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From our Spring 2011 Newsletter The Tin Shed.  The move away from cork closures is now just about complete in the "New World" of wine making:

I have recently decided to stop buying wine that is sealed with a cork.  I’m frustrated with the amount of corked wine I come across. The wine has been tainted by TCA (2,4,6 richloroanisole) and it robs the wine of its fruit, leaving it tasting flat and smelling of musty, mouldy cellars. TCA, which is harmless, gets into the cork through poor storage after it is harvested from the tree.  If it is allowed to get wet, a fungus grows in the cork and produces TCA.  Up until recently it could not be removed and it is difficult to detect unless you test every cork and who is going to do that.

An alternative cork closure - the diam cork - is TCA free, having been ground up and subjected to super critical CO2 which extracts the TCA, and then reconstructed.  However, unless you are a regular buyer of the same wine, you don’t know if a diam cork is being used until you get the bottle home and open it.

I had gotten into the habit of buying two bottles if it had a cork, thinking that if one is corked I’d have another chance with the second bottle, but this has proved fallible as both bottles from my latest purchase were corked.  So no more cork.  Ah, but the romance of popping the cork I hear you say – and I say times change.

We have been drinking wine for thousands of years, but cork has only been widely used for the last four hundred years.  Before that it was a bit of leather or cloth, before that a bit of wood with wax and before that a layer of oil.  Cork is just one step in the progression of closures used to preserve and protect wine.  The favourite is now the screwcap and this will probably be superseded down the track, but for the moment it is a better seal than cork.  It has a lot going for it - there is little or no bottle variation so the wine is more consistent, the seal is more airtight so flavours are better preserved,  the wine still ages,  the risk of taints is virtually nil and there is no need to carry ‘round a corkscrew.

I have to say I don’t come across the problem so much with sparkling wine, I think a bit of TCA might add to the yeasty character of some sparkling wines and so is more acceptable, but I’ll have to consider that one a bit more, no doubt when I next have a glass or two.

 FW

From our Spring 2011 newsletter The Tin Shed:

I was at a second hand book store last week and bought some old lifestyle magazines. Why? Because I like to see how we saw ourselves in the past and how we have changed, or not as the case may be.

These magazines were about 10 to 12 years old, and I have to say food wise we haven’t changed much at all. Baby fennel, goats cheese, chorizo, bags of mixed lettuce are just as fashionable now as they were then.

One tag line on a front cover made me scoff – “Why Pre-mixed Drinks Have Had Their Day” What a bold statement. Pity it hasn’t come to pass.  I’ll put that up there with “Child Poverty will be a Thing of the Past”.

What I did find interesting was the changes in wine. In an article on the top wines under $20 (even better value now) headings included Riesling, Chardonnay and Miscellaneous Whites and Reds. And guess what was under Miscellaneous Whites – Sauvignon Blanc! Not miscellaneous anymore as last year it became the top selling white in Australia, making up 30% of white wine sales. Pinot Noir was a Miscellaneous Red – again a surprise for only 10-12 years ago.

FW

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The Tin Shed

From the Archives

2011

Food and Wine

It’s getting close to 10 years since we adopted a more organic approach to our viticulture.  He’s our thoughts from 8 years ago, from The Tin Shed – Spring 2011:

Constant improvement is the name of the game, always searching for better ways to make distinctive wines that better express our unique terroir.  We believe that healthy soils managed in a more sustainable and natural way is a key part of that, and this has led us down an organic path.  The 2010 season was our first managed organically, and the results to date are better than expected, given that farms often goes through a dip in production during transition.  Perhaps this is because we have been reducing our chemical inputs steadily over the preceding years anyway.

Now we are faced with a few difficult decisions – do we formally certify our operations as organic, and do we label our wines as organic?  Separate but related issues.  There are a number of organic certification bodies in Australia, and if you pay them they will monitor your operations and allow you to use their certification logo.  Certification gives consumers confidence that organic protocols are being followed, but what do consumers think of organic wine?   Does it spell quality, as we want it to, or does it remind them of second grade fruit?  Also, do consumers relate differently to fresh organic products as opposed to products manufactured from organic ingredients (like wine)?

