Willows Vineyard - the Barossa’s Best Kept Secret

If you like rich, full-flavoured Shiraz – this one’s for you!

“After decades of selling his grapes to other Barossa winemakers, Peter Scholz is now making his own wine, with exciting results.”         Andrew Catchpole (Daily Telegraph)

In the eastern part of the Barossa Valley, there is a tiny hamlet called Light Pass (Population 30, it proudly boasts on the sign announcing that you have arrived there). This is where you will find the Barossa Valley’s most under-rated winery: The Willows Vineyard.

Here Peter Scholz quietly plies his trade, producing top quality wines and selling them for extremely reasonable prices that seem over-generous given the prices asked for often inferior wines from the region.

The Scholz family’s estate is steeped in history, dating back to 1845, when Johann Scholz, a bonesetter by trade, set up a small hospital on the site. In 1936, Herbert Scholz planted the vines that still grow in the vineyard. For decades the Scholz family sold their grapes to some of the bigger companies, notably Peter Lehmann.

The move to producing their own wine came when sixth generation Peter Scholz enrolled in the famous winemaking course at Roseworthy Agricultural College, near Adelaide, that has produced so many of Australia’s top winemakers. After graduating, he worked at Peter Lehmann, moving up through the ranks to eventually become Assistant Winemaker.

But Peter had a vision for The Willows Vineyard: he was well aware that much of the grapes they produced tended to find their way into the Barossa’s flagship wines. So, in 1989, he began to set some of the fruit aside to produce wine under the Willows banner.

The wines of Willows Vineyard rapidly came to the attention of wine-lovers and critics alike. Show successes followed, including the International WINE Challenge’s first-ever Semillon Trophy, with his 1993 Semillon, but it was the Willows Shiraz that really swept the board with medal after medal including two successive Gold Medals in the International WINE Challenge.

With such success and praise you might have thought that Willows Shiraz would have joined in the Barossa goldrush of the late 1990s when many of the wineries sharply increased prices on the back of high ratings (and high prices achieved) in the US. Indeed, Peter once showed me a clipping from an American wine magazine – he had sold 20 cases to an American importer, who then put a stupendous margin on the wine so that it was priced at over US$40 per bottle. The wine received a high rating and was thought to be “good value” by the magazine.

Peter dismissed it all as hype (actually, he used another word!) and bid the US farewell. He is happier that his Shiraz is considered to be one of the Barossa’s best value wines. 

Eldredge Vineyards named as one of Australia's Top "Dark Horse" Wineries

James Halliday has named Eldredge Vineyards as one of his ‘Australia’s Top Ten Dark Horse Wineries’ in the 2014 edition of the James Halliday Australian Wine Companion:

“Leigh and Karen Eldredge established their vineyard and winery 20 years ago in the Sevenhill Ranges at an altitude of 500metres above Watervale. Over the years they have had conspicuous success with one or two wines, but have now produced a suite of lovely wines from the 2010 and 2012 vintages, ALL KEENLY PRICED.”

The 2012 Eldredge Blue Chip Shiraz has achieved cult status as one of the Clare Valley’s most sought-after Shiraz, rated 94 points in the Halliday Guide, it will cellar brilliantly for a decade.

The 2012 Eldredege ReserveMalbec also scored 94  - points – “the ultra-full-bodied palate with its array of Satsuma plum and black cherry fruit”. It has excellent cellaring potential, James advises us “to store it for the longest possible time.”

The Australian wineries merry go round goes on and on...will we now see "Babycham Barossa"?

While the possible private equity pursuit of Treasury Wines, owner of the Penfolds, Rosemount and countless other brands, seems to have gone quiet, up pops a couple of other companies keen to keep the merry go round spinning.
Accolade Wines, the other Australian monolith who continue to pretends that half-price Hardy's is a "family" brand, have decided that they haven't enough brands (17 Australia brands on their website at last count). So they've splashed the cash and bought Barossa producer Grant Burge Wines (well done, Grant). There must be a strategy there, perhaps they'll merge it with one of their other "premium" brands and christen it "Babycham Barossa"?
On a more sensible note, Casella Wines, owners of the Yellowtail brand have bought Peter Lehmann Wines from their Swiss owners, Hess. PLW no longer have a figurehead with the sad passing of Peter and, lately, his son, Doug. Yellowtail obviously has a thirst for the Barossa vineyards loyal to PLW, perhaps they'll create a Yellow Label? Sorry, that one's  already been done....  by Wolf Blass,... part of the Treasury stable, following a few rounds of takeovers.
The merry go round goes round and round...

