"TORB Terroir-ises SA" – (The 2004 South Australian Tour Diary)

Chapter Nine – Clare – Friday Chapter Eight can be found here

This is the last chapter in this tour diary. When I started this adventure, I never thought it would wind up being such a remarkable and indeed lengthy story. Over one hundred A4 pages (without photos) and over 70,000 words have made up this saga so it has been a Herculean effort. At the start, I thanked the wineries involved for the generosity and hospitality and it would be remiss of me in this final chapter if I did not mention a few other people as well.

Firstly, to my good mate, The Pie King of South Australia, John Davis and his family, a warm thanks for your time, hospitality and friendship. The annual trip would not be the same without you guys and it is amazing the number of people that have never met John but feel they know him well because they have read about him over the years in the tour diaries.

A number of readers have commented on the improvement in spelling and grammar in the diaries and that didn’t happen by accident.  Three people behind the scenes have been beating me up, training me and taking it in turns to proof read the story. Readers no longer have to cringe over some of the howlers that have been picked up by Brian Handreck, Kris Goman and Marion Stewart. My sincere thanks to all three for the many hours involved in checking and correcting my work.

In previous chapters I mentioned my good friend Lynne, who looks after my children and business whilst I am away and who was having trouble with her back. Readers may remember I alluded to some problems in that department and when I returned home, I found out how bad the situation really was and I am not just referring to a week of paperwork that had buried my desk.  Now, three months later Lynne has still not returned to work and as a result of my having to work extra days, this tour diary has taken much longer to complete than I had anticipated. Work is the curse of the drinking class! However, despite her bad back and the resulting intense pain, Lynne still managed to keep looking after the dogs and solved the day to day business problems whilst I was away. I truly appreciate her and her efforts and I hope she gets better soon.

Finally, to you the readers, I appreciate the time you have taken to read my jottings for without you, there would be no point in writing the tour diaries.

Today was the last full day of my trip and although I have some appointments lined up, it will be an easy, relaxing day that will culminate in a dinner in Adelaide with a mob of wine tragics who all know each other through the Auswine Forum.

I had stayed in the Clare Valley Motel last night and it has not changed since my last visit. As you drive into Clare, the motel is high on a hill on the left hand side of the road a couple of kilometres before the town proper. Rooms are a good size, everything works, it is clean and has seen a refit a few years ago. Tariff for the night was a moderate $70 and it represents very good value.

I had arranged to meet Steve Norman aka 707 aka the South American Porn King this morning as we were going to spend the day together. For those that do not know, Steve is an Adelaide resident who lives in a place which is quaintly named “Happy Valley” (something to do with the “funny farm” . ) Happy valley is on the outskirts of Adelaide, not far from McLaren Vale so Steve had a drive that would be similar in length to the one I had completed the day prior, or so I thought. When I spoke to Steve on the phone to see what time he would be arriving, judging by the description of his route, it sounded like his “shortcut” was via the Black Stump or the North Pole but judging but the expected E.T.A. he must have been in a rocket. More about this later.

For breakfast, I found a very modern new bakery in town. This place is so new that I am willing to bet the Pie King has not tried its fare, but knowing John, he probably had samples shipped to his place before the bakery opened so that they could claim to have the South Australian Pie King’s blessing. The espresso coffee was good and the Danish enjoyable.

Speaking of wine desperados, Clare has a few wineries that open at 9 a.m. and one that opens at 8.30, which must be a first (bad pun intended) in Oz, so having an early morning start here is not an issue. My choice to kick start the day was Knappstein Wines. The winery is located at the end of the main street of Clare in an historic old building that started life as a brewery. In 1976 Tim Knappstein bought the building and established Enterprise Wines. The business changed names to Tim Knappstein and then later to Knappstein Wines. Petaluma bought the business and winery in 1992 along with the vineyard in 1995. Today, when you walk into the cellar door, with its long polished bar, it looks akin to an old English Gentleman’s Club in London. Knappstein makes good wines that are more elegant and subtle than many others and, are normally good quality and well made, especially the Enterprise range.

Shortly after I arrived, I was joined by Steve. If you have to drink wine at 9 am, there is no better way to start then with Sparkling Shiraz and luckily there was one on the menu. I took one sniff and said “can you check this please.”  The very pleasant lady behind the counter sniffed it, there was the tiniest frown on her face but said she though it was OK but happily offered to open another one. The first was mildly corked and it was pretty obvious next to the good bottle. The CD attendant said she thought she caught a tiny whiff of taint but then it disappeared. The moral of this story is that if at first sniff you think you detect taint, there is a very good chance your first impression will be correct.

Knappstein 2000 Chainsaw Sparkling Shiraz sells for $25 at CD. The wine showed good balance, it is rich and fruit driven with moderate intensity, a great mouth feel, excellent flavour profile and the residual sugar is well controlled as the wine finishes dry. Medium-weight, it is easy drinking and worth buying. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Knappstein 2001 Shiraz sells for $17 at CD. A bouquet of spice, red berry fruit and controlled oak shows on the palate as a well-made, clean wine with pleasant mouth feel. Medium-weight, the consistency is supple, and the off-sweet black fruit, dark chocolate and plums produce an easy drinking wine with a harmonious complexity. The rating of Agreeable with *** for value is probably harsh but there is no excitement factor and this is a perfect man in a grey suit wine that gets lost in the crowd.

