Okay good evening from London everyone And welcome to the next in our series of Webinars which is on the old vines of Rosa so my name is Julia Lambeth I’m one Of the educators at WCG school London And have been working on several of These webinars over the last couple of Months now that we’ve been doing well Lockdown is in place and while we’re not Able to do the series of events that we Would normally have in place in school And so while it’s been a strange time These webinars have actually been a Really nice thing to do it’s allowed us To reach more people and allowed us to Do things in a slightly different way so I hope you’ve been enjoying them as much As we have and so the subject of tonight Is the old wines of Bursa and just to Explain a little bit of the reason Behind this it was it was a personal Choice for me based on the trip I had to Australia and a couple years ago now I I Was actually lucky enough to win a blind Tasting competition I put on by wines of Australia and the prize was and a Two-week wine tasting tour in Australia And I’m gonna tell you is the best thing I’ve ever won and as a result of that And part of the trip was in Barroso where we were able to and Producers and get a real understanding Of the old wines they have there so That’s why the focus is Barossa tonight
But by no means is this the only place That has a very old vine so we’ll touch On a couple of places in Australia and At the end of got a couple of resources In other countries as well that you Might be interested in say a more Personal connection here And so what we’re looking at as part of The webinar is a little bit of an Overview of what an old vine is and then Looking Australia a little bit more Generally to start off with in terms of Its history and then focusing in on Barossa their history and the collection Of old vines which survived to this day So I hope you all find it as interesting As I did okay and so first off just so You are on the same page in terms of Where we are and we’re of course talking About Barossa in Australia and so here We are in South Australia and just a Little bit north and west of leaves to Put into context you can see the more Detailed map of South Australia on the Right here where we have indicated the Barossa Valley which is actually going To be the majority of what I’m talking About today and I have included some Even valley information as well so Really we’re talking about the Barroso Zone which is this sort of pink outline You can see here the combination of the Two so there’s yeah just a whole host of Old vines here and I can talk a little
Bit about why here as opposed to other Places in Australia as we go through but This is one of the reasons that allows This region of Australia to make some Really high quality wines and really Just outstanding and wines that we Should all be taking the time to to look Into so now we know where we are I know You probably knew already but just to Make sure and let’s just have a think About old vines so if you’ve done any of The WCT qualifications you’ll probably Have heard the term old vine used and This is an interesting one in terms of Wine definitions in that it actually Doesn’t have a legal definition there No legal age where a vine becomes an old Vine so when you think about how tightly Controlled some things are particularly If you think about the laws in Europe And front and France for example it may Be a bit of a surprise that we actually Don’t have a number of years allocated To this term generally people would use The term the age of 20 years as a kind Of a good barometer for an old wine and This is because the vines reach maturity It starts to reach maturity at 20 years And the yields will actually start to Decrease so younger vines will produce More fruits and then they go through Their teenage years and then at about 20 That you it starts to decrease again but Obviously vines can grow a lot older
Than 20 and we’ll be looking at fines Today there are over 100 years easily Lines in some places you can find up to 200 years obviously not many vines Survive that long but it doesn’t mean That in terms of old you know if you can Have old meeting 20 years or 200 years That’s quite a big difference so it is One of the more ambiguous terms when it Comes to wine and one of the things I Just think about is why we would keep Vines until they get old if they start To produce lower yields if they’re Producing less fruit there’s gonna be Some advantages to this so one of the Things that we’ve got a few things Listed here one of the first things I’ve Mentioned is that the Mayans develop Deeper roots so as the vines gets older Their roots will get deeper into the Ground and this means that they have More access to a wider availability of Nutrients or micronutrients in the soil And it’ll also mean that they have a Greater access to water which could be More advantageous and particularly During warmer years where maybe there is Less rainfall they can help Balance out some of those vintage Variations somewhat lower yields had Mentioned already and often will find That grapes from older wines produce Wines which have a greater intensity of Flavor now when we’re thinking about
