The future makers of the Limestone Coast
Australian wines for the 21st century
Max Allen
Max Allen only mentions three wineries in his review of the Limestone Coast which includes the entire Coonawarra wine region.
Handcrafted biodynamic wines are compelling expressions of provenance and visiting the cellar door (by appointment) is an intimate experience.
Download full article here (474kb pdf)
On a recent marketing trip through Asia, I conducted a tasting at the residence of Dr NK Yong, doyen of the Singapore wine scene and wine columnist for the Singapore Business Times. He is largely responsible for inspiring thirst and the evolution of the fine wine market in Singapore.
Also at the tasting was wine, food and travel writer and commentator, Curtis Marsh aka The Wandering Palate, who is also Singapore-based but with a global reach. Here is a link to two articles he wrote, the first compares Bordeaux and Coonawarra and the second is on Highbank
Dennis Vice conducting Cabernet Sauvignon Master Class at the Robert Parker event in Singapore
The wine universe is set to expand in the wake of the “Ultimate Parker in Asia Event” at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. The Parker, of course, refers to the internationally respected wine critic, Robert Parker, and we are writing about it because Highbank was invited to participate – a grand honour indeed!
The focus of the event was a Grand Tasting, which was held on the 1st and 2nd of May 2010 with only 100 exclusive wineries (including Highbank of course) from around the world being invited to represent their distinctive Terroirs.
Why was this so important to be part of?
Because the participants were 1500 to 2000 fine wine drinkers including wine writers, critics and buyers from around South East Asia.
Robert Parker attended, as expected, to partake in a book signing event as well as to feast his senses claiming, “no one on this planet will be drinking and eating better than we will be.”
Highbank’s winemaker Dennis Vice chaired the Cabernet Sauvignon Master Class at this international event, pictured right, and then conducted a personal tasting.
Our Coonawarra wines were handsomely benchmarked against wines from France (Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy), Italy, California and other significant world wine players – all working hard to excel in one of the worlds important wine markets.
Some of the participating wineries were: Chateau Angelus, Chateau Brane Cantenac, Chateau Lagrange, Chateau Beychevelle, Chateau Malescot, Chateau Beauregard, Chateau Angelus, Chateau Cos D’estournel, Chateau Haut Brion, Cheateu Fieuzal, Domaine de Chevalier, Krug, Bollinger, and Chateau Peti VIllages.
Some other Antipodean makers were there with Mosswood, Brokenwood, Highbank, Parker Estate, Siro Pacenti, Tobreck Felton Road, Suidurant, Chateau Pichon Baron, Churton, Fontodi, Peccavi, Seresin Estate, Kooyong, Bass Philip, Grosset, Kumeu River, Yalumba, Capannelle, Domaine Serene, Meerlust, Domaine Trimbach, and many others
On my recent travels through Napa Valley, California, I enjoyed two stops, in particular, which showcased the great advances in wine technology from making to retailing.
I will share more of these findings over time but for now here are some images from these two concerns.
Opus One is known to people around the world and here I am pictured among their highly prized wine.
Dennis Vice at Opus One
A visit to Darioush Winery was also an eye-opener for the serious yet contemporary point-of-sale/tastings efforts. It certainly is a far cry from many of the cellar doors we have over here in Australia.
Darioush – a busy cellar door
Robert Parker at Ultimate Parker in Asia 2010 Singapore
Highbank Wines has been invited to take part in a prestigious wine event in Singapore in May 2010 and I am particularly looking forward to conducting personal tastings at the “special venue” being made available to each of the selected wineries.
The event is the “Ultimate Parker in Asia” event, which of course is a direct reference to internationally respected wine critic, Robert Parker. It is being sponsored by Hermitage, a fine wine distributorship in Singapore, and is being held at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore.
The Grand Tasting will be held on the 1st and 2nd of May with only 100 exclusive wineries (Highbank has been invited) from around the world being invited to represent their distinctive Terroirs.
To me, this is a welcome acknowledgement of our particular winemaking techniques and unyielding focus on accentuating the terroir of our patch of succulent, red, Terra Rosa soil in the Coonawarra.
France (Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy), Italy, California and other significant world wine players are making a big effort at this event to showcase their wines in what is becoming one of the worlds important wine markets.
