Southbank Markets

Castle Glen Vineyard and Castle Glen Liqueurs will be at the Markets:

This Sunday 15 March 2009 from 10.00am - 3.00pm.
Come and try our new Knights Love Shooter (featured below) at Southbank on Sunday. Or come and try some of our many fantastic products available at the Markets.

If you place an order this week, maybe you would like to come and pick it up from Southbank and save yourself the freight costs.

Hope to see you there this Sunday!

'It is Vintage time in the Granite Belt' - Courier Mail. Wow! What a season. Harvesting is already completed. 33 Tonnes have been hand picked and 20 Tonnes have been left as tasty morsels for the birds. They are thankfully enjoying sweet Semillon and Chardonnay grapes, although a little mildewy.

Our Chardonnay was a very small crop due to hail late last year. The Chardonnay copped the brunt of the hail as it was forming berries at the time. As no chemicals are used on the vineyard it was difficult to control mildew after extensive hail damage.

The weather has been warm at just the right times, resulting in no acid content in the wine. We will be concentrating on creating sweet, sticky wine with these fantastic grapes. There has been an extremely high customer demand for a sweet white wine. We will be creating a fabulous Chardonnay/Semillon Blend. So for all those who love something sweet on the palate, your tastebuds will definitely be satisfied with this season's vintage.

This season's Merlot crop and wine is so good we could drink it straight from the tank. We will age some of the crop in American Oak for a medium to dry wine and the remainder is to be fortified in American Oak Barrels.

We are already raving over the Shiraz. It is the best ever. The grapes on the vine were fantastic, with great sugars and excellent tonnage. The wine we are making, as we go to press, is just amazing with great colour and richness, having been fermented on the skins. We are going to have some fantastic wine and fortified wine with this vintage. It's really just a matter of how long we can keep it in the barrels without being tempted to pull it out and bottle it. It will be closely monitored by Cedric as he lovingly tends to the vintage. He is already very happy, which is great news for all Shiraz lovers out there!

The Late Pick Cabernet Sauvignon from the Top Block is tasting great and we expect another sell out year. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon that we turned into fortified wine last year is already fantastic. If you have been to the Cellar Door recently you may have been fortunate enough to have a sample. And for those of you who have not seen us in the last few months - every customer that has sampled wants to purchase a bottle now! Unfortunately, you will all have to wait a little while for the fortified wine to age. We aim at a minimum of 4 years and prefer a 6 - 8 year aging. I know that is a long time to wait, but it is well worth it.

Our Vintage Fortified Wines are coming into their own each year and with an extensive barrel room, places us in the prestigious position of having the oldest, 100 percent grown on the Granite Belt fortifieds in Queensland. We are truly the Fortified Wine Specialist on the Granite Belt.

Our Strange Wine, Montepulciano, having received rave reviews from our discerning customers, was a sellout in the 2008 season. We will be making more in 2009! We will also be producing another Strange Wine for 2009 from one of our 12 Strange Grape Varieties grown at Castle Glen. Come to our Cellar Door to taste this unusual wine, launched soon!

All those who love our Sparkling Wine created in method champagnoise, will be very happy. We will be putting down some more this vintage for the long bottle fermentation process to take place. Our 2002 Sparkling Wine, method champagnoise, Cuvee Style is selling now. You can also buy it with 24kt Gold Flakes. We have just finished a Brut Style for those who love a dry Sparkling Wine.

Our 19 year old vineyard is continuing to develop maturity and the grapes are improving with each year that passes, particularly the reds. They are continuing to improve and develop complexity and richness.

Remember, Castle Glen Wines, are 'All Natural', preservative free. Our wines truly are a hit with those who are allergic to preservatives found in many wines today. Preservative free wine has some great benefits such as no headaches, no hangovers and the taste of the grapes really do shine through. Our Fortified Wines, Sparkling Wines - Method Champagnoise and Liqueurs are also preservative free - a fantastic, healthy alternative.

Lychee Liqueur is currently in production. We are fermenting a small batch of lychees, they were expensive this year, and we are waiting for their completion.

The first batch of Passionfruit Liqueur is on the shelves and a second batch is underway. Like all of our fruit liqueurs the passionfruit is made from real fruit. Yes we actually do cut them up take out the pulp and ferment this tangy mixture. This favourite liqueur is flying off the shelves fast, so get in quickly to secure your bottle. Bottled in 500ml for $30.00 a bottle, this makes a great liqueur to drink straight, on ice or use in your favourite cocktail and/or fruit punch.

We released our 2009 bottle fermented Ginger Beer. It is one of the best we have made so far. It has zero chemicals and preservatives and is proving to be a real hit with customers. Our 2008 bottle fermented Ginger Beer is just about sold out with two dozen bottles left! This sticky, sweet Ginger Sparkling was a real hit, particularly for those who enjoyed it with their Xmas Lunch. We also have plenty of our chill filtered Ginger Brew available - a great summer thirst quencher.

Thankyou for reading!

Just remember, If you are going to drink - DRINK HEALTHY!

Cheers (And bottoms up!)

Cedric and Carol-Anne

We've got another great one for you this month. Just remember - if you have any of your own recipes with Castle Glen products we would love for you to share them with us.

Knight's Love
15ml Knight's Delight Liqueur
15ml Amore Liqueur
15ml White Chocolate Liqueur

Layer liqueurs in order in a shooter glass and shoot!

A divine blend of Knight's Delight- Kahlua style liqueur, Amore - the Liqueur of Love - and heavenly White Chocolate.

White Knight's Love
15ml Knight's Delight Liqueur
15ml Amore Liqueur
15ml White Chocolate Liqueur

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or cocktail shaker and serve in a tall cocktail glass. Sprinkle with grated chocolate if desired. Heavenly!