Glorious gold for Harcourt winery

                        Striking gold: Quinn, Kye and Barbara Livingstone of Harcourt Valley Vineyard.

Harcourt Valley Vineyards has won a gold medal for their 2008 Sightings Cabernet Shiraz at the prestigious London International Wine Show, the biggest wine show in the world, attracting over 25,000 entries from across the globe.
It was one of only five Australian red wines, priced at $20 or less, to be awarded with a gold medal. All this glory for a wine they originally never intended on making!
Winemaker Quinn Livingstone said the winning wine evolved from a batch of cabernet sauvignon that didn't quite reach the mark.
"There was nothing wrong with it - it just wasn't up to our normal standard. So I thought I would bottle it as a cleanskin, however I had a couple of other local winemakers over one day and we decided to see if we could make something of it," he said.
"We had a table covered in wine samples and we began running lots of different trials and blends. We used some of our 2009 vintage to freshen the wine and started adding Shiraz too. Eventually we came up with a blend we were really happy with and decided to release our first ever Cabernet Shiraz under our `Sightings' label.
"Sightings is our second 'cheaper' label, but by no means does it lack in quality - the Sightings wines are often knocking off wines three to four times their price in wine shows."
Quinn runs the winery with his brother, Kye and mother, Barbara.
They were thrilled with the win after making a last-minute decision to send the wine over to London on the back of its success in Australian Wine Shows last year.
"It is a great expense to send a wine to the London IWC, each entry costs $200 plus six bottles of wine. We would love to send all out wines over, however for a small producer with a limited budget you have to be very selective and only send what you think has a really good chance," Kye said.
Late last year the wine won the Trophy for Best Red Wine and Best Cabernet Blend at the prestigious Le Concours des Vins du Victoria.
"It's just a pity the wine has almost sold out, we don't plan on making the blend again either, it was a one-off."
Barbara Livingstone said she was very proud of her two boys
"They have been putting so much time and effort in to the wines, vineyard and property. They really deserve to do well," she said.
Harcourt Valley Vineyards has had great success lately with over 70 medals and six trophies last year alone, becoming Bendigo's most awarded winery.

Could you run an election?

Up to 100 people are needed to bolster the Victorian Electoral Commission's (VEC) list of senior election officials.
Seeking people with strong management and communication skills, as well as an understanding of their local area, the VEC is refreshing its staff list in preparation for the 2012 local council elections.
Senior election officials are appointed to run elections in their designated electorate.
For both State and local council elections, it is the senior election officials who liaise with candidates, conduct the ballot draw, supervise the counting and make the official declaration.
Working with the complete support of the VEC, senior election officials are needed throughout the state to be ready for any election, by-election or countback that arises.
"It's a challenging role," said Liz Williams, Deputy Electoral Commissioner.
"To be a success you must be flexible because electoral events can occur at any time. When they do arise it's up to an appointed senior election official to establish an election office and ensure that the election is run according to legislation."
The positions are available in most metropolitan areas and in many regional areas around the State.
For more information about the role and details about how to apply please visit vec.vic.gov.au/employment

Castlemaine auditions

Castlemaine Theatre Company is about to hold auditions for Moliere's The Hypochondriac, a scathing lampoon of selfishness and gullibility.
First performed in 1673, the play combines the traditional elements of classic French farce - wit, slapstick, spectacle and satire - underpinned by a deep and uproariously cynical understanding of human nature.
Argan, a miserly hypochondriac, spends his time summoning quacks to deal with a hilarious range of imaginary illnesses and devising strategies to avoid the bills. He plans to marry his daughter to a doltish medical student so he can get free in-family consultations.
Completely self-absorbed, he has no idea of what is really going on in his family:
His young wife, Béline, and her lover are scheming to get their hands on his money ...
His daughter, Angelique, is in love with the music teacher ...
His maid, Toinette, is ready to prescribe a large dose of reality ...
Rehearsals will be held throughout July, August and September, with performances on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October.
Auditions will be held on Sunday, June 26 from 1-6pm at West End Hall, View Street, Castlemaine.
To book an audition time call Kate on 0431 998 707
The company also needs a stage manager, set design and construction crew, backstage and front of house crew. Anyone interested in volunteering for these roles call Kate on the above number.
This play includes interludes in the style of the Commedia dell'Arte - semi-improvised scenes including musicians, mimes, actors and dancers. This is a good opportunity for anybody who plays early music, or who is interested in writing or developing their own material.

