WSET and Wine Australia Study Trip
4-21 August 2006
Monday 7 August - McLaren Vale overview (Gary Elliott)
Jet lagged, who cared the WSET tutors were raring to go, so it was only a
short trip on our first day to McLaren Vale and the D’Arenberg winery. What
a welcome, more greeters than tutors. The McLaren Vale Wine & Tourism
Association were out in full force. To give us an overview of the geography of
the area, the best starting location was on top of a huge fermentation tank ….
leave your vertigo behind. Great view, great location to take in the wonderful
undulating hills of McLaren Vale. Chester (what a shirt – see picture below)
Osborn from D’Arenberg laid the charge on the fascinating soil and geology of
the Vale. A real “hotch potch” of soils, blame it on the glaciers, was the key to
the soil, even some packets of ‘Terra Rossa’ were to be found.
(picture) The region is bordered to the north by the City of Adelaide with
Adelaide Hills to the east, Sellicks Hill Range to the south and the Gulf of St
Vincent to the west. The landscape though ever changing is nonetheless
invariably beautiful. Due to varying exposure, the cooling influence of the
nearby ocean and also the significant changes in altitude as the region
merges with the hills. Summer rainfall is low and irrigation is considered
essential. Although renowned for its Shiraz other varieties such as Cabernet
Sauvignon, Grenache, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay all do
very well in the appropriate location. Many producers in McLaren Vale are
now experimenting with new and re-emerging varieties including Viognier,
Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Verdelho. There is a wide variety of soil types
including sandy loams, grey brown loamy sands with yellow clay subsoils. As
one of the first tastings showed, soils are important.
Although it was still early, WSET Tutors needed a glass or two of wine, so it
was to the tasting table for a great tasting of Bush Vine Grenaches from the
2005 vintage. McLaren Vale is not just Shiraz as I had originally thought.
Wow!! The soil aspect of wine growing really came to light when the group
tasted three D’Arenberg ‘Bush Vine’ Grenache from the 2002 vintage. The
first from loam soil was lush and juicy, the second from deep sandy soil was
more fragrant and the third from sand over clay was gutsy, beefy and spicy.
First tasting over (this trip is going to run to schedule) it was of to Gemtree
wines, with a geology lecture on the bus by Grant Harrison (Criole Wines).
Fantastic knowledgeable guy who brought a sense of fun into a tough topic.
The Gemtree visit was hosted by Mike & Melissa Brown, deep in one of their
vineyards. Gemtree had used a “high tech” approach by commissioning a
geological survey of their vineyard to identify the various parcels of vines that
should produce the best grapes, and likewise those parcels that might need a
little more help. The overall aim is to have a high standard throughout the
vineyard. Proof of any pudding is in the taste, two wines from the same
vineyard, taste was totally different …… very informative.
“Ding Ding” the bus was leaving. The McLaren Vale bus service is never late!
To Linda Domas vineyard, where Linda herself and Steve Bronato had setup
their testing in an idyllic setting (see photo below). Their approach is based
on the “old school philosophy”, Linda will taste the grapes herself and make
the decision which will be used for each wine…… the human touch.
(picture) With our palates well and truly wetted, the group was given a ‘Master
Class’ in Shiraz from the 2001 vintage. Hosted by Geoff Merill (Mount Hurtle
Wines), Mike Brown (Gemtree Wines) and Chester Osborn (D’Arenberg
Wines) – see picture below. 2001 vintage was very warm, with a good
ripening period. As our hosts stated “virtually perfect”.
(picture) Who said that the Aussie’s were ‘laid back and easy going’ - this
wine trip was progressing at a very rapid pace. Even over lunch the key
aspects of marketing Australian wine were discussed at great length.
Our palates by this stage were getting a little jaded, just like our jet lagged
bodies, but as true wine professionals, and to maintain the integrity of the
WSET!, twenty other varieties of wines had to be tasted at Coriole, before
dinner. These ‘oddball’ varieties are now producing some fantastic wines,
which will have great potential in the near future.
Tuesday 8 August – Chain of Ponds – Gumeracha,
Adelaide Hills (Michael Buriak)
Quite a staggeringly, beautiful property, considering not a single hectare of
vineyard is actually owned by the company – all wines are made from bought
in grapes. This was carefully explained to the group by Chris Milner, Chief
Executive, an ex-Brit now firmly rooted in the beauty of the undulating
countryside of the Adelaide Hills – elevation ranging from 360 to 420 metres
above sea level. Even the wines are made at wineries housed elsewhere
outside of Adelaide Hills, particularly in McLaren Vale, and not on site – these
wineries set up to deal with small batch delivery of grapes.
(picture) I was fortunate to be at Chain of Ponds some twelve years ago,
when my good friend and colleague Caj Amadio was first building and
establishing this cellar and brand name. It was great to see the property in all
its glory now fully built. Caj is a major shareholder of Chain of Ponds, still
contributing premium quality grapes from vineyards he owns himself.
Basically the product is a “virtual wine company” and very successful at that.
Grapes are sourced from some 70 acres
(28 hectares) around Gumeracha and from a vineyard named Kirsbrook also
in the Adelaide Hills, some 400 acres (162 hectares) in size – basically six or
seven contract grape growers are used. The quality of the grapes is carefully
monitored, from the viticultural aspect through to pruning and even harvesting.
Grapes are machine harvested in the early morning hours and trucked for
some two hours to the winery(ies). Grapes for the premium wines, particularly
Chardonnay, are picked by hand.
The wine tasting was conducted by Chief Winemaker Neville Falkenberg,
some five years in the making at Chain of Ponds. Neville has had a long
standing relationship with the winery, as he was a senior winemaker at
Penfolds for some 13 years, buying in grapes from Caj Amadio himself –
premium Shiraz grapes that went in to the making of the top quality Penfolds
wines. Then an offer was made to lure him to Chain of Ponds and the rest as
they say is history – so the relationship was simply cemented. Neville has
valued working for a big name in the Australian wine industry, and now has
his feet firmly rooted at Chain of Ponds – a brand producing a wide range of
wines, some 30,000 cases in size, and growing.
The wines shown were of a very good consistent quality. It was interesting to
try three Rieslings from the 2002, 2004 and 2006 vintages, all displaying
varietal characteristics. And how wonderful to try a well underrated grape for
Australia, Semillon, 2004, 2005, 2006 – labelled “Red Semi Semillon”, special
clones enabling the grapes to ripen pink but sadly the colour tinge removed by
using bentonite. The Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Viognier and
Chardonnays all showed well. Even Sangiovese and the Nebbiolos (Caj
Amadio’s Italian influence rubbing off on the winery) were extremely well
made, in fact in the case of Nebbiolo, dare I say it, almost Barolo look-alikes.
But the wine that stood out was 2001 “Cachet”, a blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, price irrelevant, displaying complexity, still very
fruity with plum, damson, nutty, toasty, chocolate, cocoa, coffee qualities.
Tuesday 8 August - Shaw and Smith, (www. Shawandsmith.com),
Adelaide Hills, (Bernard Goldstein)
The second visit in the cool climate Adelaide Hills region brought the group to
Shaw and Smith where we were met in the vineyards by the winemaker,
Darryl Catlin who explained his job. A number of different pruning methods
are used on the estate according to the vine variety and site. Vertical shoot
positioning is favoured for good light exposure but spur pruning is used on the
more vigorous varieties. They are constantly looking for different methods
and are currently experimenting with two blocks of arch cane pruning and two
blocks with four shorter canes – to date no conclusions have been made.
Other viticulture approaches that are used include inter-row planting of grass
and other experimental cover crops to improve soil nutrients and assist with
water retention. Where vigour needs to be improved the topsoil is mounded
up to a depth of 10 centimetres. In the higher vineyards (350-400m), frost is
not often encountered but on the flatter parts the overnight temperature
regularly drops to -3oC and can come as late as September, so water
sprinklers are employed – see photo.
(picture)
After an interesting explanation of what is happening in the vineyards we
drove to the winery which turned out to be a stunning glass fronted building
overlooking sweeping lawns. We were met by Martin Shaw who after
graduating from Roseworthy College in 1981 set up “Flying Winemakers” with
Brian Croser of Petaluma to advise vineries in France, Spain, Chile, Australia
and New Zealand. The present company was founded in 1989 by Martin and
his cousin Michael Hill Smith who set about creating a label that would be an
“outstanding example of its type and made exclusively from grapes grown in
the Adelaide Hills”. Michael’s other claim to fame is that in 1988 he became
the first Australian to pass the Master of Wine examinations. The underlying
ethos of being “an outstanding example” is achieved only by single minded
vision of the founders which was confirmed as we viewed the huge
investment in buildings and equipment. Unlike most wineries in South
Australia Shaw and Smith have their own bottling plant in order to secure high
quality of their product.
(picture) In the reception room Martin gave a comprehensive overview of the
Adelaide Hills and the areas under production by variety. He continued with
the Shaw and Smith story from the first ten years when Sauvignon Blanc and
Chardonnay were promoted using grapes from the famous M3 vineyard in
Woodhouse. By 1999 they had purchased an additional 46 hectares followed
in 2002 by a “cool climate” Shiraz from the Balhannah district and more
recently by Riesling and Pinot Noir. However most of the Pinot Noir is used to
make sparkling wine both under their own name and by others. The talk was
followed by a tasting of five varietal wines and an splendid light lunch before
setting off for our next visit.
Tuesday 8 August – Nepenthe, Adelaide Hills, (Geneviève Samson)
The Adelaide Hills can certainly qualify as one of the prettiest regions in
Australia. As you twist around, climb up and go down the hills, seductive
views of tranquil and idyllic rural landscapes await you. Both McLaren Vale
and the Adelaide Hills are only minutes away from the city of Adelaide, but the
contrast between the two is enormous. In McLaren Vale, you can feel the
proximity of the city but in the Adelaide Hills, you forget the city even existed.
It is small, rural and cool, achieving an average of a mere 1300 degree days.
Parcels, aspect and altitude make the region exciting.
