Dear Comune Member

The 2008 vintage is now well and truly consigned to history (thank heavens!) …time to gather my thoughts and let our Members know how it went, what we have in our sights for Cucina di Lusso, and also to tell you of some offers that might be of interest.

Rob Fairall

Vintage 2008

As predicted, the grape harvest was a shocker.

Despite a lot of vineyard work throughout summer, I decided not to pick any Sangiovese, and of the other varieties only a fraction of previous years reached our quality standards. On the positive side, we all learned a lot about difficult harvests, and the quality of our bore water improved immensely over the year.

There seemed to be a constant stream of "Plan B" decisions to be made. One notable case of trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear involved the Aleatico, brought about by the canopy clapping out early, and the fruit itself riddled with botrytis. So we picked early (when the fruit was half-ripe), and have made quite a nice Moscato d’ Asti style wine from it – our first sparkling wine (actually more 'frizzante' than sparkling). It is back from the Hunter bottlers, and is now released!

Olives, on a brighter note

The Figs

On a brighter note, we picked over five tons of olives this year – close to our target.

We harvested mechanically for the first time - and realized immediately that this winter will include a serious project around reshaping each tree to accommodate harvesting in the future. We will be rewarded with redoubled crops in the future – a major benefit of mechanical picking.

The figs – intelligent as they are – managed to work around the difficult summer far more effectively than the grapes. I calculated that we picked over 80,000 figs this year – most going into paste, confiture and vinaigrette – and only a cold snap which brought with it frost prevented a further 20,000 or so achieving ripeness.

So, there is plenty of house-made fig salsa (chutney) which is now for sale and being used at the Cucina di Lusso.

Other vineyard news…

The change of season marked the wedding celebration of our winemaker Julia Conchie (ne Page) to Russell. A great party for a great couple!

We say goodbye to Italian winemaker Michele Amadio, who joined us from the Veneto for the summer. He was terrific, and can return anytime!

End of Financial Year Sale

Car yards would call it a 'run-out sale' to mark the end of our financial year and wish to launch new releases. Here’s the deal…

Any member ordering a case of wine before end June 2008 - straight or mixed – can also order the following (while stock lasts)

TELEPHONE ORDERS ONLY 02 6373 3125

A case of 2005 Rosso for $140 (cellar door price $170)
A case of 2006 Vino Rosato for $140 (cellar door price $190)
A case of 2004 il Palio for $180 (cellar door price $240)

Take advantage of this offer and you won't have to pay the transport charges!

Ciao!!

Rob Fairall and the Team at di Lusso Estate and Cucina di Lusso

Cucina di Lusso
University Hall
Cnr Glebe Point Road & Parramatta Road
Glebe Sydney NSW Australia
t+612 9660 7555
f+612 9660 7577
www.cucina.dilusso.com.au

di Lusso Estate
Eurunderee Lane
Mudgee NSW 2850 Australia
t+612 6373 3125
f+612 6373 3128
www.dilusso.com.au