Divers Luck Winery Australia

WINE NEWS - MAD DIVER is in stock ................... selling fast!

2010-10-20T00:47:00.001+11:00

For all the Mad Diver fans...... finally the re-release of the 2006 iconic wine has arrived, available now at Divers Luck Winery, Port Stephens, NSW.

How The Ancient Egyptians Made Wine

2010-07-09T02:12:00.003+10:00

Wine has always been a glorified product in the ancient, as well as the modern, worlds. It was considered a food due to its nutritious content , and was used in medicine. Mixed with liquid medication, it provided a cover up to foul-tasting medications; it also was used as a mild antiseptic , as cough syrup , as an appetite-restorer , for quelling fevers, dressing wounds , and “releasing a child from the belly of a woman ,” i.e for sedating the woman in birth.

Wine production started very early on in the Egyptian civilisation. The first evidence of wine brewing appeared on the stoppers of wine jars from the Predynastic and Thinite periods . Large quantities of wine jars were discovered in the tombs of Early Dynastic nobles, signifying an early appreciation for wine, as well as its consumption by the upper classes for the most part . Like meat, wine was a valuable commodity and was mostly only found in festivals and on special occasions .

Unlike the common Egyptian’s domestically brewed beer, wine was made exclusively for royalty and elite, being brewed on special large-scale facilities primarily owned by the royal family . Early in Egyptian history, vineyards were only owned by well-to-do nobility due to the poor political and economical conditions . Owning a vineyard was very prestigious , and they were initially a luxury rather than an investment . Wine was mostly consumed at banquets and feasts. The lower classes got their share of wine during public feasts such as the feast of the harvest-goddess Renenutet, the festival of Hathor, and the Valley Festival. Wine was also given as rewards to soldiers . Workers from Deir El Median (West Bank of Thebes) could have possibly received wine bonuses, as there have been several wine labels recovered from garbage dumps (although it is not clear who in the village hierarchy would have received this wine, whether just the overseers, or any of the workers) .

Wine was commonly associated with divinity, and was believed to have divine qualities. According to Plutarch, who quoted Eudoxus, Egyptians thought wine was:
“The blood of those who had once battled against the gods, and from whom, when they had fallen and had become commingled with the earth, they believed vines to have sprung .”

This relates to the ancient Egyptian myth of the “Destruction of Mankind” where the goddess Hathor was sent by her father, Re, to destroy a group of conspirators, and when she became addicted to blood, and could not be stopped from bloodshed, she was tricked into drinking a red coloured drink instead of blood , often believed to have been red wine. Wine was also considered the drink of the gods .
Most of what we know about winemaking and vintage comes from seal-inscriptions on wine jars, tomb depictions or textual sources, as well as chemical analysis on jars that once had wine. Sealing inscriptions show that each vineyard had its unique name, most of them having religious associations, such as Horus Dja meaning “the Beverage of Horus .” However, the most informative source is tomb paintings that show the steps followed in winemaking. Twelve distinctive elements can be identified in most tombs, but not necessarily always depicted together in the same tomb, or even the same period . These scenes cover the most important steps starting from the harvesting and treading to the bottling, storing, and even the excessive consumption (figure 1).

figure 1

These depictions of the steps of winemaking were never intended as a guideline for winemaking, and many of the artists who drew the scenery probably never witnessed it for themselves, rather blindly copying the scenes from one tomb to another. The scenes drawn are only the major steps of winemaking, many intermediary steps not being depicted at all, and there is also no time indicator. We know from tomb depictions with remaining colours that the Egyptians had white, pink, green, red, and dark blue grapes . Ancient Egyptian wine was not only made of grapes, but fruits such as figs, pomegranates, dates, figs, and palm. The method of making various fruits into wine is not known, but is essentially the same as that of grapes, but sugars were added to help their fermentation .

Viticulture is a sign of a higher degree of civilisation, as it required abundant resources and labourers. It required much irrigation, which took up most of the labourer’s time . Vineyards were generally planted on an elevated plane, whether natural (like hills) or artificial. Wall paintings show that vineyards were surrounded by a stone or clay walls, and often had a large water basin. Vines were trained on trellises which were often resting upon rows of large decorated columns placed far enough from one another to allow easy passage of labourers, yet were close enough to prevent much sunlight entering, threatening the moisture of the crops . Great care was exercised to protect the grapes from birds , labourers often scaring them away . The 100 days before the harvest are the most important; they make the difference between good quality “nefer nefer nefer ” wine and lesser “nefer” wine .

With that taken care of, labourers would do the following:
1. Harvesting: One of the most popular scenes depicted in tombs is that of wine harvesting (figure2).

figure2

The exact timing would have varied annually in ancient Egypt, but usually would have occurred in late summer . If tended well, all the grapes would ripen well at the same time . While mostly males are depicted in the scenes, women and children must have participated in this task . Grapes were cut by hand, not knives , and placed in deep wicker baskets carried by men on their heads, shoulders, or balance by a large stick with a basket at each end across the labourer’s shoulders (figure3) .

figure3

Scenes show the grapes being covered by vine leaves, foliage or palm leaves on their way to the press probably protecting them form the sun .

2. Treading: Grapes were placed into large vats after harvesting. It is shown in tomb paintings from the New Kingdom that these vats were round in shape, which possibly was the same shape for the previous times . The material with which the vats could have been made is a debated topic, but hard stones (granite or schist) seem to be the material used in vats since they were waterproof, and easy to clean . The traditional method throughout the Mediterranean and the Near East for pressing grapes was by treading underfoot. This was probably gentler than a stone press, which crushed the stems and seeds, adding bitterness to the wine . At least four men could fit into the vats, and several tombs paintings show five or six men standing in these vats .

Vats were placed on a slight elevation, and were very often covered with a roof that has ropes, which the men held onto as they pressed the grapes with their feet (figures 3 and 4).

figure4

Men would hold onto poles at the edges of the vats if there was no roof, the men in the middle holding one another’s hips (figure4). Wine pressing was accompanied by singing and the playing of instruments, the rhythm kept by the females . In the New Kingdom there appears to be no instruments, yet one of the males is often depicted singing, with a song dedicated to the harvest-goddess Renenutet is written above . The wine juice flowed though a drain into smaller vats where the wine was fermented (figure3)

3. Pressing: A second pressing was required to extract the juice remaining juice form the grapes. Placed in an oblong linen slough, wine-lees were squeezed by stretching the linen across a strong wooden frame; with men on one side twist the linen . The squeezed liquid would flow into a pot placed underneath the slough. This required four persons, while a fifth was often depicted horizontally on the slough (figure4). This was probably an artistic amendment or the artists’ lack of wine-pressing knowledge, in reality the fifth man would be standing behind the pressing making sure the wine flowed straight into the trough , in which it was left to ferment . There were several grades of wine must . “Free Run must” was obtained from the grapes’ own weight, and little of this was collected. It produces long lasting very sweet wine . “First Run Must” comes from treading, which is around two-thirds of the total juice, and “Second Run Must” is produced in the additional pressing . There is no indication as to whether different grade juices were mixed. Mixing the different grades would have lead to different kinds of wine, whether red, white, sweet, or dry .

4. Fermentation: Fermentation is converting the sugar in the grapes into alcohol. This occurs when the enzymes in the sugar are exposed to the natural yeast in the skins, stalks, and seeds . The level of alcohol varies with the amount of sugar . Fermentation stops when the alcohol level reaches to around 14% or 15%, the remaining sugar adding sweetness to the wine . Duration of fermentation varies depending on the required consistency. Wine fermented for a few days produced a light final product, while one that is kept for several weeks, possibly heated , produced a very heavy beverage. The stalks, seeds, and skins would have probably been left in the wine must for long periods to give a richer colour and bitterness (especially so for red or “black” grapes) . The difference between red and white wine would not have only varied with the using of white or darker grapes, but whether or not the skins were left in for fermentation . Wine would then be filtered through a piece of linen and bottled.

5. Bottling and Sealing: Wine was poured into short but wide necked jars – or skins if they were to be taken on long journeys . Bottling was done immediately after fermentation. The wine was placed in jars with coned bases (to collect dregs if the wine continues to ferment after it is placed in storage ). Wine would have been sealed a few days before the fermentation reached vinegar. Reeds, straws, and/or pottery would be placed as a stopper, which protected the wine flavour from being affected by the mud used in the final sealing . Using straw to seal the jars or leaving a hole (which was closed before storing) in the stopper let out the carbon dioxide that accumulated during fermentation .

6. Labelling and Storing: After the sealing, the wet mud was stamped with the information about the wine, or ostraca (limestone, faience, or pottery – which were handwritten) were used. Information included the regnal year, name of the vineyard, name of the wine maker and often the quality of the wine . The wine was inspected by special officers or “inspectors of the wine” (figure5)

figure5

The wine jars were counted by a scribe as they were placed in storage. The jars were placed on wood or stone stands, or resting on the ground in successive rows, with the wine farthest back being the oldest (figure5)

There were several kinds of wine in ancient Egypt known from offering lists in tombs, such as Irep mehu (Lower Egyptian wine or of the Marshes - the Delta being one of the largest winemaking centres of ancient Egypt), Irep Bes (wine in an Abesh jar), Irep Imit (wine of Imit – north of Faqous ), and Irep Dedjem (sweet wine). Sweet wines usually have a higher alcoholic content because most of the sugar turns into alcohol, and they last longer . Wine was sweetened by adding dried fruits or honey, which often caused the wine to re-ferment . Sometimes very ripe grapes, slightly dried, were used in wine because they had a higher concentrate of sugar; adding a sweeter flavour to the wine and making it last longer . While little is known of blended wines, it is known that they existed in ancient Egypt. They would have been mixed shortly before consumption.

by Menna El-Dorry
Works Cited
Harris, Geraldine. Gods and Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology. Italy: 1982, Eurobook Limited.
Lesko, Leonard. King Tutankhamun’s Cellar. Berkley: B.C. Scribe Publications, 1978.
Lutz, H.F. Viticulture and Brewing in the Ancient Orient. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1922.
McGovern, Patrick E and Stuart Fleming and Solomon H. Katz, eds. The Origins and
Ancient History of Wine. The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1996.
Montet, Pierre. Everyday life in Egypt in the Days of Ramesses the Great. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981
Murray, Mary Anne. “Viticulture and Wine Production.” In Nicholson, P., and Ian Shaw (eds.). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000
Nunn, J.F. Ancient Egyptian Medicine. London: BMP, 1996
Also see: Food of The Gods
Poo, Mu-Choo. Wine and Wine Offering in the Religion of Ancient Egypt. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1995.

