Gordon Moore the Cooper

Gordon 'poping' the hoops off the barrel

I would like to introduce you to Gordon Moore. Gordon has been a cooper for over 40 years, and has been coming to see us every year around this time to prepare our old oak barrels for a new vintage. Gordon works by him self and travels around Australia offering his Coopers services to wineries.

Gordon has come today to shave off the 'top skin' of the barrel. After we have aged red wine in the barrels for one to two years the inside of the barrel is stained from the wine and no longer permiates an oak into the wine. In order to breath new life into the barrels we shave off the top layer and it is 'as good as new'. We use these second hand barrels for our premium wines, while all super premium wines are placed into new oak every year.

One of the staves after Gordon has shaved the top layer off.

Cooperage is a craft that has been around for many centuries. The craft has changed little since its invention which means it is a labour intense job and not very inviting to the younger generation.

If you are visiting the Barossa I recommend you visit The Keg Factory, they sell a variety of different barrels and depending on when you visit you can see the Coopers in the workshed producing a range of products for port barrels to cheese platters.

www.loumirandaestate.com.au

Leone Brut Prestige

Illustration by David James Stokes

Last year I spoke with an interesting gentleman about our Old Vine Shiraz vineyard which is located in between the winery and the neighboring church. The gentleman, who turned out to be a very well known South Australia illustrator, Mr David James Stokes, was putting together a special exhibition of various old vines from the Barossa Valley.

We happily agreed to have one of our old vines illustrated and displayed in an exhibition which was held on Sunday the 5th December 2010 at the National Wine Centre.

It is a gorgeous illustration which has wonderful personality! As it was drawn in the early months of spring David has been able to capture the new sprigs of life which are beginning to form.

www.loumirandaestate.com.au

Our baby Sangrantino

I would like to introduce you to a new grape variety called Sangrantino. We planted a small vineyard of 1 hectre in 2009 of this grape variety on our Rowland Flat, Barossa Valley property. 2011 is the first year we have picked the grapes from these still small and delicate vines. We have managed to crush about 50 litres for our first vintage which we are very excited about. For a small batch like this we do everything by hand, picking, crushing & loving care.

I will continue to post photos of the Sangrantino as we slowly work through the winemaking process. The Sangrantino grape variety hails from Northern Italy and is a soft but a flavorsome grape variety.

www.loumirandaestate.com.au

Barossa Winter Dinner @ Lou Miranda Estate

Lou Miranda Estate invites you to join us for a four course dinner on Saturday 21st May 2011 to celebrate Winter in the Barossa.

Date: Saturday 21st May 2011
Location: Lou Miranda Estate, Rowland Flat
Time: first seating at 6:30, last seating at 8:00
Cost: $65.00pp (4 courses, not including drinks)
Bookings essential: please call 8524 4537 or email victoria@loumirandaestate.com.au
payment must be made with the booking.

The Menu
Warm fragrant citrus olives and a rosemary & parmesan flowerpot scroll with olive butter

Starters
Lamb cigars with mint, chilli & lime vinegarette
Barbecued scallops wrapped in prociutto on a bed of braised lentils
Squid tube stuffed with fetta lemon & parsley served with lemon voulte and tomato chutney

Entree
Prawn ravioli with mascarpone, lime & ginger with creamy pea and saffron sauce topped with smoked salmon

Main
Chicken breast stuffed with ricotta, orange blossom & baby spinach wrapped in prociutto served with & a maplecomb, peas & salami

Dessert
Quince & walnut cake with baked honey quince and mascarpone
Leone 2008 Botrytis Semillon

Coffee & tea

http://www.loumirandaestate.com.au/

The Knowledge of Fortifieds

Join us at Lou Miranda Estate for 'The Knowledge of Fortifieds' a program running in conjunction with The Barossa Vintage Festival. From the 23rd of April to the 1st of May the Barossa will come alive with festivities being help throughout the valley.

The Knowledge of Fortifieds will run from Saturday 23 April to Sunday 1 May. Starting at 11.15am sharp every day, the program will run for 45 minutes.

Lou Miranda Estate presents a glimpse into the life of a fortified. Compare the life of a young unwooded port to that of a mature 20 year old. See the vats from the 1930’s which have matured the ports over the years and hear how the traditional way of ports have come of
age in Modern Australia.