Knappstein 1999 Enterprise Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $39 at CD. Production of this wine is quite limited, there were only two thousand six-packs produced. Now we are talking! Ripe, off-sweet blackcurrant, milk chocolate, subtle cigar box and tea finishes clean and dry. Tannins are dusty, acid refreshing and the fruit obvious, all this wine needs is time, about 2007+ should see it peak. Just ample in weight, the consistency is firm and the structure solid. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Knappstein 2000 Enterprise Shiraz sells for $39 at CD. Only one thousand six packs of this wine was produced as it was a hard vintage. Dark purple in colour, the hue is light. Sweet and savoury with abundant “minty green” characters, almost leafy tobacco notes and the result is a wine that is very Cabernet like in character. Just ample in weight, the consistency is firm; structure is solid and the complexity agreeable. Rated as Recommended with ** for value, the wine is reflective of the vintage conditions.

I look forward to the next visit when hopefully the vintage conditions will be kinder for the wines on offer.

I have respected the wine from Jim Barry Wines for a long while and some vintages of the Armagh are absolute knockouts and that was why I was keen to do a feature story on this winery. We arrived, with great hopes, for our appointment with Peter Barry, who heads up this family owned operation. Peter was not what I expected! In my nativity, I had expected to meet a winemaking type person but what I found was a very clever and astute businessman who does not suffer fools easily and undoubtedly does not like to have his time wasted.

We went upstairs to a well appointed board room setup. According to Peter, the start of the Jim Barry story is post World War II when dry table wine started to take off. Prior to that, the vast majority of wine made in Australia was fortified. So why was there a shift away from fortified and a move towards table wine at this point in time?  Peter provided a very important part of the answer. “Prior to this time, the pH of wine was not well understood and that was especially so of wine grown in warm climates. Once the impact of pH was understood, the move to dry wines was a logical step. When my father arrived in Clare as a qualified winemaker, he had a pH meter with him, probably the first one in the district.”

I asked Peter why Jim picked Clare. He responded, “In 1947, Clare picked him. In those days, only six students were educated as winemakers every two years. Jim’s diploma was number 17 and the industry scrambled for graduates. Out of the six that graduated in Jim’s year, three others, Hardy, Knappstein and Buller each went back to their own family owned wineries leaving only three others for the entire industry. In those days, Roseworthy was funded by the state government and a member of parliament who was the chairman of the funding committee for Roseworthy selected Jim for a position in Clare. Twelve years later, in 1959, Jim purchased 100 acres that contained a farm with some vineyards. In 1964 he purchased an joining property which was owned by Duncan McCrae Wood and continued to expand the vine plating. During this time, he was employed by corporate wineries. After about 20 years in Clare, Jim moved to Tailors and built their winery in 1968. In 1974 he left the employment of others and established his own winery; this coincided with the winery’s first vintage.”

Peter said, “Over the next thirty years, the family have kept buying property, developing them and making high quality wine. If it sells and you make a profit, you reinvest it back into property, that appreciates and you make more quality wine that sells and reinvest the profit.”

By 1986, Peter was in charge of running the business although his father was still actively involved much of the time. They currently have six hundred and fifty acres under vine and do not purchase any outside fruit. Peter believes in running a “self contained and sufficient” winery. They own all their own equipment - from the harvesters, through to the bottling line. By doing so, they have complete control over the day-to-day operation and are not reliant on outside human forces to get the job done when they want to do it, rather then when the equipment is available. “If we need another shed, we build it, if we need another tank, we buy it and if we need more grapes we buy land and plant vines.”

Although I thought the range of wines had increased, Peter was quick to point out the range had been substantially reduced. Many of the whites, including Chardonnay have been eliminated and the future emphasis in the whites is on Riesling. Where there were three McCrae Wood reds, there is now one; so whilst the addition of new wines like the Cover Drive and Lodge Hill are noticeable, the deletions by definition are not.

When I asked Peter why they had been deleted, he said “Why make 1,000 cases of wines if you don’t enjoy the winemaking style? We only made Chardonnay because we commercially had to; if you can sell another 3,000 cases of Riesling most producers would be more than happy to grow more Riesling. People drink 80% Chardonnay and 1% Riesling in Australia so if you don’t make Chardonnay you miss out.” Obviously Peter is in the happy position where he is able to defy industry tends and stop production of Chardonnay and increase sales of Riesling. Another indicator this is a man who knew what he was about and was doing his own thing.

When I asked Peter what sort of growth plans he had, he looked at me like a was a complete idiot that had just landed from outer space and with a totally straight face he answered, “I guess I will remain about 5 foot 9.”

In regard to a redefined growth question, he went on to say “Crystal ball stuff is all bullshit. You can say what ever you like, it’s all crap. What ever happens, happens! You plan everything and then forget about it because it is not going to work anyway. Look at the companies that are in trouble, they all had wonderful plans. They (the plans) are all crap, otherwise they would not be in financial trouble. They didn’t know about the ‘shoe leather’ – they were too busy writing plans. They didn’t know how to make it work and didn’t know the signs.

In February 2001 we thought this industry was heading into recession and today it is exactly where we thought it would be and we started adjusting our company. There was no plan to scale it down and to do this and to do that, we felt there would be an oversupply. No graphs showed that but when we started picking, our volume was up 50% and so were many of the people we spoke to. In February 2001 we started to adjust our company accordingly, we stopped buying, stopped leasing and concentrated on bottom line profitability.

A lot of companies are doing the opposite to us with their range of wine labels. Those involved with the pilorification of labels; trying to get five hundred cases here and there that will give then fifty or sixty grand are doing so to liquidate inventory and get every last dollar in. That quick profit is short term thinking and in the long term confuses your market as you have dumped too many new labels on them, that’s why we have cut back to the core range.