What makes a good wine instead Sears Often one of the things that we’ll look For so if we have this naturally more Intense grapes that’s going to be a Benefit I put they’re more expressive of Terroir as well terroir isn’t a very WCT Word I probably should have chosen Something else but the idea that meaning That the grapes are expressive of where They’re grown so that kind of connects Back to the comment on the deeper roots Getting more into the soils that’s going To be reflected in the flavor of the Wine and it’s going to make a more Unique wine at the end of it and there Are other things as well we can think About things like potentially disease Resistance some vines will have a Greater resistance to problems that Might be more keenly felt by undermines Other things in the structure in fact it Was that anyway you can see the picture Here the hill of grace where they said That they believe that our vines Actually produce an acid tannin Structure in the wines as well so we can See other differences in terms of the Taste so there’s a number of different Reasons that we’d allow the vines to Grow older of course there’s going to be Disadvantages as well so the older these Vines get and they are going to require More work more labor to keep them going And you do need also a certain amount of
Skill when it comes to these vines and We’ll find later with some of the old For older vineyards and that they’re Actually often family-owned so you’ll Have generations of the same family that Have been looking after these vineyards So the skill that’s required to look After these vines has been kind of Passed down through the generations It doesn’t mean it’s easy a lot of hand Harvesting as well so that again an Additional point when it comes to labor And I’ve also put lower yields as a Disadvantage mainly for more commercial Reasons so we can get these grapes that Are much more expressive more intense But we get less of them so commercially This means that you’re going to be able To make less wine you will charge more Money for it of course you will so it’s It is a decision that has to be balanced Out there and so it all kind of brings Us to the question are old vines better Most people would say yes yes for all of The reasons we’ve talked about already It may require more work and it’s Generally believed that the work is Worth it That said not everyone would agree and I Don’t think anyone would say that they Are not better that they’re worse but Some people don’t believe that they have As much of an influence and on the taste Of the wine as other people do so it’s
An interesting debate I would say that The majority of wines think that people Do make the majority people do think They make better wines so it’s just Something that you’ll see indicated on Labels sometimes on the front label in English we use the term old vine but in French you’d see the term baby And sometimes indicated on the back Label instead where it’s maybe not Considered the most important Information but it’s still put on there Somewhere and so I think it’s important All right so when we’re talking about Old vines I feel we have to go back into History a little bit and think about Where these mines have come from and Have an understanding of how we’ve got To this stage so I’m going to do a Little bit of an early history on Australia in general and then focus in On Barossa more specifically so if we go Way way back The first vines planted In Australia were in 1788 so these were Cuttings of vines brought over by European settlers grapevines are not Native to Australia and I think you’ll Find in in many countries around the World where European settlers went it Took vines with them I don’t know maybe You can’t be a European settler if You’re not gonna grow grapes yes but That’s one reason why we have such a
Spread of international varieties around The world so we have the first ones Planted a few decades later by the 1820s We actually see wine being sold as a Domestic product so that then indicates That vines were and propagated vineyards Were created to make enough wine enough Product and that it was available for Sale domestically and then we have here In 1832 James Busby his collection of Vines arrives So James Busby was quite an impressive Character and when it comes to his I Wanna say commercial acumen and Understanding of the potential of wine In Australia so he went over to Australia in 1820s as a young man and Emigrating and got there kind of Thinking about what he’s gonna do in Terms of his livelihood I didn’t know a Thing about wine at this point and kind Of recognizes that the main product of Australia at that point which is Grange Is not really going to be suited to a Kind of long-term business venture There’s actually already a surplus of Grains so he has a thing he kind of Looks at sheep as an alternative not Really gonna work there and then turns His mind to wine productions of vines And but as I said he didn’t know Anything about grape growing about Winemaking this point and so he went Neil and he went to France in Spain and
At this point there weren’t any Textbooks there was no WCT so he went And he learned From grape growers winemakers how it all Happened and while he was doing this he Took cuttings on various mines lots of Vines and a lot of the international Varieties and that we think of things Like this Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Chardonnay and so on but also varieties There may be less internationally Recognized and things like Trevi are no More of the neutral varieties as well so He did this impressive collection of Work and actually wrote a book on it and His treatise on grape growing winemaking And which I would actually encourage you To read if you get a chance because Considering how long ago he wrote it It’s still some of the same information Singh’s theory behind grape growing and That we teach today and so very Interesting stuff and so he basically Realized that the land that their grain Had been grown on which was actually Quite poor would be suited to grape Growing he realized that it could grow Enough wine to sell it internationally And and to make a profit on it so he Brought the the cuttings back to Australia and an important part here is That it is of course preed for looks Through cuttings so no risk of luxury And coming with these vines at this
