Juggling, Jostling and a Good Dash of Swearing: 2021 Harvest, Aussie Mum-Style
Checking in on those you care about, especially when the going gets tough. That's one of the self-care routines we advocate for at A Balanced Glass, and times have been tough indeed, especially for working mums who are often faced with extra challenges beyond finding “work life balance."
As the 2021 annual vintage in Australia winds to a close, and in honor of Mother’s Day next Sunday, May 9 (don’t forget the flowers folks!), this week we check in on nine female winemaking and viticultural mums who are wrapping up harvest in Australia to see how they got through vintage.
Sue Bell – Winemaker and Founder of Bellwether Wines, Coonawarra SA
I worked seven weeks straight without a day off (which was not my intention) that flowed on from a summer tourism vintage. So I confess, I’m totally knackered, with a frozen shoulder, and feeling a bit old and weary. On my first day off I went horse riding with my daughter, as I was scared she had only spent time with me helping out at work. I was also scared that if I stopped and reacted too much, then I might fall apart, so I’m going to stay active.
I have eaten well and our produce chef has fed me with lots of healthy garden goodies and treats, which been my saviour. Locally made pork and fennel sausages cooked in grape marc with mashed potato and sautéed garden greens has been my FAVOURITE vintage dish, hands down! Everything else may have gone to sh*t, but the wines are good!
Kate Goodman – Winemaker Goodman Wines, Yarra Valley VIC and Penley Estate, Coonawarra SA
Covering two states across three regions (McLaren Vale, Yarra Valley and Coonawarra), we are still in vintage, but hopefully we will have everything in by the end of next week. The winery is bursting but the quality is AMAZING!
I navigated the 2021 harvest this year by ensuring I eat healthy and nourishing food. I always fill the freezer prior to harvest to ensure I don’t just resort to vegemite on toast all the time, although my go-to snack is cucumbers and hummus. I’m blessed to live by the sea, so when the weather is still warm enough I will dive in the salty water and rinse the day away or walk it off on the sand without a grapevine in sight.
The 10 year-old has certainly seen his share of vineyards and understands the difference between Shiraz and Cabernet. I did also embrace the offer of grandparents to cover the school holidays which meant a lifting of the mother guilt. First job on the list when time permits is booking a massage!
Cynthea Semmens, Owner Vigneron, Marion’s Vineyard and Beautiful Isle Wines, Tamar Valley, TAS
I’m still in vintage which has been one from hell. I have just done the math and worked all year for a grand total of TWO (!) tonnes of fruit per hectare. I have shared my organic Eden and hard work with ALL the f*cking birds (who crawl under my nets and lift them up with their beaks and let their mates in), wasps, wallabies and bees. Clearly they know my fruit is chemical-free and they have come from miles!!
I’ve relied heavily on having a really good amount of sleep, stopping to sit in nature, and be proud of the changes I see in the soil, and know that if I too was in rehab like the vines I’d probably be a bit wobbly too.
F*ck me, swearing a lot has helped, and I’ve listened to great inspirational podcasts and put on awesome, loud dance music with the disco ball when I need perking up in the winery.
I have survived this vintage by affirming to myself that I am actively changing a paradigm so things don’t always go to plan, and that my intent is for the betterment of my family, business and the world, so a couple of steps backwards is ok. Knowing that I am doing EXACTLY what I want to be doing right now is a good reminder that there is always next year, and the flavours in the fruit are insanely good so something is going right!
Emmanuelle Bekkers, Winemaker / Owner, Bekkers Wines, McLaren Vale, SA
We had a long vintage this year starting in late February through the end of April. The weather helped a lot with a beautiful mild summer (which is still going), so early morning walks and swims kept me fresh and alert, also great quality fruit made me smile every time I pumped over the ferments and tasted the wines. A weekly yoga session to keep up the flexibility and stretch my aching muscles combined with laughter with the kids and husband around a late dinner table with the occasional great glass of wine to remind me that wine is all about celebrating life.
Melissa Brown, General Manager Viticulture / Co-Owner at Gemtree Wines McLaren Vale, SA
I navigated the 2021 harvest this year by doing hot yoga at least once a week and having a weekly Sunday massage. I’ve just returned from a family holiday on Hamilton Island. We always have a short holiday post vintage to reconnect with each other, our kids and reflect and recharge.
