only poured about two-fingers of wine into the glass and now I want you to hold it in one hand and gentle swirl the wine for 5-7 seconds – now bring the glass to your nose and close your eyes – you should be able to recognize cherries and chocolates… The Broomstick Estate Shiraz is from the Southern Margaret River region so we get cool climate elegant aromas and flavours. Black and red berries such as cherry, raspberry and mulberry are dominant cool climate characters. A touch of white pepper and the distinctive Margaret River regional mint are all there. Warmer area Shiraz’s will have black olive, plum and liquorice flavours. Chocolate is another flavour quite characteristic of a good Shiraz. Now hold the wine on its side against a piece of white paper and you will see a bright red wine showing that this is still a young one. As red wines age they deepen in colour and the edge of the wine shows brick red colours. Time to actually taste the wine – Take a small mouthful then suck in a bit of air into your mouth as well. This is called aspirating the wine and it allows the wonderful flavours to fill your mouth and is picked up by your olfactory. OK enough of the technical stuff. A good Shiraz should show many of the aromas, which were evident on the nose, and importantly it should not have too much acid or too much oak. The better wines are those that are created to be in balance when you buy them, nothing should stick out on your plate – it should be a ball of great flavours. Any questions?? Well we hope you enjoyed your first Virtual tasting and learned a little more about wine tasting and Shiraz. Cheers. Ahoy Broomstick yacht! Now this is where our Broomstick wines like to be seen. The Yacht Broomstick was built in South Africa to win the Cape Town to Rio Yacht Race and was converted to a sailboat charter in 2001 - but her racing spirit still remains! Yacht Broomstick can will take you on an unforgettable snorkelling - scuba diving vacation throughout the Whitsunday Islands and visit the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Do you have a great pic of your or a friend with a bottle of Broomstick Estate then Email Us the pic and if we use it in our e-Newsletter you will be enjoying a case of Broomstick Estate on us.
2007 Vintage CrushAfter carefully nurturing the vines from the first bud burst in Spring, through the heat of summer, it is a great relief to reach harvest and the culmination of the year's work. With one eye on the weather and the other on the ever increasing baume readings we carefully select the day when the grapes reach their optimum ripeness. Then we call in the harvester to begin harvesting the grapes.This year was a fine vintage albeit with a few challenges to keep us on our toes. The surprising early prediction that most of the vintage would be completed before Easter was borne out! This is a month in advance of usual harvest date.
December was exceptionally dry and with the dry conditions continuing in January and February the season settled into a classic Indian summer. Usually the dry, ripening and harvesting, season in Margaret River produces full and balanced reds and very fine whites but the run of hot weather before vintage this year forced us to start picking the whites earlier than usual.
The temperatures started to climb around Australia Day with a strong south easterly, a sign of very hot days to come. By late January the gauge read 39°C with the nights only dropping slightly below 25°C.
Weather conditions, during the ripening phase, could really only be described as outstanding.
By mid February the flavours in the reds had started to soften and colour and sugar levels rise; whilst the early white varieties were picked with fresh flavours and great acid levels translating into some great, crisp white wines.
We’re so sorry…
It’s tough being a small winemaker but we’re sure it is also tough being a wine lover of Broomstick Estates limited wines. So with apologies aside there is really only one way to break this to you – we only have one wine available at present.
Ahh but what a wine!! Our Broomstick Estate Shiraz is from the excellent 2004 vintage, rated by James Halliday, Australia’s pre-eminent wine judge and writer, as a 9/10 vintage!
Halliday also rates our wine estate as *** ½ stars – ‘….a maker of very good wines’. Not a bad result from only four vintages.
Ray Jordan, Wine judge and wine writer for the West Australian described the wine as, review the 2004 Shiraz as ‘Intense’ and ‘Concentrated’.
‘…more savoury earthy character that previously. It’s remarkably soft and supple on the palate while the flavour is intense and quite concentrated. Really well integrated.’ 89/100
Ray Jordan’s Guide to WA Wines 2006/07
Order NOW and receive FREE delivery anywhere in Australia (metro areas)
Our Frog Princes
I can imagine it's tough in the frog-dating world. Having to describe yourself as: ’short arms and legs with a heavily built body, my back is light brown with large raised dark spots and my belly is white and I like to live in swamps!’.
Might not generate a huge mating response unless you’re a Geocrinia alba ("White Bellied Frog").
So we were very excited to find the Dept of Conservation came calling to advise us that we have these little fellas in our creek area. With only 1000-1500 of them trying to survive in the area north and west of the Blackwood River, between Margaret River and Augusts, their habit is extremely restricted and fragmented. With creek clearing and the lowering of the Margaret River due to declining rainfall over the last six years their habitat is in real danger.
The latest Good News is that the Perth Zoo has recently begin a breeding programme but the little blitters seems a little slow on the uptake as it takes 3-5 years for the eggs to develop into mature frogs and start calling for dates! Four years ago Gary and the Frog Crew moved some eggs and they have just started to record some calls so things are starting to hot up in the swamp!!
Check out the White-bellied Frog love talk.
At Broomstick Estate we make a concerted effort to work with our environment, utilizing frog friendly sprays and respecting their habitat. As a testament to our green credentials, our frog tenants are happy and thriving in the Broomstick creek. Our aim is to live together as neighbours for a long time to come.
The Virtual Tasting Room
Welcome, great to see you again. Today we are going to enjoy some great Shiraz and learn a little bit about how to taste a wine and what to look for in a good Shiraz.
Hopefully you have a glass of Broomstick Estate 2004 Shiraz in front of you. You will have only poured about two-fingers of wine into the glass and now I want you to hold it in one hand and gentle swirl the wine for 5-7 seconds – now bring the glass to your nose and close your eyes – you should be able to recognize cherries and chocolates…
The Broomstick Estate Shiraz is from the Southern Margaret River region so we get cool climate elegant aromas and flavours. Black and red berries such as cherry, raspberry and mulberry are dominant cool climate characters. A touch of white pepper and the distinctive Margaret River regional mint are all there. Warmer area Shiraz’s will have black olive, plum and liquorice flavours. Chocolate is another flavour quite characteristic of a good Shiraz.
Now hold the wine on its side against a piece of white paper and you will see a bright red wine showing that this is still a young one. As red wines age they deepen in colour and the edge of the wine shows brick red colours.
Time to actually taste the wine – Take a small mouthful then suck in a bit of air into your mouth as well. This is called aspirating the wine and it allows the wonderful flavours to fill your mouth and is picked up by your olfactory.
OK enough of the technical stuff. A good Shiraz should show many of the aromas, which were evident on the nose, and importantly it should not have too much acid or too much oak. The better wines are those that are created to be in balance when you buy them, nothing should stick out on your plate – it should be a ball of great flavours.
Any questions??
Well we hope you enjoyed your first Virtual tasting and learned a little more about wine tasting and Shiraz. Cheers.
Ahoy Broomstick yacht!
Now this is where our Broomstick wines like to be seen. The Yacht Broomstick was built in South Africa to win the Cape Town to Rio Yacht Race and was converted to a sailboat charter in 2001 - but her racing spirit still remains!
Yacht Broomstick can will take you on an unforgettable snorkelling - scuba diving vacation throughout the Whitsunday Islands and visit the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Do you have a great pic of your or a friend with a bottle of Broomstick Estate then Email Us the pic and if we use it in our e-Newsletter you will be enjoying a case of Broomstick Estate on us.
