James Hook - Maker of the Lazy Ballerina

Lonely Grape TV visits the Free Range Gallery.

2009-11-03T22:27:00.002+10:30

Piazza Della Valle

2009-10-30T20:56:00.009+10:30

James has been photographing the 'Piazza Della Valle' - Town Square in the valley project. The Piazza is a community designed meeting place for the heart of McLaren Vale. Viva Vale.

The Art of Wine Launch

2009-10-26T13:26:00.011+10:30

Why McLaren Vale for vineyards?

2009-10-13T20:38:00.005+10:30

The technical reasons behind the hype.

This week I have been doing some volunteer work developing some grape growing information for the McLaren Vale Visitors Centre. This Visitors Centre is staffed by volunteers who represent the region and help face the hundreds of tourists who visit McLaren Vale each day. We all recognise the value of these volunteers and the work they do on the regions behalf. It is important they are armed with information to help guide the visitors to our region.

One of the interesting questions they are often asked by tourist is ‘Why is McLaren Vale good for grape growing?’

McLaren Vale has come a long way in the last ten years. From relative obscurity the region has risen to be recognised as a producer of some of the world’s best red wine.

Why is McLaren Vale one of the new world’s best wine regions? You often hear quotes about how the quality of our wines is helped by the regions climate. This got me thinking how many people realise just how special the McLaren Vale region is? Unless we all realise how special it is there is a risk, as farming goes through some hard times, that productive and wonderful land will be chopped up for housing.

McLaren Vale wines are distinguished by their ripeness, elegance, structure, power and complexity.

This is because McLaren Vale is an ideal location. The Mediterranean climate of warm, dry days and cool nights during the growing season assists in development of intense flavour and colour in our wines. Good winter rainfall satisfies the water requirement of the vines until late in the season when some top up is made with subterranean water from our well regulated aquifer, or alternatively from recycled water.

During summer our climate is often shielded from extremely hot weather by the Gulf of St Vincent and the Mt Lofty Ranges. If it rained more in summer or if the region was hit by frosts or heat waves our grape growing would be less reliable.

The grape growers of McLaren Vale have a particular way of speaking about their produce. An old-time McLaren Vale grape grower calls their red wine making fruit- ‘my black grapes’. Modern testing techniques have shown they are right! McLaren Vale Shiraz produces some of the highest colour scores in grapes ever recorded. The grapes are not soft red like other regions. When they are ripe they leave a purple stain.

The reason is simple - small berry size. Smaller berries have a higher skin: pulp ratio. Berry skin contains flavournols (Anti-sunburn in grapes, 'flavour' in wine), Anthocynins (colour) and other complex molecules that add to wine complexity. Grape pulp contains sugar and water. Therefore the more skin to pulp the more complex the wine. Think the circumference of a circle to the area. The bigger the circle the greater the internal area.

Berry size in McLaren Vale is controlled by the vigour and nutrient status of the vine at certain specific times in the vines growth. Regulated Deficient Irrigation (RDI) is a technique to keep berry size small but not overly reduce the final yield. RDI involves placing a moderate water stress on the vines for a period after flowering has finished. This can occur naturally, and is the reason that McLaren and Barossa have been historically been areas for fortified port and table wine. The dry weather in McVale helps because low summer rainfall gives us much better control of soil moisture, the same in the Barossa, in the Coonawarra although it gets much more rainfall, the soil is shallow and runs out of water at about the right time.

While McLaren Vale is best known for producing outstanding Shiraz, the region’s ideal climate and diverse vineyard sites- ‘terrior’ lends itself to ideal grape growing conditions for producing a number of varieties which we are only just exploring.

We make world class Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon and McLaren Vale grape growers are utilising the region’s diverse range of climates and soils has led to experimentation with emerging varieties such as the fresh whites Fiano, Savagnin, Marsanne and the strong red Tempranillo.

It would be a shame not to continue to work on our natural advantages and protect our wonderful farming land for the future.

The Art of Wine Invite

2009-10-03T19:56:00.000+09:30

James Hook the Art of Wine 2009

The art of social media.

2009-09-18T19:14:00.002+09:30

In 2004 I started an elaborate hobby. My hobby has become my job. Your hobby or passion could become yours. Social media can allow you to create a business from your kitchen table. It is ideal for artists, musicians and small family businesses.
I starting making wine and fortunately it proved to be good. It allowed me to continue the next year. Each release sold well and in turn I was able to reinvest each year and grow a little business. Over time I managed to drag my whole family into the wine industry. Fast forward to today and together we now run a cellar door with the full complications and workload that entails.

One of the most important things that has allowed this to happen is the new phenomenon of social media. Along the way it has help my business grow. It has become so important that social media I am not sure I would have a chance in the tough world that is wine.

Let me explain.

The burn around social media often centers on the technologies like Facebook, blogs, Twitter, etc. etc. But it isn’t all about gadgets. The power of social media is that it's about the relationships it builds and supports, not the technologies. I have been able to talk to customers all over the world from my living room. With my computer I have gained peers and supporter from all sorts of places, I can talk to them and they can talk to me at anytime.

You might think that I spend all day chatting about the weather, but in reality I am able to build awareness about my wines on no budget at all. I can find out what is happening in big markets of Sydney and Melbourne without leaving my home in Adelaide.
Usefully many wine journalist and media are online too. I don’t have to have a large marketing budget or conduct awareness campaigns. In just a few simple messages I can let them know what I am up to.

In my industry a well run marketing awareness campaign, whether it be a wine neck tag offering a prize, a celebrity endorsement, or a new cute koala label – or whatever – can do incredibly well for the wine producer. It is also very expensive and I can guarantee this, at the end of the day the wine producer (through market intelligence etc) may know who buys their wine, but I guarantee they don’t know them personally!

Well get this… the world is changing, and if you produce anything and you are not actively attempting to know your customer personally, through the tools that are now available, then you could be in trouble.

