GROWING SEASON: The 2011-2012 growing season saw a return to more “average” conditions following five dry years and a wet year in 2011. We experienced a small frost right on bud burst on the 28th of September however we did not experience any burn on the emerging leaves. The cooler start did slow early growth, however by the cane length was optimal with very even flowering. The even flowering led to excellent verasion and we knew we were in for a great ripening period. These vines are now over 15 years old and at a cropping level of 4-5 tonnes to the hectare. The intensity in the fruit at harvest was excellent. The vines were harvested at night on March 8th 2012

WINEMAKING: Our goal with the winemaking for Pig In The House Shiraz is to capture the bright varietal characters usually evident around 13 Baume and we made the decision to harvest at 13.4 Baume when the seeds were ripe and the flavors at their most pure. The grapes were harvested, crushed ,de-stemmed and transferred to an open fermentor. The must was inoculated with RX60 yeast and fermentation temperature took place at 22 degrees. Post ferment maturation occurred in oak and stainless steel vessels. Final blending occurred after 5 month maturation. We aim to express the organic vineyard as much as possible, to provide purity of organic production. The wine was fined with egg whites (from our own free range chickens) settled and cleaned up for bottling in November 2012

Total production 650 cases.
pH 3.44
Ta 6.2
Res Sugar 2.8
Total Sulfur Dioxide 55 mg/L

Pig in The House wines are grown and made in Cowra New South Wales. We believe that our organic farming practices produce wines which are unique to our region. We planted vineyard in the mid 1990s on land which was once a free-range piggery; so free that the pigs were often in the house. The locals still ask whether the pig is still in the house. Most of the time the answer is no.