I have always reminded myself it is a privilege to work in the wine industry and it is a luxury product at the end of the day. Personally, I also think, it is a necessity and one that we here in Australia can and do accomplish incredibly well.
Normally in a game of baseball, it's three strikes and you're out.
The summer bush fires that saw anguish around the country are still very relevant and the effect on the 2020 harvest is still being managed and understood. Micro-ferments in wineries for smoke taint research and webinars on opportunities for the potential of unpicked crops to feed livestock are forming part of the strategies.
The second strike this year of extremely low yields for the harvest due to the poor fruit set back in the springtime, has meant some winemakers can not make wine this year as there are no grapes available to them. The silver lining is the small quantity of grapes for the 2020 vintage, appear to be of super quality. So although it will be a small production year, it will be worth keeping an eye out for the vintage release. It feels like a ghost vintage.
The last strike for me is the COVID-19 Virus. I remember at the start of the year looking forward to the market events in the coming months, where meeting customers direct and selling bottles of fizz are a highlight of my business. Never in a million years, did I expect not to be able to do this.
Along with so many other businesses, livelihoods and the way of life impacted and constantly changing, it is hard to imagine the future. Descriptions of apocalyptic and Armageddon- are hard to explain to children let alone wrap our heads around what is the imposing reality. However, we know the story telling always ends with the 'good' prevailing, and it will in this case too. We really do live in a 'lucky' country.
2020, may not have started as the year of blessings we had hoped for, but it will be known as the year of so many lessons. One thing to come from these disastrous events is in the gratitude we still have each other, the availability of healthy food and of course beautiful Australian wine! We are definitely NOT out!
]]>It happened by chance. I saw some beautiful fruit in 2015 and just had to pick a little to have a play. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it down the track and there were certainly no plans for a business or brand.
In hindsight, creating Cuvée-Co Wines has surpassed my expectations in many ways and I’m excited about the future. The first year has meant wearing many different ‘hats’ in order to bring the project to fruition and really putting yourself (and your products) out there- the awareness phase! I am humbled to have started my own label and for it to have been well received so far. I have wonderful customers and the support around me has been amazing. It is a privilege to work in the wine industry and I love being able to create sparkling wine that I’m very proud of!
Year two will see me embark on a new company structure, the second vintage release of 2016 The Kenneth Vintage Brut from that same vineyard in Mt Gambier that kick started the whole thing and the creation of another very special prestige wine to add to the range. The label release is likely in 2023- maybe something for our 5th birthday - dare I say.
It’s a patience game, not something I’m typically known for, but for now whilst I have the support, space and ambition to toil away on all the other aspects it takes to make and sell wine, I feel I’m moving the business in the right direction.
Have a wonderful summer break, enjoy the festive season and may 2020 bring you and your loved ones all that you desire. Maybe even a bottle of Fizz!
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Vintage is arguably the busiest time in the calendar year for a winemaker. Three months dedicated to grape assessments, scheduling harvest dates, fruit intake, alcoholic and malo ferments and non stop decision making- even in one's sleep. However, I have now found myself just as busy post vintage telling the Cuvée Co story and selling my wares.
Cuvée Co has seen a fantastic first six months of business. So 'thank you' for trying, buying and supporting my wine label either directly from me at a 'pop-up' or through the website! The support also shown by our stockists can't go unnoticed. It is with great thanks for each and every order that we receive and we love making the deliveries, chatting with the business owners and supporting each other in this wine venture.
It has been a great journey making, producing and selling a product that is exclusive, sophisticated, epicurean, evolved, culturally influenced, of high quality, accolade awarded and most of all, delicious!
Although we are heading into the cooler months, fizz appears to be a winner at the start of the night- or dare I say, to finish the night as I saw at the recent Adelaide Wine Market on Saturday night (next one in late June)!
Sparkling evokes a sense of celebration regardless of the need for an occasion and still is becoming an everyday drink. We are looking forward to the next six months with great anticipation for some new releases and continuing to 'refine the fruits' for this newly established business, Cuvée Co Wines!
]]>A surreal experience was had in Melbourne on the 13th of April at Australia's 2019 Top 50 Winemakers, Young Gun of Wine Tasting. Fifty Winemakers trekked across the nation to meet at the Prahran Markets in South Yarra and pour two wines each to a buzzing crowd of around 600 consumers!
