Biodynamics at Gemtree Vineyards, McLaren Vale

On a cool Vancouver evening a month so ago, I was sipping on a rich glass of shiraz viognier from Gemtree Vineyards. I’d finished up a day of working in a vineyard outside the city, and was really really enjoying the fruits of someone else’s labour. Reclining in my Ikea Poang, I was watching the street from my third floor apartment. In between rounds of interesting, attractive and bizarre passersby, I poured another glass of wine and read over the back of the bottle.

The bottle write-up notes that winery family member Melissa Brown is Gemtree’s viticulturist. Having just started work in the same vocation, I had to send a note out to Melissa to hear her views on the vines at Gemtree. Come to find out, Gemtree has begun to practice a method of vineyard agriculture called biodynamics. I heard of this concept prior, and (sort of) knew that biodynamics involved moon cycles and perhaps some alternative ground fertilization methods.

I’ll let you do the extra research into the myths and truths about biodynamics, and will let Melissa explain biodynamics at Gemtree Wines: 

Me:  What does biodynamic mean to you? 

Melissa:  To me, biodynamic means farming our land in a more sustainable way that is having minimal negative impact on the environment.  Biodynamic is a means of organic farming that requires added input of biodynamic operations and timing certain activities with the lunar cycle. Biodynamics is about improving soil health and fertility which translates to healthier vines and better quality fruit.

What were the factors at play when Gemtree decided to begin biodynamic practices? Who ‘brought it up’ first?

Mike [Gemtree's winemaker and Melissa's husband] attended a seminar on Shiraz in the Barossa Valley a few years ago and one of the workshops he attended was on biodynamic wines.  We had already started to convert the vineyard to organic practices at this time.  Mike came back from that seminar singing the praises of biodynamic wines and convinced me that this was the path we should take. It wasn’t hard to convince me as I had already heard about it but thought the rest of the family would think I was crazy if I tried to implement it!  I consider myself to be a bit of an environmentalist.  I choose to eat organic foods over conventional produce and I also grow my own veggies organically at home.  If you had the option to eat an organically grown tomato over a hydroponically grown chemically treated one which would you choose?  It didn’t make sense that I was living my life by this philosophy and then nuking our vineyards!

What’s involved in becoming biodynanmic certified in South Australia? 

Biodynamic certification comes under the banner of organic certification and there are national bodies that govern this.  We are in the process of registering to become certified.  It will take 1 year before we are considered to be in conversion and then a further 2 years to be fully certified.  We will be going with ACO (Australian Certified
Organic).

Do you find that many other South Australian / McLaren Vale vineyards are going biodynamic?

There are quite a few vignerons in McLaren Vale going down the organic and biodynamic path now.  Paxton Vineyards have been biodynamic for some time now and Battle of Bosworth Wines are certified organic. The more publicity and success that biodynamic businesses have I think the more that people will be prepared to give it a go.  There is a real fear of the unknown with biodynamics but its actually really easy, particularly in a region like McLaren Vale that has such a good climate for growing grapes.  Having said that, it is a big learning curve though, and a new challenge that we are really enjoying.

There is a trial underway at Gemtree by an Adelaide Uni pHd student. The trial is the 1st of its kind in Australia and is comparing biodynamic, organic, low input conventional and high input conventional viticulture on a patch of our Cabernet Sauvignon.  The trial is being run over 3 years with a focus on soil health, yield, wine quality and comparison of costs.  Many people will be very interested in the results of this trial.

What sort of training did you go through to become a viticulturist?

I started working on my dad’s vineyard as a vineyard labourer - training vines, installing irrigation, etc.  While working I undertook part-time studies in a Bachelor of Science (Viticulture) at Charles Sturt University via distance education which took me 7 years to complete!  It was a great way to learn though as I could immediately apply my knowledge.

Have you encountered many other female viticulturists in the  industry?

There are probably more female winemakers than female viticulturists but we are gradually increasing in numbers! Rachel Steer from Chapel Hill Winery in McLaren Vale is someone I hold in high regard as well as Prue Henschke from Henschke in the Barossa.  The partnership that Mike and I share as winemaker and viticulturist is fairly rare and unique I think.

