Bindi Heathcote Pyrette Shiraz 2009

Yes. Indulgences.
Full nose. Subtle blackberry conserve primary. Spice comes through. Savoury black olive tapenade. Smmoth fruit. Length. Length. Absolute indulgence. Super length. Not much left. Get it. But not mine.

Drink with char grilled beef - again I know
Drink till 2019
98
Diam cork 13.5%v/v 

Memories Part I; Vue de monde Pinot Noir by Bindi 2007

 

Sitting around the chefs table many years ago at Vue de monde the idea of a serious house wine was realised. Bindi from Macedon was going to be the Pinot Noir. This is it's story, or one of its stories - cue Law & Order 'dung dung' tune.

Quite simple - its 2013, yet the wine is still singing. Spice and tart fruit still hold sway with cinnamon and cranberry evident. A smack of toffee is the primary palate with the mid palate all about spice and prickly acid. A cracking wine, but sad to say, all gone. Special one that Dennis!!!

Kids in the vineyard

Another season is pretty much wrapped up at Bindi. All wine is safely in barrels slowly ticking away and all that is left is leaf-fall. Time for the kids to have a run up in Block K then ...

Vintage 2013 Bindi diary; Day 4

The nets are all out!! Thank beejeesus is all I can say; it's all everyone can say really. The nets are out.

Day 2 was pretty much like day 1 except for the nest of course. What was really different was the lack of power, and when I say power I don't mean we were acting like wuss bags but the winery actually lost power - electricity power. Stuff pretty much stopped after then. Thanks anonymous power company that's starts with A, and finishes near  K & M.

Anywhoo, the power enabled us to get back out to the vineyard and put the final nets out; rows 58-70 in block 4 to be precise. So like I said, The nets are all out!! Thank beejeesus.

And it was out there putting nets out that I realised how far there is to go before we kick off vintage for the estate fruit. Just look at this Block K Pinot Noir fruit.

So the nets are out, we got that. But before all of that we had some pump overs that got stalled. Only in power not the other. The thing is though not all of them got started, only about 6 of them. The rest are still juicing it out - check these pics out!! Oh and note, the one that looks like a shiraz spa bath was just pumped over. And yes, I did want to jump in - like it was a spa. How awesome would that be, and just a little bit sticky; still just a lot of sugar and all.

And in between all of this Wendy and Michael put on another smashing lunch. But no 1er Cru today, just some delicious 2012 Pyrette barrel samples. Stay tuned, like Meeka is.

Vintage 2013 Bindi diary; Day 3

Day 3, but technically day 1 for me thanks to heat and a dumbarse motorbike rider. Anyway, I'm here and we're off and running for vintage 2013.

Quick re-cap; the Shiraz fruit arrived at the winery from Heathcote at about 6.30pm Saturday - about 14 tonne - where 15 wine bins with partial whole bunch were filled by about midnight. Sunday was all about keeping the pots covered and cool; do not want ferment to kick off just yet.

So here we are at Monday. A mini heat wave is what we are going through right now. Today was the seventh straight +30 degree day so keeping the winery cool, so that means crank up the air-con. But wait!! Before you cry out, 'wont someone please think of the planet', stop. Bindi is powered by solar panels and also has a wind turbine; both put power back into the grid. Oh it was so cool in the winery today.

Today was also the day I met the new family member up at Bindi - Meeka. I'm not good on dog breeds so I'm just going to take a stab and say she's an 8 week old kelpy-something-cross. One word - wooshie-wooshie-wooshie-woo (just be grateful I didn't spell the hyphen's!).

As I entered the winery this morning I was instantly hit with a massive whack of mulberry fruit and brown bread. Mulberry fruit is pretty obvious, but the brown bread was all due to the wild yeast; a wild yeast that hasn't kick off yet, but just introducing itself I guess. But brown bread, and it smelt awesome.

Now pump-overs are exactly what it sounds like. And its gotta be done. The cap hadn't risen so we had no ferment kickoff. That's exactly what we wanted. And that's it. One more pump over at 4.30, some fixing up of nets and that was the day. That and a swim in the pool and a steak lunch with a bottle of 2010 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cr. Civilised wouldn't you say.

