By Alesha Capone
Despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Shadowfax Wines have picked and pressed the last fruits for this year’s vintage.
Chief winemaker Alister Timms said the Shadowfax team had worked hard this season at their vineyards in Werribee Park and the Macedon Ranges.
He said Shadowfax had been able to harvest its grapes because agriculture was deemed an essential service.
“Obviously we had to make a few changes, it [he pandemic] happened in the middle of harvest,” Mr Timms said.
He said the Shadowfax team picked all their grapes by hand, so they had arranged separate picking crews and to space workers out further than usual, due to social distancing requirements.
“The fruit quality was really good in the end,” Mr Timms said.
“We’ve got really lovely new wine in the making in the winery.”
He said Shadowfax had sent some its grapes away for testing and had been relieved to discover they had not been tainted by smoke from the January bushfires.
Mr Timms said while Shadowfax’s sales of wine to Melbourne restaurants had decreased since the pandemic started, Wyndham and Macedon Ranges residents had been ordering bottles online and for pick-up.
“It’s been really heartening to see people buying our wine, especially Werribee people, it’s what’s kept us going really,” he said,
“We’d really like to thank people for that.”
While Shadowfax’s Werribee restaurant has also closed during the pandemic, the front-of-house staff have transformed the eatery into a high-quality takeaway.
Dishes including pizza, pasta, roasts, sides, desserts and wines are available for order and pick up from Thursday to Sunday.
Details: www.shadowfax.com.au/