When Southcorp and Rosemount merged, they were quite right with where they were heading with the brand deletion. The problem was, right around the world, in the early stages, they went in with guns blazing and destroyed their distribution base. If they had taken twelve months to access the situation and brought it down to a core range, it would have worked.

The industry is in a lot of trouble. There are too many grapes, wrong areas and wrong varieties. For a lot of players, yields have got to be x to return y. As a wine person, you have got to be happy not to make a return on your investment for some years, lose money in other years and make a tremendous return in other years. You should be looking at this business as a return over ten years, not over the next quarter. We lost money and poured it into the business in 86, 87 and 88 and then in 89 we had a brilliant year and paid for all the losses and then banked a whack. The history of the profitability of one vineyard shows this to be cyclic and reoccurring.”

Peter’s feelings regarding wineries that are run by “quarterly profit driven” bean counters was obvious. Running a wine company on a quarterly basis may be a great way to run a company but it is not going to lead to long term winemaking success. His 2001 prediction is right, a prediction that others also made (myself included) but one that in many ways has been overlooked by a number of the large corporate companies who feel they are immune to industry trends and can shape the market by creating their own opportunities. As a generalisation, if you examine the state of some of these companies the results speak for themselves.

Peter looks after the business side of things whilst his brother Mark is the winemaker and looks after the other side of the business. Unfortunately, on this visit we only got to talk the business side of the operation, hopefully next time we will get to see Mark and get the winemaking side of the story. One final request from Peter regarding the pronunciation of their flagship wine, The Armagh. It is pronounced “Ar-marr” – the g is silent. The name is derived with Irish heritage. The wine comes from a single vineyard block which is located near the Armagh valley. The land was purchased by Jim Barry in 1964. After our meeting concluded, it was back to the cellar door to be looked after by one of the real characters of the industry who patently loves his work behind the counter. Richard is a fixture at the winery, and has worked there part time for years. He always has a smile on his face and twinkle in his eye and it is a pleasure to be looked after by him.

Jim Barry 2001 The Lodge Hill Shiraz sells for $18 at CD. Intense ripe fruit flows through the palate with milk chocolate, blackberry, prune, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and white pepper that finishes with respectable persistence. The consistency is soft, the structure seamless and the complexity harmonious. Add to that, silky tannins and medium weight and the result is an easy-drinking, clean wine that is a well constructed crowd pleaser. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Jim Barry 2000 McCrae Wood Shiraz sells for $35 at CD. Easy drinking and squeaky clean, the silky tannins are deceptive but they do provide a solid backbone, supple consistency and great mouth feel. The pure fruit delivers spice, blackberry, black cherry and nutmeg on waves of flavour that linger long. It is medium-weight, fleshy and harmonious. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Jim Barry 2002 Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $18 at CD. A bit of an unusual bouquet with lifted intense menthol, dusty pine and Dutch liquorish which comes across the palate as red cherry, pine and mint that has a reasonable length finish. Medium-weight, the consistency is firm but supple and the complexity agreeable. It is an easy drinking wine but has a pretty obvious backbone and holds interest. Many may not like the pine flavour but I did not mind it. Best drunk around 2006+, it is rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Jim Barry 2000 The Armagh Shiraz sells for $130 at CD. Unfortunately the 2001 had not been released yet so we did not get a chance to try it. The bottle had been freshly opened for us and showed fantastic complexity with all sorts of ever changing nuances; every time you sniff there was another scent from the ripe fruit which was pure and deep. On first sip, it seemed a little thin but after a few minutes of air time the length and persistence became apparent. This is real power and persistence without weight and the finished lasted brilliantly; it only just tipped the scale at ample weight, bloody clever winemaking! Flavours of cherry, plum, mint, vanilla, multiple chocolate and more mint were found. A classy wine, it is nice now but needs time to build complexity. Rated as Excellent with ** for value, it should peak about 2009+.

The winery made a Madeira Wine in 1986 and I tried it two years ago. Very impressive stuff, I purchased a case and was surprised to still see it was available. On enquiry there were less than a dozen bottles left and Richard was kind enough to open one so Steve could try it. Steve took one sip and said “This would best be served over a hot woman.” (TORB’s comment - ) The expression on Richard’s face was priceless.

In summary, it was a pleasure to visit this winery, understand their business philosophy and taste their wines again.

The next port of call was Kilikanoon. When planning the visit, the objective was to meet with Kevin Mitchell, the winemaker. 707 knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody and wound up knowing more about Kevin’s where abouts and availability than his own sister, and Kerry (who handles marketing) was organising the meeting. There had been so many emails and changes to the appointment that as we arrived I wondered if we had the right year, let alone the right day and time but Steve assured me all would be well.

I had tried the 2001 releases of the Kilikanoon wines previously but the circumstances of that tasting were not exactly the most conducive to doing the wines complete justice so it was planed that I would go through this range as well as bunch of just released wines. A lot to look forward to! To say we received a warm welcome would be an understatement. Kerry, with her ever smiling face made us feel like prodigal children returning home and could not have been friendlier or more helpful.

A bit of background and history about the winery. This is basically a small operation that is owned by a very limited number of investors, some of which take a keen interest in running the operation. Top of the pile is the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Principal Cello Player, Nathan Waks who, in his spare time is Managing Director of Kilikanoon. The winery has a first class reputation for putting out excellent wine that represents good value and is continually scooping the pool in wine shows. One of their biggest problems to date has been their size. In some ways, they are too small and are very definitely limited by consistent access to top quality fruit. The other side of the same coin is that in some ways they are too big because as Kevin Mitchell, their winemaker said, “We want to maintain a village like atmosphere with our winemaking and processing. We use six ton open fermenters with no filtration or fining of the finished wine. Vine quality is paramount but vine balance is critical. Kilikanoon vines are hand pruned and hand picked which adds to the labour content but the resultant quality is worth it. The Oracle vines are forty years old.”