My friend Bill Dhillon

On the morning of January 26th this year, Australia Day, my friend Bill Dhillon passed away. At his side were his son Michael and his wife Wendy, and his daughter Jenny. As far as I am aware Bill passed away fully knowing that his time was up, and knowing Bill there would not have been any fuss or fanfare; the man I knew would not complain nor bemoan the situation he was placed in.

I met Bill the first day I worked up at Bindi in February 2005. It was actually February 21st, a Monday; up until recently I have kept a short journal on every day I have worked in a vineyard/cellar going back to Champagne in 1997. My arrival to the vineyard was about 15 minutes late, which meant Michael and Kelvin were up the top of Block K. After parking my car I ventured to the winery where I first met Bill. An imposing man, Bill stood quite a few inches north of six feet tall, and for anyone who knows me they will know that I stand quite a few inches south of six feet, so yes, imposing. After introductions were made Bill and I walked up to the top of Block K, which effectively is the top of the property. In that 5 minute walk Bill pretty much explained why Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were the only varieties planted in the six hectares at Bindi; integrity to variety, in so much as treat the grape right and it will treat you right. He said this with a smile and a short giggle as we approached Michael and Kelvin. I will always remember that.

Over the past eight years I have been travelling up the Calder Highway on a sort of regular and irregular basis. Be it vintage or general vineyard and cellar work to bottling and pruning, Bill was a regular presence. And it was bottling that I think Bill really enjoyed, for it was a time where friends and family of Bindi would gather to share duties around the bottling line. Over the years the bottling line has changed quite a lot. These days there is an efficient factory line energy where few surprises occur along the way. In past it has been a little skew-if, so much so I had to measure the ullage of the bottled wine with callipers to make sure there was enough wine in the bottles. And the one constant through all of this was Bill Dhillons smile and gentle laugh. He put everyone at ease. And with every bottling run we would sit down at the end and feast on a late lunch or early dinner prepared by Wendy.

And with every meal Bill and Michael were always generous with wine with a selection of just bottled and back vintage wines. So with every glass toped up, Bill would always sing the praise of the wine and pass comment on what he thought and then would ask others what they thought; it seemed every new glass was the best Bill had ever seen - there was never an ill word or excuse from Bill about Bindi, or for any other wine we would share at these meals. This was not Bills style.

 One of the last times I saw Bill was mid December last year. Paul and I had been working in Block 1, and with the aid of my weather app it was decided that we head up to the winery - fast. We had just made it to the winery when the heavens opened. And boy did they open. In just under 15 minutes the rain gauge received 17mm; thats a lot. It was a warm day to start with so after the rain had stopped Paul and I ventured back down to Block 1. On the way we passed Bill on his veranda where we stopped for a chat. As always we were greeted with a smile. As we looked to the north we noticed that above the tree lines were thick billows of steam. I remarked on this, and instead of saying this was normal and he had seen this before, Bill smiled and chuckled and commented that he had never seen that before. What a sight was what he said.

It was almost fitting that Bill passed on January 26th. Bill was a very proud man and you got the impression also that he was a very proud man of his heritage. January 26th is not only Australia Day but also when the Republic of India was officially proclaimed in 1950. Often you would see the Indian flag fly above the winery at Bindi. You would also see many other flags fly above the winery. Everyone was welcome in Bills eyes.

 Farewell Bill and rest in peace. You will be missed and I am sorry that I have lost a friend.

The remains of 2012 - Bindi Macedon Ranges Cuvée V Chardonnay/Pinot Noir

I reckon later on today I will post my top picks for last year, even though it is this year today, the year after last that finished yesterday. You get that?

The Bindi Macedon Ranges Cuvée V Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, disgorged 2011, is just pure sexual liquid goodness. I know I bang on about Bindi wines pretty much all the time, but in all honesty, there is not really a wine where you would tie up like a piñata and go to it with a stick is there? So, the wine.

Still holding a straw/yellow colour in the glass with a supwer fine bead, the nose has an instant whack of gingerbread - very festive don't you think? The palate pleases as much as the nose with generous brioche and more gingerbread in there all neatly held together by subtle grapefruit acid.

