Riverland, South Australia

Australian Wine Selector - Summer 2003

Bill Moularadellis, founder and chief winemaker of Kingston Estate, gestures with a broad sweep of his arms and declares: “In a 40km radius of here, almost 30 per cent of the national production is grown. It’s a pretty awesome figure.” South Australia’s Riverland region, which stretches along the Murray River from Blanchetown to Paringa, is Australia’s largest wine region, in volume terms. It is the engine room of the Australian wine industry, yet many people still have either a negative, or at best neutral, response to its wines. It’s something that rankles with Moularadellis, who is quick to point out that most Australian wines under $10 come from the Riverland, if not in full then certainly in part. Lindemans Bin 65, Orlando Wyndham’s Jacobs Creek, BRL Hardy’s Nottage Hill and other value-for-money wines, many of which have spearheaded Australia’s export push, all owe their generous fruit flavours to the Riverland’s warm, sunny climate.

The lifeline for the region is an abundance of water from the Murray River, yet for many years it was a liability as much as it was a blessing. Much of this precious resource was wasted, poured on to the vines in vast quantities, leading to soil degradation and increasing output at the expense of quality. However, in recent years there has been a quiet revolution going on, with many of the wineries embracing new technology to make the best use of water. Kingston Estate is one that is changing the way people think about viticulture in the Riverland. It has invested heavily in drip irrigation and moisture indicators which allow it to monitor precisely the moisture in the soil and to determine a water regime for the vine. “This is a semi-arid environment and it’s a positive thing,” said Moularadellis. “Whether it (the water) comes from the heavens or drip irrigation is largely academic.”

What IS important, he says, is how the water is handled. By controlling the amount of irrigation it applies at different times, and with careful canopy management, Kingston Estate has 98 per cent of the water used in the vineyard transpired through the vines, not lost to the elements. Bill believes the industry average would be about 70 to 80 per cent of water transpired through the vine. While fragrant whites don’t do well in the Riverland’s warm climate, 70,000 tonnes of chardonnay are produced in the region each year, more than the combined total of all other regions in South Australia. The quality of reds coming out of the region has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few years, but the real star of the show is Petit Verdot, which achieves a ripeness that is rarely possible in Bordeaux. Moularadellis has so much faith in the variety that he now has 100ha of it planted. It is thought to be the largest Petit Verdot vineyard in the world.

“Petit Verdot has the warmth and generosity of Shiraz but the distinction of Cabernet,” he said. “The most impressive thing about it is its fine grainy tannins. It’s a late ripener and it needs a lot of maturation time. The long slow ripening here allows it to develop those finer characters.” Moularadellis was encouraged by the fact that his 2002 Reserve Petit Verdot won a gold medal at the 2003 Melbourne Wine Show and was one of 19 wines in the taste-off for the Jimmy Watson Trophy. Nor does he mind that other winemakers in the region are jumping on the Petit Verdot bandwagon. “For me, it’s the greatest endorsement that other people are doing it.”

Surprisingly, Kingston Estate does not have a cellar door, despite the scale of its operation: it produces nearly 30,000 tonnes of wine a year and some of its tanks contain a staggering 365,000 litres. The company has focused on developing markets – around 70 per cent of its wine is exported – but Moularadellis recognizes that if he wants to fly the flag for the region, a cellar door will need to be established sooner rather than later. Just up the road, 100,000 people a year beat a path to the Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre, a unique venture by BRL Hardy that combines an eco-tourism experience with wine and food. When BRL Hardy bought the 1750 ha property in 1994, it had been intensively farmed for 100 years. Today, about 250 ha has been converted to vineyard with state-of-the-art irrigation and the remainder returned to its natural state. Visitors can walk along a signposted trail through the wetlands and view birdlife from purpose-built hides.

The centre has been a huge drawcard for visitors since it opened in 1999, its cellar door making a lovely spot for lunch or afternoon tea. The environmentally designed building with its expansive deck overlooking the restored wetlands offers bistro-style meals with an emphasis on native ingredients. Andrew Fielke, a pioneer of Australia’s native food industry, helped design the menu. More than two million cases of Banrock Station wine are sold each year in more than 40 countries, and part proceeds from the sale of every wine bottle or cask are donated to environmental projects around the world. More than $1 million has been raised in the brand’s first seven years, the money going to wetlands projects in Australia, England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada. Banrock’s White Shiraz, previously available only through the cellar door and in export markets, has just been launched nationally. (November 2003). Two other BRL Hardy wineries, Renmano Wines and Berri Estates, are based in the Riverland, each with long histories dating back to the early 20 th century.

