Barossa Valley Wineries you shouldn't miss!

Settled in the heart of world-renowned Barossa, South Australia's Barossa Valley is one of the oldest and finest wine producing regions of Australia. It is said that seven generations of passionate grape growers and dedicated winemakers have established this fertile land to become one of Australia's top wine regions. The region is known for consistently producing world's best wines and having outstanding vintages for over the past 160 years. So let's have a look at some of the top Barossa Valley wineries whose wines have stunned the world.

1. Seppeltsfield
Founded in 1851, Seppeltsfield is the world's only winery to release a 100-year-old single vintage wine every year. It is Australia’s most iconic wine estate which helped in shaping the history of the Australian wine industry.

2. Jacobs Creek
One of the most successful wine businesses of Australia, Jacobs Creek (formerly known as Jacob’s Creek) has been producing wines since 1847. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pernod Ricard Winemakers since 1989 whose. Wines under Jacobs Creek label are exported to over 60 countries.

3. Turkey Flat
Established in 1847, Turkey Flat winery is located in Tanunda. Described as one of the "cult wines" of Australia by wine expert Oz Clarke, the winery highly focuses on production (more than 40%) of rosés. The winery is considered a leader in 21st century’s "rosé revival" trend.

4. Yalumba
Founded in 1849 by Samuel Smith, Yalumba is part of a multimillion-dollar venture Australia’s First Families of Wine. The winery is best known for The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz and The Octavius Old Vine Barossa Shiraz.

5. Penfolds
One of the oldest and most iconic wineries, Penfolds' influence on Australia's wine industry is remarkable. From its beginning in 1844 until today, the winery has covered a long way in becoming one of Australia's most respected winemakers by merging science, art and innovation. Penfolds Grange, which also scored a perfect 100 for 1976 and 2008 vintage, is the most celebrated Australian wine across the world.

Make sure you don’t miss any wine from these top Barossa Valley wineries. Shop them now at Just Wines.

Winners of Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year

Every year, famous wine critic James Halliday and his wine tasting panel select the best Australian wines, wineries and winemakers from thousands. Known as the Halliday Wine Companion Awards, it is one of the most anticipated events on the Australian drinks calendar. The awards are given on the evening prior to the release of the annual guide, for which every Aussie wine lover anxiously waits. There’s a lot of buzz about wines in the market already, so this time let’s appreciate the hands and minds behind those award-winning beauties. Featured here are the four winemakers who won the title of ‘Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year’.

Peter Fraser: 2016 Winemaker of the Year:

The driving force behind South Australia based Yangarra Estate since 2000, Peter Fraser was the winner of Winemaker of the Year title at 2016 Wine Companion Awards. Having gained experience working in cellars and vineyards of Australia, France, Spain and the U.S, Peter has collected many awards and procured fame for a number of wines. Most famous of them are 1998 Chais Clarendon Shiraz, 2001 Yangarra Estate Shiraz and 2004 Cadenzia, just to name a few.

Sarah Crowe: 2017 Winemaker of the Year:

Victoria's Yarra Yering winemaker Sarah Crowe was named 2017 Winemaker of the Year. She is the first woman to take this title. She also won ‘Rising Star of the Year’ in 2009 Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association’s Hunter Legends. She has also judged International Cool Climate Wine Show, Royal Melbourne Wine Awards and Royal Queensland Wine Show.

Paul Hotker: 2018 Winemaker of the Year:

Senior winemaker at Langhorne Creek's Bleasdale Vineyards was awarded the 2018 Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year by James Halliday. It is Paul’s extraordinary skill of nurturing high quality fruit into outstanding wines that has given a number of Bleasdale wines ratings of 95 or above.

Julian Langworthy: 2019 Winemaker of the Year:

Julian Langworthy, Chief Winemaker for the fastest growing wine business in Western Australia Fogarty Wine Group (FWG), won the 2019 Winemaker of the Year title. Having won a tonne of awards for his rosé and Cabernet Sauvignon wines, this award is yet another feather in his golden cap.

Try their wines and you’ll be not amazed for why they were given this auspicious title. Cheers!