My tips to any small family business.

- Be yourself and be genuine.

- Go ahead and create profiles of yourself or your passion on all the social networks. This will give you contacts in an up-to-date list for when you have a new album out or news about your gigs.

- Take time to talk to other similar businesses or those with interest you find.

- Create a blog with an RSS feed for people to receive updates on your art directly, and create a homepage on the web you can direct traffic to through social networks.

- Take lots of photos of what you are doing. People are interested in what it takes to put that show, or art work, or wine together.

- Build a list of trade publications, blogs etc. who might cover what you make or are involved with. When you have news, organize it into a clean document for them with images and samples, and present it to them in a personal, direct manner. Publications are always looking for new stories and people to write on, you’d be surprised how responsive they’ll be for an excited, up-and-comer who is pitching them in a respectful manner.

The social media revolution is just starting and it has been a total revelation to me. I’ve not only helped keep my family business going, I have met some incredible people and they have become my friends. And yes, sometimes we do talk about the weather, but you would be surprised how interested people can be in that!

James Hook makes Lazy Ballerina -www.lazyballerina.com in McLaren Vale. He is a wine blogger and photographer on www.jameshookwine.blogspot.com and tweets on www.twitter.com/lazyballerina

Lazy Ballerina 2008 wine launch

2009-09-10T16:19:00.001+09:30

Lazy Ballerina Release

Does McLaren Vale have an organic future?

2009-09-09T18:46:00.005+09:30

Could the McLaren Vale region be one big sustainable food basket? James Hook argues the answer has to be yes.

If McLaren Vale has a future as a farming region it must embrace sustainable farming. It needs to produce products that attract premium prices to be financially sustainable. It needs to act as a steward for the region and protect the area from the perils of urbanization. The widespread adoption sustainable, high quality farming taking the best from organic and/or biodynamic techniques will maintain the vitality of the region and give McLaren Vale producers a sustained competitive advantage in their winemaking. This will allow higher prices for grapes which increases the value of the land, which decreases the pressure to put in housing.
I feel the way to do this is to adopt sustainable farming accreditation and policing for the whole district, as an industry and as a community to challenge ourselves, set an example and reap the benefits.

Reduced demand, lower wine grape prices and diminishing profit margins mean production of high quality fruit in McLaren Vale has become vital for winegrowers. For ill or good the strength and growth in the wine industry has greatly contributed to the region. The future of the grape growing and winemaking and the future of the area are intertwined. At present there is an oversupply of C grade fruit in the region, fruit that is made into wine in the $10-15 dollar per bottle range. There is high demand for A grade fruit which produces wine above $25 per bottle. It is at these quality levels that the majority of viticultural businesses need to be producing to be profitable. Conventional agriculture has not given us that with much of our fruit falling below the top grades.

What we describe as conventional agriculture is a recent trend. With the appearance of cheap mineral fertilisers and pesticides in the early 1950s, farmers quickly abandoned traditional or organic methods of farming and became heavily dependent on both agrochemicals and labour-saving machinery. Farmers discontinued organic methods not because they did not work but because they could not compete with the new type of agriculture.
Accepted practice viewed organic farming as inefficient. The race was to grow the most, not to grow in the most sustainable way. Grape growers received similar prices whether they grew 5 tonnes to the hectare or 15 tonnes. The emphasis was big is better. In spite of this, organic farming was pioneered because many local growers looked for ways to reduce the amount of fertilisers and pesticides they were using.

Enter the modern concept of sustainable farming. Not a return to the past, rather a marriage of scientific advances with traditional practices.

In the McLaren Vale wine industry, Battle of Bosworth, Rino and Greta Ozzella at Grancari Estate and many others certified their vineyard organic. Unsung growers like the late Modestino Piombo developed a successful vineyard at Sellicks Hill with little more than a dodge plow and wettable sulphur. Recently Paxton viticulture have successfully converted significant amounts of vineyard to BioDynamics, an organic system with soil as the key factor in farming, and sustainability as the goal. Gemtree wines and the Leask family also have wide scale

Following the lead of these pioneers elements of the organic and biodynamic philosophy have been starting catch on with mainstream grape growers.

The pioneers were concerned, above all else, about the soil beneath their feet.
Organic and Biodynamic philosophy is centred on practices designed to improve the richness and stability of the soil by restoring its organic matter and avoiding synthetic chemicals.

Not surprisingly this commitment to soil balance also has a flow on effect to wine quality. Many of the characteristics of a well maintained organic or biodynamic vineyard have the same traits of vineyards that achieve A grade results. This is particularly the case with McLaren Vale staples Shiraz and Grenache. They have moderate vigour, develop open canopies, catch a good deal of sunlight, have thicker skins, are not over fertilised and have balanced soil.

McLaren Vale has many advantages that make sustainable wine production a reality. The area has creek lines and roadsides that can be re-vegetated to offset farming energy demands and electrical power can be generated from shed and winery roof space. McLaren Vale’s soils are perfect for farming and we have a ready supply of organic fertilisers from Adelaide’s waste and animal farming nearby.

Currently 40% of the grape growers water needs are filled by reclaimed water from Adelaide with plans ahead to increase this, and the balance of water comes from underground sources which are carefully monitored to make sure are healthy.

Pastures grow well in between our vine rows stopping soil erosion. Mechanical weeding or new plant based herbicides can control weeds where they are not needed.

McLaren Vale has relatively low risk of disease affecting yield and quality. Powdery Mildew is a slow creeping disease that is limited by sunlight. Open canopies that let sunlight into the fruit zone inhibit its growth naturally; these same open canopies have the advantage of suiting A grade red wine production. Organically registered products like sulphur are effective in controlling the disease.

