Class and Victor Harbor

Weekend: My apartment complex hosted a free trip to Victor Harbor this weekend. The university hosted this trip at the beginning of the semester but since my flight was delayed, I didn’t know about it in advance to book a spot. Plus, now it was nicer weather and a lot warmer so I’m glad I went now. We first stopped at a wildlife center and saw all sorts of animals: birds, emus, koalas, kangaroos, and peacocks. I took a lot of pictures with the kangaroos that I was able to feed. The many koalas were so cute sleeping in the trees. I even saw one climb a tree and that was the only active koala I saw. We drove into the town of Victor Harbor after seeing the animals. There was a 1960 car festival going on when we arrived which was neat to see. There were even some cars with the drivers wheel on the left side. I walked across the pedestrian and horse drawn carriage bridge to Granite island. It’s a small island with a walking path loop. On the ocean side of the island, there are many large boulders along the coast and scattered around the island. During certain times of the year, there are whale sightings off this island and area. Penguins also live on the island after they caught their food for the day. This week is the last week of classes before our 2-week mid-semester break.

9/16: I biked to and from campus today. It’s all up hill biking to campus but the best part is going downhill to the city. In winemaking, we had lectures about amelioration and juice processing, grape processing, and the production of dry, floral and aromatic, and full bodied white wines.

9/17: We learned about organic and biodynamic viticulture in vit methods today. Organic viticulture is when the vine is part of the ecosystem such as leaves, roots, birds, grasses, microbes and biodynamic viticulture includes a connection to the cosmos such as the sun, moon cycle, and astronomy. Our practical was related to these types of viticulture practices and when to apply certain applications. For both of these practices, synthetic sprays are not allowed to be used on the crops. We also discussed the ingredients that are included in compost.

9/18: Today in sensory studies we tasted champagne/sparkling wine. I love sparkling wine so this was one of my favorite tastings. We also analyzed our super taster status from our taste buds. We dyed our tongues blue so the tastes buds would be easier to count. Then we placed a circular paper on our tongue with a small open circle. We counted the number of taste buds visible in the small circle with the largest density considered supertaster then medium-taster and non-taster with the smallest density. I’m apparently a non-taster so apparently I don’t taste a lot LOL.

Later that day, my friends and I attended another vintage conversation. We tasted S. C. Pannell wines and the owner of the winery in McLaren Vale gave a speech. We tasted the Fiano 2019, Tempranillo Touriga 2017, and Nebbiolo 2016. We had tacos from a food truck and they were some of the best tacos I have ever had. Those tacos were that amazing!!

9/19: We had a lecture on the various types of Vitaceae rootstocks today in viticultural science. Each rootstock varies in it’s resistance to phylloxera, drought, salinity, soil pH, and nutrient uptake. Some combinations of the rootstock hybrids include V. berlandieri x V. rupestris; V. riparia x V. rupestris; V. berlandieri x V. rupestris; and V. champini x V. riparia.

After class, one of my friends from Chile hosted a party to celebrate Chilean Independence. We made empanadas and I had a lot of fun with my friends.

9/20: During the intro wine practical, we had a tour of the fermentation suite. My professors told us more about the fermentation machines we have such a open fermenters, static fermenters, and a vinimatic (rotary). During fermentation, the open-top tank is best for plunging to break the cap that forms on the top of the liquid. The cap needs to be broken to avoid the juice from getting too warm. The vinimatic is an automatic fermentation process in a rotating machine which rotates in one direction for so many turns before turning in reverse for the same amount of turns. Static fermenters is another tank for fermentation where pumping over is the primary way to break the cap.

Some of my friends and I walked out to the vineyard to check on our vines for some projects that will be due after our mid-semester break. Before our sensory studies tutorial, my friends and I saw a koala in a tree. After class, the koala was still there and my friends and I took some more selfies with him.