Castle Glen is at Southbank this Sunday

Castle Glen will be down at the Southbank Markets this Sunday, 20^th September, 2009. We will have lots of Spring and Summer products for you to taste and purchase. Lots of yummy, refreshing liqueurs like Melon, Coconut, Go Troppo and Splice. Lots of favourites like Queensland Delight, Musk, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate, Whiskello and Lemoncello Creme. Yes, we will be bringing some Lavender Liqueur.

From the Vineyard we will be bringing some Red and White Wines, The Sex Range, some of our popular Ports and of course, Chocolate Port. Why not try some Castle Glen Fudge. Cherry Ripe, Choc Ginger and Rum and Raisin will be available.

NEW! To our Castle Glen range is our Recipe Packs. From the most popular recipes for Cocktails and Shooters we have created 'gift packs'. Assorted 50ml bottles, packaged together, 3 x 200ml bottles complete with the recipe in the package. These packs have been very popular at our Cellar Door.

If there is any products that we have not mentioned above, that you would like us to bring, please forward your orders via email or phone to our Cellar Door. You can come and pick them up from Southbank and save your postage costs.

We look forward to seeing you at our stand at Southbank this Sunday!

A new season and a new reason to enjoy fresh,
healthy Castle Glen products.

Musk Stick Lollies, Musk Lifesavers, Smokers (NZ) or Fads in Australia are very popular sweets. Many of us have very fond memories of childhood complete with a sticky face from some sort of Musk lollies or candy.

Would you think that a Thistle could make the wonderful sweet Musk Stick Liqueur? Musk Thistle is actually considered a major pest weed in many areas around the world. The beautiful purple flowers are what actually make the pungent flavour and aroma of this popular liqueur.

So many of our amazing Liqueurs began with a customer request, and Musk Stick Liqueur is no exception. One of our wonderful customers had tried a Musk Liqueur overseas. They came to the cellar door and asked Cedric if he could make a Liqueur that tasted the same.

As always, Cedric gave it a go and got it right the first time around. Musk Stick Liqueur was born and remains the same recipe to this day - Musk and White Chocolate.

Musk Stick Liqueur, wonderful and sweet, pungent in flavour and aroma. There is definitely nothing like it. It is really easy to drink on it's own, but it also makes fantastic shooters and cocktails. Why not try a couple of our new creations for this month's newsletter.

Isn't wine supposed to be just made of grapes?

It seems that wine nowadays that has been mass produced needs 'dressing up'. Much like a woman using make-up to make herself more beautiful, chemicals and additives are used in wine to 'enhance' what is lacking in the wine in its original state.

Leo McCloskey, president of Enologix, a Sonoma, California-based wine consulting company that has analyzed the chemical composition of 70,000 wines, says, "The best wines don't rely on additives. If ingredients were listed on wine labels, the finer wines would stand out."

Widely accepted processing practices account for some of the additives in wine. Fining, the practice of using animal proteins such as egg whites to remove impurities, isinglass which is prepared from the swim bladders of certain fish, horse gelatins, seaweed, and clay, to name a few - can result in some of those proteins remaining in the wine. Animal proteins (chicken, fish, and milk) and wheat are examples of allergens potentially present in wine that are required to be listed under Australian Government requirements.

"Is there some slight trace of these agents left in the wine? It is very difficult to detect", says Gordon Burns, co-founder of ETS Laboratories in St. Helena, California. Because there are no minimal standards for allergens, one molecule remaining in a tank of wine is considered as harmful as a bucketful of them.

Over the years, however, the wine industry has deconstructed wine grapes into their various parts, as well as discovered other ways to reproduce the essence of what comes from grapes. The parts are concentrated into additives used to enhance whatever is lacking in the wine.

More Color, More Flavor

Mega Purple, one of the more notorious additives is 100 percent 'grape juice concentrate'. Although it is intensely sweet, it is used primarily to add color. It comes in white, pink, red and purple. Then there are the flavor enhancers, grape-juice concentrates from particular grape varietals. Yet, not all 'grape concentrates' are made from grapes. In Australia, it has become common practice to use these concentrates. Some of which are made from Beet Sugar and Corn Syrup - not grapes at all! There are also several powdered acids that can be added when the natural acids are missing.

