"TORB Tortoises Through SA" – (The 2005 South Australian Tour Diary)

Chapter Three - Monday – McLaren Vale Discoveries

Click here for Chapter Two

A working day today so back to normal; I was up shortly after 5 a.m. going through my e-mails, once again without the support of a hit of caffeine but after a few days, my body is almost starting to get used to it.  After my experience walking in the dark a couple of days ago, there was no way I was leaving in the pitch black at 6 a.m. as my heart couldn't stand another near-Kangaroo experience. By 6.20 the blackness was fading, so I headed out at that time. Whilst walking in the light didn't have the same adrenalin rush as walking in the dark, I did hit peak hour traffic. In the space of fifty minutes, eight cars went past me this morning; a veritable traffic jam.

When I got back, it he was time for breakfast and miracles do happen, the Pie King suggested cereal. His Pieship eating something healthy, I should have got a picture of that because people will never believe it. Here is how it went. I got a small bowl and put two handfuls of Bircher muesli into it and covered it with skin milk for myself. The Pie King pulled a large bowl out of the cupboard, broke up about seven Weetbix and smothered them in full cream milk. We sat down and ate breakfast together and when John was about halfway through, he claimed to be full and gave up. He got up from the table, walked out the sliding door onto the patio and put his bowl down for the two dogs. The Chihuahuas just loved that and ate, and ate, and ate; it was about enough food for four days for each dog. Earlier, Sue was complaining and couldn't work out why the doggies were getting chubby as she was hardly feeding them anything. Well, now you know Sue!

As we were putting the plates in the sink, in a moment of weakness, John fessed up and admitted he had been known to get hungry on the way to work and stop for a meat pie.

On the McLaren Vale leg of my trip, for a number of years now, I have been meeting up with an agent by the name of Paul Beard who represents wineries such as, Pirramimma, Sylvan Springs, Cascabel and others. I normally spend a morning with him, and last year as we were driving around, we drove past a rundown building called Red Heads Studios and Paul told me there were exciting things going on there. Apparently, it was set up as an artisan winery, where young winemakers who had full-time jobs, were encouraged to go in after hours and push the limits. They could experiment with new winemaking techniques and try whatever little tricks they were not allowed to get away with in their day jobs, whilst making small batches of their own wine.

The concept sounded interesting, so I filed it in the back of my mind and when planning this trip made it a priority. In line, with the new relaxed pace, I told Paul we could spend the whole day together. He could take me where ever he wanted to go and we would see whoever he wanted me to see, with the proviso, we leave the usual suspects until the May trip. So, other than Red Heads Studio, which I knew very little about, I had no idea who I was seeing today, and that was an exciting first.

As usual, we met at Koffee and Snax; I hardly recognise the place as it had undergone a facelift. Speaking of facelifts, many of the coffee shops and small restaurants in the main street of McLaren Vale have undergone renovations and the street looks much better for it. There are also a number of new ”nosheries”, and judging by their popularity, the standard of casual eating in McLaren Vale has lifted substantially in the last 12 months.

I arrived on time and kick-started my system with a short black espresso. Paul is normally right on time, so I was quite surprised when he was not there by 9.05 a.m. Whilst I’d had breakfast and I was not hungry, some, shall we say, generous sized, muffins caught my eye and they looked scrumptious. I was strong-willed and resisted, and resisted and resisted, but as every minute ticked by, whilst the resistance was strong it became increasingly more difficult. I really, really, really wanted a muffin but my waistline didn't need it and I didn't want to start catching the Pike King's bad habits. If I went down that slippery slope, the next thing you know I will be eating a meat pie for breakfast.  On the other hand, I don't have to be totally disgusting and could avoid the chocolate muffins and that was exactly what was going through my mind when Paul walked in and ended 20 minutes of agony.

I ordered a cappuccino for him, another black coffee for myself, and at the last second weakened and ordered an orange and poppy-seed muffin which was as lip-smackingly delicious, as it was humungous. My tummy felt positively sick after eating it, but my heart felt so good.

Controlled Chaos – the story

We climbed into Paul’s four-wheel-drive tank, and as I stepped into the car, I said hello to some of the rubbish that I recognised from last May.

First stop was Red Heads Studio which is located on the corner of Kangarilla and Foggo roads. When we arrived, chaos reigned supreme. The place looked like a bomb had just hit it, and the workmen were turning it into a construction zone. As we walked in the door, music was thumping away, an impressively large array of bottles was lined up on the counter, one person was on the phone and a second phone was ringing away merrily; all this with the symphonic cacophony of banging and crashing of tools. But above all else was the feel of the place; it was alive with energy and electricity, (and I don't mean from the exposed wires dangling around the place.) As soon as you opened the door, and walked in, the buzz and the adrenalin of the place surrounded your being. This was going to be incredibly special experience.

Paul introduced me to Justin Lane who used to be one of the two winemakers at Tatachilla until it was taken over by Lion Nathan. The guy was wired, it was like he had two fingers jammed in a live power point and was obtaining his energy from the source. In reality, it was the buzz and the excitement of his involvement in this project, not to mention the pressure of a deadline that was creating the atmosphere. Now let's go back a few steps and see how all this came about.

After Lion Nathan took over Tatachilla and Justin departed, he had no trouble getting work as a consulting winemaker in Australia but as he loved to travel and wanted to broaden his horizons, both as a winemaker and as a person; he became "a flying winemaker."

Justin had wanted to do his own winemaking thing, and not be stifled by corporate bean-counters, or worse still, staid corporate winemaking practices that stifled creativity and killed passion. He also felt it was important for young makers to broaden their horizons; to be given the opportunity to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional winemaking practices. Somewhere in his travels, he met Tony Laithwaite who is Britain's largest direct wine marketer and has been going for over 20 years. This operation is a little different to Cellar Masters as they specialise in higher quality wines.

Justin and Tony decided to go into partnership and the concept was born. The synergistic fit was perfect; Justin had the passion, the vision, and the winemaking skills and could control the operation in Australia. Tony had the financial wherewithal to back the operation and a perfect, ready-made distribution system to sell the wine.

The first task was to find a site, or in a sense a studio, for 10 -12 boutique artisans to have a place to ply their craft. They needed a space to be able to bring their own barrels, their own fruit, and a place that had the necessary facilities to be able to let them make their own wine. Ideally, they would have preferred something rustic and natural, like a dairy but most of those were too far out of the McLaren Vale dress circle. In 2002, after looking around for a couple of days, Justin stopped for a cup of coffee and noticed the building he was in was for sale. It required major renovations, amongst other things, there was a drain running down through the middle of the building and there was no winery but that could be managed and fixed in the fullness of time.

