The Melbourne Food and Wine festival is something that Eminence has been part of one way or another for the last couple of years – teaming up with other wineries to put on what we always affectionately called ‘wine parties’. This year though, I committed to actually attending a few events, two of which I wanted to write about here since I found them to be quite mesmerising.

First up: pinot noir. This ethereal variety was the subject of a much anticipated masterclass titled ‘Australia V New Zealand: Who’s Pinot Reigns Supreme?’ Showcasing eight premium wines from each country, poured blind, and evaluated by some of the top winemakers in the category: Nick Farr (By Farr – Geelong), Michael Dhillon (Bindi – Macedon), Blair Walter (Felton Rd – Central Otago) & Nick Mills (Rippon – Wanaka). All pulled together expertly by moderator, author and critic Nick Stock.

So why does pinot grab us in a way that other wines don’t? Pinot noir has a remarkable ability to convey provenance that is almost unequalled by any other variety. Variation from site creates almost infinite (yet subtle) differences in the wine – and once you are on the pinot bandwagon, chasing that perfect wine becomes almost obsessive. On top of that, we then add in the human influence (in the winery) and here things get tricky. Oak regimes, whole bunch work, stalk influence, maceration, yeast selection...and the rest, give the winemaker seemingly endless choices in the winery. Which way they go depends on their preferred style, site, environmental / winemaking ethics and arguably – their market.

So with a grape variety so able to talk to us about where it comes from, the prevailing view is that pinot noir grapes should be handled with restraint in the winery in order to let the fruit show its origin. You could argue that there is no point otherwise! Consequently, this tasting quickly became concerned chiefly with the hand-of-god versus hand-of-man argument. Should we let the fruit speak as loudly as possible, or shape it with our winemaking tenacity?

The short answer is that there is no right answer. Blair (Felton Rd) and Nick (Rippon) made two of the top pinot’s in the mix. They are both passionate advocates of organic / biodynamic viticulture, and both have extraordinarily complex, multi-dimensional, globally recognised, delicious wines to show for it. Both advocate less intervention in the winery and believe passionately in making terroir driven wines which reflect the vintage season.

Nick Farr, on the other end of the spectrum makes distinctive, human influenced wines from their estate vineyards in the Geelong region. Also wines of immense regard, Nick and his Dad show a polarising dedication to consistency through winemaking. The By Farr wines are bold, structured and unashamedly made.

We tasted through the line-up, discussing each bracket in detail. Nick Mills showed an extraordinary insight into the character of the wines – largely ignoring flavour descriptors and instead focusing on mouth feel, line, shape and concentration. He described one wine as being tense & compressed, another as creating a sense of ‘salivaciousness’ - which I’m not convinced is a real word, but conveys a sense of involuntary physiological preference – which I certainly have experienced!

Sounds generous, but every wine in the lineup (all 2010) was excellent.  Nit-picking though – since I can, revealed a few standouts. The Bindi Block 5  was feminine, fine but with incredible command.  Main Ridge (Mornington) and Freycinet (Tasmania) were both outstanding wines – each with great line, length and focus. Out of the imports, the Rippon stole my heart – with its seemingly infinite layers…a real conversation piece. And I couldn’t resist the Bell Hill for absolute opulence. Lucky almost all of these are sold out or prohibitively expensive; otherwise my credit card would be on the verge of melting.

So what is the take home message here? Well firstly – the final points tally showed a tie between the locals and the wines from across the ditch. How disappointing! Understanding your own stylistic preference as a consumer though is key here: fine, feminine and delicate or bold, structured and dense? Either way (or everything in between), there are certain expectations of great pinot noir. The acid, tannin and fruit fleshiness need to show a harmonious balance, the flavour should stretch down the palate and even with the delicate wines; the good ones will show strength of character which distinguishes it beyond its peers. How do you decide all of this? Drink more pinot of course!

Speaking of pinot noir, we will soon be harvesting the Eminence 2013! Things are moving along beautifully in the vineyard, with fruit ripening with textbook precision. Watch this space for more updates or ‘like’ Eminence on Facebook for little snippets here and there.  

Cheers!

Clare

For those who have not ever been, La Dolce Vita festival in the King Valley on the third weekend in November is something that tends to appear on wine lovers’ bucket lists. Translated as ‘the sweet life’ this festival is all about great wine, great food, great people and (hopefully) some fine rays of sunshine.

Eminence, albeit battling the wettest three years in winemaking history, has sadly not had good reason to be part of it in the past – but this year I will be hosting a little pop-up cellar door at King Valley Cucina.

King Valley Cucina is generally only open these days for private functions and festival weekends, but owner Barb Sartori is probably one of the best cooks (sorry mum) I’ve ever met in my life; this lady certainly knows her way around a wood fired pizza. And don’t even get me started on the cakes!