Kevin started at Kilikanoon in 1998 and all the processing was done at Torbreck because they did not have the capacity to do it on site. Room to move was always a problem too, there wasn’t any! Some time ago, after a protracted affair that involved a plastic bag, a dead neighbour’s cow and a court case they have finally completed the purchase of the next door property and have council approval to build a new winery and expand the operation. They are now licensed to do three hundred tons which leaves room for long term growth.

As Kevin said, “Everything used to be in transit, the other day we couldn’t find $23,000 worth of wine. It turned out, not to be lost, but mislabelled. As we will soon be doing everything here, those days should soon be over.” As Kerry said of her big brother, “Kevin used to be an hour late but as a result of this chaos he is now a day late but people have come to expect it.” That may explain why I was told the meeting was scheduled for Thursday and Steve insisted we were meeting on Friday. 

The cellar door facility is best described as quaint. There is a tiny and I mean tiny bar set up in one corner of the restaurant. There was just enough room for Steve and me on one side and Kevin and Kerry on the other; that was until some poor sod came in expecting to be served, but Steve and I cuddled up together and made room.  It was interesting because it turned out the other person was applying for a job as assistant winemaker. The candidate may not have known it, but it looked to me like Kevin was quietly sussing out the guy’s potential as he was trying a couple of the wines.

Now here is a news flash. The Oracle Shiraz will no longer be the winery’s Flag Ship wine. In January this year, the winery purchased a vineyard of old vine shiraz in the Barossa and the “Greens Old Shiraz Barossa Vineyard” will be their top wine and sit above the Oracle.

Kilikanoon 2001 Medley GSM sells for $24 at CD. Ripe fruit off set with savoury fruit and musky notes translates through to a palate of raspberry, multiple dark fruit flavours and milk chocolate that finishes dry and with good persistence. Medium-weight, the wine has a harmonious, well developed complexity, is well crafted and balanced. It is a smart GSM and whilst it is both easy drink and food friendly, there is nothing simple about it. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it should hit its peak about 2006.

Kilikanoon 2001 Prodigal Grenache sells for $24 at CD. The nose showed lifted alcohol but was a bit dumb. Pure fruit delivers a sweet upfront hit of raspberry fruit, an off-sweet mid palate and milk chocolate on the finish. Dusty tannins provide the firm backbone and the complexity is plain. It was a bit thin and not very complex. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. As I was typing up these notes, I seem to remember that I really liked this wine the last time I tasted it, so this bottle may not have been representative and I would take this rating with a grain of salt.

Kilikanoon 2001 Blocks Road Cabernet sells for $26 at CD. This wine has come a long way since I last tried it. One sniff of this wine gained my complete and undivided attention and whilst it’s a broody bugger, it is smart. A wine of (just) ample-weight, the chalky tannins and pure, top class fruit provide perfect balance and excellent construction. One sip and it screams “ripe varietal Cabernet Sauvignon” with cherry, chocolate, mint, leafy notes and more chocolate. A standout wine for the price, it is very friendly and drinking well now but to call it an upmarket crowd pleaser does not do it justice as it is better than that connotation. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should hit its peak about 2007.   

Kilikanoon 2001 Oracle Shiraz sells for $38 at CD. A luscious, ripe, savoury, very complex wine with excellent length across the palate and persistent finish that is a veritable baby that demands time to show its true colours. Abundant, drying tannins, pure fruit and unobtrusive acid produces a muscular-weight wine with a well developed complexity that is firm and solid. Rated as Excellent with **** for value, it should peak about 2008+.

The house style and consistency of winemaking is apparent with the Oracle and Block Road. Both good wines and above average value, no wonder people are queuing up to buy them. 

As I mentioned previously, the new Binder Mitchell range is a joint effort by the Veritas and Kilikanoon wineries. The deal has been bankrolled by Heritage Fine Wine and because of the way the deal has been structured, it has provided an upfront cash injection into those two wineries. None of the fruit comes from the existing vineyard capacity of either winery so the business is truly incremental and should not affect the quality of their own labels, so in theory, everyone is a winner. Kilikanoon is certainly very excited about the venture. 

Binder Mitchell 2002 Dovetail Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $30. A dusty, rustic, Cabernet bouquet is represented on the palate by dusty oak, cigar box, mint, leafy notes and ripe fruit. The copious quantities of powdery tannins finish very dry and provide a firm solid backbone that is so firm it is almost hard. Complexity is agreeable and this ample-weight wine is in all honesty,  not great but it could just be the stage the wine is at now. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

......They do big staff BBQ lunches at this place but judging

...... by the condition of the BBQ (pictured above) - not often.

Binder Mitchell 2002 Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $30. Unfortunately the samples were mildly corked and although the wine looked like it was a very nice drop, it would be unfair to rate a bottle when you know it is less than it should be. When I asked who put the Cabernet together, Kevin said “Rolf, so blame him if the corks are no good.”