Whistler Wines

Toss around the word “Whistler”, and many people think of boarding and skiing down the snowy mountains of British Columbia’s Whistler Mountain (followed by some cold Kokanee beer). Whistler makes me think of the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and whether or not I should rent my apartment and skip town, or enjoy the throngs of sport revellers.

In the wine world, Whistler Wines (whoa, that’s allotta W’s) is a family owned winery in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. Whistler Wines planted their first estate shiraz vines in 1994, followed by a range other varietals like delicious grenache and semillon. If you give the winery website a quick read, it’s evident that the whole family is into wine on some shape or form. Not sure about you, but that kinda makes me want to buy this wine over a corporate-y brand any day. 

In fact, one of the ‘fam’ let me know that a couple of the cousins teamed up this year to make an amarone style wine. If you’ve had this Italian originated wine before, you’ll know it’s a big, rich flavourful wine that goes great with food. Amarone is actually made quite a bit differently than other wines styles – the grapes are set out to partially dry on racks before pressing the juice. Lots of work!  

For now, I’ll have to stick to what’s available at stores in Vancouver. At the moment, BC-ers can pick up a bottle of lusciously blended grenache, shiraz and mourvedre called The Black Piper ($24.99). Look for ripe raspberry, plum, pepper, spice and leather from this wine. A decant or short breather in the glass always does great things for full-bodied red wines like this one. 

If you’re planning to be in the Barossa, Whistler Wines has a new project on the go. The winery will soon be home to eight rescued kangaroos in it’s new wildlife enclosure. NEAT.

Sparkling Shiraz aids Collective “Patio Weather” Obsession among Canadians

Living in Canada, as I do, I’m part of a collective obsession with “patio weather”. I’d like to propose that sparkling shiraz is an excellent beverage to see us through our spring patio cravings. (Note to policy makers: a yearly bottle stipend under provincial health care schemes would likely help reduce mental health days). In any case, if you’d like to understand this Canadian patio weather obsession, here’s a rough description of how the attitude is cultivated:  

• many Canadians spend long, warm summers boating and camping, enjoying backyard bbqs with cold beer and wine, spend lazy August weeks reading on the deck at the family summer cottage, drinking pitchers of beer on pub patios with a pile of buddies
• THEN, winter strikes and many months are spent indoors, installing remote starters for our cars (so that it’s warm by the time you get in), repeatedly shoveling the driveway, and not knowing until last minute if you can travel due to dangerous icy highways
• AT LAST! snow melts, early spring daffodils peeks through the soil, the air obtains true characteristics of warmth

That final stage reinfuses ideas of the Canadian summer lifestyle into our heads, and we positively strain toward that season. This leads to inevitable sightings of Canadians in shorts on the first sunny spring day above 10 degrees Celsius. This also leads to premature outings to neighbour patios. In April and May, hardy Canadians can often be spotted dotting the patios of restaurants situated in direct afternoon sunlight and out of the wind. Often this is during work hours on a Friday or on opening day of Major League Baseball. We may also attempt to have a weekend outdoor bbq, which offers upward to two hours of enjoyable warmth before we reach for coats, blankets and possibly toques in order to remain outdoors at all cost.

Enter sparkling shiraz. Clearly rich, red wine does not remind us of summer, and cold beer on a spring patio might result in loss of sensation in the extremities. Sparkling shiraz, however, is great served slightly chilled and exhibits much of the same flavours we love in ‘regular’ Australian shiraz. The frothy fizz tempers rich black fruit, pepper, red berries and oak. The height of summer temperatures might not do justice to something so full-bodied, which is exactly why sparkling shiraz is so good in the patio weather shoulder season. 

As with good Champagne and traditional sparkling wine, the quality of a bubbly shiraz can be judged by its fizz. Have a look in your glass and work out if the bubbles are tiny and fine, or whether larger beads gleam through the liquid. The latter can indicate intentional injection of CO2 into the wine, whereas better quality sparkling is created by actual fermentation in the bottle. (During fermentation yeast eats up sugars and converts it to alcohol and CO2 – voila, fizz.) Maybe it’s not that big a deal, but which wine seems like it’s made with more care:  manually carbonated bottles or naturally formed bubbles? If you want to ensure you’re purchasing better bubbles, bottle fermented sparkling should state “methode traditionelle” right on the label.