Exotic Port Releases

2010-05-20T18:19:00.002+10:00

We are please to let our fans know that we have 3 new Exotic Ports available at our Divers Luck cellar door;

Lime
Vanilla
Extra Hot Hot Chilli!

A perfect addition to your winter evening of food and friends why not try one of our Exotic Ports to finish with, nothing better than great conversation and unique flavours to end your evening.

Our available Port flavours are;

Chilli

Extra Hot Hot Chilli!

Lime

Vanilla

Butterscotch

Honey

Mad Diver Coming Soon !!!!!!!!

2010-04-17T09:07:00.000+10:00

For all the Mad Diver fans out there, we are going to release a new batch of Mad Diver in the second half
of 2010.... so keep an eye out, as they will sell fast!

New Wines on offer for 2010

2010-03-30T10:53:00.005+11:00

Now available, Divers Luck is pleased to announce the release of our exciting handmade Port Collection:

Honey Port
Chilli Port
Butterscotch Port

Come in and have a free tasting, they won't last as selling off the shelves in the first weekend!!

Australian Prime Ministers Wine Cellar Collection

2010-02-19T13:10:00.000+11:00

Passion pop... Kevin Rudd's taste in wine is distinctively uninspiring and bland.

When the Senate last month laid bare our Prime Minister's wine cupboard, we got a rare glimpse into Kevin Rudd the man, not the puppet.

The $14,000 collection, which us taxpayers fund, is housed at the PM's official residences - The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney - and is scattered with some spectacular drops.

But by and large, the roughly 600-bottle cellar reflects his rather dull, try-hard approach that is becoming more prevalent by the day.

See Rudd's wine cellar list here.

To be fair to Rudd, the old stuff in the cellar heralds from the Howard years - sauvignon blancs and viogniers from the mid-2000s that would well be past their best now. Plus a 1985 Dom Perignon, purchased for just $99.95 thank you very much.

But there is a distinct lack of inspiration in recent acquisitions, with smaller, family-run wineries and boutique producers nowhere to be seen, while all but one of (Japanese-owned) Lion Nathan's wine brands makes the list. Hmmmmm.

It's also blatantly clear Rudd is a white man, not a red. If only I knew that little fact before the last election.

There's no shortage of West Australian flavour in the cellar, with the PM particularly keen on Sandalford and Houghton's Pemberton Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (33 bottles at $18.35 each).

But other large quantities of wine are similarly uninspiring for a head of state's personal stash: 46 x Blue Pyrenees NV Brut ($22.75); 43 x Alto Pinot Grigio 2008 ($20.91); 36 x Mr Riggs Shiraz ($18); and 42 x Kangarilla Road 2006 Fleurieu ($17.27).

Two bottles of St Hallet Old Block Shiraz 2003 ($52.03), eight bottles of Petaluma Merlot 04 ($47.42), plus a couple of big Henschkes from the early 2000s are the only real decent reds with age that would be ripe drinking right now.

Perhaps the PM is saving them for Kerry Stokes.

And if Howard ever pops in for a Wallabies game and some cheese and crackers, Rudd could open one of the seven Edwards and Chaffey 99 Shiraz bottles ($27.23) Little Johnny kindly left behind. They'd be close to off by now.

(I do take pleasure in knowing I purchased six bottles of the exact wine from a Perth bottleshop around 2001 for $23, cheaper than what our PM paid.)

Perhaps most worrying about the list is the 11 Centenary Federation 1999 red magnums ($86.36), a wine blended from premium grapes from Australia's then 61 wine regions, with 150 bottles intended as gifts for heads of state throughout the world and at Commonwealth celebrations in 2001.

Clearly we left some important people off the list, and who knows how and when that might come back to bite us.

At least Kevin will have a good excuse. That's if he's not punch drunk on one of his six bottles of 2008 NZ sauvignon blanc ($13.31).

As Little Johnny would say, that's a bit un-Australian.

source

Wine trends of 2010: Americans still drink wine !

2010-01-19T12:44:00.003+11:00

Wine trends to look forward to in 2010

2009 was a year in turmoil but as the year wines down we can now start to look forward to the wine trends of 2010. The wine industry is now leaner and meaner. They have to be market savvy because it doesn’t have to be repeated too many times, Americans are still wary about the economy. If you haven’t lost your job or are anticipating loosing yours, you still have one thing on your mind and that’s your bottle of wine.

Let’s face it, we all know someone who has lost their job. Some of us can’t even afford a vacation to escape the onslaught of terrible news brought to us by our favorite cable station. You never needed a bottle more than now and you’re not about to give it up. Even during economically tough times Americans are not ready to give up their pleasures, whether it is drinking, smoking or even chocolate. They might scale down but give up? Never! All said, the recession is producing at least one notable wine sale trend and that’s value. Mintel reports that ...” the future of the wine market looks bright, at least for the moderately priced segments”.

So as we go forward and enjoy our little pleasures in life, what and how should we drink in 2010?

Boxed wines-Yes that’s right the box is in again. Boxed wines are becoming popular in European countries because of their eco-friendliness, value and portability. Would you serve a box wine to company? That’s entirely up to you. The jury is still out.

Lower prices/value wines Wines selling below $35 will do well, but wines between $50-$125 are in a dead space with only established labels selling (Source: Silicon Valley Bank Premium Wine Group). While consumers still aspire to luxury and always will, today if you buy an expensive wine you may even have consumer’s feelings of guilt for having the means to afford a very expensive wine. Trading down is most evident and as mentioned Americans are not giving up their wine pleasures but are looking toward value.

Use of social media as a marketing tool. The wine industry is notoriously slow at embracing new technologies. However, it is clear that Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Vincellar Cellartracker and Wine 2.0 represent a new paradigm for consumer action and motivation (Source www.vintak.com).

Blogging will continue Wine bloggers do have power. People like Dr. Vino, Alder Yarrow and Gary Vaynerchuk have tremendous audiences. They are the stars of the wine blogosphere. The wine blogosphere in aggregate has a larger audience than any single traditional media company’s online presence.

High Use of Eco friendly practices-California has a remarkable high level of adoption of sustainable vineyard management practices. Many of the growers expressed an interest in adopting alternative energy sources such as solar or wind powered systems but high capital costs are listed as deterrent.

Millennials are the fastest growing consumer segment- Millennials belong to wine clubs and drink at wine bars. They are tech savvy and see wine as part of their move into adult life. Watch out boomers the Millennials drink wine and like it. Of course they also watch Wine Library TV and have a wine app for their iPhone.

Wine and technology will continue to go together. Wine lovers love to wine shop and need wine apps for their iPhones. Wine app usage will continue as the consumer gets savvy and more concerned about wine prices.
source

Happy New Year .... Divers Luck Welcomes 2010

2010-01-03T09:16:00.000+11:00

Hi to all our Divers Luck friends, to let you know we are open as normal during the Summer School Holidays.

Coming soon to our cellar door we will be offering a new spin on our Port, we are working to develop some new taste sensations, including 'Chilli Port' and 'Honey Port'.... more soon!

Merry Christmas from Divers Luck

2009-12-18T16:13:00.000+11:00

We continue to be open over the Christmas Holidays and through to the New Year.

We are welcoming family groups and bus tour groups for wine tastings and use of our picnic area.

Hours are 7 days; 10am - 4pm.

2009 New Release - Divers Luck Chambourcin Sparkling Wine unique Australian Wine

2009-07-27T06:50:00.000+10:00

This year has been a busy year for us at Divers Luck with all our new releases, one of our most popular is our Sparkling Chambourcin which is a delicious offering for those that not only love Champagne style, but a sparkling with a twist and for Chambourcin admirers who are adventurous in seeking a sensous experience in wine.

The Sparkling Chambourcin has a deep ruby colour giving you a delicious bouquet of crushed berries - blackberry, currant, cherry, strawberry, oak, spice and a hint of chocolate.

Enjoy slightly chilled alone, or as an accompaniment with entree or with beef, lamb or game to add to the taste buds thrill.

2009 New Price List Out Now

2009-06-12T03:15:00.002+10:00

A quick note for our valuable clients, our 2009 Price List has now been amended and updated on our website.
http://www.diversluck.com.au/Price.html

NEW RELEASE - Rare Australian White Port now available from Divers Luck Winery

2009-05-18T17:36:00.000+10:00

This delicious rare treat that has been in the barrel for two years is a new creation from our winemaker Damien Adams, and we are please to announce that our Divers Luck White Port is now available for purchase.

A smooth creamy finish, with a hint of fig It tastes like delicate liquid honey!

With only 5 cases of full 750mL bottles produced, this Port will go very quickly.

Details:
Price per bottle: $AUD30.00
Size: 750mL
For phone orders please call: +61 2 49822 471
Email orders: tonyab@hunterlink.net.au
Cellar Door Sales available.

For anyone who loves a rare Port, this is the Port for you.

2009 NEW RELEASE - Australian Merlot to be exited about

2009-05-03T16:07:00.001+10:00

Just in time our new release Merlot for a Mothers Day suprise.....

Sometimes good things are meant to develop into pure gold, we are very excited about our just released for sale for the first time, out of cellaring our 2003 Merlot.

Simply stunning and delicious, it was originally earmarked for our Premium Reserve label, though we decided to put away for the cellaring as Merlot 2003, and we think it has paid off.

