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KARRA YERTA WINES 2007 EDEN VALLEY RIESLINGPRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2007 Eden Valley RieslingVINTAGE: 2007 APPELLATION: Eden ValleyVARIETY: RieslingHARVESTED: February 25, 2007BOTTLED: May 21, 2007ALCOHOL: 12%TA: 6.84g/ltrPH: 2.89PRODUCTION: 128 cases/dozenCELLARING: drink now to 2020RRP AU$25COMMENTS: This riesling was made by Peter Gajewski (ex-Penfolds) at Rocland Winery from 75 year old dry-grown, hand-picked grapes which are situated a mere few hundred metres to the west of the famous Ringland "Three Rivers" vineyard in the premium area of the Barossa Ranges. With crisp acid, notes of lemon and lime, white peach and honeydew. A superb example of an Eden Valley Riesling. Screwcap.REVIEWS/RATINGS:94++/100 points Philip White - "The Independent Weekly", Adelaide"In the middle of the drought, I got bogged in this vineyard, in chill sideways rain. And I was walking. Way up above Flaxman's gully on a ridge. Amazing old twisted bush vines as close as the Barossa gets to the skies. With all these utterly luscious limy fruits from tropics undiscovered, this is easily one of the best rizzas of the year. Viscous, yet strapping, and sinuous, with white peach and honeydew, custard, distant lime and further lemon, grainy, pithy tannin, all strapped around a shaft of natural acid, I dunno. I can't think of anything I'd rather be drinking right now. No food required. Maybe chevre' ."94/100 points Gary Walsh - "Winefront"
"This is a tiny make of only 128 dozen with the fruit coming off 75-80 year old vines high in the Flaxmans Valley. Almost water pale with subdued aromas of citrus, white peach, mineral, blossom and a faint fennel fragrance. On the palate this is delicate and refined with flavours of weak lemon barley water, lime and mineral. Fine boned and bone dry with crisp mouth-watering river pebble acidity and a long dry lemony aftertaste. An austere beauty that may develop into something special. Drink 2007 - 2017." 8.6/10 points Max Crus - "Grape Expectations", Sydney"Many have fawned over this already so who am I to buck the trend? OK it is pretty good. Best served with a friend on the verandah with smoked salmon, capers and freshly cut grass"
KARRA YERTA WINES 2006 EDEN VALLEY RIESLINGPRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2006 Eden Valley RieslingVINTAGE: 2006 APPELLATION: Eden ValleyVARIETY: RieslingHARVESTED: March 26, 2006BOTTLED: August 23, 2006ALCOHOL: 13%TA: 7.35g/ltrPH: 2.89PRODUCTION: 100 cases/dozenCELLARING: drink now to 2015RRP AU$25COMMENTS: This riesling was made by Simon Adams at Rocland Winery from 75 year old dry-grown, hand-picked grapes which are situated a mere few hundred metres to the west of the famous Ringland "Three Rivers" vineyard in the premium area of the Barossa Ranges. With a gentle regional lime aroma and flavour, and a nice touch of minerality to provide balance, this wine should develop very well. Screwcap.REVIEWS/RATINGS:94/100 points Philip White - "The Independent Weekly", Adelaide"While there's been a lot of theorising about this wine being not up to the standard of the mighty '05, there's no doubt that this is a stunner in its own right. It's maybe not as minerally and chalky as its predecessor, but it offers a different range of delights, immediately appearing more wholesome and approachable, with that impeccable blend of lemon, lime and cream that only truly great rieslings seem to achieve. I'd drink it with coq au vin."90/100 points James Halliday - "2008 Wine Companion", Melbourne"Gentle regional lime aroma and flavours, with a nice touch of minerality to provide balance; should develop very well. Screwcap. 13% alc. Rating: 90. To: 2015. $20"91/100 points Gary Walsh - "Winefront", Sydney"The vineyard site is obviously fine and distinctive and I think I can see similarities now between the two vintages. Both this and the 2007 share limey fruit, flinty minerality and a certain fine boned charm even though they are quite different wines to taste (and made by different winemakers). The fruit is hand-picked from 75-80 year old dry-grown vines located in the Flaxmans Valley.Plenty to sniff at here with Schweppes lime cordial and fresh squeezed lime, mineral, spiced honey nuts and some petrolly development showing. On the palate intense limey fruit, mineral, spice and toast flavours. Sweet and juicy yet it feels pretty dry with flinty crunchy acid and a nice tight focussed palate that fades slightly at the end. Finishes dry, toasty and limey. It will cellar well for sure, but I'd bet it's going to develop plenty of Kero characters, so the decision largely depends on your personal tastes. I like it a lot right now. Drink 2008 - 2009."
KARRA YERTA WINES 2005 EDEN VALLEY RIESLING
PRODUCT: Karra Yerta Wines 2005 Eden Valley Riesling
VINTAGE: 2005
APPELLATION: Eden Valley
VARIETY: Riesling
HARVESTED: March 25, 2005
BOTTLED: July 5, 2005
ALCOHOL: 11.8%
TA: 8.63g/ltr
PH: 2.89
PRODUCTION: 150 cases/dozen
CELLARING: drink now to 2015
RRP AU$20 *THIS WINE IS NOW SOLD OUT ASIDE FROM A SMALL AMOUNT OF MUSEUM STOCK*
COMMENTS:
This riesling was made by Tim Smith at Rocland Winery from 75 year old dry-grown, hand-picked grapes which are situated a mere few hundred metres to the west of the famous Ringland "Three Rivers" vineyard in the premium area of the Barossa Ranges. With crisp acid, notes of lemon and lime. A fine austere Eden Valley Riesling. Screwcap.
