The Battle of Evermore, and of Small Business.

"Queen of Light took her bow, And then she turned to go,

The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom, And walked the night alone.

Oh, dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light.

The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all."

This blog post has been brewing in my head for at least the past eight weeks. The only thing that has changed during this time, is the placement of the goal posts that I thought I was kicking toward, in September. Life's like that. Even the best laid plans go astray. Tonight, and through to the wee hours of the morning, while listening to Led Zeppelin's  Battle of Evermore, I pondered many things, especially the word 'battle'.

In October, I drove, or was driven, over three thousand kilometres in distance. Toward the end of the month, it became a battle. Being surrounded by death or the dying of some of those I love and admire most, became a battle. Working so much still, knowing how tough it is to sell even a good competitive wine, let alone have all the energy necessary to run a family and two businesses, became a battle. There were days when I felt like I could sleep forever, and many more nights where I couldn't sleep at all. Existence became a battle. I'm picking up, if only because the pressure from most fronts has dropped, for now anyway.

The tough part was not being in a battle, it was not knowing how long those current battles would last. It's hard to keep going when you are worn out on every level. And unfortunately, a lot of small business owners are. Thus, I pose to you, just how important really is it for small businesses to remain viable in your neighbourhood, state and country?

As I drove to Melbourne, in the early days of October, I set myself some goals - for Karra Yerta Wines, Collective Barossa, my family and myself. They seemed to be the correct ones to aim for at the time. Five days later, on my return home, they were still the best options. I had been grieving heavily (that story will come in due course), and my heart and soul were drained. As I stopped at small country towns, and not so small ones, I took note of whether McDonalds, Woolworths, Coles and the like, were there. Watched for wind farms. Paid attention to well, things.... Lots of things. Life. I paid attention to my life, society, my place in it, my future and the future of all of us. I pondered deeply, about much.

I also gently spoke with other small business owners of many different kinds of retail outlets. They all said it had been a tough winter season. Lots of them were battling to pay the bills, as I was. Overheads in the wine industry, let alone the retail industry, are high. Even though I know what profit is, I am yet to see any, and that is fine as long as you have some idea how long the battle will last, for it is only then that you know the correct time to implement your Exit Strategy. One of my dearest friends, who is so gravely ill at the moment, and for whom I am already grieving, taught me the importance of an exit strategy and I am forever grateful to him.

I am also grateful to the many people who have helped me promote or sell our wines in the past month. Our 'Special Clearance Sale' ends on November 20. I need to sell lots of wine ("lots" to me is less than a few hundred cases) to have cash flow and reduce my overheads to remain viable with Karra Yerta and Collective Barossa.

Another thing I am grateful for is the never ending support from James, Steven (Kurtz Family Vineyards) and Mark (Gumpara Wines). Steven and Mark's commitment to selling their wines through (and serving behind the counter of) Collective Barossa, has been remarkable. Almost two years on, we have become an even tighter machine and work together so well. The respect we have for each other is incredible. It's another reason for me to keep going when I am so tired, when I can no longer speak a fluent sentence from sheer exhaustion of too many phone calls and too much talking. I love my quiet time at home, more than most people, I am sure. But for all the hard work, I still love my job. I love the people I work with, and I love meeting the amazing people that walk through the doors. These are the things that keep one going through the battle. These are also the things that change the positions of my goal posts. Life's like that. Even the best laid plans go astray........

So, in finishing off this rather heartfelt rant, I ask you all to consider supporting as many small businesses as you can. Once they close the doors, the chance of them reopening is probably non-existent. Drive past the big boys and just sometimes, drop into a small family business instead. A winery, a bottle-shop, a book shop, a gift shop, a restaurant, a cafe'. These are the people who through their own passion or stupidity (sometimes I wonder which of these two categories I fall under - maybe both!) decide they want to work long days, for perhaps no monetary payment, to follow their dreams.

I like small business, I like living in the country, and I love living in Australia. Let's all try to help Aussie small businesses survive in the future. The choice is ours! It really is that simple.

Cheers for now,
Marie

Somewhere over the rainbow......... there's hope.

I find it ironic that I am following on from my previous post with this one; timing is everything in life. Sometimes when you become cynical, something lands in front of you which brings back your feeling of hope. Always remember, that you have to get the rain Before You Get The Rainbow.

I have received some fabulous emails in regards to my last post, and I thank the writers for all of them, the comments received, twitter messages and retweets. Your feedback and honesty was much appreciated:)

So, a few days after airing my frustration and disappointment at certain happenings within the wine industry (and not by any means, tied totally to the Barossa, if that was misinterpreted), I had the fabulous experience of what it is that I was trying to make you understand - the importance of working together in tough times.