Stage so just clarify make sure Everyone’s clear for luxury is an outfit That devastated the vineyards of Europe And it essentially lives in the soil and Feeds on the reach turbines so what You’ll find in most European vineyards These days is that mines are grafted They have separate root stocks which can Prevent pretension against the flocks Row at this time Australia didn’t have Any flux wrap and since then some parts Of Australia have unfortunately now got Vineyards where flocks rare and is a Problem particularly in Victoria it’s a Small but growing Problem but this hasn’t spread to Everywhere in Australia so South Australia still for Locks Road free Which is one of the reasons that they Have these really old vines that these Vines have managed to survive this long So all very important things there so Most people that kids collection of Vines 363 cuttings survive the journey So you know it wasn’t shy so then over 30s and 40s we see these vines being and Growing in different places see the main Propagated experimentation to find out Which vine is going to go row best where According to the climates according to The soil and so on and then by the time We get to the 1870s we’ve got many more Vineyards planted so we can see wine Growing and as a commercial commercial
Business at this stage and particularly When we get to the 1890s the style of Wine that you would have found is Probably fortified so when we think of Australian wine production these days we Largely think of still wine production But at this time fortified wines were Much more common and this was largely Due to this access for an export market If you think about and where our Australia is and where the UK is for Example is one of the key export markets And that’s really far away and so Shipping the wines over that distance They never would have lasted as table Wines so fortified wines were had much Greater ability to last for the journey Wherever their destination may be so That was part of the reason why they Were much more widely produced by then And still find some lovely Australian Fortified wines today and just FYI if You need to have a look at Sun and the Other thing that would have been Different is and the great varieties Were largely being used so put there Multi-purpose grapes so these this means Grapes that are used for winemaking but Also for just table grapes or for eating For other purposes as well so these were Not really the kind of high quality Varieties that we largely associate with Australia today I mentioned Trebbia no But other varieties like
And Durand elo which don’t make wine Lists as good but were more useful for a Wider array of purposes so this would Have been these would been by far the Majority the plantings and if you think To even by a few decades later it would Have been 80 to 90 percent of grapes Planted with these multi-purpose grapes And it took a long while for that that Proportion to shift so yeah not quite The wine market that we think of now Then where we get to 1927 to 1939 so This sort of thought was quite an Interesting fact by the time we get to This point Australia’s actually Exporting more wine to the UK than France been some issues along the way to France but quite impressive that Australia has built up this wine trade In that relatively short amount of time So from here I wanted to look a little Bit more at the history of Barroso Specifically and then as we look into More recent decades we’ll find that There’s actually similarities between Barroso and Australia as a whole so it All kind of comes together so Barroso as A as a town was founded in 1836 and by 1846 it was populated by Legion farmers And tradesmen so Silas was is it a kind Of term we don’t use anymore obviously And that it would have been kind of Around Germany where people would have Been coming from
And in fact apparently some people still Speak the traditional solution language Around there’s kind of been passed down Or at least a variation or bet has been Passed down and apparently two German Speakers it sounds like and someone Speaking kind of ye oldie language so They can understand what it is but it’s Like a language we say from a couple Hundred years ago anyway I digress back To the wine so again we see this kind of Increased once the land is settled we’ve Got these people that understand how to Work with a London house without great So we see an increase in the number of Vineyards and quite early on quality is Recognized the potential for quality is Recognized in vineyard in vineyards in Australia so the best successes come From vineyards where they are emulating The wines of Europe and this means the Still table wines rather than the Fortified wines this is where the Success is coming from so Penfolds is a Name I’m sure you’re familiar with and Even at this time we’re winning awards As we go onto the 1930s and South Australia is singled out as being the Kind of key producer for quality wine Out of Australia so 70% of all the wine In Australia is coming from South Australia of which 25% was from birds And that’s pretty huge in terms of Amount of production from a small region