Downy Mildew is a rare occurrence in the district with the last significant outbreak in 1992. Downy Mildew needs wet summers where significant rain occurs in November and December. Wet summers are infrequent. When the next wet summer comes with increased knowledge about the disease, I believe with the correct timing, grape growers can use copper as an emergency measure to limit Downy’s effects and still meet organic requirements. Botrytis is a hit and miss problem. A grade red varieties with tough skins will always fair better than those which are pumped up and weak skinned. Nature is clever like that.

The pioneers have showed the district how. The opportunity is here to make the region the centre of sustainable grape growing. Organic practices use cheap and locally available resources. Vineyards are being successfully farmed avoiding factors over which farmers have little control: mineral fertilisers and synthetic pesticides.

I feel adopting organic practices on a wide scale represents an effective way to reduce the oversupply of C grade fruit and promote more fruit into the A grade. Is organic certification, or whole hearted Biodynamics in its pure form the solution, maybe not? However the concept of widespread semi-organics by adopting organic techniques to increase soil health, decrease the use of unnecessary farm inputs and push towards sustainability is attainable and attractive.

I am not suggesting we change the world, just look at what is happening in the region and see where we fit into it. We have made a reasonable start, now is the time to keep striving.

McLaren Vale’s prototype sustainable farming system – Generational Farming - will be launched October.

It has been put together with the voluntary time of Jock Harvey (Chalk Hill Viticulture), Kym Davey (Shingleback Wines), David Hansen (Fosters), Fiona Wood (Terraces Vineyard Management), Tony Hoare (Hoare Consulting) and Derek Cameron and James Hook (DJ’s Growers).

Dr AC Kelly 19th Century Hero

2009-08-22T16:58:00.002+09:30

To quote Dr A C Kelly from Winegrowing in Australia published in 1867 -

'The time has come when the winegrowers of this colony must bestir themselves and boldly face the difficulties before them. They must be prepared to take their stand on the ground already occupied by the experienced winegrowers of Europe.

'All have a direct interest in each other's success, for according to the quality of wine produced for export will be our status as a winegrowing country.

'No petty jealousies need stand in the way of that friendly rivalry to produce the best wine which ought to be the endeavour of each winegrower.'

Now is the time...

McLaren Facts

2009-08-18T18:46:00.010+09:30

Hot town: McLaren Vale’s consistent warm summer climate and coastal proximity areis ideally suited to super premium winegrape production.
Seaview: McLaren Vale is one of the few areas in the world where grapes are grown so close to the ocean. Many of the best vineyards have a view to the Gulf of St Vincent.

Trad is rad: McLaren Vale has strong traditions. Our winemaking history dates back to 1838- with vines still in production from Dr AC Kelly’s original farm ‘Upper Tintara’ - section 605- hundred of the township of McLaren Vale. Old vines in McLaren Vale are responsible for wines that regularly win top awards around the world.

Big time: McLaren Vale is one of the top three producing regions in South Australia with 6,523 hectares of vines planted. Wine and tourism are the biggest employers in the area.

Black grape: The grapegrowers of McLaren Vale have a particular way of speaking about their produce. An old-time McLaren Vale grapegrower calls their red wine making fruit- ‘my black grapes’. Modern testing techniques have shown they are right! McLaren Vale produces some of the highest colour scores in grapes ever recorded. The grapes are not soft red like other regions when ripe they leave a purple stain.

Crush: The area has one major grape variety, Shiraz with 3,218 hectares planted. Other major varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon with 1,288 ha planted and, Chardonnay with 722 ha planted and Grenache with 402 ha - much of this as dry-grown bush vines.

Young but not in a hurry

2009-08-17T20:38:00.005+09:30

Article in the Australian - 15/8/2009 - www.theaustralian.news.com.au

If you want to taste the youthful enthusiasm pulsing through McLaren Vale's wine community right now, visit Justin McNamee at Samuel's Gorge.

This wonderfully quirky cellar-door hideout is in a converted 1850s barn on a sheer ridgetop overlooking the Onkaparinga River. With a low-walled garden, stone floors, ancient olive presses and tiny rooms stuffed with barrels of red wine, it’s a cross between a remote Sardinian shepherd’s hut and a Burgundian cellar. Like a wild-haired alchemist-philosopher, McNamee dispenses shots of energy and wisdom from behind a huge, chunky espresso machine plonked on the tasting counter.

“In the last few years all we've read abuot ahd heard about is the doom and gloon of the wine industry," he says, knocking back another short black. But that's not what I see in McLaren Vale. Here, there’s an explosion of young people saying, ‘Times are tough, but what can we do to change things around?’ And then just doing it. It’s f..king brilliant, I reckon.”

“Doing it” means, first, drought-proofing the region: as with almost 50 per cent of the vineyards in the Vale, the grapes at Samuel’s Gorge are irrigated with reclaimed wastewater. “Doing it” means throwing away the chemicals: close to a quarter of all the region’s vineyards are now farmed using organic and biodynamic methods. “Doing it” means both embracing the region’s traditions (McNamee’s grenache and shiraz are fermented in big old slate vats rescued from an overgrown paddock) and exploring new grapes such as tempranillo.

“It’s all about getting good grainy texture in the wines to counter McLaren Vale’s natural juiciness,” he says. “There’s been a lot of apathetic winemaking here in the past, during the boom times, because we get the sunshine, we get the sweet fruit. But mid-palate opulence is easy. Complexity’s the hard part.”

McNamee is building that complexity by carefully blending grapes from the Vale’s many distinct terroirs – “tar flavours from the seaside vines, spice from our own south-facing hillside vines, chunky fruit from the black, black clays” – and building structure through extended skin and lees contact. “I take my time,” he says. “It’s the Slow Food philosophy applied to wine. No rush.”

A terrible waste of ink...

2009-08-06T21:24:00.015+09:30

This article appeared in the Daily Wine News of 6/8/2009.

I have never been to Shoalhaven. Based on the misleading, misinformed information below, I never will. My comments are inbold italics below.