The first vintage took place in 2003. Eighty four tonnes of fruit was processed with a single pitch fork and to some extent that is indicative of the mechanisation in the winery. They don't believe in a lot of it. Justin likes to "take a Burgundian approach to the winemaking process and treats it like a primary, rather than industrial process." All the fruit is hand-sorted and most batches are around one tonne.

The winemakers, who mostly have full-time jobs come in after hours and do their own thing. They do not have to make the wines in a style that has been set for them by “a higher authority.” According to Justin, if they want to bring in Grenache at 17 baumé, cold soak it; whack it on skins for seven weeks, press it off and see what it looks like, then go for it!” The decisions are made by the young winemakers who have the freedom to try at whatever they want to do. Whilst they are allowed to, indeed encouraged, to push the boundaries, certain quality parameters are expected to be met.

Not all the winemakers are young guns. Some of them, who are a bit older, are reinventing themselves, and a couple of them come from overseas to do their thing here. One of the crew is a 70-year-old Italian.

The pricing points for the wines available locally are targeted to be kept between $26 and $32, but the quality of the wine in the bottle must over-deliver in terms of value. Production has already been capped at 150 tonne. Currently, approximately 65% of production goes to the UK, 15% to the USA and the balance is sold locally. Over time, a higher percentage will be sold in Australia, mainly through the cellar door operation and a tiny network of retailers.

Once the building is finished, visitors will be able to come in, purchase a glass of wine from the bar, sit either inside or outside, and watch the goings-on in a working winery. To quote Justin, "it will be like working in a fishbowl winery."

Whilst I'm normally not in the habit of gazing deeply into winemakers eyes, (unless they happened to be female and beautiful,) I did notice the slight deprived look in Justin's eyes. The reason for that became obvious when I also noticed a baby's changing table set up amongst the confusion. In one corner of the bomb site, there had been an attempt to create a timeout spot, with some lounge chairs, a coffee table and it was in that area, the baby’s changing table had been located. Justin explained; “One of the joys of small business was having to do everything yourself, including looking after babies when necessary.” His wife often came in to help and brought the baby with her, but the table was getting double use, as a chef also had a baby.

Back to the subject of making wine, Justin said “We have an army of about 70 growers that provide us with fruit. It's all done by way of gentlemen's agreement without formal contracts. We are normally only obtaining one or two tonnes at a time, and picking the eyes out; most of the time, it's a case of walking through the vineyards and selecting the stressed patches of vines with small berries and selecting that fruit. By doing so, you are more likely to get superior flavours than the rest of the block has managed to produce. When you are only making a hundred or two hundred cases, this will give you a point of difference. There is no point in us making wine that is the same as the guy down the road to can make. 

We also only have a very basic setup, but you only need a basic setup to make good wine if you have the right fruit. It is the Burgundian approach. We also have to be a lot more focused because we're making small batches. With small ferments, the blemishes show up a lot more and everything must be right because you don't have blending options when you are only making one or two barrels. That means you have to go through the fruit, and make sure things like rats and snakes don't make it into the process, something that is sometimes missed in mechanised processes.”

Justin is also doing consulting winemaking work, with an emphasis on new varieties, for Geoff Hardy and the Nepenthe Winery.

As far as the European varieties are concerned, Justin has very firm thoughts why these varieties have not taken off in the past, and why the wines were not as good as they should have been. "In the past, we have had very poor materials, they were planted on the wrong sites, and if that was not bad enough, in particular with the Italian varieties, when they were taken into the wineries, people treated them like Shiraz or Cabernet. They have their own set of rules and you must obey them; they are well off track in comparison to polished, Australian winemaking.

And with that, it was time to try the wines. Justin's wines are made under the Viottolo brand.

Viottolo 2000 Shiraz originally sold for $18 a bottle and only 60 cases were produced. The wine was matured in old French oak with no added tannins or acid and the bottles were hand labelled. Well balanced; ultra-fine unobtrusive tannins drive down the palate with gun barrel straight accuracy and support a savoury flavour profile of beautiful plum and chocolate. A sleek wine with sensational mouth feel, the only criticism is that it finishes a little short on the palate. Medium-weight, with a supple consistency and solid, almost seamless structure the complexity is harmonious; rated as (just) Highly Recommended, the wine should best be drunk over the next three years.

Viottolo 2001 Shiraz originally sold for $25 a bottle and 150 cases were produced. With an almost tripling of production, the wine still sold out in three days! With some new American oak in the mix, the coconut oak is noticeable together with leather and blackberry on the bouquet. A rich wine, with distinct, deep fruit that delivers blackcurrant, blackberry, loads of rich chocolate with a delightful lingering taste of liquorice. Smooth, drying tannins provide a supple consistency and excellent mouth feel for this ample-weight, solid wine with a harmonious, well-developed complexity. There is some warmth, but no heat generated by the 14.5% alcohol. A very enjoyable wine that over delivers; it’s rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should best be drunk over the next three years.

Viottolo 2002 Shiraz originally sold for $25 a bottle and was sold very quickly. The wine was primarily matured in older barrels and was loaded with Brett. You have to admire Justin's honesty in showing a wine that has a technical fault and being totally upfront about it. In its favour, the wine has quality, rich fruit showing tomato leaf, chocolate, blackberry and liquorice that finishes with great length, and has a seductive mouth feel. Ample-weight with a supple consistency, a seamless structure and a harmonious complexity I really liked this wine. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Justin did say that he hoped the majority of this wine would be consumed sooner, rather than later.

Viottolo 2003 Shiraz originally sold for $25 a bottle. This was the first crush at the Red Heads Studio and here is where the experimentation starts to show. The wine was left on lees to soften the palate and whilst there is nothing unique about that, in this instance, the lees were Viognier and Chardonnay. The intention of using white grape lees was to provide a lift to the wine. It was matured in French oak. The nose was entirely black with hints of Viognier wafting in and out, but it was subtle, almost unnoticeable. Loads of very-fine, smooth, chalky tannins marry with distinct, deep fruit to deliver liquorish, blackberry, plum and chocolate that finishes with good length. The mouthful is creamy but there is a touch of abrasive character to it (in comparison to the previous wines.) This may have something to do with the fact that the juice was “dry ice soaked with minimal plunging.” Muscular-weight, with a firm consistency and a solid structure the complexity is well developed but the wine needs time to show its best. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should peak about 2008.

Whilst we were discussing this wine, the subject of oak came up and Justin, in his inimitable style, said: "Worrying about the forest where the oak comes from is a load of shit. Worry about the grain profile, that's what it's all about!"

Viottolo 2001 Sangiovese originally sold for $20 a bottle and, as it was the first vintage of this wine, only 60 cases were made. Smooth, tight, drying tannins travel straight down the palate with rifle-shot precision and deliver, ripe black fruit and chocolate with leafy aspects; it finishes with good length and persistence. Muscular-weight with a firm consistency, a solid, tight structure and well-developed complexity the wine needs time. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, it should peak around 2008 and beyond. Justin summed it up beautifully when he said, "The style will be sleek."