Another company with a long history in the region is Angove’s, which first began winemaking and distilling there in 1886. The company is still family-owned, with fourth and fifth generation members, John Angove and his daughter Victoria, involved in the day-to-day running of the business. The Riverland was traditionally known for its fortified wine and brandy, and Angove’s is still responsible for the ever popular Stone’s Green Ginger Wine and Australia’s biggest selling brandy, St Agnes. In the last few years, it has invested heavily in improving the quality of its table wines through new irrigation methods, better canopy management, replanting with better root stock and new winery equipment. Its Classic Reserve range has been phased out in favour of the recently launched (September 2003) Long Row range, which sells for about $10.The stand-out of the range is the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is silky and mouth-filling, and a great buy for the price. Angove’s has also released a Rose for the first time in around 30 years, its Nine Vines Grenache/Shiraz blend selling for around $14. Sunshine in a bottle, it’s a gorgeous colour with good acidity and length.

While a number of “boutique” wineries have opened in recent years, bringing the total number of wineries in the region to 11, small wineries are not a new phenomenon in the Riverland, according to Robert Minns, founder of Bonneyview Wines. “People don’t realise that when we started off, there were 24 wineries in the region. There were a lot of small wineries then.” Robert and his cousin Michael established Bonneyview in 1970 on a special block of land that slopes upwards from Lake Bonney, giving it an unusual micro-climate. It produces a Chardonnay, late-picked Frontignac, three red blends and several liqueurs and fortified wines, including a luscious fruity port that sells for $12 for two litres. They make about 12,000 litres of it a year.

Bonnyview was the first in the region to plant Petit Verdot – a fact that Kingston Estate’s Bill Moularadellis is quick to acknowledge. Robert has now retired from the business and is delighted that new owner Michael Brookes has taken over, saying that he “has the same feel for the place”. The winery will continue to operate its popular restaurant, which offers lunch seven days a week and dinner from Thursday to Sunday. Four new cellar doors - Salena Estate, Woolpunda, Tandou and Burk Salter - have opened in the Riverland in the past year. Woolpunda is the cellar door for Thomson Fruitgrowers, which has been producing fruit in the region since 1919. It originally sold its grapes to large companies, and continues to sell 80 per cent of its grapes that way, but from 1996 it has been making wine under its own labels, Woolpunda, Thomson Estate and Kangaroo Creek. The wine was originally only sold overseas, but after a few years it entered the domestic market, Australian Wine Selectors being its biggest customer. Its 2001 Cabernet Tempranillo, which sells for under $12, goes down a treat with pasta and pizza.

Tandou is another bulk producer that has recently moved into a branded product. Established in 1972 by Bob Smith and Ian Taylor, the company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1987. A cotton, fresh fruit and grape producer, it bought the former Normans winery in the Riverland for a song in 2001 and immediately set about improving the winery infrastructure. In a bid to establish its profile within the Riverland community, it opened a cellar door in August 2003, the next step being to launch its wines on the national market, probably in 2004. Its Broken Earth wines are all from the 2002 vintage and priced under $15. Included in the range are a Verdelho, a Chardonnay with subtle oak, an impressive Sangiovese and a lively, spicy Petit Verdot.

Another of the newcomers, Salena Estate, named after the 11-year-old daughter of owners Bob and Sylvia Franchitto, produces some of the smartest wines seen in the Riverland. They had their first commercial vintage in 1998, though they have been growing stonefruit and grapes for the last 20 years, previously selling their grapes to other companies. They produce 8500 tonnes a year, half of it going overseas to Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, USA, the UK and New Zealand. Their wines are produced under the Tyrone’s Turn label which sells for about $9, Salena Estate ($13), Ellen Landing ($18) and Bookpurnong Hill ($31), the latter made only in years when the fruit is considered good enough. Franchitto represents the new approach that Riverland vignerons are taking to up the quality of their wines, reducing yields and holding back on the water. “The only irrigation we put on here is to keep the vine alive.”

* The Riverland Hotline: 1300 657 625 or www.riverland.info

* A Riverland Wine and Food Trail map is available from tourist offices in the region.

© Christine Salins

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