James Hook

Shoalhaven Wineries lead the way in use of social media and harvest technologies http://www.winebiz.com.au/dwn/details.asp?ID=2675

Shoalhaven wineries are leading the way in the use of social media in Australia to attract new visitors to wineries and investing heavily in new equipment in their ongoing quest to develop high quality, market leading wines.
Rajarshi Ray, owner of the dual branded Silos Estate and Wileys Creek wineries commented "We were the first winery in Australia to develop a Twitter presence, and this has attracted a whole new range of people – local and overseas — finding out about us and the South Coast region.

There have been many on Twitter who question this. They believe that Silos Estate was not the first to use this technology. Additionally Silos Estates only have 21 followers on Twitter and you do not follow anyone else. This would lead to questions on the validity of their social media credentials.

He added, "Earlier this year, we preceded this by being amongst the first wineries in Australia to have a Facebook and Skype presence. These tools allow us to engage with customers and visitors alike in an ongoing conversation about our wineries — and the wine region as a whole."

For context Silos Estates have 21 followers. Why is this news? Teusner Wines has 20x more followers, and would have a greater claim to be a proponent of using social media.

Further down the coast, Louise Cole, owner of Cambewarra Estate pointed to the use of mechanical harvesters for their picking season as key to the improvement in their wine quality in recent years. "Not only has the cost of labour been reduced, but most importantly the crushing can now be done on site before we send to our winemaker as picking is so much faster. This makes a dramatic difference to the quality of the end product," she said.

It has been so successful other winemaking regions are now using our equipment to make a similar level of improvement in their wines" she added. Machine harvesters have been used since the 1970's. That technology is older than I am. If you have just discovered it - congratulations, but please don't be offended if I tell you that this is irrelevent to the rank and file wine industry.

Sometimes there is an anger in me. I feel this 'news story' is Nero fiddling while Rome burns. There is real news out there.

Reply from Silos Estate:

Dear James,

We hope this e-mail finds you well.

We were doing some work this evening and came across your blog...and your notes. Certainly not our intention to mislead, but we were advised fairly early in the piece that we were the first winery to go for Twitter. We set up a Facebook page almost a year and a half ago, but were not sure about the technology...and indeed what it meant so we never discussed it. We were asked by several wine commentators to encourage other wineries to look at the use of socal technology...hence the comments in the press release.

The harvester comments are interesting and valid, but remember for small winery regions like the Shoalhaven...this does represent a big advance, as most of the time they are sending it offsite uncrushed and creating quality problems during transport. At a total regional crush of less than 500 tonnes at present, for wineries like Cambewarra this is a big advance (we only do 20 tonnes and it’s all hand picked but processed on site).

We wish you success with this years vintage (we have already had bud burst!) and look forward to reading more of your comments (for good or bad!) in future.

Your Hosts,

Sophie and Rajarshi

Twitter wineries

2009-07-16T22:57:00.001+09:30

Did you know the five wineries with most followers on Twitter are:
@eaglesnestwine
@teusnerwine
@pinotblogger
@tasselridge
@MoutonNoirWines

Great to see Teusner's so high on the list.

The Horrible March of the Wine Aphid... Phylloxera

2009-07-12T15:27:00.016+09:30

The Great French Wine Blight. Are we at risk of the modern version?

"THE PHYLLOXERA, A TRUE GOURMET, FINDS OUT THE BEST VINEYARDS AND ATTACHES ITSELF TO THE BEST WINES." Cartoon from Punch, September 6, 1890, by Edward Linley Sambourne (January 4, 1844–August 3, 1910).

When looking at the current problems facing the wine industry there is a secret risk that could destroy the most valuable asset we have, old vines on their own roots. By historical accident the old vineyards in McLaren Vale, the Barossa, the Clare and Eden Valleys and Coonawarra have become the great survivors.

These old vines have helped these wine regions continues to produce wines that are some of the best in the world. Wine producers like Wendouree, Henschke, Teusner, Kay Brothers and grape growers like Vince De Lisio to name a few are guardians of priceless old vines. However these vines are now threatened. With the push for wine tourism, and wider travel comes the risk of an economic crash that will change our regions forever.

The risk comes from a little aphid that only lives on the roots of grapevines.

The threat has always been with us (the Phylloxera aphid arrived in Australia circa 1877) but since it remained, against the odds, confined to the North Eastern Victoria and Nagambie areas for so long, it has dropped off many wine growers radars. Maybe it's the recent increase in plantings which has reduced the distance between vineyards, or maybe people became too casual with the protocols after getting away with living with the threat for so long but something has changed and Phylloxera has now quickly become a more immediate threat to all own rooted vineyards in Australia.

Phylloxera represents a clear and present danger to Australian vineyards now. For how serious this could be we only need to look back to histroy to show us how.

Phylloxera was thought to have arrived into Europe sometime around 1858, or 1860. It was introduced from North America. It can hardly be seen with the naked eye. There had been trade in grape stock between the two continents for over two hundred years previous, but no one had notice the grape aphid.

It is likely Phylloxera only became a problem in France after the invention of steamships. This new technology allowed a fast journey across the Atlantic ocean, allowing the Phylloxera to survive the trip. An increase in fast travel and between the continents made its introduction inevitable.

The French initially did not know what Phylloxera was doing to there vines, they just saw the effect, a sudden vine death which they likened to consumption. In 1863 the first cases had turned up in the old region of Languedoc.

They called it wine blight. This wine blight caused the entire course of French industry to change and is estimated to have cost double the repatriations the French had to supply Prussia after their losing war of 1870.

For many this might seem like an ancient history lesson, irrelevant with the pressures of a recession and environmental concerns like droughts and fires, but the parallels between the past and present seem obvious to me.

I am scared of a repeat.

South Australia now faces the imminent arrive of the blight. With the an increase in travel and tourism between our wine regions being encouraged, the chances of Phylloxera continuing to break out of its containment in Victoria increases directly with every air flight or road trip between the two states.