Binder Mitchell 2002 Dovetail Baroota Shiraz sells for $30. The grapes come from Port Germaine in the southern Flinders Ranges which is an area that is located north of Clare. It must be pretty warm as the grapes were picked in the first week of February. Now this is much better! Pure, intense fruit delivers cherry, milk chocolate, mint, dark chocolate, blackcurrant and liquorice that fishes with excellent drying persistence. Muscular in weight, complexity is well developed and the consistency is supple and harmonious. A good mouth feel and rich fruit produces a serious upmarket crowd pleaser that is drinking well now but may improve in the short term. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, there is some noticeable warmth on the finish.

Secret Places Barossa Shiraz sells for $40 at CD. The fruit comes from five individual vineyards in the Barossa and the wine is made by Kevin. The labels are by John Olson and have been designed in much the same way as the Art Series labels. The majority of this wine is sold through Heritage but some is available through Kilikanoon. An intensely flavoured, fruit driven, full-bodied wine that is balanced by refreshing acid and smooth, drying tannins. A huge amount of flavour is delivered from the pure, deep fruit that slams the palate with plum, dark chocolate, liquorice and blackcurrant finish with great persistence. It is a very nice wine that is drinking well now and its’ off-sweet character and harmonious nature demands another sip. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it does show some heat. 

In light of the corked blend, we discussed the problems of cork taint. It turns out this wine, like many others are bottled, at Vinpac in the Barossa which leads us to a big question –  “does Vinpac test corks”? If not, why not. If any of the readers know the answer to this question I would love to know the answer. A number of other winemakers I asked, including those that use Vinpac, did not know the answer.

One can only wonder why they need so much dunny paper here ..

According to Kerry, Kevin is a “compulsive obsessive” character who checks everything multiple time to ensure perfection, or as close as you can get to it, in the wine business. However, it was interesting to see Kerry give Kevin lessons to on how to use a two step corkscrew. Looks like he is good at putting the stuff in the bottle but has difficult getting it out again.  We then took a tour of the winery and whilst I have been in congested wineries that were short of space previously, this one was seriously in need of a multiplication program. The problem with trying to swing a cat in the winery would be getting the cat in the door in the first place. However this shall all be a thing of the past when the new winery is finally built.

It was lunchtime and what better place to eat than the winery. Steve and I sat outside in the cool, autumn sunshine enjoying the peace and quiet as well as a tranquil view over the vines. Unfortunately, writing three months after the event, I can’t remember the fine details but I do remember having an Antipasto plate with pita bread. The entrée size serving was perfect for a light lunch and was very tasty,  far more tasty than the worst hamburger that I had ever (not) eaten in my life which I had at lunchtime two years previously in this area. I will never forget that hamburger! Steve must have been happy with his choice too, hardly saying two words during lunch. It must have been good as it takes an awful lot to get Steve to shut up.

Kilikanoon is absolutely worth a visit if you are in Clare and would have to rate as one of the better wineries even though it is not very old. The wines are generally above average, excellent value and the food is also worth trying.

After a very enjoyable experience, it was off to a relatively new winery that, by all accounts, should be good. David O’Leary and Nick Walker are two guys with a big reputation for making good wine. Both are very experienced winemakers with a wealth of experience and successful careers behind them. David O’Leary was the man behind the success of the Annies Lane brand. When Blass decided to pull the winemaking plug on the brand at the Annies Lane winery and move it to the Barossa, O’Leary and Walker forged a partnership and started their own brand. As the old Annies Lane facility was available they decided to rent it for awhile to see if they could stand on their own (four feet) and build their own brand. Obviously they knew what they were doing as it didn’t take long for success to find them. In reality, success didn’t find them they made their own and made it well.

In a few short years they have built a very credible brand and when I went to visit them they had recently moved into their own purpose built, brand spanking new winery. The “executive accommodation,” or office is still located in a demountable shed and the toilets are not exactly “The Ritz” so there is still some finishing off to do but the working winery is certainly looking good. Blind Freddy can see there has been a big investment made in this winery and David proudly told me between himself and Nick, they owned the lot (with some bank backing). Considering the current climate and many banks reluctant to lend to the wine industry, let alone new unproven operations, these two must be doing alot right to have come so far in such a short period of time. The formula is simple, get two talented winemakers that also happen to be very smart operators; produce good quality wine that over delivers value and you have the basis of a successful business.

The driveway to the winery is a brand new scraped dirt road that is long and has a few twists in it, a bit like a barren moon scape. There are many tiny saplings lining the driveway and about 50 meters after you drive in, there is a sign that proudly proclaims one of the wineries initial successes. At the top of the hill is the brand new, big shed with lots of room for expansion and what can only be described as a tank farm. Various sized tanks have been installed to enable a deal of flexibility in batch sizes which is also important as they are doing a substantial amount of contract winemaking. In fact, when you walk into the winery and see the names on the barrels, it is a who’s who of respected industry producers’ names As we walked around the operation it became obvious, from a technical perspective, that nothing has been left to chance. The winery has been well designed with a lot of (wine) ergonomic principles and efficiency in mind.

The day we were there, the place was a hive of activity and the staff were in full swing – making tables for the weekend’s festivities. Most other wineries were hiring them for the weekend but these guys were thinking long term and making their own.

In 2002 they produced 9.7 tons of their own wine and in 2004 if they are lucky they will hit 7 tons. Total production including contract work is about 16,000 cases but they plan to get to 40,000 cases in about seven years from now.

They produced a Reserve wine in 2002, about 200 cases of it, due for release in September at about $90 a bottle. Madness? I thought so until I tasted the wine! The Reserve wine will only be produced in years where the fruit is up to scratch. There will be no 03 and 04 is only a possibility at this stage.