Available for ordering now, and if you are passing by please come in and try our new offering for 2009 at our cellar door.

Where is Divers Luck Winery? ..... Port Stephens

2009-04-21T12:04:00.002+10:00

Here is a helicopter view of Port Stephens the area where we are located, as you can see endless beaches and waterland that surrounds. This is of Shoal Bay heading towards Nelson Bay.

Happy Easter from Divers Luck!

2009-04-11T09:17:00.000+10:00

From our team at Divers Luck we wish everyone a safe and happy Easter.

If you are up at Port Stephens over the Easter Holiday please come in and see us and try our
new releases, Divers Luck will be open over the Easter Long weekend, normal trading hours.

AUSTRALIAN WINE 2009 NEW RELEASES FOR DIVERS LUCK

2009-03-24T11:27:00.002+11:00

Coming soon we will have more information about our new releases;

Merlot

Cab-Sav

White Port

Chambourcin Sparkling

Say tuned...

AUSTRALIAN WINE - Australia's best Chardonnay Gold Medal Wine

2009-03-03T16:06:00.002+11:00

Chardonnay in the press at Divers Luck Winery

An elegant unique wine with a story worthy of exploring.

Time to drink in the autumnal changes with the 2003 Chardonnay

Wine: Divers Luck Chardonnay 2003

Medals:

GOLD MEDAL 2005 NSW Small Winemakers Show
SILVER MEDAL 2005 Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show
BRONZE MEDAL 2005 Rutherglen Wine Show
GOLD MEDAL 2004 Rutherglen Wine Show - 55 Points
BRONZE MEDAL 2004 NSW Small Winemakers Show
BRONZE MEDAL 2003 Hunter Valley Wine Show

Our wines at Divers Luck are influenced by the tempid ocean climate of the Tomaree Peninsula at Port Stephens, this maritime theme is predominant with the development of our signature wines such as Birubi and Mad Diver. With our 2003 Chardonnay we have created something rather special that demonstrates the passion and skill of our wine makers at Divers Luck, Damien and the late Anthony Adams.

First releasing the Chardonnay for sale in late 2004, we have delighted in the development of character and style of this Gold Medal Chardonnay. As summer passes, again it is a great time to bring the Chardonnay out of the cellar to enjoy and reflect on the wine itself as it changes in complexity over time.

Colour: Brilliant golden honey

Tasting notes:

Using fruit picked from Divers Luck Vineyard, and made at our Winery. The grapes were fermented and barreled in a split between new American oak and new French barriques for a period of up to five months, before being blended, filtered and bottled.

Bouquet:
Fragrant nose of intense fruity complexity with peaches and pinapples at first followed by a full palate that delivers a soft and creamy oak finish, with syrupy flavours of fig and honey.
The oak complexity has developed with the vanilla oaky flavour highlights the American oak used in barreling, which develops a full bodied wine with a smooth creamy texture and ending with a firm but not harsh acidity that makes for a nice accompaniment to seafood, salads, pasta and chicken.

Cellaring: Drink now and good for cellaring for further 3- 5 years
Food: Salads, seafood, pasta, chicken and veal

Price: $AUD25 per bottle, Per doz: $AUD300.
Discounts: For Divers Luck Wine Club Members.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-13T02:12:00.004+11:00

Divers Luck want to spread the love this Valentines Day to all our valued customers and new friends.

Along with surprise chocolates, why not add a bottle of our newly arrived Sparkling Chambourcin to add delight.

One more day to go until our special to our blog readers ends, so drop in or call us [+61 49 822471] for mail orders and purchase our Sparkling Chambourcin and immediately recieve 20% disount off single bottle or case purchases.

We are helping you make your Valentine surprise one to remember,

Re-Release Australian Shiraz - Divers Luck Shiraz Bin 601 2003

2009-02-02T11:51:00.001+11:00

We are please to advise that we have re-released our Divers Luck Shiraz Bin 601 2003, bringing it out of cellaring as it is now matured and it just perfect for enjoyment now.

Divers Luck Shiraz Bin 601 2003

Made by Divers Luck in Australia (area: Hunter Valley Coast)
A dry, still, red wine with 13.5% alchohol
Grape: Shiraz
Quality: Very Good
Value: Above Average
Cost: $25 per bottle
Looks: Medium bodied but with a deep red earth colour
Smells: Scent of burnt chocolate and cherries - quite spicy smelling as well
Feels: Medium bodied

Tastes: Oak handling is great here, although heavier handed to the chocolate flavours than most Hunter Shiraz. Nice cooked cherry and plum fruit with choc spice. A hint of white pepper on the finish. A classy wine with a long earthy finish.

Study - Wine Consumption and Trends - US

2009-01-22T17:36:00.001+11:00

Stunning growth in core wine-drinking population

A slumping economy. Sales declining. Restaurants suffering. Consumer confidence at an all-time low. Despite a troubling recession, a report issued this week by the industry promotional group the Wine Market Council identifies positive and promising trends for the wine business in the year ahead.

The good news, says John Gillespie, president of the industry-sponsored group, is that consumption has increased for the 15th consecutive year. While the figures for 2008 are not complete, Gillespie estimates the market at 300 million cases, moving the United States past Italy and into second rank behind France in total wine consumption. "Even with modest growth in 2008," he says, "we calculate consumption at three gallons per capita."

The study by Wine Market Council found consumers cutting their spending, dining out less frequently and drinking less--all of this contributing to the declining rate of wine consumption. In surveys taken in the closing months of 2008, nearly three out of five respondents said their personal financial situation was worse off than the previous year.

On the positive side, two-thirds of those surveyed reporting spending the same amount per bottle for wine, against 15 percent who said they were spending less. In restaurants during the final months of 2008, 7 percent said they ordered fewer bottles of wine, 23 percent ordered fewer glasses of wine and 43 percent said their orders had remained the same.

PROFILING CONSUMERS

Core wine drinkers (people who drink wine at least once a week) made up 16 percent of survey respondents, but accounted for 91 percent of wine consumption.
Marginals (those consuming a minimum of one glass of wine per month) comprised 15 percent of those surveyed, and added 9 percent of total volume.
Nearly 44 percent of the population does not drink, and about one out of four people enjoys beer and spirits, but not wine.

Since 2000, the report shows that the number of core wine drinkers has appreciated by 60%, while the marginal drinking group has plateaued, and consumption among those who drink only beer or spirits but not wine, is now 21 percent less than it was eight years ago.

Men outnumber women, 52 percent against 48 percent, in the core wine group. Almost 20 percent of male wine drinkers reported drinking more wine in 2008, against a net gain of 14 percent among females.

The most positive trend, Gillespie reported, was among the younger generational segments: generation-Xers and millennials. The greatest growth and the most optimistic conclusions from the survey come from millenials, ages 18 to 32. They and the generation-Xers accounted for what Gillespie described as "stunning growth in the core wine-drinking population."

In 2008, nearly half of the millennial segment reported a net 23 percent increase in wine consumption--double that of generation-Xers against minimal or declining figures for the aging baby boomers. Gillespie described this trend as a "trade-off" phenomenon, where better than 10 percent of wine drinkers, primarily generation-Xers, are increasing total wine consumption at the expense of beer and spirits.

The bad news is that some wine drinkers are now shopping less frequently for wine and trading down in stores and on-premise. Fewer expensive bottles are being sold in restaurants, and many patrons have shifted from buying a bottle to buying smaller amounts by the glass.

The millennials, Gillespie suggested, are the future of the wine industry, and their numbers are increasing as younger members reach drinking age. They are the most optimistic about the economy and their wine consumption continues to rise. Millennials take nearly three glasses per occasion, compared to 2.41 for generation-Xers and 2.13 for baby boomers. The report shows that millennials overwhelmingly associate wine with fun times. Millennials are also significantly more likely than older generations to purchase wines costing $20 or more, and they visit wine bars more frequently than those in older age groups.

The Wine Market Council public relations program is now completely focused on this consumer segment. One tactic has been to employ a battery of sommeliers, largely in the millennial age bracket, as spokespersons in the media. It also claims a successful introduction last year for an online widget advising on wine pairings.

Core wine drinkers, the study shows, make most of their purchases in the levels between $6 and $20 and purchase product in the lowest and highest price ranges more often than marginals. Red wine now accounts for nearly half of purchases by core wine drinkers. Core wine drinkers consume domestic wine two-to-one over imports and marginals favor domestic wines on a three-to-one basis.

Core wine drinkers identified their most recent wine occasion as taking place at home.
Marginal wine drinkers showed more frequent participation at the homes of friends or in restaurants.

While home drinking most often occurs with guests or family among both groups, core members are more likely to partake at home with informal meals, take-out food or when dining alone. Both groups are highly likely to order wine in expensive restaurants and core drinkers frequently drink wine in neighborhood or causal chain restaurants. One out of four core drinkers visited a wine bar in the final three months of the survey, almost double the frequency for marginals. Most core drinkers who went to wine bars reported more than one visit.

Surveys showed California ranked high for flavor, value and overall enjoyment, and Oregon wines were rated most unique. Consumers reported a liking for the overall quality of imports, but there was bad news for French producers in figures showing French wines considerably lower on value assessments, though strong on flavor and quality. Core wine drinkers buying imports are skewed toward wines from Spain, Chile, South Africa and Portugal.

Gillespie predicted a "soft landing" in 2009, and was optimistic that the very strong fundamentals of the wine industry will carry it through a troublesome year ahead.

The Wine Market Council originated in 1994 as a non-profit trade association to foster the wine trade and to supply its members with proprietary market information. It also conducts a national public relations campaign for the industry.

source: winebusiness.com

Sparkling Summer Red on SALE for Valentines Day

2009-01-14T15:27:00.002+11:00

Our Sparkling Chambourcin has been one of our best sellers over the Christmas-New Year, we think it will make a great surprise for Valentines Day to share with that someone special. To celebrate Valentines day we would like to offer our blog readers a special of 20% off the retail price of our Sparkling Chambourcin, so you can share with your special Valentine.

