She-Oak Winery

Visit us at the Harvest Picnic at Hanging Rock

Jane Leckie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:33:06 +0000

She-Oak Hill invites you to join us in the Heathcote Winegrowers Marquee at The Age Harvest Picnic, Hanging Rock.

A unique opportunity to meet 10 Heathcote winegrowers and taste their wines in this beautiful setting on Sunday the 26th of February.

We look forward to sharing our amazing Shiraz and introducing you to our very new and exciting 2011 Rosé

http://www.harvestpicnic.com.au/Default.aspx

Véraison in the vines

Jane Leckie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:41:53 +0000

Welcome to the New Year and a new season at She-Oak Hill. Warm, sometimes very warm, sunny days and a strong breezes have kept the vines tracking along towards ripeness. This time of the season is called veraison by the French. The fruit is changing colour and the vines are drawing on their reserves of starch to fill the bunches with flavor and sugars. We watch carefully for signs of stress in the vines and thin the bunches where we see this occurring. We are also brush cutting the weeds away from under the vines where they compete for valuable ground moisture and will get in the way of the pickers! As the fruit ripens we need to be vigilant with unwanted visitors – the wattle birds are showing some interest at the moment so repairs are underway on our ‘hawks’, a quiet and harmless deterrent to the pests. I have recently seen some geniune versions of these graceful birds gliding down from the hill but we cannot rely on that 24/7 so the kites, designed to look like eagles, swoop from their spring loaded eyries and are usually quite effective. Here’s hoping! The crop looks excellent this year and we are not prepared to share it.

What’s not to love about Spring in the Vineyard?

Jane Leckie — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:37:25 +0000

Spring is a wonderful time in the vineyard, full of anticipation and promise. The vines literally ‘ spring’ to life after winter dormancy, growing inches overnight it seems. She-Oak Hill is alive with native birds and while the cockatoos have engaged in their typically destructive behavior we have generally managed to keep them out of the vines. The magpie families however are welcome guests. Their endless sorties to gather meals for their increasingly raucous offspring helps keep the vines free of caterpillars, slugs and snails. The pardalote’s have settled happily into their new homes and the ladybirds are quietly going about the task of keeping small sucking insects to a minimum, largely through their bright and threatening coloring. In my endless working through the vines I am on the lookout for lacewing lavae, another protective insect in the vines.

Heathcote Wine & Food Festival offers something for everyone.

Jane Leckie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:32:15 +0000

October is one of my favorite times of the year, the vineyard looks a picture with brilliant green buds emerging from the neatly wrapped cordons, the sun shines and daylight saving has begun giving us extra hours to work and relax before the amazing sunsets herald the end of the day.

It is also time for the Winegrowers of Heathcote to celebrate their years efforts and welcome to the region lovers of the red wines for which Heathcote is renown as well as many delightful white wines -perfect for a warm spring day. The Heathcote Wine and Food Festival offers seminars and masterclasses for those who wish to build on their wine knowledge, live entertainment, activities especially for children, a great variety of food providers and specialty products from the region including olives, walnuts, cheeses and preserves. Come along and join us on the 8th and 9th of October, relax in the picnic atmosphere and meet the people who make the wine you enjoy. We look forward to seeing you.

2009 She-Oak Hill Wins Winewise Gold Medal

Jane Leckie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:37:33 +0000

The recently released 2009 She-Oak Hill Estate Shiraz has been awarded a score of 55.5 /60 in the Winewise Small Vigneron Awards. This wine has maintained a proud tradition of gold medals in these awards for small wineries which crush less than 250 tonnes of fruit. She-Oak Hill crushes around 20 tonnes. The judges’ comments published in the August edition of Winewise are:

Highly Recommended: ‘The combination of perfectly ripe fruit and spiciness is very appealing, as is the nicely textured, long, balanced palate. ‘

This great result is supported by a rating of 92 in the 2011 Wine Companion and the comment - ’Solid red-purple; the generosity of the fruit is immediately evident on the bouquet and palate alike ….

