Terrey's Insights

Summer 2011/12 – Positioning the vineyard and its produce on its unique terroir

Greetings all and I wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year. The holiday break for those who produce food and wine in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales is always short and sharp, and takes some planning to ensure that a day or two is spent with family and friends. It will not be different this year.

The 2012 vintage year is again heading towards all the difficulties that managing wine grape vineyards present in "La Nina" (wet) years. Still, my cattle are smiling. So am I really, in that I am still here and enjoying my new tractor and sprayer.

My old Lamborghini is now sleeping its head off in a quiet corner of the shed while the new blue New Holland is working away doing all the important disease prevention work outside. The combination of new sprayer and tractor has halved the time spent, and doubled the need for concentration while managing all the on-board electronics. It is a bit hard on an old fellow, and also on Barbie who has to listen as I relate my experiences and new discoveries of added features and their benefit.

Last vintage was very difficult but still produced some very good wines. The Rosé is included in our Discovery Pack Special Offer, and the Chardonnay is looking very good and will be bottled early in January. The star performer though could well be the Pinot Noir, which won't be bottled until late winter in 2012. Unfortunately, there was one major casualty in that there will be no 2011 Sauvignon Blanc. We saved it from disease, but it still failed to ripen properly in a very cool wet year. It has been sold as a bulk wine.

This year our focus is still on structural change of varieties to position the vineyard and its produce on its unique terroir. As a business we now have enough recognition to sell all our grapes to other wine producers, most of whom are Orange region colleagues. I hasten to add that we are not planning to do that, as we are having too much fun and enjoyment from producing and marketing a proportion of our annual harvest under our own label.

This is why I highly recommend that you try our Discovery Pack included in this Newsletter offering. As previously mentioned, our climate is way more similar to the North East corner of France (Burgundy, Sancerre and Alsace), rather than the South West corner (Bordeaux). The pack is made up of wines made from varieties that are now proven performers at Bantry Grove. In coming years we will be adding Pinot Gris and Rhine Riesling to that range. All will be made in the dry style, and I am confident all will be clean, elegant fruit driven wines with crisp acidity and lower alcohol levels than recently seen.

I hope that you enjoy them. As well, I commend the 'clearance special' offers to you. They are great value 'everyday' house wines.

Winter 2011 – The year in Review

As alluded to in my last insight, "The Lamborghini’s Lament", the 2011 vintage was very difficult, and some describe it as "the year from hell". The lament gave you an insight into the operating conditions and their impact on day to day life. This report will move onto the impact on vintage and the potential of the wines made.

In brief the result was way better than we expected in late summer, in that 90% of the vineyard made it to picking with targeted yields achieved. Unfortunately, due to relatively cold ripening conditions, quality was mixed. Quality of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay was good to very good. We made an early decision to sell all our Merlot grapes, and a late decision to divert the Sauvignon Blanc to an alternate wine market, due in both cases to failure to achieve vineyard quality benchmarks. We have high standards for our own label, and also recognise our responsibility to the wider Orange region brand.

The good news is that winemaker, Richard, is very happy with our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at this stage. We increased the harvest volume of both to help meet demand. The increase in Pinot Noir was substantial and has allowed us to again produce a Rose. The gold medal winning 2009 Pinot is virtually sold out, and we will have to wait until mid spring before we can start selling the 2010.

Chardonnay is still tough to sell at markets and other events, but is making a quick return to favour if sales through Sydney restaurants and bars such as the Opera House are any guide. We have just finished our first year’s trading with Alex Retief, our Sydney distributor, and I am very pleased with the result. While it is still a tough market place Bantry Grove is starting to penetrate in Sydney. There is a mood of optimism across the Orange region, which appears to be defying trends elsewhere. Maintenance and further development of quality is essential.

I am relieved that we increased our volume of Sauvignon Blanc last year. The 2010 is a very good wine and expected to sell very well when released to the general public in August or September. Our challenge will be to ensure that Alex and Barbie have enough supply to avoid running out of product. We also plan to release a Bantry Grove Pinot Gris (or Grigio?) from the 2012 vintage. More grafting to new varieties will be completed in late spring, so please excuse me if future newsletters and 'Insights' are delayed – we are working furiously to achieve our potential.

This Newsletter Offer

Please have a look at the Newsletter offer. The three wines involved are being offered at a considerable discount to help clear space and to provide cash flow to help finance the capital expenditure to pursue our strengths. The 2007 Chardonnay was produced in a hot year which resulted in a style that is characteristic of warmer regions. It is good drinking, showing some bottle development, and highly recommended at this price. The 2006 Merlot is offered at this price purely to reduce our holding. It continues to sell steadily in the market place, is soft and well rounded with a lot of mouth feel and will continue to hold or develop further in the bottle. The 2005 Cabernet is fully developed and is priced to clear the very limited stocks of it to you, our supporters.