Why am I writing so long on the Adelaide Hills? Because Nepenthe, one of
the three most important wineries in the region, has for its motto: ‘Nepenthe is
the Adelaide Hills’. Thus, a visit of the vineyard in the company of Murray
Leake, Group Viticulturalist, was in order. We started at Balhannah, home of
Nepenthe’s visitor centre, for an introduction to the property and to the Hills in
general. Then, it was back in the bus for a ride to Lenswood, where the winery
sits. The drive was a treat. Murray impressed us with the depth of his local
knowledge. He knew every hill and stream around. Once at the winery, he
explained that the Lenswood vineyard is U-shaped, offering lots of little blocks
of different character. Pinot Noir is managed differently according to the clone
that is used. Each clone achieves a different yield, has a different flavour and
different levels of acidity and sugar. He added that they grow 35 different
parcels of Sauvignon Blanc, which the winemaker grades using an A-B-C
system. The best are selected and used in the final blends.
(picture)
Back at Balhannah, we were treated to an extensive tasting of Nepenthe’s
wines, from several of their ranges. Nepenthe rightfully takes pride in its Pinot
Noirs and we had great pleasure in tasting the Good Doctor 2003. But of
greater interest to tutors like us were the seven Sauvignon Blancs that
opened the tasting. The first six came from different parcels. They all played
a part in the final blend of the Tryst Sauvignon Blanc 2006, the seventh wine. I
chose the latter as my favourite of the tasting when prompted by Vicki
Greaves, Sales and Marketing Director. Judging by her enthusiastic reaction,
Nepenthe has great hope for the variety in the region. This parcel exercise is
what the Adelaide Hills are all about: a source of exciting, cool, high quality
fruit and small wineries like Nepenthe, dedicated to quality.
Tuesday 8 August - Global Industry overview presentation
at Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation Head Office & Casella Wines Yellow Tail, Adelaide, (Agnes Murray)
The story of Yellow Tail, the success icon of Casella wines was the subject of
the Global Overview presentation at the Australia Wine and Brandy
Cooperation offices in Adelaide hosted by Paul Henry, General Manager
Market Development (ex-Wine Australia, London).
Casella Wines are located in Yenda, New South Wales, in the Riverina
district, New South Wales. John Soutter, Managing Director International
Sales for Casella wines related the development of this business from a small
38 acre
(15.38 hectare) farm, owned by the Casella family, first planted with vines in
1965 to a multi-million dollar co-operation it is today, processing 150,000
tonnes of grapes in the 2006 harvest. Much of the current grape crush is
attributed to the brand Yellow Tail. The phenomenal success of this brand,
first developed in 2001, is thought to be due to the uncomplicated label, a
consistently high quality product, easy drinking and with a fresh fruity style.
The brand was introduced to the market with only two products in the range,
Chardonnay and Shiraz. Today the range is extensive with five whites;
Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, Verdelho and Chardonnay,
and six red wines including; Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
Grenache, Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Merlot.
We had the opportunity to taste the Shiraz and the Shiraz Reserve 2006.
The Shiraz is dry with a soft berry fruit palate and a spicy finish. The reserve
wine demonstrated more complexity with chocolate and cherry flavours and a
more rounded spicy finish. Both wines represent good value for money,
although the success of the Yellow Tail Brand is not about low price
positioning in the market. According to the Managing Director for International
Sales, the marketing strategy employed focuses on product and value rather
than price and potential customer rather than the competition. The wine is not
tailored to the palate of individual countries, but is a standard product
throughout. Currently owning the second largest processing facility in
Australia with a capacity holding of 100 x 1.1 million litre tanks, this must be a
reflection of the brand's phenomenal success in a challenging international
market place.
Wednesday 9 August - Tim Adams, Clare Valley,
(Margaret Donaldson Smith)
Tim Adams Vineyard was established in the Clare Valley in 1987 by Tim and
Pam Goldsack, his wife. They crush about 1000 tonnes of fruit per year and
the fruit is sourced from 13 local growers as well as their own vineyards.
(picture) We were met by the gorgeous “Sandy”, assistant winemaker, who
joined the team in October 2005 after completing a vintage in Bordeaux. He
graduated in Oenology from Adelaide University. We sampled some of the
wines that have made Tim Adams famous. Their Riesling was very fine with
citrus aromas but the Pinot Gris was outstanding. Pears, green apples and
tropical fruits with some sweetness on the middle palate made this wine stand
out from all the others. The flagship wine for them is the Aberfeldy, named
after the vineyard.
The Aberfeldy is owned by Jim McDowell and Ann Brown. It is vinified in
closed top fermenters, basket pressed and has 12 months in one year
American oak barrels before being transferred to new three-four year air dried
American oak for a further eight months.
We then met Mick Plumridge who took us to see the Ladera and Aberfeldy
Vineyard.
The Ladera vineyard was the first vineyard that we saw from the bus and it
was established in 2004 but is not producing fruit yet. There were people
pruning the vines as we drove past. It is planted with Pinot Gris and
Tempranillo. We then drove onto the oldest vineyard that Tim uses and there
we disembarked from the bus. We were in awe as we strolled through the
Aberfeldy vineyard and considered the age of the shiraz vines and the world
they were planted into 100 years before the grapes were harvested. These
vines were so old that they almost had faces carved onto the trunks.
Mick explained to us that this is the reason for the depth and complexity of the
wine as it is the age of the vines that concentrates the flavours so much.
They don’t produce a great deal of fruit but what is there is of superb quality.
The soil is red loam over limestone. The cropping level is never more than 1.5
tonnes and produces grapes with intense colour, flavour and tannins. Planted
in 1904 in Clare Valley the fruit is incredibly rich and concentrated. The
Aberfeldy block was an eight acre block and two and a half acres are of old
Shiraz vines. At 400 metres altitude it is the last Shiraz to ripen which
contributes to the wine’s elegance and richness.
(picture)
It was wonderful to be in such an ancient vineyard and we were happy to see
that these old vines were still producing. Each time I go to Tesco I cast my
eyes on their bottles of Tim Adams wines and think to myself – I was actually
there!
Wednesdsay 9 August - Knappstein – Clare Valley, (Caroline Ritchie)
(picture)
Knappstein’s winery is set in the beautiful Clare Valley. It was set up by Tim
Knappstein twenty years ago. He sold the brand out to Beringer, who sold to
Petaluma and the winery is now part of Lion Nathan.
The actual winery was built in an old brewery. The brewery built in the 1870’s
still retains most of its original structure including the old gravity fed brewing
tower, water boiling chimney and well. The impressive cellar had just been
reclaimed from being a wine storage area and restored and the visitor centre
has been enhanced with a magnificent mahogany counter from a doctor or
apothecary’s store very much in keeping with the original structure.
(picture)
This was one of the few early working buildings which we saw and our lunch
in the old brewhouse cellars, dark chilly and underground had a very
European feel, lunch particularly the puddings, the first of the trip, were
excellent. Were there any wines? Yes. Whilst the winery is still on its original
external site the cellar has been moved to a new larger purpose built structure
behind the old buildings and from these stores, Roger Mills the recently
appointed winemaker, ex Shaw & Smith was able to show us some excellent
wines. These included Knappstein’s superb gold medal winning 2005 Hand
Picked Riesling and the fascinating and also excellent 2006 Knappstein
Three, made in the old Alsace tradition from a blend of 70% Gewurztraminer,
20% Riesling and 10% Pinot Gris. This wine with its crisp concentrated
tropical and citrus fruit flavours was an instant hit with all of the group.
Restoration of the brewery includes the development of a micro brewery
which from next month (September 2006) will start making Bavarian style
lagers and then it will be possible to find both excellent wines and beers in the
same winery / brewery visit.
Wednesday 9 August – Jeffrey Grosset, Clare Valley (Sophie Rudge)
(picture)
After lunch at Knappstein we headed south once more back through Clare
Valley (a stretch with which we were now very familiar!) to the historic
township of Auburn, some 100 kilometres north of Adelaide. We were
welcomed by Jeffrey Grosset.
Modest, determined and utterly devoted to his cause, there is something
almost Germanic in his attention to detail, demonstrated at each and every
stage of the winemaking process… and indeed of our visit.
Our tasting table in the cellar door was solid, serious, yet welcoming, with
Riedel, not the usual ISOs from which to enjoy his creations. An understated
white folder lay at each place, adorned simply with our name. Inspirational
pieces of fine contemporary art were at either end. And a slideshow of his
terroir analysis to set the scene: precision and respect for detail taken to
another level.
The winery - an old butter and ice factory now home to 52 temperaturecontrolled tanks (within which each vineyard, individual plots and clones are
kept separate) - was clinically pristine; Jeffrey’s explanation of the process
comprehensive and satisfyingly technical. Although it would appear his
success lies first and foremost in the vineyard: his (now entirely estate-grown)
Polish Hill Riesling - a sub-region now recognised as a separate ‘appellation’
– so persistent and intensely mineral as the shale and slate from whence the
grapes come; his Watervale Riesling more generous reflecting the
comparative fullness of the bunches at vintage.
There is no ambiguity as he speaks about his philosophies and we are left
with no uncertainty as to his views on environmental issues (“…I don’t give a
s**t about the earth…”), the screwcap debate (they are simply what works
best now, based on extensive testing over a number of years) and the respect
he has for his winemaking partner.
The fact that he bottles at Shaw & Smith comes as no surprise: an equally
uncompromising quest for perfection.
It was a privilege indeed to be hosted by such an inspiring professional. We
were left with the impression that we had been in the presence of greatness.
Wednesday 9 August - Evening at the Rising Sun Hotel, Clare Valley,
hosted by Taylor Wine Company (Neal Ewing)
At the end of a chilly day in Clare, we headed to the cozy Rising Sun Hotel for
supper, hosted by the Taylor Wine company, a name surprisingly unfamiliar to
us. Taylor is one of the largest wineries in Clare – 400,000 cases per year.
