Carols by Candlelight

Hurtling Toward Christmas in the Barossa

8.35am Yalumba Clocktower, Angaston, Barossa Valley, South Australia

Carols by Candlelight

We’re just saying goodbye to one of Santa’s elves, who has been in the office this morning handing out little presents in our office (one of the lasses that works in our section – her 4 year old daughter complete with santa hat and bell on the end!) so everything is hurtling with Festive Season flavour toward the last working week of the year.

I’ve been off the air just trying to settle back in, and it’s the classic situation – once you stop (the travel) you drop. So it’s off to the relevant operators to get patched up ready to go back out there again. Yesterday it was a nice long session with the dentist, after splitting a piece of tooth off at the end of the USA job. Next it will be back to the Nuriootpa swimming pool to stretch out the back, and build up for what looks like a massive year working 2010 mostly in the USA arena.

But I was able to get along to Carols By Candlelight here at Yalumba on Wednesday night, a big turnout on a warm evening. Special mention to the troops from Heggies Vineyard who put on a magic sausage sizzle – and even had BBQ as well as tomato sauce! True gourmets, our folks. It’s a treat to see this sort of thing under way at the winery, because when you spend so much time offshore talking about this amazing region The Barossa, then this special spot in it – Yalumba – and then you see it on a night like that with hundreds of local folk doing the local get together thing – it is special. The Angaston Primary School Choir in full flight belting out “Celebrate …. good times … come on!” might be my lead line for working away next year.

Any rate, I’ll do a lap of the winery on Monday morning and let you know what everybody is up to, and if the weather is any indication, we might be in for an early vintage. So now that I’m officially back on the air, this will get Tony, the bloke who makes the blog look good, off my back and we’ll try and get some pictures up so that you can seewhat the Valley looks like pre vintage.

Oh – by the way! It’s our Christmas party this Sunday for all the folks at the winery, and seeing as it’s our 160th Birthday year, the chief has invited everyone who works for Yalumba, the vineyards – everybody from the golden oldies (the retired folk who used to work for Yalumba and still live in the region) and their families along to a picnic at the winery this Sunday. I know there’s strawberries and ice cream for dessert, but everything else is a mystery – so we’ll get some photos of that up as well. It will be a great day, and the last event in the Birthday year program – wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Come Over for Carols Tonight

Carols by Candlelight here tonight. Gold coin donation and wine sales for charity. I’m on early shift at the wine bar. Get the details. See you there! Tony B

Carols by Candlelight!

Carols by Candlelight

It is Yalumba’s turn once again to host Carols by Candlelight, a lovely evening of music, food, wine, and simple enjoyment. Join us Wednesday, 16 December. Donations to charity. Find out more here.

Jane’s Back and All’s Right With the World

10.10am Yalumba Clocktower, Angaston, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Hi Honey, I’m home! I’m back on terra firma here in the Barossa Valley, trying hard to get back into the local time zone as easily as possible. It’s that three or four nights of waking up bright and sparky at 3am that’s a killer! But here we are, serious green canopy development on the vines everywhere and lots of visitors to the winery.

Matt Pick

I’ve just packed our lass from Austria off to Oxford Landing vineyard with Matt “Luke Skywalker” Pick – the winemaker – with a bag of bacon & zucchini muffins for Freddy and the boys up there. I will be off to pick our Canadian journo up from Henschke’s in an hour or so. Then we’ll be up to Pewsey Vale vineyard to try all the Rieslings off that 120 acres – in the vineyard. There’s a twist in the weather today, so I fully expect it to be blowing a gale up there. It’s been warm too, which is liable to bring the brown snakes out, so I’ll be keeping us on the white crushed gravel tracks up there so we get a bit of warning should one of those nasties take an interest in us. I saw a very healthy 6 foot specimen swim across the road the other day, so I know they’re starting to move!