And then by 1951 we have the first Vintage of Penfolds range so this is one Of the icon wines of Australia now and This was again a kind of a wine inspired By the vineyards of Europe so this focus On premium table wines made from the High quality rates we’re not looking at Those multi-purpose grapes now and and Creating wines that are expressive of The land and varieties that we know but Why is that a difference what we’d get From France and elsewhere but of a very Similar quality so this was pretty Impressive at the time and soon after we Heard other examples from vineyards in The region like henskee in 1952 we need Surmount Edelsten followed a few years Later by the hill of grace a lovely Picture of hill of grace you can see Here so we are seeing this kind of Recognition of quality and this effort To push boundaries on stars of wine and Make Australian wine made people Recognize the quality of Australian wine And the potential of it so and so far so Good right so you know we’ve got a lot Of grapes making a lot of wine the wines Really good but it doesn’t mean there Was there were no bumps along the road So when we get into later decades we can See there’s actually a little bit more Variation more things going on and it’s Not all good so we go from the 50s we’ve Seen that we’re getting some really high
Quality wines produced and in the 60s This global markets open up we see more Of a change towards table wines so less Fortified wines being produced is there Still table wines from again the International varieties of the grapes That can produce this high quality and Then we get to the 1970s and while the Trend for table wines it still continues What Barossa has been producing up to This point is a lot of red wine if you Think about where Barroso is it’s a warm Climate we get a lot of Shambhala in Grand National third row and so on I’m Great for red wines not quite so much White my being produced so as the global Trend changes towards more white wine There’s not so much demand for the black Grapes that been grown here and in fact At this point we’re looking at a lot of The wine production is done by quite big Companies So these company Had contracts with all the small grape Growers throughout the region and these Rick rose Essentially rely on these companies to Buy their grapes and that’s how they Make the living but as these big Companies realized that they’re not Going to be able to sell these wines They do not honor the contracts with These small growers so these growers are Now left with grapes that they can’t
Sell and the possibility of losing their Business as you know with grape growing You get one chance a year so if you Can’t do anything with the grapes or one Chance a year that there’s very much put A strain on your business but there was Help fortunately Pizza laymen and who is A young winemaker at the time probably a Name that you’re familiar with his name Now is a brand of wine from Australia Based on the company that he started so He essentially takes a loan out leaves The company that he’s he’s working for And promises to help these small growers Buys the grapes often that they they Couldn’t sell otherwise and makes wine With them so this was yeah this was Essential to the survival of various Producers in this region so important Information there 1980s doesn’t get much Better to be honest so we’re still Having problems with surplus of grapes While piece lemons been doing good work There and the government decides to Initiate a vine pull scheme so it Essentially is going to pay and vineyard Owners to pull up their minds and then Change the use of their land because we Had been seen just too much of a surplus Of grape production and if you look at Think about where we are in the 1980s Some of these wines are already over 100 Years old you’re looking at some really Important lands important vines and you
Know growers who have had a bit of a Time of it recently where some of them Just ready to give up the end I’m sure You can all understand that But several people followed Peter Laymen’s kind of original scheme they Started creating contracts with these Smaller producers encouraging their not To pull up their vines encouraging them To keep working than paying them for Their grapes of course in order that They these these old vines the quality Of these vines can be preserved Unfortunately many of them did take up These uppers not all of them so they Would still have been some old vineyards That were lost and but it preserved many More that could have been lost so this Really changed the structure of the Region commercial structure of the Region from where it had previously been Operated by as I said a few big Companies which had lots of contracts With lots of growers we now see the Development of smaller companies which Have contracts with a few growers but Which had an ability to honor those Contracts and ensure that the grape Growers are not only getting paid and Getting paid well so by the time we get Into the 1990s grape growers are Actually getting a fair wage for the Grapes that they’re growing many of These as I’ve said which take more work
Which take more skills to manage and Fortunately by the 1990s we do see Demand internationally rise so that’s The other thing that helps fashions Change again I mean you know fashions in Wine can change quite quickly and people Look back to Australia for the for the Stars of wine that they’re making there And understand the quality of wines and Then again increases demand so we’re Back on the up for a while until we get To the 2000s where once again there’s a Dip so the reduction in demand again Causes some problems but it doesn’t mean That the focus is on the higher quality Wines so this commitment to keeping These old wines keeping these high Quality vineyard So the integrity of the region and this Idea of provenance of making sure that These wines have a story to tell and That it’s communicated through the wine And through the entire industry Fortunately again the markets change so By the time I get to the the 2010s Demand has increased once again it’s a Little bit of a roller coaster and but This time it’s largely due to and Different markets opening up So here it’s lots down to wine Consumption in Asia having increased Dramatically So Australia’s proximity to many Asian Countries this helps them get a foothold