Cost: $5.00 adult/children FREE
Bookings essential: (08) 8524 4537

To see more information on The Barossa Vintage Festival you can view the program here.

http://www.loumirandaestate.com.au/
Lou Miranda Estate, Barossa Valley Way, Rowland Flat

Open from 11:00 daily

Our cheeky fat trip

On a recent surf through cyber space I found this cute blog by Janet & Nick at 'Our Cheeky Fat Trip' which I believe is about the holidaying adventures of Janet & Nick, the photo and the quote are from the site which you can check our here.

"My favourite though is Lou Miranda Estate, where we’re treated to some free churros (mmmm) and I get an unusual bottle of sparkling Shiraz."

It is really lovely to hear from customers and know that people are enjoying coming to visit us at Lou Miranda Estate.

Barossa by Bike

The Barossa is famous for its wine and food, and now with the extension of the Barossa Bike Trail from Nuriootpa to Angaston, we are keen to promote the Barossa as a cycle tourism destination, but need your help!

To celebrate the Tour Down Under - Stage 1 in the Barossa Valley, Tourism Barossa Inc have partnered with the Barossa Council to organise a fundraising ride from Tanunda via Nuriootpa and up to Angaston.

On the morning of the Stage 1 finish of the Tour Down Under, Tuesday 18 January 2011, you, your family & freinds can participate in this wonderful event. The cost to participate is $5pp which will be donated to the Cancer Council SA, and includes a drink and piece of fruit kindly donated by Tanunda Foodland.

Everyone is invited to participate in this community initiative to help raise funds for the Cancer Council SA and showcase our new bike path through the Barossa. If you would like to participate similpy download this form and forward onto Barossa Tourism.

If you don’t have a bike of your own, Barossa Bike Hire have put together a package which includes the registration fee and the hire of a new and comfortable bike for $30, all can be booked on Barossa Bike Hire’s Website. Bikes will be collected at the end of the riders and can be transported back to Tanunda by arrangement.

Please read through the terms and conditions for the event.

Everything Barossa

We have just received a wonderful recommendation from the Everything Barossa Blog. It is a great website created by Tania Shirgwin on all things in and about the Barossa. So if you are planing a visit to the Barossa or would like to get connected with Barossa businesses you definately need to put this one high on your links.

http://www.loumirandaestate.com.au/

4 stars for Lou Miranda Estate

The 2011 edition of James Halliday Australia Wine Companion has just been released and Lou Miranda Estate has been awarded 4 stars as a winery, we also received some fantastic results on wines.

• Lou Miranda Estate 2008 Old Vine Shiraz - 93 points
• Leone 2008 Botrytis Semillon - 93 points
• Lou Miranda Estate 2008 Cordon Cut Shiraz - 91 points
• Leone 2009 Sauvignon Blanc - 90 points
• Lou Miranda Estate Aged Cobweb - 90 points
• Leone 2009 Pinot Grigio - 89 points
• Leone 2007 'Old Vine' Sparkling Shiraz - 87 points

If you would like futher information on the wines listed above please click on the links provided or email me at victoria@loumirandaestate.com.au

Don't forget if you live in the UK can you purchase these wines from Hard to Find Wines!

www.loumirandaestate.com.au

A taste of the Veneto

Lou Miranda Estate invites you to join us for a four course dinner on Saturday 28th August 2010.

Time: Bookings available from 6:30 onwards
Cost: $65.00pp (4 courses, not including drinks)
Bookings essential* please call 8524 4537 payment must be made with booking
* limited seating available

Saturday, 28th August 2010, Menu
Starters Affettato Pacentino - Salami, prosciutto, white anchovies with warn torta fritta
Pizza finger with potato, garlic & rosemary
Entree Slow cooked goats ragu with gnocchi grande
Main Quail with roasted fennel & vegetables
Dessert Rhubarb crostata with Aged Muscat mascapone & apple chips

Barossa Valley Way, Rowland Flat
P: 08 8524 4537 Email: Lou@LouMirandaEstate.com.au

New Winter Menu at Miranda Restaurant @ Lou Miranda Estate

Miranda Restaurant in the Barossa Valley will be serving their new winter menu from the weekend of the April 16, 2010.

Situated in beautiful surroundings arched windows which frame the wineries cellar door. The views from the windows are of vines dating back to the start of the 19th century. Miranda Restaurant is sure to impress group of holidaying friends, a family lunch or a casual business meeting.