Viottolo 2002 Sangiovese originally sold for $26 a bottle. The bouquet was Shiraz-like and showed blackberry and chocolate. The fruit is strong and concentrated delivering raisiny, blackberry, and prune. Muscular-weight with a firm consistency and agreeable complexity this is not Justin's greatest result. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Viottolo 2003 Sangiovese was all exported to the UK (a hundred cases) and sold for £15. Harvested in April, the wine was not pressed until June. The bouquet is just glorious showing floral notes, spice, and a sweet underlying layer of contrasting aromas. Spice, banana skin and blackcurrant are sweetly layered and are well complemented by controlled acid that cuts through the palate and surfs along a wave of drying, dusty tannins that finishes to chocolate. Full-bodied with a firm consistency, a solid structure and well-developed complexity, this is a sensational wine. Rated as Highly Recommended, the rating may increase as it matures around 2010 and beyond.

Viottolo 2001 Barbera is long sold out. If I had this blind, I would have thought it was a Shiraz with blackberry, black pepper, musk and orange peel aroma. The flavour profile is a little different, with Mandarin characters on the uptake, followed by blackberry, and milk chocolate going back to Mandarin peel. Drying tannins are very long and dominate the fruit at present, but with time they should integrate and the fruit should emerge. Muscular-weight with a firm, almost hard consistency, the complexity is diverse and the wine will need ages to mature and soften. Rated as Recommended now, the rating should improve around 2010 and beyond.

Viottolo 2002 Barbera sold for $26 locally. A very sweet bouquet with VA, coconut, blackberry and spearmint the wine went back into American oak after 12 months. The palate follows the bouquet, and whilst this is a full-bodied, firm wine, it was a bit over the top. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

………..             Justin Lane

Viottolo 2003 Barbera sold for $26 locally. A single vineyard wine; a hundred cases were produced. Now we are cooking with gas. An interesting bouquet showing leather, black fruits, a touch of banana skin, spice and tar. A very solid, serious wine with loads of drying tannins, fresh acid and deep, distinct fruit that delivers the unexpected. Intensely savoury, the complexity is incredible with layered flavours of chocolate, spice, blackberry, tar, mint, orange peel, and more chocolate that finishes long and intense. A muscular-weight wine with a rock solid, tight structure, it is already fantastic. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures around 2010 and beyond.

Each wine is stylistically similar within its own group and whilst Justin is obviously playing around, he just as obviously knows what he's doing and is learning from his mistakes. By definition, it's impossible to experiment and have every test deliver a winner. Each year, the wines appear to be getting better and better. The Shiraz was the easiest to get right. Justin has had the most experience with that grape variety, but the 2003 Barbara shows how quickly he can produce superb wine from a non-traditional grape variety. That was the end of Justin’s wines and we said goodbye to him for the moment as he went off to "play about” with the renovations.

The next bracket was produced by Adam Hooper under the La Curio label. It is owned by Adam and his fiancé. After graduating as the wine maker, Adam was employed by Penfold's, then spent five years with Geoff Merrill, a further five years at Tatachilla and is currently employed by Maxwell's. The philosophy behind the label is for "the winemakers to have some fun and do things they couldn't do on a large commercial scale." For example; extreme cold soaks, snapp-freezing, warming it up and then another extreme cold soak, is just one of the examples. Whilst this practice does leach some colour, according to Adam, it provides wonderful aromatics.

Because they are trialling extreme practices whilst making the wine, they have decided to use an escape artists motif which is represented by a pair of Houdini's handcuffs that adorns the label.

La Curio 2003 Reserve Shiraz sold for $28 when it was first released and 60 cases were produced. The bouquet showed a touch of VA, brooding fruit, chocolate and coconut oak. There is nothing subtle about this full-bodied wine. Very savoury, jujube fruit showing intense chocolate, blackberry, liquorice, more chocolate and spice; it has its savoury characters offset with a layer of alcoholic sweetness below. The mouth is filled with a well-controlled balance between fruit, acid and tannins that finishes long and intense. The structure still has three separate layers at the moment with fruit, acid and tannins flowing through the palate one on top of the other; the layers need to come together. If that happens, and the wine softens, it will be damn good. Currently rated as Recommended with **** for value.

La Curio 2004 The Nubile sells for $19 and is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Shiraz. The objective in producing this wine was to make a “cafe style” wine. Noticeable VA apparently comes from extended ferment and time on yeast lees; the bouquet shows ripe Grenache fruit with savoury Shiraz components below. Silky, drying tannins combine with unobtrusive acid and pure, deep fruit to form a well-constructed wine with excellent balance. With its muscular-weight, there is nothing wimpy about this wine although it does have a supple consistency and harmonious complexity. The flavour profile holds interest, with a slightly sweet raspberry uptake followed by bitter chocolate and plum that finishes to spice. This is a pretty serious “cafe wine” provided you eat a big steak with it. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, it will be better with a little age.

La Curio 2004 Grenache sells for $26 and 120 cases were produced. The wine has been matured in 60% new oak (of which 70% was French) for 12 months. How often do you get to try a full-bodied Grenache? This is a seriously big wine but has the structure to go the distance and is well-balanced despite its size. Both sweet and savoury flavours with loads of spice, white pepper and raspberry, build slowly across the palate, and build, and build; finishing with a cymbal crash before slowly petering out. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, the wine should peak around 2010. Most of the fruit in the Grenache comes from an eighty-year-old, dry grown vineyard in Blewitt Springs.

La Curio 2004 Reserve Shiraz sells for $28 and has just been racked and sulphite added so the wine was far from showing its best. Abundant, drying tannins, youthful acid and deep fruit are enough to handle the overt oak. The deep fruit appears to have a good intensity but is dumb at the moment; however the savoury blackberry, chocolate and loads of plum were still evident. Full-bodied with a supple consistency and solid structure it would be unfair to rate the wine at this stage due to its recent treatment. It does look good, the only question that will be, how good.

The La Curio label certainly lives up to its name and is true to the motif on the bottle; the Houdini handcuffs, for these winemakers have definitely got out of jail with their extreme winemaking practices. All the wines are big, and the Grenache, a very pleasant surprise.

The last wine is a joint effort between Justin, who was the winemaker and a grower by the name of Nat. Nat’s family have been farmers in the district for generations and about 10 years ago, they planted 24 acres of vines along McMurtrie Road near the Salopian Inn. Nat enjoys a drop of wine and wanted to start making some for his own consumption, or at least to be involved in the process and that is how the Pikkara brand was formed. The majority of the grapes are sold to Two Hands but they are now keeping some back for their own use.