But in the UK, EU, and US, (due to Taylor’s Port) they go by the name
“Wakefield Wines.” In addition, their premium wines are named “Jaraman”
and their best wines “St. Andrews.” All three labels share the same, threeseahorse design, based on fossils from the local pre-historic inland sea. More
details are available on their webpages, www.taylorwines.com.au and
www.wakefieldwines.com.au.
(picture)
Meeting us were Vineyard Manager Ken Novack and Assistant Winemaker
Helen McCarthy. Ken related an inspiring personal history-- childhood
emigration from Birmingham and employment at Taylor Wines in 1978 as a
pruner, eventually rising to his present job, supervising a staff of 75. Ken said
this could never happen today, as University degrees are required. His own
son is studying viticulture, Ken told us proudly, although, “It might be nice to
have a winemaker in the family,” he added, laughing.
Young Helen McCarthy provided extensive information about the Taylor wines
-- and about Australian enology in general. The deep color of Australian
Shirazes – purple to the rim, rather than fading to a watery edge – was, she
said, often due to oenological tannins: powder (from grapeskins or chestnut
galls) that looks and feels like cinnamon. At crush, colour from the skins will
leach into the juice before tannin does, and this additional tannin helps fix this
early colour. The tannins are “long-chain” - like sediment - so they remain in
tank after racking.
Taylor’s white wines were impressive. The 2005 Taylor Riesling showing
classic Clare lime aromatics; the 2005 Jaraman Riesling, adding floral notes,
and the 2001 St. Andrews, overlaying all of that with subtle minerality. The St.
Andrews had just won “Best New World Riesling” at the 2006 International
Riesling Competition in Germany.
The Taylor reds were equally impressive. The 2004 Taylor Cabernet offered
juicy black fruit and soft tannins; the 2003 Jaraman Cabernet, a blend of Clare
and Coonawarra fruit, added minty notes. Finally, the 2001 St. Andrews
Cabernet was best of all, with complex aromatics (cassis, chocolate, liquorice)
that had so impressed the judges at the 2005 London International Wine &
Spirit Competition, that it had won both “Best Cabernet Sauvignon” and “Best
Single Estate Wine”
Thursday 10 August - Wolf Blass Wines, Barossa Valley, (Ian Symonds)
Australia is a land of facts and figures, the sixth largest country in the world
has an average of two people per square kilometre, over 10,000 beaches,
some 40 million kangaroos, a 101 million sheep, 27 million cattle, 25,000
species of plants, a dead straight railway track of 478 kilometres, a straight
road of 148 kilometres and a fence that runs 5,531 kilometres. Why do you
need to know this, please read on…
At the instant your host and winery tour guide (Simon Blacket, Brand
Ambassador) tells you that when he was working full time he could sit at
home with his laptop and control the fermentation temperatures in 2500 tanks
of varying sizes for different parcels of wine with a capacity heading towards
90 million litres you tend to sit up and take notice. It really does not matter
what anyone thinks of the final product range this is a vast and extremely
sophisticated operation, so why the first paragraph, well here comes wine with
numbers.
Wolf Blass Wines International started with a production run of 250 cases in
1973, now the Barossa Valley winery which opened in March 2000 produces
six (6) million cases per year. At opening it processed 20,000 tonnes of
grapes and has expansion space to grow to 75,000 tonnes. It has 18
winemakers in a 50:50 mix of men to women. These eighteen can control
everything remotely if required.
We looked at red wine production. Trucks full of grapes arrive at the winery
and are weighed, at the same time as being weighed a robotic probe is drilled
into the load of grapes and within 2.5 minutes a full analysis of the grapes is
available. The lorry shoots the load into one of the three crushers that each
crush one tonne per minute – hence a potential total crush rate of three
tonnes per minute. We were told that ‘pretty well most of the grapes are destemmed’. The winery can crush 1000 tonnes a day.
Open fermentation is in one of 56 tanks each of 10 tonnes. The ferment is
tasted every morning at 07.00 hours; the temperature of the ferment and
pushing down (pigeage) are both controlled by the winemaker using
computer-controlled systems. At extraction the free run juice goes into
holding tanks. A computer-controlled crane is used to lift the drained
fermenter to a position above a press to tip the wet marc into the press and
then return the fermenter for washing out.
If barrels are involved they have 36,000 with an annual turnover of about one
third and no barrel is older than three years old.
Wine in its various stages is pumped from one process to the next including
the trip to the bottling lines when it is pumped over a major road that
separates the two parts of the site. The bottling plant is vast, there are four
lines each processing 24,000 bottles per hour, a total of 96,000 bottles per
hour thus possible. Sparkling wine bottling drops each line to 14,000 per
hour!
Amongst the many aspects of this tour not mentioned are two that require
comment. The costs involved, we were given figures but I thought the bare
facts on quantity were staggering enough. Secondly the quality of the final
product, we tasted eight wines at the winery and then enjoyed a superb lunch
at Saltram’s Kitchen with more wines. The range is impressive, the respective
quality reflecting the target market. One issue did come up for the more
technically minded. The usage of ‘oak flour’ (tannin) at the crush to help
stabilise colour and of polishing tannins at bottling appear to be common.
There is something of a debate about this use and it was interesting to hear
that one of the big players did not seem to have any concerns about these as
an aid to better colour and clarity in red wines.
(picture)
Wolf Blass, open fermenters with the crane system (yellow bar) for lifting
the fermenters to drain out the marc and for operating the plunge-down equipment.
Thursday 10 August - Yalumba Nursery, Eden Valley, (Caroline Dunning)
For many of us this was our first visit to a nursery, and our only one in
Australia.
We were met by Nigel Blieschke, manager and viticulturist at the Yalumba
nursery. Nigel explained that the nursery was set up in 1975 to supply
Yalumba with grafted vines providing the opportunity for bringing in exciting
plants and “playing” around with them, and to replant phylloxera resistant
vines for Oxford Landing in the Murray River.
At present they produce between 0.5 million to 1.2 million vines a year,
although this is over supply as vine demand has dropped. 80% of the vines
are sold in South Australia and they pride themselves on being the best in the
country. The products that they sell are dormant grafted vines, rooting
dormant vine cuttings and grafted potting vines at various prices.
Most of their customers prefer grafted vines. Yalumba concentrate on core
varieties and over the last 25 years have produced 23 varieties. They are
always on the look out to see what is up and coming and go around the world
importing vines. By doing this they can anticipate trends gaining knowledge
about the rootstocks and meet market needs as soon as they arise
At the present time they are working in the Rhône where they have swapped
clones with Guigal, taking cuttings from his vineyards predating phylloxera so
they can see how they perform in Australia.
Viognier is the variety at the forefront at the moment with the fashion of Rhône
blends.
(picture)
Vines coming from abroad are kept in quarantine for two years and vines sold
to Western Australia have to be heat treated. Vines leaving Australia are not
quarantined. Any vines going to Tasmania must be dormant so as not to
spread Pierces disease, as there is none in Australia.
We were shown an excellent video on the processes involved in preparing the
root cuttings, then Nigel took us around the nursery explaining that the
cuttings are taken during the vines dormant stages in June or July, then
grafted and stored in cold storage for fourteen months before being sold on.
We were shown the vines in cold storage having just missed the preparation
timings.
We then progressed to the vineyard to see the 1889 bush planted Grenache,
and Nigel explained how the pruning is done to keep the bush shape.
On to the tasting and a free hat! Phil Lehman Yalumba’s winemaker took us
through a detailed tasting of the range in the setting sun.
For more information on the nursery visit www.yalumbanursery.com
Friday 11 August - St. Hallett – Barossa Valley, (www.sthallett.co.au),
(Bernard Goldstein)
After a slight detour to view the fabled Hill of Grace vineyard dating from
1860, the group arrived at St Hallett. Winemaking at St Hallett began with the
émigré Linder family of East Prussia who produced their first wines in 1919.
Like most of their former countrymen in Barossa the wines were fortified.
However since the 1970’s the company changed to producing premium table
wines, notably Shiraz. We were met by Matt Gant, the enthusiastic
winemaker who had taken over from Stuart Blackwell who had held the post
for over 30 years. Matt is clearly accomplished – he won the coveted Wine
Society’s Young Winemaker of the Year Award in 2004. Not a bad accolade
for a young émigré, but this time from Chelmsford in Essex. St Hallett is a
medium sized operation crushing 3,000 tons in the average year but using a
boutique approach. Only 2% of the grapes are from their own vineyards with
the balance coming from over thirty contract growers
(picture)
On our way to the tank room Matt proudly showed off the 26 ten ton
fermenters used for keeping wines from different parcels separate before the
eventual blending. This was one of the processes that was the key to
complexity of the finished product. The first tank sample of Semillon
demonstrated that there was more in the portfolio than Shiraz. Whilst it was a
finished wine it still required some bottle age before its release. The next
three tank samples of Sauvignon Blanc, which had been kept on the lees, had
all developed very different characteristics due to different strains of yeast
being used. The C.Mig 2 strain gave lighter fruit, the B1375 resulted in a
cheesy/sour milk tones and the B1176 yeast had a mineral but green apple
flavours. However at this stage of development Matt was unsure of where
this experiment would finally lead. This whole approach of experimentation
and evolution was one that we were to encounter on other occasions whilst in
Australia.
Next onto the barrel store where we tasted Eden Valley Shiraz, Sepplesfield,
Ebenezer and finally Old Block made from un-grafted Shiraz, some dated
back over 100 years. Although all were of the same variety the storage
regime of varying amounts of French and American oak and the different
terroirs resulted in some very different characteristics. Back in the tasting
room a further eight bottle samples were presented, ending with an Old Block
Shiraz 1993, a gamey meaty wine lacking only the accompanying roast
pheasant or game stew. St Hallett’s claim to be benchmarks of wines of the
region is truly deserved.
