Torbreck...
Dave Powell founded
Torbreck in 1994 and still resides as
Chief Winemaker. He named his wine ‘Torbreck’ after a forest in Scotland where
he worked as a lumberjack. Torbreck is based around the classic
Barossa Valley
varietals of
Shiraz,
Grenache and
Mataro, but has additional plantings of
Viognier,
Marsanne and
Roussanne.
Dave has developed a love for
Rhone Valley wines with their intense,
rich flavors that come from old vine Shiraz and Grenache. Dave visits the Rhone
Valley frequently and maintains a close relationship with
Jean Louis Chave of
Chave
Hermitage. Actually, Dave was visiting 'Jean Louis' at the time of my
interview and the assistant winemaker, Scott McDonald, who interviewed me will
work next vintage at Chave in the
Northern Rhone Valley. Scott worked as a
Vintage Casual for many years and has been the Assistant Winemaker at Torbreck
for the last four years. During my interview, not only did I get a personal
tour but I got to taste their wines from
Woodcutter’s Semillon to
Les Amis to
RunRig, sorry no
The Factor! Torbreck’s wines display great concentration,
fruit purity and tremendous texture that only the most meticulous winemaking
can achieve. It was a very enjoyable experience!
Young
Shiraz Bush Vines: common practice in hot, dry regions such as the Southern
Rhone and Barossa Valley in order to provide shade to hanging grapes
Crusher and Pneumatic Press: uses compressed air to achieve a gentle pressing of grapes. Also called a 'Bag Press' or 'Bladder Press' because of the rubber bag inflated by compressed air
Old school basket pressed, not in use anymore
New school presses, all automated and Scott is a BIG fan!
Fermentation Vats: must and skins kept in contact to facilitate color extraction
Barrel maturation
Bottling line
Blurring but I had to...this is Bill with an insanely large bottle of Descendant! I doubt that fits on the bottling line :)
Henschke...
I was very fortunate to get a personal tour of
Henschke Cellars.
I met with Winemaker Paul Hampton who took me straight to the cellar for a
barrel tasting. It was very unexpected and I didn’t really know what I was
tasting for?! I have never tasted unbottled/unfinished wine and it tasted very
young and green for lack of better words. The barrels had just finished
malolactic fermentation and were being assessed for quality. Paul tried
explaining all the different young flavors that we were looking for, the
different ages of the barrels and the different
coopers used but it was a lot
of information at once and I just appreciate his effort to teach an amateur. He
gave me a tour of the winery and we ran into
Steve Henschke and his loyal Dachshund.
We chatted for a bit and, as a bonus, Paul drove me to
Hill of Grace, Henschke's most notable vineyard and one of the most famous in Australia!
I am really glad I got to meet Paul Hampton. He is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and very informative.
Side note: I like to ask professionals how they chose their
profession because I am currently in the process of choosing/defining mine. Paul gave a surprisingly unique answer. He didn’t go to college but became a
successful banker and did so for ten years. Then one day realized it was not
what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He realized he was interested in becoming a
chef or winemaker. His deciding
factor, he didn’t want to come home every night smelling like fish so he chose
winemaker. I really loved his blunt yet amusing honesty. Thanks Paul!
Barrel tasting with Paul
Henschke's Laboratory
Hill of Grace...don't mind if I do! Retails around $450 per bottle. I'm not that big of a deal...I just lucked out! It was opened for some visiting Master Sommeliers and I was in the right place at the right time :)
New bottling line: cost a small fortune but now includes Henschke's new Vino-Lok closure system. It create an airtight seal that prevents oxidation and TCA contamination.
Vino-Lok test bottles
Hill of Grace!
150 year old Hill of Grace Shiraz vines. I think gnarly is a great descriptor for these!
This is what hail damage looks like
Peter Lehmann...
I didn’t get a tour but I met with Chief Winemaker
Andrew Wigan.
He just got back from judging the
Limestone Coast Wine Show and was busy
tasting the different 2012 vintage bottlings with the other winemakers but I was lucky to
steal a few moments of his time. We discussed wine as a profession, future
goals and his family’s love of wine. And I learned the interesting
history of
Peter Lehmann’s humble beginnings.
In 1978, there was a grape surplus throughout Australia. The
multi-national company that owned
Saltram Winery, where
Peter Lehmann was
winemaker/manager at the time, informed Peter that they would not buy any fruit
from the independent Barossa growers. These were vignerons whom he had known
all his life and with whom he had built up a close relationship.
Driven by his faith in the quality of wine the Barossa
produces, and his refusal to accept that these growers were to be ruined, he
persuaded friends and family to invest in an outside company he formed in order
to buy the grapes and process them into fine wine.
It was an enormous financial gamble, but he knew the odds
were stacked in his favor. He had the support of loyal winemaking and cellar
staff, who are still with him today, and above all the quality of the fruit
grown in the Barossa.
As a
Roseworthy trained winemaker, Andrew joined the Peter
Lehmann winemaking team at Saltram in 1976, a decision he describes as “the
best he ever made.” Andrew was a key member of the team, which conceived and
created their flagship wine,
Stonewell Shiraz in 1987. As well as the unique
Barossa Semillon, an unoaked style, which has become Australia’s
largest selling Semillon. The
Wigan Riesling was named after Andrew, who has
been involved in the making of every Riesling bottle since the beginning of
Peter Lehmann.
Andrew's children have followed closely in his footsteps. Both his son
and daughter work for
Yalumba just down the road; is son as a winemaker and his
daughter works in their Marketing Department. He encouraged his children to pursue other professions but it isn't difficult to be captivated, even potentially influenced, by his passion and excitement for winemaking.
Unfortunately, I did not take any photos because I was too absorbed in our conversation and I didn’t want to waste the limited time we had together. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Andrew Wigan. He was tremendously generous with his time, knowledge and advice. I most definitely plan to meet with him again when I revisit the Barossa. He has invited me back to taste the new vintage upon release and I would never pass that up! I will remember to take photos this time :)
Meet Mr. Andrew Wigan!
Penfolds...
And the list would not be complete without
Penfolds but I will give you more in-depth information while I work for them this upcoming vintage. Yup, you heard it right! I start February 1st and will be living in the Barossa Valley for 3-4 months. And no, I do not know if I get any discounts on their wines :) I'll keep you posted of course!
The collection I will learn to make!!!