As financial pressure is put on wine businesses corners will be cut. Vineyard hygiene will be cut back where grape growers and wineries find the cut the costs of maintaining vineyard cleanliness. This short term financial distraction could let a lond term destruction slip through into South Australia.

An introduction of the aphid would cause a modern upset that would could rival the original for economic catastrophe. The original outbreak saw 40% of French vineyards devastated over a 15 year period, from the late 1850s to the mid 1870s. The French economy was badly hit by the blight; many businesses were lost, and wages in the wine industry were cut to less than half. Farmers were ruined.

Waves of immigrants moved to California and Algiers to start anew.

Remember that the rapid spread of the pest was in an era where the only fast travel between wine regions was by train, or river barge. It is notable that the spread of Phylloxera initially followed the main river valley of the Rhone from Languedoc to the centre of France.

Ironically in Tuscany the railways were blamed for the scourge. They called the railway a devils tool and thought it unnatural because it laid long tracks of iron into the soil. The Tuscan grape growers ripped up several miles of track in fear.

After a start in the Rhone Valley, the disease spread across the French Alps and across the Pyrenees. Bordeaux was also breached and by 1884 over a million hectares of French vineyards were dead or dying. As the plague spread, church bells were rung in alarm, anti-pest syndicates were formed, and a burn-or-perish approach was regretfully adopted.

It was not until 1868 that the French biologist Jules- Emile Planchon and two colleagues, chanced upon a group of Phylloxera sucking from the roots of a plant that a theory on the blight's cause by the Phylloxera was formed.

Once the cause of the problem was discovered, there was no apparent solution. A large cash prize was offered for a cure and many off-the-wall ideas were tested, but the prize was never awarded.

Removing and burning infested vines was only marginally effective in slowing the spread.

The only option to keep the wine industry going was suggested by two french wine growers, Leo Laliman and Gaston Bazille, who both felt if European vines could be combined, by means of grafting, with the phylloxera-resistant American vines, then the problem might be solved.

The process was colloquially termed "reconstitution" by French wine growers.

If Phylloxera came to McLaren Vale today, this remains the only solution. Our vineyards would have to be pulled up and replanted as grafted vines. Classic vineyards like Hill of Grace in the Eden Valley would have to be reconstituted because they will die from phylloxera eating the vines roots.

A more recent lesson in the destructive abilities of Phylloxera is occurring now. Attempts in the 1960s by the viticulturists of the University of California to replace older rootstocks with the ominously named AxR1 rootstock. AxR1 performed wonderfully for a while, but a new strain of Phylloxera overcame its resistance. California experienced its own rapid outbreak, only now satellite and DNA technology was available to track the spread of infection, and Californian vineyards are now in the process of replanting at an estimated cost of between half a billion and a billion dollars.

While we do have the advantage, in modern times, in that we now know what causes the death of vines and how Phylloxera can be detected. This knowledge is not widely known.

How much of the Phylloxera story is known by those who we are encouraging to travel in our wine districts? Does the staff on your friendly budget airline warn you of the dangers of traveling from the Yarra Valley to Adelaide? Nothing is said. Fruitfly; yes... Phylloxera; no.

Unless a widespread campaign is conducted we could face our own blight. South Australia's hundred year old vineyards could be chewed up like their French forebares. The campaign needs to target externally the tourists we are attracting and internally the wine industry itself. Phylloxera needs to be taken seriously, now, before it is too late.

It would be introduced accidentally by a tourists boot or a dirty tractor tire. It would take a few years to be noticed. We might have an advanced technology like satellite imagary to track its progress, but we would stand little better chance than out 19th Century compatriots of stopping a huge economic upheaval to an already stressed industry.

An increase in wine tourism could save our wine regions from the tough economic times it now faces. However, like the steamships of old, the airflights and tour buses could also bring with them a pest that can't be shaken - a ruinous aphid to claim the oldest remaining vines in the world.

History of the McLaren Vale Wine Region - Part 1 - John Reynell

2009-06-24T14:01:00.019+09:30

Picking Grapes at Reynella in 1896 (c) SA Library

Reynella.

The story of Reynella is well known, as it should be, it is the first story in what becomes the history 'McLaren Vale wine.' Of course at the start it was nothing so grand. There was no marketing, no parades and no wine shows, just one man, his wife and a section of land in the Hurtle Vale.

Even early in our wine history if you were into viticulture in South Australia you owed a debt to John Reynell. He was the first settler to fence his property, on of the first settlers to plant a vineyard and the first to dig a wine cellar. Most notably, in 1850, he took on a young man named Thomas Hardy to help him to tend to the vineyards. By the 1860's he had twenty odd vintages under his belt.

Fellow McLaren Vale wine pioneers Dr Alex C. Kelly and George Manning got their inspiration from John Reynell. The three regularly traded grape cuttings, wine and ideas.

Sir James Hardy, the great grandfather of Thomas Hardy, reflected in 1984, on the day that Thomas walked down John Reynell's driveway and asked for a job. He wondered what they would have thought about the wonders of 1980's wine technology.

Sir James said,"I wonder what they would have thought about what we are doing today..."

I would answer, they would have been amazed by our technology, but we should be equally amazed that they made grape growing work without it, in a hostile land, without anything more complicated than a horse, cart and hand tools. These were flesh and blood people. Creative, bold and daring.

I think John would be amazed we remember him.

A pruning demonstration in Reynella in 1923 (c) SA Library.

The first vintage John Reynell produced was in 1842, in a time before yeast was discovered and he built the Old Cave cellar in 1845. This was his low tech version of temperature control.

The cellar survives in part of the grounds of Constellations Wines Australia Head Office.

John Reynell was born in Bristol, England, on February 9, 1809. After his father’s death when he was only 14, Reynell left England and worked in Egypt, America, Europe and Russia. He worked to better himself.