I am taking up residence in one end of the restaurant where I’ll be pouring the three wines we have available at the moment, in addition to a selection of the local Redbank Wines. There’ll be tastings and wine by the glass sales of the whole range, plus you can grab a coffee, pizza or dessert – and sit in the sunshine and forget about real life.

Also featuring at King Valley Cucina during the festival weekend (see below for more dates) is the hugely anticipated exhibition by local artist Michael Ashby. Not just an artist – Michael is our lovely neighbour, and also spends a significant amount of time working in our vineyard. When he’s not up at 7am lovingly pruning the vines, he is creating handcrafted images steeped in the impact and beauty of western art.

Girl In Blue - Michael Ashby

Michael’s annual exhibition this year also includes Connie Lichti (Ceramicist), John Kunert (fine woodwork) and Glen Mitchell (artist blacksmith) and our very own Eminence wines at the opening! It promises to be a real showstopper - see below for more details.

I'll be at King Valley Cucina on the 17th and 18th from 10am - 5pm both days, so drop in and say hello, taste the new wines, check out the exhibition, grab a coffee, eat some pizza & maybe even a sneaky slice of cake...It's not called La Dolce Vita for nothing!

Cheers!

Clare

Exhibition Details

The exhibition opens at 3 pm on Saturday 3rd November at the King Valley Cucina with our unique and wines and delicious edibles from Barb’s Cucina. Back by popular demand is Evan Davies and his fellow band members playing American Bluegrass, Appalachian tunes and more!  The gallery will remain open 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 November and again Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 November for the La Dolce Vita Festival.

To hear all the latest about Michael, the exhibition and his art visit his Facebook page or visit the website 

For details on the festival click here

Hooray!

After the dreadful 2011 season, 2012 came through with the goods and we've managed to make, bottle, label and release two new wines!

2012 was cool for us, which is not exactly the makings of a stellar vintage: cool season plus cool climate makes it difficult to ripen the grapes to allow the development and accumulation of good flavour. We also had issues with botrytis in some parts of the vineyard, which really put the pressure on during the picking season!

 

BUT! We were prepared for the season and spent most of spring and early summer thinning the canopy and dropping fruit. All this work has paid off, and despite the fact there was no Pinot Noir made, we've released a Pinot Grigio and a lovely dry Rose made from mostly Pinot Meunier fruit.

Released under the Le Peche Mignon range, the 2012 Pinot Grigio is a classicly styled wine - which looks to the Italian versions for inspiration. The fruit was hand picked around 12 baume (just before the botrytis set in), gently pressed and fermented in stainless. This a fabulous little wine - with whimsical mixed bag of citrus, floral and pear aromatics. The palate is dry but fruit driven, light, fresh and beautifully cleansing. Postively demands weekends, sunshine, caprese salad, oysters and great company.

The Rose...ah the Rose! We've been itching to make this wine, and finally - the 2012 season came through with (just) enough sunshine to enable us to do just that! Pinot Meunier is the dysfunctional yet delicious cousin to the elegant and effortless Pinot Noir and produces wine which has a unique and generous mouthfeel, and a wonderful array of red fruit characters. This grapes for this wine are 70% Pinot Meunier, and 30% Pinot Noir, grown on our vineyard in Whitlands. The grapes were handpicked, gently pressed and left on skins overnight to extract the lovely salmon pink colour. Fermented to dryness, this wine is finely textured, light hearted, with lots of gorgeous strawberry cream, red cherry and violet characters. Drink on a balcony somewhere!
 

You can buy both of these wines online or feel free to send me an email...clare(at)eminencewines.com.au. We'll also be showing them at La Dolce Vita wine festival in the King Valley (stay tuned for details) and also at the Federation Square regional showcase on the 5 + 6 of December. 

Cheers!

Clare

Many years ago I packed a bag and moved to Italy. It seemed like a romantic idea at the time, and in the weeks before I left I daydreamed about wearing red lipstick, impossibly high heels and wonderful flowy dresses everywhere. I dreamed about sunflowers, wine, pasta, pesto and fresh curd cheeses, and somewhere in there I probably also gave thought to Italian men.

And so I moved to Torino, into the apartment of a local family - and promtly assumed the care of their two boisterous (a generous understatement) children. And quite quickly I realised that life was the same in Torino as it was in most places I'd been; and that walking on cobblestone streets with high heels on was simply absurd.Yes I was in Italy, but I just hadn't found what I was looking for yet...

As time went on though I discovered that Torino - despite its lack of charm, does a few things incredibly well: coffee, industrious manufacturing and salumi.

Salumi (different to Salami) is the Italian equivalent to Charcuterie, which is essentially the processes used to preserve various meat products, mainly pork. In Torino, a generous board of thinly sliced proscuitto, salami, rolled pancetta & coppacola was a mainstay of the aperitif menus around town and to be blunt: I was hooked.