March 2011 – a Lamborghini in the shed

When will it end? When will we see the back of the last truck load of grapes departing for the winery? Will the boss be happy with the quality? Will the resulting wines express his beloved terroir that he is always rabbiting on about? What a season it has been. I am over 'La Ninas'.

The boss tells me to stop whinging – he says that's his job as he's the farmer. But does he think he's the only soul emotionally affected by the daily grind? That's gratitude for you, especially when he's fond of boasting to his city friends that he has a Lamborghini in the shed. Come to think of it, that's another sore point. Why can't we get shed doors put on to stop Newbridge's windy blasts disturbing my long period of winter slumber? He has doors.

But really it has been quite a journey this year. The boss gets me up nearly every morning at 7am or earlier, fills me with diesel and off we go again, playing catch up by trimming, leaf plucking and spraying when necessary to control disease. And then that Tim guy will come in a few days later, start muttering about the next forecast and this or that fungus, and off we go again, up and down the same rows, hitting the same bumps, and how I hate block A with those tight rough turns. I'm the muscle on this place, but this is beyond a joke. I've done six tyres since Christmas. (I like Christmas because it is the only day that I know I can slumber quietly in my shed). The boss is now on Tyrepower's Christmas card list. What about me? They're my tyres. Don't tell the boss but I got back at him by "chucking a sickie". He had to send me to hospital for a day or two, and get that big ugly brute of a Zetor going. I understand they decked at least five vines while I was away.

That Tim guy is a good bloke though as he gives the boss hell over something called 'rugby'. He's a kiwi, and knows something about growing vines. The boss says that he knows nothing about rugby though and that his team is always peaking a little too early. He's seems a little more worried this year though, and mutters away about 'our Robbie' needing to perform a miracle or two.

No one likes spraying but it is a necessary evil in vineyards. We all like trimming though and that is what I do best. Three or four times in one year is a bit much, but who cares it if it makes the boss and I happy. The shoots and leaves fly off in the ever present nor-easterly, and the rows look so neat, tidy and healthy when the job is done.

It is good when the boss is happy. He starts to think and talk about next year and how much he values his team. I'm part of his team, but I was a little worried when he mentioned his plan to buy a new sprayer and tractor. The boss says that this will halve the time spent spraying, and provide a win for the environment by reducing chemical use and carbon emissions. What he calls a 'win - win'. I am not so sure.

It is about time we had a new sprayer but a new tractor too? The talk filled me with dread as I thought I was heading for the depths of our dam. But then he told me that my role would be doing the trimming and all those things that make the vineyard look good and you can see what you have achieved. He loves me after all!

This will allow me to ease back a little. Maybe the boss could ease back a little too. That's what the rest of his team would call a 'win – win'. Me? Not yet, as I am hanging out for shed doors to provide a win for my environment!

October 2010 – The Johnson’s tour of France

Oh, how I wish I had visited Chablis in north eastern France twenty three years ago, before I had planted a vine.

In business and life I believe in having a few reference points, or 'pegs in the sand', to ensure change, using new ideas, new technology and new opportunities, are welded onto a sound knowledge of best practise and experience.

Barbie and I spent nearly four weeks of this southern winter in north east France. Around 24 days of glorious sunshine and heat (35C plus), tasting wine in Champagne, Alsace and Burgundy, and travelling on a barge in the latter.

The experience was unforgettable and gave me a hugely increased understanding of what the French call 'terroir'. And Chablis, where arguably the world's best Chardonnays are grown, was, for me, the jewel in the crown. Every slope and aspect surrounding the village is classified from Petit Chablis through Chablis and Chablis Premier Cru to Chablis Grand Cru. All are superb value at their price points, and clearly demonstrate to an upstart grower from the Antipodes the value of history, experience and working with what you have got and can't change.

Above: Looking at the town of Chablis from a Grand Cru vineyard.

I can't buy history, and compared to French growers our experience is just a blink in time. We can however define our climate, soils and land form and make judgements based on other growers experience with varieties to better structure our vineyards. That is why I wish Chablis and the other regions came earlier in my life.

The good news is that I am now far more confident that the structural changes we are commencing this year are on the correct track. We will better recognise the strengths of our climate by replacing our Merlot (a Bordeaux variety) with varieties such as Gewurtztraminer (from Alsace) and more of what we already have from north east France. White wines look like being our strength but hopefully backed by some pretty good Pinot Noir (a Burgundy variety) with maybe a very small block of Merlot kept for our newsletter clients.

