The Redbox Vineyard Cellar Door is experiencing a truly amazing year. In 2006 Redbox wines have been awarded 19  medals and awards since our first wine event in March.

The weekend of 21st October is the big event of the year for wineries and cellar doors in the Shire of Nillumbik.   Hundreds of people will arrive to taste wines and other unique produce of the Shire on Sunday 22nd.  At the Redbox Cellar Door, Zack's Gourmet Meats of Research will be operating a Gourmet Barbecue on the Sunday.  Imagine that! Gourmet food with fabulous wine!!!

The mellow smooth flavour of Redbox wines is consistent across the range. For example, our Perricoota Shiraz 2003, 2004 and 2005 were all put up for wine judging in separate events, and each one received one or more medals. A similar situation has occurred with other red and white Redbox wines. Any kind of a medal is considered important, but to get 19 medals in the space of six months, is an outstanding achievement. Images of the winning wines are at the end of this newsletter.

Visitors to the Redbox Cellar Door at Ness Lane Kangaroo Ground have always received a warm welcome, and they enjoy the family atmosphere. Many of these visitors found an opportunity to fill in forms and nominate Redbox Cellar Door for the Leader Newspaper's Business Achievement Awards for the Diamond Valley area.

In the hospitality and tourism category, Redbox Cellar Door was one of the three finalists, pipped by the Eltham Gateway Hotel and Conference Centre for first place, we were certainly gratified to learn that our visitors had enjoyed their Redbox Cellar Door experience so much that they went to the trouble to fill in forms. The first we knew of the Business Achiever awards was when someone from the Leader Group phoned to tell us we were finalists.So, many thanks to our visitors, your kindness has been appreciated.

We have been encouraged to keep improving our service, the amenity of our cellar door, and of course, our lovely wines.

Spring has arrived in our vineyard. Earlier than in past years, we have had a relatively dry winter so far, and the vines are growing vigorously. The grass in the fields is also growing, and the colours out there in the vineyard are absolutely brilliant. Myriads of small birds, parrots and a few cockies are feasting on the insect and other wildlife which is crawling about in the newly cut grass. Pruning was completed in August, and the canes have been removed and turned into steaming piles of mulch.

Redbox has excellent stocks of big selling wines, including our old favourite, Mourvedre - the most romantic wine on earth. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera are in plentiful supply, as are the popular white wines. In 2006, we are making some exotic products. One of two dessert wines, Ice Riesling promises to be extremely popular, and our innovative Cabernet Dessert wine will make its first appearance at the same time, in December 2006. These two dessert wines will replace our famous Botrytis Riesling, which is no longer available.

In 2004, we decided to make our first Methode Champonoise Sparkling Rose. Fermented in the bottle over almost two years, we labelled the whole 100 dozen, then waited for orders. In less than two months, we had only 30 cases left. So, we stopped supplying wine merchants and restaurants, to keep the remaining stock for Redbox Cellar Door visitors. Now it trickles out of the stock room and the refrigerator at a pace which will make it linger until some time in 2007. At the end of 2007, we will offer our Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Chardonnay, a new version of the Sparkling Rose, and a truly unique Sparkling Merlot, all of which are fermented in the bottle, Methode Champoniose quality products.

The Redbox Classic Tawny Port was bottled, labeled and brought into the cellar door in August this year. It is so popular, we will shortly have to tap a second barrel and begin bottling again. It is a slow task to hand fill and individually label each bottle, but the Classic Tawny is such a superb product, it is actually a labour of love.

The "Big Shed" opposite the Redbox Cellar Door has been fully operational for six months now. We have enjoyed our first winter with the luxury of space to store all of our wine, machinery and huge amounts of equipment needed to operate a vineyard and wine business. The Big Shed has been a most useful asset, and it has allowed us to plan to remove all of the old sheds and lean-to's from the property so that people can see more of the vineyard and enjoy a better view of the surrounding hills.

There are now over forty quality wine merchants, and around 30 fine restaurants stocking Redbox wines. A list of these is attached to this newsletter.

If you enjoy fine food, you need wine of equal desirability, and there should always be a convenient place to pick up a bottle of your favourite Redbox wine. So, print a copy of the list and keep it for future reference.

There are some delightful restaurants in the enchanting Shire of Nillumbik where Redbox wines are served. Evelyn County's Black Paddock restaurant in Kangaroo Ground at the north end of Research offers the most amazing ambience, with friendly staff and superb cuisine. Alta Vita is a very popular choice for busy people in Eltham who enjoy food and service which surpasses anything you will experience over in the eastern suburbs. If you are "north of the Yarra" you will find that people are much more friendly, and their pride in quality in unsurpassed.

So, come to the magical Shire of Nillumbik, and enjoy the experience as often as you can.