If you come into our Cellar Door at Port Stephen's or if you want to place a mail* order over the phone (*postage is additional cost), simply mention that you read about our Valentine offer here on this blog, and Hellen and Damien will happily deduct 20% from the sale of your Sparkling Chambourcin purchase.

This applies to single bottle or case purchase of the Divers Luck Sparkling Chambourcin. Currently our retail price is $25 a bottle for the Sparkling Chambourcin.

SPARKLING NEW ARRIVAL - Just in time for Christmas & New Year

2008-12-13T11:45:00.003+11:00

We are pleased to announce the arrival this week of our very own Divers Luck Sparkling Red.

Made from Chambourcin this is a very unique offering from Divers Luck, it has been 4 years in the making in conjunction with Peters Champagne House in the Hunter Valley.

Tasting Notes and more details comming soon.

RED RED RED WINE

2008-11-02T17:51:00.000+11:00

Divers Luck has a number of Red Wines available made from the following varieties;

Shiraz, Merlot, Chambourcin, Cabernet Sauvignon

The Red Wines available from our Cellar Door as follows;

Merlot 2003 - NEW RELEASE
Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 - NEW RELEASE
Shiraz - 'Bin 601', 'The Diver Reserve'
Chambourcin
Rose
Our Signature Red - 'Mad Diver'
Red Dessert wine - 'SILK'
Fortified - 'Divers Luck Decompression Port'

Where does the Red colour come from?

Simple answer is the Red Grape Skins.

Red & White look the same without the skin;When you press the grape Red or White, the juice is clear or cloudy white. By adding the ‘skins’ that contain the colour pigments will makes the clear juice turn red.

Intensity of Colour

It is during the fermentation process where the grape skins and juice are mixed and left to ferment, the pigment is drawn from the skins colouring the grape juice. The length of time you leave the skins in determines the intensity of the colour. Various grape varieties also have differing ‘red’ shades, which will effect the overall colour.

Rose

Why is our Rose so delicious and fruity??

Simple, our Divers Luck Rose is made from our Chambourcin lot. We simply remove the grape skins ‘very’ early on in the wine making process, so that there is left just a blush of pink.

You may find some Rose wines are made from White Grape varieties, where the wine make will add a small amount of Red Wine. You can be guaranteed that our Rose is 100% Chambourcin red.

China's newfound obsession with wine

2008-10-02T14:53:00.000+10:00

Wineglasses Rising

China's newfound obsession with wine.

A specter is haunting Western wine geeks: the prospect of 1 billion Chinese people besotted with wine. As China becomes an economic colossus, its increasingly voracious appetite for scarce natural resources will inevitably extend to the world's most sought-after wines. If even a tiny fragment of China's population acquires the means and desire to regularly drink the likes of Haut-Brion and Romanée-Conti, the effect on (already high) prices and (already tight) supplies will be profound. And, in fact, the balance of wine-buying power is already shifting eastward: Chinese collectors have furiously sought out one first-growth Bordeaux, Château Lafite; and Hong Kong, which recently lifted all duties on wine, is now poised to rival London and New York as a hub of the global wine trade. Of course, there is always the possibility that China could eventually slake its own growing thirst for cabernets and merlots. China has a long viticultural heritage, and on the back of the country's economic gains, the local wine industry is booming: China is now the world's sixth-largest wine producer. But output is one thing, and quality is another. Might there soon be truly fine wines bearing the "Made in China" label?

I lived in Hong Kong in the mid-1990s, just before the British colony was returned to Chinese rule. Hong Kong was a sophisticated city with a number of major wine collectors, but the mainland was a vinous frontier, and the tales of mainland wine culture that filtered out were wild (and often carried a distinct whiff of condescension): Stories of Château Petrus being mixed with Coca-Cola and similar crimes being perpetrated against other prestigious wines were widely circulated.

More than a decade later, a vibrant and increasingly savvy wine culture has taken root in China. The country's wine consumption jumped more than 50 percent during the first half of this decade and is on course to increase another 70 percent during the second half. These numbers have caught the eye of all sorts of Western wine luminaries, who have begun to take China very seriously. Robert Parker just paid his maiden visit, a trip that included a $2,300-a-head black-tie dinner held on the Great Wall. Acclaimed British wine writer Jancis Robinson went to China in March and came back a believer; her popular Web site is now being translated into Chinese. And last summer, I saw Bernard de Laage, the marketing and communications director for Château Palmer, a Bordeaux third-growth, just before he headed off on a trip to China. I assumed his itinerary would be limited to the obvious destinations: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. But it turned out he was doing tastings in Wuhan, Taiyuan, and Qingdao. In an e-mail last week, de Laage told me that he is returning to China in September and will be visiting Dongguan, Xiamen, and Shenzhen. Evidently, the wine bug has spread far beyond the China's biggest and most international cities.

But it is not just the enthusiasm of Chinese wine buffs that is attracting all this attention; it is their rapidly growing purchasing power. Boris de Vroomen, the managing director of Moët Hennessy Diageo Hong Kong Limited and the chairman of the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Industry Coalition, recently estimated that Hong Kong buyers account for as much as one-quarter of the wine sold at auction these days and that 40 percent of the fine wine sold by merchants in London goes to collectors in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Macau. In an effort to bring this business home, the Hong Kong government scrapped import duties on wine and beer in February. Three months later, New York's Acker Merrall & Condit, which has topped the U.S. wine auction market four of the last five years, held its first-ever sale in Hong Kong, and the response was so exuberant—the total take was $8.2 million and several record prices were set—that it immediately scheduled a sequel for November. Two other leading houses, Zachys and Christie's, are also holding auctions in Hong Kong this autumn.

But there is more than enough Chinese money to go around, a point underscored at the recent Auction Napa Valley, an annual charity benefit renowned for its high quotient of celebrities (Oprah attended this year's event, and Jay Leno emceed it) and the lavish sums paid for trophy wines. Back in the tech-bubble days, it was Silicon Valley moguls who caused the biggest stirs; this year, it was an Internet entrepreneur from Shanghai named David Li, who ponied up $500,000 for six magnums of 1992 Screaming Eagle, California's most sought-after cult cabernet sauvignon. "I love Screaming Eagle," Li gushed to the Wine Spectator. "Napa Valley wines are the best in the world."

I am delighted he thinks so, and as a Franco-centric wine drinker, I only wish Mr. Li could persuade other Chinese oenophiles to focus on Napa rather than Bordeaux or Burgundy (an even more alarming prospect, given the minuscule quantities of wine produced there). Alas, for most Chinese collectors, France is the touchstone, and Bordeaux especially—so much so they've even started to buy wineries there. Last January, a Chinese firm acquired an estate called Château Latour-Laguens, in the Entre-Deux-Mers section of Bordeaux (no relation to Château Latour). One first-growth, Lafite, has become a particular obsession for many Chinese wine fans. Acker Merrall President John Kapon confirms the intense Lafite interest among Chinese connoisseurs, adding half-jokingly that it is getting to the point that "there doesn't seem to be enough [Lafite] to go around!"

It's for this reason that I and many other self-interested grape nuts are so eager to see China's wine industry flourish. China has been producing wine since at least the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-A.D. 907) and possibly as early as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220), when the first vinifera grapes were known to have arrived there. In the late 1970s, after Mao's death and the opening of China to foreign investment, Rémy Martin, Allied Domecq, and a handful of other Western liquor companies teamed up with mainland partners to establish wineries in China. The facilities were more modern than any China had ever seen, and the wines they turned out were the first "Western style" ones to be produced there. (Chinese wines were traditionally syrupy and sweet; these were comparatively taut and dry.) Recent years have seen the rise of a small number of boutique estates that aim to produce upscale wines with international appeal and that are using foreign consultants to help them achieve that goal.

The splashiest of these, Grace Vineyard in Shanxi province, was founded a decade ago by Hong Kong-based tycoon C.K. Chan. It includes a replica of a French château, and its signature wine, the chairman's reserve (presumably not named for Mao), is a Bordeaux blend that currently sells for about $60 a bottle. In all, there are about 450 known wineries in China, with vineyards stretching from Inner Mongolia to the Yellow Sea. Within this expansive zone is a dizzying array of topographies, soils, climates, and grapes. There is no reason to think that China can't make cellar-worthy wines; the question is where and with what varieties, and that sorting-out process is now well under way. Confidence is certainly high: There is now even a company specializing in tours of China's wine country.

Two years ago, U.S.-based importer Bartholomew Broadbent acquired a 50 percent stake in Dragon's Hollow Vineyards, a winery in Ningxia Hui, an autonomous region 600 miles west of Beijing. Broadbent boasts an impressive wine pedigree (his father, Michael, is the legendary former head of Christie's wine department) and has experience working in unlikely places (he also represents Lebanon's fabled Château Musar). He says that the area in which Dragon's Hollow is located was identified years ago by Jess Jackson, of Kendall-Jackson fame, as an area rich in viticultural promise. But realizing that potential is no simple task, particularly in such a remote part of China, where Westerners are still a novelty and fine wine is an alien concept (in part because the region has a large Muslim population and alcoholic beverages are shunned by many residents). Dragon's Hollow owns 1,600 acres of vines, the first of which were planted in 1997. It employs a winemaker from New Zealand and also has a team of 10 locals working in the vineyard and the cellar. "The biggest challenge," says Broadbent, "is teaching them to make wines that suit the Western palate. They've never tasted Western food and there is no wine culture. They've absolutely got the land and the climate to make great wine; it is just a matter of training."