Friday 11 August - Jacob’s Creek, Barossa Valley, (Geneviève Samson)
Here we are at Jacob’s Creek, one of the top Australian brands that has not
only influenced heavily the Australian Wine Industry but the wine industry the
world over. What was a group of 11 educators to expect from a visit to such
an illustrious, powerful place which sold no less than seven million cases of
wine last year? Rows of stainless steel tanks, of oaked barrels stacked up to
the roof, gleaming stainless steel trucks to carry the precious liquid around
and a bottling line like you would not believe, I thought.
I was wrong. There was not a piece of equipment in sight for the duration of
our stay. The first leg of our visit was spent in the winemaker’s room where
Paul Turale, Global Marketing Manager, introduced us to the brand. A tasting
of Jacob’s Creek traditional range followed, led by the man himself, Philip
Laffer, Group Chief Winemaker, the man who “has been the guiding hand
behind the enormous commercial success of the Jacob’s Creek range” as his
profile states.
The whole range proved true to itself, youthful and
approachable wines displayed forward fresh fruit, and sound winemaking
delivered consistency throughout the range.
A surprise was in store. Philip challenged us to blend the 05 version of their
most popular wine, the Shiraz Cabernet. With four samples, a sample of the
finished wine, a test tube and an apron, we set to the task. In the eyes of our
hosts, we must have looked like kindergarten kids playing with the latest toy.
And the blending exercise provided just that, plenty of fun, and, I must admit,
a little challenge…
I finally felt the power of the big brand over lunch, when Nick Blair,
International Sales Director, explained to me how they introduced Jacob’s
Creek to China. They trained 450 Chinese to act as brand promoters in their
own country. All right, with China’s population reaching 1.37 billion people,
the number of trainees may seem minuscule, but few wineries and companies
I know could afford such a marketing coup.
The food cooked by Chef Veronica Zahra was simply delicious; the menu was
conceived to match a selection of wines from the Jacob’s Creek Reserve
range and the wines of the newly released Heritage range. This is Jacob’s
Creek’s most serious range, composed of benchmark regional wines, created
as a tribute to the brand’s history.
(picture)
This year, the Jacob’s Creek label celebrates its 30th anniversary. One
important question remains, after all these years. Does the creek really exist?
It does, and it is located in the Barossa Valley. The little house behind the
Creek sign is real too. Jacob’s Creek, a true place after all.
Friday 11 August - Glaetzer Wines, Barossa Valley, (Agnes Murray)
As a keen supporter of wines made from the Syrah or Shiraz grape, time
spent in the Barossa Valley was the icing on the cake for me. Each winery
had new and exciting offers of Shiraz wines in a range of different styles and
tastes. The wines of Ben Glaetzer were the ultimate in rich complex
aromatics, spice and fruit that promised to linger on the palate forever. This
proved to be an unforgettable memory of the final winery visit from our two
days in Barossa.
Colin Glaetzer bought the property in 1965 and son Ben is now the wine
maker and together with marketing manager Vicki Arnold, Ben markets the
wines world-wide. On our visit, we were taken to the Ebenezer vineyard
located in the north west of the region and where the Shiraz grapes range in
age from 50 to 100 year old vines and where some new vines have been
planted in the last five years. In the vineyard, we had the privilege of a vinepruning demonstration from Joss Hobart.
Joss's son Adrian is the
viticulturalist at Glaetzer and he explained how the pruning and the use of
Vertical Shoot Positioning, (VSP), helps develop lighter and more herbaceous
characters in the fruit.
As the sun set over the Barossa Valley, we had the opportunity, in the
vineyard to taste the Glaetzer flagship wines, Godolphin a 70%/30% Shiraz
Cabernet blend, a full bodied wine 15% alcohol with wonderful intense fruit,
chocolate and blackcurrant aromas. The second wine Amon-Ra 100%
unfiltered Shiraz 15.5% alcohol showed the complexity of fruit character this
grape achieves. Amon-Ra, recorded in Greek mythology as the birthplace of
commercial winemaking, (www.glaetzer.com 1/9/06), is aptly named with a
symbol that represents the five senses. This wine stirred all the senses and
developed on the palate in to a long warm velvety chocolate and spice finish
showing a complexity in the wine that almost defies description.
Over dinner at restaurant 1818, we had further opportunity to taste more
wines including an interesting Viognier and Pinot Gris blend and a soft fruity
well structured red wine made from the Italian varieties Dolcetto and Lagrein.
These wines are made by Ben Glaetzer under the Heartland brand. Our hosts
Colin and Ben Glaetzer remained with us all evening despite having a family
wedding next day and for those of youthful disposition there was an invitation
to the local pub to continue the celebrations into the night. Ben succeeds his
father in Glaetzer as a charming and focused young winemaker with talent
and an understanding of what different grapes can offer, this is surely the
secret of success in winemaking. I look forward to the opportunity of tasting
these wines again.
Saturday 12 August – Banrock Station, Riverland, (Caroline Dunning)
After a 90 minute drive from Barossa to the Riverland we arrived at Banrock
Station and were met by Tony Sharley Manager of the Wine and Wetland
Centre.
We were ushered to the veranda over looking part of the 1,800 hectares of
property with woodlands, wetlands and vineyards preserved and enhanced by
owners the Hardy’s wine company. Their philosophy is that the earth of
Banrock is their most important asset with their slogan “Good Earth fine wine”
with every bottle sold supporting wetland projects world wide.
Whilst having coffee Tony impressed upon us the importance of wine tourism
at Banrock with people spending at least half a day enjoying the wetlands
walks and then food and wine and the views.
Wire netting keeping predators out and natural habitat in.
(picture) The vineyards cover 250 hectares with the vines on high trellises to
suit machine harvesting and irrigated by drippers. A soil moisture probe
records the amount of water in the soil every minute so they know when to
irrigate. This ensures the grape quality is high and the risk of causing
drainage on the flood plain is low. They are grown on sandy loam soil with
high ph 7-9 and very well drained. Six million years ago the land was covered
by the sea so salt is their biggest challenge. The climate is continental. The
winery was built to keep in the water from the Murray River which is their life
line as their annual rainfall is 10 inches!
Tony guided us to the wetland, explaining how they are eradicating feral
pests, and encouraging natural wildlife back. He pointed out the saline flood
plain by the presence of the sand fire grass. Having carried his telescope
down he set it up in the hide and we took turns watching the range of birds on
the wetlands.
Back at the tasting rooms Graham Buller Senior Red Winemaker for Hardy’s
took us through 15 wines from the Hardy’s range.
During lunch we met executives from the Riverland Wine council along with
smaller producers from the Riverland wine region showed us their excellent
wines.
Unfortunately at this stage time was against us and we were unable to do
justice to the quality of the wines being shown.
For more information on Banrock with
http://www.banrockstation.com/nature.asp
sights
and
sounds
visit
Saturday 12 August - Skillogalee, Clare Valley, (Margaret Donaldson
Smith)
I was imagining Skillogalee long before I arrived there and had a mental
picture of a Scottish country dance but in fact it is the Celtic word for “gruel” or
“porridge” and this name was given to the quaint cottage which is the centre
piece of the vineyard. It belonged to an old stone settler and dates back to
the 18th century. It is interesting to note that this farmer had 17 children and
was a deeply religious man who did not approve of drinking! The cottage has
now been extended to accommodate a first class restaurant but still retains its
charm and visitors can enjoy lunch by an open fire in winter or in kinder
weather on the verandah overlooking the cottage garden and vineyards. As
you look across the vineyards from the verandah you could almost be
mistaken and think you have gone back in time. Skillogalee is a 120 hectare
property located within South Australia’s Clare Valley wine region. It is a
small family owned wine business (Diana and Dave Palmer) and specialises
in making premium wines.
(picture)
Dan and Dave explained to us that Skillogalee operates on a “domain” basis
– all the fruit is produced on their own vineyards. They own 120 acres of
established vineyards all of which are situated in the Skilly Valley at Sevenhill.
The soil depth varies from deep alluvial soils in the gullies to very stoney low
nutrient soils at the tops of the slopes. The vines are an average of 35 years
old and are all planted on the contour in an effort to minimize erosion. The
original trellis type is “Aussie sprawl” although they are in the process of
converting the trellis to Vertical Shoot Positioning. The pruning for the heavier
alluvial soils is rod and spur to increase bud numbers and reduce shoot
vigour. Generally cropping levels are so low that any increase is considered
beneficial to quality especially for reds. Cover crops are used mid-row to
stabilise the soil structure and add organic mulch back to the soil. The crop
consists of oats, vetch and a nitrogen-fixing legume such as beans to return
nitrogen to the soils. They are sown in a single pass know as ‘direct drilling’
where fertiliser can be incorporated at the same time, minimising damage to
soil structure!
(picture)
The grapes are either harvested by hand or by machine. Dan explained that
machine harvesting is very fast and very cost effective in relation to hand
picking, but there is no doubt that the best quality fruit must be hand picked in
order to make high quality wine. Skillogalee reds are basket-pressed.
Although the press is new and has stainless steel baskets in place of the old
wooden style, the principle remains the same. Slow, long and gentle to avoid
damaging the seeds but with enough pressure to remove all the wine. All of
Skillogalee’s red wines undergo a malolactic fermentation and are then stored
in barrel for up to two years.
It was a cold afternoon and we were ushered back to the cosy cottage where
roaring log fires and hot coffee awaited. I am afraid to say that no-one paid
much attention to the coffee as the tasting of the wines was so fantastic. The
Riesling has won many top awards with intense concentrated apple and pear
on the palate. The Gewurztraminer was bursting with rose petal smells and
exotic spice but mouth puckering crispness. The liqueur Muscat was bright,
red/amber in colour with a light young sweet raisin nose. Nutty on the palate
with raisin and apricot flavours, intensely sweet but not cloying and a lingering
finish. It was a wonderful experience that we will all remember for a long time
to come.
The region has striking and varied beauty. As we stood at the door of the
cottage the sun was setting on the nearby hills and it was probably one of
those moments where you think to yourself that you truly are in one of the
most spectacularly beautiful places in the world.