In that market and again due to the Quality that I’ve already mentioned These wines become really popular here As well so yeah not not an easy journey By any respect but I think that makes it All the more impressive for the vines That have survived to this point to have Done the effort the work the commitment By generations of people makes these Things you know truly special alright so That’s the the history lesson so next Let’s talk about how Barroso is trying To protect its own vines and one of the Ways they’re doing this is through the Old vine charter so I mentioned earlier That Australia not show you the world Doesn’t have a legal definition of what Is an old mine but because Australia has So many old vines and because they go Beyond what’s normally considered old They had created this charter to Categorize vines but also to record and Preserve them so they now are able to They’ve got a record of where these old Vines are how old they are so this is Something that we can make sure you use As a resource and that they have access To these old vines for generations Hopefully to come and so again it’s not A legally defined framework but it gives You a few different terms that are used To describe fines of different ages so You can see them here so at 35 or more Years this is where we’re calling the
Vines old wines so together in some Countries they say 20 years we need to Double that so to be an old wine you Have to be at least 35 years or more so By this time we’re going to have mines That are fully mature they’re going to Have the thick trunk deep root systems And they’re going to show that Concentration of flavor that we expect From old vines so already we’re looking At ones that we expect to be High-quality the next step up 70 plus Year old vines survivor vines Survived not least and some of the Problems of the more recent decades so 70 year old vines with showy we’re Seeing more intensity more quality more Structure again so we’re just moving Kind of up a notch in terms of the Flavors of the wines and So here again it shows a commitment to The binds of commitments keeping these Vines in good helps for that amount of Time but obviously there’s still got a Way to go so the next step up with what These centenarian vines so these are Wines that are a hundred years or more Old so here we’re looking at vines that Are gonna give particularly low yields If you see them in the vineyards they Have those kind of particularly thick Nolde Trunks will often have with these vines And the ancestor vines inputs and you’ll
Often find that they were originally Dried harmed so that means the initial Pantings of the vines won’t have been Won’t have had water added to them so It’s it’s a choice if for my makers These days that many producers prefer Because they believe it gives more to The natural character of the wine so That’s how many of these lines would be Started and and as with all of these Wines we’re looking at four looks Refrain know with these centenarian Vines and the ancestor vines part the Reason they have survived so long it’s Not just the the work of the people but It’s also having that right combination Of vine and vineyard area so it’s the Right so you’ve got all the things that You need there for the wine to survive This long so it’s there’s a combination Of the two things you can’t just con Combine in anywhere and look after it And hope that it will last to 100 years That won’t necessarily happen so then Our final category is ancestor vines so As you can see these are vines that are 125 years or more old so these are Essentially vines that have been around Since the original settlers of Barossa So these have survived all the ups and Downs all of that rollercoaster and Continue to produce fruits that is to This day still used in why Production so again very low yielding
Often dry farms and again that Combination of and the vineyard the soil And the grape variety but also here the Grape growers and vineyards that have Been in production since those first Settlers but also families that have Looked after these vines some times for That duration of time so you can be Looking at family grape roads that are In their 5th 6th 7th generation now of Working with these vines in these areas And looking after them so that is an Expertise which which can’t be really And not everywhere is going to have that Access to that knowledge and experience So yeah oh it is not not just old Anymore now following on from this I’ve Actually pulled up a few figures and These I have gained from the Australian Wine discovered website I have combined Them from a couple of different tables There and The way the Australian wine discovered Website is a great resource if you have Any interest in Australian wine and do You check that out but what it shows Here is just the area under vine for Different varieties according to their Age now I’m not a person that’s Massively big on figures or numbers but It’s just quite interesting to see what We’ve got So lots of different varieties have These ancestor vines remember this being
Over 125 years obviously not huge Amounts of land dedicated to them and But potentially more than you’d expect And Shiraz obviously has a lot of all Different ages Shiraz because it’s the Most widely planted variety in Barossa And and you can see particularly in the Centenarian vines here quite a lot of Managed to survive from that time Onwards so one thing that might scratchy But it’s just the number of different Grape varieties that have pines the Third is old sure it’s a Shiraz to you And you go yeah of course Shiraz his Wines there that ode we’re a national Affair drew you might go okay I wasn’t wasn’t expecting that but that Makes sense Cabernet Sauvignon maybe not I mean obviously not loads that are Reaching that those really old stages And but then a Riesling and Simeon Yeah so these varieties have been around A really long time and reason you can See it’s had a big bump over recent Years and that would be more in the Eden Valley parts and of the Barroso zone Rather than the Barossa Valley just to Clarify We’ve got figures included from both There but all you know then what this Shows to me as a picture of a lot of old Vines so a very important resource for This area And then in terms of the wines so of