Pikkara 2003 McLaren Vale Shiraz was sold for $28 dollars a bottle and 200 cases were produced, although none was available locally. The 2004 will be available locally and by 2005 volume is expected to be 500 cases. Chocolate, plum and blackberry; with loads of liquorice and pepper on the mid-palate finishing to coffee, the wine is drinking well now but will improve in the short term. Silky, drying tannins and pure, deep fruit are well matched and provide an excellent mouth feel and supple consistency. The structure is tight and the complexity well developed. A very drinkable wine and worth buying, it is rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value.

Whilst we were saying our goodbyes, the subject of making wine specifically for the US market came up. Justin has got what he thinks is the perfect formula/recipe. "All you have to do is pick at 17.5 baume, water it back to 14.5 before it goes back to bottling and add a little molasses. Put it in 100% new American oak, no better still, make that 200% brand new American oak; do that, and you can't go wrong. It will be an instant hit.”

When the studio was first established, many of the traditional winemakers in the area were not only apprehensive, a number of them showed a certain amount of paranoia and unease over the concept. Justin overcame that quite simply. He opened the doors to anybody and everybody; to show them they had nothing to be scared about and indeed, should be embracing the concept. He also showed the winemakers were not hippie smoking dope heads that were off with the fairies; they were committed and serious.

In the car park of the studio – is this The Pie Kings next new car ..

The majority of the winemakers at Red Heads Studio have overseas winemaking experience, mostly in Europe, and have a broader outlook because of that experience.

Justin is unbelievably passionate in what he's doing but judging by the machine-gun speed at which words are spraying forth, he is living on adrenalin. The outpouring of adrenalin and effort by all those involved in building this project will pay handsome dividends in the long run.

The idea behind this concept is firmly rooted in a cunning combination of business reality and artistic creativity/experimentation. A further synergy has been added with Justin Lane’s experience and Tony Laithwaite’s financial backing and distribution network. Any business with such a solid foundation is bound to succeed.

Red Heads Studio is bound to pump out some excellent wines, indeed based on what I tried, they have already proved that can be done. In many ways, the experimentation aspect is the most vital part of this operation. Half a century ago, an up-and-coming winemaker was playing around and experimenting with some new techniques which included the use of new oak and VA. He was lucky, although he worked for what was at that time, a large company; they didn't mind giving the winemakers a certain amount of latitude to experiment. Even in those days, there were strict limits on the amount and type of experimentation that was allowed in the larger wineries. In today's environment, things are much tighter and most of the large companies have very strict winemaking guidelines which winemakers are expected to follow to the letter. Whilst some experimentation may be allowed, it is within well defined corporate guidelines and follows the corporate wine style direction. Maverick winemaking and making wine outside the square is certainly not encouraged and is likely to wind up getting the culprit sacked.

However, without experimentation and invention, nothing would ever seriously change and improve. That is why operations like Red Heads Studio are critical to long-term future of the wine industry. Oh, and that winemaker who was experimenting on his bosses time, all those years ago; you've probably have never heard of him, his name was Max something or other.   In today's environment, he probably would have been given the bullet and Grange would not have been developed.

Wow, what a way to spend a morning and Justin's enthusiasm was contagious and had given Paul an appetite, and as he was driving, I went along for the ride; it was off to the new eatery in McLaren Vale called Market 190. Judging by the way this place was humming on a Monday at lunchtime, they must be doing something right. You can either dine inside in air-conditioned comfort, or outside under an umbrella in the sunshine. Being wimps, we ate inside. The restaurant is licensed and sells wine by the glass or the bottle. Paul had a glass of c-through cats pee and I stuck to coffee.

I ordered salt and pepper squid with organic greens and slow roasted tomato which was well presented and absolutely delicious. It was reasonably priced at $16 and the average glass of wine is about $6. And the best part, I didn't even have to think about pie avoidance as the Pie King was probably sleeping through another meeting.

The next port of call was to a winery where I have a great deal of respect for the talented winemaker. Phil Christensen is Longwood Wines and although the operation has been going for some time, Phil keeps a low profile; the winery is not even listed in Halliday's book. The majority of the wine is exported to the US and the UK, but hopefully in the future that will change and more of it will be available in Australia, but Phil told me that years ago and I am still waiting.

Phil is quietly and methodically doing what he wants to do and doing it well. In all his wines, the fruit is doing the talking and none of them are in your face or over the top. Besides making his own wine, Phil is involved a reasonable amount of contract winemaking. His new winery, not far up the road from Red Heads Studio, has recently to be completed and Phil, being the type of hands-on guy that he is, did a major chunk of the building work himself.

Longwood 2004 Crow Eaters Shiraz spent 10 months in oak, was bottled the previous week and will sell in the UK for £7; 450 cases were produced. The bouquet is interesting and attractive, being fruit driven with plum and pepper characters. Unobtrusive, minimal smooth tannins combine with fresh acid and deep, pure fruit to deliver rich, ripe plums, pepper and chocolate. A juggable wine, the fruit is doing all the talking and there's lots of it. Ample-weight with a supple consistency and harmonious complexity, this is a very good, easy drinking wine that is rated as Recommended with **** for value.

…   . At Longwood – don’t mess with my wine

Longwood 2003 Reserve Shiraz sells for $24 in the US and will also be exported to the UK. The wine was matured in 80% old French and 20% new American oak, but as a result of bottling shock, on the bouquet, the oak was dominating the fruit at this point. Silky tannins, refreshing acid and pure fruit produce a well-balanced and constructed wine with a great mouth feel. Off-sweet flavours of plum, chocolate, and liquorice are complemented by a little underlying alcoholic sweetness that shows a little warmth. Muscular-weight with a soft consistency, seamless structure, and well-developed complexity; this is a classy, smooth, easy drinking wine, and whilst it could be classed as a terrific crowd-pleaser, it's better than that description. Rated as Recommended with **** for value with room for improvement, the wine can be enjoyed over the next five years.

Longwood 2003 Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon is sold as a cleanskin for $88 a case. The Cabernet component is 15% and according to Phil, “this wine is not a trash can for unsold wine.” He specifically goes into three selected vineyards to source the fruit. There is loads of fruit for the buck and enough minimal, powdery tannin to hold the wine together, and provide a supple mouth feel. Muscular in weight, as a drink now proposition it is certainly worth buying with plum, blackberry, liquorice and dark chocolate that finishes with some alcoholic warmth. Rated as Agreeable with ***** for value.

The cleanskin can be purchased by e-mailing Phil or by ringing/faxing him on (08) 8323 9029.