Sunday 13 August - Wynns Coonawarra Estate, (Michael Buriak)
Situated in Penola, Wynns, the oldest and largest winery operation in
Coonawarra (taking its name from a local Aboriginal word meaning
“honeysuckle” – not a lot of people know that), with the famous gabled
building, symbolic of not just Coonawarra, but of Australia. The winery
purports to be on a little hill, “little” being the operative word as Coonawarra is
flat topography personified. Needless to say, the other very special element to
this region is the famous, well accounted for Terra Rossa soil. Eighty five per
cent of Wynns wines are sold in Australia, yet the brand has an enviable
international reputation. Approximately 70 to 75% of the wines are red with
white wines of exceptional quality. Production varies, depending on vintage,
from 180,000 to 300,000 cases. Only the better quality grapes make the
Wynns label, inferior grapes are declassified and go in to the making of other
labels for the group. Cabernet Sauvignon is the grape, not just for Wynns, but
for Coonawarra as a region.
Senior Winemaker Sue Hodder welcomed the in the group (in the famous
gabled building) and conducted a tasting during the evening – this was a most
welcome event as it was the first (and last) official wine tasting of the day,
having just flown in from Adelaide to Mount Gambier, with palates anticipating
some form of liquid refreshment and the quality manifested in the wines being
self explanatory. But more of that in a moment.
Some thing that is generally not mentioned when talking about New World
wine producing countries, let alone Australia, are vintage variations, which
Sue explained wonderfully well when asked the question. In brief terms, the
2000’s broke all records. 2001 was a hot year, 2002 was the coolest in 50
years, 2003 was cool and low yielding producing spicy wines with tobacco
flavours for Cabernet Sauvignon more linked to Old World rather than New,
2004 was the antithesis, more New World style with red berry cherry fruit and
a high yielding warmer climate, both 2005 and 2006 were early harvests with
lowish yields and average temperature summation. So much for my lecturing
saying that vintages are really not as important as say in Europe, but then
every region in Australia will tell a different story.
For me personally, the wines made at Wynns by Sue and winemaker Sarah
Pidgeon (who also joined the group later at the splendid Redfingers
Restaurant), have quite a lot in common with the Old World, with, if you like,
that touch of the New World charm indicating the true origins.
We were treated to a super 2006 Riesling, which proved that Coonawarra
(and Wynns) can do it for this grape variety, besides other great wines (and I
mean great) such as 2003 “Michael” Shiraz (bags of fragrant black berry fruit
– a wine made only in the best years), 2003 “John Riddoch” Cabernet
Sauvignon (blackcurrant, spice and chocolate), 2003 “Johnson’s”
Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon (blackcurrants, leather and spice in an Old World
style). Then moving down the vintages, a 1999 (spicy and dark chocolate) and
1987 (bitter chocolate cocoa spiciness) “John Riddoch” Cabernet Sauvignons,
and a 1991 “John Riddoch” Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon (smokey,
savoury, chocolate, coffee, oaky , mature flavours). Basically, the wines had
balance as the philosophy is to pick grapes without any hint of green flavours,
vineyard management being the main concern, and therefore the wines not
needing any acid adjustment.
The group was also given a very special blind wine to taste which surprised
everyone. A 1958, yes, 1958 Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon labelled as
“Claret”, 12.3% alcohol with one pint and six fluid ounces written on the label.
The wine had silky tannins, with mocha coffee characters, belying its age
(vines having been planted in 1954 therefore only four years old when the
wine was made). This proved to us all that Australian wines have the ability to
age gracefully, something that we do not have much experience of, that is
very old New World wines. A very big thanks indeed to both Sue and Sarah
for sharing with us this rare bottle which proved to be the oldest wine tasted
on the trip.
(picture)
Monday 14 August - Sparkling Red Wine Gourmet Breakfast at Red
Fingers Restaurant, Coonawarra, (Caroline Ritchie)
An Aussie equivalent to our brunch, at least in Coonawarra, is breakfast
accompanied by red sparkling wine. So on the 14th August our first tasting of
the day was breakfast accompanied by Balnaves NV Cabernet Sauvignon,
Majella’s 2004 Shiraz, Rymills, 2004 The Bees Knees and Hollicks 2004
Merlot. The first three were all made by the traditional method and the last by
the transfer method, used to maintain consistency across the brand. As
someone who had up until then equated red sparkling wine with Barby pink
alcoholic Ribena I had not been looking forward to this event very much,
however we were all very impressed by the wines made from Cabernet
Sauvignon, Shiraz, a Bordeaux blend and Merlot respectively. Not only were
all of the wines well made they all tasted like wine and had the weight to go
well with a full Aussie breakfast.
After breakfast we were taken on a tour of the vineyards to help us fully
understand the famous Terra Rossa soil of Coonawarra by Grant Oschar the
viticulturist at Rymills. Once in the vineyards it was easy to see how abruptly
and completely the soil changed from the red to the black or sandy,
sometimes in as little space as the distance from one row of vines to another.
We also went to a contract winery dug out deep into the earth of Coonawarra
where we were able to see an example of how the soil depth varies within
each vineyard block. The depth of the soil above the impenetrable limestone
as well as its type affects the growth and quality of the wines explaining how
this tiny region is able to produce the wide range of high quality wines that it
does.
(picture)
Monday 14 August – Hollick, Coonawarra, (Sophie Rudge)
And so to Hollicks… The only winery with a restaurant attached in
Coonawarra… and what a restaurant. “Upstairs” at Hollick we were to be
thoroughly spoilt for lunch and in so doing, challenging any preconceptions of
the Ozzies not being serious foodies (by this point in the trip, however, we
needed no convincing!). The five year old spacious cellar door and
entertainment facility is a fantastic vehicle for brand building.
We compared, contrasted and devoured Chardonnays and Cabernets from
the estates previously introduced over breakfast along with wines from
Brands, Jamieson’s Run and Jacob’s Creek. Although the Hollick Reserve
2005 Chardonnay had perfume and elegance in equal measure, their 1998
Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot was a particular treat with mature, approachable
tannins. So rarely does one get to try adolescent wines let alone adults or
those with a few grey hairs. In Ian Hollick’s opinion, this wine peaks at sixeight years of age… it was particularly good with the quail saltimbocca game being such a traditional pairing with the bordelais blend.
(picture) Ian was a modest host and was keen to emphasise throughout that
the day was a combined message from the Coonawarra community that this
very unique area does produce seriously good Chardonnay and Cabernet,
worthy of both international respect and ageing. The cool nights are
responsible for the long slow ripening season and hence the elegance that all
the Hollick wines demonstrate. The family may have its origins in Poland and
Canada but what’s in the bottle is clearly ‘Coonawarran’ after a mere 23
years.
…And whilst we had been enjoying lunch, interspersed with passionate
commentary from each winery represented, the vines enjoyed a light shower
– the only rain during the trip, illustrating what a frustratingly dry winter it has
been for South Australia. Those droplets, our small British gesture of thanks
for such a wonderful visit.
Monday 14 August - Rymill Estate, Coonawarra, (Neal Ewing)
(picture)
Rymill Estate (www.rymill.com.au), in Northern Coonawarra, is owned by
Peter Rymill, great-grandson of John Riddoch, Coonawarra’s “founding
father.” Rymill’s winemaker, John Innes, had met us at breakfast, and would
later join us for dinner, with current releases. So, for our afternoon visit to the
winery, he poured mainly library vintages, as he explained his winemaking
philosophy.
First came two Sauvignon Blancs. The 1992 was a revelation. Most
Sauvignons age poorly, but this wine had matured superbly, a ripe lemon
“lolli,” as John put it. The 2006 Sauvignon was lovely, and very delicate. “This
is not a wine to win trophies,” said Assistant Winemaker Sandrine Gomin.
This set John philosophizing about wine shows. As a judge at Canberra, he
had to taste 120 wines in one day. Although he favors subtle wines, by the
end of the day “even I was choosing the overt wines.” He feels that this
emphasis on overt fruit limits Australian wines as they try to expand beyond
the bargain-wine price barrier.
(picture) Personally, John favours minimalist winemaking. He thinks adding
oenological tannins indicates “you don’t have adequate vineyard maturity.” So
we were not surprised at the fading-to-the-rim color on the 1988 and 1992
Cabernets he poured for us. They looked, smelled and tasted like maturing
quality clarets, with only slight minty notes to augur their Coonawarra origins.
John Innes in pensive mood
Next came two Rymill Shiraz wines, representing a cool year (1994) and a
“terrific” year (1991). Both were from Rymill’s vineyard in Southern
Coonawarra, much warmer than the main “Riddoch’s Run” vineyard due to
coastal influences. The full-bodied 1991 was showing rich, ripe red fruit and
liquorice. The 1994 was leaner, with tobacco notes, but still drinking well.
Neither was very alcoholic or very oaky. “Why make an effort for fruit and then
obliterate it with layers of oak?” John asked. Furthermore, high alcohol
“exposes tannins” and experiments with samples of the same wine at different
alcohol levels (adjusted by reverse osmosis) revealed that the “sweet spot,”
where his wines tasted best, was in the 13-13.5% range that his grapes
achieve naturally.
John had been with us at breakfast as well as our later dinner. The next
morning, as we awaited our flight from Mt. Gambier, there he was again. Had
he made a special trip to see us off? No, he was coincidentally there to meet
an incoming visitor. Still, we thanked him again for his gracious hospitality
during our day in Coonawarra.
Monday 14 August, Coonawarra Vignerons Association dinner
at ‘Pipers of Penola’, (Ian Symonds)
2005 Koonara, Sofiel’s Gift Riesling
2006 Rymill, Sauvignon Blanc
2003 Koonara, Ezra’s Gift Shiraz Viognier
2000 Hollick, Shiraz Cabernet
2001 Redman, Shiraz
2002 Rymill, Shiraz
2003 Zema Estate, Shiraz
The dinner at Pipers was the culmination of a day in which we had been given
an extremely fine and detailed account of Coonawarra by a number of the
major wineries.
Dinner – John Innes of Rymill, Greg Clayfield of Zema Estate, Drew Reschke
of Koonara, Bruce Redman of Redman Wines.