Dragon's Hollow is one of the few Chinese wineries marketing its wares in the United States. Broadbent sent me three of its wines to sample: the 2005 Dragon's Hollow cabernet sauvignon, the 2006 riesling, and the 2006 chardonnay, all of which have a suggested retail price of $12.99. The chardonnay had an attractive floral kick to the nose and a nice, lemony crispness on the palate. The riesling was subdued aromatically but also delivered a good thwack of refreshing citrus flavors. The cabernet, on the other hand, was lean and green (i.e., the grapes were not sufficiently ripe). None of the wines will be win a gold medal (or 90-point rating) anytime soon. But as Lao-tzu might have said, the journey to thousand-dollar wines begins with a single sip.

http://www.slate.com/id/2196779/

Dolphin City All Year Round - Spring is here!

2008-09-18T13:43:00.000+10:00

Port Stephens is the home to family pods of Dolphins that can be found swimming in the Bay each day. Each day Divers Luck is host to many visitors whom are on their way home from seeing the dolphins, and are keen to tell their stories, and of what a magical place Port Stephens is.

The dolphin pods can be seen year round, you will find at the Marina in Nelson Bay there are many boat tour companies who offer day cruises to sight these dolphins.

Drop By Divers Luck
Then on your way home why not drop in and try some of our delicious wines to complement your Port Stephens experience. Divers Luck situated at Anna Bay-Bobs Farm boarder, will be on your right hand side driving south towards Newcastle-Raymond Terrace, located just 2.5klm past the Anna Bay (near the Putt Putt Golf) Round-about.

Take time out to reflect on your day.

Divers Luck Sparkling Rose - Coming Soon

2008-08-20T11:50:00.002+10:00

We have received many calls about our Sparkling Rose, to let you all know that we are on track for receiving our very own Divers Luck Sparkling wine in early December. We will let you all know as soon as we have available for sale and sampling at our Cellar Door.

Whale Watching in Winter, top it off with a Port!

2008-07-29T21:13:00.000+10:00

Whale breaching off Tomaree Heads, Port Stephens, Australia

Whale breaching

Whale Tail ! Off Tomaree Heads, Port Stephens, Australia

During the winter chill we recommend two things to do on your Port Stephens visit....

1. Whale Watching...and;
2. A drop of our delicious Divers Luck Port

During the winter months Port Stephens is host to the migrating Whales that travel North to South - from the warm Queensland waters of Hervey Bay back to their chilly breading grounds in the Antarctic Ocean.

Peak Season is August, you will find a number of tour boats who offer day cruises to see the whales, located at the Marina in Nelson Bay.

Following your Whale Watching experience, we recommend to top off your day with a nip of the very popular Divers Luck Decompression Port, one of our best sellers especially during winter months. Also you can try our Dessert Wines; The Divers Sticky and our super popular SILK.

Wine Tastings are free and are available at our Cellar Door open daily 10am-4pm.

Divers Luck Wine Club

2008-07-19T14:52:00.001+10:00

Would you like to receive your favourite wines delivered to your door twice a year, in time for Easter and Christmas celebrations?

If so, then why not join our wine club, and we will arrange your wine delivery for you. It is simple, when you join you simply select which wines you prefer, and your payment details, then we will arrange the rest. You will enjoy the benefit of obtaining year round discounts on all wine purchases, especially when you drop in to see us at the Cellar door.

SAVE on wine prices all year by joining our wine club

Divers Luck Wine Club it’s FREE to join!

We can arrange shipping of our wine nationwide and overseas, just ask us.

Come and visit Diver Luck

2008-06-21T19:02:00.001+10:00

This is the entrance that will great you when you arrive at Divers Luck, even in winter with cold windy and rainy days we have the north end of the balcony fully enclosed by see through plastic tarps, with plenty of picnic table area and space.

We welcome all groups and tours, so that we may assist you to have a great experience at Divers Luck, it is recommended you book in your group wine tasting, so we can prepare and advise you if there are any other group bookings that may clash with similar timings.
Please call Hellen on Tel; 02 - 49822 471

Ten Reasons to Stay Longer in Port Stephens

2008-05-09T12:56:00.000+10:00

Explore Port Stephens has listed Divers Luck Winery as one of ten reasons to 'stay a little longer' in the bay ....

Chambourcin on display

2008-04-18T02:03:00.001+10:00

On approach to the cellar door is our Chambourcin block, taking pride of place along the drive into the winery.

Chambourcin is a French Hybrid variety that was '..developed in France in the late 1800's by French Scientist Joannes Seyve, who gave it the hybrid number JS 26-205. The first 'commercial' wine from this grape, according to Jancis Robinson, was as late as 1963. It was/is common in the Muscadet region of the Loire and is now popular in the mid-east USA..'*

Chambourcin proved popular in America due to the compatibility with humid-to-frosty coastal climate of North America. Notably particularily mildew mould resistant.

Due Chambourcin's versatility it is no wonder that Chambourcin caught the eye of Aussie grape growers, infact today it is believed to be the most used French Hybrid in Australia.

It was for this versatility that when researching suitable varieties to grow on the Port Stevens Peninsula that Tony chose Chambourcin to grow at Divers Luck, in which time it has thrived and is the base olend for our signature red MAD DIVER. We also have a Rose made from Chambourcin, and a Sparkling (Champagne style) wine made from Chambourcin.

Although we don't sell the grapes for eating, each year we delight in eating the grapes once they are ripe, they are even more delicious than Muscatels to eat.... only downside are the many seeds..

Happy Easter from Divers Luck Team

2008-03-23T14:30:00.000+11:00

March into Divers Luck for 20% off case purchases

2008-03-02T10:31:00.001+11:00

We have some new additions to our team, ducklings named Spotty, Fatty, Quack 1 and Quack 2 by the Adams boys ...
To celebrate Easter, during the month of March 2008 when you come into Divers Luck Cellar Door and purchase a full case of any wine, and we will give you a 20% discount.*

*Valid month of March 2008 only at Cellar Door.

Watching the grapes grow

2008-02-27T16:07:00.001+11:00

2008 has gotten off to a busy start, as it's been a non-stop summer for us, so much that often with working 7 days a week at the cellar door, we don't get time just to sick back and watch the grapes grow!! ... so I made effort to take out the camera and take a few shots, and sat back and enjoyed the view with a sip of Semillon (my favourite).

Watch the Chardy grow ..

2008-02-10T12:21:00.000+11:00

It is wonderful to sit back and watch the fruits of ones labour .... this is the Chardonnay block at Divers Luck, looking healthy and growing strong.

What's in a name?

2008-02-05T21:50:00.000+11:00

Many ask us '... so why the name Divers Luck?'

Tony Adams the creator of Divers Luck Winery & Vineyard had a dream to grow grapes and make wine, but not just any old wine, Tony was focused on making only good quality wines, helped along by the careful selection of appropriate varieties such as Chardonnay, Shiraz and notably Chambourcin that cope well in the particular soil identified at the vineyard, and to prosper amongst the local coastal climate.

Once the dream was realised, a name for the label and winery was needed, immediately Tony chose 'Divers Luck', simply for 2 reasons; that Tony was a professional Abalone Diver, having been diving for around 30 years, so diving was his passion. And secondly when trying to sum up a name that was not only unique but also it had to be a relefction of his other lifes adventures and passion, the title name of a book 'Divers Luck' by Clarence Benham, which was also a great favourite on Tony's was a perfect fit.

Tony lived a wonderful adventurous life that saw one mountain conqured after another, and dreams always realised.
Today Tony's wife Hellen is the Winery Manager and son Damien the head Winemaker and Viticulturist. If you are dropping by the winery, some photos are on display of photos and collectables of Tony's diving experiences, along with Damien who also was an Abalone diver before studying Viticulture along with Tony.

Today Divers Luck Wines has won many Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, including a Gold 55points at the prestigious Rutherglen WIne Show, which is Australia's oldest wineshow, now in its 120th year.

2008 Trends

2008-01-20T13:22:00.001+11:00

What will 2008 hold for the wine industry?

An overall theme I am sure you will see in 2008 is a world focus on 'being green', 'carbon foot prints', 'organic' & 'biodynamic farming' ... so what does this mean for the wine industry? Well lots.. for starters the industry will be busy reviewing the process from production, development, distribution to consumption ... this will become a focal point this year.

Bottom line is we all want clean water and clear skies, and a future for generations to come...
... you could compare to say the wine will taste better, with better flavours and cleaner aromatics... like our Divers Luck MAD DIVER signature red, packed with clear clean vibrant flavours!

Happy New Year !!!

2008-01-02T16:37:00.001+11:00

Welcome to 2008... what a an exciting year ahead, as we expect to have our Sparkling Rose release towards the end of the year, if not in time for Christmas New Year release.

... now time to gather your friends, pop the cork on a chilled Chardonnay, time to sit back and enjoy the summer weather we have been pleasantly experiencing...

Bonne Annee , Shin Nian Kuai Le, Bliadhna mhath ur, Prospero Ano Nuevo, Sae hae bok manhi baduseyo ... Happy New Year to all our friends.

The Adams family

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T12:41:00.000+11:00

To all our customers and friends of Divers Luck Winery, we wish you and your family a safe happy Christmas, and a prosperous 2008.

From the Divers Luck crew ...... including Shark

CHRISTMAS CHEER WITH GOLD MEDAL CHARDONNAY ON SALE

2007-12-01T11:19:00.000+11:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS
Following on from our success of the Spring Chardonnay Sale, and by popular request we are now offering our Divers Luck Award winning 2002 Chardonnay, and we will continue to offer the Rutherglen GOLD MEDAL 2003 Chardonnay on Sale for Christmas. We are also pleased to offer you the choice of Half Case and Full Case options.

On either vintage 2002 or 2003 buy:
6 bottles - Half Case for $AUD120, saving $30
12 bottles - Full Case for $AUD228, saving $72

Our Cellar door is open 7 days, 10am-4pm, you can also telephone Divers Luck Winery to place your order, as we can easily arrange shipment through Australia Post, please ask about the rates.

Calling within Australia Tel: 02-49822 471;
Calling from overseas Tel: +61 2 49822 471

Our Location

2007-09-27T10:28:00.000+10:00

Click HERE to see the location MAP where you can find us...

