“I came from a winemaking background where I’d make one hundred, to one million litre tanks of chardonnay at a time,” says Taras Ochota from Ochota Barrels, in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. A student of oenology at Adelaide University, Taras and his partner Amber travelled the surf breaks of California, Mexico, Portugal and France, and … Continue reading ‘Turning the Screws’ – Ochota Barrels, Adelaide Hills
“Just as any fad becomes a fashion, a fashion becomes a trend, a trend becomes a change; so then, when enough changes unite, it becomes a paradigm shift…” The Wine Idealist has taken a small step into the realms of self-publishing by releasing, ‘Wine Idealism’, A Brief Introduction into the Changing State of Australian Wine. A … Continue reading Wine Idealism – The Changing State of Australian Wine
“What’s your name?” “Yow mah.” “Sorry, I didn’t understand what you just said… can you repeat that?” “Yow mah! It’s your fucking name in Catalan!” When James Erskine was travelling through Spain, he met a winemaker called Jauma (‘yow mah’), who was making wine with grenache, or rather garnacha. Unlike the beastly boozers from his … Continue reading What’s Your Name? – Jauma, Adelaide Hills, S.A.
Two years ago I attended the first Real Wine Fair as a nervous wine novice. I went to taste some wine to, perhaps, include on the list of a West London wine bar I worked in. That experience changed my perception of Australian wine forever. Two years later, I’ve been given the opportunity to go to the Real Wine Fair again, … Continue reading Advance Australia and New Zealand Real Wine Fair – 2014
1978, and a young Morgon winemaker named Marcel Lapierre is experimenting in Beaujolais with no-sulphur winemaking, from grapes grown organically. In doing so, Lapierre along with a few local cohorts, had unwittingly caused the modern genesis of vin naturel… or natural wine. Of course this didn’t happen overnight, but soon enough, with the help of some Parisian sommeliers, … Continue reading Avril Lavigne et Le Vin Naturel – Is Natural Wine a Fad?
“With the way wine seems to be going, I think you need to be a winegrower, not just a viticulturist, or winemaker,” says Jason Flowerday, winegrower, and part owner with his wife Anna, of Te Whare Ra (‘te fahree rah’ TWR), in New Zealand’s most famous wine region, Marlborough. Jason and Anna purchased TWR in 2003, … Continue reading The House in the Sun – Te Whare Ra, Marlborough NZ
“Whatever you may feel about the principals and practices of biodynamics, there are good grounds for suggesting that this is one of the most positive developments for fine wine over the past couple of decades.” – Authentic Wine, Jamie Goode, Sam Harrop MW. Preparations 500, and 501 are, no doubt, two of the most important tools … Continue reading Biodynamics 101 – The Other Preparations – 502-508
“I don’t know why everyone isn’t organic. I think it’s really simple,” says Claire Allan, winegrower and proprietor at Huia (pron. ‘who ee ah’), located in the Marlborough winegrowing region of New Zealand. “It’s just a simple set of rules that you adhere to.” Huia (named in honour of a native New Zealand bird, now … Continue reading Organics is Easy – Huia Vineyards, Marlborough, NZ
“There’s a romantic narrative in winemaking that should be told more often than what it is,” says Jarad Curwood of Chapter Wine in Victoria, “and that story should be told through the vineyard, not through the skills of the winemaker.” Jarad is a painter who gravitated toward wine’s black hole, while studying a fine arts … Continue reading Liquid Literature – Chapter Wine, Victoria
“In the new world, everyone talks about winemakers, like they’re heros,” says Hans Herzog, owner and vigneron at Hans Herzog Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand, “but we should be talking about the vineyard, and winegrowing, because that’s where wine really comes from.” Hans thinks of himself as a vigneron, a French term for someone who … Continue reading A Whole New World – Hans Herzog Estate, Marlborough N.Z.
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