Taradale students know their onions

Taradale Primary School students have certainly been busy designing and building their own mini-farm at the school.
The students were keen to show off a huge range of seedlings they had planted in the garden beds.
One youngster took the Mail's reporter for a tour, correctly pointing out onions, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, beetroot and many other seedlings.
The tiny school has 13 students and all of them are involved in the project.
Teacher Chris Burgess said the garden had been there for a few years but desperately needed some attention.
"It has now more than doubled in size and the students are learning a lot from it because the project is linked into the curriculum," Mr Burgess said.
Practical lessons such as the life cycle of a plant, how to measure garden beds and how much soil each will need are just a few examples of the benefits of the project.
"The students also use the produce in their cooking program and while some students are maintaining the garden, others are inside writing up recipes and researching background information about the vegetables they are growing."
He said the next stages of the mini-farm included extending the orchard and then fencing off an area at the back of the school to house a range of animals.
The children have already suggested a range of animals including sheep, pigs and a milking cow.
"We have also had suggestions for a tiger, camel and an elephant ... we are working on those," he smiled.
"The idea of the mini-farm is to differentiate ourselves from other schools but most importantly it will help the students learn about sustainability as well as the needs of different animals as part of their studies."
Meanwhile, Mr Burgess is about to head off to New York on June 17 for a few weeks to participate in an international educational project that researches food and its sources in countries around the globe.
He teaches part-time at Taradale and the rest of the week he teaches environmental education at Carton Primary School in Melbourne.
"Carlton is the only school in Melbourne involved in this project ... it involves about 30 schools around the world working together online and sharing information.
"I am also looking at getting Taradale involved in the project."
He said the June conference would involve representatives from Australia, Ireland, India, Ghana and Canada.
"Basically we will be discussing the types of food grown within about 160km of the major cities in those countries. I have never been to America before - it will really interesting."

Stunning play returns

                                         Kenneth MacLeod and Kate Stones in Emilie's Voltaire.

After scoring rave reviews at the 2011 Castlemaine Fringe Festival, Emilie's Voltaire is the returning for a second and final season at The Red Room Theatre in Campbells Creek.
The company presented the Australian premier of the Arthur Giron play, which won the 2009 Galileo Prize.
Directed and performed by Kenneth MacLeod and Kate Stones, Emilie's Voltaire explores the dynamic, sometimes explosive, fiercely creative love affair between maverick philosopher-poet Voltaire and aristocratic misfit-mathematician Emilie du Chatelet.
Set in pre-revolutionary France, the play spans the 16-year period of their love affair.
The dialogue sparkles with wit and lusty romance, breathing vibrant life into these two fascinating historical figures, tracing how they made their significant individual marks on the development of humanism, science and the modern world.
The play will appeal to hopeless romantics, history nerds, star-gazers and lovers of fine coffee.
The Red Room Theatre is an initiative of Kenneth MacLeod and Kate Stones who first worked together in 2010, playing the villain and villainess in the Castlemaine Theatre Company production, Dirty Work at the Crossroads, and then again on George Orwell's 1984.
The Red Room is a based at their home in Campbell's Creek, and featured as part of the Castlemaine Fringe Festival's Theatre in the House program.
MacLeod is a long standing resident of Castlemaine, and has been involved in numerous local productions. He was involved in professional theatre in Brisbane and Melbourne for many years before settling in Central Victoria. Stones worked in amateur productions as a young woman in London.
If you missed the first season, take a tip and don't miss this final chance to see Emilie's Voltaire when it returns from June 22-25 at 8pm. Tickets are $20; bookings call 5472 3153. The Red Room Theatre is at 101 Main Road, Campbell's Creek.

Bronwen Machin elected as councillor

Bronwen Machin has been elected councillor of the Castlemaine Ward in the Mount Alexander Shire

Council, following the recent resignation of Philip Schier.

The election result follows a countback procedure undertaken by the Victorian Electoral Commission on

Thursday, June 2, 2011 to fill the extraordinary vacancy.

Ms Machen is a local resident of the shire and has been for many years. She is an active member of a

number of community groups including the Mount Alexander Sustainability Group.

Ms Machen will take the Declaration of Office at the Ordinary Meeting of Council on June 14.

World Environment Day

Saying `Yes' on World Environment Day

Cate Blanchett does it, Malcolm Frazer did it, rock stars Blue King Brown are doing it and good heavens even the Sisters of Mercy are doing it.

Now it’s your turn to say YES to cutting carbon pollution and a cleaner Australia.

Saying YES to a price on pollution means saying YES to investment, innovation and new jobs based on renewable energy that never runs out.

We say YES to a price on pollution and renewable energy investment, YES to jobs and YES to protecting our ecosystems, health and environment before it’s too late.

Bring along your sign saying YES and let’s get on with it.

For more information contact Dean Bridgfoot 0448 327 791 or dc@masg.org.au

Where: Market Building Castlemaine

When: 11am Sunday June 5^th, World Environment Day

What: People on the Market Building steps with Banners saying  “YES to..”