L
ast year was a big one for McLaren Vale’s sustainability-
minded winegrowers: the awards kept raining down
on this popular South Australian wine region. At
the Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism
Awards announced in Bordeaux, Gemtree Wines was named
global winner for Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices.
At the Australian Organic Awards, Gemtree won Best
Alcohol Product of the Year for their delicious, slurpy 2019
Luna Temprana Tempranillo, while Angove Family Winemakers- based in the Riverland but with vineyards and a cellar door
in McLaren Vale – was named Business of the Year. And at
the McLaren Vale Wine Show, brothers Malcolm and Richard
Leask of Hither & Yon took out the trophy for top wine of the
show, a 2018 red made from the climate-change-suited Sicilian
grape variety, nero d’Avola; Richard has also just finished
travelling for his Nuffield Scholarship looking at regenerative
farming practices around the world. For quite a few years now,
McLaren Vale has laid a pretty convincing claim to being the
greenest wine region in Australia.
The region has long been at the forefront of climate-change
adaptation. Around half the vineyards are now irrigated using
reclaimed waste water, thanks to the construction in the 1990s
of a pipeline from a nearby residential treatment plant. And
since the 1980s, when pioneer producers Coriole started planting
southern Mediterranean grapes such as sangiovese, the region
has come to be recognised as a leading source of wines made
from non-mainstream, heat-and-drought-tolerant varieties fiano,
nero d’Avola, tempranillo and touriga – as well, of course, as
the old heat-and-drought-tolerant varieties grenache and mataro
that have flourished in the area for over a century.
The Sustainable Australia Winegrowing program developed by
the McLaren Vale wine association over a decade ago – a rigorous
program with a focus on constant improvement of vineyard and
winery practices – has now been adopted on a national scale and
is managed by the Australian Wine Research Institute. And a large
number of McLaren Vale’s best known winegrowers are certified
organic or biodynamic, including Battle of Bosworth, Yangarra,
Paxton, Gemtree, Angove, d’Arenberg and Inkwell. In fact, an
impressive 10 per cent of the region’s vineyards arecertified,with
another seven per cent or so farmed organicallyorbiodynamically
but not certified. This compares to only aroundthreepercent
of vineyards Australia-wide that are organic or biodynamic.
“Demand for organic wines from McLarenValeis really
strong,” said Gemtree viticulturist Melissa BrownwhenI visited
her vineyard recently. “In fact, there’s now a shortageoforganic
and biodynamic grapes. I’m trying to convinceanygrowerswho
will listen to convert.”
Brown took me down past the solar panelsthatpowerthe
cellar door for a walk through the eco-trail area oftheproperty,an
area of rehabilitated bush near the creek, to showmea fenced-
off area waiting to home a rescued koala. Andthenuptothe
Biodynamic Hut, where Brown stores her compostpreparations
and teaches visitors about the organic farmingsystem.It’seasy
to see why Gemtree won the sustainable wine tourismaward–
although there’s plenty of competition in this regionalone.
Inkwell Wines, for example, owned by DudleyBrownandDr
Irina Santiago-Brown – a viticultural sustainabilityexpertwhowas
key to developing McLaren Vale’s winegrowingprogram– sets
another benchmark itself: not only is the vineyardcertified
organic, but the off-grid cellar door and boutiquehotelonthe
property are also constructed from upcycled shippingcontainers
and furnished with recycled and repurposed materials.
While Inkwell may be boutique, quite a fewofMcLarenVale’s
developments in sustainable viticulture, winemakingandtourism
are larger operations. Leading Riverland company,AngoveFamily
Winemakers, had already started converting theirextensive
vineyard at Renmark on the Murray River to organicswhen,
in 2008, they bought a property in McLaren Vale,introducing
organic and biodynamic farming here, too. Now,all 500 hectares
of vines across both regions are set to become certified,making
Angove the country’s largest organic wine brand.
“We absolutely believe in organic and biodynamicviticulture,”
said Angove chief winemaker Tony Ingle at a recenttastingof
shiraz and grenache blends from Warboys, theirMcLarenVale
vineyard. “The soil is healthier, the vines are inbetterbalance,
the grapes are more intense, more flavourful.”●Top drops of the month2019 Rosnay
Freedom Grenache-
Shiraz-Mourvèdre,
Canowindra, $19.50
In 2019, the grapes were
picked a little earlier: the
result is a fresh, spicy,
vibrant red. rosnay.com.auOYNU
G^RED^Applewood Navy Gin,
Adelaide Hills, $90
Like Nigel Tufnel’s guitar
amp in Spinal Tap, the
flavour-knobs in this
fabulous gin have
been turned up to 11.
applewooddistillery.com.auUTNR
ITUP2019 O’Leary Walker
Watervale Riesling,
Clare Valley, $25
This excellent,
lemongrassy, lime-pithy
Watervale is the riesling
you want to drink now.
olearywalkerwines.comICRTSU
Y^WHITE2018 Yarra Yering Dry Red
No 3, Yarra Valley, $105
A blend of Portuguese
grapes – including touriga
naçional, tinta cão and
tinta roriz – so seductively
pretty, perfumed and
silky. yarrayering.comAYRR(^) A
BL
EN
D
2018 LasVino
CBDB,Margaret
River,$50
NicPeterkinexcelswith
thischeninblancmade
frombiodynamicgrapes
andwild-fermentedin
oldbarrels.lasvino.com
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GOURMET TRAVELLER 43
Drinks