Corrina Wright – Winemaker & Owner Oliver's Taranga Vineyards, McLaren Vale, SA
I wouldn’t say I am the poster girl for looking after myself well, but I try to make sure I visit the beach as often as possible given it’s not far away, always have a good book on my bedside table and a podcast that is holding my interest as I drive between the winery, vineyard, work and home. Having a new puppy helps force a bit of downtime too. I need to get my food more organized. Sh*t. I even have a chef at the Swell Brewery that we own now- so I have gotta hook myself up!!
Having one kid who can drive now is AMAZING! Husband sharing of load is essential. And I am lucky that the 11 year old, who wants to be a scientist and an engineer, has just discovered that winemaking and wineries are basically science and engineering, so all of a sudden wants to ‘help’ me when he isn’t at school.
Kerri Thompson, Winemaker/Owner, Wines by KT, Clare Valley
To be totally honest health is rarely much of a consideration over harvest so diet tends to consist of lots of green tea and pasties, and whatever is easy, but a freezer full of options is essential! Lots of late nights and early mornings always means that sleep is sacred and any time away from the winery is spent selfishly and not socially. Lots of cuddles with daughter Willa, reading stories, watering my garden and reminding my own mum that I AM LOOKING AFTER MYSELF!
Fiona Donald, Chief Winemaker, Seppeltsfield Wines, Barossa Valley
This vintage I made a pact with myself to be very disciplined with a few things: increased water intake, and using hydralyte tablets, keeping a standard wake up and bedtime routine of being up at 5:30 am and in bed by 10 pm. Also eating better and regularly; this year we used a local small business (run by a fabulous woman) Vintage Chef Co, to ensure dinner was always sorted! Finally no alcohol intake for 60 days from February through March. Overall, I felt better at the end of vintage than I usually do and hopefully some of these habits stick. Now to plan a holiday!!
Genevieve Mann, Owner / Winemaker, Corymbia Wines, Swan Valley & Margaret River.
I wouldn’t say we did harvest “well” this year from a wellness point of view! Bushfires, lockdown and then 40mm of rain right on harvest in the Swan Valley made for high stress levels and long hours. I can’t even remember how we got through that - it’s a blur. Then rain events and a cool ripening season in Margaret River meant we had four weeks of reset before farrrkkkkk! A cyclone up north was bringing 80mm rain right as all our Cabernet was ripening and two weeks work was condensed into 3 days.
Babysitters or two-way radios dealt with the two kids and God knows what they got up to at home, but the boys are still alive and I was notified of EVERY little argument over the 2-way! Wellness certainly went out the window with us working 16hr+ days and the Karridale Tav(ern) fed us with way too many Dino nuggets for the kids, and Rob and I consuming lots of hot chips with a side of steak/salad! I guess we were in survival mode. Stress levels were high worrying about what pickers we were going to be able to get and how to flip fermenters quickly.
We had to remind ourselves that it’s ok to let a lot of the healthy lifestyle and work life balance go if there is an end, and now we have plenty of time for massages, ocean swims, surfing, fishing (Rob is yet to catch a salmon) and making sure the winter veg patch is in. Don’t want to repeat that vintage!
* * * * *
So there you have it – real time stories from nine working mums producing some of Australia's most exciting wines. Now it’s time to hang up the work boots, take a deep breath, a cup of tea, and get more than four hours of sleep…
Another vintage for the books. Top job ladies!
Namaste,
Beck
What We're Reading:
Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.
5-Minute Hacks to De-Stress and Find Instant Calm, by Amy Packham for Huffington Post
Try these expert-approved techniques if you're feeling overwhelmed.
How the Virtual Space Can Support Mindfulness, by Joy Reichart for Mindful Leader
"Even meetings where we may otherwise experience being moved or connected may actually feel “boring” because, with easy access to the escape hatch of distraction, we aren’t fully in touch with what is going on."
What Your Mouth is Trying to Tell You, by Mo Perry for Experience Life
Oral health is intricately connected to the rest of the body. Here's why it matters, and how to read those niggling mouth symptoms.