Yesterday, on my day off from the Collective Barossa cellar door, I decided to go to the shop anyway, and take care of our guests who were coming for lunch, so that Mark from Gumpara Wines could focus on serving behind the counter. I enjoy working with Mark, and Steven of Kurtz Family Vineyards as we all share the same philosophies and always have lots of laughs, in between discussions on ideas for the future of our own wineries, and Collective Barossa.

Now, getting customers in for lunch and a wine-tasting may not sound like much of great interest but it was the steps that happened for them to get there that was relevant.

The customers were from Sydney, they were brought to us by a tour operator from the McLaren Vale region, the operator of which had collaborated with a bed and breakfast operator at Gumeracha, to bring the customers to visit not only our cellar door in Tanunda, but two other local wineries, a new beer shop and one of the local pubs on the other side of the Barossa (plus a few other retail stops in between). To top it off, said customers also had the pleasure of meeting a local tour operator who runs a horse and carriage business.

All in all, the most incredible example of people from many different regions, working together to provide visitors to our state with a personal and most memorable experience. By all accounts, the customers have already stated that they had an absolute ball during the entire trip, from start to finish. They personally told me that having Mark (from Gumpara) sit and chat to them (whilst I was preparing their lunch) was a highlight of their day, and they truly enjoyed his company. Everyone was happy; the customers felt that they had been spoilt, and numerous businesses had sales on the one day from these happy customers.

So how hard is it, really? That's right - it's not. I rest my case. I'm still cynical but know that there are many more opportunities like this, so will welcome any future ventures, and do my best to work with these like-minded business owners to enjoy what ultimately is about us all working to live, not living to work, and showing each other respect. Selah.

Challenges, trials and tribulations: Welcome to 2010!

After a non-event Christmas and New Year period, this has been the first opportunity I have had to even consider updating my blogs.

With my license application hiccups, my hopes of opening the Collective Barossa shop were delayed. A pre-Christmas opening date was impossible and a New Year one more-so as once we started the renovations on the lovely old room, it was apparent that it was going to take much more hard work and cash input than originally planned. However, it is worth it on looking at what a month of solid work achieved but more about that later.

A spate of funerals prior to Christmas did not add any cheer to our Season and ironically, the trend continued with the notification of the passing of a close family member on my actual opening day at the shop so the long awaited day was indeed bittersweet.

But back to the renovations for a moment. This entailed a great deal of work by an amazing team of dedicated and encouraging friends. One good fellow even travelled from interstate to help me in the final stages of painting last week (which sometimes ended at any time between 1 and 2 am!) I bet he will sleep well for the next week at least after his efforts now that he has returned home. Myself, well I feel like I could sleep for a week too but there's no chance of that as I still have a fair amount of finishing off and organising to do in any spare moments.

January 1st was to be remembered for all the wrong reasons - a computer crash on our office computer - in the thick of trying to set up my second business. I am still trying to retrieve certain information and more importantly, get into the habit of backing information up but again, time is the key to that. And time is indeed, right now, my most precious resource.

Heatwaves (and trying to paint and plaster in the midst), school holidays (busy at any time let alone when trying to set up a new business), vintage appearing to start (oh dear... already??) and a few health issues of my own have already made 2010 challenging. One can only hope that things will settle down in the coming weeks so that there is time to catch a breath and enjoy some of the good things that are around us, but patience will be needed I think. Despite the reward of finally opening the shop, there are still some tribulations that need to be addressed.

So, onto the positive news, and that is indeed that Collective Barossa is now officially open. Thanks to so many incredible people, too numerous to mention on here, our first day of trading in the shop was yesterday, Saturday January 16th, 2010. As it was also the Tanunda Hot Rod Show day we had a diverse range of customers and well-wishers and our first day was very successful. Steve Kurtz (Kurtz Family Vineyards) and Mark Mader (Gumpara Wines) were available all day to show and speak about their fine wines and the customers thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was an incredible day and had we not received the news of the family death only an hour after opening our doors, we would probably still be smiling (and celebrating), if only from the relief that we actually made it - that after five solid months of hard labour, I could finally stand behind the counter and physically see that my dream had become reality.

