WINDY RIDGE VINEYARD

1. FERMENTATION TANKS

Grapes are brought to the winery within 30 minutes of picking & crushed through a CRUSHER-DESTEMMER, which removes the stems & drops the grape juice (which at this stage is colourless), pulp & skins into the stainless steel FERMENTATION TANKS. Here the juice ferments for about a week: the YEAST cells convert the sugar to alcohol; the alcohol helps extract the colour & tannin from the skins, and flavour from just beneath the skins.

2. PRESS

When the ferment is almost complete, the wine is pumped to a storage tank, and the skins & pips transferred to the PRESS, where moderate pressure is used to remove most of the liquid. The remaining MARC is returned to the vineyard as fertiliser.

5. STAINLESS STEEL STORAGE TANKS

The wine finishes its ferment here, and the yeast cells & other sediments are given time to settle. The wine will be transferred to OAK BARRELS after about 6 months in stainless steel.

4. MATURATION BARRELS (FRENCH OAK)

Once in oak, the wine will continue to clarify, will take on a subtle oak taste (tannin) & smell, and will slowly mature into a softer, more complex wine. A second ferment (MALO-LACTIC FERMENT) takes place here during the following summer, softening the acid taste. Our reds stay in a mix of new and old oak barrels for up to four years. Our Pinot Noir is aged in French oak; Cabernet Sauvignon & Malbec in French oak &/or American oak, depending on the 'weight' of the wine.

5. BOTTLING UNIT; CORKER; CAPSULER; LABELLER.

The finished wine from several oak barrels is blended into one large stainless steel tank, hand bottled, corked, capsuled & boxed. The bottles are later labelled ready for sale: ....... Enjoy !!!

In WINTER, while the vines are DORMANT, we prune them, keeping several CANES on each vine. The total number of BUDS remaining on a vine will determine, next season, the vine vigour, grape quantity, & ripening process.

In SPRING, each BUD will grow into a SHOOT and become a CANE, usually with one to three BUNCHES of grapes, and around 15 to 20 leaves (if the pruning level was appropriate.)

In SUMMER, the bunches of tiny 'grapes' FLOWER, followed by fruit set, and gradual berry enlargement.

By AUTUMN, the berries have changed colour: VERAISON. Ripening follows: increasing colour, flavour & sweetness, and changing acid content.

WEEDS are controlled with a late winter under-vine herbicide spray, and regular SLASHING between the vine rows.

Grapevine in South Gippsland are susceptible to POWDERY MILDEW and DOWNY MILDEW. Protection is achieved with monthly summer spraying of a mix of sulphur and a copper compound (similar to Bordeaux mix).

Bird netting is applied as soon as the grapes start to change colour: VERAISON, and removed as we pick the grapes: mid to late April for Pinot Noir and Traminer; late April to late May for Cabernet Sauvignon & Malbec.

The quality of the wines produced depend largely upon the conditions under which the grapes grow. At Windy Ridge, the combination of soil; rainfall (no irrigation); a long, mild growing season, and terraced north-easterly aspect combine to produce grapes of outstanding quality: excellent colour, flavour and structure.

WINDY RIDGE VINEYARD & WINERY