A ticketed event that kicked off at 7pm for those interested in new brands, varieties and the opportunity to meet direct with the makers of their wares- I practically lost my voice after meeting so many new faces and discussing the intricacies of bubbles. Luckily there was plenty on offer to keep us all hydrated and Melbourne really turned it on for a great event.
Other than meeting the interested tasters, another highlight was the opportunity to meet the other finalists in the competition and hear their stories about what makes them tick. A few I knew and catching up over drinks was really rewarding too. Wine swaps are mandatory and it is an extremely humbling room to be in when the calibre of the wines on offer is so high and the genuineness of the people is heartfelt.
Speaking of rewards, all fifty winemakers were given a gift throughout the night by the event organisers- a very handy bottle opener (supported by Mountain Goat) inscribed with the wise proverb, "Making wine is all about drinking beer"! Something that will come in very handy, but also be a great memento of the experience that we have all had to date and with any luck, hopefully the journey will continue for Cuvee Co Wines. Next round yet to be published.....I'll let you know!
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Although vintage is well and truly upon us and all of the grapes are now picked and bubbling away for the primary fermentation, I can sit back and reflect on the numerous relationships I have formed to bring the business together to this point.
I ultimately feel like a (sparkling) gypsy travelling from one vineyard to another, to multiple wineries, laboratories, liaising with numerous bottling lines and of course delivering wine to dozens of sales channels.
The behind the scenes of creating a wine label are quite complex and building the relationships are just as important and deciding when to pick those precious gems of grapes.
This is why I felt the need to put 'Co' into my branding. It represents those relationships from the collaborative nature, the co-operative and the company of people that ultimately make the business tick.
]]>What an amazing honour to be announced as one of the winemakers amongst the top 50 Young Gun's of Wine (YGOW) this week! The competition is in its 13th annual edition and founder of YGOW, Rory Kent wrote on his website http://younggunofwine.com/2019-top-50/ "Each year, the top 50 list gets harder and harder to decide, which demonstrates the increasing quality and calibre of new wine labels in Australia. Added to that, there's a diversity of people, places and paths to wine, which makes this collection of winemakers so compelling and creatively igniting for the direction of Aussie wine."
With such industry affirmations, it gives me a clear sense of encouragement and excitement to keep pursuing the uncharted waters ahead of a newly established wine label and believing in my wines. I do see myself as 'young' (45 years is the cut off to qualify), so that is fitting and wanting to champion a style of wine- perhaps that does make me a 'gun' of fizz. One thing is for sure, it is was tough competition making the Top 50, let alone the next round to Top 12 (announced in April), so for now, I'm enjoying the goosebump moment and going along for the ride!
Want to be a part of it too? Well, there just so happens to be a Consumer Event: Saturday April 13, 7-10pm, at the Prahran Market (Melbourne). Come and say 'hi' and taste a swag of interesting wines- Sparkling included!! Tickets at http://ygowtop50.eventbrite.com.au/
]]>I am hoping my gift will be 5 tonnes of pristine Wrattonbully Prosecco grapes to add a refreshing, Italian style spumante to the range for 2019! Being a Mediterranean variety, it is an easy 'middle of the day' drinking wine and almost a replacement for mineral water at the lunch time table!
Following a visit to Asti, Italy for my honeymoon, I was inspired by the Italian varieties that make deliciously light and fruity sparkling (or spumante) wines. Although the region of Prosecco in Italy is on the north-east side (Asti on the north-west), I have tried as many bottles of Prosecco fizz as I possibly can both from Italy and Australia.
I am inspired to make my Prosecco in a similar traditional style to the 'sparkling' Prosecco (there are still Prosecco wines also made in Italy). Early picked, cool fermented and with no malo fermentation. Interestingly, this one grape variety planted under the name 'Prosecco' in Australia, a marketed wine style known as 'Prosecco' (it is fun to say) and a region in the Northern Hemisphere, also known as Prosecco, has created a stir in Australia with the naming rights being fought over with the EU, Wine Trade agreements and Wine Australia. As we continue to pop more corks and seriously debate the future of this variety within the Southern Hemisphere, fingers crossed this year's crop delivers just what I wished for!
Wrattonbully Prosecco Grapes!!!
