Harvest Market Launches Christmas Wine Packs!

Launceston's Harvest Market is launching some Summer wine packs, and we are really thrilled to be included in them!

Winsor's Pick 6 Pack

This summer / Christmas pack includes a Sharmans' 2008 Sparkling and 2012 Sauvignon Blanc, a Humbug Reach 2009 Chardonnay, our One Bunch Chardonnay 2011, a Humbug Reach 2010 Pinot Noir and our gold medal One Bunch Pinot 2011.

Gold Medal 3 Pack

This three pack is exciting because Harvest's three wine producers all won gold medals over the previous few months! Sharmans' 2011 Pinot won a gold and a trophy at the International Cool Climate Wine Show in Mornington Peninsula, the same show where our One Bunch Pinot 2011 won a bronze. Our 2011 then won a gold medal, the only in its class, at Bathurst's National Cool Climate Wine Show. The sister wine to this one won a gold at the Hobart Wine Show under Guy Wagner's Bass Fine Wines label! The third wine is Humbug Reach's stunning 2011 Chardonnay - the only gold in it's class at the Hobart wine show.

We are all really proud of these wines, and I'm sure you'd find them a worthy Christmas to give someone...or give to yourself!

GRYPHONWOOD GETS GOLD

Well we are a little bit excited!!!!

Gryphonwood's One Bunch Pinot 2011 has just won a GOLD medal at the 2012 National Cool Climate Wine Show in Bathurst!

Ours was the only gold for the 2011 Pinot  Noir Class, and one of only three golds awarded to Pinot Noirs in the Show!
Big wave of thanks to our winemaker, Guy Wagner!!

Check out all the results here and come and try our Pinot at the Harvest Market Launceston.

See you soon!!

2011 Pinot Review

Our OBP2011 has been reviewed by Winsor Dobbin in the Sunday Examiner, noting the 2011 as "by far the best to date" of our Pinots.

He says this is "a wine that is drinking delightfully well in its youth with bright, forward fruit, spicy/savoury notes and some delicious softness on the palate".

Many thanks to Winsor for that one!

Published in the Sunday Examiner, July 29, 2012.

We are Back in White!

It is with relief and excitement that we have our Chardonnay available once again!!

Our One Bunch Chardonnay was a real favourite with the punters that were looking for a fresh, clean and crisp white white over summer. People looking for Savvy, Pinot Gris or Grigio were all pleasantly surprised that a Chardy could fall into the range of wines they enjoy!

Check the website, or come and see us at Harvest Market Launceston to try it!

International Cool Climate Wine Show 2012

The results are out!

Congrats to Mike Sharman of Sharmans Wines for his top gold and Trophy for Best Pinot Noir in last week's International Cool Climate Wine Show! It is extremely good to see a Tassie Pinot taking out such an award!

Our OBP2011 won a bronze in the 2011 Pinot class...which is nice...

Tasmanian Red Wine Weekend

In Hobart this weekend, on the 26th & 27th of May, is the Tasmanian Red Wine Weekend; put on by Wine South. This event is being held as part of Savour Tasmania - a celebration of Tasmanian Food & Wine.

Our One Bunch Pinot Trio will be present at the Red Wine Weekend, and we are happy to see our 2011 selected to be served at the Feast of Chefs Dinner on Saturday night! This dinner for 400 people has sold out!!




If you are going, let us know how the weekend goes, especially the Feast of Chefs Dinner!!

Gryphonwood now available through Alps & Amici!

It was a pleasant surprise for us (at Harvest last Saturday) to be visited by Anna Martin from Alps & Amici, a fantastic foodstore in East Launceston. Anna had taken home some wine the weekend previously, and it was great to get good feedback from her.

So, Gryphonwood's Once Bunch Chardonnay 2011, and One Bunch Pinot 2010 are now available from Alps & Amici!

Go and check out this awesome store for yourself!

Come and see us at Harvest Market

Gryphonwood will have a stall at Launceston's Harvest Market this Saturday and the next! The Market is loaded with fantastic foods (and of course wine!), so come down and say hi.

We will have all our wines there this weekend, including a special pre-release tasting of our lovely 2011 Pinot Noir!

See you there!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wonderful and merry Christmas and festive season!

Be safe, play fair (or cheat well)!

Love from everyone here at Gryphonwood Vineyards!

Confirmed for 2011!

It's now confirmed - Gryphonwood will be offering a Chardonnay from the 2011 vintage. Guy Wagner at Bass Fine Wines has secured some good fruit for us, and it is now fermenting! Of course, we will also have 2011 Pinot Noir.

I am looking forward to expanding our range...now we have to think of white wine labels!

Sombre signs for 2011

Indicators around Northern Tasmania are pointing to a rough end to the 2011 vintage. Many producers are facing yield losses and the possibility of not picking at all! The cool season has pushed back ripening into dangerous waters, as canopies begin to senesce and leaves fall. Add to that cooler temperatures and the ever present threat of further rain.

Looking in the winery, there are numbers of producers having to sacrifice ideal sugar levels to secure a crop. Some are hoping that berry shrivel will help them get to the necessary level of sugar to make a wine. Others still have decided that they will achieve neither the sugar level or the quality of fruit to warrant harvesting their crop.

A hard year for all, it seems....

Recovery Mode...

I am writing this with only my left hand, and it is sooo frustrating...

Surgery is done, and my right wing is clipped and tucked in a sling for at least the next month. All the 2011 fruit is now on the ground...all those little bunches of small berries. We tried a few of the riper berries as we snipped, and they had a good flavour.

Shame they all had to go on the ground.

A very sad decision.

It was with heavy hearts, a lot of thought and talks today that Mel and I decided to pull the pin on vintage 2011. This week I will start cutting the bunches off our vines and drop them.

Its been a hard season already, due to the very cold and wet conditions Australia is experiencing. I think we can all attest to that. What it means for the vines is that they are struggling to ripen fruit, and it has become a race to get them to a useable maturity before we run out of growing season. It was looking tight until I got some hard news this morning.

I took a good spill at the start of the month and dislocated my shoulder (something I have dealt with for nearly two decades now), however this time round, I shattered my shoulder socket - the socket has broken open. The only way to rectify it is with open surgery, to rebreak it and then screw the bones back together correctly.

The end effect is 6 weeks of immobility and then physio...no driving tractors, no vineyard maintenance, nothing. I am out of commission for the rest of this season.

So the best course is to give the vines the balance of this season to put on condition.

'Not happy Jan!'