I have been told that 1500 to 2000 fine wine drinkers including wine writers, critics and buyers from around South East Asia will attend with Parker conducting a book signing as part of this event.
Parker’s tasting team for Asia, New Zealand and Australia will review the participating wines for their world reviews and there is much interest in the pre-event tasting by e-Parker team taster Lisa Perotti-Brown, Master of Wine.
Media Group SPH (Singapore Press Holdings) the Sunday Times will be an associated sponsor of the event.
For a place that’s a mere speck on the map midway between Adelaide and Melbourne, Coonawarra makes a big footprint in the world of wine.
A thin cigar-shaped strip of red soil that runs from the hamlet of Penola in the south along the Riddoch Highway to north of the tiny township of Coonawarra, produces some of Australia’s very best red wines – all in a distance of just 24 kilometres.
Even the occasional wine drinker will be familiar with the big names: Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Bowen Estate, Hollick, Yalumba The Menzies and Brand’s Laira. Throw in family-owned operations such as Rymill, Zema Estate, Majella and Koonara, add great red producers such as Katnook Estate, Leconfield, Balnaves and Parker Coonawarra Estate, and any serious wine lover will be in his
or her element.
The magnificent cabernets and shirazes – and some pretty decent white wines too – are the result of the region’s unique terra rossa land, which has red-brown topsoil sitting on a white limestone base.
“This is the country and it is a small community, but there is a lot of wine heritage here, and a lot of people who really care about wine,” says Wynns Coonawarra Estate chief winemaker Sue Hodder. “I’m here forever because I don’t believe there is anywhere else to match the dirt and vines that we have here.”
French-born Sandrine Gimon, the winemaker at Rymill, is equally enthusiastic. “I love living here because there is a real sense of community,” she says. “The people who live here know each other and work together, while the people who visit really care about the wine – they haven’t just come for a drink.”
Dennis Vice from Highbank agrees. “We are all in competition, but we are not in opposition,” he says. “Everyone tries to promote the region.”
Coonawarra may be flat, and remote, but it remains a magnet for wine lovers throughout the year thanks to a series of annual food and wine festivals that include the Coonawarra Vignerons Cup Race Day festival each January, After Dark each April, the Cellar Dwellers events in June and the Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations every October.
Penola has a population of 1,200 and Coonawarra is home to just a couple of hundred people – but this is no sleepy backwater. There are almost 30 cellar doors – the latest, Raidis Estate, opened in November – and several spots to eat and drink, including the new Terra Rossa Producers’ Club in Penola, which serves local wines and tapas and built a strong following in just a few weeks.
Just down the road is the Koonara Cellar Door, which also sells kitchen goods and homewares, as well as local produce. It doesn’t get any more country than this.
Among the cellar doors that should be on any visitor’s list are historic Katnook Estate, friendly Zema Estate, rustic Bowen Estate, slick Balnaves and Majella, relaxed and friendly Patrick, and family operations such as Redman, Kidman, Penley Estate, DiGiorgio and Rymill.
You need to make a booking to taste at Highbank, home to some outstanding Bordeaux-style blends, while the iconic Wynns Coonawarra Estate, where blending courses are available by prior appointment, is an absolute must on any itinerary. Kitchen @ The Poplars, meanwhile, offers both food and wine.
Grapes were first grown here in the 1890s and today cabernet sauvignon accounts for 58 per cent of the plantings in this cool-climate region (frost can be a concern until late October each year), followed by shiraz, merlot, chardonnay, riesling and sauvignon blanc, so there are plenty of tasting options – and many of the cellar doors are manned by winemakers such as Greg Clayfield at Zema
Estate, or members of the family.
The Coonawarra Wine Gallery showcase the wines of the Foster’s Group including the Penfolds, Mildara, Lindemans and Rosemount Estate labels, while the Yalumba The Menzies uses innovative signage to tell the story of its wines. Must @ Coonawarra, Merlot and Verdelho Townhouses, Punters Vineyard Retreat, Yalumba The Menzies Retreat, the Alexander Cameron Motel and Chardonnay Lodge all offer excellent accommodation in and around the vines – and there are also several excellent self-catering cottages from which to choose.