Longwood 2002 Reserve Shiraz was opened by Phil to show me how it was progressing. I have noticed with his older wines, they always open with a fair dose of McLaren Vale bottle stink but, after time in the decanter, they are glorious. The wine was matured in 50% new American oak. Silky, unobtrusive tannins are holding up well and are well matched to the youthful acid and pure, deep fruit. Indeed, the wine has a great mouth feel and the great fruit is just as expressive. Savoury plum, chocolate, aniseed and mint produce a true varietal McLaren Vale Shiraz. A classy, ample-weight wine with a soft consistency, solid structure and harmonious, sophisticated complexity; it's a lovely wine but still needs a couple of years to show its best. In line with Phil’s philosophy, it has received no fining and no filtering. Rated as Highly Recommended.

It is always a pleasure to visit Longwood and see Phil's progress. When I first visited a few years ago, he was in a rented location. One of his a barrel sheds was rather primitive; indeed it didn't even have walls and in the intervening time he has slowly built his business and now has his own brand new winery. If you ever see his barrel room, note the names (of wineries) on some the barrels, that they trust this guy to be involved in the making of some of their wines, is indeed testament to his ability. Apart from that, he is regarded as one of the “gentleman” of McLaren Vale.

We had a bit of time to kill which is very unusual because normally we are rushing between appointments and as it was Paul’s day to choose, that is exactly what I let him do. As you turn into the main street of McLaren Vale, immediately on your left, the first cellar door that you come to is Fonthill which has just been completed. Last year, when I visited this location, they were pouring the foundations for the underground cellar, and the place looked like a bomb site. The transformation has been dramatic and the new cellar door certainly looks the part.

Paul wanted to try the Fonthill range, but as I had tried all the available wines already, I was happy to relax and have time out. Whilst I was looking at the range of wines, I noticed a foreign brand “Annvers” on the bar available for tasting. It is becoming increasingly more common for some small wineries to enter into an arrangement whereby they show another winery’s wines at their own cellar door. So whilst Paul was trying the Fonthill range, I started on the Annvers range.

The label was launched in 1998 by the owners, Wayne and Myriam Keoghan. They have 16 hectares near Kangarilla which is planted with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. They also buy in fruit from McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek. The philosophy is hands on winemaking and the use of older oak which will enable the fruit to dominate.

Annvers 2001 Shiraz sells for $30 at cellar door and is made from fruit sourced from a single McLaren Vale vineyard. The touch of charry oak is entirely inoffensive and the bouquet also exhibits cherry and plum. Pure, persistent fruit drives a clean, well-made wine that delivers upfront sweet cherry, raspberry, plum chocolate and aniseed flavours. Medium-weight, the consistency is supple, the structure is solid and although it is technically very good, from my perspective, it fails to excite. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Annvers 2002 Shiraz sells for $28 at cellar door. Liquorice/aniseed and plums are complemented by some petroleum-like characters and the bouquet indicated what could be, a touch of Brett. The palate delivers plums and raspberry with some steely characters, reinforcing the probability of Brett, which in this case is not an issue as it is in the “adds interest” category. Medium-weight, the consistency is supple and the structure solid. More interesting than the 2001 vintage, it is rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Annvers 2002 Reserve Shiraz sells for $38 at cellar door. The fruit of this wine was sourced from three vineyards, 32% came from McLaren Vale, 22% from Langhorne Creek and 46% from the Adelaide Hills. The wine then spent 19 months in French oak. The bottle had just been opened and showed funky, bottle stink characters that would have blown off with time. There was loads of mint and eucalyptus, plum and blackcurrant; all in all it has excellent complexity. Silky tannins, fresh acid and deep fruit provide a good mouth feel and produce a seductive, but solid, ample-weight wine that is still tight. Plum, somewhat bitter chocolate, eucalyptus and milk chocolate are attractive and this wine is worth consideration. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, I would like to see it again in five years time because by then, the rating may have improved.

Whilst I was trying the Annvers range, Paul was trying the Fonthill range, the subject of Grenache came up in general, and the Fonthill Grenache that Paul was trying in particular. He commented that he thought the wine was pretty ordinary so I pulled out my PDA and checked my tasting note, and read it to him. He looked at me like I was smoking funny unfiltered green cigarettes and said, “That's nothing like what I'm tasting. This wine is candied and uninteresting.” I snatched the glass out of his hand and took a sniff and asked the lady who was looking after us to check the wine. She poured a glass from the bottle that was three quarters finished, sniffed it, tasted it, and said she thought it was fine. However, she was happy to open a fresh bottle for us. When Paul tried the wine from the new bottle, he completely agreed with my tasting note and when the lady serving us compared the two glasses side by side, she agreed the cork taint in the first bottle was obvious.

It has taken to Chapter 3 to get to my first rant; I really must have been relaxed as this is another first.

Rant One

The questions here is, how many people tried that corked bottle of wine and thought it was just bog standard, ordinary, characterless, lolly sweet Grenache of the worst order? Most of them, I bet! The biggest concern is that staff who taste the same few wines day in and day out, have not had sufficient training to be able to recognise their own wines when they are defective. This is not the fault of the staff; it is the fault of management. This criticism is not directed solely at this winery; it is directed at the multitude of wineries that are just as guilty of not training their staff in the detection of the most basic of wine faults. The number of open bottles that had been passed as fit by winery staff, that were in fact corked, was frightening; and the wineries in McLaren Vale were the worst offenders.

Secondly, whilst I understand the cost of wine being served at cellar door is obviously a consideration, it is insulting to serve customers badly oxidised wine that has been open for three days. What's more, the winery is not doing itself any flavours with this practice, as most punters, whilst not realising there is a specific problem, will probably not be impressed with the wine. If wines move slowly, there is a very simple solution. When a bottle is opened, decant it into two 375ml bottles and place one of them in the fridge for later use. The other half bottle can be used for tasting stock and placed behind, or even in front of the fully labelled bottle. A sticky, computer-generated label stuck onto the half bottle will stop any confusion.

Whilst the cost of tasting stock is a consideration, it represents a (possibly smaller then expected) percentage of the overall cost of running a cellar door, because all the other overheads, including wages need to be taken into account. The majority of people that come through the cellar door are prospective customers, so why not make the most of that opportunity by serving them wine that is at its best and not corked or suffering from rank oxidisation. Serving wine that is below its normal standard is false economy.

…               .. The first red of the vintage

The last appointment that Paul had lined up for today was at Wayne Thomas Wines. Wayne is a legend around the area and is one of those the larger-than-life characters, who love a smoke and a beer. Wayne started making wine in 1961 and worked with many industry stalwarts, including Peter Lehmann and has worked at a number of historic wineries including, Saltram and Ryecroft. In 1975, Wayne and his late wife started Fernhill, which was later sold, and in 1994, Wayne Thomas Wines was launched.

