We stayed (in the Lakeside Bungalow) 5 years ago and thought it was fabulous. Now we have tried the Hill Station. It’s so nice to see that what is put on the internet is a true reflection of Barney Creek Cottages. Gracious hosts, great wine tasting and great wine!! We’ll be back
Winner of “The Biggest Carbon Loser”
Tuesday 10 June was the big announcement of the winner of The Biggest Carbon Loser Challenge.
Mark Olsen from EC3 Global was the judge. Sixty businesses registered for the challenge with 13 meeting the eligibility criteria to become finalists. According to Mark ” Making measurable change to a small to medium tourism enterprise is challenging at the best of times, working to a strict time limit even more so. The program has inspired some outstanding innovations and actions by operators in the Scenic Rim, with a net results of almost 100k tonnes of carbon reduced (that is the equivalent of 22 less cars on the road) and will have a lasting impact if the operators submissions are anything to go by.”
Mark outlined some of the outstanding progress made by the finalists and then went on to announce “The winner of the 2010 Low Carbon Diet – Biggest Carbon Loser Challenge is Barney Creek Vineyard Cottages for their holistic approach to carbon management, commitment to local and low impact consumables, and investing in their staff, their business and their future with new technologies and more sustainable practices. An outstanding example of their commitment is their new bottle steriliser and local collection program which will see 1,000 bottles per annum reused and the inspiration that comes from knowing that the bottle you are consuming will be reused by the great people you bought it from…and the only energy used will be good old fashioned manual labour.”
The Biggest Carbon Loser
Our local tourism organisation, Scenic Rim Escapes, has called on all Scenic Rim Businesses and residents to join the challenge which will teach us how to reduce our carbon footprint. Everyone is encouraged to record their carbon footprint and then, through a series of workshops, learn how to reduce it – the person or business who records the biggest reduction will be named the Scenic Rim’s “Biggest Carbon Loser”. So we have registered and are now actively looking at ways to cut our energy consumption and generally lead a more ‘efficient’ lifestyle. We have recently installed a 3 kW photovoltaic system which has reduced our electricity consumption by about 1/3 but there is much more we can do yet. We will keep you posted!
The Harvest is in
Alfie the Alpaca
Grape news from Barney Creek Vineyard. Picking is over for another year with a terrific result for the Shiraz, Mouvedre and Grenache coming in at just over 1 1/2 tons ( our best yet). This will be making a rose this year as our stocks are really low.
We picked 1 ton of the best Petit Verdot although an uneven ripening meant as much again was left on the vines. This years Petit Verdot will go into a sparkling red.
Many thanks to friends and neighbours who helped pick this year including Alfie the Alpaca who came along with Desley and Pietro.
Pickers
Vintage Time
Tis coming up to grape picking time again ( end of February) and we are expecting
a good crop of 2 to 2 ½ tons.
Shiraz grapes
…
This year the shiraz, mourvèdre and grenache will go into a rosé as we are rapidly running out of current stocks. The Petit verdot will become our first sparkling wine – can’t wait for this one!
Visit by Alison Cotes
Jennifer always thought she was doing ok cooking meals for guests but after Alison Cotes’ recent article in the Sunday Mail praised her prowess as “more than just a good country cook” she is now feeling the pressure to perform.
When we met she couldn’t boil an egg but now her natural creativity and love of food has found a new outlet as well using the vegetable garden I built for her to grow plenty of fresh vegies.