Apart from that, it’s fabulous to be home. First stop off the plane was the Vili’s pie and cake factory near the Adelaide airport, where they have a 24 hour cafe – for a turkey and salad sandwich on bread just baked, and a half pint of Farmers Union iced coffee – the best! Then into the Barossa, for a currant bun from Apex bakery, and my own pizza from ’40s Cafe - thin crust, ham, pineapple, double cheese and pepperoni. Yep – all’s right with the world for a bit. I promise to get back into the writing saddle and post something every day – I’m thrilled to bits with the fact that folks tune in to the blog and get a bit of a lift / laugh/ burst of information on several fronts – travel, food and wine – so thanks for reading.

And it’s a great moment to slot back into the Barossa social calendar. Tomorrow night Santa visits Tanunda with the Holiday Street parade, so that’s where we’ll be to catch up with everyone and have a bit of a sausage sizzle to kick off the Festive Season. So jingle bells and bring on the holiday goodwill, and I’ll see you later.

Thick and Fast in the UK

Today’s guest blogger is Val Lewis, PR and events coordinator for Negociants UK, with a “guest guest” appearance by NUK sales manager Chris Unger.

Val Lewis

Tastings have been coming in thick and fast over the past month, and with Yalumba Winemaker Louisa Rose here with us in the UK for 10 days, we have managed to cover much of the length and breadth of this great (grey) land, spreading the good word of Yalumba.

So here is an update from Chris Unger (aka Cardi Man), Negociants UK sales manager and our fine wine brain:

Chris Unger

“We had Louisa criss-crossing the country to visit old friends and new with a series of trade visits and wine dinners from north to south. Louisa has a strong following and leaves a remarkable impression amongst those she meets.

“A few highlights include a dinner with Riesling-obsessed, and long time supporters, The Harrow at Little Bedwyn.  The evening started with a vertical of Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling from 1997 through to 2003 followed by a five-course dinner extravaganza that would have impressed even the toughest of critics. A little birdy mentioned that the evening continued after the guests left and into the wee hours with Roger (the owner of the Harrow) dipping into his own personal cellar to share some treats with Louisa and Emma.

“Up in the ‘Grim North’ Louisa weaved her magic with the young and enthusiastic wine team at Anthony’s in Leeds. Anthony’s operate four restaurant sites with the most recent opening in the renovated Corn Exchange, which is a truly unique restaurant space. The standout wines of the tasting were the Yalumba The Scribbler Cabernet Shiraz and Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier – with both being listed by the glass following the visit.”

OK, back to me, Val, now, with a roundup of recent events.

Icon Tasting

Negociants UK Icon Tasting
Working in events is good for the soul but bad for the nervous disposition! A fortnight of sleepless nights, midnight scribblings – I do love making a good list – and triple-checking vintages all paid off when we hosted our annual Icon Tasting at Fifth View, Piccadilly. It was a huge success; the wines showed beautifully and were tasted by an impressive turnout of top press, sommeliers and restaurateurs.

The Wine Show London
I love this event, it attracts thousands of visitors from across London. From the Pinot Grigio glugging gaggle to the those who desire nothing more than to calmly discuss the finer points of the warm ferment … at the end of four days of pouring and chatting if one more person had called it “Rye-sling” (this is a very, very British thing) I may have hung my apron up for good.

Ken Withers

Yalumba 160th Birthday
Negociants UK celebrated Yalumba’s 160th birthday with beef and Grenache party pies, fireworks and a cheeky glass of Yalumba FDR1A. Ken Withers (our worryingly domesticated national accounts manager) hosted the NUK team for an evening of fun and frivolity, and together we toasted all that makes Yalumba wonderful. The warm and fuzzy brought a tear to my eye, and I’m certain I saw Ken snuffling quietly into his hankie too.

The Decanter Fine Wine Encounter
This finished off the year’s events calendar on the 21st and 22nd of October – keep an eye out for the news story about the event which will shortly be appearing on www.decanter.com along with recommendations and videos. The standouts on the weekend were Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2005 and the Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2008. This event attracts over 1500 visitors – and at £48 a ticket this is no small feat. The crowd are knowledgeable and interested (and interesting!), and it’s always a pleasure to pour Yalumba’s finest alongside the great and the good of our Old World peers.

The Winemaking Cycle – Chardonnay Style

Today’s guest blogger is winemaker Teresa Heuzenroeder.