This was an informal dinner at which other than introducing their own wines
the hosts of the dinner answered what must have been dozens of questions
from the group on everything we had always wanted to ask! Close by was
Greg Clayfield of Zema Estate and with the group members to his right and
opposite he must have answered questions on every topic from every aspect
of the trip.
One lovely quote about a wine was that it ‘smells like Mum’s purse and tastes
like Dad’s wallet’. This applied to a particularly pricey Cabernet. Bruce
Redman’s comments in the Coonawarra Vignerons booklet should also be
applied when thinking about Coonawarra, he was quoted:
‘The key to the excellence of Coonawarra wines is their intense fruit character
and great balance. This combination produces seductive and enjoyable
young wines, which develop over time into wines of amazing complexity.’
The evening ended with special thanks to John Innes who seemed to have
been the organising hand behind the day.
(picture)
Tuesday 15 August - Yering Station, Yarra Valley, (Caroline Dunning)
This was Victoria’s first vineyard and originally planted in 1838. The Rathbone
family purchased it in 1996 and constructed the state-of-the-art winery along
with focusing on wine tourism.
Having travelled for five hours from Coonawarra we were met by Adam
Carnaby assistant winemaker who looks after the Chardonnay production.
The location was stunning and we began with a very welcome lunch in the
restaurant whilst Adam explained that only five people work in the winery.
They crush 2,000 tons of fruit for themselves. 40% comes from Yering owned
vineyards and 60% comes from contract growers. 75% of their production is
red.
They are starting to produce Shiraz and Viognier in the Rhône styles to keep
in fashion.
Foot stomping is still used for the Pinot Noir for gentle extraction of juice and
flavour.
(picture)
It is a cool climate region described slightly warmer than Burgundy yet cooler
than Bordeaux and as Adam said good for producing sparkling wines. Indeed
the Yarrabank Cuvee 2001 vintage was evidence of this statement.
They have been using stelvin capping since 2004.
After lunch we went to the impressive tasting room. As Adam poured the
wines, Michael took it upon himself to “play a tune” on the 12 tasting glasses,
very therapeutic! Adam explained that to make the Yarrabank cuvee 2001,
traditionally it was riddled by gyropaletes holding 500 bottles and done within
a week! We all accepted his offer of having a look at them before we left.
Adam took us through the range showing the differences between the entry
level Yering Frog range, and Yering Station with Yering Station Reserves only
made in good years. Adam took us to the modern cellars which were the first
underground ones we had seen on the trip. There we saw the four
gyropalettes with the ability to riddle 2000 bottles per week! All the
fermentation tanks and wine making equipment were inside to protect it from
the weather.
For more information on production methods visit www.yerring.com
Tuesday 15 August, De Bortoli, Yarra Valley, (Gary Elliott)
This was a famous and important region during Victoria's golden viticultural
era in the 19th century. Vines were first planted in 1838, and viticulture spread
rapidly through the 1860s and 1870s. However, declining soil fertility and the
Australia-wide move towards fortified wine production saw production cease
in 1921. Replanting began in the late 1960s, but it was not until the early
1990s that the area under vine passed the high point of the 19th century. The
Yarra Valley is now recognised as one of Australia's foremost producers of
Pinot Noir, and a leading maker of fine, long-lived Chardonnay, as well as
excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz.
De Bortoli
Situated deep in the Yarra Valley was the De Bortoli vineyard. Greeted by
Steve Webber, their Chief Winemaker, the group was fascinated by Steves
approach to producing premium wine. “No seriously boring Aussie wine” here
as quoted by Steve; Yarra Valley first, Australian second. The secret to his
success and that of the company is to be found in the vineyard. “90% of the
quality of a wine is out in the vineyard and 10% in the winery” – Steve
Webber.
Key word for De Bortoli premium wines was ‘hand’. Hand picked, hand
sorted, hand anything! and even a small 70 hectare of organic to boot.
De Bortoli vineyards are situated on elevated sites 200-260 metres above sea
level, with the best vineyards on east-west facing slopes. For Steve the
learning curve of Yarra Valley is never ending. - “Been here 18 years, but only
really understood wine for the last 5 years”.
So what about the wines. De Bortoli 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, which was
fermented in old “grotty and grubby” barrels (Steves words) was already pre
sold, so the WSET group was quite privileged to sample some, along with
several others.
French style, Aussie passion!! To complete a wonderful “onion skinned” dry
wine in the form of Gulf Station Pinot Noir Rose 2005, sipping down
beautifully on the veranda, until it became a little too chilly for the few thin
blooded WSET tutors, so as any good wine tasting should conclude, a tasting
of wine around the kitchen table with a De Bortoli 2005 Pinot Noir, which
retails at a bargain price of £12 or so in the UK and a 2004 Syrah, the taste
notes just read ……bloody fantastic.
Tuesday 15 August - Dinner at Roundstone Restaurant, Yarra Valley,
Victoria (www.roundstonewine.com.au), (Bernard Goldstein)
It was dark when we arrived from our tasting with Steve Webber at De Bortoli
so we were unable to see the spectacular view of the lake in front of the
Roundstone Restaurant.
The restaurant apparently is a regular meeting
point for the local winemakers so it was an appropriate venue to host an
evening by Yarra Valley winegrowers Association (www.yarravalleywine.com.)
The owners of the restaurant John and Lynne Derwin not only have a busy life
running a successful eatery and function centre but also produce nine labels
of wine.
The evening commenced with a reception of sparkling wines and
Chardonnays including wines from Domaine Chandon, Giant Steps, Bastard
Hill and Wantirna Estate, accompanied by delicious Mediterranean like
snacks. When all the guests had arrived we sat down to a very flavoursome
dinner of antipasto followed by roasted duck or Barramundi fillet and ending
with a platter of local cheeses and espresso. Like most of the meals on the
tour the presentation was simple but the quality of the raw ingredients and
skill of the chefs shone through. During the meal 26 wines were shown but as
this was more of a social occasion the writer did not make too many formal
notes but gained an overall impression that the Yarra Valley is producing
some very good dinner wines.
On the programme the evening was listed as “History of the Yarra Valley”
with speakers from 1960 to present followed by dinner. In true relaxed
Australian
manner
Reg
Egan
of
Wantirna
Estate
(www.wantirnaestate.com.au) began with the revival by his winery in the 1963
– the first recorded plantings being at Yering Station in 1838. Whilst Reg did
cover some of the history he amusingly did not stick rigidly to the script and
was able to include references to both Horace and hot water bottles.
(picture)
After the next course Dr Tony Jordan of Domaine Chandon
(www.greenpointwines.com.au) continued from 1979 onwards
to
accompanying initial barracking from his fellow winemakers not to take too
long. From this period an influx of new immigrants from Italy, Greece and
Yugoslavia helped increase the number of vineyards from 14 to over 100 by
the 1990’s. However some are small so that only 55 are registered with the
Wine Growers Association.
Other key dates that Tony identified included the establishment of wineries by
James Halliday at Coldsteam Hills, his development at Domaine Chandon
and the re-establishment at De Bortoli and Yering Station.
The final speaker was Phil Sexton of Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander who
explained how his investment in the Margaret River had been transferred to
developing a state of the art vineyard, winery and visitor centre. Phil dealt with
his philosophy of winemaking and the use and development of screw caps as
a reaction to having nearly 15% of wines tainted with defective cork.
At the end of a very relaxed evening we boarded our bus but not before we
were each given a signed copy limited edition of Raymond Henderson’s book,
From Joliment to Yering – Romancing the Yarra Valley 1830 to 2000, (ISBN
0-9581358-5-1). This weighty tome will become the definitive reference to the
region includes many illustrations, maps and
photographs and is a
recommended read.
16 August 2006 - Innocent Bystander, Yarra Valley, (Geneviève Samson)
On our trip, we visited 31 wineries. If asked to choose the winery that best
embodies the Australian wine industry as it stands today, it would have to be
the Giant Steps\Innocent Bystander winery. From the management of the
vineyard to the brand new Wine Centre it is about to open in the small and
pretty town of Healsville, this organisation is driven by the clear thought of
owner Phil Sexton, of Devil’s Lair fame. Phil’s well-proven business acumen is
now set to tackle the big giants of the industry, with a plan addressing all the
concerns of the industry.
From our previous visits to other wine regions, we rapidly understood that
regionality is the current buzzword in the Australian wine industry.
Winemakers clearly want to leave behind the correct, fruity, sunshine in a
glass style of wines that Australia has become renowned for. Their new aim
is to make wines that speak of the vineyard where the fruit is grown. The
Giant Steps label addresses precisely this: single vineyard wines from the
Yarra Valley, devoid of winemaking trickery, letting the fruit sing for itself.
We noticed early in the trip that emerging varieties are also high on the
producer’s agenda. Discussions with winemakers made it clear that planting
Sangiovese, Barbera, Tempranillo and Fiano was an investment in the future.
Innocent Bystander, the other label of the Giant Steps winery, handles varietal
diversity. Alongside the classics, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the label offers
a Pinot Gris, a Sangiovese Merlot, a Shiraz Viognier, a very easy drinking
sweet Muscat frizzante and a Pinot Rosé, that managed to attract the
attention of Jancis Robinson who selected it as her wine of the week earlier
this year: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/wineweek/wineweek060321.
(picture)
Another concern of several winemakers we met was alcohol levels, or how to
reduce them. Their aim is to produce wines displaying structure and finesse
rather than, as Phil says, ‘big friendly Dolly Parton wines’. To achieve such a
goal, Giant Steps is bidding on quality. Vineyard manager Maris Feldman
explained that all aspects of viticulture are handled with care: a great variety
of clones planted at different altitude and to different aspects, hand work and
low cropping levels, and biodynamic soil management, which Maris is shortly
to embrace. In the modern, concrete winery, winemaker Steve Flamsteed
talks of getting the fruit right, of gravity fed fruit, of natural ferment and of
using only oak from France.