In some ways, and most people will not know this, Wayne was a bit of a pioneer in his day; in 1974 he was the first to have Chardonnay in McLaren Vale.

The winery processes approximately 100 tonnes of fruit but only about 5 tonnes of that is for the Wayne Thomas label. The fruit for his wine all comes from contracted growers. According to Wayne, “That includes Champagne and Riesling and three reds, one of which is the Petite Verdot, which unfortunately we have run out of.”

Any other winery would have mentioned that the reason the Petite Verdot was sold out; it was because the wine won the last McLaren Vale Bushing Competition, but Wayne is to modest to mention something “as insignificant” as that award.

When we walked in, straight in front of us, were a couple of plastic fermenters full of red juice, the first I had seen in 2005. To our right, making himself feel right at home, and overseeing the whole operation; on top of a pallet of wine was Jeffrey Boycat, that dude gets around.

Wayne Thomas 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $24.25 at cellar door. Strong, obvious, persistent fruit delivers youthful jube flavours with plum, blackcurrant, liquorice and chocolate that is well balanced to chewy, drying tannins. Muscular in weight, the consistency is firm, the structure solid and the complexity is agreeable. The flavour is certainly "in your face" and delivers a big bang for the buck, and whilst it is a terrific dry red, it is not exactly varietal. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, it should peak around 2009.

Wayne Thomas 2003 Shiraz sells for $29 at cellar door. The fruit is sourced from Blewitt Springs; the colour is black and although the nose is closed, it is youthful and shows floral characteristics. Deep, strong fruit slams the tongue with a sledgehammer of plum, black cherry, mulberry, and liquorice flavours that finishes flinty. The dusty, drying tannins and full body weight add to its rustic nature, and whilst there is nothing subtle about this wine, it should tame down with time and lose some of its tightness. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating may go up as the wine peaks around 2008.

Wayne Thomas 1999 Shiraz sold out long ago, but Wayne was kind enough to open a bottle to show how his wines look with a few years a bottle age. Drying, puckering, chewy wood tannins dominate the deeply seated fruit that delivers rich, ripe chocolate, aniseed, plum and blackberry flavours; it finishes with good length. Muscular in weight with a firm consistency and solid structure I doubt the fruit will live as long as the tannins so drink up. Rated as Recommended.

In one of the tasting notes, I used the word “rustic” and this is a very apt description for the Wayne Thomas wines; but that word “rustic” is used in a positive sense. Big, honest wines that are full of fruit, oak, and tannins without much subtlety, many people will find them appealing for their straightforward characteristics.

With that, it was time to say goodbye to Paul, but this time it is not for another year, just for another few months, as we will meet again in May. The clock had only just struck four so I decided to try and fit in one more winery before calling it a day. Shottesbrooke produces honest, good value affordable wine year in and year out and I have never had a disappointing visit.

Shottesbrooke was started in 1981 but they didn't get serious about the label until 1989 when the land around the current winery was purchased. The cellar door was opened in 1995. It is a family-owned winery and uses its own, estate grown fruit. The winery specialises in user-friendly, fruit driven style wines. Nick Holmes is the man beyond the winery and is ably supported by his stepson, Hamish Maguire who is the current winemaker.

Shottesbrooke 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $18 at cellar door. The bouquet is intensely dusty with black cherry, liquorice and eucalyptus. The serving temperature of the wine was a touch warm, and as a result, the wine was slightly volatile and not showing as well as it should/could. Pure, clean fruit delivers blackcurrant, liquorice, chocolate and mint flavours that finishes with drying tannins. Ample-weight, a supple consistency and almost seamless structure, adds up to a crowd pleasing wine that is excellent value and drinking well now. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Shottesbrooke 2003 Shiraz sells for $18 at cellar door. The attractive bouquet showed pepper, spice and chocolate. With enough ripe, silky tannins to hold the wine together, the pure fruit delivered savoury flavours of, black and white pepper, spice, aniseed and loads of eucalyptus that finished with reasonable persistence. Ample-weight, with a supple consistency, and almost seamless structure, this is a good value crowd pleaser that is ready to drink now. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it would be a perfect pick in a restaurant.

Shottesbrooke 2002 Eliza sells for $35 and is their single vineyard, Reserve Shiraz. An inky nose, with cloves, blackcurrant and dark chocolate; the French oak influence is obvious and the wine is probably similar to the 98. The fruit, which comes across as almost elegant, delivers spicy plum, milk chocolate, pepper, with loads of eucalyptus on the mid-palate that flows through to the end; the wine also finishes a little bitter and sappy. Medium-weight, the structure is well supported by loads of unobtrusive, smooth drying tannins. The consistency is supple and the structure has some elegance. An upmarket crowd pleaser, the wine gave me confusing messages, and with its obvious oak, I'm not sure how it will age, so judgment will be reserved and the wine not rated.

Shottesbrooke 2002 Punch sells for $35 and is their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon; 100 six-packs were made. The wine has a beautiful bouquet that is varietal, showing dusty cedar and lots of cigar box characteristics. Almost silky, chewy, drying tannins combine with youthful, balanced acid and deep, pure fruit to back a muscular-weight wine that has a firm consistency and solid structure. The palate is both ripe and black. Blackcurrant, blackberry, liquorice, a touch of spice, mint; it's savoury and has terrific complexity. The best wine in the line-up, it just needs time and should peak around 2009 plus. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Around the corner from Pie King Bridge Vineyards is this farm.

Makes you wonder about their chook eggs!

As I walked out, the door missed hitting me in the backside by seconds and as I drove back to Pie King Bridge Vineyards, the contagious enthusiasm from Red Heads Studio came back to me. This is truly was a special experience and not only one of the highlights of the trip, it will be a memory that will stay with me for a long time to come.

The Pie King arrived shortly after I did and he was not in a good frame of mind. After having spent the day working at the council (now there is a mutually exclusive term,  ) on a small problem, he was fit to kill. Apparently, some interfering “do-gooder” had decided to mess with his plans for a skate facility, in a local park, and had taken out in injunction to stop work commencing on the project. To make matters even worse, he had a nine o'clock appointment in the city at the council's solicitors, “Sue Grabbit and Run”   and that would mean he would be inconvenienced and have to leave home early the next morning. Now I have seen John drooling for a pie, but I have never seen him frothing at the mouth over a skate park.  There was only one solution to this issue, I went and opened a bottle of wine and Sue allowed him to cook whatever he wanted to cook for dinner.

Knowing what was good for me, I stayed out of the kitchen whilst John prepared a Thai chicken curry and Sue made a beer cake. Anything with beer in it is bound to make John happy. By the time we sat down for dinner, the Pie King's ears had stopped emitting steam and he was as close to a human being as he can get.