Rockford Basket Press Shiraz - a slice of Australian Wine History

Robert O’Callaghan’s iconic Basket PressShiraz is produced in tiny quantities from old dry grown Barossa vineyards that were probably planted by Silesian immigrants fleeing religious persecution in Europe in the late 1800’s. 

Over the next 100 years or so, their descendents toiled the vines, each generation preserving this rich heritage for the subsequent generation. It is then a matter of honour and pride to hand this unique inheritance on to them, as the next link in the chain

When you drink a bottle of Basket Press you are enjoying a slice of Australian wine history. Limited stocks are available at the Australian Wine Centre.

Wine is made from grapes so why are some wines said to be not suitable for vegetarians?

It’s all to do with the fining agents that are used to clarify the wine. A clarifying or fining agent makes wine clear by removing proteins from the wine. The agents eventually settle out of the wine. Some fining agents are animal-based products, while others are earth-based. Common animal-based agents include egg whites, milk, gelatin, and isinglass. Gelatin is an animal protein derived from the skin and connective tissue of pigs and cows. Isinglass is prepared from the bladder of the sturgeon fish, while egg whites and milk can also be used.
The quantities used are miniscule: whites from 3 eggs can clarify 250 litre of wine Both the clarifying agents and the removed proteins coagulate on the bottom of the wine tank or barrel. They are then removed through either a settling process or a cellulose fibre filter and are not present in the finished product.
It depends on how strict a vegetarian (or vegan) is as to whether the fining agent is a concern.

25 vintages of Primo Estate Joseph Moda Amarone on video

With the release later this week of the 2012 vintage, Primo Estate have clocked up 25 vintages of this outstanding Aussie Cabernet Merlot. You can see the videos of winemaker Joe Grilli tasting all 25 vintages of Moda here.

Joe Grilli combines Aussie know-how with his traditional Italian winemaking by air drying the finest McLaren Vale fruit on shaded outdoor racks for two weeks prior to crushing. The fruit is concentrated so that it loses around 15% of its weight. This inspired use of the Italian Amarone technique creates an opulent, brooding wine.

2012 Primo Estate Moda

The 2012 vintage was a near perfect ‘no excuses’ growing season in McLaren Vale. Whilst there was plenty of dry, warm weather in the lead up to harvest the really hot temperatures were only short lived and the ideal combination of warm sunny days and cool nights prevailed. Not surprisingly these conditions have produced wines with lovely poise.

Intense bouquet of concentrated blackcurrant fruit intermingled with characteristic raisin and cigar box notes. Mouth filling palate of rich, lush blackcurrant wrapped in fine dark chocolate. The palate goes on and on, all the way to a gentle tannin finish and some lingering cedar oak.

Bowen Estate moves on to the next generation

In 1972 when Doug and Joy Bowen founded Bowen Estate near Penola on the red soils of the Coonawarra, it was one of the few wineries based there. Some forty years later, it has become one of the region’s landmarks, still producing the best value reds from the district as they swim against the tide of ever-increasing prices, clearly focused on delivering value-for-money.

Now Doug has “retired” from winemaking entrusting that role to daughter Emma, a graduate in winemaking from the Charles Sturt University in Wagga  and with experience in the Hunter Valley, Mudgee and Burgundy.

The seamless transition, with Doug now as Chief Viticulturist (and also chief lobster gatherer) can be seen with the wines from the 2011 vintage, which have caught the attention of The Independent’s wine critic, Anthony Rose, who wrote about the 2011 Bowen Cabernet Sauvignon: "A berry-scented, elegantly expressed Aussie red polished with a delicate brush of vanilla oak and a touch of herb". 

The Bowen heritage is in good hands!