I have still got about 3 bottles of this in my cellar and am convinced that this wine will still be singing when my boy Henry will be graduating from uni, give or take 20-25 years I reckon. I reckon well.

Drink with tuna sashimi
Drink till 2030
98
Diam cork 12%v/v $$$

Bindi Macedon Ranges 1992 Chardonnay

It has come and gone just like that. Christmas 2012 is but a recent memory, and for some of us, a loosening of the belt. Like with most Xmas days I try and pull something schmick out of the cellar; didn't have to think too hard this year. The Bindi Macedon Ranges 1992 Chardonnay. It may not have a label, but when it is given to me by Michael Dhillon I just take his word for it.

The colour was turning orange with hints of straw yellow in the hue. The nose was a bomb of creme brulee, almonds and dried figs. The palate was just amazing with acid still prominent. There are not too many Australian Chardonnays that have the chutzpah to hang in there. Twenty years people, and a first vintage to boot!

Drink till 2015
Drink with my salmon gravlax - a Susan if ever there was one
99
Natural cork 12%v/v

Craiglee Sunbury Chardonnay 1996

Stonkingly. Good. Stonkingly good. Stonkinglygood. Doesn't matter how you say it. The Craiglee Sunbury Chardonnay 1996 was today's knock off beer at Bindi. But no, beer is really good after a hot day in the vineyard. But anyway.

Who would have thunk it that in 2012 a 16 year old Australian chardonnay would be this good. And youthful. And awesome. In the glass the wine still has a youthful white wine look about it, with just a touch of colour age about it. The nose smells very 1996 with crème caramel with some orange and grapefruit pith. The palate however? 1996 no way! A massive mix of soft butterscotch, creaminess, citrus in the way of pithy and taste, and above all fine and persistent acid. With a wine, and espicially chardonnay, at this age the acid would have pretty much been swallowed up by time. Not here. Acid is all preset here.

One of the best knock off beers I've ever had.

Drink with grilled marron
Drink till 2018
97
Quality cork 13%v/v http://www.craiglee.com.au/

Jamsheed Beechworth Syrah 2011

My body hurts. You see I've just spent the past few days up in vineyard at Bindi; lifting wires, dropping wires, snipping watershoots and leaving watershoots. My body hurts. That was hard work.

Now I could have come home and opened one of the many wines from Bindi I got for being a top bloke, but that would have been a little predictable don't you think! But I wanted something grand. Something schmick. The Jamsheed Beechworth Syrah 2011.

Its only a young wine but by goodness, what a young wine. Blackish purple in the glass, the nose opens up with blackfruit, black licorice and slight olive - black - tapanade. It's the new black you might say. Plenty of minerality up front with acid and silky smooth tannins riding shotgun. The wine is just super. I love it. My body still hurts.

Drink with rare roast beef and horseradish rolls
Drink till 2020
97
Diam cork with wax seal 13%v/v $44 Blackhearts & Sparrows, Brunswick

Bindi Bottling 2012 - Quartz, Original Vineyard and Block 5

It's the day after bottling and the body is a bit sore and the house is quiet. And the rain keeps coming down. It's also cold! Hemingway I aint?

It should have been a quick day, but things don't always go to plan. What did go to plan however was the quality of the wine. The Bindi Quartz Chardonnay, Original Vineyard and Block 5 Pinot Noir's were all sitting in tank, all looking schmick as, but the mobile bottling truck got bogged at the top of block 4. It's a big truck, and big trucks do not get un-bogged easily.

It was also a slow start down here in Brunswick. All things being equal, I should have been in the winery at 7.30am, which is a 6.50am departure from home. Finishing work at midnight after a 15 hour day means that when the alarm goes off, a flurry a lewd expletives follows, the alarm gets tossed and sleep returns. So waking up at 8.45am, more expletives, a cold shower thanks to gas works and I'm off up the Calder. I pull up to the winery and the Quartz has all been bottled and some usuals, some newbie's, are milling around the winery enjoying cake and morning tea. I am greeted with a glass of Quartz Chardonnay, with Michael nodding, 'What do you think?'. Well, what do I think? I think this is a stunningly linear and focused wine that, the stuff I'm sipping anyway, didn't make it to bottle. Just imagine what it's going to be like in the bottle over the coming years - bit like a 1st year player winning the Brownlow.