The attention to detail in this winery is amazing. Even if a tiny amount of wine is drawn off out of a barrel, a hunk of dry ice is immediately inserted to eliminate the unwanted oxygen. As we walked around the winery and barrel room with O’Leary, the passion and confidence, in equal proportion just gushed forth from the guy like a fire hydrant under mains pressure. Walker seemed like the quiet one, but he is just as passionate and confident about the operation, in a more low key way, or possibly because it is hard to get in front of O’Leary’s enthusiasm.

David O'Leary and Nick Walker .........

O’Leary Walker 2002 Adelaide Hills Pinot sells at CD for $22.50. The fruit comes from a “40 acre family owned” vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. Not being a Pinot-o-phile I did not know what to expect (and I was not expecting much,) but the wine was a pleasant surprise and very drinkable. Tannins are unobtrusive but have enough stuffing to provide a solid backbone, the acid is lively and the obvious fruit is fairly intense, juicy, savoury, a bit feral, with cherry, milk chocolate and a sappy finish. An ample-weight wine that has a well developed complexity, it is rated as Recommended with **** for value.

O’Leary Walker 2002 Cabernet Merlot sells at CD for $18.50. This is their entry point wine, the fruit is brought in and is a 90 / 10% blend. The merlot vines were planted in 1982. A typical Cabernet Merlot bouquet showing dusty oak, ripe fruit, chocolate and lots of milk chocolate aromas. Obvious ripe, juicy fruit provides mulberry on the uptake which leads to a bib wack of mint and sappy flavours to finish. Fine, dusty, drying tannins provide a solid, firm structure to this ample-weight wine which has a big bang for the buck with loads of intense flavour. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

O’Leary Walker 2002 Shiraz sells at CD for $22.50 but can be found for substantially less through some discounters. 70% of the grapes come from Clare and 30% from McLaren Vale. The wine has a very attractive, rich fruit driven nose but it is a bit broody. A very attractive, fruit driven, rich nose is further enhanced by a good mouth feel. Ample-weight, tannins are smooth, drying and dusty and provide enough backbone to support the wine with a supple consistency. Palate is most enjoyable with rich, jube-jube mulberry, blackcurrant, blackberry, plum and chocolate that finishes with good persistence and intensity. It has a very well developed, harmonious complexity and whilst is it drinking well now, it may improve in the short term. This is more than just a crowd pleaser, it’s a crowd seducer and is rated as Highly Recommended with ***** for value (it can be found for less than $15 on special.) One of the best value wines on the trip!

O’Leary Walker 2002 Reserve Shiraz should sell for $90 when it is eventually released. It is currently still in oak and will be bottled in September. The wine received twelve months in new French oak and then went back into old French oak for the duration. The bouquet was pole vaulting out of the glass as it was poured, all fruitcake and liquorice. The wine is simply fantastic, in the same class as the 2000 Armagh that I had just tasted, I would rather drink this wine. Tannins are tight, smooth and ”gun barrel straight” on their trip across the palate. Pure, concentrated fruit expresses itself as rich chocolate, coffee, liquorice, plum, blackberry and mint that finishes longer than the pain from a stubbed toe. I honestly did not want to spit! Serious complexity became apparent as it opened up, which is just as well because this is a long term wine and should peak about 2012. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, what a way to finish the tasting on this trip! The fruit comes from the Armagh area and the Polish River. 

This winery will be doing good things in years to come and if you have not tried their wines, they rate in the “must try” category.

 ....       The result of a week of wine tasting 

 ............ - my spitting aim needs to improve

This was the last winery scheduled for this trip and in all honesty I can not say I was sorry it was over. I had a wonderful time but the pace up till yesterday had been frantic, I must be getting old. It was now time to drive back to Adelaide for the last night’s celebration and festivities. A dinner had been planned with a number of the Adelaide Auswine contingent so there would be a lot more drinking and eating to do before I got back on the Virgin Blue Big Bird to take me home. Speaking of flying, Steve suggested that I follow him back to Adelaide “the short way”. Twists, turns, overtaking, low level flying, and well over the speed limit was the formula. Even doing 20k over the limit, I had trouble keeping Steve in sight. I doubt the back way through Wooll-a-ma-canka, The Black Stump and Two Well (a real place), where I saw Two Dogs (…. but that’s another story) was any shorter than the main road, but it sure was much faster, as long as you drive like a flipping maniac. The cops must be too scared to patrol this route in case they get run off the road by the hoons.  I was even overtaken by some other cars.   In record time I was back in Adelaide! Had I had known how little time it was going to take, I could have done another couple of wineries.  I checked into the same hotel as last year, The Chifley on South Terrace for $125, it represents very good value and has breakfast thrown in which would be needed after the big night that was planned.

Dinner was just the other side of the race track in Dulwich at a restaurant, fittingly called The Sauce. Attendees at the dinner were, James Hayworth, Martin Crabtree, Gavin and Robyn Trott, Mark and Simone Wickman, Gary and Chris Raymond, Ian aka N4Sir, Steve Norman and myself. We were very comfortably seated around a large square table. Considering the size of the group, the service was terrific, the food was well cooked, perfectly presented, and hot. The bill, stupid! We got mates rates’ and I think Steve must be sleeping with the owner for it to be that inexpensive.

For a starter, I had pan fried sardines on watercress and Burghul, tabouleh salad, preserved lemon and virgin olive oil dressing which was superb. My choice of provincial seafood bouillabaisse in a vegetable tomato and saffron broth with fish, shellfish, squid which was topped with roasted capsicums. It lived up to its description and was “as advertised” but I could probably have chosen more wisely. The line up of wines was something to behold!    Having spent the last ten days taking notes, there was no way I was going to record the evening events. I just wanted to kick back, have a quiet big drink and relax. My thanks to Ian for the detailed notes listed below and to Mark for the photos and his comments. 