Teresa Heuzenroeder

I often get told that winemakers must be relaxed outside of vintage. After all, what else is there to do for the rest of the year? So I thought this might be a good opportunity to provide a winemaker’s post-vintage snapshot from a Chardonnay perspective.

For me there are three distinct stages Chardonnay needs to go through once the hyperactivity and nervous anticipation of vintage is over. We know the flavours and textures we tasted in the vineyard, but there’s still a way to go before we can realise that vineyard vision in the final bottle and it goes something like this;

The hard work behind the scenes is the real grunt work that no one sees and is hardly glamorous but every bit as important as what happens during vintage and blending. It’s all about barrels – stacks of them (literally). Each barrel has to be tasted, mixed and topped every couple of weeks from the end of vintage until about now. This mixing process helps build texture and body into the wine and gives that palate creaminess and toasted nut complexity that is so important for top-notch Chardonnay. At the start it’s difficult to see any difference at all, but as the year goes on you find yourself catching a tantalising glimpse of the complete wine. So close, but still more work to do!

Checking each barrel

Blending is the culmination of all our work and it’s make-or-break time for each barrel; will they make the cut or are they out? This is what we’re up to right now (just in case you thought we might be celebrating the Festive Season with a glass of Chardonnay in hand). Throughout November and December we are busy tasting and deciding on that critical final blend.  It’s important to assess every barrel as each is a complete wine in itself. However, the sum of the whole is far more important than any individual barrel and that’s what we always consider when we make our selection.

The final countdown is the point at which we realise the flavours we saw in the vineyard all those months ago are indeed still there but they’re even better. For some wines (like Eden Valley Wild Ferment Chardonnay) this will be the end of the journey and they’ll be prepared for bottling early next year. For others (such as the Adelaide Hills FDW[7c] Chardonnay) the blend will be put together and go back to oak for another few months to quietly mature and complex before bottling in the middle of next year. By which time the next vintage will be being feverishly worked on (see “hard work behind the scenes” above). So the winemaking cycle continues.

Now what was that about nothing happening outside of vintage?

A Yalumba Legend Retires

Guest blogger Robert Hill Smith, fifth-generation proprietor, writes about a Yalumba legend.

What a week we had last week!

Pete Sawrey

On yet another balmy evening in the week that we celebrated our 160th year with local friends and colleagues, we farewelled Peter J. Sawrey – our inimitable trade-marketing manager – with a glittering dinner where we also announced Pete as the first of our Wyndham Hill Smith Award winners in this anniversary year.

In broad terms, this award is for somebody who, in the course of his or her lifetime at work, would not receive the recognition that typically goes with awards. In other words, they may be modest, background workers who are towers of strength but never seek the spotlight.

Pete joined us on October 4th, 1988 as cellar door manager, and a short two years later covered PR before switching his focus in 1999 to building our trade relationships. Best known for his wit, modesty, intelligence and selfless overseas forays, Pete will hang up his boots on December 22nd 2009 – his 21st year with Yalumba.

Many true stories were told at the farewell fete in our Tank 11 Dining Room.  His hosting of visitors from all parts of the planet at Oxford Landing Estate was legendary and was celebrated at the dinner in the company of Marty Burnell and “Fred” Strachan, those stalwarts from the vineyard. Also attending on the night were all Samuel Smith & Son state managers, with whom Pete worked closely with over the years (albeit without good friend Jeff P. Smith who was on the sick list).

Pete has left his mark during his time here, and he has friends around the globe as testament to his Yalumba and Samuel Smith & Son ambassadorial spirit. He will continue to write back labels and assist in areas he has made his own – notably keeping our relationships alive with our trade friends worldwide over a bottle or two of Pewsey Vale Riesling.

I might note, as a parting gesture, Pete’s Pewsey Vale quota has already been allocated from our approaching 2010 vintage. We pray for good crops!

From all at the winery, we salute and congratulate a wicked warrior of Yalumba, who joins many other great contributors who have been honoured in this way.

Great Wine Begins in the Nursery

Today’s guest blogger is Nick Dry, viticulturalist at our Yalumba Nursery. He also looks after the vines for Redbank.