Collective Barossa is situated in the front room of the grand old Barossa Museum (47 Murray Street, Tanunda) and will be open seven days a week from 11am to 5pm. For more information on the shop you can go to the Facebook Page that I have set up here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tanunda-Australia/Collective-Barossa/170955857806 or to the Collective blog: http://collectivebarossa.blogspot.com/ which I will update as soon as possible, hopefully in the next day or so. In the meantime, just to whet your appetite, here are some photos from yesterdays opening and of the shop since it has been lovingly tended (it's still missing the curtains and more shelving behind the counter will be added shortly but all in all, it's quite impressive considering only a few weeks ago it was a pastel pink and spearmint green expanse with holes in the walls and plaster falling off).

Karra Yerta Wines Event Diary - June/July 2009

Just a very brief blog entry tonight mainly to inform you of the dates to put in your diary for June and July. Looking forward to meeting up with some old friends and making some new ones!

SATURDAY JUNE 27
Barossa At Home:

• Exclusive Wine-Tasting at the Karra Yerta Stable (featuring the wines of Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards) from 11am to 3pm. Admission $5.

• Intimate Dinner at the Karra Yerta Stable. Dine with the three winemakers from Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards whilst enjoying a sumptuous four-course home cooked meal accompanied by wines from the three wineries. (Maximum) 25 tickets available at $100 each.

SUNDAY JUNE 28
Barossa At Home:

• Exclusive Wine-Tasting at the Karra Yerta Stable (featuring the wines of Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards) from 11am to 3pm. Admission $5.
  

For a map showing our location for these events please go to this link: Barossa At Home map

THURSDAY JULY 23
Purple Palate/BarBarossa:

• Brisbane Public Tasting held at the Marriott Hotel from 6pm - 9pm

FRIDAY JULY 24
Purple Palate/BarBarossa:

• Sunshine Coast Public Tasting held at Montego’s on the Bay, Kawana Island from 6pm - 9pm

SATURDAY JULY 25
Purple Palate/BarBarossa:

• MMRI (Mater Medical Research Institute) Black Tie Charity Ball from 5pm – midnight.

For more information on the above events in Queensland go to: http://www.purplepalate.com

Barossa At Home update - June 27 & 28, 2009

The Barossa Wine and Tourism Association have just released the new brochure promoting their latest event - Barossa At Home. I have briefly mentioned this event in my earlier blog post: http://karrayertawines.blogspot.com/2009/03/winter-wine-event-watch-this-space.html It is a very different event and we are looking forward to participating in it. In fact, of the 48 wineries taking part, we are the only ones to have multiple wineries at the one dinner (Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards).

The purpose of the weekend event is to allow you to meet the winemakers behind the wines. On Saturday 27th June and Sunday 28th June between 11am and 3pm our rustic old stable will be open for wine tastings. Then at 6pm on Saturday evening our special wine dinner will begin. Both the tastings and the dinner will feature delicious home-cooked food and the wines of Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards. The sumptuous food will be prepared by our good friend Leanne Tidmus (one of the Barossa's best cooks of country-style dishes) and Karra Yerta's Marie Linke. The three winemakers, James Linke (Karra Yerta), Mark Mader (Gumpara) and Steve Kurtz (Kurtz Family Vineyards) will be dining with guests on the night in our rustic old red gum stable.

Wines complementing the four courses for the night include:

• Karra Yerta 2006 Eden Valley Riesling (Soup: Yabbie Bisque OR Cream of Chicken and Corn Soup)

• Karra Yerta 2008 Eden Valley Riesling (Entree: Mushroom Strudel with Cream Sauce OR Salmon Salad with Creamy Caesar Dressing)

• Karra Yerta 2006 Shiraz Cabernet (Main: Grilled Lamb Cutlets with Red-Currant and Rosemary Glaze) OR
  

• Kurtz Family Vineyard 2004 Lunar Block Shiraz (Main: Beef and Red Wine Casserole with Parsley Dumplings) OR
  
  
• Gumpara 2008 Barossa Semillon (Main: Baked Spatchcock with a Nectarine and Honey Sauce)

• Gumpara Liqueur Frontignac (Dessert: Glazed Peach Tart) OR

• Gumpara Tawny Grenache (Dessert: Individual Black Forest Cakes) OR

• Kurtz Family Vineyard 2005 Boundary Road GSM (Dessert: Fruit and Cheese Platter for one)
  

Coffee, tea and home-made liqueur chocolate truffles plus other wines available for tasting on the night.

