Victorian wines shine at 2015 Halliday awards
The Yarra Valley on Black Saturday, late in the day, and with the arrival of a southerly change, the deadly fire that had engulfed part of the valley quickly turned.
Outside the township of Yarra Glen, winemaker Tom Carson and his wife Nadege saw the fireball heading towards their house and vineyard.
"In between the fire and our house was a block of shiraz," Carson recalls.
"It sort of deflected the fire around the house because the rows were running east-west and the fire was coming directly from the south. It stopped it in its path."
That block of shiraz vines turned out to be a lifesaver and at Tuesday night's national James Halliday Wine Companion Awards the Serrat 2014 shiraz viognier ($42) was named "wine of the year" on a stellar evening for Victorian wine producers.
"I've always had a secret love for shiraz viognier," says Carson, who is possibly better known and celebrated for his prowess with pinot noir. In 2013, his 2012 Yabby Lake Vineyard Block One pinot noir from the Mornington Peninsula won the Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards.
"I've always thought it had great potential in the Yarra Valley."
Other winners included Tahbilk, Nagambie Lakes (winery of the year), Bicknell FC, Yarra Valley (best new winery). Terindah Estate on the Bellarine Peninsula took out the 'Dark Horse' winery of the year award from a field of entries who had received their first 5-star rating this year from Australia's leading wine critic, James Halliday.
Tahbilk, a 155-year-old winery considered one of the Australian industry's greatest treasures, was recognised as the "Winery of the Year".
"I was gobsmacked! It was so unexpected," says Alister Purbrick, fourth generation owner of the historic vineyard and winery.
"What I'm gleaning from the award is that it's been a consistent improvement in our wines over quite a period of time, certainly over the last 10 years."
James Halliday was impressed with the 2009 Tahbilk wines, especially, but Purbrick says the best is yet to come. "I don't want to pre-empt it, but 2010 is a better year. No doubt about it," says Purbrick.
Meanwhile the choice of the little-known Bicknell FC as "best new winery" surprised some. David Bicknell is well known in his role as chief winemaker at Oakridge Estate in the Yarra Valley, but his family company is a Yarra Valley side project, running for just four years and devoted to chardonnay and pinot noir.
"The winemaking is a little bit different, the vineyard source is different," says Bicknell of the Oakridge style. "You could say it is almost an extension of what we do at Oakridge with the vineyard wines."
Their 2½-hectare site is leased and managed by Bicknell and his viticulturist wife, Nicky. "We do it all in our spare time. It's a bit of a busman's holiday."
Other 2016 James Halliday Wine Companion Award winners included:
■ Winemaker of the Year: Peter Fraser, Yangarra Estate Vineyard, McLaren Vale
■ Best Value Winery: West Cape Howe Wines, Great Southern