Course we know that there’s a lot of old Wines there and I just wanted to give You some examples of wines that use These old vines it’s not gonna be always Easy to tell many vineyards were huge They’re older vines in with younger Binds so they won’t necessarily be able To label them as you know all from one Vineyard which is all 125 plus year old Vines because there’ll be bits from Other videos that are younger as well But these are again not an exhaustive List just a few examples but I’m going To pick out and so you can see we’ve got Grenache from 1850 and the Shiraz from 1843 the langemark freedom Shiraz Penfolds a couple of decades later with That 1888 Cabernet the shoots no gotta Move air dry Riesling quite so I mean It’s still pretty old when you’re Talking about nearly a hundred years Difference here 1961 and not for the PC Bell contours reasoning is an Outstanding wine as well and I thought I Just put in a nice little picture piece Out for you here too and so these are Ones that are all commercially available And obviously they’re a little bit more Expensive than your everyday wines and But you know what you’re getting here is Wines that are very high quality and Wines that have history to them you know You’re looking at my vineyards that have Been planted by generations wines
They’ve been looked after for for a huge Amount of times they were no tasting These wines you’re tasting kind of Almost the history of them yeah maybe That’s a little bit beyond their more Kind of sensible quite solid to make Here but when we think about wine we do Often have this kind of a romantic Notion to it and I think the the history In the case that these ones really has To come into it you’re you know you’re Looking into the past you have this And really important ability with these Ones which you don’t necessarily get Everywhere else so you’ve got a few Examples there next I just want to Mention that it’s not just for a sir In Australia and that has particularly Old fines there’s actually lots of other Places as well and so I picked up on a Few other areas that have seen Particularly old wines – because Remember when you know those cuttings Came back with James Mosby in the 1830s They were moved around the country so Lots of other places will have been Starting to plant vineyards at a similar Time so by no means is the old Production exclusive tuberosa so you can See again a few examples not an Exhaustive list so hunter valley Shiraz There planted 1880 and also a couple of Other varieties there but Shiraz I Believe takes the lead when it comes to
Planting in Langhorne Creek we’ve got Cabernet Sauvignon from 1881 in clare Valley just further north Compared to Burroughs so we’ve got Shiraz from 1883 and and then the Slightly more unusual one which quite Like is marsan from 1927 in The Gambia Lakes yeah not many other places going With marsan is their oldest grape Variety why not makes a difference Shiraz and a lot of other places say so Yeah I lots of these vineyards again Won’t necessarily tell you the dates and The labels but and if you’re interested You look into it you can find wines Where fruit from these old vineyards is Use probably in conjunction with Everything else but you know it’s all Going to contribute to the style of the Wine and so here To really think about what what we’re Gonna what we can expect from these old Vines to come and how these old ones are Going to survive the future so it Mentioned already how important the Growers are here so yeah we’re seeing Some families in their seventh Generation um you know we’re going to Continue to see this growing eighth Ninth and onwards hopefully yes but You’ve also got to imagine how Generational changes are going to Influence the ability to carry on Working on these vineyards know the kids
These days don’t necessarily want to Stay in there and work on the farm Whether dad works so they might move up To the city and you can see it become More challenging for these growers to Maintain that continuity and of course There’s going to be opportunities to Work with other people and pass that Knowledge pass that skill on but it is It’s probably the kind of Romanticism if The idea of these old finds that they’ve Been looked after by the same families For so long that’s looking to the next Point which I wanted to make that these These growers whether they’re Family-owned or not they’re the Custodians of these vineyards they look After them they work with them they Preserve them for the next generation to Come and and this was a term that was Used by one of the great growers are met In in pews even when I was there several Years ago and it was one of the things That it just created that sensation to Me that the value of these vines has Really understood that while we’re Working with them now and yes they’re Important and they you know we’re making Our business our money from them we want To make sure that they’re preserved for Generations to come so that people can Continue to enjoy these wines and Continue to enjoy the development of the Vines as they get older and how they