CHARDONNAY ON SALE

2007-08-06T16:50:00.000+10:00

SPRING INTO SUMMER SALE
Our Divers Luck Award winning 2003 and 2004 Chardonnay is on sale NOW
Case prices are slashed...to make way for out 2007 new releases..
Please call Divers Luck Winery to place your order.
Tel +61-2-49822 471

Shiraz in the Press

2007-07-01T17:22:00.000+10:00

Our press hard at work, during the 2007 Harvest. Damien has gone with the 'open fermentation' process for the Shiraz, and after 3weeks in the vat with regular plunging, the Shiraz was then loaded into the press for pressing off.

The residual compressed skins are used as mulch on our vines, nothing goes to waste. As you can see the lush purple colour is a mark of our Shiraz wines, including our signature red 'Mad Diver', our most popular red blend, the colour staying through the processes right to the glass.
Currently this Shiraz is in barrel at our Winery, where it will mature and will be sent for bottling in 2008.

You can see more of our 2007 Harvest photos on our flickr page

Beer v's Wine Consumption - Wine Consumption on the inrease - USA

2007-06-12T12:40:00.000+10:00

In 2006, the Gallup results flipped; Americans again claimed a preference for beer over wine.

Still, while wine consumption has grown steadily in this country, beer consumption has remained flat. (The one exception to this trend is craft beers, which have enjoyed double-digit sales growth in the last few years. But craft beers command less than 5 percent of the domestic beer market. Anheuser-Busch alone, by comparison, controls about 50 percent of it.)

In 2006 the above grainy video appeared on YouTube. In the clip, three scraggly-looking men in a scraggly yard shoot full cans of Milwaukee's Best Light beer out of a homemade cannon. They shoot at a bottle of what they call "fancy-pants wine," which they've placed at the bull's-eye of a giant white target. On their first shot, they miss. The second shot sends green glass and red wine flying, in the kind of glorious mess that would please Jackson Pollock. The men hoot.

As it happens, the video was made by a beer company—SABMiller, which owns Milwaukee's Best—and while it plays class warfare for laughs, it also represents the ultimate fantasy of American beer executives, who have been jittery for years. For one thing, wine consumption in this country has nearly doubled in the last decade, while beer sales have been pretty much stagnant, growing less than 1 percent since 2000. Even more galling, in 2005 a Gallup poll revealed that, for the first time ever, Americans preferred wine to beer. This was an astonishing development, akin to Americans jilting baseball for bocce.

Soon after, Lew Bryson, a columnist for a beer-industry trade magazine called Cheers, lamented that beer had "lost its way." Bryson summed up beer's predicament: "Wine overcame beer's lead in the hearts and minds of American drinkers," he wrote. "Forty years ago, wine was mired in a swamp of low-margin jug sales. Drunks were called 'winos.' Now wine has cleaned itself up, with a freshly shaved face and a fashionable suit of casual clothes, and is headed uptown."

How, exactly, did wine become so dominant? The shape of American aspiration—our sense of connoisseurship and the good life, the character of our nostalgias, even the thirst imperatives of a nation of office clerks rather than line workers—has changed radically over the last few decades in ways that have helped wine and hurt beer.
Of course, the rise of the American fine-wine industry has spurred the broader acceptance of wine here. But who'd have guessed wine would join beer at the football game? Watching last winter's Giants-Eagles NFL playoff, I saw an ad for a cell-phone plan featuring a graying, rugged-looking man strolling through his vineyard and examining dusty bottles of older vintages in his cellar. Winning over football fans with wine! It was as if the "But of course!" Grey Poupon man of the '80s TV ads had become an unironic icon for the WWE. Somehow, wine had become manly.

Part of beer's populist appeal—and its edge in the beer vs. wine war—has always been its absence of cant about its main point: to provide a little (or a lot of) happy intoxication. You can appreciate wine, but you drink beer, the saying goes. Wine's cult of connoisseurship has always had a specious edge. Like the Victorian obsession with the "grace" of the nude female form, the high-flown language and ceremony of wine-drinking can seem like a fig leaf of sorts, a cover for fancy-pantses who like to get buzzed.

Wine connoisseurship became more palatable to Americans, though, when wine talk changed. As Sean Shesgreen pointed out in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required), the old vocabulary of wine, passed down to us from the English squirearchy, graded wines in class terms, privileging pedigree and refinement. The ultimate parody of this kind of wine talk is James Thurber's cartoon line: "It's a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption."* The new wine grammar, popularized foremost by the American critic Robert Parker, sounds like a really weird grocery list, privileging flavor over domain: notes of blackcurrant, eucalyptus, tobacco. As annoying as this new pastoral language of wine can be, it's certainly more democratic-sounding, less forbidding. It trades one set of referents that Americans view suspiciously and uneasily—class—for another that, even when we haven't the foggiest notion of what it signifies (Chokecherry, anyone? Lychee?), sure sounds nice. Call it the consumer pastoral.

Meanwhile, the American middle classes have fast become connoisseurs of everything—coffee, '80s Japanese garage-rock bands, environmentalist toilet paper. Now, Americans who want the exclusivity that connoisseurship offers but didn't want to seem like snobs can have it both ways. Beer's approachability became less of a virtue. Ironically, in the ultimate about-face, craft-brew drinkers lifted the language of wine. (Tasting notes for a pale ale from the Web site BeerAdvocate: "Nose is floral, like orange blossoms, with some citric rind and soft apple.")

At the same time, Americans, who had traditionally looked to a French and upper-class English model of the good life, one that emphasized refinement and formality, began in the 1980s to look farther south, to the Mediterranean, and particularly to an Italian ideal of good living, one that emphasized passion, spontaneity, and bounty; in other words, we went from Julia Child to Mario Batali. This American embrace of the Mediterranean spirit loosened things up—and the foodie tent got immeasurably bigger when food culture became better suited to the American temperament. Our fundamental attitude about the ceremony of food and the pleasures of the table changed: What counted was passion, which anyone can have, not refinement, which you must be born into, or cultivate very deliberately.

Wine had a prominent place at this new Mediterranean table—it was now part of a "lifestyle," while beer remained just a drink. The power of these linguistic associations can be measured: A Google search of beer and passion yields 1.48 million entries, while wine and passion yields four times that; a search of beer and lifestyle yields 1.6 million entries; wine and lifestyle turns up 13 million. The explosion of lifestyle in America is such a recent phenomenon, in fact, that my 1987 Compact Oxford English Dictionary doesn't even have an entry for the word. But marketers know what it means: intangible values attached to material goods. Or: serious bank. Beer executives are in the process of trying to limit their product's associations with certain lifestyles—"frat-boy animal house," for example, or "devotees of the brown bag Bud lunch"—without alienating those core audiences; beer marketers seem torn between broadening their appeal and energizing their base. But brand repositioning has to be at least somewhat convincing: In 2005, Anheuser-Busch released a malt liquor called Bistro 8, a "new fermented beverage created in collaboration with Master Chefs to complement Bistro Fare. Bistro 8 features the aromas of exotic fruits, spices and citrus. … " Bud executives pulled it.

Wine marketers have it comparatively easy. They merely summon a picture of a bucolic vineyard or people raising their glasses around a table full of food—they don't have to sell their selling points. This is why brewers have been frantically pushing beer-and-food pairings lately. Beer—which can be great with food, by the way—is in danger of being left out of the American mealtime, banished to the den (only when pro sports are on) or to the back porch (only for the early rounds of grilling).

The boom in foodie connoisseurship in this country has dovetailed with the rise of pastoral chic. Both trends work in wine's favor. Wine, even when it's made at oil-refinery volume, can trade on pastoral associations; beer seems somewhat industrial, no matter how handcrafted the brew. This is a serious handicap. Cheers columnist Lew Bryson, in his beery lament, acknowledges as much when he calls for "a change in beer's culture: Scotch whisky people don't talk about 'moving units' of 'the liquid'; they talk about 'selling cases of whisky.' "

But it's more than a question of switching terminology. Wine is basically an agricultural product (fermented grapes), while beer is the result of a complicated process of manufacture (boiling barley to extract sugars, adding hops and yeast, fermenting the wort that results). This holds true whether the brewer is a medieval English villager or Anheuser-Busch. The hallmark of beer is consistency: A brewer strives to make batch after batch of Pilsener so it tastes the same—and often succeeds without much difficulty. Wine is more variable: The sugar levels and tannins and acidity of the grapes fluctuate from year to year, and so does the character of the resulting wines. This explains why the whole concept of vintages is so central to wine but largely absent from beer.

In fact, you can trace the United States' shift from an agrarian society to an urban, industrial one through beer. In the Colonial era, settlers drank mostly hard cider (the rural drink of choice), rum, and whiskey. It wasn't until the mid-19th century, when German immigrants came over in large numbers to man the new factories and brought their brewing skills with them, that beer really took off. When beer became more popular than cider around the time of the Civil War, it signaled an altered American landscape as much as altered tastes. Mass-market beer arose out of two key innovations of the industrial revolution: refrigeration and pasteurization. Suddenly, beer could travel long distances, and lager slowly took over countryside as well as town.

But in America today, beer has lost its grip. In a column on brown ales, Eric Asimov, the drinks writer for the New York Times, wrote a line that could serve as a beer elegy: "Mild brown ales, the knock-back drink of thirsty coal miners and dock workers, are not so appealing to post-industrial office workers, who are less thirsty and more aspirational."
But who knows? Pastoral nostalgia fueled the wine boom—after all, we long ago became a mostly urban and suburban nation. Maybe industrial nostalgia will be next, now that our factories are gone. Cubicle-dwellers, raise your pints!

source
http://www.slate.com/id/2167292/

vindage, vendage - What we are in the middle of !

2007-02-23T10:32:00.000+11:00

Vindage, Vendage
AF; OF vendange < L vīndémia grape-gathering, ... (a wine from) the grape-harvest of a certain (particularly good) year. From Old English vindage, vendage, (Crop, Harvest, Produce, Product.
The quantity of grapes harvested from a vine or from a vineyard. Source: European Union.

