August 21, 2020

Hi all, 

It's been a while - I admit I've struggled to work out what to say.  This second lockdown for Victoria is really hard to comprehend.  I want to support my family and friends in Vic.  The health, economic and social impact is very real and I don't want to capitalise on that.  Perhaps then, it's up to the rest of us to look after them.  Whether it is a phone call, a dinner pack from a Melbourne restaurants or a handwritten letter - please reach out and check in. If we have something we could send, let us know too, but please keep in contact with people.

‘All you gotta do is call’, the title of a Benny Walker song from his new album ’Chosen Line’. Click on the photo of Benny below to visit his website. He is a proud Yorta Yorta man from Echuca. Benny played at Bellwether a couple of years ago - he’s seriously talented.  Along with other musicians we look forward to the day we can resume our Sunday Sessions...maybe September. 

The title of the song is connected to my feeble attempts to keep up the spirits of family, as lockdown 2 continues in Melbourne. We send our love over the border.

I have continued to add to, in fact doubled the ‘lockdown again’ playlist.  It is on high rotation in the winery.  Listen to it HERE.

Recently we had an order from Townsville in far north Qld (FNQ) sending our wine to a friend in Warrnambool, Vic.  If you have someone you would like to cheer up in Victoria choose six or more wines and we will send it freight free with a message of encouragement from you, including a bonus $50 voucher to be used here at Bellwether when the borders re-open one day, giving them a gift now and something to look forward to in the future.

This week we drew the winner of our 'Be a winemaker for a week' competition.  On the day, I decided to throw in a runner-up prize too.  I'm so glad I did as the recipient was Meghan Curtis - from Melbourne.  It was awesome to give her good news, glamping for two nights and a winery tour at some stage in the future. 

The big winner however was Laura Bainger who was thrilled to hear she will be joining us in March, Vintage 2021 for a completely immersive experience helping us make wine. There is a case of wine on its way to Laura to get her excited about next year.

Thanks to all of you who helped to 'grow our flock' - helping us share the love of our wines with your friends, joining our community.

Here is a video (below) made by Stephen Jones a filmmaker/photographer who did vintage with us this year. He has captured a strange but special season, that started lively but drifted to something much quieter. You’ll even see my daughter helping out when she was ‘home schooling’ at work. The music is from FARA a Scottish band we had the privilege of hosting for a gig enroute to the Port Fairy Folk Festival last year.