Change and how the wines change as a Result of them so yeah I guess it is not Really taken for granted at all the age Of these vineyards and the age of the Vines and the Important resource that these are and Now of course it’s not completely easy We said that we’re ready keeping for Luxor at bay I mean how do you do that It’s that’s that’s going to be a Continual challenge there is luxury in Australia now while you know everything Is being done to prevent its spread Global economy now a global society so It’s not impossible that’s somehow by Accident You know someone would manage to Transport four locks room through here So that’s gonna be yeah I’ll worry so You know so far we’re okay let’s hope That it stays that way for as long as Possible Um my Philip’s true it’s a problem it’s Not the only problem and so there are Other diseases that can affect fines and And so we’ve still got to be trying to Make sure that the lines are in the best Health possible okay and some of these There’s not much you can do to avoid Some diseases in their vineyards but Again this comes back to the skill of The grape growers and the more they’re Able to and try and prevent these or try And work with mines if they do succumb
To any diseases that’s how we’re gonna Keep preserving these these vines and Making sure that they continue to Produce for years to come and here is Just making the world aware and so you Know these are seriously old vines and As I said at the start I had no idea We’ve got some of the oldest Shiraz Wines in the world in this part of Australia not just oldest Shiraz vines Oldest Grenache vines method funds and So on so helping people understand that These vines exist then what it means to Be a band that they sold how that They’ve got to this time and of course How The wine tastes why we should care about Wines made from particularly old vines That’s going to be key to ensuring that These companies you know continue to Sell their wines from these old wines For a price that’s better for both the Winemakers and the grape growers they’ve Looked after them for this long and Ensure that we can continue to keep this This tradition going for hopefully many More generations to come so this is Where you come into play now then you Know you’re aware of all of the work all Of their the troubles that these great Guys have had to go through and do you Go out and try something see what you Can find tell your friends about it make Sure everyone has an understanding of
Just how important these are so I wanted To finish up just with a few resources Partly that I’ve used for this Presentation if you’re interested in Australian vines in particular and then A few more other general old vine Resources and so Australia my discovered I’ve mentioned already this is an Amazing resource buy wines of Australia The promotional body for Australian wine Which has pretty much everything you Ever wanted to know about Australian Wine so if you’re interested have a look In there it covers all different regions Or different topics different grape Varieties there’s lots for you to sink Your teeth into if you wanna know more Ambarisa in particular and there’s an Independent website for the roots of Wine as well and the book by James Busby Intrepid chap who essentially started Cultivation of the vine the commercial Cultivation of Bank in Australia and his Book from 1825 and you can get and read Through we see language-wise Not the easiest read but information Really interesting as I said links quite Closely to a lot about WCT materials That we’d use today And then if you’re interested in old Finds more widely Jancis Robinson has an Old wine register where they’ve sites They have a list of different old wines From around the world from different
Vineyards including the age of the vines And lots of different information so That’s quite good and then as much as We’ve focused on the Barossa old wines In the old wine charter and there are Actually other projects in vineyards Around the world countries around the World that have started doing similar so You can see an example from South Africa Here an example from California to name A all the new world regions that are Making such a big deal of their old Vines and part of the answers that maybe The term new world I’m not seeing you Anymore Lots of long history of winemaking here So maybe that’s just helping to Reinforce this thing that loved us Already know that yeah there’s there’s Very old vines in many of these Countries so that brings me to the end Of the presentation time for some Questions So I’ll just pull up the chat and see What’s going on there’s been a lot of Messages if you do have a question and Feel free to type it in question how Long were the online webinars continue As long as we can and we’re making plans For the next few weeks so they will Continue through July and that’s about As much as I can tell you at the moment Everyone’s jealous of my prize excellent Ah see hopefully you’ve got the question
On the old wine charter James Busby was Scottish I believe yeah I think some of These are answered as we go is Australia Having native grape varieties no dude The bushfires affected the old vines not Kind of specifically and obviously the Bushfires did have an effect on on quite A few vineyards and but proportionally Compared to the overall vineyard area it Was actually quite a small number and That suffered any damage so not as I’m As far as I’m aware nothing containing This particularly old material was wiped Out so fortunate there yeah it did have An impact ask the French term that I Mentioned for wood vines I’m going to Type that into the chat Just because my pregnant because my son Is gonna be any better hmm Okay something like that baby you know Ensberg recording here just what I’m Looking through the rest of the Questions