The Master Winemaker REALLY looks like a pirate now :-)

Another very busy week is behind us...
Bianka and Tamas left us, they are on their way to New Zealand, but not before they painted the wine storage and Bianka even devised some tagging system for the shelves :-) Thanks a lot !!!! We'll never forget you! Keep in touch.
We had a function. A great bunch of people celebrated a beautiful lady's birthday at St Imre. Thanks for picking us and we hope you all had a good time.
And now for the most scary and exciting event of the week...Paul had his right eye operated on. Dr F. Burgess changed his lens to alleviate the pressure building behind his cornea. He had to wear a patch over his eye for the day and we laughed ourselves silly watching the reaction of the people on the street :-)) He looked like a bikie after a bed night out :-) and he wasn't even wearing his usual bandana, only when we arrived home :-)) Look at him now: he can't deny his pirate origin :-))) Pity, the patch wasn't black :-) Doc took the facial accessory off today and the master winemaker can't believe how well he can see already!!!!! Fingers crossed, he doesn't collect an infection, because -if everything goes alright- soon he'll have the other eye done and he may not need glasses at all...
Cheers for now.

Pressing the reds

It's gloomy out there again today.
But if you look the other way, the Sun peaks out from behind the clouds. Andras and Bianka took off the netting. Some are in their bags already but some are still waiting for the rain to stop. We had another 45 mm, the ground is saturated now, the old drain is gushing from under the vines and the ponds are overflowing Inside work time :-)
We bottled some barrels of the 08 Pinot Noir to make space for the new going in. Pressing is going according to script We are delighted with Bianka and Andras :-) not just because they are our first Hungarian HelpX guests but because they have restored our faith in the HelpX experience. We had a nasty, regrettable few weeks lately :-(( I was debating as to write about it publicly or not...but I think other hosts (who read my blog) have the right to know that not every guest is a honorable one! Edwin Lua from Singapore was staying with us for a month. As is my custom, I offered Lucifer to be used by him to a trip up the Hartz National Park. He drove it down Cockle Creek the previous week and they came back in their respective skins. Not this time though! They arrived on the back of the tow truck :-((( Edwin paid a grand to part-compensate for the damage he'd caused. So far so good...I was thinking he does the right thing to do and how lucky we all are that no-one was injured, only Lucifer was so smashed up that I didn't have the heart to even look at it without starting to cry :-(( ( You know, this car isn't just a 4 year old car for me! It is my very first new car I ever owned, that's because it has a name, just like all our pets.) Edwin disappeared of course :-( He wrote to me after I've sent him the 6000 dollar repair bill that I should by a secondhand car...(I suppose with the money he paid). Or (in his last email to me) if I want the rest, I should arrange for his insurance fraud!!! Now, this may be a custom in Singapore but NOT in here. And NOT in my family. Ever! We left our old country because we didn't ever wanted to participate in corruption, fraud and bribery. We never compromised our honour and integrity. Not for money, not for political reasons...So I'm mighty pissed off with Edwin !!!! Our every cent is allocated very carefully to be able to finish the cafe, the gallery and the house. The 5000 dollar he took out of our budget is a BIG hole that, being winter with not many customers and jobs for Paul, is very hard to plug in :-((
Edwin withdraw himself from HelpX, so I couldn't leave a feedback to other host about all this. This is why I've decided to write about it here, in case other hosts will look for information about him before they open their home and offer their hospitality to him.
Ohh well...I believe in Karma...what goes around cames around. His conscience might awake or let him sleep soundly for the rest of his life... and I console myself with the company of good friends.
We visited Miki, had a beaut time in his jacuzzi and laughed ourself silly around the dinner table.

Finished the harvest

Finally it's over! This year's crop is safely in the cellar, some awaiting pressing, some are still merrily bubbling and some are gently settling in their containers.
We bottled a barrel of 08 Pinot but the Zork for the rest is still probably in the air, flying over the Tasman from NZ...Before bottling we sampled and tested...
Not much else to report...just normal busy days. For a change, our helpX visitors are Hungarians this time :-) Tamas is helping with the netting (they are coming down), painted the big supporting beams for the living room and today gave a hand with the intricate task of dissecting the 5 ducks that were destined to the table :-) Bianka is a first class duck plucker! :-)) and now a pro in butchering the birds.
School has started again; I've passed my OH+S and Communication tests without needing to resubmit. Phheeeewwww...

Picking the Pinot

Have started picking the Pinot. Very pleased with the quality but it's much less than previous years.
Friends come to help but it was a smaller picking crew because most of our friends flew to warmer climates like migrating birds :-) We made the traditional bogracsos and had a lovely , sunny day.
The whites are nearing the end of fermentation.
Now there is more to pick -it will last some more days- so I'm off to the vineyard.