Types of wine personalities

Why is it that people have their very specific wine preferences? Are the wine preferences of the people dependent just on taste, or, is a larger personality factor determinant of what type of wine is liked by them? Marketers of wines are always interested in knowing what personality traits of a person is more likely to buy a particular type of wine rather than the other. Can these personality traits correlated with the wine types across populations bring out same results? Well, here are some of the most common observations by Myers-Briggs on what type of wine is bought by people of a particular personality-

A) Extroverts- Zinfandel, Pinot Noir
B) Flexible, Tolerant & Pragmatic- Malbec
C) Outgoing, Exuberant & Accepting- Zinfandel
D) Warm, Imaginative & Loves to be Appreciated- Carmenere
E) Outspoken, Resourceful & Good at Reading Others- Sangiovese
F) Realistic, Decisive & Organized- Tempranillo
G) Cooperative, Conscientious & Loyal-Grenache
H) Empathetic, Responsible & Helper-at-heart-Merlot
I) Decisive, Systematic and a Leader- Nebbiolo
J) Quiet, Serious & Logically Working Towards Goals- Barbera
K) Quiet, Friendly & Loyal- Petit Verdot
L) Insightful, Conscientious & Visionary- Syrah
M) Driven, Independent & Holds High Standards- Cabernet Sauvignon
N) Tolerant, Flexible & The Quiet Observer- Mourvedre
O) Sensitive, Friendly & in the Moment- Gamay
P) Idealistic, Loyal & an Understander- Cabernet Franc
Q) Focused, Skeptical & an Abstract Thinker- Pinot Noir

You might be wondering what use this can this information be put to. For the marketers who want to establish what other products wine-drinkers might be interested in the most, this bit of information on their personality trait is crucial.
It is important to understand that many of these traits can overlap with one another as personalities are complex and can not be segregated on the basis of compartments. Therefore, the wine personalities mentioned herein are, at best, indicative. While these might aid marketers as secondary or perhaps tertiary source of information, these shall not be held as primary parameters for marketing purposes.

McLaren Vale Wineries - A Brief Introduction

McLaren Vale is an Australian Geographical Indication for the purpose of wine-making. Geographically, vale is referred to a valley. Therefore, this region is a valley of river. McLaren Vale is essentially of triangular shape and is bounded on three sides. Adelaide lies to its north, the St Vincent gulf to the west and the Mt Lofty Ranges to the east and south. McLaren Vale is both a region and a small township within it. In fact, the region derives its name from the township. The grape growing areas within this are Old Reynella, Willunga, Aldinga, McLaren Vale Flat and McLaren Vale.

The importance of the region lies in the fact that this is an important food and wine region of Australia. Due to its well-recognized wine industry, it is also included in the Great Wine Capitals of the World. The region has been named after John McLaren who conducted the surveyed this region. However, some people argue that the naming was after David McLaren, the colonial manager of South Australia Company.

The first vines in this region were grown by John Reynell and Thomas Hardy in 1838, which is a good 180 years ago from now. These two people became the pioneers of wine industry in this area. At present, the region boasts of more than 80 cellar doors and 120 odd wineries.

McLaren Vale wineries grown different varieties of grapes. Shiraz dominates with about 55% of vineyard area of this region under its cultivation. Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache are the other two major varieties. Besides, there are a number of other grape varieties which respond well to Mediterranean type of climate.

Among the prominent McLaren Vale wineries, to name a few, are Hugo Wines, Zonte's Footstep, Angove Winery, d'Arenberg, Leconfield Wines, Maxwell Wines, Rosemount Wines, Wirra Wirra Vineyards and Geoff Merrill Wines

Importance of Tasting notes- The Common Wine Descriptors

The importance of tasting notes of wines cannot be ignored. These tasting notes describe the wine in detail, for the benefit of knowledge seekers as well as the wine buyers. The tasting notes can be written or told verbally by people who are experts in wine tasting. Even the wineries have their own wine experts who taste the wine at different stages and mention its properties. These properties influence the commerce of the wines. Therefore, the tasting notes of popular wine critics hold a lot of weight. The wine collectors also pay a lot of attention to what the experts say so that they know which wine will age well over time and can fetch them a much higher price as compared to their investment.