Finer points aside, here are some ideas of sparkling shiraz on the market in Canada:

-Katnook Estate, Founder’s Block Sparkling Shiraz, Coonawarra, South Australia
-Majella Wines Sparkling Shiraz,Coonawarra, South Australia
-Peter Lehmann, The Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia
-Mollydooker, Goosebumps Sparkling Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia
-The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia
-Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Sparkling Shiraz, Langhorne Creek, South Australia 

Something a little different - Sparkling Pinot Noir:
-Bird in Hand, Adelaide Hills, South Australia

Dill Pickle Chips & Australian Albarino

The dill pickle chip story:
One time I went to store intending on buying sour cream and onion chips. Snugly back at home, I got situated on the couch and ripped open the bag, only to be met with the unwanted aroma of dill pickle. Gack! Both bags are green (see below for proof, and also keep in mind that I’ve been called colour-blind). Sometimes disaster strikes in the form of dill pickle chips. I decided to eat them anyway. 

The  fiasco:
Some Australian grape growers and wine producers are facing a similar decision (on a decidedly more important scale). Many of you likely know about the recent fiasco involving the savagnin grape. For those who don’t, quick recap:  Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) imported Albarino grapevines from Spain in 1989. Several vineyards acquired samples from CSIRO and began to plant and tend the vines. In 2008, a French vine expert noticed the Albarino plantings looked a little wonky, and tests have since confirmed the vines are in fact the savagnin varietal. Pass the dill pickle chips. 

As you can imagine, this is a big deal. Several producers, including those in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, are out of pocket and have even bottled the wine for international shipment. The anticipated albarino grape produce a fresh, crisp white wine that’s a staple of the Rias Baixes area of Spain. People know this wine and it’s an interesting alternative varietal for the Australian industry. The savagnin grape does not have quite the same mass-love, although it does have a starring role in France’s Jura winemaking region. 

The Jura:
Location: 

The Jura is a distinct wine region about 100km northwest of Geneva, Switzerland, and is considered a cool climate wine region.

Non-savagnin wines:
The region puts out a sparkling wine called Cremant du Jura, which has a high deliciousness factor, but tends to be less expensive than Champagne. Pinot noir and chardonnay, along with a couple other lesser known grape varietals (includes trousseau and poulsard if you want to geek out on wine terms) also come from the Jura. 

Drinking savagnin:
Savagnin is a grape that “reflects the Jura soil’s real identity” according to the Official Vin du Jura website. The amber coloured white wine possesses characteristics of “fresh walnuts, hazel nuts and toasted hints of butter”. Pairs with shellfish or mild fish, and cheeses showing nutty flavours, such as Jura-produced Comte cheese. 

The funky stuff:
The Jura crafts savagnin into a unique wine style called vin jaune, literally ‘yellow wine’. Those wanting an afternoon sipper while yakking with company might not find vin jaune all that approachable wine. It’s often compared to dry fino sherry (although vin jaune is not fortified)., and even the bottling isn’t necessarily the most pleasing:

 

To make vin jeune, you need just over six years from grape picking to bottling. For most of this time, the wine sits in small oak casks and a layer of yeast is let to grow over the liquid. Over the six years, the wine evaporates in the barrel by about a third, and develops its distinct colour, aromas of nuts, perserved fruit and spice, and strong flavours that some describe as ‘liquor-like’. 

A good fit for Australia?
I get dodgy when I try to put my opinion on something I know absolutely nothing about. To offer my most unimposing and mild observation, I’d have to say that Australia needs to create it’s own savagnin style and niche to successfully bring this wine to the consumer. Attempting to create savagnin wines in the Jura-style (not even counting vin jaune) seems a bit tough even on the fundamental level of climate comparability. Willing to try any (most) things once, I’d certainly be interested in seeing what Barossa or McLaren Vale soils and climate could bring to a unique Australian savagnin wine.