It was the Original Vineyards turn next with the gremlins of earlier coming back. After a splutter the bottling line got rolling along nicely and the next thing you know there are 4 palates packed away and lunch is waiting in the winery. The Block 5 Pinot was next and like the Original Vineyard, some gremlins hindered the start but as soon as we knew it we had 2½ palates or so and things were motoring.

The last wine is one that Michael will be experimenting with over the next few years. When I say experimenting I mean that he is taking a sample of juice from the bottom and top of Block K, the highest altitude block on the vineyard, and holding it back for at least 3 years to then release to the thirsty public.

So another bottling done, my 14th, and like all bottling we pulled up seats in the winery and savoured some of Bindi's best wines. This year, like I said earlier, there were quite a few newbie's and they were duly treated to a recently disgorged Blanc de Blanc 1994 out of magnum. What a stunning wine with a beautifully tight bead and golden colour. this was followed with a 2007 Composition Pinot Noir which was pretty much drinking at its peak, a 2008 Block 5 Pinot Noir which is still quite young and not giving away too much and a specially made 2005 Vue de monde Pinot Noir that had all the hallmarks of an aged Bindi Pinot Noir - clean acidity with savoury earthy notes standing over a sun-setting tone of bright red fruit. So, another bottling done, with the end of February already booked in for the 2012 Composition's and Pyrette Shiraz. I will be heading up to Bindi before then for other bits-and-bobs, but it's always a little bit more gratifying coming home down the Calder with a booty of freshly bottled gems.

Bindi Macedon Ranges Composition Pinot Noir 2011

I will be heading up the Calder Freeway again this Saturday to join the bottling line for the Bindi Original Vineyard, Quartz and Block 5 wines - 16th bottling and counting - so I thought I would revisit the February bottling of the Bindi Macedon Ranges Composition Pinot Noir 2011.

A lot more restrained and feminate that its 2010 sibling, this wine at such a young age starts singing as soon as I decant and pour. Delicate floral notes of violet with a lick of spice on the nose, the wine in the glass just keeps going and going with with soft tart red fruit, cranberry the standout, washing over the taste buds.

This is one of the first Composition Pinot Noirs that I would  had that in a blind tasting would pass as Burgundy, and not just village or VDP, but Premier Cru also.

Drink with slow roasted cumin crusted lamb
Drink till 2025
98
Diam cork 13.5%v/v $54 at Albert Street Food & Wine next week!

Top Six in 2011

It’s that time of the year again when we make resolutions and spend money on gym memberships that rarely get used. 2011 came and tomorrow its 2012’s time to shine. But 2011 year has been pretty huge for me, starting off still working in champagne and as agent for eight Australian and New Zealand producers to be now heavily involved in one of Melbourne’s newest, and biggest I think, restaurant – Albert Street Food & Wine. Yes, it has been positively Heaps Bunta (South Australian Oxford Dictionary meaning HUGE!).

This year has also been a great year for new and not so new wine, which I have come across. Even though there has only been just shy of 90 posts this calendar year, it’s been a year when so much has been awesome, and so little being crap; that a good thing! So here are my Top 6 (5 just couldn’t justify) wines of the year in no particular order. You will notice that there is a leaning towards whites. This is by no means a ‘White Power’ salute to white supremacy, just worked out that way I guess.

Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Fumé Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – a recent post on Cooked and Bottled, and a truly great wine. What I loved about this wine is the wonderful nose of dried white herbs of coriander, fennel seed and white pepper. Just love it.


A.Rodda Beechworth Chardonnay 2010 – the first wine produced by Adrian Rodda under his own label. I met and worked with Adrian in 2008 doing vintage at Oakridge in the Yarra Valley and hit off pretty quick with a shared passion for The World Game; I think he still follows Melbourne Victory, me Melbourne Heart. Anyhoo, I smashing debut up in Beechworth.


Bindi Macedon Ranges Original Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 – What more can I say about Bindi that i haven’t already. This is Australia’s answer to Burgundy. That’s all I’ve got!