A 14-Time Ironman Triathlete Explains How Drinking and Exercise Can Co-Exist, by Kirk Miller for InsideHook
Sensible tippling advice from workout fanatic, entrepreneur and wine lover Tom Lutz.
Brené Brown on Why Good Leadership Has Nothing to Do with Your Salary, by Lane Florsheim for the Wall Street Journal
“Another pandemic is going to follow this one—it’s already started; we’re months into it now—which is a real mental-health pandemic.”
Meet the Community!
Here we meet some of the talented folks who make our community and profession so dynamic.
Robin Shreeves, Independent Journalist And Co-Founder, Thinking Outside The Bottle (New Jersey, USA)
Years in Industry:
The short answer to this is that I’ve purposely been in the wine industry for a little over five years.
The longer answer is that I slowly grew into wine writing when I started writing for Mother Nature Network 12 years ago. I wrote daily for the now defunct environmental news network about all aspects of the food and beverage industry. Wineries began to contact me and tell me about their sustainability initiatives. They’d send me their wine. I’d interview them and tell their stories, mentioning the wine at the end of the piece and what I thought of it. I had no formal training in wine. Then in the fall of 2015 I was invited to go to Italy to Ferrari Winery to write about their sustainability initiatives, and on that trip I realized I wanted to focus on wine.
Since then, I’ve studied at the Wine School of Philadelphia, read dozens of books about wine, and filled notebooks with tasting notes trying to wrap my head around wine. There’s always more to learn. I’ve written a column about New Jersey wine for my local newspaper and wine features for many publications, and I recently launched Thinking Outside the Bottle, a drinks industry content writing business with my business partner Kathleen Willcox.
My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:
My top challenge is eating healthy and managing my weight. I’m a stress eater. I’ve always struggled with my weight, and I’m on the high end at the moment. I’m fortunate that I still have a lot of energy and pretty good health despite my weight, but I am sure the good fortune will not last forever. It’s something that I need to focus on – soon.
A full work schedule is another challenge. I sit at my desk by 9am and don’t shut down my laptop until 10pm or later. I don’t schedule in time for exercise on weekdays very often. My kids are college aged, and they work nights so I rarely plan dinners anymore. I find myself eating at my desk way more than I should.
Coronavirus restrictions haven’t helped either. Early in 2020, I joined a yoga studio and had started practicing regularly. I had fitness goals. Then we all hibernated in our homes. I tried doing virtual yoga, but I couldn’t focus. My boyfriend Ray and I went on many hikes over the past year when the weather permitted, but regular exercise flew out the window in mid-March 2020 and hasn’t flown back in yet.
How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
Clearly my physical wellness needs some work, but my spiritual and mental wellness is faring better. Journaling is essential to keeping those two things together. In my journal’s pages I work out what I’m thinking and feeling. My brain tends to jump from one thing to another quickly, but when I’m writing in a journal I can focus and think things through from beginning to end.
Music also helps me keep it together. Whether I’m listening to artists that inspire me, singing as my boyfriend plays the guitar, or breathing in the vibes at a jam band inspired music fest (last weekend I went to my first live outdoor concert in what seems like 100 years and it was glorious), music is highly therapeutic for me.
What Inspires Me:
People who are kind, patient and vulnerable despite life throwing all sorts of difficulties at them inspire me. Standing in the cool grass in my bare feet inspires me. Sitting alone by my fire pit and spending time with my bouncing thoughts on a Sunday night before starting a new week inspires me. The people I love inspire me.
A Quote I Love:
“The grass ain’t greener, the wine ain’t sweeter, either side of the hill” from Ramble on Rose by The Grateful Dead.
You can connect with Robin on Twitter (@rshrevees @thinkingbottle), Instagram (@rshreeves and @thinkingoutsidethebottle), and Facebook (robin.shreeves and thinkingoutsidethebottlecontent)
This Week's Reminder:
A short meditation or resource to help you maintain a sense of balance in an otherwise busy headspace.
How to Handle Restlessness – A Meditation with Joseph Goldstein - Ten Percent Happier.com
In this six-minute guided meditation, meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein unpacks what restless energy us all about, showing you how to go from restless to restful.