Ian - Leo Buring 1979 DW116 Riesling: This was the first (and hopefully not the last) time I have tried a Riesling over eight years of age. Rich golden honey colour. The slightly acidic nose is huge, with toasty, wheaty gingerbread characters, with hints of petroleum. At first that toasty acid really bites on the front palate making a huge impact. It drops away rather sharply, leaving some fresh lemon pith and later some apple lingering on the long aftertaste. Mark and Gary thought this wasn’t as good as the previous bottle they tried, but I was still very impressed with this 25-year-old.

Mark - I grabbed about three of these going cheap at a local auction. The first one I opened was absolutely marvelous, honeied, kerosine, lanolin, citrus - Dreamy. However, this one did not live up to the first. A golden color with a lovely petroleum jelly and honey nose. Whilst the palate was fresh it seemed to be lacking fruit and too overbearing with the acidity.

Ric – It was c-through, why bother when so there is much good stuff coming.

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Ian - Charles Melton 1991 Shiraz: Deep rich red colour. A very perfumed nose at first, with old leather dominating, and sweet rose petal lingering in the background, but it closed up quite quickly. The palate is very much in the medium/light spectrum, with what appears to be a split between the restrained fruit up front, and the dry tannins dominating the finish. Maybe the very first signs of drying out.

Mark - Ruby colored, slight bricking around the edges. A leathery nose, tight fruits finishing dry and a little short.

Ric – It may have been a nice wine some time ago, but this bottle was past its best and drying out.

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Ian - Henschke Mount 1994 Edelstone Shiraz: Deep, glowing ruby colour, with a hint of purple. The oak, at first toasty, then sweet vanilla, dominated the big nose to me with some violets lost in there somewhere. The palate has a soft entry and rich mid-palate, and a spicy red berry finish. Not big, but persistent; Ric thought this wasn’t a good bottle.

Mark - Ruby red. A sweet blackberry nose and a smooth palate with a nice finish and length.

Ric – This wine did not show well at all. It was not harmonious and seemed to be a little disjointed. It had not been decanted either. I tried another one a few weeks later and it was much better. I can only put it down to lack of air time or having been shaken up in the car for a few days.

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Ian - Leasingham 1994 Classic Clare Shiraz: I double decanted this in advance, with about 45 minutes in the vessel, two flushes of air using the breatheasy, and another two hours back in the bottle before pouring at the restaurant. Deep crimson colour with the barest hint of purple on the rim. Sweet nose of dark, Swiss chocolate, mocha, mint and menthol which intensify later on. A major step up in scale compared to the previous wines, with deep set dark chocolate and mint, and some coffee on the soft but full-bodied palate. A very stylish, youthful and opulent wine that is the exact opposite of the Jimmy Watson Trophy winner stereotypes.

Mark - An opaque dark purple. A dusty nose of blackcurrants and coffee. Deep rich and full bodied with a long persistent finish. However, later it seemed to fall apart ???

Ric – I though this wine was holding up very well and was in its peak drinking window. When I tried it early in the proceeding, there was no sign of it falling apart but given the decanting it had received, it should not be cause for concern. One of the better examples of Classic Clare Shiraz and my fourth favourite of the night. Rated as Excellent.

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Ian - Yalumba Signature 1991 Cabernet Shiraz: Deep, inky red with a hint of brick on the rim – this did look darker at the restaurant afterwards. Magnificent, complex nose of cigar box, ash, menthol and mint, with flashes of banana, herbs, and a touch of aniseed when I first opened it. At the restaurant it continued morphing, at one stage throwing masses of fresh ground coffee and mixed spice. The palate was soft and persistent, featuring spicy red berry fruit, mint, and integrated powdery tannins driving a long, velvety black cherry finish. As time went by, those tannins softened, and the fruit more intense. I fell in love with this when I first opened it, and it was always a pleasure to come back to at the end of the night. A slightly biased opinion, by my WOTN in an outstanding line up, and probably about 5 years left in the tank.

Mark - On the nose a hint of menthol surrounded by coffee and oak. A medium palate of coffee and berries with a persistent finish.

Ric- Now we are talking, this is a very enjoyable, well made wine. Agree with Ian’s analysis but to me, it was the third best wine of the night. Rated as Excellent.

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Ian - Best Great Western 1996 Thompson Shiraz: Deep rich crimson with a glowing slightly purple rim. There’s ample coffee oak on the perfumed nose at first, with rich chocolate, and some rose petal too. I sneaked a second glass at the end of the night, and that time it was slightly green and meaty. The spicy, slightly peppery palate is another step up in power from the Leasingham, with black olive on the back palate. The length is superb, with lingering coffee on the finish. An incredibly youthful and yet complete wine.

Mark - A wonderful nose of coffee, plums and pepper with a tight knit palate of blackfruit finishing with white pepper.

Ric – I couldn’t keep my grubby little fingers off this bottle. It was a stunning wine with everything in perfect proportion, it showed restrained elegance and is still a veritable baby. My second favourite of the night and rated as Excellent with room to increase as it matures. 

