Spring Newsletter 2010

Winter is rapidly fading as we draw closer to Spring… and Spring is a most wonderful time of the year in the vineyard when we see life again kicking into the dormant vines.

Within weeks the landscape is transformed from barren areas, punctuated with skeletal vines, to a lush, vibrant green, mosaic pattern, of vines in full bloom, pregnant with the expectations of a bountiful harvest to follow.

It has been a brisk, invigorating Winter in the Hunter with some very cold periods and timely, reasonable, falls of rain.

We have experienced the best sequence of consecutive frosty mornings for many years. As we do not start pruning until the first frost, this weather pattern has suited our purposes perfectly.

The ground is quite moist underfoot and hence promises us a great start to Spring.

When the vines emerge from their Winter hibernation they grow with unexpected and substantial vigour.

They need plenty of moisture to get a good start to the growing season and this year this moisture won’t be found lacking!

At this stage it looks like a classic start to the growing season, we could not wish for anything better!

New Releases

We have 8 exciting New Releases for you in this Newsletter!

The 2010 Semillons are now bottled and our winemaker, Nick Paterson, says these are probably the very best Semillons that Mistletoe has ever produced and we commend them to you.

The 2009 Shiraz Viognier is a great follow up to the great 2008 vintage which was selected by James Halliday as one of the Top 100 Wines of 2009.

There’s a new vintage – 2009 – of the Hilltops Viognier. For those of you lucky enough to purchase some of the 2008 vintage, this will not disappoint.

And, for the very first time, we’ve bottled a straight varietal Cabernet and a Merlot. These wines were made from grapes grown in the Hilltops (Young) region of NSW.

The 2009 vintage of the Barrel Fermented Rose and the 2009 Hilltops Cabernet Merlot have also been released.

Please see the tasting notes for these new releases for more information.

The Vineyard

We embarked on a new and more (for want of a better description) organic approach to our vineyards some 5 years ago and this is now paying substantial rewards in terms of wine quality.

As we write we are about to commence spreading through the Home Vineyard some 300 cubic metres of mulch, natural composted cow and chicken manure together with mineral lime.

All these inputs replace the depletion of the soil that has taken place over the past growing season and helps prepare the vines for the travails of the coming year.

The lower cropping regimes we have introduced to the vineyards we own, and manage, and those of our loyal contract growers, has seen a remarkable improvement in wine quality and will continue to produce better fruit and in turn, better wine.

Great Results for Mistletoe in 2011 AWC

Long recognized as the most definitive wine guide published in Australia the 2011 Edition of James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion was released on July 28th 2010. Mistletoe has received a most rewarding result, retaining the coveted 5 Red Star rating, the highest accolade given in the book.

Of the 12 wines submitted for Halliday’s evaluation 11 achieved ratings of 90 points or more. Eight of those wines were rated 94 points or more, with our Mistletoe Grand Reserve Shiraz 2007 rated at 97/100!

Corporate Christmas Wine Gifts

With Christmas 2010 not too far away, it’s time to consider your corporate wine gift strategy and avoid the common last minute rush in the busiest time of the year. We’d like to help out.

Thank you!

All of us at Mistletoe would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued patronage, support and recommendations. We sincerely appreciate it!

Ken, Gwen, Robert and Cassandra Sloan and Nick Paterson.