Mark’s visit to Wine Country

By Mark Copsey, Partner at Allworths Chartered Accountants

There’s no better way to start a year than visiting clients and getting amongst their farms, vineyards and business operations. However, with the extraordinary bushfire season and continuing drought, this was no ordinary visit.

I began the drive down towards Canberra, where the views were not as pleasant as normal. The bushland and greenery that once lined the roads had been transformed into a black sea of tree stumps in some parts. It was tough to imagine what people had been going through all summer around there.

My next stop was Boorowa, where I was pleasantly greeted with the delightful sight of rain. However, before puddles had even begun to form, the rain was over again, leaving the locals in need of much more. I would like to extend a huge thank you to Roger and Lis Webster for their hospitality during this trip, it’s always a pleasure to see them.

From Boorowa, I went on to visit clients on their vineyard in the Hunter Valley. Here I had the pleasure of learning a thing or two about grape growing, harvesting and wine making. I also discovered that there’s no accounting for the weather – but we’re looking into that.

The wine region has been lucky because, although there have been large bushfires around the valley, the vineyards themselves have mostly escaped the flames.

Mechanical pickers in nearby vineyards were just finishing up from the night’s harvest when we mucked in at dawn to hand pick this year’s vintage. I hadn’t realised that picking started at dawn, so it was a rude awakening at five in the morning. At least there was a fry-up to warm up our picking fingers.

Our collection techniques didn’t include any big machines, just a bunch of friends, a good few buckets, an old press and – the only mechanical thing – a grape crusher. Despite the manual labour, I was relieved that we didn’t have to get our socks and shoes off! 

Fortunately, yet inconveniently, it poured down. And, unlike in Boorowa, the rain didn’t stop all day. Although everyone was pleased to see the rain, it meant the vineyard turned into a mud bath. Local day spas might have charged a lot more for this experience than I paid! 

There was some concern that the rain might dilute the wine but some carefully placed tarps kept the water out and it was just us pickers that got soaked. The Chardonnay made it safely to the fermenter and that’s all that matters. The initial tasting of the juice was positive and held promise for another good year in the Hunter. 

Luckily for us, the whole process was done by lunchtime, which is important so that the grapes and juice stay cool and don’t start the fermentation process on their own. We were done in time for a large and hearty harvest lunch with the opportunity to check out some previous vintages.

All in all, it was a great end to a very interesting day. I probably still don’t qualify as a vintner but it was a great experience all the same.

Until next time,

Mark