OATLEY

Vineyard

OATLEY

Vineyard

Hooray! Easter Medals!

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

It was the Independent English Wine Awards (IEWA) second ever competition this year and we put a couple of wines into it for the first time. Wanted to support a wine competition based in Bristol  - local to us in the West Country and a city with huge historic wine associations. 

Delighted! Both our entries got medals. That was our already much-decorated Leonora’s  2014 and our soon-to-be-released Barrel Matured 2016. The Barrel Matured is the very-limited-edition first wine from our Seguin Moreau “Fraicheur” barrique, with the acacia heads, on its first competition outing. Only 370 bottles of this made, each hand-numbered. 

Still to come this spring the main English wine competition, the WineGB awards, then the internationals, the Decanter World Wine Awards and International Wine Challenge. Two wines apiece. Results in May. Fingers crossed!

Today, hooray, I finished my pruning, except for the Madeleine Angevine vines down by the gate in Frost Corner, which we’re deliberately leaving late. A low-tech frost precaution. Their buds will break from the top of the old canes, leaving the buds we’ll need once they’re pruned still dormant. Will mean a bit of a rush in mid April to get them done but it’s worth it -spring frosts seem to be getting more common. On to tying down the rest now. Rushing to get it done before I leave for my annual coast path walking holiday with girl friends.

Our summer regular opening starts on Good Friday. Yikes, nearly upon us! Iain is replacing the tent cover and generally making everything shipshape in our tasting tent. It’s wild tasting at Oatley - all happens in an open-sided tent in front of the farmhouse, under the apple trees and close to nature.Great in the summer but looks like we’ll be putting rugs out and maybe lighting the fire pit in the shivery north westerly forecast for the Easter weekend…or maybe if the weather’s really wet and horrible, inviting wine-tasting visitors into the farmhouse...