I am a little fuzzy on day three with sore feet and knees (too old for being on my feet all day – ahhhh!) but off to the vineyard for sadly my last day in the Barossa.
I started with a tank tasting with both winemakers Scott and Alex tasting all the 2012 whites, Riesling, Chardonnay, Frontignac, Three Springs (lightly sparkling Riesling Moscato style), Alma Chardonnay and the new Chardonnay sparkling base – all with their individual fruit flavours but the quality shone through as always.
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Then the 2012 reds - Grenache, Mataro, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz etc including the Mataro and Shiraz I had a hand in running off and clearing the skins out of the open vats. I simply cannot wait for the finished product in bottle.
Next, Michael Schild and his enigmatic wife Kylie took me on a tour of their vineyards and the fascinating complexities and diversity of soils and micro climates, which in the last 30 years has been better understood to plant the correct vines in the most compatible blocks. It is amazing how the soils change from sandy loam to iron rich almost red in a few vine widths, all with a limestone sub soil thus gaining great minerality – this supports the French terminology ‘Terroir’. Scott (the winemaker) meets regularly with other winemakers to debate the virtues of ‘terroir’ across the Barossa when rowing Shiraz, the most planted and arguably successful grape grown in the region, so possible sub region clarification could be on the cards.
Back to Michael Schild and the vineyard tour. A superb historical education from the original German settlings in the 1850’s to the Schild original homestead onto the present day and plans for the future with the relatively new winery (3rd vintage, 1000 tonne capacity) and the additional wine business the Schild family are involved in like winemaking for other vignerons, contract growing and selling off rows or blocks they don’t wish to use across the 400acre estate dotted around the Barossa, some with 300m elevation.
Moorooroo tonight at Casey’s house with husband Michael firing up the BBQ – I just had to have one didn’t I! However, an encounter with a Red Belly Black snake: 1.2m long and typical for Australian wildlife poisonous and able to kill a human. I thanked them for the additional entertainment and apologised for not giving the ‘Moo’ as the regular Moo drinker calls it. There was no cow in sight though, barbecued lamb went perfectly with it until the big bad worm arrived and the lamb went cold as did the temperature in the hills.
Another great day with the Schild team and enhanced my love for their wines and the ethos they follow
Written by Jason Busby, Director
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