2006 Shiraz

Jane Leckie — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:29:29 +0000

While stocks last She-Oak Hill 2006 Shiraz is available at all four McCoppins Stores in Melbourne at a very good price.

Hawthorn: 498 Tooronga Rd – 98823088

Fitzroy: 165 Johnston St – 94175089

Clifton Hill: 292 Queens Pde – 94817566

Abbotsford: 501 Victoria St – 94277525

Some delightful feedback

Jane Leckie — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:51:25 +0000

It is always good to hear from people about our wine, it is important to us that you share our enthusiasm for She-Oak Hill wines and that you let us know that you do. Below are some recent comments:

….it does seem a bit crazy shipping wine from elsewhere when we live in the heart of the Margaret River region, but we had a couple of bottles of your wine with our friends in Daylesford recently and were just blown away by it. You should be feeling very proud of what you’ve created. SG

Thanks again, it (the ’08 Shiraz) is a really lovely wine. NM

Had to really restrain myself from overdoing my intake of the ‘08 on the last three visits to … the Farmer’s Arms Hotel in Daylesford. RT

Thank you very much for bringing the wine the other day. It was lovely to see you. We opened the Chardonnay (’09) last night and really enjoyed it. JB

Check out Gipps Street Cellars & Deli for our 2006 Shiraz

Jane Leckie — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:35:27 +0000

Michael Davey, long time supporter of SOH and knowledgeable owner of Gipps St Cellars says this about the 2006 She-Oak Hill Shiraz:
‘Astounding value Heathcote Shiraz.
We have procured the stocks of the She-Oak Hill 2006 Heathcote Shiraz, for a great price.
The wine is under screw cap and is drinking a treat – and will keep another couple of years. The wine displays some aged characters on the nose along with a hint of oak and dusky fruit. This wine has lovely berry fruit flavours on a broad palate with soft tannins, a spicy lick and a long finish.
It is just a damn fine wine, bargain drinking for a wine made from old non irrigated Shiraz vines from a good Heathcote vintage.
Be quick as stocks are limited @ $17.99 a bottle x 12, this is a bargain for a quality Heathcote Shiraz.’
If you are around East Melbourne visit this delightful deli and wine store at 17-19 Gipps Street East Melbourne or call Michael on 9417 3703.

Winter in the Vines

Jane Leckie — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:13:49 +0000

Morning dew
At She-Oak Hill we opt for labor intensive cane pruning of our vines to ensure balance and flavour enhancement of our wine. For the first time in 36 years Laurie has agreed to some assistance with the pruning. We have worked quite quickly through the old block and been blessed with reasonable weather conditions. The mornings can be cold and frosty but the dew on the wires and spider webs sparkled like diamonds last weekend as we worked to wrap the new canes down on the wires. Despite the hours pruning requires there is always time in the evening to enjoy the company of friends and some wonderful meals. On Saturday Russell’s lamb shanks and a beautifully balanced 2004 Passing Clouds were a true highlight.

Do you want tears with your wine?

Jane Leckie — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:30:05 +0000

The 2011 vintage began with such promise. Full dams, spring rain and encouragingly vigorous growth of the vines. For the first time in years rainfall was not going to be an issue! How wrong can you be.
The rain kept coming, in January and February and March. After each downpour with its accompanying humidity it seemed pointless to compete with the cruel irony of nature. Ten years of drought then this! The growth on the vines was excessive, shading the fruit and creating hot, steamy conditions within the canopy. We worked for days reducing it and then it rained again, damaging leaves with late season mildew, so many fell off unassisted.
If not for the patience and support of our wine maker, Mark, I would have walked away from it like so many vignerons were forced to do this year. But with Mark’s encouragement we hung in there and on the Thursday before Easter – probably D Day for the season, in damp, cool and foggy conditions we picked a vintage that was surprisingly flavour ripe and with a very acceptable baume of 13.5.
So the tears have dried up and we look forward to reviewing the vintage from the barrels over the coming months. In fact the long, even ripening period will potentially produce an elegant, lower alcohol wine with characteristics truly reflecting the season. There I go again – there is always a silver lining.