After we visited Cleland Conservation Park we went back to the Barossa to go for a braai at Dylan’s dad. Natasha and the kids went with and we stayed the night. I can see where Dylan gets his zest for life from. His dad is a caring, fun and very interesting guy. Practical and a problem solver. Its always great to see Dylan post pics of him and his dad in the vineyard, as I know that Dylan greatly appreciates his dad and his help with Vinya Vella.
The purpose of the trip was to show me the Grenache vineyard that Dylan purchased a few years ago. The Sunday was a rainy and cold day, but that wouldn’t stop us from going to the vineyard. The vineyard is planted on a flat landscape in the sands of the Barossa. Some are older than a 120 years! Some are massive, some not. Some have beautiful structure, some needs loads of tcl. This vineyard I can guarantee you is no walk in the park to manage. Here there is no recipe to prune or do foliage work. Every vine is an individual. And senior citizens too! They need specialised care.
Luckily they have a caretaker with a PhD in oldvines! This really was a special visit. It was time for us to discuss pruning in a way that we could never. Its not the same discussing pruning of vines from a different continent! We pruned a few vines. Discussed why we pruned in certain ways, we sometimes differed in opinion, but mostly we agreed 🙂
Dylan keeps on improving the vines. We often discuss things he wants to do in the vineyard. It is a privilege that he actually considers asking me for advice sometimes! Dylan is probably the only guy that suckers and removes basal leaves in his vineyard! I always send him photos of how extreme we do it here in South Africa. He just thinks we are crazy! Like I’ve said before – that’s thanks to Duncan Savage! For more info on this vineyard, visit https://vinyavella.com/
Well, we wrapped the day up and headed back to Adelaide, but first it was time for my first Aussie rules football game!
Dylan dropped me off at the Adelaide Oval. I was to meet up with Brent Hutton that invited me on the Friday. He was part of the Barossa tour. Obviously I wanted to experience this! Sam Parker joined us.
I could see there was so much history in the halls of the oval. And I could see so many passionate fans! It was really cool.
We had loads of beers, they briefly explained the rules and that was game on! It was Port Adelaide vs Gold Coast Suns. The stadium was packed and the crowd was so much fun! I really enjoyed this experience – so thanks again Brent – I really appreciated it. Port Adelaide won 93-91.
After the game we left and had a few wines with Alisdair and a few viti-friends. At 23:00 I took a train back home and Dylan picked me up just before midnight – thanks mate for staying up that late to come get me!
