Newsletter Spring 2003

Canowindra Spring Fest
Spring Fest is a new concept in the celebration of community culture, created by the cooperation of the Canowindra Arts Network and the local food and wine producers. With some key organisers being veterans of the Aquarian festival, Spring Fest is loosely organised to allow many people to run their own events without too much centralised control, under one umbrella. It sports a great range of music events, art and performance workshops, art exhibitions, ballooning, and food and wine.

Rosnay Recitals
On Sunday the 5th of October, we are taking part in Spring Fest by organising the "Rosnay Recitals", supported by Sydney's fine music radio station 2MBS FM102.5. This will be the third concert organised by Rosnay in the last two years, following the "Get a Handel on Bach" and "Mostly Mozart" concerts with the Sydney Conservatorium's Greenway Quartet. This time, the Greenway is joined by two of the finest professional classical ensembles in NSW - the Tapas Duo and the Aark Sextet. We hope that you might join us for this day of music, one of the finer things in life! Click here to read the exciting progam.

Organic Farmers Lunch
To make your weekend complete, we also invite you to join us in the celebration of Spring, fine food and fine wine at Rosnay for an "Organic Farmers Lunch", on Saturday the 4th of October. The three course lunch will be prepared by local chef Kate Maurice, to be served on the lawns of Florence & Richard Statham’s home ‘Rosnay’. Ingredients for the meal will be sourced from some of the best local growers of organic meat and vegetables who will be joining us to celebrate Spring, and to tour Rosnay's vineyards, olive groves, market gardens and strawbale houses.The meal will be washed down by the new release Rosnay Wines, the 2003 Chardonnay-Semillon, and 2002 Shiraz, which will be tasted by the public for the first time. Click here to find out whats on the menu.

Spring news from Rosnay...
Pruning vines is a process of renewal. From June until October every year, our small and dedicated team of Rosnay pruners artfully shape and balance each vine. Meanwhile, the sheep diligently "prune" the grass, fertilise the soil and are moved in a quick rotation around the small vineyard paddocks. This year, we have noticed more birds than ever, as the tree belts and wild places have become their home. Other winter jobs, such as making and spreading compost, flushing the irrigation system and even putting a little fish emulsion through before budburst, are nearly completed.

Spring is now upon us, with warm sun and cool breezes, and the sleepless frosty nights may continue until late October, when the danger of crop loss by late frost is greatest. The rain has been much better than last year, and the soil is looking great for another season. After pruning, Russell Morris has begun planting his veges again, especially lettuce and brassicas, expanding beyond the wild remnants of last years patch. With a new partner on board, the Rosnay gardens will be bigger than ever this year. For more news from the farm, please visit us at www.organicfarms.com.au .

Nick Statham is back from almost two years away, working as a carpenter in Europe and on board Sea Cloud, one of the worlds largest square rigged commercial passenger yachts. He is now helping on the farm whilst setting up shop at Rosnay to start on a backlog of commissions. Oliver is marketing Rosnay wine and continuing his music in his spare time. He is now home more often, having packed up his recording studio in Newcastle and set up at Rosnay. The recording studio is used it for his personal and family use, as well commissioned recordings.

Richard and Florence Statham have been enjoying a nice escape from it all, staying with friends and family in the South of France for a month.

Thankyou for your support in enjoying our wines, olives or other produce. By doing so you are also supporting the future of organic farming and sustainable, cummunity based agriculture. Rosnay is a regular sponsor of sustainability conferences and events such as the launch of Greenpeace's True Food Guide – providing the information to allow consumers to support sustainable, biological agriculture free of the many hazards of Genetic Engineering. In the vineyards, we always focus on producing the best possible fruit, so that you can enjoy top quality, certified organic wine.