At age 29 he emigrated to South Australia, arriving in 1838. He had a shipboard romance and married fellow-passenger, Mary Lucas, in 1839.

Reynell's tough working life had given him a strong sense of resourcefulness. He was a capable, strong minded man, and with the support of his wife, he was an ideal pioneer.

John Reynell's own letters claim he was the first settler to enclose his entire 80-acre (32 ha) section of settlement land. A little later he had to cut his fences to allow for the alignment of a proposed road for the passage of a regular mail run to Encounter Bay which was established by the end of 1839.

The path that the mail route took became the 'Great South Road,' now Main South Road.

In 1841, Reynell began the planting of his vineyard with cuttings he had planted the year earlier at a temporary site on the banks of the Field River, now part of the suburb of Hallett Cove.

His first vineyard was called Stony Hill and he would have planted his vines as one year old rootlings. The next year he continued planting his farm establishing vineyards on his home farm which is now the winery site across the road.

By 1854 there was a demand for land for housing in the area and in February of that year, John Reynell drew up a Notice of Sale for a portion of his Reynella Farm for the establishment of the township of Reynella.

Reynell subdivided his farm and they named the town after his wine label.

By 1866 the town had a steam flour mill, hotel, post office, general store, school
and chapel. However by the end of the Nineteenth Century as many farmers had moved to
the Northern agricultural lands, Reynella was said to be "a village of the past, as several ruined houses along the road remain to testify.”

John Reynell died in 1873 and is buried at Christ Church, O’Halloran Hill. His sons, Walter and Carew Reynell, took over the wine production.

In the 1950s and 60s the town of Reynella became engulfed in urban expansion and has become largely a residential area. In a twist of fate, the company former Reynell employee Thomas Hardy created, Thomas Hardy and Sons, ended up purchasing the Reynella Winery in 1982.

Ironically, today there a much debate today about plans to subdivide Reynell's original Stony Hill Vineyard, together with Reynella home block they have lasted into the modern age. The buildings are heritage listed, but Stony Hill has become separated.

The value of buildings can be measured, however old farming land less so. What value does the efforts of the Reynell's have? What value is the site where Thomas Hardy sweated in the summer sun, while John Reynell taught him how to weed using a horse drawn plough? On pure economics very little.

As a vineyard those original vines Reynell planted have long since gone. The Stony Hill vineyard has replacable stock, the oldest current vines date back to 1968. The vineyard no longer has significant value as a farm. Yet it remains as a link to a pioneer who we all owe so much. At the very least it is a living link to a man to took pride in his resourcefulness.

In today's wine world the name Reynella survives as the Chateau Reynella wine range and other similarly named products from Constellation Wines Australia.

More obtusely Geoff Merrill Wines also remembers those pioneering days as his Mt Hurtle Winery. Mt Hurtle was purchased by Mostyn Owen in 1897 and named after the original name for the wider Reynella area - Hurtle Vale. Geoff Merrill was the winemaker for Chateau Reynella during the 1980's and is a living link between the pioneering winemakers and the present age.

References:

Burden, Rosemary – Wines & Wineries of the Southern Vales (Adelaide 1976)
Reynell, Lenore & Margaret Hopton – John Reynell of Reynella: A South Australian Pioneer (Adelaide 1988)
Hardy, Sir James - Age Newspaper, Oct 23 (Melbourne 1984)
White, Philip - www.drankster.blogspot.com (2009)

Winter weather

2009-06-21T09:39:00.003+09:30

The Kuitpo region is a beautiful area, but it is cold at the moment. Many mornings have a frosty start which melts as the sun rises.

Top Wines Revisited...

2009-06-08T19:14:00.018+09:30

In interesting re-visit, three years ago I wrote about the turning of the tide towards small producers in McLaren Vale. I picked my top eight Shiraz's from McLaren Vale that no one had ever heard of…

I mused that they were going to become regarded as some of Australia’s best.

Ambitiously I put Lazy Ballerina on the list. I will leave you, the reader to judge how Lazy has performed.

Of the others, with three years hindsight I can look at these predictions to see how they have gone.

Thomas Vineyard Estate - www.thomasvineyards.com

This winery picked up a swag of awards for its 2004 wines, and this has continued with its later releases. Despite this it is still not a very well known wine, it is often confused with the wines of the late Wayne Thomas, but it has had strong reviews from Huon Hooke which has lead to distribution in the Eastern states.

2004 Shiraz accolades included;

Top 100 Blue-Gold Winner. 2007 Sydney International Wine Show
Gold Medal. 2006 Royal National Wine Show of Australia
Silver medal. Rated 13th best Shiraz - 2006 Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge
Gold medal. 2005 Commonwealth Bank McLaren Vale Wineshow
Silver medal. Rated 7th best Shiraz - 2007 Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge
Gold Medal/Outstanding Wine. 2007 Winewise Small Vinerons Awards
Bronze Medal. 2008 International Wine & Spirits Fair London

That is an impressive list. Very few wines would achieve these level of awards, let alone the first wine from a small semi-retired grapegrowers.

La Curio http://lacuriowines.com/cms/

A pro. Since 2004 Adam Hooper has picked up a Decanter World Wine Trophy Winner (2005 Shiraz Grenache) & McLaren Vale Best Boutique Trophy Winner (2005 Shiraz). Hooper’s winemaking is as cutting edge as anyone, anywhere and he continues to push the boundaries of winemaking as far as anyone in the industry is prepared to go.
Within two to three years I think La Curio will for fill the prediction of being one of Australia’s best.

2004 Shiraz accolades
Gold Australia Small Winemakers Show
Silver McLaren Vale Wine Show

Fathen

Picked up some good reviews from Winestate in its initial year. Produced a promising follow up in 2005, but owners Jon and Claire Wright have since concentrated on grape production and no further wines have been produced. Fathen is on hold looking to re-emerge when the vintages are more favourable.