Now let me assure you, I am not in any way Italian and am certainly not an expert in the art of preserving meat. I am however, the daughter of a man who loves his salami, and after my adventures in Torino, I was inspired! Dad started making salami about four years ago, and well...once you start things tend to get out hand.

Last year I wanted to up the ante a little and try my hand at proscuitto (leg), coppa (roled shoulder muscles) and pancetta (belly). With a couple of friends, we go ourselves a pig and with the book in one hand, and the knife in the other - gave the world of charcuterie a very solid nudge.

Cut to winter 2012, and things have definitely got out of hand! This year my good friends Rowly and Sally (from Scion Vineyard) and I decided to host a mini salami fest for our close friends. We bought three pigs, invited 17 people, and purchased an absolute s***eload of salt. Two days, a few bandaids, and many beers later - this is what we ended up with! 274 Salami's and 2 legs of proscuitto!

In three months the mould will be gone, the salami's cured -  and I will be slicing it up for the public at any tastings we do. 

Now we just have to wait!

 

Exciting things are happening at Eminence HQ!

I have recently launched my second business - The Humble Tumbler: Adventures in Food and Wine. I've always been interested in teaching people about wine, and have finally had the opportunity to turn this into a little enterprise.

The Humble Tumbler is a four week introductory wine appreciation course - held regularly in venues around Melbourne.

When I started thinking about how I wanted to approach an introductory course, I started hunting around for a book to support what I had in mind. There are some wonderful books out there but in the end, I sat down and wrote one myself. Why? Why not! The Humble Tumbler mini-textbook covers all of the fundamentals in a language that is clear and easy to  understand. It's purpose built for people who are new to wine: nothing too fancy, too complicated or too pompous. Just a neat little course for people who are interested in learning the basics in a fun, inspiring and interactive way.

With only 14 people per class,  it's learning by tasting and talking rather than studying. And don't forget eating! There are plenty of edibles on hand each night to help clarify some of the fundamental wine and food pairing concepts. I've picked about 30 awesome Aussie wines to show throughout the course, and i'll explain each one in detail - in terms of it's region, style, variety, and character.

The next course is running on Mondays in October 2012 [8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th] from 6pm - 8pm at Backstreet Eating, Kerr street, Fitzroy. $300 includes 30 premium wines, charcuterie, antipasti and matched cheeses from Milawa Cheese Factory.

So if it sounds like the kind of thing you or someone you know would enjoy, you can check out the website here for more details, or send me an email with your query - I'd love to have you along!

Cheers!  Clare

 

Ahhh the wonderfully reliable wine industry....another year of huge rains, mouldy fruit, minimal sunshine and lots and lots and lots of handpicking....La Nina we are cursing you!

Well, despite some challenging 'weather events', the cynicism ends here thankfully: 2012 went pretty smoothly here in Whitlands. I wouldn't quite go as far to call it #vintageofthedecade - as those lucky Yarra Valley vignerons have so called it, but all in all I would call it as a great result from a tricky season.

You are probably aware of the 11 or so inches of rain that swept over Victoria in late February - well this is La Nina in full swing. A similiar thing happened last year and we lost 80% of our vineyard to all kinds of disease. This year the rain was much earlier and didn't have the same negative effect. Don't get me wrong, its certainly not ideal but we were well prepared; In wet years an open canopy is crucial to allow air flow and sunlight penetration to the fruit. Andrew - our ever dedicated viticulturalist - had managed to do just that and by mid March we were on track for a great season.

More rain followed however and the cleverest mould of them all - Botrytis Cinera, set in. Botrytis is ugly; it spreads rapidly, cannot be prevented or controlled with any treatments and at instances above about 5% leaves wine flat and brown. The only thing to is cut it out to prevent further infection. Luckily the cool nights in Whitlands (sometimes down to 5 degrees in summer) and good breezes kept it at bay and we managed to keep it under control.

We sell about 90% of the fruit to other companies and this year was no exception. We handpicked over 110 Tons over two weeks (to put that in perspective, one person can pick about 450kg per day), including the rows selected for our own wines. Phew!

So back to us - we picked Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for our 2012 Vintage Sparkling. This is only the second time we've made this wine - and its a really exciting project for us. Every parcel is whole bunch pressed into barrels where it ferments with wild yeast. Half of those 22 barrels were allowed through MLF, and they will all sit on lees until spring. We'll use about three quarters of these in the final wine, and save the rest for future reserves. For all sparkling wine lovers, this is one to anticipate.

Still in tank is my little darling - the 2012 Pinot Meunier Rose. For those who have heard ramble on about how much I love Pinot Meunier, you can breathe relief: it's finally happening. Pinot Meunier is the dysfunctional yet delicious cousin to the elegant and effortless Pinot Noir. This is a dry, textural, juicy rose which will hit shelves in a few months. I'll keep you posted with release dates and tasting notes. In addition to this, we finally have something to replace the long-sold-out 2010 Pinot Gris - the 2012 is fresh, light and very, very drinkable. Mmmmm just thinking about it makes me thirsty...