Above: Vines in a Premier Cru vineyard. The second highest rating.

In the meantime, it is now my dream to return to Chablis, to stay with Monsieur and Madame Dubois, and to share a bottle or two of Bantry Grove Chardonnay with them and our vineyard guide. Hopefully the wine will suggest that we and other growers from the Orange region may have a particular 'terroir' that can also produce excellent wines from this most noble white variety.

Autumn 2010

"If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got" (Anon.)

The essential truth behind this statement is what drives me to always be on the lookout for change. And change is what is needed to survive in this industry. So far so good as another year in the vineyard has passed, we are still here, and changes have been made with some success generated. More importantly, we now have two delightful grandchildren, Taya and Keira.

The ebb and flow of weather this year has resulted in high quality grapes with reasonable to good yields; some wines with great potential; some losses due to late disease outbreaks; and many more grey hairs as I attempted to keep up with a greatly compressed production cycle. Harvest was completed in March this year, which is about three weeks ahead of normal.

Four wines are being made. Barbie has had her plea heard in that we will have a Rose for sale in the coming twelve months. The star performers though may well be the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines, with Chardonnay not far behind. We decided not to add to the Merlot glut this year, and just failed to replace it with a 'sticky' that would have had a percentage of true botrytis in it. A very small number of evil looking and vile tasting orange berries aborted the move. Orange has never been my favourite colour. Tim, my viticulturist, is slowly rediscovering his exceptional palate.

Success has come in that three of the four 2008 wines have reached silver or gold medal status, with all three winning their respective classes. The fourth wine, our Merlot, has not been shown but will be. The judges in due course will have their say, but I and one or two others rate it the best Merlot in our stable.

Success is built on people and their skills. Richard, our winemaker and Tim have done a great job. Barbie, Jen and Todd have played their part well. But there are weaknesses. It came time to admit my ageing body and brain, and lack of marketing skills was holding us back. Luckily we have been able to find two gifted youngsters to step into the breach.

Belinda Berryman is quickly taking charge of our retail, direct to member, sales area. The newsletter and web site is where you will see her influence. She is a delight to work with, but then I always knew that would be so. Some of you know her well. I hope many more of you have the pleasure of communicating with her directly or indirectly in the near future.

Alex Retief and his company AWR Wines have agreed to distribute our wines to restaurants and selected liquor trade outlets. Together, I am sure that Belinda and Alex will give us the energy and skills to move forward, allowing me to step back a touch from the front line.

Summer 2008/9

In the Vineyard

Summer? We could dispute this after an event here ten days ago. Peeking over the windowsill of my bedroom window at 6.00AM on a Sunday morning I observed the rare sight of a late spring garden scene covered in a blanket of snow (see photo below). It was a beautiful wondrous scene for all except horticulturists, viticulturists and home tomato growers. My 6.30 inspection with camera showed vines bent over under the weight of snow, with shoots touching the ground in places. Temperature was just a smidgeon above zero with a wind chill factor of many negative degrees. Luckily the snow eased as I trudged home fearing the worst. Later inspection revealed a distinctly untidy vineyard, with shoots pointing everywhere but up, and some broken shoots on the ground, but no frost damage and only minimal loss of fruit. Thankfully the 2009 vintage is still on track after a frantic week straightening shoots and maintaining disease protection.

In the Winery

Our winemaker, Richard Parker, has finished, bottled and dispatched our 2007 reds and the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. All have our new label, and I look forward to your feedback! Inner Circle members who ordered these wines are receiving separate notice about delivery arrangements. The Sauvignon Blanc will be released early in the New Year. The 2008 Chardonnay will be bottled before Christmas, and held for later release with a little bottle age, as will the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2007 vintage. I tasted the 08 Chardonnay and 08 Merlot with Richard last month. At this stage they are showing huge promise. Richard is a perfectionist who builds on his knowledge from one vintage to the next.

In the Cellar

Given that we now have several years experience with all our varietal wines, I think it is time to confidently state that our red wines need two years bottle age before they really show their true nature. It is a fraction too early to state that for Chardonnay, but again the trend is in the same direction.

We now have a reasonable spread of wines in stock that have some bottle age and demonstrate this point. To highlight one example, the 2006 Chardonnay has developed lovely soft fruit flavours that were not evident when first released.

The 06 Merlot and 06 Pinot Noir are other examples, whereas the 06 Cabernet needs more time. Luckily we have plenty of 05 Cabernet available and it again is a far better wine than I initially thought.