Thirsty Work at Misha’s Vineyard

From the 13th to the 16th of January Misha’s Vineyard hosted presenter Yvonne Lorkin, Director Carolyn Sylvester, cameraman “Scotty” and sound recordist Donna as they filmed an episode for the upcoming Food Channel series “Thirsty Work”. It was an amazing experience working with such a professional and fun team as Misha, Andy, Rich, Olly and Jill all turned into actors for their roles in telling the Misha’s Vineyard story.

After weeks of fine sunny days the weather was looking a little foreboding just as the team arrived, but a dusting of fresh snow (yes it is summer!) on the mountains across the lake provided an amazing backdrop for the filming.

The stunning scenic footage they shot will provide the setting into which the interviews and stories will be woven.

Misha and Andy rode to the vineyard on the Harley Davidson with Scotty and his camera in the back of one of the vehicles so he could film along the way. The lake and vineyard were bathed in sun as they rode past the second camera on several passes to get different angles.

Yvonne did the introduction interviews with Misha and Andy in the vines, asking how they had become interested in the wine industry and developing Misha’s Vineyard Wines.

Then Vineyard Manager Rich Williams – filmed working with the tractor – talked about the land and soils that give the wines their special characteristics.

During the interviews Yvonne delved into the Chinese history of the vineyard, looking at the areas that had been preserved to show the gold panning and sluicing that took place in the gullies, and discussed the occurrence of the number 8 – considered very lucky in Chinese culture.

The wines of course also took centre stage with winemaker Olly Masters talking about the wines in a tasting at Ah Foo’s House, our recreated goldminers stone hut in the top block of the vineyard. The team also went through another tasting segment on the last day when we completed a shoot on the lawn at Misha and Andy’s house where Yvonne interviewed Olly on each of the range of Misha’s Vineyard wines. The wines were also filmed being poured into a glass with an array of “sensory” items around the glass to show the flavours and aromas each wine varietal shows.

The Misha’s Vineyard team, assisted by Yvonne, had the challenge of preparing a local dinner on camera for the Sunday night meal. Rich cooked his favourite Whitebait Fritters – which given he caught them himself seemed to be the perfect starter. Andy, along with Yvonne and Jill did a Hare Wellington main course served with locally vegetables from Goodies on the Gorge. All washed down with some fantastic Misha’s Vineyard Wines.

Our Visual Historian – genius photographer Tim Hawkins – was there to capture the process of filming and interviews in a portfolio of photos.

The whole experience of filming the episode was quite amazing – and the production team are such wonderful people we all felt we have made a lot of new friends. Now we wait until the editing is complete and the episode goes to air – expected around mid-year.