The tasting notes describe some of the most common properties of wines, such as:
a. Types- such as red, white, fruit or sparkling
b. Flavour- such as, sweet, dry, fruity, spicy, creamy, or any other
c. Aroma- such as, of tropical or seasonal fruits, flowers or anything which has been commonly experienced.
d. Full-bodied or medium-bodied
e. The extent to which tannins are present
f. Aftertaste- whether it tastes for long or for short time period

The highly descriptive tasting notes clearly point to what a wine is like and what it is not like. These help people in deciding whether they shall buy the wine or not. If the notes are by someone whom you trust because the previous experience of going as per his or her advice has been pretty good, you are most likely to believe it and buy the wine even for the first time. Collectors also go through these notes to ascertain whether it shall be collected or not.
Tasting notes, therefore, help all those people who are interested in wine, whether as educators, buyers or collectors.

5 Best Margaret River Wineries Known For Quality Wines

Western Australia is not particularly known for its vine growing potential, except for one prominent wine region. This region is Margaret River, named after the river which rises in Whicher Range and debouches into Indian Ocean forming an estuary. It is in the middle reaches of this river that viticulture is practised, making it a top wine growing region of this state. There are total 200 Margaret River wineries present.

Some of these are-

1.   After Hours Wines - The vineyard was bought by Mathews in 2005 and at present it produces about 60 tonnes of fruit from this vineyard. Cab Sav, Shiraz and Merlot are major varieties of grapes grown here.

2.   Night Harvest Wines - This is a five star rated winery by the famed wine critique - James Halliday. The fruit comes from four different vineyards present in the Margaret River region. Fruit is also sourced from some contractors, though in small quantities. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are quite famous.

3.   Hardys Wines - The Hardys are one of the oldest wine houses in the country. They are known for producing quality wines of different varietals. Fruit is sourced from their vineyard located in the Margaret River region.

4.   Butler Crest Wines - The vineyard of this winery is located in  Wilyabrup, which is one of the premium wine region within the Margaret River wine region. They are known for producing premium wines of Cab Sauv, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Semillon.

5.   Houghton Wines - Again, Houghton wines is an old winery, which began its operation in 1830s. The beginning was made in the Swan Valley region of Western Australia.

These wineries produce wines from different grape varietals and sell these in domestic or export markets either as single wines or carefully crafted blends.

Effect of terroir on grapes and wine

The word 'Terroir' comes from root 'terre' which means earth or soil. But in the world of wines, the terroir concept is more than just soil. Where some classify terroir as an interactive cultivated ecosystem in a given place including soil, climate, and the vine; some define it as a combination of natural environment plus biological and human factors. We can say that the terroir concept is based on an assumption that the key wine characteristics attribute to a fixed geographical area where the grapes and the wine are produced.                                     

How to study a terroir?

The terroir is one of the most widely-discussed subjects in winemaking and is highly accepted in established regions, be it any part of the world. Since many factors related to both the plant and the physical environment are involved in defining a terroir, it is advised to opt a pluridisciplinary approach for studying a terroir.

Is terroir responsible for wine's sensory attributes?

Yes. To understand the concept of terroir and its influence on wine composition along with sensory attributes, the spatial and temporal variability of key wine aroma compounds should be known. These are ­­3-mercaptohexanol (‘tropical’ and ‘grapefruit’ notes), 1,8-cineole (‘minty’ and ‘eucalypt’ aromas), and rotundone (‘peppery’ and ‘spicy’ notes). Various studies on these aroma compounds suggest that the environmental and biological interactions along with biotic factors like vintage and winemaking procedures, play important roles in shaping a wine's composition and its sensory attributes.

What takes for a grape to express the terroir?

The precocity of the grapevine variety is the first condition for a great terroir expression. It should match with the local climatic conditions in such a way that full ripeness of the fruit is reached by the end of the growing season. The second condition is that the vines should experience a factor which limits the yield and vigour. For example, water deficit stress or low nitrogen availability in the soil. Please note, even a single wine region may have varied terroir. Sometimes, a single wine grape variety grown on a specific block in a single

vineyard may produce different tastes than the one (with same variety) grown in another block. This is enough to tell how wide the concept of terroir is.