Petagna - www.petagnawines.com

Petagna with phone and pressure gauge.

Paul Petagna behind is behind Piombo and Sellicks Hill Wines. After the 2004 Piombo Paul became a darling of followers of the Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker and Dr Jay Miller, exporting to the US almost exclusively, making full flavoured wines and getting full flavoured scores.

Sounds ideal? Not quite. Paul’s wines were overpriced in the US – calling gouging – by an importer and with the downturn in the US economy the market couldn’t sustain this.

The upside of Global Financial turmoil is that more wines are now available at home, rather than produced and sold for export only.

With a focus on the domestic market you will hear a lot more about Paul’s activities.

Windrow Chellaston Close

A ‘micro’ wine enterprise – a single vineyard special with the wine made from fruit from a single Sellicks foothill block. Unfortunately the vineyard was sold in 2007 and that has curtailed the wine.

We will never know if this wine would have reached its potential.

Pertaringa Undercover - www.pertaringa.com.au

The winery has been owned and operated for three decades by two of the McLaren Vale most well-known and respected viticulturists, Geoff Hardy and Ian Leask.

It has been a sleeper.

90/100 The Wine Advocate
Silver medal – Royal Melbourne Wine Show 2005 (Class 20)
Trophy Decanter Magazine.

Inkwell http://www.inkwellwines.com/Inkwell_Wines/Welcome.html

Inkwell produces single vineyard wines. Dudley Brown and his wife Karen arrived in McLaren Vale from Newport Beach, California in 2003 and established Inkwell. They took a rundown vineyard and quickly pushed it into the vitcultural limelight.

Then they were thrown a curveball when, in a freaky coincidence, a UK based wine merchant started to produce an unrelated ‘Inkwell’ wine. Confusion about who had the name first delayed the release of the original McLaren Vale Inkwell for 18 months.

Inkwell is now starting to get some traction with Campbell Mattinson writing - "A name to watch - and we also notice that grapes grown on this vineyard made it into Chapel Hill's top flight 2007 Vicar Shiraz. All the signs here are good.”
________________________________________

Pertaringa has a wide distribition and has continued to go about the business of making high quality wine. Fathen and Windrow have become casualties of the wine industry and we don’t know what these wines could have done.

Of our truly small winery predictions list perhaps La Curio has the biggest profile amongst the cult wine fraternity.

Thomas Vineyard Estate is the most awarded winery here and if this continues the Thomas's are set to get an increasing share of attention. To go the the next level may prove difficult but any distributors reading this should give them strong consideration. You can't get better quality and more awards from such a small producer.

Now free of overseas issues Petagna Wines and Inkwell are looking likely to do the same. Watch this space.

Big Red Wine Book.

2009-05-25T16:23:00.004+09:30

Latest News...

Top 25 Shiraz of the Year - Big Red Wine Book by Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh

#1 Penfolds Grange 2004 / #5 Chapel Hill Vicar Shiraz / #14 Lazy Ballerina Reserve Shiraz

The review says - Mattinson sneaked a bottle of this into a tasting of elite shiraz, all to be judged by a panel of elite wine professionals. The wines ranged from $25 to $200 per bottle and the identity of each wine was masked. Many picked this wine as their favourite!

Because it is a small-run this will sell fast - at least, go to the website and get yourself on the mailing list.

Whatever happened to Balmoral Syrah?

2009-05-01T14:20:00.005+09:30

I was looking at quoff wine and came across the following review of Balmoral Syrah 2002.

“What the heck happened? Who knows, not just with the 2002 Balmoral, but the whole product line and brand.

The wine has gone from being a top shelf, desirable icon to just another $20 wine in Dan Murphy's in 2007... No further releases since?

Curious.” JAMBO

I was searching for this wine because I had a conversation with a Fosters Employee who did not know that the 2002 Balmoral, previously an McLaren Vale Icon, was discounted to $20.00 per wine in a 6 pack in 2007. They were insistent I was wrong, however I looked on the net and found this article from TORB is 2007 -torbwine.com

I am curious? Where did it go? Will it come back?

A quick history of McLaren Vale

2009-05-01T13:06:00.001+09:30

View McLaren Vale Historic Names in a larger map

What is in a name? Click on the map to find out more.

Originally the area which we now call the McLaren Vale Wine Region had many different names, one for each of the hamlets or groupings of farms that were settled in the 1800 and 1900’s. Overtime these names have been swallowed up into the towns we now call McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat and Willunga, but for those with a sense of history they live on if you look closely.

One hamlet has survived with its own postcode. Landcross Farm, which is uniquely 5170, centered on and named after the farm property which has been rejuvenated by Paxton Wines.

A few of the original settlement names have been merged into common postcodes but survived as map or service addresses. Whites Valley and Willunga South, which are both part of the Willunga postcode 5172, live on as utility addresses. Tatachilla also remains in common usage both as an address, winery brand and school, despite being swallowed by the McLaren Vale.

Some names live on as business names, Hillside formerly near McLaren Flat , lives on as Hillside Haulage the Sullivan families freight business. Taranga, which was the southern section of a farm established by William and Elizabeth Oliver when they settled in 1841, lives on in several business and property names.

Others names have fallen out of general use and remain as property names, like Bethany or Beltunga. Some have fallen out of usage entirely like Gloucester.

Why this happened makes an interesting story.

The first amalgamation of names was due to a natural increase in population. As settlers arrived in the area hamlets merged together to form towns.

Originally the region was survey in 1839 by a party led by John McLaren. McLaren was appointed as Senior Surveyor was given the task of surveying the southern districts of Adelaide. McLaren divided up the south of Adelaide into three districts - B, C and D to be released to the settlers in stages. Section C included all the land south of the Onkaparinga River to Willunga Hill as was released from 1840.