Vinteloper Clare Valley Watervale Riesling 2011 – made by possibly the tallest wine maker in Australia, David Bowley producers a beautiful wine loaded with never ending flint and river stone minerality without the predictable lime acid that is known from this part of SA.


Marcel Deiss Alsace Pinot D’Alsace 2010 – a blend of Pinot Gris, Blanc and Auxerre, this wine has beautiful floral notes on the nose and a seductive fullness in the palate that just makes me want more, more and more....


EKK Weissburgunder Südtiroler Pinot Bianco Alto Adige 2010 – a real wine out of left field when I first came across it. Rich and viscous with orange blossom and a tickle of honey, this wine has a real residual feel to it, but this is more from lees stirring that left over sugar. But eat it with rich fatty pork like i did last night. Delicious!!!!


There you have it. If there was a real favourite I think it would be the Mitchell Harris Sauvignon just because it made me fall in love with this much maligned variety all over again. So leave your preconceptions behind and do yourself a flavour favour and get some.

Bindi Macedon Ranges Quartz Chardonnay 2004

Only in bottle size people! The Bindi Macedon Ranges Quartz Chardonnay 2004 in magnum is, actually was, superb! To quote Bleek Gilliam – aka Denzel Washington – from “Mo Better Blues”

“….. I’ll even give up my full season tickets to the New York Knicks… Courtside!
And you know how I feel about basketball, that’s gotta be L-O-V-E!”

Yes, Love. Bleek loves basketball, Romeo loves Juliet, A flower loves the rain and I love Bindi; the Quartz for this particular post. It was just perfect. Oyster shell, clean acid, licorice powder, lively minerality; just perfect. L-O-V-E!

Drink with a loved one
Drink with abandon
100/100
Diam cork 14%v/v

Bindi Bottling June 2011 - 2010 Original Vineyard, Block 5 and Quartz Chardonnay

I’ve learnt two things in the past couple of months, one is “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story” and “its not what you know, its who you know”. I think that’s about all I will say about that.

One thing that is for sure is that Bindi from the Macedon Ranges is mighty fine wine; but you already know that! Just before I took off to Vietnam with the family I headed up the Calder to help bottle the Bindi 2010 Original Vineyard and Block 5 Pinot Noirs and the Quartz Chardonnay. For the 11th time now I have taken the journey up the road and got stuck into some good old fashioned manual labour with 10 or so other Bindi knockabouts and just plain and simply had a great day.

By 7.30am about six of us were milling around the winery ready for the day ahead, and what better way to start then a crisp glass of the Quartz 2010 out of tank. It certainly was a heart starter, and what a way to start the heart; bright, clean, linear and driven by the wonderful mineral soil structure it is grown in. Bill Dhillon was pretty spot-on when he suggested this was the best chardonnay to come out of Bindi.

Just before 10am we were done and dusted with the chardonnay, and now it was the Pinot with the Original Vineyard stepping up to the plate. And with that it was time to taste. Brimming with tart red fruit, the OV 2010 straight out of tank is for me the best since the 06, and that’s big considering the 08 was and is very schmick. The Block 5 was next and quite simply, Amazing!!! Considering this wine was straight out of tank, you could easily say that it was a wine that had spent at least 9 months in the bottle; red and dark fruit, toffee and soft and sexy tannins. A master piece!

One thing that was different this year was bottling all three wines under three different closures; natural cork, Diam and Screwcap. This is so Michael can look at the development of the wines over time and effectively see how much TCA the wines under natural cork will show. I reckon this should be done a bit more by other producers so we can put to bed the ‘natural cork’ sycophants and enjoy all wine, not the 90% of wine that isn’t corked!

Like all bottling days we finished with another beaut lunch from Michaels wife, Wendy. This time it was her Beef Bourgogne; that’s all I’ve got, it was just super. And with this there was more Bindi wine with Michael opening up some back vintage Composition Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the 2010 Pyrette. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday I’d say!

So there you have it. No truth was harmed in the telling of this story and yes, it is good to know people like Michael Dhillon!

Bindi obsession?

