Lifecycle of a Grapevine

Bud Burst

This is the stage of new beginnings. The weather starts to get warmer after Winter which spurs the growth of new foliage. Small buds swell out & tiny new leaves begin to show, bringing a vibrant green colour back into the dormant vines. After approximately 2 months the growth slows & flowering occurs.

 

Flowering

At this stage of life, small flowers clusters appear. It is vital for mild weather at this stage, a heavy rain or hot temperatures may reduce the fruit set, cause uneven pollination of grapes or even prevent pollination.  Following this stage, small clusters of grapes will form small bunches & begin the period of growth & development. Warm weather at this time of the year assists with developing sugar in the grapes

 

Verasion (Colouring)

This crucial stage determines the colour & softening of the grapes. Depending on the grape colour, growers asses & some trim the leaf canopy to assist the remaining bunches to optimum maturity. Version usually occurs approximately 1 ½ months after fruit set.

 

Harvest

Traditionally harvest occurs approximately 100 days after flowering, however this depends on the season & the grape development. The winemaker will assess the grape sugar & acidity level before determining a harvest date. Once this is determined, harvest occurs & the vineyards come alive with grape pickers & machinery culling the vines for fruit. Once complete, the lifecycle of the grapes begins again for another year.

 

Notable Characters

JAMES BUSBY

James Busby, born in Edinburgh in 1801, colonial administrator, amateur botanist and viticulturalist, spent a total of less than 10 years in Australia, before becoming Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand (then a mere appendage of the Colony of New South Wales). Busby probably never made a drinkable wine in his life, yet remains a key figure among the pioneers of the Hunter Valley and, indeed, the Australian wine industry.

When he arrived in Sydney in 1824 aboard the good ship Triton, Busby already had some years’ study of French viticultural practices behind him - sufficient at least to qualify him for a teaching post in agriculture at a Parramatta school where he was charged with inculcating oenological principles into the sons of the local gentry.

Busby published two books on viticulture during his Parramatta tenure. Neither volume much impressed the influential New South Wales Agricultural Society - a matter which, given Busby’s prickly personality, inevitably resulted in a celebrated and very public feud which ended only when Busby departed for a sabbatical in England.

Returning some 18 months later, Busby was to cement his place in Australian colonial history.

His legacy stems from the ‘Busby Collection’ - a selection of some 433 grape vine cuttings collected by Busby in France, Spain, England and probably from points en route to Australia during his second voyage out. These cuttings were initially planted in Sydney’s Botanic Garden and later at least partially replicated at Kirkton in the Hunter Valley. Kirkton was owned by William Kelman, a fellow passenger with Busby and his sister Catherine on the Triton. Kelman had married Catherine and taken up a land grant in the Hunter by the time that Busby returned with his vines after a sojourn in Europe.

Busby’s posting to New Zealand was relatively short-lived. He was repatriated to England due to ill health and died shortly afterwards.

DAN TYRRELL

Dan Tyrrell’s father Edward, nephew of the first Bishop of Newcastle (an immigrant Englishman and himself an amateur winemaker of local reknown), took up one of the last available 330 acre selections at Pokolbin in 1858.

He named his property Ashmans after the family’s English estate, built a slab hut, planted out a vineyard, married Susan Hungerford and produced 10 children: the second of whom - christened Edward George Young Tyrrell and known throughout his long life as ‘Dan’ - was to become a seminal figure in the development of the 20th Century Hunter Valley wine industry.

Dan and his younger brother Avery early assumed responsibility for the family’s vineyard. Dan made the wine, while Avery ran the vineyard, developing viticultural practices much in advance of their time.

As a contemporary of neighbours Maurice O’Shea, Philobert Terrier and Leo Buring, Dan Tyrrell proved a quick learner and rapidly established his reputation as a master winemaker in a career that spanned some 75 consecutive vintages.

At 6’5” (196cm) in height, Dan Tyrrell was in all senses a towering figure in the Hunter, possessed of an unerring palate and remarkable instincts for the demands of a changing marketplace. On his death in 1959 - still a bachelor - Dan was succeeded at Ashmans by his nephew, Avery’s son Murray - brought up a cattleman but destined to be the third generation Tyrrell to run the winery. Murray was succeded by his son Bruce Tyrrell who with wife Pauline, daughter Jane and two sons John and Christopher still own and operate Tyrrells Family Wines.

For more information:
Tyrrells Vineyard. Tel (02) 4993 7000
Web http://www.tyrrells.com.au/

MAURICE O'SHEA

When Maurice O’Shea died of lung cancer in 1956 he was already a legendary figure, acclaimed as an amateur chef, as a professional winemaker and - above all - as a master blender.

Born of a French mother and an Irish father who had purchased the old King family vineyard at Mount Pleasant, young Maurice, already bilingual, was despatched to Montpelier University in France where his oenological studies were necessarily prolonged due to the onset of World War I.

He returned to Australia and Mt Pleasant to establish his reputation as the Hunter Valley’s and arguably Australia's greatest winemaker.

The McWilliam family bought a 50% interest in Mt Pleasant in 1932 when O’Shea ran into financial trouble with the onset of the Great Depression. O’Shea was retained as winemaker and manager and given free reign of the estate. O'Shea's wines achieved cult status well before his untimely death.

Now rare examples of O’Shea’s fabled wines of the 1940s and ‘50s continue to amaze more than 40 years after the master’s departure.

For more information:
McWilliam's Mount Pleasant. Tel (02) 4998 7505
Web http://www.mountpleasantwines.com.au/

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Language Help

LANGUAGE TRANSLATION HELP IN HUNTER VALLEY WINE COUNTRY

It is appreciated that overseas visitors unused to the nuances of ‘Australian English’ as a spoken language may encounter some passing difficulties. If you have run into difficulties in translating aspects of Hunter Valley Wine speak into terms your home audience can read or understand, perhaps we have someone who can help.

Over the last couple of centuries the Hunter Valley has attracted permanent residents, individuals and families from around the world. We are thus blessed with a team of local people between them fluent in most of the mainstream European languages & also Indo-Aryan languages. We have a much more extensive list of local contacts who are fluent in the languages below but also in Japanese, Thai, Dutch, Norweigan, Portuguese, Spanish, Serbian/Croatian & Mandarin; so if you require a translation from English to any of these languages, please contact our Marketing Department on (02) 49 900 930 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & they will put you in contact with the right person.

Any of the people listed below would be happy to attempt to answer your queries:

French

Daniel Nikles at Chez Vous Villas (02) 4998 7300
Robert Molines at Bistro Molines  (02) 4990 9553
Frederic Aubineau at Cedar Creek Cottages (02) 4998 1576

German

Jorg Gartelmann at Gartelmann Estate Wines (02) 4930 7113
Bernd Beitmann at Cessnock Motel (02) 4990 2699

Italian

Jan Gartelmann at Gartelmann Estate Wines (02) 4930 7113
Robert Molines at Bistro Molines  (02) 4990 9553