Over the past ten years, we have often been delighted with the activities of the Old Vine Project in Australia.

As the coordinator of this important project, I am aware of the importance of the project, especially in 2011, that is, the year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of our young Slovenian state. The year 2011 is also an important year for the Vineyard project as it coincides with the jubilee years, the tenth anniversary of the planting of the Old Vine’s young vine into the Australian soil.

In the last years of this significant decade, important changes have occurred, mainly due to business decisions, in the management of McWilliams, where our vine is planted, in 2009

In cooperation with the Municipality of Yarra Ranges, in 2010, we agreed that the Old Vine project will be maintained and strengthened due to its all-important importance by taking into account the long-term possibilities and willingness of the long-term cooperation of all the partners involved.

Today, the Maribor Vineyard Faculty of Agriculture, the Viticulture Department of Swinburne University in Lilydale, the city of Maribor and the municipality of Yarra Ranges and its representatives are included in the Old Vine project. We invited a young wine producer in the municipality of Yarra Ranges in Monbulco, Yarra Ranges Estate, where we will also celebrate the Yarra Ranges Cultural Festival 2011 this year, this year’s vintage. We will provide you with more information in the next issue of Monthly Thoughts and in radio shows. Since the festival itself will be extended to the Australian audience, we expect a good visit, so you will need to make provisions in due time.

This year, the festival will take place a little bit differently, and if I express myself more, I can say that we will pass the grapes in the old way.

In the jubilee year 2011, we will also transplant the Australian Old Vine in front of the newly built theater in Upwey in the municipality of Yarra Ranges, where she will get her new home. The date for now is not specified, as the construction of the theater is in full swing and the transplant will be carried out when the interior and exterior works are completed. We assume that this will be in the winter, which also best suits the conditions for successful transplanting of the young.

All further information will also be provided on our website of the Old Vine Project in Australia at www.oldvine.info on the site for activities in 2011.

I thank you, my dear compatriots, my dear compatriots, to participate in such a large number of people every year and to make the festival more enjoyable.

V zadnjih desetih letih smo vas pogosto razveseljevali z aktivnostmi projekta Stare trte v Avstralije.

Kot koordinator tega pomembnega projekta se zavedam pomena projekta, še posebej v letu 2011, to je v letu, ko proslavljamo dvajseto obletnico samostojnosti naše mlade slovenske drzave. Leto 2011 je tudi za projekt Stare trte pomembno leto, saj le-ta sovpada jubilejnim letom, to je deseto obletnico posaditve mladike Stare trte v avstralsko zemljo.

V zadnjih letih tega za nas pomembnega desetletja je prišlo do nujnih velikih sprememb predvsem zaradi poslovnih odločitev, pri vodenju vinarne McWilliams, kjer je naša trta posajena.

V sodelovanju z občino Yarra Ranges smo se v letu 2010 dogovorili, da se projekt Stare trte zaradi svoje vsestranske pomembnosti obdrži in se še okrepi s tem, da se upošteva daljnoročne možnosti in pripravljenost daljnoročnega sodelovanja vseh sodelujočih partnerjev.

Danes so v projekt Stare trte po  strokovnosti vključene tudi mariborska Fakulteta za kmetijstvo, oddelek za vitikulturo Swinbernške univerze v Lilydale, mesto Maribor in občina Yarra Ranges s svojimi predstavniki. K sodelovanju smo povabili mlado vinarno v občini Yarra Ranges v Monbulku, Yarra Ranges Estate, kjer bomo letos 3. aprila tudi praznovali Yarra Ranges Cultural Festival 2011, to je letošnjo trgatev. Več podatkov  vam bomo posredovali v naslednji številki mesečnika Misli in v radijskih oddajah. Ker bo sam festival razširjen tudi na avstralsko publiko, pričakujemo dober obisk, zato si bo potrebno pravočasno priskrbeti rezervacije.

Letos bo  festival potekal malo drugače, in če se izrazim bolj po naše, lahko rečem, da bomo prešali grozdje  po starem običaju. 

V jubilejnem letu 2011 bomo  tudi presadili avstralsko Staro trto pred na novo zgrajeno gledališče v Upweyu v občini Yarra Ranges, kjer bo dobila svoj novi dom. Datum za sedaj se ni določen, saj je gradnja gledališča v polnem teku in bo presaditev izpeljana, ko bodo notranja in zunanja dela končana. Predvidevamo, da bo to v zimskem času, kar tudi najbolj odgovarja pogojem za uspešno presaditev mladike.

Vse nadaljne informacije  boste dobili tudi na nači spletni strani projekta Stara trta v Avstraliji na www.oldvine.info na strani za aktivnosti v letu 2011.

Zahvaljujem se vam, dragi rojaki drage rojakinje, da se vsako leto v tako velikem številu udeležite in s svojo prešernostjo popestrite dogajanje na festivalu.