Etymology: Vintage \Vint"age\, noun. [Corrupted by influence of vintner, vintry, from Old English vindage, vendage, for vendange, Old French vendenge, French vendange, from the Latin expression vindemia; vinum wine, grapes demere to take off; de emere, originally, to take. See Wine, Redeem, and compare to Vindemial]. Source: Websters.

First Harverst - Traminer

2007-02-03T22:37:00.000+11:00

The first harvest of Traminer in the bin!

Traminer at sunrise

The 2007 Harvest has begun !

2007-01-24T02:06:00.000+11:00

VERDHELO 2007

Our 2007 Harvest began at 5am Sunday morning, starting on the Traminer rows then moving quickly onto the Verhdelho. It was a family effort, with Damien leading the tribe of 9, including Steven and Jeff. All efforts exhausted by 11am, due to the extreme heat of the day setting in. Picking has steadily continued this week on the Verdhelo.

This season we are picking 6 weeks earlier than 2006's harvest, a combination of the threat of rain storms looming, and the high temperatures over summer has seen an early ripening of the fruit. As the sugar levels rise, the need to harvest begins.

MORE PHOTOS OF OUR FIRST DAY BELOW

The Gang at work... 6am !

Steven at the Verdhelo

The real ring leaders !!! Shark, Diver and Faith

Hellen working on the Traminer

Loading up the container with the Verdhelo buckets

Verdhelo up close and personal ...

The wine press loaded and ready to crush our first harvet for 2007

Damien working the press

Faith - The newest edition to the Divers Luck Crew. Faith is an 8 week old Australian Kelpie pure breed.

Here it is the first press of 2007 !

The final pressed grape skins & seeds makes great organic mulch for our vines.

2007 Harvest - Ready to go

2007-01-09T10:45:00.000+11:00

Chardonnay 2007 Vintage still ripening on the vines

Chambourcin 2007 Vintage ready to go...

Happy New Year !!

2007-01-01T22:45:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas from Divers Luck

2006-12-22T13:15:00.000+11:00

2006 has been a very busy year for us, and it does not stop! ... as we head into our 'busy' season at the cellar door the 2007 vindage is upon us again!

If the 2006 'Rose' release was not enough (and it is proving and exciting tasting & popular wine) ... Divers Luck have some exciting wines coming out in 2007, including the continued release of our signature Red & Whites : the 'Mad Diver' and 'Birubi', we will also be releasing our tantalising WHITE PORT later in the year...and if the preliminary tastings out of the barrel are anything to go by, this will not last ! DELICIOUS !

Seasons Greetings from the Divers Luck Crew

* NEW WINE RELEASE * Divers Luck ROSE, Australian Wine

2006-12-17T21:32:00.000+11:00

Divers Luck Winery is please to announce that our 2006 ROSE is now available

The Ultimate Summer Sipping Wine...

If you are looking for something different over the coming Long Hot Summer, try our deliciously simple Divers Luck Rose. The Rose style is an agreeable easy drinking alternative to a heavier Red wines, or the woody and also sweeter Whites.

Our Rose is made in our winery from Chambourcin grapes grown in our Vineyard, it is well balanced light in style, salmon pink in colour with red fruit flavours of cherry, strawberry and raspberry. Server chilled, Divers Luck Rose is well suited to drink with light salad, cold pasta dishes or a delicate fish meal. Best to drink now, shor term cellaring.

There is nothing better than sipping a Rose in a icy cold glass on a late Sunday afternoon watching the sun set with friends and family.

What is a ROSE?

French for 'PINK', a Rose is the 'style' of wine and process used to get the 'Pink' colour. Rose's are made from any red grape variety, Divers Luck have used Chambourcin from our vineyard. Interestingly the reason why the colour is 'Pink' is due to the skins of the grapes being removed early.

For enquiries and orders please contact the Winery :
Divers Luck Winery
Hellenvale
Nelson Bay Road
BOBS FARM NSW AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61+2+49822471
Email: tonyab@hunterlink.net.au

Behind The Scenes of Wine Making - What's NEW

2006-11-25T18:05:00.000+11:00

The Barrels
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

Some of the wine barrels in holding at Divers Luck Winery, Cabernet 2006 Vintage, also Merlot and our new yet to be released in 2007 WHITE PORT.

Divers Luck wines are made on site in our winery by Damien, for the most part the red wines and fortified wines are kept in barrels until ready for bottling. This year Damien has branched out to create a new style of fortified wine, a 'White Port', for anyone who has tasted such a drop, will be delighted with this offering, on track for bottling in mid-2007.

For pre-orders to secure the pending 2007 limitied release of the new Divers Luck 'White Port', please contact Hellen or Damien.
Telephone : +61+2+49822471
Email : tonyab@hunterlink.net.au

Medal News - Silver & Bronze for our CHARDONNAYS

2006-11-02T20:03:00.000+11:00

Divers Luck are very pleased to announce our 2006 Medal success with our Chardonnays' at the 2006 NSW Small Winemakers Awards.

SILVER - 2004 Chardonnay
BRONZE - 2005 Chardonnay

All wines are now available for sale from the Cellar door direct or via Mail Order.

2006-10-08T19:36:00.000+10:00

Divers Luck Winemaker of the Month

2006-10-05T07:10:00.000+10:00

Magazine Cover
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

We are proud to announce that Damien our head Winemaker and Viticulturist at Divers Luck Winery was recently profiled for Winemaker of the Month in The Australian New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker Industry publication.

About Divers Luck Winery

2006-09-01T04:15:00.003+10:00

Welcome To Divers Luck Vineyard and Winery

Port Stephens, Australia

Divers Luck Winery is Port Stephens First and only Winery in the region.

The family owned and operated boutique winery was the vision of Abalone Diver Anthony Adams and wife Hellen Adams, along with their son Damien and family they planted vines on the vineyard property ‘Hellenvale’ in 1999, celebrating the first vintage in 2001.

All of Divers Luck wines are made using traditional European methods on site at the Divers Luck Winery from the hand picked grapes from the Vineyard. With the passing of Anthony in December 2004, the family continues to produce quality award winning wines, with son Damien taking over as the head Winemaker and Viticulturist.

Divers Luck philosophy is quality over quantity, following are some of the winemaking success achieved to date:

2006
SILVER Medal - 2004 Chardonnay - NSW Small Winemakers Show

BRONZE Medal - 2005 Chardonnay - NSW Small Winemakers Show

2005
GOLD Medal - 2003 Chardonnay - NSW Small Winemakers Show
SILVER Medal - 2003 Chardonnay - Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show

SILVER Medal - 2002 Chardoonay - NSW Small Winemakers Show
BRONZE Medal - 2002 Chardonnay - Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show
BRONZE Medal - 2003 Chardonnay - Rutherglen Wine Show
BRONZE Medal - 2003 'The Diver' SHIRAZ Reserve - NSW Small Winemakers Show

2004
GOLD Medal - 2003 Chardonnay – Rutherglen Wine Show
SILVER Medal – 2002 Chardonnay – Hunter Valley Wine Show
BRONZE Medal – 2003 Chardonnay – New South Wales Small Wine Makers
BRONZE Medal – 2003 Shiraz – New South Wales Small Wine Makers
BRONZE Medal – 2003 Merlot – New South Wales Small Wine Makers

2003
BRONZE Medal – 2002 Shiraz – Hunter Valley Wine Show
BRONZE Medal – 2002 Chardonnay – Hunter Valley Wine Show

Why 'Divers Luck'? ....................... Just ask any abalone diver !

Contact Details:

Divers Luck Winery
"Hellenvale"
Nelson Bay Road,
Bobs Farm, Port Stephens
NSW 2316 Australia

Tel: +61 249822471
Fax: +61 249822726
Email: tonyab@hunterlink.net.au

Enjoying some Divers Luck

2006-08-27T19:58:00.000+10:00

The Qantas Sales & Distribution team saying farewell to Michelle at the Thai Bahn Restaurant in Newtown, whilst enjoying some Divers Luck ... Michelle and Elanor really getting into the MAD DIVER.

Janelle and Carol ... sharing the Divers Luck. Watch Out Janelle !!

Where are you and your friends enjoying some DIVERS LUCK ??? Email me your photo with a brief description and we will add to our BLOG. diversluck@gmail.com

Cellar Door Experience - Big Brother and our Korean Friends

2006-08-21T21:37:00.000+10:00

Visiting Divers Luck Winery, an Australian Small Boutique Winery, that makes award winning red and white wines is open for tasting for all our friends who visit from around the world including Korea.

What's Happening at Divers Luck Over Winter 06 - Vine Pruning & Promoting Chardonnay

2006-08-21T15:23:00.000+10:00

Kally and Jason at the Cellar Door to welcome all our guests for tastings of our award winning wines. You may also be lucky to spot our kelpie 'Shark'!

Presently over winter Damien is still out in the vineyard pruning back the vines and tying them down to the trellis. You may see them in action when you visit. Here is Jason in action, helping out Damien.

Our Award Winning Wines

2006-08-07T13:07:00.000+10:00

Divers Luck WInery @ Port Stephens
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

Shiraz bin 601, 'The Diver' Reserve, 2002 & 2003 Chardonnay.

