May 5, 2020 In Aboriginal culture children are brought up to ‘respect and care for their mother’. It is a lifelong responsibility. ‘Mother’ being ‘mother earth’ - the ‘country’ you were born. That deep connection to land is a the foundation to all spiritual and cultural practices.
Amid Covid-19 we have been forced to treat our planet - Mother Earth with a little more respect - long may that live.
Time to cook and bake is another benefit of our new reality. We have been making sour dough for about seven years. Initially it was to highlight the use of ‘natural yeast’ to make our wine. We use 100% natural yeast. I firmly believe that natural ferments are more textually complex. Research by the AWRI (Australian Wine Research Institute) from our ferments show diversity and regionality of yeast which is really exciting. To my mind this improves the taste, makes them better for you (like sour dough is) and becomes a more authentic representation of the country our grapes grow. It means we have to be vigilant about grape quality as you can’t use natural yeast if there is any damage to fruit. This acts as a form of ‘natural selection’ (with scientific basis) for better quality wine.
|
|
Fig 1. Yeast species in natural ferments at Bellwether Wines in Shiraz and Chardonnay 2016/2017 vintage (A.Borneman, AWRI 2017) |
|
When approached to share our ‘mother’ culture for sourdough - we happily oblige, as within days it becomes yours, responding to how you feed and care for it. Like my child, they are pretty resilient! Let us know if you would like some, we would love more people to make their own bread.
Don’t let freight delays wreck your chances to impress this Mother's day, it’s as easy as 1 2 3. I'm famous for running late, apparently a trait of many optimists. So if you have been a bit overwhelmed with everything else happening in your life, or the world, and haven’t organised a gift for your mum, wife, partner, grandma, nanna, lover, neighbour or stranger you admire - we have you sorted.
We have developed ‘vouchers’ that can now be personalised and emailed straight to you - job done! We still have a tactile version that can post if time permits. They are attractive, you can make it suit your budget and you can send as many as you like (some people have a lot of mums). Mum can then choose how to use it, maybe wine? A night of Glamping in a Bell tent? Or wine? Camping with friends, getting us to prepare a camp oven roast, or perhaps some wine? Indulging in a six course degustation served by the chef and winemaker at our ‘table of twelve’ experience - served of course with WINE! Or use it for a ticket to small scale ‘socially distanced’ music gig or food event with a glass or two of wine. The key is that mum gets to choose - so you can’t lose, especially as our vouchers have no expiry date.
|
|
Thursday 7th May - 4pm SA time (on our Bellwether Facebook Page) - Dean and Beau from Corowa Distilling Co. in NSW - this beautiful restoration of an old flour mill ticks a lot of our boxes, oozing with character, making artisan hand made products and throws a lot of great parties, including a heap of weddings. We have swapped a pallet of our Rosato for them to use in future weddings as soon as they re-open, in exchange for their hand sanitiser. It's high quality and hand made. You can secure a bottle with any straight dozen, just comment to swap a bottle of sanitiser for one wine - or order one as part of any wine order HERE |
|
| Saturday 9th May - 11 am (SA time) |
| (on our Bellwether Facebook page)
Dr Paul Smith, Wine Australia Paul previously lead research chemistry at the AWRI. We host someone from the AWRI each year for a week of vintage, Paul came to us a few years ago. A keen gardener and cook - he fitted right in. He was so inspired by his experience he came back the following year as an Artist for the local Penola Coonawarra Arts festival with 3-D sculptures in frames made from chicken wire, of chemical compounds found in wine. The exhibition sold out with commissions requested. | |
|
|
|
|
Don't worry Kelly Menhennett will be back in June, we miss her too.
Any dozen purchases this week can receive some seeds from our garden or some of our ‘mother’ culture for bread making - just let us know in your comments. One lucky case will also get a voucher for one night glamping (valued at $200). As much as we wish we were selling more cases a week, the odds of winning are much better than lotto!
|
|
| to the winner of last week's glamping voucher (James from Auchenflower in Qld ). We look forward to welcoming him to glamp at Bellwether soon.
| |
|
|
|
|
Maybe this week it could be you! Help us to stay in business by supporting our wines, tell friends or send wine to friends. We have some great specials online atm. |
|
NEXT week: We will be doing an online art exhibition with Tracey Murphy. Check out her Instagram page HERE. We will be auctioning one of her artworks online with funds going to a charity supporting women impacted by domestic violence.
We will also have some exciting virtual music gigs across the weekend....stay tuned! Sue |
|
|
|
|