So all in all not a bad season, I know many, many vineyards who had no such luck - so we are all feeling quite lucky.

Cheers! Clare

 

    

Dear All!

For those who loved Young Bunch and are sad to see we are not entertaining your gorgeous selves this Melbourne Food and Wine Fest - Behold! This year there is something bigger and grander and even more fun: Bikini and the Bear.

As part of the MFWF 2012, the Young Bloods of Rutherglen have invited six cool climate Victorian winemakers to co-host a fabulous Bikini and the Bear themed wine party. Bikini - for warm climate, versus bear for cool climate. Get it? Genius.

The Young Bloods of Rutherglen comprise of Anderson Wines, Campbells, Cofields, Pfeiffer, Scion and Stanton and Killeen. These guys have audaciously challenged us cool climate producers - Brown Brothers, Castanga, Dalzotto, Ergo Sum & Fowles for the top spot on the night - let the showdown begin.

We are each pouring two wines each and party makers Bright Young Things will work their magic in the kitchen.Thats 24 wines and some amazing food - all for $85. Sweeeet!

Book your tickets early!

For bookings call 1300 787 929 or visit www.winemakers.com.au

*Just in case anyone was wondering - thats me in the brown bear suit. 

 

 

Fog and morning sun on the Whitlands High Plateau

 As far as wine regions are concerned, Whitlands barely exists.

Your mobile phone will not work, there are no signs, no post office, no shop and most concerning of all: no pub. The inconspicuous 'Burders Lane' street sign is on a blind corner and it's almost a guaranteed that you will drive straight past it. Most conversations end with "if you get to Mansfield you've gone to far". And when you get lost, you can't google map it - you have to do the old 'stop in at the next house' trick.

Which means that by the time you actually make to the farm - for whatever reason, you've generally got a decent story up your sleeve about how the neighbor down the road answered the door wearing only socks. Or perhaps you were offered scones and tea - either way - it's clearly win-win.

Whitlands isn't even an official region. Nope - we are part of the King Valley 'Geographic Indication' (GI); a classified subzone. And, in the 10 minutes it takes to drive from one end to the other, you probably won't even see any grapevines. So what is my point? My point is two things: Despite the fact that you've probably never heard of Whitlands before now, and will most likely never go there - and even if you do you might not even realise it, the Whitlands High Plateau grows some seriously good grapes.

Case en point: Brown Brothers won the Best Sparkling of Show Trophy at this years Royal Melbourne Wine Show for their Patricia Sparkling - made exclusively from grapes grown on their Whitlands Vineyard. Exciting stuff for a place with no sign.  Domaine Chandon, Yalumba and Neil Prentice all source grapes from Whitlands for sparkling and table wine - yet chances are, you'll never see it on a label.

My second point is how wonderful it is to be in a place with no cameras, no signs and no bloody billboards. I think myself the luckiest person alive when I leave Melbourne once a week and head for the beautiful hills and freshest of air. It's remote, cold, and my phone only works when I stand a specific distance from the front fence - but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

For those of you who were awesome enough to vote for our wines at the last Federation Square showcase, you'd be happy know that we took out both gongs for the 'Peoples Choice Awards' - for the 2008 Le Peche Mignon Pinot and 2009 Chardonnay.

A huge honor - I'm happy to say I'd rather win the peoples choice than gold medals any day!

As such we have been invited back the play with the big boys - the finals are this week - Wednesday the 3rd and Thursday the 4th of August. So not only we will be there, but all of the other wineries who won medals and awards - which means you get to taste the cream of the Victorian crop for a mere $25.

Tastings begin at 4:30 pm both days and run until 8pm - we'd love to see you all there!
For details visit http://www.fedsquare.com/events/wine-showcase/

Cheers!
Clare

Blogging is almost unfashionable these days, no?

Well I have been instructed by various over-charging experts and well-meaning consumers that blogging is important in the quest to develop any online presence.

Which is all good, but that has nothing to do with why I've chosen to put my blog on the Eminence website. 

Wine and the wine industry has always been the thing I keep coming back to, but there are aspects to the industry that I absolutely loathe. Wine-wank and the art of taking-one-selves-way-too-seriously tops my list and so with this little blog I hope to share with you all of the things I love about wine, wine drinking, wine making, wine education, wine selling and wine buying, without all of the brouhaha.

Most likely there will also be plenty of stuff about cooking, charcuterie, wine books, hopefully some Eminence updates and probably a few posts about how much I love Gin.

And for the momenet, i'd like to introduce you to our three most wonderful cows - who wander around all day making us look good. 

 

So stay tuned!
Cheers!
Clare