After the onslaught of assignments at the beginning of this semester, things are finally quieting down. Lots of updates are necessary. My visit home was great, and jam-packed with fiance, family, friends, food, drink, and *shudder*, wedding planning. Despite the hectic schedule, it was a pleasure to see everyone and share the Tempranillo and Tannat wines that I’d made. The three week visit went by so fast, and it seemed even harder to say goodbye. I got back to Australia jet-lagged and hit the ground running with my classes.

This semester is my final semester, and I am taking four classes. They are Viticultural Methods and Procedures, Advances in Oenology, Wine Packaging and Quality Management, and International Food and Wine Marketing. I am enjoying all of my classes immensely. Some classmates of mine did not elect to pursue the Masters, and opted for the Diploma degree. Others have taken a break to do vintages. Regardless, it is so weird not to see some of those friendly faces. I’ll keep in touch as best as I can, but life usually gets in the way. Fortunately, the wine industry is small enough, I’m sure we will all cross paths again. On the plus side, there is a sizable influx of new postgraduate students to get to know. The new class has a number of people from China, Mexico, Israel, the States, Canada and of course Australia.

My classes this semester don’t have as many tasting practicals as the previous semesters. But that’s alright, I still get to taste plenty. Some professors encourage us to sit in on some of the classes we’d taken last year and taste again, so long as there is space in the class and enough wine to go around. Some other friends have also formed a weekly tasting group, which I take part in.

It’s not just classes, tastings and wedding planning that have been keeping me from blogging lately. I have also been busy looking for vintage work in Australia for the 2012 vintage. A previous student told me to get my applications out early, since it would be my first vintage. Early as in August. I’ll write a separate post of my job search process, since it’s quite a big topic.

So it’s been busy, but in a good way. Kevin’s been a big help with the wedding planning chores. In other news, spring has come early this year. There are some reports saying the season is 3 weeks earlier than usual, provided there is not a damaging frost in the meantime. Below is a photo I took a week ago in the Barossa of bud-bursting old vine Shiraz.