Divers Luck WHITE Wines

2006-07-16T23:04:00.000+10:00

SEMILLON 2003
Fresh tropical bouquet, honey and dew melons dominate. Crisp citrus, lime flavours and smooth full mouth feel. Light golden straw in colour, this wine is perfect for summer drinking.
Per Bottle: $18.00 Per doz: $216.00

CHARDONNAY 2002
SILVER MEDAL2005 NSW Small Winemakers Show
BRONZE MEDAL2005 Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show
SILVER MEDAL 2004 Hunter Valley Wine Show
BRONZE MEDAL 2003 Hunter Valley Wine Show
Long, creamy palate generous with flavour, length and texture. Nose filled with tropical fruit aromas with a fragrant lift, balanced well by creamy oak and crisp finish. Colour, vibrant straw green. This wine is perfect to drink now or for cellaring for 2 - 5 years.
Per Bottle: $24.00 Per doz: $288.00

CHARDONNAY 2003
GOLD MEDAL2005 NSW Small Winemakers Show
SILVER MEDAL2005 Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show
BRONZE MEDAL2005 Rutherglen Wine Show
GOLD MEDAL2004 Rutherglen Wine Show
BRONZE MEDAL2004 NSW Small Winemakers Show
BRONZE MEDAL 2003 Hunter Valley Wine Show
Palate is full, soft peach and melon fruits balanced well by creamy oak and crisp finish. Fragrant nose of stone fruits (peach and nectarines), spicy nutty oak. Colour, vibrant straw green. This wine is perfect to drink now or for cellaring for 3 - 5 years.
Per Bottle: $25.00 Per doz: $300.00

CHARDONNAY 2004 ~~ Not Tasting, this order is on Special Request PLEASE ASK~~
BRONZE MEDAL2005 NSW Small Winemakers Show
BRONZE MEDAL2005 Riverina Winemakers Assoc Wine Show
Fresh citrus/melon flavours - good acid length. Palate has balance with fruity flavours supported by refreshing acidity.
Per Bottle: $18.00 Per doz: $216.00

CHARDONNAY 2005
Rich fruity flavours, with a nose that combines the fruity tropical scent with the integrated oak creating a full palate that provides balanced lingering acid finish. The colour is golden green, this wine is perfect for drinking now or should cellar well for 5 years.
Per Bottle: $18.00 Per doz: $216.00

VERDELHO
Passionfruit, Guava, citrus, hint of lemonade at finish. Spicy tropical notes. The wines crisp finish is a perfect accompaniment with Asian dishes and fresh seafood. Per Bottle: $18.00 Per doz: $216.00

BIRUBI
Our ‘signature white’ a Chardonnay, Verdelho blend. Tropical fruit salad and passion fruit nose, dew melons with crisp palate. Our BIRUBI is ideal to accompany fresh seafood or Asian dishes, a perfect lunchtime tipple! Per bottle: $18.00 Per doz: $216.00

THE DIVERS STICKY ~~ Dessert Wine ~~
What can we say! Just luscious, ideal to sip with cheese, dried fruit or splash the Sticky over strawberries, or your favourite fresh fruit. Per bottle: $19.00 Per doz: $228.00 375ml

Note: All Prices shown, as at 3rd September 2006 are subject to change. Semillon Sale is for CASE Purchases only for AUD156.00 plus shipping costs until END OF SEPTEMBER 2006. Call Hellen for orders TEL: +61+2+49822-471

Diver Luck Cellar Door Experience

2006-06-25T13:33:00.000+10:00

Our wines are available for tasting at our Divers Luck Winery Cellar Door, 7 days a week, we are open 10am-4pm during winter. Come in and say hello to Hellen, Damien and our friendly staff Kally and Jason (below in video), you might be lucky to also find Shark about the property.

More VIDEO COMING SOON, in English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese!

Pruning The Vines

2006-06-09T12:32:00.000+10:00

After the 2006 Harvest of March was completed, we waited until the autumn passed and the dropping of the leaves until we began the pruning back of the vines. The video is of Damien Divers Luck's Viticulturist and Winemaker filling in his afternoon with pruning. Damien is intervied by Steven on the Chambourcin block going over the finer points of vine pruning.
Damien is continuing the Pruning throughout the winter months. With the outcome will be greater growth of the vine to how Damien wants it to be shaped, with the results seen in Spring Summer as the vines regain their healthy growth.

Cane Pruning:

Damien and Jason pruning the Chambourcin Lot

When? At the end of mid-late autumn, when all the leaves have fallen off.
What? All the extra cane vines that have sprouted out to produce the fruit over summer.
Why? You only need two arms, so the rest of the cane is cut back just to leave the two canes, left and right of the main trunk.
How?
1.
Identify the 2 canes to keep that will produce the fruit. The canes ideally will be healthy with basal buds and in line (horizontal) with the vine row, to then be tied to the vine trellis.
2.
Begin to cut last years unwanted canes, from the centre of the main trunk (see video above), remove the canes from the vine clearing the area leaving only the 2 main canes.

Wrapping The Cane
1.
Clear away all of the remaining canes, leaving the 2 arms that will now be tied to the trellis.
2.
Identify the Basal Buds. The basal buds can be seen to be budding along the arm of the cane, they are are the most productive and will provide the continued growth of new canes and the fruit for the next seasons vintage.
3.
Take one of the canes to wrap around the trellis, this is done by noting the natural growth of the arm of the cane to wrap from 'over' or start from 'under' the trellis first. One of the arms will be under, the other over.
4.
Four Bud Rule:
Noting the placing of the basal buds, to not bruise or scrape off. If possible wrap the cane with the buds pointing outward. Take the arm to the wrap the cane around the trellis. Over, under, over, under. Count out 4 basal buds from the centre, cutting off the arm at basal 5, as this may be too many for the productivity and energy for the vine. Then using the plastic ties, tie the very end of the arm to the trellis so that the vine growth will not fall to the floor, this is for vine trunk support also.
See below video...

Cracking The Cane
The cane is very hardy and can be stretched with great flexibility around the trellis, you will note the cracking sound....this is called 'cracking the cane', where the woody cane will lift to expose the green of the arm, this will only facilitate the energy of the plant growth to this part of the arm to establish new arm growth at this point where the cane has cracked.

Up close to the vines at end of harvest, April 2006

2006-04-30T16:05:00.000+10:00

Up close to the Merlot vines at the Divers Luck Vineyard toward the end of harvest, April 2006
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

Divers Luck Winery End of Harvest 2006

Hellen and the Divers Luck Wines

2006-04-19T18:58:00.000+10:00

HellenAdamsDiversLuck
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

Hellen and the display of all the wines make on site in the Divers Luck Winery, also up on the wall behind the founder Anthony Adams surrounded by all the Gold, Silver, Bronze medals proudly won by the fine quality of wines handcrafted by the family.
Wines on Display from L-R : Decompression Port, SILK (dessert red), Shiraz Bin 601, Chambourcin, Mad Diver, 'The Diver' Reserve Shiraz, Semillon, Verdhelo, Chardonnay, Birubi, 'Divers Sticky'(dessert white).
For all wine sales contact Hellen at the Divers Luck Winery.

Hellen, Steven, Damien & Shark

2006-04-19T18:52:00.000+10:00

Hellen, Steven, Damien & Shark
Originally uploaded by diversluck.

Hellen, Steven, Damien and Shark enjoying a sip of Divers Luck wine after a long Easter weekend, at Port Stephen's, Australia

Chambourcin approaching Harvest March 2006

2006-04-05T03:22:00.000+10:00

Divers Luck Winery Australia

WINE NEWS - MAD DIVER is in stock ................... selling fast!

How The Ancient Egyptians Made Wine

Exotic Port Releases

Mad Diver Coming Soon !!!!!!!!

New Wines on offer for 2010

Australian Prime Ministers Wine Cellar Collection

Wine trends of 2010: Americans still drink wine !

Happy New Year .... Divers Luck Welcomes 2010

Merry Christmas from Divers Luck

2009 New Release - Divers Luck Chambourcin Sparkling Wine unique Australian Wine

2009 New Price List Out Now

NEW RELEASE - Rare Australian White Port now available from Divers Luck Winery

2009 NEW RELEASE - Australian Merlot to be exited about

Where is Divers Luck Winery? ..... Port Stephens

Happy Easter from Divers Luck!

AUSTRALIAN WINE 2009 NEW RELEASES FOR DIVERS LUCK

AUSTRALIAN WINE - Australia's best Chardonnay Gold Medal Wine

Happy Valentines Day

Re-Release Australian Shiraz - Divers Luck Shiraz Bin 601 2003

Study - Wine Consumption and Trends - US

Sparkling Summer Red on SALE for Valentines Day

SPARKLING NEW ARRIVAL - Just in time for Christmas & New Year

RED RED RED WINE

China's newfound obsession with wine

Dolphin City All Year Round - Spring is here!

Divers Luck Sparkling Rose - Coming Soon

Whale Watching in Winter, top it off with a Port!

Divers Luck Wine Club

Come and visit Diver Luck

Ten Reasons to Stay Longer in Port Stephens

Chambourcin on display

Happy Easter from Divers Luck Team

March into Divers Luck for 20% off case purchases

Watching the grapes grow

Watch the Chardy grow ..

What's in a name?

2008 Trends

Happy New Year !!!

Merry Christmas

CHRISTMAS CHEER WITH GOLD MEDAL CHARDONNAY ON SALE

Our Location

CHARDONNAY ON SALE

Shiraz in the Press

Beer v's Wine Consumption - Wine Consumption on the inrease - USA

vindage, vendage - What we are in the middle of !

First Harverst - Traminer

The 2007 Harvest has begun !

2007 Harvest - Ready to go

Happy New Year !!

Merry Christmas from Divers Luck

*** NEW WINE RELEASE *** Divers Luck ROSE, Australian Wine

Behind The Scenes of Wine Making - What's NEW

Medal News - Silver & Bronze for our CHARDONNAYS

Divers Luck Winemaker of the Month

About Divers Luck Winery

Enjoying some Divers Luck

Cellar Door Experience - Big Brother and our Korean Friends

What's Happening at Divers Luck Over Winter 06 - Vine Pruning & Promoting Chardonnay

Our Award Winning Wines

Divers Luck WHITE Wines

Diver Luck Cellar Door Experience

Pruning The Vines

Up close to the vines at end of harvest, April 2006

Hellen and the Divers Luck Wines

Hellen, Steven, Damien & Shark

Chambourcin approaching Harvest March 2006

* NEW WINE RELEASE * Divers Luck ROSE, Australian Wine