Now in it's 6th year of changing the menu has become a way for our Restaurant to express changing trends and showcase the availability of fresh produce. The winter menu incorporates home style cooking with an Italian touch You will find Walnut & sage flowerpot loafs baked daily along with Corn bread served with minted peas and heartwarming Beef espresso pie.
By using family recipes (with some modern adjustments by the chef Alison Short) Nonna's beef ragu we are re-creating the homestyle food for our patrons. We have also introduced some new starter dishes to share at the table or to be enjoyed in the lounge area with a glass of vino.
Click here to see the new menu to titillate your taste buds.

Open 7 days a week for lunch from 11:00 to 3:00 please call 8524 4537 to make a booking.

Dust off your running shoes

The Barossa is hosting a half a marthon on the 16th May 2010.

If you are up for it, you can walk or run 21.2km, 10km or 5km register online today. The race starts and finishes at the Faith Luthern school, you are able to download the course map here.

I am still debating if I will run, the thought of being in constant motion for 5km (or at the pace I run several hours) makes me want to hibinate for winter. My heart rate just started race.

The marathon is hosted by SARRC, check out their website for more deatils www.sarrc.asn.au/barossa.html

Urbanspoon

Lou Miranda Estate Restaurat now has a listing on Urbanspoon.

Lou Miranda Estate Restaurant on Urbanspoon

I was playing with a friends iPod on the weekend and she has an 'app' called Urbanspoon. I had a lot of fun shaking the phone, yes I did write shaking, to search for different restaurants. It works like a Pokies machine, every time you shake the phone it scrolls through a list of restaurants. It is a cool little program that allows you to search for different restaurants by either region, price range or cusine.

If you get a chance you can click on the link above to vote if you enjoy eating at Lou Miranda Estate Restaurant.

What will they think of next...

Run with the Law

On Friday 16th April in the Gawler Main Street the Law Enforcement Torch Run is raising money for Special Olympics Australia and it is coming to our area soon! Run with the Law will see Law Enforcement officers carry the Special Olympics torch 2010 through 43 towns in just 29 days.

If you are in the area you can show your support by cheering on the runnings or if you would like to register to run or consider making a donation go to http://www.runwiththelaw.com.au/

From the vineyard

Here we are week 3 of vintage and 2 grape varieties have gone to the crush. Last week we saw the beautiful Pinot Grigio reaching 12 baume and sent to the crusher. The grapes were delicous straight off the vine, their skins are fairly tough and require just a small amount of pressure to release the flesh from within.

We have had a few bunches of grapes from the vineyard in the Cellar Door as we need to monitor their ripeness and most people have commented on the berry and bunch size. For me it is interesting to see some people think the size of table grapes are the same as those used for wine, but they are two completely different specimans. Table grapes grow in larger loose bunches and the berries tend to be a lot bigger, their skins are strong but thin. While grapes used to produce wine are much smaller, the bunches tend to be very tight as though the berries are all holding onto each other.

Today we prepared the Cordon Cut Shiraz for harvest. With the hot weather which is predicted over the next few days we should be going back to pick the grapes this time next week. If you would like to read more about the Cordon Cut process click here.

2010 Harvest has begun

Well we have survived all the festivities of Christmas and New Years and now our vintage has begun. Last night at 8:00pm we starter to harvest our Chardonnay which come in at 12.5 baume.

Vintage has started early again this year and the Chardonnay is the first to be picked. We took in 4 tonne of grapes which is a good yield from the vineyard. Lou thinks this vintage will be just like the bumper crop we had in 2002.

This year we will be ageing the Chardonnay in oak for a few months are will be looking to release our 2010 Leone Chardonnay in April this year.

Next up Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, we are looking at a hot week which will ripen the grapes and add some fruitiness.

Born 1907

Until recently the earliest documentation we have had on the Lou Miranda Estate Old Vine Shiraz was from around World War I. Thus we have always assumed that the Old Vine Shiraz on the trinity block (the vineyard which is in between the Lutheran Church and the winery) was planted around about 100 years ago.


We were doing some autumn cleaning the other day and found an official document which states that the vines were planted in 1907. So we have just missed the Old Vines 100 year birthday.


Here are some photos I had taken of the Old Vine Shiraz the other day. The vineyard is beautiful in autumn, the vines are still green with a scattering of yellow and brown leaves, the sky is a bright blue and with all the rain we have had recently the roads are lined with little sprigs of grass.