We have 25 tickets available at $100 each. Please email us at karrayertawines@gmail.com to make a booking or any enquiries, or phone Marie on 0438870178. We can then post you out our brochure with the menu choices, map and other information on it. As we are all such small wineries and will be doing most of the work ourselves we would appreciate knowing in advance what your menu choices will be (if possible). This makes preparation easier and also saves us costs (so that we can spend more on our wine-making:)

Please note that although the menu above is 99.9% certain sometimes things happen beyond our control so in that event you will be contacted and advised of any changes. I doubt that will happen but it is always good to have a contingency plan. We really hope that you can join us on this very special night featuring three of the Collective wineries at the one location. Our fourth Collective winery, SmallFry, will be having their own tastings and dinner at their cellar door in Angaston. As you can see from the photo below of the bar in our rare old stable, it is a very rustic old building. The floor is made of gum rounds sawn from logs so please wear flat shoes as the floor can be uneven in parts from the old draught horses that used to drag their hooves when eating from the mangers in the early 1900's.

We are also looking at having (free) courtesy drivers so if you are interested in using this service, please let us know when making your booking. Finally, the weekend will also provide us with an opportunity to show off some of the fabulous artwork from the Bethany Art Group which will be displayed in the stable. A lesser known group of Barossa artists, the display is sure to be stunning and provide our guests with yet another aspect of the creative talent that flourishes in our beautiful and diverse area. A selection of the artwork will be on sale at very reasonable prices.

For a map showing our location for these events please go to this link: Barossa At Home map

Autumn leaves and an afternoon walk in the vineyard

We had a very enjoyable weekend with the highlight being able to catch up with Michael and William Frost (from Field Blend, Tasmania) and their webmaster Matt. After an early lunch at The Branch in Nuriootpa discussing numerous things including wine, cars, travel and all the other banter that goes hand in hand when you are enjoying the company of good people, our Tasmanian friends headed back to Adelaide and James, Mark and I took a leisurely drive around the Barossa before landing under Mark's pergola with bottles of shiraz, riesling and semillon in hand.

The Barossa was at its autumn best - a slight chill in the air but still enough sunshine to stop you from being too cold. The birds sang happily while we took an afternoon stroll through the lovely vineyards of Gumpara Wines. Mark's dog Blake enjoyed the walk but proved to be the hardest photographic target of the day while I was taking photos for Mark's wine blog.

We returned to the pergola feeling inspired, happy and ready for another glass of warming shiraz. A terrific end to a wonderful afternoon. Days like this make you realise how lucky you are to be in an industry where no matter who you are or where you are from, you are bonded by your passion for wine, be it drinking it or making it. And what better place to be right in the thick of it than the Barossa!

A Winter Wine Event - watch this space!

This blog entry is to give you advance notice of a special event that will be happening in the Barossa on the last weekend in June. Some of you may be planning to visit the Barossa this winter (what better time for a Barossa Shiraz??) so if you are, please make a note in your diary so that you may attend a very exciting and indeed enticing new event.

The Barossa Wine and Tourism Association has come up with a new concept called Barossa At Home. The idea is for wineries to open their homes to limited numbers of guests (ten per winery) for a personalised evening of Barossa food and wines. Guests will have the opportunity to meet and speak with the people behind the wines. In our case, you will be dining with the three winemakers from the three wineries involved.

We are planning on having a combined dinner party at Karra Yerta with two of our three Collective offsiders: Gumpara Wines and Kurtz Family Vineyards. At this stage, and it is early days, we are looking at having three tables of nine guests with one of the winemakers at each table (we are allowed to have more guests as there are three wineries joining up for the event). A delicious home-cooked four-course feast will accompany our splendid range of wines and any wines that we produce that are not on the menu (food and wine matched) will be available for tasting on the night.

Please email me if you would like to be kept up to date with this event. I will also post information on this blog as it is finalised.

New Year news

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! 2009 is almost here and is sure to be a year of surprises. The first lot of news I would like to announce is a group venture that Karra Yerta Wines is involved in and will be a lot of fun.

Announcing: Collective

Collective is a new group of passionate Barossans (Gumpara Wines, Karra Yerta Wines, Kurtz Family Vineyards and Smallfry Wines).

Thirty different Barossa and Eden Valley wines will be showcased by the four boutique producers whose ancestors were some of the original Barossa settlers in the 1840's. Lunch is available at The Clubhouse and you are welcome to drink any wine purchased from the tasting whilst dining.

At: The Tanunda Clubhouse, Tanunda (Barossa Valley, SA)

On: Saturday 24th January 2009 (Australia Day long weekend) from 11am to 4pm

Enquiries/bookings: Mark 0419624599, Steve 0418810982, Wayne 0412153243

Please email me at karrayertawines@gmail.com for more details or give one of the guys a call on the numbers above. It should be a great day.