‘Radio Play’ Repertory At The Cellar Door
PHILLIP ISLAND WINERY is presenting another in its popular series of radio plays at the cellar door this Friday 30 September and Saturday 1st October. With well-known local actor, Stephanie Daniel, and visiting professional actors Stanley McGeagh and David Tredinnick, the trio will be presenting an evening of BBC-style radio repertory.
The feature piece is the comic script Capital Gains, written by UK writer Collin Johnson (born in London of Australian parents) who, as it happens, studied at the same drama school as Stephanie Daniel. Johnson is a regular writer for BBC radio and has been nominated for both the Prix Italia and the Writer’s Guild Comedy Award.
David Treddinick’s voice will be familar to ABC radio national listeners. His TV appearances include Bastard Boys, Something In The Air, Blue Heelers, Halifax f.p. as well as playing Simon in The Secret Life Of Us.
Stanley McGeagh, who began his career in Ireland before working in British repertory and West End theatre (including with Lauren Bacall, Diana Rigg and Keith Michell), has also appeared in Dr Who, The Bill, and The Onedin Line as well as in Australian TV on Frontline, Halifax f.p. and Pozieres.
Stephanie Daniel is well-known to Phillip Islanders. Now regularly directing for Offshore Theatre, Stephanie has appeared in numerous TV shows, theatre and films including including Neighbours, Halifax f.p., Something in the Air; and the classic Australian film comedy, The Castle.
This will be two nights of super ‘radio theatre’ entertainment. We’re pleased to have the opportunity to present professional actors up-close and personal in the cellar door with entertaining evenings like this. And, outside of La Mama, where else can you find this type of professional and personal performance?
Bookings essential. $30 admission, for which we also provide a light platter meal. It’s another ‘Twilight Concert’, so best to arrive by 6:30pm.
Springtime Twilight Concert Series
Bluesmen Tabasco Tom and Doc White
SHAKE OFF WINTER chills to the breezy sounds of springtime blues, ukes and country at the Phillip Island Winery with its springtime twilight concert series.
The program kicks off this Saturday 27th August with a return to the cellar door of the amazing ukulele sounds of AJ Leonard.
If you missed AJ Leonard’s last visit to the winery, don’t miss this one. Recognised as one of Australia’s masters of the instrument, and having featured at international ukulele concerts and conventions, AJ Leonard transforms the sound of the ‘uke’. This Saturday he will be joined by cello accompanist and partner Jenny Rowlands.
Whether playing a rock ‘lead-guitar’ solo or jazz standard, his virtuosity and command of the instrument is simply amazing.
Equally at home playing Beatles as he is playing trad classics, AJ is also a versatile singer with an easy rapport and engaging style. This Saturday, you can catch up with AJ Leonard from 5:30pm till 8:30pm at the cellar door.
And, on Sunday afternoon starting at 1:30pm, local folk/country trio, The Usual Suspects, are performing, playing until 4:30pm. With Andy on guitar, Linda on mandolin and ukulele, and Tom on bass, The Usual Suspects will be bringing their own easy-listening folk and country style to our cosy cellar door.
Also pencil in Saturday 3rd September when the winery will be jumping to the classy blues and country of expatriate US ‘bluesmen’ Tabasco Tom and Doc White. With Tom’s daughter on fiddle, Tom and Doc play tight authentic southern blues.
Tim O’Brien plays every Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the Phillip Island Winery. Admission is free; twilight concerts kick off at 5:30pm, but best to arrive around 5:00pm. Light dinner platters are also available.
Singer Songwriter Returns For Twilight Concert
SINGER SONGWRITER Jacqui Sterling returns to the Phillip Island Winery this coming Saturday afternoon, 30th July, for a ‘twilight concert’ from 5:30pm.
Jacqui’s last appearance at the winery had the cellar door packed out; all enthralled by her warm and engaging style and gorgeous voice.
Formerly of Byron Bay, now San Remo, Jacqui’s ‘gypsy spirit’ has seen her playing her songs to audiences all over the world. She has toured Australia as well as Europe – touring England, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal.
With a strong, rhythmic, acoustic guitar style, Jacqui’s music and delivery crosses a number of acoustic music genres. Her songs – melodic, finely crafted and beautifully sung – are immensely appealing.
Her current CD, Bird in the Hand, is a stylish collection of original songs telling stories of her journey. “I have lived and breathed music for as long as I can remember,” Jacqui said. “Music and yoga have been my constant in life and song writing has been my tool of self expression, healing and connection.”