The curry, whilst reasonably mild, was cooked to perfection and most enjoyable. The rice, whilst not as dead as the previous night’s veggies, was not what could be described as “al dente”; but then it was not at the sticky/glutinous rice stage either. I am normally not into plain cakes, but the beer cake, with a generous dollop of artery clogging, 48% milk fat cream was delicious and I was quite surprised when John did not go and looking for it at breakfast time the next morning.

With a full belly of food and a couple of glasses of wine in us, the world was indeed a better place. John decided to have an early night and as I needed to be a bright and early, I hit the sack too.

Day Five Tuesday – Goodbye to McLaren Vale

Sue staggered out of the bedroom just before six am, and I must admit I feel sorry for her seeing me sitting at the dining room table, (doing e-mails) and having to make small talk with me at that ungodly hour when she is still half asleep. Full marks to Sue; she is great at feigning interest at that hour of the morning, and it is beyond me how she can appear to be so bright and bubbly. As this is the last time I would see Sue until May, we said our goodbyes; and I'm sure she breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out the door knowing she would have the house back to herself when she got home that night.

By the time I had returned from my walk, John was showered and dressed, and I must admit, the green shirt and slacks suited him well. He looked very respectable. We had our last breakfast together, and John must have been practising his best behaviour for the solicitor, because he ate all his Weetbix. In last year's tour diary, I mentioned some vile Indian concoction that John took every morning in the deluded, misguided belief that it may neutralise the effects of his “unbelievable” diet. In this tour diary, I will share another of the secrets with you. He also consumes a large amount of psyllium husks every morning. Now there is nothing wrong with that, I have even been known to do it myself. But, only John would be optimistic enough to store his psyillumn husks in a bottle of Equal (sugar substitute,) were the small print on the label says "great taste minus the calories." Sure, psyllium husks have virtually no calories, but watching John read the label, hoping that the Equal jar will improve the taste of this sawdust flavoured, and textured, internal cleanser is a bit of a worry.

I was happy to kiss Sue goodbye, but there was no way I was going to do that to the Pie King, so we shook hands instead, and said nice things that we didn’t mean  , and agreed to do it all again – and more in May. In those chapters, dear readers, you will have to put up with the antics of his Pieship though the whole saga as he will be taking the week off and travelling with me the whole time.

After John left it was time for a shower, but in this house a shower is not a normal occurrence. When I arrived, John warned me about the tricky plumbing. Now picture this (but not too graphically); you take your clothes off, you turn the hot water in the shower on, but the water only dribbles out. You race over to the hand basin and turn the hot water on full bore and leave it running for a minute or so. You turn off the hand basin tap and run back to the shower and turn on the cold water tap so you don't roast. Then, once you're in the shower, you put up with varying water pressures and alternating temperatures. When John was telling me the story, he said he didn't mind at all, because as they only had one bathroom in the new house, this little inconvenience meant that no one hogged the shower. "Hog the shower?" You can't get in and out fast enough! There is indeed a certain madness to the Pie King's methods.

My first appointment of the day was just up the road in Blewitt Springs at Mark Day’s, Koltz winery. I first came across Mark a few years ago, when he was working full time at Maxwell's, and was doing his own thing after hours. I tried the line-up of his wines then, and found they were impressive for the price. Since that time, Mark has left Maxwell's and is doing his own thing full-time. When I arrived at Mark’s property, it was all happening. His home will no longer just be a home; it will be surrounded by a fully functioning winery. The renovations are in full swing with a new tasting room and a shed, but it will be much more than just "a shed" in the traditional sense; it will be a multipurpose facility. For a small winery, the design has been well thought out and much of the space has multiple usage options. For example, the tasting room can be used as a suite for visiting guests and the winery used as a function area; smart thinking!

Yet, with all these modern changes some of the old, traditional equipment has been maintained. The press in the picture is from Clarendon Hills looks like it was around when Moses played fullback for Cairo.

The house and the winery are located on the top of the hill with stunning views that extend well beyond the edge of their five acre property. Current production is about 2,500 cases and Mark must be doing something right, because in these tough economic times, all this stock has been allocated. Approximately one third of the fruit is estate grown, another third is grown by Mark's brother-in-law, and the final third is from contracted growers.

Like many small producers, there is an emphasis on doing things as naturally possible. Mark prefers to add as little as possible to the wine, be it tannins, acid or copper. Whilst we were talking, the subject of alternative closures came up, and Mark had something very interesting to say. “In a way, the closure dictates your winemaking style. If you elect to use Stelvins, the wines have to be a lot cleaner. If you are going to bottle some under Stelvins, and some under cork, things really get messy and complicated. And then, if you are going to send some to America and some to Europe, you wind up losing winemaking inertia as the bureaucratic complexity builds.”

During conversation, Mark’s position on closures became more apparent. From what I could gather, he does not like traditional cork because of the TCA aspect, but he is not exactly convinced that Stelvin is the best answer and as a result, will investigate other alternative closures too.

Koltz 2002 Laughing Frog sells for about $20 retail and is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet from Adelaide Hills fruit. The bouquet shows ripe, sweet fruit with pepper highlights and musk stick scent. Chewie, smooth, dusty, oak driven tannins, fresh acid and distinct fruit are well-balanced to form an ample-weight wine with a firm consistency, solid structure and an agreeable complexity. Ripe, upfront plum and spice with green sappy tannins in support travels right through the palate, and whilst the persistence is good, the flavour does not go all the way through. It's okay for the price, but Mark has made better wine. Rated as Acceptable with *** for value.

Koltz 2002 Dog Day sells for about $22-$23 retail. Whatever you do, don't ask Mark how this wine got its name because he will tell you! It is a blend of 96% Shiraz with 4% Viognier. The bouquet shows sweet, dark plummy fruit with orange and apricot nuances. A well constructed wine with chewie, dusty tannins, fresh acid and distinct fruit that delivers savoury spice, white pepper, apricots, coffee essence and chocolate that finishes with reasonable persistence but does have some noticeable green tannins on the mid-palate. Ample-weight, with a firm consistency, solid structure and more than agreeable complexity, the wine will be better in a couple of years. Eminently drinkable; if it wasn't 9:30 a.m. I would have drunk a glass. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

… ……     .. Multipurpose Facilities

 …….  . Tasting Bar as well as Guests Quarters

Koltz 2002 MSG sells for $26-$27 retail. An attractive, meaty nose with hints of bacon and spice, the Mourvedre dominates the bouquet, which is as it should be; and attractive floral aromatics emerged as the wine opened up. On the palate, the sweet attack is offset by savoury meat, spice and plums -- pass the steak; and it finished with good persistence. An attractive wine with no sign of heat despite the 15% alcohol, the abundant, smooth drying tannins currently dominate the deeply seated fruit. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve around 2009 of the wine reaches maturity.