Our visit ended with a tasting in the impressive Wine Centre, adjacent to the
winery. The Wine Centre will allow the visitor to get a taste for Phil’s ‘dumbed
down’ experience of wine. On offer will be coffee, pizza, yummy sweets from
the bakery and cheeses aged at the winery. Apart from their own production,
wines from European countries and from small Yarra Valley wineries will be
available to taste. Many samples will be free and plenty of staff will be at hand
to answer any questions the customer may have. Sounds like a place for me!
What’s with the Innocent Bystander? He is the small but strong and
independent producer standing up to the big names in the industry. As Phil
explained, 97% of wines in Australia are sold under $20.00, by seven
companies. The remaining 1195 wineries are left to compete in 3% of the
market. His plan is to take the high-end wine industry into the 97% share of
the market. This may sound like a plan for a modern Don Quixote, but with
what I have seen that day, I am pretty certain that in true, unassuming and
efficient Australian style, Phil and his team will succeed.
Wednesday 16 August - Domaine Chandon, Green Point, Yarra Valley,
(Agnes Murray)
Dr Tony Jordan Chief Executive of Domaine Chandon was the keynote
speaker at a dinner hosted by the local wine growers on our visit to the Yarra
Valley region. He was responsible for the development of the vineyard and
the winery at 'Green Point' in 1986 and a further vineyard at Yering Station in
1988. They also own a vineyard in the Strathbogie Hills, offering cool climate
conditions for the grapes grown there. Grape juice is purchased from
McLaren Vale and juice from Tasmania takes advantage of the cool climate
conditions for sparkling wine production. The original winery at Domaine
Chandon produced only sparkling wines but today a range of still wines is
produced under the 'Green Point' label. Dr Jordan is responsible for sparkling
wine production throughout the Domaine Chandon group including Cloudy
Bay, California, Argentina and Australia.
At Green Point, our host was John Harris, winemaker for the sparkling wine
range. On a tour of the winery he illustrated the factors in the traditional
method process, which contribute to the quality of the sparkling wines
produced there. All the sparkling wines are made by the traditional method,
fruit is both hand and machine picked depending upon requirements, handpicked being used for vintage sparkling production. Post second fermentation
hand or machine riddling is used, the machine process taking considerably
less time. Non-vintage wines spend 15 months on the lees whereas vintage
wines can be up to 30 months on the lees. During our visit, the riddling hall
was full to capacity of bottles in the process of being riddled, John informed us
that the room is used annually for a local Operatic event, somehow the
elegance of the pupitres and classical opera music created a vision of
harmony in my mind. No doubt the wine is removed before the audience
arrive.
(picture)
Lunch in the Green Room Restaurant provided the opportunity to admire the
wonderful view of the Yarra Hills and to taste the range of sparkling wines
available. These included white, rose and red sparkling wines. The 2002
vintage brut was excellent with herbal citrus and lime aromatics, a soft creamy
palate and good autolytic character. A unique blend of mature wines used to
produce a sweet liqueur style sparkling wine, (Green Point Extra Riche non
vintage), was interesting with an aromatic nose and a complex palate
reflecting the range of grapes used including botrytised Semillon in the
finished blend.
The debate on screw caps that has been a feature of this trip throughout all
the districts was compounded by the debate over lunch on the use of crown
caps instead of Champagne corks on the sparkling wines. These closures are
currently available in the UK. The acceptability or inevitability of crown caps
over sparkling wine corks is undoubtedly a debate for the future? It will be
interesting to judge consumer opinion on style and ceremony over
convenience and cost savings for the company.
Wednesday 16 August - Scotchmans’ Hill, Geelong,
Margaret Donaldson Smith
(picture)
The vineyard was named after the high point (the Hill) where canny Scottish
settlers could view horse races and was a little dig at them! Geelong is
situated in The Bellarine Peninsula which sits at the tip of the curling comehither finger of land that is happily nestled among bays and ocean some 56
miles south of Melbourne. The peninsula has become something of a
gastronomic and hedonistic playground.
Robin Brockett is the Kiwi winemaker at Scotchman’s Hill winery and gave us
a very warm welcome along with Steven the assistant manager. Scotchman’s
Hill is owned by David (stock broker) and Vivenne Browne (ex-ballerina) who
bought the derelict dairy in 1975 and in 1982 planted the first vines. It was to
be the second vineyard in the region and the first winery. Today the company
is run by their sons Matthew Browne (General Manager) and Andrew Browne
(Export Manager). Robin explained to us about the distinctive soil here, in
Geelong. An extinct volcano gives the soil its thick black appearance and is
very fertile with good moisture retention. The maritime climate and north
facing slopes allow a long slow ripening season. They grow Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Shiraz and their training system is
Scott Henry. They are on a latitude of 42 degrees south and an altitude of
120 metres.
(picture)
We went back to their tasting room. A huge building which looked more like a
very grand old house full of expensive paintings so we could be forgiven for
initially thinking that we had been invited into their home but it was their
offices. The tasting was an extravaganza of all their wines so we were spoilt
for choice. Their wines were subtle and delicate and the Pinot Noir was just
delicious full of raspberry and strawberry fruit flavours and with a long lasting
finish. The Riesling had lively acidity with fruit flavours of grapefruits and
lemons. They have various levels of wine from single vineyard which is made
in extremely limited quantities from the best quality fruit. Then there is the
Scotchman’s Hill label which has earned them a reputation as a producer of
regionally distinct wines of elegance and balance. The Swan Bay label
sources their fruit from various regions around Victoria and is made for
drinking young. The Hill label is named after the high point at Scotchmans
Hill.
We were then taken for a wonderful meal to a local restaurant. This is where
we listened to the background of their set up. It did make for an enthralling
story. David Browne told us how they had installed a Thermomos Building
System which is an insulated concrete sandwich wall system. Heating and
cooling costs are greatly reduced since 99% of insulation value is maintained.
Extensive termperature controlled stainless steel storage has been introduced
and 900 one to three year old French barriques all go into the making of their
superb wine. They employ an educational advancement programme where
each employee studies a viticulture or vinification course to advance through
the company.
(picture)
Australia is a beautiful place with wonderful people. A place all wine lovers
must visit and people lovers too! It is obvious that thanks to a sea-breeze
cool climate the peninsula offers the perfect environment for growing even the
most unco-operative grapes. Pinot Noir might be famously niggly and
obstinately awkward but they seem to be happy not just to flourish on the
peninsula but to produce some seriously good wine too. My question is how
have they kept it so quiet!
Friday 18 August - Jansz , Tamar Valley, Tasmania, (Michael Buriak)
Having been welcomed to Tasmania on arrival at the airport by Martin
Turmine (Senior Client Manager Export and Market Development for the
Department of Economic Development – wow!), who gave the group a
wonderful insight to the State – cool climate being the emphasis, not
forgetting the fact that Tasmania (or Tassie as it is often referred to)
contributes just less than half of one per cent of the total of Australia’s wine
crush – but a very important less than half of one per cent. Tasmania also
housing less than the population of Birmingham with mountains higher than
Ben Nevis.
(picture)The
first point of call was to sparkling wine producer Jansz in the
Tamar Valley (north side of Tasmania and north of Launceston). The group
was welcomed by Maxine Harris and Louise Nixon, both experienced hands
at cellar door, and a pristine cellar door it was too, who provided a tasting of
the four sparkling wines made with an explanation of what the company is all
about. The setting of Jansz is certainly idyllic, beautiful vineyards with geese
roaming around, and certainly experiencing the cool strong winds. Training of
the vines originally, and still to a certain extent is to Scott Henry, but looking
around the vineyard, evidence of Vertical Shoot Positioning seemed apparent.
Birds are a problem, therefore netting of vines nearing harvest time is
essential. Tasmania is Phylloxera free with little disease, Jansz lying on a 41º
latitude. Needless to say, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay with a small amount of
Pinot Meunier is grown on the property, and having Jean Baptiste (of Louis
Roederer) as head winemaker with Natalie Fryar making the wine at Tamar
Ridge, the wines speak for themselves.
The group tasted a non-vintage 60% Chardonnay/40% Pinot Noir blend, with
two years on lees, a 2001 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir with a splash of Pinot
Meunier, with four years on lees, a non-vintage rosé comprising 80% Pinot
Noir and 20% Chardonnay with 18 months on lees (with 1% still red added for
the colour tinge), and a 1997 Late Disgorged (after six years on lees) mainly
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in equal proportions, with a little bit of the other
Pinot, still resembling youth with added mineral qualities. This was a
wonderful introduction to Tasmania, especially as this was the very first time
that the group had set foot on this State.
Friday 18 August - Pipers Brook, Tasmania, (Caroline Ritchie)
On Friday 18th August we went to Pipers Brook, originally set up by Andrew
Pirie it is now owned by Kreglinger a Belgium agro distribution company.
Over the years since it was first set up the winery at Pipers Brook has been
expanded reflecting its constant development. Whilst it still retains its famous
frontage, as used on its logo, and no extra building can be seen from the front
the inside can be said to resemble the Tardis. We started our tour by going
through the first door into a partially enclosed and partially outside area which
housed the original winery, then we went through another door to a more
recent development of fermentation tanks; through another door where there
were the new receiving lines and rotary presses; down stairs into the hidden
maturation cellars; back upstairs, around a corner and through another door
into the bottling lines and riddling areas, upstairs with its magnificent view of
the beautiful vineyard location and finally when completely disorientated,
found ourselves in the cellar door sales area.
(Picture)
The maturation cellars held an extra hidden surprise for us. There were two
cellars, one of which had underfloor heating which enabled it to be used as a
second / malolactic fermentation chamber or if the heating was turned off as a
second maturation cellar depending upon need. Whilst underfloor heating is
not particularly unusual, the dampening of both barrels and the floor to
increase humidity was a surprise and to those of us suffering from the cold
Tasmanian wind it felt like we had entered a tropical hothouse rather than the
modest 20C fermentation room we were actually in. Pipers Brook requires
such a large secondary fermentation area because all of their wines
automatically undergo malolactic barrique fermentation and this was reflected
in the wines we tasted from the Ninth 9 Island and Pipers Brook range.
