New winery stacks up

Few times are more stressful in the life of a wine producer than the last couple of weeks before vintage. But there was no need for the owners of Granton's Derwent Estate to worry unduly about processing their 2015 crop. Everything was hunky-dory in the company's new straw-bale winery.

Indeed, the state-of-the-art facility was first put through its paces last year. The main topic of conversation earlier this year was how to fully utilise the company's hi-tech wine press.

"I started here aged 13, when the vineyard was first planted," says part-owner and viticulturist Andrew Hanigan.

"This is a really exciting time to be in the industry." 

"Tasmanian wines have been selling well nationally and there have been some major success stories. This new winery puts us in a unique position to take advantage of some of the recent hype and media attention. Our new press is just about perfect for working with Tasmanian fruit."

Winemaker/business partner John Schuts is all smiles when it comes to talk of his Bucher Vaslin Xplus40 Inertys press. It's one of only a small number currently in use in the country. Part of a new generation of pneumatic presses that enables winemakers to take greater control over the fruit's exposure to oxygen during processing.

"Instead of sucking in air from outside the press tank when the bladder is retracted - as you have with a conventional airbag design - nitrogen or carbon dioxide is drawn in instead, creating a totally inert processing environment," Schuts explains.

"Juice can be extracted from the fruit without any oxidation at all. That's ideal for aromatic varieties like Riesling, where you want to optimise aromatics and freshness in the wine. It also allows us to operate the winery a bit more efficiently because we can determine the length of our pressing cycles in whatever way we think best. We can use a really long, slow cycle if we want... and because the processing takes place in an inert environment, we're getting pristine juice at the end of it all. That makes Andrew's work in the vineyard all the more worthwhile."

Schuts says the patented Bucher Vaslin technology offers him far more processing options than he had in the past. And the fact that the new press remains fully-automated means that there are no additional demands on winery staffing.

"Nitrogen used to create the inert environment is recycled through its own reservoir located close to the press," he adds. 

"As many as 10 pressing cycles are possible, so processing is also more efficient and cost-effective than with the previous technology."

The press works equally well for whites and reds. Schuts says when it comes to managing the property's Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, there's an additional processing stage.

"We still take advantage of minimising oxygen uptake during pressing," he notes.

"That then allows us to use micro-oxygenation in tank later on, in a very controlled way. Whatever best suits the end-product."

Vineyard co-founder Trevor Hanigan says the recent developments provide a stark contrast with the site's early history. Located just 20km north of Hobart - on the western shore of the River Derwent - the property occupies a land title that dates back to the early 1800s. Since 1913, it has been either owned or managed by various members of the Rathbone family. 

Pat Hanigan - Trevor's wife - knows the place like the back of her hand. She grew up there. Her mother Mary Rathbone still lives in the 1830s family homestead, overlooking the river.

Hanigan senior says his in-laws ran the property as a mixed farming operation. Sheep, cattle and a variety of vegetable and seed crops had the run of the place until he and Pat took on ownership in the 1980s. In 1993, the family decided to give viticulture a go and planted 4.5ha of Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Schuts entered the picture in 2003 when he moved from Margaret River to take up employment at Winemaking Tasmania. The operation had been Derwent Estate's contract winemaker since it was established in 2001 by former Moorilla Estate and Tamar Ridge winemaker, Julian Alcorso. 

By then, Derwent Estate had grown to 10ha, including new plantings of Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. In part, that had been a response to some significant wine show success and a 10-year contract to supply fruit to Hardys' Bay of Fires Wines. The vineyard had also been supplying Chardonnay to Penfolds' high-profile Yattarna program for the previous seven years.

As a contract winemaker, Schuts saw the best and the worst of 10 vintages from the Hanigans' vineyard before accepting their offer to join the company partnership in 2013. This year marked his 20th vintage in the industry.

Small-batch winemaking is the only game in town when it comes to making topnotch Pinot Noir, Schuts reckons. A multitude of small hand harvests now take place when the fruit is ready rather than being dictated by other winery demands. 

Derwent Estate's 2015 Pinot Noir, for example, is likely to be the product of around 20 different batches of wine, all fermented separately from one another. A few more small tanks are likely to find their way onto the winery's next shopping list.

"Over the years, this site has proven itself as one of the best and safest places to grow grapes in Tasmania," Schuts says, noting that his previous contract role included dealing with 40 other vineyard clients.

"It's a low rainfall, frost-free environment, with good access to water and low disease pressure. We've been having some success with adopting low-impact, organic practices. Our next-door neighbours at Stefano Lubiana Wines have been doing that for even longer period."

Having worked vintage in Burgundy, Schuts is especially enamoured with the property's free-draining calcareous soils. Unlike almost everywhere else in Tasmania, they don't overlay Jurassic dolerite. Derwent Estate sits above a fossilised seabed. Pat Hanigan recalls a limestone quarry operating nearby, right up until the early 1970s.

"The Pinots here always have a good weight to them," Schuts says.

"You never get skinny herbaceous wines. Our decision to build a straw-bale winery was based on the idea of wanting to improve our wine quality even further by emulating the wine caves of Burgundy," Schuts says.

"We wanted to build a place where we could store our barrels at a constant 11-12°C, all-year round. What we've ended up with is basically an above-ground cave. Of course, a substantial amount of electricity is required for heating and cooling in winemaking, so there are also significant savings being made as we run this winery."

During his various comings and goings through the structure over summer, Andrew Hanigan reckons there can be 10-15°C differences in ambient temperature between its front entrance and the barrel store. Everywhere else, there's a cool, quiet and very pleasant working environment.

"The 600sq.m winery has walls that are 450-500mm thick and up to 6m in height," he adds.

"They were built from around 1100 standard-sized bales made from barley straw. After being stacked and compressed, they were covered with three coats of render weighing close to 40-tonnes. The building probably has an R12 or R13 rating. That's huge when you consider conventional pink batts will give you a home with an R2 or R3 rating."

Winery construction also made provision for rainwater and wastewater to be collected. The latter is directed to a 100KL concrete storage tank where it's aerated and left to settle before being gravity-fed to an existing vineyard dam. Eventually, it will find its way onto the vineyard or into the property's surrounding gardens and shrubbery.

There's no mention of winery costs to date. 

Right now, one thing is sure. The value of Derwent Estate's latest expansions really stacks up.

Prepared for publication: Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker