NEWSLETTER Winter, 2010

Hi everyone,

Where has the time gone? Winter is here and we are already half way through the year.

It was wonderful to see many of you at the Winter Wine Festival. It was a very successful festival for Mountain Ridge Wines and numbers were up greatly from last year. Having so many people visit us over this weekend, we do struggle to chat to you all but we thank you for your patience. Throughout the weekend, we ran a survey asking you for your comments on what you thought about us and how you think we could improve. Congratulations to Kay from Grasmere, who received a gift basket full of wine and goodies for sharing her thoughts. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our form -- your information is very useful to help us make the changes we need in order to make it better next year. We understand that parking was an issue and people had trouble getting to the bar; however, we are already planning changes for next year so these things will not be a problem again.

Well, with the festival over, it is now time for us to focus on pruning. We recently had a visit from Shane Hackett, who is a lecturer in viticulture at Charles Sturt University. He has informed us that our vines are in great shape and should produce a fine crop next year. Perhaps 2011 will be our best year yet!

We now have Rosé back on our list. It is made from a blend Cabernet & Merlot and is very yummy. Also released is the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. Many of you tried our 2009 Sauvignon and found it too sweet. Come on in and try the 2010 -- it is more of a traditional Sauvignon Blanc. The 2010 Petit Verdot, fermented & aged in an oak barrel, is proving popular. You will need to be quick for this one since we only have a small amount.

Our once a month pizza, wine and beer Saturday afternoon/nights have been going well and we are hoping to continue these throughout the colder months. Don’t be put off by the cold, as we will stoke up the fire and keep you warm. We have changed the date to the first Saturday of the month, which coincides with the Berry market; so if you are travelling, you can make the most of it and do both. Many of you have asked if we do functions. Yes we now do! Mountain Ridge Wines is now available for hire for your private functions. Hire the venue, cater yourself or get someone to do it for you. We now have a small kitchen area around the back which makes this possible.

Many of you may have already seen that we have had a wind turbine installed. As we make all our own wine and beer here -- and have five children -- our power usage is quite high. The wind turbine will produce enough power to supply our needs, plus more. We are very excited to be a carbon neutral business. Feel free to wander down to have a look, and if you have any questions please ask.

We have added a few extra activities for children and the young at heart. Hop scotch, a chalk board, a small picket fence for children to paint with water, and we now have a checker board on one of our barrels. Also, you can now meet our chooks as we have built a new chook house near the Cellar Door. We are hoping that the chooks are happy here and lay lots of eggs for you to purchase.

Once again we would like to thank you all for your support and positive feedback. Keep it coming -- we love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

Hope to see you soon!

Regards,

Barry and Monique
Mountain Ridge Wines
info@mountainridgewines.com
11 Coolangatta rd Berry NSW 2535
Ph: 4448 5825