Most likely we will certify, and then decide whether or not to declare it on our label.  I actually think that over time organic protocols will merge with more traditional protocols and a “best practice” will emerge – and that will be a good thing!

From our 2014 Newsletter The Tin Shed.  We held several sourdough demonstrations, and I like to think there’s a few still at it out there!

While on a road trip in the US last year, we visited the Russian River wine region of California and while browsing a bookshop in Healdsburg (as you do) picked up a CD copy of Michael Pollan’s “Cooked – A Natural History of Transformation”.  It was great listening on long car trips - an exhaustive history on why we cook our food the way we do.  We were, of course, immediately attracted to his section on fermentation in all its various guises.

The discussion on bread, and sourdough bread in particular, caught our attention.  We’ve been making our own bread for ages but we had not taken the next step of “wild fermentation” breads, as we have with our red wines.  Michael introduced us to Chad Robertson and his life’s mission to make bread with soul - the perfect country loaf.  I love the painting (opposite) by Emile Friant (1888) that inspired Chad’s mission.

Similarly inspired, I’ve been mucking around with Chad’s instructions for making a basic country loaf in his book “Tartine Bread”.  After many tasty but somewhat dense test loaves, we’ve hit on an approach that works well with our local flours, and even includes a secret ingredient!  A few other important points:

steam is critical to baking good bread

managing the fermentation well is the most important skill to develop

sourdough doesn’t have to be that sour (in fact “sourdough” is a bit of a misnomer)

sourdough starters are simple to manage

small changes in approach can make a big difference to the results

you need to develop a feel for your dough and be flexible

It’s been fun, and we’d love to share some of our bread recipes with you – Fiona makes a great ciabatta too.  Learn how to make basic sourdough bread (or bring along your own bread and share your secrets!) at our winter solstice celebration – bookings required!

NM

An excerpt from our newsletter in 2014 – we were (and still are) chuffed to be rated so highly by Mr Halliday and his team:

Now a 4 ½ Star Winery  – In his  2014 Wine Companion, James Halliday has rated Yarrh Wines as a  4 ½ Star winery.  We are very pleased with this, and it marks another milestone in our development.  What does 4 ½ Stars mean? “Excellent winery able to produce wines of high to very high quality, knocking on the door of a 5-star rating. Will normally have one wine rated at 94 points or above, and two (or more) at 90 and above, others 87-89.” James Halliday is now no doubt the best known wine critic in Australia, so his ratings are an important indicator to many that they are dealing with a high quality producer.  Highlights of the wines he rated this year -  2011 Riesling 94/100 (“Outstanding”), 2011 Shiraz 90/100 (“Highly Recommended”). 

From our newsletter The Tin Shed of 2014, the beginning of our “Mr Natural” range of wines…

For some time now we’ve been fermenting our reds using “natural ferments” – no added yeast.  We wanted to see if we’d left anything behind taking this step so we divided our first pick of Shiraz into three batches.  The first batch dubbed ‘Mr Natural’ was allowed to start fermenting naturally and although it took longer to get going, it completed fermentation close to the other two. The second had some nutrient added – still a natural ferment.  The third had nutrient and yeast added.  All the ferments progressed well, though at times the aromas and activity did vary.  The batches were pressed separately and put into separate barrels.  All have excellent colour  (very important for tannin development) but have quite different flavour profiles.  The natural ferments tend to be more savoury while the added yeast tends to create more fruity notes.  The wines are still very young and not complete so it’s a bit too early to have a firm opinion on what might be best, but we will continue to explore and contemplate more natural, low input winemaking.