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'The protection of the image of Champagne is one of the major tasks undertaken by the Comites Champagne, who thankfully, are present in 16 of the largest export markets. It is necessary to protect the authenticity of the product, place and its people, as to date the name of Champagne is still widely misused. ‘Champagne’ is being incorrectly used as a generic term to describe all sparkling wines and even some foodstuffs. In short, false advertising. Generally, it is felt in our young winemaking country that Australians still hold the perception that all sparkling wines can be called ‘Champagne’. Using the term Champagne to describe any bubbly wine has been gentrified and is a hangover from previous decades where labelling restrictions were not in place to protect the genuine product. Confusion reigns over what is Champagne and what is not Champagne across all age groups.
Everyone has an idea of what the product is. With the luxury packaging of the wines and the theatrics of opening a bottle there is a promise or expectation of quality and an experience to be had. Champagne has become a category to represent an occasion which we all experience in life, whether it be a wedding, a birth or a significant birthday. This is part of the argument that winemakers in the USA use to still be allowed to label their wines with the name Champagne, so long as the origin of grapes is also stated. Thankfully, on the contrary, Australia has shifted to appreciate Old World EU wine policies and thus we have now experienced a couple of decades in which we have not used the name ‘Champagne’ on our Sparkling wines; this followed the 1994 Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Amendment Act. Australia agreed to relinquish the use of certain terms, including Beaujolais and Chianti, and although the non-use of the word Champagne had not been enforced until 2010, we knew it was coming and through the wine industry have shown respect for what Champagne truly is.
The appellation of Champagne is something that is very protected and guarded by the Champenoise and more internationally by The Comité Interprofessionel Vin de Champagne through their bureaus whom have made the take home message an easy one to respect, ‘there can only be one Champagne, from Champagne, Northern France’.
Although I enjoy drinking and learning about Champagne, at the end of the day, I make Australian Sparkling Wine and am very proud of this fact! Next time your out and about ask 'for a glass of sparkling' and be rewarded with the complex nectar that you know has been lovingly grown and made on our home soil! Drink Local, Drink Australian!
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Wine Shows are an amazingly well run benchmarking system for producers to get some evaluation, and with a local wine show, the Limestone Coast Wine Show 2018 and a more specific oriented 2018 Australian Sparkling Wine Show, I just had to give it a go.
The wines were disgorged (taken off of the yeast) and a dosage (sugar addition) determined prior to sending the exhibitor samples in for scrutiny by a panel of judges. It felt like I had suddenly put myself in the firing line and the night before the results were released, I did not sleep! In fact I began to ask myself 'what have you done?' and I asked others 'how did you feel when you first entered a wine into a show? The response from others gave me a leveling insight, mostly telling me it is terrifying with the anticipation of the results and in some cases when wines just did 'bomb'.
With the results out, I held my breath and to my delight....... both wines medalled! I was extremely excited to receive the highest score in the class for The Kenneth 2015 Vintage Brut at our Local Wine Show (93/100) a Top Silver and a Bronze for the Ivy Elliot NV Rosé at the National Show. The third party endorsements felt like I'd won the trophies (ha), but that is something I can always aspire to, who knows, possibly one day!
To enter or not to enter? I'm glad I did!
]]>Extremely excited naturally, but with a nerve of fear keeping me grounded and learning to enjoy the experience of what hopefully is the start of a ‘bigger’ picture to come. With thanks to my Mentor, Steve Grimley who’s first piece of advice was to ‘grow the business slowly and enjoy your young family’.
I have been fortunate to have had the time available this year to juggle a new creative concept in Cuvée Co Wines and as the planets align in readiness for summer wine sales, so too will they for sand castles competitions with my Husband and our kids on the beach! Ohh and a cold bottle of Cuvée Co Wines to boot! Get some while it lasts! Next month’s blog, Wine Show Results.
]]>Firstly the grape growing region plays a huge part. Cool climates work best to help retain the acidity needed for aging. Whether it be from latitude or altitude a cool to cold climate promotes the ideal fruit maturity, picking the grape bunches a little earlier than for still wines.
Next it’s all about the varieties. Classic grape varieties of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay have the runs on the board when it comes to making some of the best sparkling wines in the world.
Finally, tirage age or maturation time on yeast is the third key to perfecting a great bottle of sparkling. The extended yeast autolysis adds the secondary characteristics to the wine such as biscuits, toast and honey.
Thus, complex sparkling wine is truly a time honored process that is extremely rewarding when everything comes together.
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That was back in 2015 and now the labour of that fruit is ready for release!
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