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Each one of these wineries making its debut in the Wine Companion has earnt a five-star rating. They are thus the pick of the 102 new wineries. The South Western Australia Zone gave birth to six of the ten wineries, Margaret River with three, the others scattered across the zone; the golden run of vintages from 2007 to ’10 inclusive is a major factor. Victoria provided three, two from the Yarra Valley and one from the Grampians; the Yarra succeeded in spite of vintage issues, only ’10 shining. South Australia had a solitary success, New South Wales and Tasmania none.
Jeremy Gordon’s winemaking career started with Evans & Tate, and thereafter Houghton before moving to the eastern states to broaden his experience. He returned to the Margaret River to co-found Flametree Wines in 2007, enjoying immediate headline-grabbing success in wine shows. A business issue led to his departure, followed by the establishment of Amelia Park Wines with wife Daniela and business partner Peter Walsh, buying grapes from Margaret River and Frankland River, promptly proving his success at Flametree was no fluke.
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Perth-born Adam Richardson inhabits two wine universes, quietly slipping from one to another. He has a 6-ha vineyard in the Grampians planted (before he purchased it) with old clone shiraz and riesling, and is on hand each vintage to decide picking dates and fermentation options. Once the future 1500 dozen bottles are safely in barrel or tank, he heads to the US and his position as Director of Global Winemaking for The Wine Group (the third-largest producer in the US) responsible for production of five million dozens of premium wine from Argentina, Australia, Austria, California, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, NZ, Oregon, Spain, South Africa and Washington. It’s quite a double act.
This is one of four brands forming part of Australian Fermenters, a broad-based wine and liquor group owned (along with other major investments) by Robert and Laurie Fraser-Scott. In all, 54 wines were currently available at the start of 2011, all made from contract-grown grapes in a classic virtual winery model. Four things make the venture unique: all the grapes are grown in the Margaret River; all are priced between $14.99 and $19.99; they have had spectacular show success, a veritable river of gold; finally, despite the large volume, they will never be supplied to Coles or Woolworths.
Meister-marketer Zar Brooks has always lived in the fast lane, helped by an outstanding palate and family connections in Adelaide. He has interests of one sort or another in a number of wineries: Zonte’s Footstep came first, then Dandelion Vineyards and now Heirloom Vineyards. There are other involvements, too, but Heirloom is unique because it is solely owned by Zar and his very talented winemaker wife Elena. Its lofty aims leave nothing behind: old vines, best clones, organic and/or biodynamic growing, and traditional winemaking techniques (even if the last is decidedly ambiguous).
This is a bit of fun on the side for winemakers/owners Michael Kerrigan and Gavin Berry who have been making wine in Western Australia for a combined period of over 40 years and who say ‘We have spent a total of zero hours on marketing research,and no consultants have been injured in the making of these wines.’ They hold to the common belief that riesling and cabernet sauvignon best define what Western Australia is about. To prove the point, as it were, they have taken riesling from the Langton Vineyard in Mount Barker (planted in the 1970s) and cabernet sauvignon from the Mount Barker Lansdale Vineyard and the Margaret River vineyard of Hay Shed Hill – and produced two classic wines.
Mark and Alison Blizard moved to the Blackwood Valley in the early 1990s and established a small vineyard on the banks of the Donnelly River. In ’98 they joined forces with the Fitzgerald family to purchase a property that had been in the same ownership for 100 years, and planted 31 ha of vines as a grape-growing investment. They still regard themselves as grape growers, but have 2000 dozen bottles a year made for them by the contract winemaking services of Naturaliste Vintners run by the supremely talented winemaker Bruce Dukes. It’s hard to say whether the quality or the sub-$20 prices of the wines command the most respect.
Syd Bradford is living proof that an old(er) dog can learn new tricks. Having obtained a horticultural degree from the University of Technology, Sydney, in 1995, he spent the next seven years drifting between Europe and Asia. It was the offer of a vintage job at Pfeiffer Wines in 2003 that inspired him to enroll as a distance education student at Charles Sturt University’s wine science course, working vintages at Coldstream Hills and Domaine Chandon, then assistant winemaker jobs at Rochford and Giant Steps. In ’06 he received the Dean’s Award of Excellence, and in ’07 the A&G Engineering Scholarship at CSU. Aged 35, he was desperate to make his own vinous ‘babies’, starting in ’09 with Arneis, and an expanded range in ’10.
Luke Houlihan learnt most – if not all – of what he needed to know about sourcing grapes and making wine during his time as winemaker, first at Yarra Ridge and thereafter at Long Gully, before going into partnership in 2007 with viticulturist Greg Dunnett. Greg owns the 3.2-ha Valley Farm Vineyard, well-known for the quality of its dry grown pinot noir and chardonnay previously sold to Yarra Valley winemakers. Through appalling bad luck, both the ’07 and ’09 vintages were lost to smoke taint, but the quality of the ’08 vintage and not yet released ’10 vintage are exemplary. To fill the gap, small quantities of syrah were purchased from the celebrated Greenstone Vineyard in Heathcote in ’07 and ’09, the quality excellent.
According to father John and son Travis French the idea of planting vines on the 100-hectare property fronting Chapman Brook came after they purchased the property in 1992. ‘We realised we had to do something with it; the thing at the time to be done with rural land was to plant vines, and so we did.’ Sauvignon blanc and semillon constitute the lion’s share of the 37 ha vineyard, but there are also significant quantities of chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot. Up to 1996 they sold the grapes to Cape Mentelle, but they then decided to employ the ubiquitous Bruce Dukes to vinify the production for the Warner Glen and Frog Belly labels, which he has done with his customary flair.
When the minnow swallowed the whale, and the busy West Cape Howe partnership headed by Gavin Berry in March 2009 purchased the 7700-tonne capacity Goundrey Winery from Constellation Wines it made the existing, far smaller, West Cape Howe winery redundant. Bob Fowler (and wife Marilyn) just happened to be in the right place at the right time to fulfill his dream of a country life, and in early 2010 purchased the winery and its small surrounding vineyard. The wheel for Michael Goundrey (long since departed from his eponymous winery) came part full circle when he was appointed winemaker (with Henrik Petersen), instant success coming for the Fowlers.
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