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Ian - Ey Estate 1998 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon: A youthful glowing red/purple. Initially black bitumen/tar leaps out of the glass, before the nose settles quickly into familiar Coonawarra cassis and mint/green leaf characters. With breathing the nose gets even greener, with sweet peas and even soapy characters lurking in the background. The palate structure is almost the exact opposite of what you would expect; a very soft entry, followed by a big mid palate with some slight coffee oak characters, and chalky tannins on the finish that leaves the cassis fruit lagging behind. Outclassed in this strong field.

Mark - A lovely nose of licorice and tar with a nice lingering palate of violets, blackberry and leaf.

Ric- Did not go for this at all, it was way to green and I don’t mind a bit of green character in Cabernet but to me, it was ordinary wine.

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Ian - Shingleback 1998 McLaren Vale Shiraz: Again a youthful glowing red/purple. A mixture of violets, greens and coffee oak on the nose at first, which seems quite spirity. The palate has a spirity, sweet entry of liquorice, a spicy, peppery mid-palate, and a big olive finish. An immature wine with a lot of classic McLaren Vale characters that left me wondering if it will settle down and improve in time.

Mark - A nose of plums but without the follow through on the palate. Some fruit but finishing quite dry and acidic.

Ric – pass the next bottle please. So much wine, so little time.

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Ian - Veritas 1999 Hanisch: A big nose featuring mint and cigar box characters. The mint is present in the spicy palate too with menthol, and later ground coffee. To me the palate seemed a little hot and finished up short, leaving very drying tannins. Not my style.

Mark - A very dense, searingly intense palate of black fruits and tar.

Ric – I liked it but the wine needed to have been decanted hours prior to have any chance of showing well.

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Ian - Arkaroon 2002 Clarendon Shiraz: Very deep nose with raspberry/blackberry fruit and obvious coffee oak. The palate is very big and extracted, with a giant spike of alcohol heat in the middle (15%), and syrupy/molasses characters, finishing with lingering sweet fruit. Again not my style and very unusual, but it’s in a tough line up.

Mark - A nose of melted licorice.

Ric – I guess Mark was having trouble finding something nice to say about this wine. Ian hit the nail on the head, I like big wines and this could have been ok but the heat is a major concern.

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Ian - Hazyblur 2002 Adelaide Plains Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour. A very minty/menthol dominated nose, with earthy/briary characters in tow. The soft entry features some dark chocolate and mint characters, followed by a big, hot, peppery mid-palate, dropping off in the finish with some medicinal characters in the aftertaste. Like the previous four wines, a bit out of its depth in this company.

Mark - A dark crimson color. A nose of coffee and raspberry, medium body, quite oaky (but not unpleasantly oaked), cherries. Quite tight and bone dry, finishing a bit too short. Time improved it but it still seemed disjointed.

Ric – Not a good look in this line up! In fact, to my way of thinking not a good look period!

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Ian - Cullen 2001 Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon: Amazing glowing purple colour. Huge, sweet, velvety blackcurrant nose. The palate seemed slightly warm to me at first (for the record 14%), but again featured that lovely minty cassis fruit, with some menthol, slight savoury/meaty notes, and huge chalky tannins. I was worried a few minutes later when I thought I could detect some salt/brine characters in the aftertaste of my last two mouthfuls from that first glass. I snagged a second glass at the end of the night, and that wasn’t the case, but there was some varnish on the nose, and that acid/tannin structure seemed to be even more powerful. I think Gary nailed it when he said exactly what I had written down a couple of minutes earlier – we’d love to try this again in about ten years time when all these glorious pieces fit together.

Mark - Jeez I think I must have been talking too much to take notes

Ric – Vininfanticide! The person who brought this should be arrested for doing indecent things to baby wine.

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Ian - Penfold 1986 Grange Hermitage: Deep crimson, with possibly some purple flecks (it was near the end of the night so it was hard to tell). A huge, lifted nose, with very obvious formic acid (VA), green leaf, mint and dark chocolate. Breathing coaxed out ground coffee and spice characters, and at one stage I thought I could detect some fish sauce! At this stage Ric turned to me and said “stop sniffing and drink the bloody thing!” which I promptly followed. The rich, velvety palate is simply amazing, featuring a slow, huge, impossibly long build up of peppery/briary milk chocolate fruit and fully integrated tannins, that as Ric described perfectly “just crawls along the palate”. The finish is very long and smoky, with black olives, and minutes later sweet blackberry. A magnificent wine that’s restored my optimism of what a Grange can possibly be after trying the disappointing 1973 last month.

Mark - An earthy nose with a searing palate of intense chocolate, coffee and grainy tannins. Someone at the table said "it is so balanced that it is hard to distinguish any one fruit flavour". Could have done with many more hours decanting

Ric- who was the stupid bastard that brought this bottle to share with this bunch of reprobates when they could have shared it with just me! Outstand! I just loved it but try as might; I could not keep the bottle in front of me, all those other greedy buggers insisted on their share too. A classic Grange that is just staring to show its stuff.

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Ian - Bent Creek 2003 Black Dog: As expected, a youthful purple colour. A sweet, youthful nose with blackberry fruit and coffee oak, with some raspberry and mint with breathing. The palate seemed slight in this company, finishing with sweet fruit and hot 14.5% alcohol. Following the 1986 Grange was always going to be a tough ask for any wine.

Ric- what he said!

A damn fine dinner and by the end of proceeding when they kicked us out after midnight I was feeling no pain as Robyn and Gavin drove me back to the hotel. What a great way to finish a trip!

This has been one heck of an adventure, the best yet. For those of you have taken the time to read through this massive missive, for your time.

Finally from all of the characters in this story  - see you next time in the next tour diary – when ever it may be.

Copyright © Ric Einstein 2004

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