Hunter Valley winemaker Jim Chatto isn't old enough to recall the so-called 'Swinging 60s' that created the mini-skirt, the Mini Minor and the Frosted Mini Wheat. But talk with him today about the production of topnotch Pinot Noir and he'll tell you the principle of 'small is beautiful' is just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.
Mention the name Richard Doyle in your next wine conversation and it's fairly likely you'll see blank faces being pulled. "Richard who?" they'll say. That's not surprising. Your average Tasmanian wine consumer wouldn't have a clue who you're talking about.
It was an inauspicious start for a new contract winemaking business, but managing director and senior winemaker Julian Alcorso is a happy man nonetheless. After all, his Hobart-based company Winemaking Tasmania recently won the MYOB Business Award in the 2006 Telstra Tasmanian Business of the Year Awards.
Vineyards are renowned for changing people's lives. One minute they're all sticks and ploughed earth, and the next thing you know they're all shoots and leaves, with grape bunches galore. And for growers like Chartley Estate's Peter and Loraine Kossmann, that's the fun part.
Good wine takes time. But just how much time is enough can't be fathomed out before you start your quest for quality, says Clemens Hill Vineyard owner John Shepherd. It's something you discover along the way.
With its maritime climate, long growing and ripening seasons, and mild sunny autumns, Tasmania seems ideally suited to cool climate viticulture. Yet for all that, the island's true wine-growing potential is still to be fully realised. Its 220 or so vineyards are for the most part small, family-run affairs, totalling less than 1,300ha.
Pioneering a cool climate wine region is a risky business. Physically demanding as well as costly and time-consuming, the task is always subject to the vagaries of site, soil and season.
Cellar doors are great places to visit. The best are bright, warm, and hospitable, and preferably just metres away from the vineyard. That way, all senses are stimulated – not just the tastebuds – and visitors come away with a genuine awareness of place. Indeed, that's what wine is really about. People and places.
Do we harvest now or do we watch and wait? That's the question on the lips of many of the State's winegrowers as the industry's 200-plus vineyards move into the business end of the season. It might sound simple, but there's no one simple answer. Grape growing is a complex issue, says Frogmore Creek's Tony Scherer.
Tasmanians have always loved a good rural field day. Indeed, the citizens of Van Diemen's Land celebrated the island's first show and field day way back in January 1822. And while it may have provided a rare opportunity for some fun and frivolity, its participants would have also viewed the day with considerable gravity.