For the first time this year we also made a sparkling Rosé.  It was inspired by a wine dinner we attend in January, hosted by wine judge and writer Mike Bennie.  The wine dinner was titled “Wines you need to know about.” and started with sparkling wines made using the technique “methode ancestrale”.  The wine is bottled before fermentation is complete, so bubbles are created in the bottle.  These wines are often a Rosé made with no added yeast, no sulphur dioxide, unfined and drunk fresh, either during the vintage or in the following spring. 

Our sparkling Rosé was made from a small batch of Tumbarumba Pinot Noir.  Fermentation started like clockwork, but then at what point do you bottle the wine?  It turns out we bottled a little too early – it’s rather (very) fizzy but it tastes very pleasant, fresh, fruity and refreshing. It is a little cloudy as the yeast lees have not been removed (as you would with “méthode champenoise” ) but I think this adds to its charm and character – as Neil points out its very much like a Coopers Sparkling Ale.  It was available for tasting at the recent Wine Harvest Festival and

was very well received.  So the challenge for next year is to tone down the bubbles and make it just as pleasant to drink.

FW

Key Words

Winemaking

From the Archives

2014

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Here’s an except from our Autumn 2013 Newsletter the Tin Shed, from the early days of Sangiovese in the Canberra District:

Sangiovese is taking off in the district, and aficionados of the variety will be in for some real treats over the coming years, with some of the best known winemakers in the district really focusing on the variety.  We were one of the first to plant the variety in the district (2001), and had the opportunity to put one of our best vintages (2008 – sorry – sold out) up against some other local, interstate and international examples at a recent tasting organised by Alex McKay of Collector Wines.

There were 24 fantastic wines from the best regions of Italy (Chianti, Montalcino) and Victoria as well as a good range of local wines.  Quite a range of styles were in the tastings, from fresh and bright to deep and brooding.  The best examples had mouth watering savouriness, complex but moderate fruit and truly epic persistence.  We were very pleased with the response to our 2008, with comments like “ripe nose, fresh spice notes, warm mid-palate, ripe tannins, balanced fleshy finish – silver” from one of the best local palates in the business.  Not bad among $250/bottle examples from Italy!

NM

An excerpt from our 2016 newsletter.  After some further local research, we selected Fiano, partly because we can see it suiting our climate, partly because it’s a beautiful wine, and partly because it’s an anagram of Fiona!  Looking forward to a small crop in 2020:

A warmer 2016 vintage reminded us that we need to think of the future, and perhaps the wines of southern Italy might be worth a closer look.  Abruzzo, Campagna and Sicily were our targets – well south but the better wines are grown in the cooler, higher regions on the mainland, and with coastal influence in areas of Sicily.

Wine highlights of the trip:

• Fiano – a lovely soft, rounded wine white, highly fragrant, beautifully textured, could make a good addition to the stable.
• Greco di Tufo – a wine makers wine, restrained, high acidity, citrus, highly reminiscent of a nice, dry Riesling.
• Aglianico – we’ve tried a few good Australian examples, and it didn’t disappoint, quite tannic when young, tarry, liquorice, a big wine, often blended with something a bit softer. Memorable due to the lady who made our lunch being born in Canberra and returning to Taurasi (Campagna) when she was 13.  Best antipasti!
• Montelpuciano – widely planted, and made young and fresh through to dark and brooding. Cherry, plum, drying tannins, lean and structured.
• Nero d’Avola – gaining momentum in Australia, makes Sicily’s only DOCG wine – Cerasuolo di Vittoria – when blended with Frappato.  Full bodied, smooth, ages well, a bit like shiraz.  We visited COS in Vittoria where they are fermenting and aging some wines in buried amphora.

Of course, the wine is only half the story.  The local cheeses, breads, pastas, salamis, prosciutto, seafood (it was tuna season!), and game meats were superb.  And the coffee – addictive short blacks for about $1.50.  Absolute standouts – fresh cheeses of Abruzzo, aged cheeses of Sicily, the original buffalo mozzarella from around Naples, chestnut pasta in Abruzzo, Bisteccia Florentina in a Tuscan restaurant in Rome, fresh anchovies stuffed with mozzarella in Sicily, boned (!) rabbit wrapped in prosciutto and poached in wine.  Also great – all this was reasonably priced (OK except for the Bisteccia).