Castle Glen do not use any of these concentrates in any of their products.

Wine - 'Fast food'?

Winemakers can add tartaric, citric and malic acids and still be operating as purists because acids are found in grapes, Smith says. Enzymes that come from a wide variety of sources can be added because their job is to help the yeast to ferment the wine.

"Additives are like cosmetics. They are used to enhance, improve a wine. The clumsiness of Winemakers using the additives is the problem. The wines end up tasting tarted up" says Clark Smith, chairman of Vinovation, a Californian based wine industry 'fix-it shop'.

Leo McCloskey of Enologix sums it up: "A great wine is obvious. It doesn't need any additives. Any winemaker who doesn't control what's happening in his vineyard is using additives in his wine. When you can't create the value in the vineyard, you have no choice but to create it in the winery."

"The industry lives and breathes on the story of being a natural product. But there is a lot of fast food in wine," he adds.


Cheers (and bottoms up),

Cedric and Carol-Anne Millar

News from Castle Glen Vineyard

Spring has sprung. Chardonnay has burst forth and is looking good. All preparation work has been completed ready for the Spring. Our grape vines have been pruned, and the new grafted vines are looking great and are starting to bud.

Our new berry patch of raspberries, logan berries, marion berries, and young berries are doing well. They are shooting new leaves and developing runners. Not unlike our grapes, these brambles will be trained up on to wires. Given the growth we expect some fruit this year. We will keep you posted when they will be available.

Fortified Wine:

1997 Apricot Fortified Wine - 12 YO Apricot Fortified Wine - Apricot wine fortified with 2 YO brandy and aged in American Oak Barrels for 12 years. The Apricots in this Fortified Wine are from our own farm. Grown without Chemicals or Pesticides, they have created a luscious Fortified Wine with intense oak flavours from being in the American Oak Barrels for 12 years! This is the oldest fruit Fortified Wine on the Granite Belt!

Cherry Liqueur Port is running out fast. There are 3 bottles left on the shelf, and one has my name on it!

Muscat aged in a Jim Beam Bourbon Barrel has also become a big seller due to its luscious intense sweet flavours. You don't have to be a Bourbon drinker to appreciate this beautiful fortified wine. Because the birds have dined on the Muscat Grapes for the last five years, there is a big hole in the cellar, and it will be at least 6 years, even if we manage to pick this year, before we have more Muscat Fortified Wine on the shelves. We are down to the last barrel now. Those of you who love this fortified wine, now is the time to get your orders in quick!

New September Wines:

2009 Chardonnay/Semillon with Cabernet (Rose Style) all fermented on skins creating great caramel tones and flavour.

2009 Chardonnay/Semillon - Sweet Wine - fermented on skins has developed a rich sweet intense flavour.

2009 Montepulciano - an Italian grape by origin with intense colour and naturally sweet flavours. We call this Wine a "Strange Wine" a term coined in the late 1800's in California for a grape variety and/or wine that was not deemed to be mainstream. Castle Glen Vineyard is one of three vineyards in Australia growing this grape! Bottling this month - will be ready shortly.

Drink Healthy, Drink Castle Glen Wine Today!

Pixie Breath Shooter!
15ml Amore Liqueur
15ml Musk Stick Liqueur
15ml Coconut Creme Liqueur

Fairy Kisses Cocktail!
30ml Musk Stick Liqueur
30ml Coconut Creme Liqueur
10ml Amore Liqueur
Crushed or Shaved Ice
Caster Sugar, for frosting the glass

1. Wet the rim of a Martini Glass and turn upside down in caster sugar.

2. Fill the Martini Glass with the Crushed or Shaved Ice.

3. Pour over Amore Liqueur, then Musk Stick Liqueur and finally the Coconut Creme Liqueur.

4. Drink and enjoy.

Coconut Ice Shooter!

This is now an old favourite among many. It really tastes like old fashioned Coconut Ice Sweets.
20ml Musk Stick Liqueur
20ml Coconut Creme Liqueur