REVIEWS/RATINGS:
94+/100 points Philip White - "The Independent Weekly", Adelaide
"Cool this, unscrew, pour your glass and ponder it while the bottle breathes for an hour or two in the fridge. Go again and you'll begin to realise the quiet force and huge cellaring potential of this mighty nesting from the Valkyrie uplands atop Flaxman's Gully. For this is Valkyrie wine; syrupy, dry, austere stone-and-muscle with Tim Smith's sensitive wine-making ensuring decades of safe maturation. Strong food: duck, beets and red cabbage."
90/100 points James Halliday - "Wine Companion", Melbourne
"A subdued bouquet, possibly due to subliminal reduction; much more power and length on the palate, with lime fruit and lemony acidity. Screwcap. Rating: 90 points. To: 2014."
Our 2009 Eden Valley Riesling was bottled on Wednesday July 8th and after a very long wait, with many headaches in between, our revamped labels were printed last Friday so it is all systems go now for our new releases: the 2008 Karra Yerta Eden Valley Riesling and the 2006 Karra Yerta Shiraz Cabernet, and in a month or so, the 2009 Riesling. Already all of the pre-orders have been sent and/or delivered and samples have been sent to some of our regular choices of wine journalists so it will be interesting to hear their thoughts on both the wines and the new look of our products.
Both bottling and labelling wine is an incredibly expensive part of the process of creating your product and there is no room for costly errors so it is always appreciated when you find good businesses to deal with for these very important tasks. In the case of the bottling, we choose Kym Burgemeister - Boutique Bottlers (at Stockwell) as he is simply just so organised and not easily frazzled. Another small family business, Kym is often helped out by his wife Sandra and their children and I know that I can relax once our products are in his hands as they too understand the importance of doing a good job, no matter what size operation they are running.
Our labels on the other hand are produced by a larger company, Barossa Print Masters, who recently had the job of making the labels for Paul Stanley's (of KISS) newly released wine. But in saying that, we deal particularly with one lady from BPM and she is truly a gem: Kym Montgomery.
Kym is an exceptional person to have at your side for any aspect of the business as she is one of the handful of people I have met in the industry who really do go above and beyond to ensure that her clients have the best quality at the best price and as a bonus, she has the knowledge and foresight to completely understand what it is you are trying to create, sometimes even before it is clear in your own head. Simply amazing. As I went to "sign off" for the final time on Friday before the labels were printed, I completely entrusted any last minute decisions to her as I knew she was more than capable of getting me the product I was looking for. I must mention that the boys on the press who made our labels were fabulous also but that was actually the first time I had met them. A great job by all at BPM; thank you sincerely.
It is amazing really to think that even a winery as small as us can have costs of ten thousand dollars a year just on bottling and labelling, let alone wine-making.... Not much profit in it really but again, it does prove that the small guys really are not in it for the money, but for the passion of what we do. So in light of all the Constellation and Fosters press of late, please do consider buying smaller wineries wines (and not only Karra Yerta) as you are supporting the heart and soul of the industry when you support the smaller, family owned businesses, along the whole line from vineyard to labelling and bottling.
It is finally time to catch our breath as the previous months have been exceptionally busy. The good news is that our new labels are due to be printed this week so our 2008 Eden Valley Riesling and 2006 Shiraz Cabernet will be on the shelves adorned with the revamped labels sometime in July. It has been a long process but finally we came up with a design that kept in line with our original branding but smartened it up somewhat. I cannot wait to see them on the bottles!
Another exciting event for the week was a rating and short review of our 2008 Riesling (rated 4 and a half glasses and 92 points) from James Halliday so keep an eye out for the 2010 James Halliday Wine Companion to read James' full review. It normally hits the retail shelves in August.
Our Barossa At Home weekend was a success despite the last-minute cancellation of our dinner. We simply didn't sell enough tickets to make it a viable proposition but on speaking with other participants, we were not alone. That did not dampen our spirits for the weekend's wine tastings and it certainly proved to be successful in sales and in meeting new faces who ventured out in the chilly weather. All going well, we may try to arrange a similar event (a tasting and dinner) with our Collective counterparts in the warmer months.
The art display by the Bethany Art Group brought extra 
people out to visit us and it was terrific to see some of the artists attend. Their works were stunning and certainly brought the old stable to life. Many thanks to Tony and Phyl for all the work they did to get the display up in time.James is getting organised to go to Brisbane for the Purple Palate events, and pruning in between. We have had lots of rain this winter so far and he has done well to keep on top of it. Not an easy task when he also has a full-time job elsewhere. It won't be long til I am up on the hill as well tying the vines on and before we know it, harvest will be here again.
As for now though, it is perfect weather for enjoying a glass of red at night by the fire. Winter is my favourite time of year and it is lovely to hear the squelching of the soil underfoot again. The vineyard is looking happy with itself and no doubt will do us well again this coming year after such good winter conditions.
KARRA YERTA WINES 2007 EDEN VALLEY RIESLING
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