McLaren Vale was the general name for the wide valley south of the Onkaparinga Gorge. The township of McLaren Vale originally consisted of 2 small villages; Gloucester, a triangle between the Salopean Inn and Kangrilla road, established in 1851 and Bellevue, where The Barn and Limeburners stand, established in 1854.

Both small towns had a unique character. In 1841 two of the early settlers were Devonshire farmers, William Colton and Charles Hewitt. The farmers bought workmen with them and established neighbouring farms, Daringa and Oxenberry Farm. These farms formed the nucleus of the hamlet Gloucester. Daringa and Oxenberry live on as cellar doors on Kangarilla Rd.

Bellevue, to the north, began on land purchased by Richard Bell at settlement who built a little colony of thatched pug houses. He also built a hotel in 1857 and named it the Clifton in honour of his wife, nee Clift. Ellen Street also bore her name until recent years, but is now retitled as part of Chalk Hill Road. Ellen Street lives on as a wine made by Mark Maxwell. The Clifton Hotel is the Hotel McLaren.

The Gloucester and Bellevue towns grew together so that by 1923 McLaren Vale was gazetted by the Lands Office as a private town. In that year Mr CE Pridmore, situated half way between Bellevue and Gloucester at Sylvan Park, applied for a transfer of the portion of section 156 in the township McLaren Vale. All previous transactions for that locality were designated as in the township of Gloucester in the McLaren Vale (or Valley).

Approximately 4 kilometres to the southeast of these towns in the McLaren Vale was Wesleyan chapel was opened in 1854 and was given the name Bethany Chapel. Other cottages were established which gave rise to Bethany the hamlet. Later Bethany was also home to the first illuminated tennis courts which can still be seen on McMurtrie Road.

I have always assumed Wirra Wirra’s Church Block wine is named after the chapel as Wirra Wirra's vineyards sit directly opposite.

North of Bethany is the town of McLaren Flat. McLaren Flat had the satellite villages, or hamlets, Hillside which was located west towards Kangarilla and Beltunga, to the north whose houses were mostly built at the instigation of Richard Bell, founder of Bellevue.

Blewitt Springs was further north and consisted of a series of sandy ridges linked by roads that ran in between. It has maintained its ‘independence’ on maps and as a street address although shares McLaren Flat’s telephone exchange and the greater 5171 postcode.

Traveling back towards the McLaren Vale township was known as Seaview. Sir Samuel Way’s 1870’s farm called Sea View lent its name to a Seaview hamlet complete with a chapel built in 1880’s, now the cellar door for Chapel Hill Wines. Sir Samuel in turn lent his name to Justin McNamee’s Samuels Gorge winery now based in the former Sea View blacksmith’s and olive press house.

Along the road back down the hill to the McLaren Townships, George Manning established Hope Farm in 1851, which was turned into a winery over the years. The winery was renamed Seaview in 1951 by its new owners, Mr Edwards and Chaffey. The names Seaview and Edwards & Chaffey live on a wine brands.

Around the town of Willunga were Willunga South where the slate mines were grouped and Whites Valley which lay on the direct road to Port Willunga to the north of Aldinga. The Whites Valley village was centered on Adey Rd, Aldinga Rd and Little Rd. Several historic building remain. Some have been restored while some of the farm houses and mills have fallen into ruin.

I have been told that the Sellicks Hills, part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, which stare down on Whites Valley were once known as the Front Hills, and are marked as such on some old maps. I haven’t seen these, but I believe it possible this name was then corrupted to be called foothills. Foothills are dryly defined as gradual increases in hilly areas at the base of a mountain range.

We get the sub-regional name Sellicks Foothills from this, but Front Hills has a ring to it in my opinion and might warrant a comeback.

Postcodes were introduced in Australia in 1967 by the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG), the predecessor of Australia Post. At this point many of the smaller regional names were swallowed up. Landcross Farm survived with a fresh postcode but Tatachilla, McLaren Flat, Blewitt Springs, and remnants Hillside, Beltunga and Bethany were all merged into McLaren Vale 5171. Willunga 5172 took over Willunga South and Whites Valley. Willunga Post Office also had responsibilities for Hope Forest, The Range, Dingabledinga, Montarra (where Lazy Ballerina the cellar door is located across from the southern tip of Kuitpo Forest) and Kuitpo.

What is in a name? A lot of the history of this region.

If you know more to these stories please comment below. It is worthwhile checking out Oliver Taranga's Cellar Door to see their old map of the region. Also the main source for this article is the great book - McLaren Vale: Sea and Vines - Barbara Santich.

Inkwell Online

2009-04-23T13:36:00.002+09:30

One of our rival wine producers has set up their new website.

Inkwell Vineyards has been one of the not so secret fruit producers for Lazy Ballerina over the years.

Check out their wines - www.inkwellwines.com

Wine isn't a competition... so it is OK to like their fruit too.

McLaren Vale Yield Prediction

2009-03-05T15:08:00.005+10:30

Based on the information we have at hand we can have an estimate of the total tonnage crushed in the McLaren Vale GI.

Some blocks have picked as high as 4 tonnes to the acre, 10 tonnes to the hectare, but more commonly they have been between 1.5 tonnes and to 2 tonnes to the hectare, 3.7 tonnes to 5 tonnes to the hectare.

Our estimate is 35,000 tonnes for the region, this is slightly up from vintage 2007 but down 25,000 tonnes from vintage 2008. The record crush for McLaren Vale was in 2004 at approximately 72,000 tonnes.

Winemaking at RedHeads Studio

2009-02-26T16:19:00.003+10:30

Mitch Ramhanie works on the grape crush, while Chad Smith gets reddened up taking the ferment stats.

Shiraz Harvest at Derek Cameron's

2009-02-20T07:09:00.003+10:30

First Crush

2009-02-19T19:26:00.005+10:30

Daytime picking. Daytime Crushing. 13.5oBe. Welcome to 2009. Lazy Ballerina's first crush.