You don’t need to spend a fortune to drink well either, with Wynn’s Coonawarra Shiraz (sub $20) and Hollick 2006 Cabernet Merlot (sub $25) being two of the many bargain buys.
Any non-wine lovers in the group can visit the John Riddoch Centre in Penola to discover the region’s history, or the Mary MacKillop Penola Centre, devoted to the life and work of the woman who is poised to become Australia’s first saint – but most visitors will be more than happy just to sample the many wondrous cellar door offerings and enjoy the company of the region’s locals.
“You need to make a booking to taste at Highbank, home to some outstanding Bordeaux-style blends”
– Winsor Dobbin
Download full article here (754kb pdf)
Highbank’s vines are grown without the use of chemical herbicides or insecticides, and have been farmed according to biodynamic principles for over 25 years.
The family vineyards are located only on the the highest banks of terra rossa soil, overlaying the cigar shaped limestone ridge of the renowned Coonawarra wine region.
Owners Dennis and Bonnie Vice believe, as custodians of the land, that it is their responsibility to farm it carefully, harvesting the fruit gently and nurturing the wines, with as little intervention as possible through a very natural wine making process.
“We believe that great wines begin in the vineyard,” says Dennis. “For us, wine growing is a partnership wtih nature, a balance between our passion for excellence and out trust in the natural expression of soil, climate and vine, our unique terroir.”
Highbank’s holistic approach to wine making is reflected in the labelling of their wine. The bottom of the label depicts the Limestone Coast coastline, representing the geographical zone within South Australia, and the rose represents the use of companion plants to manage vineyard health.
Highbank’s premium handcrafted wine is certainly gaining attention from wine enthusiasts and are regularly sighted on the wine lists of Australia’s top restaurants. Wine critic Robert Parker recently described Highbank Coonawarra Proprietary Red as “a very impressive wine. Full-bodied, with outstanding richness, a cherry, multi-layered texture, admirable purity, and superb equilibrium and palate presence, this is a beautifully knit, restrained yet intensely-flavoured Cabernet Sauvignon based wine that is only hinting at its ultimate potential.”
Highbank wines has also been compared to Leoville Las Cases from Bordeaux, the price of which can be up to four times the price of Highbank.
If you want to get a taste of the Highbank wines, you need to phone in advance as the cellar door is only open by appointment. And plan to stay a while and soak up the experience at Highbank’s romantic vineyard accommodation.
Honeysuckle Rise comprises two beautifully appointed self-contained facilities, which offer privacy and location in the heart of the Coonawarra wine region, and a touch of Tuscany on the Limestone Coast.
The accommodation is located within the vineyards of Highbank vineyards and affords guests the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of their naturally beautiful biodynamic vineyards.
There is a choice of two romantic guest retreats; the spacious ‘Cottage’ where privacy is emphasised with its own vineyard setting, or the ‘Villa’ with its spacious upstairs apartment and picturesque views of the vines from every room.
Built by owners Dennis and Bonnie Vice from limestone recovered from their vineyards, and recycled timber, ‘The Cottage’ and ‘Villa’ both capture the charm of the historic South East, while offering all the comforts of today – spa baths, fully equipped kitchens, queens size beds, open fireplaces and, of course, those amazing views across the vineyards.
‘The Cottage’ emphasizes total seclusion for a romantic getaway far from the intrusions of the outside world. It is perfect for a couple, but can be altered to accommodate a maximum of four guests, if desired.
‘Villa’ is a two-storey stone building that can be divided into two separate apartments to provide privacy for two couples. The upstairs apartment, ‘Room with a view’, offers superior wivstas across the property.
One of the highights of ‘Villa’ is its well appointment commercial kitchen. Regularly used by visiting professional chefs, it allows guests to create their own gastronomic masterpieces from local Limestone Coast produce or, in a splash of ultimate luxury, is a space for a private chef to prepare an exclusive dinner party for that special occasion.
Alternatively, if you find yourself worn out by a long day of touring cellar doors, Dennis and Bonnie can arrange private catering from local restaurants.
‘Honeysuckle Rise’ is a translation of the word ‘Coonawarra’ from the local Bindjali Indigenous language in recognition of the traditional owners of the land.
Included in your stay are all the makings for a leisurely country breakfast.