Jacqui Sterling, ‘up close and personal’ and returning to the casual laid-back atmosphere of the Phillip Island Winery, is a performance not to be missed.
Jacqui will be performing from 5:30pm – 8:30pm, Saturday evening only. Admission is free.
Former Golden Guitar nominee Tim O’Brien will also perform. Call in for a wine, a delicious fresh food platter and some classy acoustic music.
An Evening With Redgum’s Hugh McDonald
WELL-KNOWN GUITARIST AND VOCALIST Hugh McDonald is appearing at the Phillip Island Winery this Saturday, July 16th, for an ‘up close and personal’ twilight concert in our cosy, warm cellar door.
A multi-instrumentalist, Hugh is one of the hottest players around (and an engaging performer). He enjoyed a successful career touring Australia and the world with one of the leading bands of the 1980s, Redgum. He has since been a headline act at numerous concerts and festivals around Australia.
Redgum remains one of Australia’s best-known bands, remembered for the number one hit and Vietnam veteran tribute, “I Was Only Nineteen”.
Hugh wrote many of Redgum’s popular songs, most notably “The Diamantina Drover” which has since been recorded by Lee Kernigan, John Williamson, and Christy Moore, one of Ireland’s most popular singer/songwriters.
He is also a skilled record producer, arranger and session musician who has worked and recorded with many of Australia’s leading acts and soloists.
Phillip Island Winery’s resident musician (and winery owner) Tim O’Brien will also perform. Admission is free. A warm fire, five-star wines, delicious light platters and ‘up close and personal’ with Hugh McDonald, this Saturday, July 16th, 5:30pm – 8:30pm.
Where: Phillip Island Winery, Berry’s Beach Road, Phillip Island.
Time: 5:30pm – 8:30pm.
Admission is free, bookings accepted. Call: 5956 8465
Ukuleles Return For Winter Concert
FRESH FROM A TOUR performing across the USA, internationally recognised ukulele master, AJ Leonard, returns to the Phillip Island Winery for a twilight indoor concert this Saturday evening, 18th June, from 5:30-8:30pm.
His recent US tour included performances at the New York Ukulele Festival and the Ukulele Academy of North Carolina. He also performed on the West Coast at Santa Cruz (host to the largest ukulele club in the world) and at San Francisco, before appearing at the Monterey Wine Country Ukulele Retreat.
There, AJ was one of a feature group of well-known tutors and ukulele performers including James Hill, Andy Roberts, Del Ray, Brooke Adams and Gerald Moore.
Equally at home playing Beatles classics as he is with popular 40’s and 50’s ukulele standards, AJ Leonard is well known by ukulele devotees around Australia for his amazing dexterity, finely-crafted arrangements and breezy singing style.
“The renaissance of interest in the ukulele in the USA is amazing, and it’s catching on everywhere,” AJ said.
“The highlight of our recent tour however was a meeting in Honolulu with Roy Sakuma, the legendary teacher and organiser of the world’s longest running ukulele festival at Waikiki.”
At the Phillip Island Winery, AJ Leonard will be supported on cello by his partner, Jenny Rowlings – an accomplished and polished performer in her own right.
This is a not-to-be-missed concert, admission is free. Come and enjoy the warm fire, delicious wines and a light platter menu to the cheerful strains of the ukulele.
Resident folk-singer and winery owner, Tim O’Brien, will also perform.
Ukulele Concert from 5:30pm; to book, call 5956 8465.
Jacqui Sterling, Live At The Cellar Door
SINGER SONGWRITER Jacqui Sterling brings her delightful acoustic soul music to the Phillip Island Winery this Queen’s Birthday weekend, Saturday afternoon.
Formerly of Byron Bay, but now calling San Remo home, Jacqui Sterling has built a strong following around Australia for her compositions and gorgeous voice.
Her CD, Bird in the Hand, is a stylish collection of original songs showing her fine musicianship and versatile vocal style. Her songs - finely crafted and beautifully sung – are immensely appealing.
There is something of a Sandy Denny quality to Jacqui’s voice, a breathy earthiness that lends a searing honesty to her singing, and timeless appeal.
With a strong, rhythmic, acoustic guitar style, Jacqui’s music and delivery crosses a number of acoustic music genres – she would fit as comfortably at a roots/blues concert as a folk festival.
Jacqui Sterling, ‘up close and personal’ in the casual laid-back atmosphere of the Phillip Island Winery, is a performance not to be missed.
Jacqui will be performing between 1:30 – 4:30pm, Saturday only.