Koltz 2003 MSG sells for $26-$27 retail. The floral bouquet was very attractive but slightly marred by bottle shock. Richer than the 2002, the pure, deep fruit delivers a sweet initial hit which flows through to lovely meaty flavours, blackberry, liquorice and spice; the package is supported by chewie tannins that finish with excellent persistence. Muscular-weight with a firm consistency, solid structure and a harmonious, sophisticated complexity; everything is in sync and this wine is worth cellaring. It is better than the previous vintage and only a couple of hundred cases have been made. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it should peak around 2009 and is still a veritable baby.

Koltz 2002 Shiraz sells for $26-$27 retail. Matured mainly French oak, about one third was new. The attractive bouquet showed good complexity with floral aromatics; there were hints of spice, plum and black notes. Controlled, dusty, smooth tannins, unobtrusive acid and pure, persistent fruit has superb balance; like a tight ropewalker walking down the middle of the palate and then stepping off to the sides. Blackberry, chocolate, lots of plum, coffee essence, a touch of clove; the noticeable chewy oak adds, rather than detracts from the experience. Ample-weight with a supple consistency and well developed complexity; this is a bloody enjoyable, clean wine. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should be best consumed over the next two years before the fruit dries out.

Koltz 2003 Shiraz sells for $26-$27 and had just been bottled. Plum, spice, chocolate, white pepper, coffee essence; slightly sappy tannins and oak are noticeable but enjoyable. The wine is very drinkable and with its silky, chewie tannins, you know you are drinking a real red. Ample-weight with a firm consistency, solid structure, and well developed complexity, the mouth feel is attractive and the wine is rated as Recommended with *** for value with room for improvement, as it matures around 2007.

There was a huge line up of wines on the counter and Mark was generous enough to be prepared to open every one of them but unfortunately I did not have all morning so was only able to try one last bottle.

Koltz 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon was opened to show me how Mark’s wines age. (The first Cabernet made was in 1995.) Unfortunately, the freshly opened bottle screamed out for air and a good decant, but that was not possible. A true varietal Cabernet, with blackcurrant, milk chocolate, and loads of mint as well as green bean characters; it finished with good persistence. Ample-weight with a firm consistency and solid structure that was well supported by dominant drying tannins, this was a lovely wine in the prime of its life. Rated as Highly Recommended, I would have preferred to have drunk it.

Mark Day obviously knows what he's doing and continues to produce reliable wines that are consistent across the range. The wines are also reasonably priced. The fact that is wines are already allocated to retailers and agents is testament to both his ability and the value of the product.

There was one more stop to be made in McLaren Vale before I headed out to the Barossa. Chalk Hill is a sign I have seen around McLaren Vale for years but the winery maintains a low profile and is one that normally I don't hear much about; so on this trip, I was determined to check it out. If you have driven down the back streets from Kay’s or d’Arry’s to the shops in McLaren Vale, the chances are you would have driven past the Chalk Hill sign. That vineyard is affectionately known as Mongrel Hill by the locals and I won't tell you what pickers call it! However, my appointment wasn't here, it was at the office which is located across the road from the Willunga school.

As soon as you turn off the main road and drive up the driveway, you immediately lose all sense of proximity to the hustle and bustle of the outside world. The vineyards surrounding the house, with the office behind it, have an air of tranquillity and peace about them that transcends its location. Two dogs greeted me affectionately; one a Jack Russell, the other a Jack Russell Silky cross.

The trip to this winery was interesting, but different to most others in that I only tasted one single finished wine, but I still got a very good idea of what they were about by tasting through a myriad of 2004 barrels samples.

The original Chalk Hill vines were planted in the early 1970s and in 1995 the Harvey family bought the vineyards and have done a major amount of work in bringing them up to standard. The Harvey’s are an old grape growing family (Jock is the sixth generation grape grower) and like all good farming families, are acutely aware of their environment. The 40 acre Chalk Hill property has 25 acres of vines and the remaining 15 has been kept as native scrub. In total, the business has 200 acres under vine but the majority of the fruit is sold off; they produce about 5000 cases under their own label. In addition, the winery actively supports Greening Australia's "Bringing Back the Glossies" project by giving $.25 for each bottle of wine sold towards the revegetation of the habitat of Australia's rarest cockatoo.

Jock and Jacko………………………

I met with Jock Harvey, who is the viticulturist and general manager. The wines are made by Emanuelle Requim-Bekkers. Apparently, Emanuelle is married to Toby Bekkers, the viticultural manager for Paxton’s, who took me through their vineyards during my 2003 trip.

Having a French wine maker certainly has some impact and influence on the wines. The first wine tried, the 2004 Grenache was lean, showing peppery characters, raspberry, with sweet and savoury nuances, and was well supported by dusty tannins. Very different to most Australian Grenache, according to Jock, “It is more like a Châteauneuf-du-Pape in style with barnyard and straw characters. Some of the vines date back to 1897 but the wine still needs a bit more work.”

A barrel sample of the 2004 Sangiovese was the next wine we sampled. This is a single vineyard wine where the grapes are grown on a sandy slope. Jock said, “Sangiovese is perfectly suited to very hungry soil, which limits the amount of vigour in the vine.” Jock also explained, “Australians tend to like their wines to have a little more intensity than some of the lighter Italian and French wines, so with the Sangiovese, to get that concentration, we drain off a little bit of juice to help concentrate the fruit.”

Both the Sangiovese and the Barbera are on allocation because they both tend to sell out very quickly. With floral aromatics on the bouquet, it was closed and tight. Medium in weight the wine showed a very attractive flavour profile that finished with excellent persistence.

The next wine tasted was the 2004 Shiraz. The drainings and the pressings had been kept separate and it was interesting to observe the radical differences between the two samples. Each of the components had their own unique characteristics. One was all about wonderful fruit purity, and the other was all about structure. The secret of making these two separate components into a terrific wine will be measuring the precise amount of each that will be required to make the final blend. But even then, the blend will still be “subject to adjustment” and a small amount of 2005 material may be added to fresh in it up, or even a small percentage of Cabernet to give it more complexity.

The 2004 Barbera is a very acidic and tannic wine at the moment but it has the fruit to back it up, and with its, rock solid structure, it should last for ages. According to Jock, there is very little Barbera made in Australia and only two wines of this variety are made in McLaren Vale. There is no point in playing around with it and making it approachable whilst it’s young, just for the sake of doing it, they may as well maintain integrity and produce a real, varietal Barberra. Depending on vintage, between 80 and 120 cases are produced and it flies out the door. In 2003, the grapes were not up to standard so the wine was not made.

The final wine I tried was served to me blind. It had a very dusty, lifted nose. On the palate, the wine was appro