NM

From our Newsletter The Tin Shed of 2015.  It was, indeed, a very good year: 

This does look like being the best vintage for some time.  All the hard work in the vineyard and rain at the right time set the vines up to do their best and they delivered.  The quality was outstanding with the added bonus of higher than expected yields for most varieties.  This caused some juggling in the winery – working out where to put the extra fruit and has spawned a project to review the number of tanks and their configuration. 

The Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are both looking great in the bottle and, even though the cooler weather has set in, are already selling well at Cellar Door. The Riesling is a little lower in alcohol this year as the flavours came through a little faster than the rising sugar. I think this is a bonus with whites, as the alcohol can dominate the finer flavours. The Riesling is rather full flavoured as a result of a little bit more skin contact making it more versatile for food matching.  Don’t just think seafood, but white meats like chicken and pork.  The healthy canopy on the Sauvignon Blanc provided ideal shade for the fruit to maintain their delicate grassy flavours. A little residual sugar enhances these fine flavours. 

The fruit quality was so good the red grapes were worked a little harder in the winery to get more extract from the skins. This will give more character and depth to the wine. Usually the ferments are only pumped over and/or hand plunged.  This year during the peak of fermentation I removed all of the fermenting juice, allowed the grapes to press down on themselves extracting more flavour and colour, then returned the juice.  The Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are looking particularly well balanced at this early stage while the Pinot Noir and Sangiovese are a little awkward but a little patience and time in oak will help them to blossom. There is going to be a great selection of wines to choose from the 2015 vintage!

FW

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From the Archives

2015

Winemaking

Grapegrowing

Wines

Here’s an except from our 2015 Newsletter The Tin Shed.  Next year our 5 years are up!

Last year we planted some olive trees.  Something we’ve wanted to get up and running for a while.  Just a small grove of 40 trees, made up of four varieties, many of which are currently rather obscure in Australia but are part of a second (or third?) wave of varieties matched to our climatic conditions, and selected for their quality.  They are all predominately for oil production, except for the Hojiblanka, which is mainly a table olive.

Frantoio (frahn-toy-yo):  from Tuscany, highly regarded worldwide and highly productive, balanced fruitness.

Leccino (lay-chee-no): also from Tuscany, high quality oil, often cross pollinated and blended with Frantoio

Hojiblanca (oh-hee-blon-ka): from Spain, low yield but high quality

Picual (pik-wal): also from Spain, high acid, very stable oil, very widely planted in Spain.

Another five years or so and we may have some oils to offer you! 

NM

Keywords

Food and Wine

From the Archives

2015

From our 2012 Newsletter The Tin Shed.  We'd now add "lean", "savoury" and "varietal" to our house style.  The new label has stood the test of time, too:

Things take time in the country.  It takes time to master your craft, know what’s special about your piece of land and where it fits in the local environment. It takes time to know your vines and your vineyard, and how they react to each unique season.  It takes time to listen, learn from others, read and taste extensively and it takes time to develop your own philosophy.

After 15 years, we think we have identified the unique Yarrh style.  A move towards sustainable and organic farming practices combined with winemaking technique refinements including the use of natural fermentation has been fundamental to the Yarrh evolution – the wines are now edgy and elegantly structured.

To match this evolution of style, we re-engaged the original designer of our label, George Macintosh of Some Cowboy. George’s task - refresh the look of Yarrh wines, evolving the brand to reflect the handcrafted, natural, premium products in the Yarrh range.   We think he’s done a great job and we really feel our new brand and label look are worthy replacements.

Each of this Spring 2012 club wine packs contains some wines with the new label.  What do you think?  So far reaction from customer and the broader market has been very positive.

NM