Nick Dry

I think I have one of the best jobs in Yalumba.  I am writing this from the front deck of one of the Redbank growers in the King Valley.  The King Valley, for those who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting, is situated in Northeast Victoria at the foot of the Australian Alps.  Rolling hills, pristine mountain streams, hidden valleys, and dense scrub, it would have to be one of the most picturesque winegrape growing regions in the world.

Apart from looking after growers for Redbank in the King Valley, I am the Yalumba Nursery viticulturist.  The Yalumba Nursery was established in the 1970s to provide Yalumba’s own vineyards with grafted grapevines (a grafted vine is one that has been grafted to a phylloxera/nematode resistant American rootstock).  The business has grown and Yalumba Nursery is now Australia’s leading producer of grafted grapevines.

Along with the supply of grafted vines, the nursery is involved with the importation and assessment of new varieties and clones.  So our own vineyards and growers have first access to the best grapevines for their vineyards and ultimately means that our winemakers have access to the best fruit, which is reflected in the wines. 

Tim Jones

I was kicking back the other night with Tim Jones, our nursery production manager, enjoying a bottle of the trophy-winning Heggies Reserve Chardonnay and discussing the old debate, whether great wine is made in the vineyard or the winery.  Somewhere near to the bottom of the bottle we came to the realisation that to make a great wine, you need a great winemaker, but you also need a great vineyard.  But a great vineyard needs great vines (i.e the right clone/rootstock combination), so therefore a great wine begins in the nursery. 

So next time you’re enjoying another bottle of Yalumba wine, take time to think about where it all began.

G’day from Double-U-Ay: Wines for the River

Today’s guest blogger is Pia Gardner, area manager in Perth.

Pia Gardner

My territory comprises the on-premise trade here – bars, hotels, restaurants, cafes, bistros, nightclubs, and function centres. I focus on the Perth CBD and the South Metro. Spending most of my time in this area is special, surrounded by the river, beach and lots great places to wine and dine.

To try and paint a picture for you … when I’m in a restaurant, before seeing a client, I find myself looking out the window. I can see kite surfers, small boats, big boats, fishermen, cyclists, or school groups at rowing training, not bad hey! We Perthites can sometimes forget how truly lucky we are to live here. “How good is this?” I think to myself … ah now back to work.

It is a competitive industry around here, especially being on the doorstep of “Margs”, Swan Valley, Great Southern and Pemberton. There are lots of wines around and people want to support their home turf.  It’s common to say a quick “hi” to another rep entering the restaurant you’ve just left. Sales will always be competitive, so you just have to get out there and enjoy what you do.

What makes my job most enjoyable for me are the wines I get to sell (OK, get to taste, too). People ask me, “What is your favourite wine?” I could go on for days, so I think, “What is good now”?

Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache

Well as of today, I am feeling summer knocking, and if I were on a boat on the Swan River this would be my perfect line up:

• Pour myself Jansz Premium Vintage – keep a close eye on who starts to hang around you because once they “sample” the 04 vintage, it could be gone before you say “Freo”.
• Throw the fresh lemon and cracked pepper marinated prawns on the portable barbie, give a couple of stubs to the skipper. Gotta keep them happy, and also to keep them away from your Jansz.
• Hmm … Riesling with the prawns – yep sounds good. But which one? Heggies 2009 drinking lovely, crisp, fresh pear and apple characters. Balanced with a clean, mineral finish.
• Can you go on a boat without another cold white? Yes you can. Get your hands on The Y Series Sangiovese Rose. This is bang for your buck. Funky new label too. You can afford more than one or two of these.
• Drink the Y Rose with a tandoori chicken salad. Fresh coriander thrown in is a must.
• Keep the chatter and the tunes going, no dancing unless your boat legs are in fine form. The sunsets here are really something special.  If the Freo doctor (read: sea breeze from Fremantle) is still around, it’s time for a red to warm you up on the 8 knot cruise back to shore. The choice for me is very difficult- it would have to be the Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache 2008. Put it in the glass and enjoy it while it keeps you warm.