Yes. I. Love. Bindi wines. Just cannot help myself. And this was no let down either. The Bindi Chardonnay Pinot Noir Extended Lees Aged sparkling 2003. That's all I got really; simply superb!

Drink with butter fried marron
Drink till 2020
97
Diam cork under cage 12%v/v www.bindiwines.com.au

Splitting the difference - Bindi Block 5 2005 and 2006

Over the past few weeks, Cameron (my boss) and I have been trying to put together a ‘Block 5’ lunch somewhere in town to celebrate the release of Yabby Lake’s new Block 5 Pinot Noir. You see Cameron’s dad Keith Harris is the vineyard manager down at Yabby Lake, and together with Bindi and Felton Road we thought we could scrounge up some wine and have a Block 5-off; just for fun of course, no medals or trophies, just the undivided love of all those who attend.

I couldn’t wait though. The Bindi was there, but Yabby Lake and Felton Road were missing. So to keep up with the idea of seeing which was best I needed two bottles; 2005 and 2006 (still have 3 of each left thank God). So here are the findings:

Bindi Block 5 2005 – an instant hit of minerality, spice and a mixture of raspberry and blackberries and earth in the glass that make a path through my olfactory and palate; such a magic wine with notes from the Michael about the vintage being rather cool all the way with a whack of heat just before the fruit came off. This is probably the fourth or fifth 05 I have had, with each one being better than the last. Simply stunning 100/100

Bindi Block 5 2006 – darker in the glass with heavier layers of dark fruit than the 2005. Prickly acid, firm chewy tannins combined with spicy plums and raspberries with the tartness of cranberry holding it all together. A little warmer than the previous vintage which shows with a little more ripeness. Still a great wine though! 98/100

So there you have it. A somewhat expensive task, but geez, the Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir’s have easily got to be Australia’s finest – no argument!

Bindi bottling 2010 - Composition 2009 and Pyrette 2009

Last Saturday I was once again up in Gisborne for a bottling of Bindi; the Composition 2009 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and the Pyrette Heathcote Shiraz 2009.

Once again it was a great day, this time thought there was pretty much a cast of thousands. Once again Gary and Jules were there; neighbours of Michael's. There was Cameron from Randalls of Albert Park, who is a regular up there and also Jason, a Mercedes car salesman who has been stung by the wine bug, and his wife Christina. But it was the the other entourage that made it pretty cool.

Yes Stuart Anderson was there again as he always is, but also up at bottling was Alec Epis of Epis Wines, who was extolling his grand advice on relationships and marriage (never married mind you) to us young folk, and the quiet spoken Pat Carmody from Craiglee of Sunbury.

All in all, about 20,000 bottles were put away; a pretty good day I would suggest. Now I could give the wines a critique here, but that would be wasteful seeing that they just went in to bottle. That and we did not actually taste the wines. This time we settles down to some back vintages of Bindi, with wines like Original Vineyard 2004, 2005 and 2007, and Compostion chardonnay 2006 and 2007. Yet for me the stand out for the wines was the Craiglee 2008 chardonnay - lean, mealy and just super sexxy!

And those who want to know, the lunch put on by Wendy was again too much yum!

Bindi Macedon Ranges Block 5 Pinot Noir 2006

It was such a lovely day today. It wasn’t too hot, Henry had two really good sleeps and went down without (sort of) a peep, and Erin got her travel itinerary for her Asian trip - a lot shorter than first expected. So with all of this good news, something good had to be opened. The Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 2006 was exactly that wine – you can almost hear Bruce McAvaney whisper ‘Special’ can’t you?

Such a great wine. In the glass the wine has a very dirty plummy red colour to it due no fining throughout the 17-18 months it has in barrel, with maybe 2-3 times it being racked off it lees by yours truly. This is not a simple wine on the nose with plenty of complexity abounding – lots of soft spice and earthy characters coming through. The palate engages with firm savoury tannins and wonderful minerality coming through in the acid; the length is tight and almost endless. There is an almost delicate addition of red fruit with tart cranberry and raspberry being an unlikely, yet affective duo. Great now but fantastic with 5-15 years and even more. Mucho Fantastico!!!!!!!!!!!!