Sunday and Monday afternoon, resident folksinger, winery owner and former Golden Guitar nominee Tim O’Brien will be performing. Call in for a wine, a delicious fresh food platter and some classy acoustic music.
Black Comedy: A Double Bill Of Murder
THE SECOND SEASON in our series of radio plays, presented in conjunction with Phillip Island’s Offshore Theatre, brought a double-bill of murder to the Phillip Island Winery.
To full houses over six nights, Offshore Theatre presented two ’black comedy’ radio plays, each with a twist to intrigue and entertain.
Directed by Stephanie Daniel, who also directed and adapted the summer season of Blithe Spirit, the first of the two features was set in gangland Chicago; the other, ‘Only a Rose’, brought mayhem and murder to a gardening club.
With local actors, Nina, Simon, Julie and Babs in the lead roles, and Pip Cleeland on sound effects, it was old time ‘steam driven radio’ at the winery – lots of fun, and with everyone close to the action.
With a wintery May blast outside, guests to our snug cellar door enjoyed a hot crock-pot chunky beef pie, spinach and ricotta rolls, delicious Gippsland cheeses and salads, and tea and coffee with homemade shortbreads, fruitcake and Turkish delights.
Watch for our next season of radio-play theatre. We’re planning on a spring season.
One More Fossil At The Winery
AS A FIND, it’s not quite up there with archaeopteryx, but it’s not bad. The cellar door, you see, is constructed of Mt Gambier limestone. If you look closely (hours of endless fun) you can find remnants of fossils bound up into the blocks.
Mt Gambier limestone was formed under an ocean that covered much of South Australia around 35 million years ago, so there are bits of shells and impressions of wormy things dotted about in our walls.
The other day we were moving some blocks we had stored outside and happened to split one… the shell impression at left emerged. Cool eh… first human eyes to gaze upon it in 35 million years!
Oh well, a nice distraction – back to worrying about the cab-sav grapes and the persistent rain.
2011 Vintage Report: Progress To Date
Picking our Chardonnay grapes
WHAT A YEAR for grape growers – the worst in memory for some parts of south-eastern Australia.
Problems? Aside from phomopsis, downy mildew, botrytis, powdery mildew, mealy bugs, flooded vineyards, bogged tractors and preventive sprays getting washed away the day you apply them, it’s all been hunky-dory.
And not only soggy, grey and humid, but unseasonally cool, leaving grapes hanging longer on the vine to ripen.
Ah yes, the elusive and uncertain joys of farming.
Fortunately however, we seem to have gotten through it ok – our vintage is in good shape (thanks to some rigorous care and some sustainable sprays we got onto early in our spray program that worked a treat).
We’re particularly impressed with the EcoCarb and Synetol Oil mixture: it’s sustainable, is gentle to the grapes and the vineyard ecology, and it works – when powdery mildew looked like getting a foothold, it stopped it dead in its tracks.
We’ve now got the Pinot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chard off; though all are down in tonnage (thanks to downy mildew knocking off a lot of the immature bunches early in the vintage) and weeks ‘late’, all are in good shape with nice clean fruit, good colour and nice bunches. (They also taste great… a fringe benefit when picking.)
We’re picking the Merlot this week; it’s nice and clean, no powdery nor botrytis, and a huge crop. We left a lot more fruit on the vine as there was so much water about (we also left the weeds in the vineyard to compete with the vines). The Cabernet is still a week or so off, such is the cool season.
Typically, our Estate wines are lean and subtle: our whites with quite delicate stone fruit and crisp citrus flavours, and peppery soft reds with lingering fine tannins. The fruit is especially delicious this vintage – we can expect some super wines.
We’ll be doing another Merlot Rose this year and another Cabernet Merlot. When next you’re in, check them out – our cab and cab-merl is delicious: long, lean, beautiful fine tannins and richly coloured, each is immensely satisfying and will take years of cellaring.
Enigmatic Black And White Photographic Exhibition
AN EXHIBITION by Phillip Island photographer Ross Holmberg is now on display at the Phillip Island Winery.
His beautiful evocative black and white images feature landscapes and enigmatic moments captured on and around Phillip Island.
Beautifully framed, each photograph is a result of hours spent studying the light and tides to capture each scene at its best.
Ross uses a range of vintage analogue and modern digital cameras, and is rarely seen without one or two around his neck.
These photographs have been printed using the fine art Giclee process; the highest standard in digital photographic printing. Prints have been custom mounted and framed using the best archival techniques and materials available.
Each of the framed photographs exhibited is for sale at $250. Signed, unframed prints are also available at $150 (shipping is available upon request).