Friday 18 August – Bay of Fires, Tasmania, (Sophie Rudge)
Named after a beautiful beach on the east coast of the island, Bay of Fires
sits under the BRL Hardy corporate banner (now Constellation Brands). It
may have the comfort of group funding and recourse to sophisticated
winemaking tools at Reynella but without talent behind the scenes, a winery
can still make bad wine.
Under Fran Austin, that’s not going to happen. Recent Young Winemaker of
the Year, Fran who joined in 2002, is making anything but.
Previously French owned, the carefully tended vineyards were coordinated by
Jo Cromey of Tamar Ridge and then sold to Andrew Pirie who has also since
moved on. A swanky new cellar door speaks slick and modern, yet the wines
demonstrate more sincerity than the chic first impression.
Personable, engaging and quietly passionate, Fran works closely with Ed Carr
and Pete Dawson, chief winemaker. Determined to take us to the essence of
Bay of Fires, we are whisked straight out to the vineyards. The juice coming
from these vines is of such high quality, some fifty per cent of the fruit used in
the Eileen Hardy Chardonnay blend comes from Tasmania – a demonstration
of the faith people are placing in Tasmania’s cooler climate. She talks
enthusiastically about the management of the vineyards – calmly about the
pestering silver-eyes - confidently about careful clonal selection and vineyard
expansion, occasionally distracted by Chile – her dog – and his fleeting
appearances.
(picture)
On then into the winery the group was treated to barrel samples of 2006
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from different blocks, each with distinct
characteristics, coming from Freycenet on the east coast and Cole River in
the south. We see another layer of this determined young lady’s passion…
like plunging deeper into her personality each step we took closer to the
finished product.
So we return to the chic environs of the cellar door to taste through eight
wines. Of course, as a group, there is plenty of resource for clever branding
but what is in the bottle is equally impressive. The Tigress range represents
great value for money whilst the Bay of Fires shows clean varietal notes in
each. Arras sits on high and is a truly impressive sparkling wine with steely
minerality and a lovely leesy character – in no small part due to 5 years on its
lees.
Fran raved in particular about her Bay of Fires Pinot Gris 2006 – and rightly
so: it demonstrated beautiful balance and lovely weight. There is a real drive
behind these aromatic varietals here in Tasmania but it is pleasing to see that
the estates are all trying to retain their unique interpretation.
Incidentally, we enjoyed Arras once again in magnum on board Lady
Launceston before our all-too-soon return to the ‘North Island’ as it was so
affectionately referred to… Looking forward to tasting vintages of Arras that
have been in the hands of Miss Austin!
Friday August 18 - Dinner at Stillwater Restaurant, Launceston,
hosted by Domaine A Stoney, (Neal Ewing)
Our evening dinner in Tasmania was perhaps our most surprising. After a day
of tasting cool-climate still and sparkling wines, we entered a private room in
Launceston’s beautiful Stillwater restaurant to find — Tasmanian Cabernet
Sauvignon!
The wines were from Domaine A (www.domaine-a.com.au). Its owner, Swissborn Peter Althaus (who was abroad that evening) had searched world-wide
for a site perfect for the cool-climate wines he wanted to make. He found it in
the Coal River Valley of Southern Tasmania. Peter purchased Stoney
Vineyard, an immaculate, small vineyard, which he expanded to 20 hectares
and re-named “Domaine A” (although the Stoney name is still used for some
wines). Just recently the Domaine A Cabernet had become the first
Tasmanian wine listed in Langton’s classification of the top 100 wines of
Australia.
(pictures) n Peter’s absence our hosts were Sales Manager Maria Lurighi
(who is also an artist and opera singer) and Export Manager Paul Hopkins
(who is also an MW candidate). Throughout the evening, their idyllic
descriptions of the Domaine made us wish it hadn’t been too far South for us
to visit.
But Maria had “the keys to the cellar,” and she aimed to impress us. First
came those three Cabernets, all excellent. The 1999 was soft and delicious,
the 2000 all power and potential (“barely lifting the hem of her skirt,” said
Maria), and the 2001 lush and “flashy.” Next came Sauvignon Blancs,
including two vintages of “Lady A” (named for Peter’s wife, Ruth), reminiscent
of subtly oaked white Graves. Then the 2004 Chardonnay (spicy oak and
citrus), 1995 and 2000 Domaine A Pinot Noirs (compared to top Burgundies
by UK wine-writer Matthew Jukes), and 2003 and 1995 Merlots (ripe red fruit).
Only the 1998 Cabernet, apparently in a dumb phase, failed to impress.
Maria’s verdict: “Tonight she’s wearing a cloak and a shawl and she doesn’t
want to talk to you.” But the quality of all the other wines made us hope to one
day meet the 1998 Cabernet in a more communicative mood; and to one day
return to Tasmania with enough time to visit this truly unique vineyard.
Saturday August 19 - Tamar Ridge, Tasmania, tour and tasting,
(Ian Symonds)
Will Adkins – Tamar Ridge (GM, National Sales and Marketing Manager)
Paul Townsend – Vineyard manager at Kayena (137ha)
Tom Ravech – Winemaker (moved from Villa Maria)
The history of Tamar Ridge seems to be a reflection of the speed with which
Tasmanian wine is making its mark on the world of wine. The Tamar Ridge
vineyard near Launceston is known as Kayena was originally only a 20ha of
mix of chardonnay, pinot noir and sauvignon blanc with a formal planting date
of 1994, first vintage 1999. However vines were on the site as early as 1988,
the single vineyard ‘Batman Selection’ being confirmation of this as the vines
are nearly 20 years of age.
This means that this small winery has grown on this site to 137ha as well as
acquiring sites further south in Tasmania at Whitehills (83ha) and East Coast
(88ha). It has a two tier wine range – Tamar Ridge Range and the Devil’s
Corner Range. The latter refers to a particularly nasty corner on the nearby
Tamar River which sailing ships in the early years of settlement found difficult
to navigate. There is also a Single Vineyard Range, headed up by the
strangely named ‘Batman Vineyard’, apparently something to do with the
number of local bats
(picture)
Will (with his hand on the wire) and Paul (also on the left and turned slightly
away) gave an account of the immense effort put into finding the right place
for each grape variety. This wasn’t simply a matter of trial and error it was a
scientific methodology to track various soils, water supply, micro-climate, in
effect the whole terroir of a potential site prior to even purchase of the land.
Some of the estate vineyards had previously been simple grazing land. Paul
fielded questions on different pruning and trellising systems before we worked
through ten samples from barrel and bottle in the winery.
(picture)
This tasting was talked through with all those fascinating bits of information
not generally available, for example two of the wines were ‘works in progress’
and we heard what the winemaker would change next time to make the wine
become true to his vision. Tamar Ridge is most certainly a very major
contributor to the success of ‘Wine Tasmania’.
Saturday 19 August - Tasmanian Wine Industry tasting and synopsis,
Rosevears Estate, (Ian Symonds)
Will Adkins – Tamar Ridge Estates
Anthony Woollams – Tamar Ridge Estates
Karen Nelson – Rosevears Estate
Mandy Burbury – Tasmanian Fine Wine
The immediate news that we were given upon arrival at Rosevears Estate
was that Tamar Ridge Estate and Rosevears Estate were going to become
one group but retaining their individual identity. This was formally announced
on September 1st so our small group had some hot news for a few days! The
opposite was true of the weather that day where despite the lovely sunshine
we had got used to on the whole trip the wind that day was described by
Francine Austin of Bay of Fires as a ‘lazy wind’, it didn’t go around you it cut
straight through!
(picture) Dr
Andrew Pirie (CEO and Chief Winemaker) heads up the new group
combining: Tamar Ridge, Devils Corner, Pirie, Notley Gorge and Rosevears.
Viticulturist Dr Richard Smart makes the second highly qualified leader in this
amazing drive to push Tasmanian wine onto the world market. Andrew Pirie
has already been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his
services Tasmanian wine and tourism.
When Anthony Woollams addressed us a group I think that for the first time
we heard someone who fully understood and explained the role that we as
WSET tutors could play, not surprising as he did tell us that he holds the
WSET Diploma. What we could ensure was that Tasmanian wines were
viewed as initially ‘Brand Australia’ but that Tasmania could be identified
beyond that branding. The depth and breadth of Tasmania in its variety of
wines and its excellence in so many prestige styles was a critical message to
get across both to mainland Australia as well as beyond.
This recognition of the value of Tasmania is key to its immediate success;
were it ever to become, for example a high volume centre the message would
be very different. Its status as a single GI (Australian Geographical Indicator),
its excellence in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are
well documented. Some of the future is in the current flavour of the month
Pinot Gris / Grigio. Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon and merlot are also
grown. However the desire for immediate success with still wine rests with
Sauvignon Blanc and not joining in with the chardonnay boom. Sparkling
wine has clearly given Tasmania a focal point from which to launch it identity.
Education, Anthony said, is vital. There must be brand awareness beyond
‘Brand Australia’ and the big companies. The current new strategy suits
Tasmania very well, brand Australia is a success, now individual GI’s need to
push their own brands. The new strategy is focussing on ‘terroir’, regional
differences with a determined effort to highlight the single estate wines and
put less emphasis on the mass-market wines.
So, we have a role and it is all in the understanding of the region and its
strengths, Tasmania has some remarkable strengths in its diversity of wine
and some extraordinarily useful points for tutors to use for illustration of a cool
climate region. In making these points Tasmania would dearly love to
become one of those places that is used as a benchmark, why not say that a
wine is like a
Tasmanian sparkling wine rather than always comparing back to the old
world?
(picture)
Sincere & huge thanks go to Elizabeth Waterhouse (Administration & Visits Coordinator, Wine Australia London), Prue Irish (International Visits Facilitator, Australian
Wine & Brandy Corporation), Erica Dent (PR and Events Manager, Wine and Spirit
Education Trust, London).