Super, Super, Super!

Drink with thrice cooked duck
Drink till 2021
99 - I had to score this one, too good not to!
Diam 13.5%v/v, expect to pay plenty at auction sites such as Langton’s and MW Wines:
http://www.langtons.com.au/; http://www.mwwines.com.au/

Bindi Bottling 2009 - 2008 Quartz Chardonnay, Original Vineyard and Block 5 Pinot Noir

Having to get up at 6 am these days is a pretty hard slog considering my young son Henry is usually up at 1.00, 3.00 and 4.30 in the AM. Having to get up at 6am towards the end of a cold winter is also a little bit of a turn off. So as the alarm blinked 6.02 am, I slowly pulled myself out of bed and headed down to the kitchen and get my fill of coffee for the drive up to Bindi Wine Growers in the Macedon Ranges to help bottle the 2008 Quartz Chardonnay, Original Vineyard and Block 5 Pinot Noir.

Over breakfast with my daughter Imogen, I had to explain that I was not seeing ‘Bindi the Jungle Girl’ but my friend Michael Dhillon, the wine-maker and owner of Bindi Wines who has been having me up there for the last four years to tinker with him in the vineyard and winery.

So off I headed up the Calder Highway, and thankfully towards clearing skies in the west. As I pulled up to the winery, I could not help noticing that the bottling plant, a portable plant, was somewhat bigger this time around. And it was! Not only were we bottling the wine today, but we were also labelling and packaging in one hit.

It is around August each year that Bindi bottle their premium wines. Now this is not a slight on the other Bindi labels are not premium, just these bad-boys spend a little longer in barrels to eek that ‘something special’ out of them.

In previous years, Michael had enlisted family and friends to perform quite a laboured task. With about eight people, we would swap from dropping bottles in to a rinse carousel, transferring them on to a little production line and watch them get filled with wine (most of the time!) and finally hand them over to the bin stackers. Thrilling stuff, hey?

This year Michael contracted a new outfit, three guys with a great big shiny rig with all the flashy bits on it; don’t ask me what they were, they were just flashy OK. And instead of the eightish helpers, there were only five of us, plus Michael’s dad Bill and Wendy his wife.

The morning unfolded without as much as a broken bottle (to come just before the end) and the pallets were steadily filling up. I was swapping with another fellow, Jason, in stacking the pallets and slapping stickers on to boxes so as not to confuse any of the wines; so this is why I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Viticulture. Yet as we had completed another pallet followed quickly by another and another it was becoming starkly apparent that we were going to knock this off in super quick time.

Like I said, everything was going along honky-dory like, and it was while moving another pallet in to the winery that something hit me, this whoft that smacked me right in the chops, and it was gorgeous – musk, perfume and damp earth; the Block 5 Pinot Noir was being bottled. Sexy stuff this one.

Before we knew it there were about 250 dozen neatly stacked bottles of wine all snug in their boxes ready for pick up in the coming weeks. And looking at all of this wine heaped in the winery, a real sense of achievement was shared by all who helped out.

But alas, there was a touch of sadness in all this. One of the chores I looked forward to when I was up to Bindi were the days spent in the winery labelling and packaging the wines when it was either too hot or cold in the vineyard and giggling along to ‘Tenacious D’ singing about naughty stuff – it’s a Kodak moment OK. These days are gone with the wine sitting in quiet idle already.So looking at the pallets stacked up, there was only one thing left – lunch. This year Wendy whipped up a great big pot of meat balls in a tomatoee-olive sauce with some creamy scallop potatoes. This was washed down with a few of the day’s wines with some other vintages thrown in for comparison (and just because they were there, really). It is such a privilege when you can sit there sipping some of Australia’s best wine and listen to people like Stuart Anderson and Michael Dhillon give their impressions on what we are drinking, only to have them ask you what you think of it (I also learnt not to use the descriptor ‘meaty’ when analysing wine, cos there are lots of meat out there). I seriously did not want to head back down the highway.

And so the day came to an end and for my services I was sent off with a bottle each of Block 5 Pinot Noir and Quartz Chardonnay. That is why I finished my degree in Viticulture I guess!