What an awesome effort, team! I knew you had it in you!

After my Quiz sob story last week, you blew me away with all your responses.

Thanks so much for taking the time to enter. You guys are the best!

Now, before I announce the winner, let’s take a look at the answers…

(oh, and one thing I forgot to mention last week, is that I don’t really care if you get them all right. You just have to have given it a go!)

 

1. What variety is Rob’s newest wine ?

b) Lagrein

And boy, this one is something special (although, I probably say that about all of his wines!). Read all about it here.

 

2. On the Somerled Wine Days calendar, which “day” commemorates Lucy’s birthday?

Of course the answer is…

a) Somerled Pinot Noir and McDonald’s Quarter Pounder (with extra onion) Day

And in case you’re interested the Shiraz and Beef Pie pairing belongs to Rob, Heather can’t say no to the classic Chardonnay and Stirling Chicken & Chips combo and Emma loves some Fumé Blanc with her Battered SA Whiting, Chips & Tartare (hold the dill).

And while we’re on the topic, yesterday was officially…

Champagne and French Fries Day!

This one doesn’t belong to a member of the Moody family. It was invented by one woman (she writes this wine blog) who decided that her favourite food and wine pairing needed to be celebrated each year… on her birthday (January 10th)!

Here’s what she has to say about why Champagne pairs so well with French Fries…

“Champagne, in addition to being the greatest beverage on earth and French fries being the single greatest food, together they make the most harmonious wine pairing known to humankind.”

Big call! Whether or not we agree with her, there is some science behind why this pairing could work well.

Champagne has high acidity and effervescence. French fries have fat and salt. Acid is essential for cutting through fat and salt. The bubbles in Champagne also cleanse the palate and prepare your mouth for more French fries!

Sounds like a match made in heaven to me!

 

Anyway, where were we? oh, yes…

 

3. What is our “current” vintage of Shiraz ?

c) 2021

 

4. What does OTBN stand for?

c) Open THAT Bottle Night

Why wait for a “special” occasion to open that bottle of wine you’ve been saving when you can do it on Saturday 24th February?! Add it to your diaries, people.

 

 

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5. What is our 2023 Rosé made from?

d) A blend of Pinot Noir and Tempranillo

While a good percentage of it is Tempranillo, Rob blended it with some Pinot Noir to make what I think is one of his best Rosé’s yet!

 

6. According to Rabobank’s Wine Quarterly Q3 2023 report what is the size of Australia’s over-supply of wine?

c) 2 billion litres

2.8 billion bottles, 116 bottles per person or enough to fill 860 Olympic swimming pools.

Whichever way you look at it, it’s a lot!

 

7. A vineyard in WA is using which animal to help control snails?

c) Ducks

How cute!

 

8. A group of furious French winemakers protested cheap Spanish wine imports by hurling dozens of crates of Spanish sparkling wine off a lorry at the French/Spanish border back in October.

True

Of course it was true (insert eyeroll emoji)…

 

And the extra bonus question…

9. What is your favourite Somerled wine?

I think the only appropriate answer is one that wasn’t there…

m) all of the above (although I will accept any and all combinations!)

 

Drumroll, please…

The winner is Glenys Doherty. Congratulations! 

Let’s chat about that prize (which is still on my “chat to Lucy about” to do list!) when you next pop in.

And thanks again to everyone for entering (especially those who went to the next levels to make me laugh with their creative answers!).

 

Back in the real world…

I promise, I’ll get back to the important stuff next week. For now, I’ll just give you super quick vineyard quick update:

 

All varieties are now at bunch closure (E-L 32).

It won’t be long until we start seeing some colour in those berries and we can start thinking about the beginning of harvest.

We’ve got a while to go yet, though and the rain and cooler weather at the beginning of the season (up until about now, really) haven’t done us any favours (let’s talk more about disease next week).

The weather last and this week has moved things along a bit. Warmer temperatures and above average rainfall in December has seen strong shoot growth. Check out that little red line…

Anyway, I could go on (and probably would), so I’ll stop now and fill you in on all the details next week.