A chilly night with warm hospitality! Collective Barossa is officially opened.

Our vintage is over. Whether it actually was long, or whether it just felt long, well, I am not sure but it sure has been a busy time. James already has a full-time job (outside of the wines and vines). I now manage and work in a shop (Collective Barossa), as you probably already know. In between, we have harvested, made our products for 2010 and maintained some form of sanity in our house. I am not sure how, but the important thing is that we made it. And by all accounts, the long, hard slog has been worth it on many fronts.

I will write an update on the actual Karra Yerta vintage soon but tonight's entry is on the recent Official Opening of Collective Barossa.

Planning an event during vintage, ie trying to co-ordinate four different wineries, and communicating with guests who are also in the industry (with everyone working endless stints of six or seven days a week, and long hours during those days) can be a huge challenge. When I chose April 10 to be our night to officially celebrate the opening of the Collective Barossa shop, it felt like it was so far away but the weeks went fast, the vintage continued and it was there before any of us realised. Despite the inevitable hiccups that come with such things, we did manage to host a small but pleasant evening which all of our guests will remember.

Approximately 55 people attended on that rainy, misty Barossa autumn night to taste the delicious wines from the four wineries - Karra Yerta, Gumpara, Kurtz Family Vineyards and Smallfry Wines. Wayne from Smallfry and myself took care of the food and made sure that everyone had a delicious feed to compliment the wines. All of the winemakers attended and spent the night mingling with our guests who appreciated the opportunity to meet the Collective group and learn about our wines.

Wine journalist Philip White gave a short but poignant speech on the Collective, the wine industry in general, and also expressed his appreciation of the actual Barossa Museum and its rare and special contents. Three members of the Barossa Valley Archives and Historical Trust attended and gave guests the opportunity to have guided tours or just discuss items in the Museum which gave a nice, personal touch.

Our two teenage sons provided live music in the adjoining courtyard and no-one let the weather dampen their spirits. At the end of the night, all of the Collective group had a hard earned Cooper's Pale Ale after cleaning up, and that is the group photo taken below. The top photo is of our eldest son, Daniel, entertaining us; the second of Mark from Gumpara Wines with his Mum, Bev and step-father, Bruce, and the third, James with local legend, BobMcLean. It really was a great night and a success on all fronts. We look forward to having more Collective Barossa events in the future.

Every picture tells a story....

This blog entry is purely to showcase two fantastic photographs taken by the very talented photographer, Milton Wordley. They were taken late last year in our old red gum stable and in the Karra Yerta Wines vineyard. Thanks, Milton for allowing me to post on my pages:)

For more of Milton's fabulous work please visit this link: http://www.wordley.com.au/

Everything old is new again!

My writing, of all of my blogs, has been tardy of late and so I am planning on catching up a bit over the coming weeks with blog entries of recent happenings and of course, our 2010 vintage, so stay tuned.

For now however, I have one rather important thing to post and as it is already the middle of the night, will make it a brief entry. But albeit brief, it is nonetheless a wonderful entry and one that I post with much gratitude.

Please find below a review from April 2nd, 2010 of our now sold-out 2005 Karra Yerta Wines Barossa Shiraz which also happened to win a Silver Medal at the 2008 San Francisco International Wine Show. The review below was written by Julian Coldrey on his website, Full Pour. Thanks Julian:) I look forward to sending you a sample of our 2008 Barossa Shiraz in a few months time!

Karra Yerta Wines 2005 Barossa Shiraz

My acquaintance with Marie Linke of Karra Yerta Wines has been rewarding in all sorts of ways; it has provided me insights into the world of the boutique micro-producer, into the trials associated with just getting your wine out there in the public eye, into the challenges of juggling family and work life. And, not least, it has provided me with the opportunity to taste wonderful wines, borne of passion and commitment to regional tradition. My view is producers such as Karra Yerta are the backbone of the industry, providing a philosophical base around which trends and companies may come and go.

Case in point: this wine. It's identifiably Barossan in character, with that luscious, irresistibly drink now fruit character starting to come up against some more adult, bottle-aged aromas. So, it's very much in transition. I sometimes read that as a mark of disinterest, but that's kind of like saying teenagers aren't interesting because they're neither children nor adults. Surely there's a particular fascination in the confluence and clash of nascent maturity? That's what I'm seeing in this wine's aroma.

The palate is full of flavour in a characterful way. An interesting counterpoint to this wine was a 2006 Penfolds Bin 407 I tasted just the other day. I didn't write it up because it was pristine, perfect, clean, and faceless. This is precisely the opposite; it's tangibly textured, imprinted with imperfection in the most positive manner; from entry through finish, a dense wave of regional fruit, roughed up by an edge of earthy, spiced humanity that puts corporate swill to shame. This isn't trying to win medals, it's simply a reflection of its place and maker, and is utterly worthwhile for precisely this reason.

Perhaps not much of a tasting note, then, but, one hell of a worthwhile experience to taste. Highly recommended.

Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Posted by Julian on Friday, April 2, 2010 at 2:35 AM

A Sydneysider's take on the NV Sparking Shiraz

Since having the Collective Barossa shop open, our stocks of the NV Sparkling Shiraz have been getting less by the week, which is of course, a good thing. In the next few months we will have another release but in the meantime, if you want to try it, pop in the shop, or if you want to buy some of our current release, please contact us.

It is a remarkable and delicious example of this great Aussie wine. Here is the latest review from Andrew Graham, our friend and independent wine writer from Sydney, who we had the great pleasure of meeting a month ago.

Karra Yerta Wines NV Sparkling Shiraz
Karra Yerta Sparkling Shiraz NV - 2009 disgorgement (Eden Valley, SA)
$35, Crown Seal, 14.5%
Source: Sample
www.karrayertawines.com.au

'It's a real pity this class has detiorated to this level'

They were the judges comments at this years Sydney Wine Show for the premium 'Sparkling Red Wine, bottle fermented' class (that this wine would theoretically sit in). I'm not sure whether that is an indication of the waning quality of Australian sparkling reds, a reluctance for wineries to show sparkling reds, or just a dud bracket of wines, but it does make for interesting reading for anyone with a love of the style (which I am).

Anyway, like all the other Karra Yerta wines, this is a smashing drink, and I say that with glee, as Marie & James Linke are great people too, which just puts smiles on everyones dials. Actually, it can be very hard to review wines for genuinely good people, as good people don't always produce good wines, and often the best wines are produced by maniacal control freaks and egotistical wankers.

But back to the wine. Lovely purple colour, with a massive frothy purple mousse that you just want to stain the table cloth with (just for effect). Interestingly, the nose is actually pretty subdued, with some sweet berried dosage the only thing escaping from the deeply black coloured juice. Palate is medium bodied and starts quite lightly with the same berries from the nose, the palate sweet initially, but fans out rather dry and long, with some proper fruit tannins rounding out the tail.

What I like most about this wine is its mediumness. It's unquestionably Barossan and juicy, but also quite constrained, dry and mellow, almost as if the base material has an extra year or two on it, even if the colour and freshness suggest otherwise.

Nice wine. 18/93

Buy the ticket, take the ride.....

Saturday March 7th, 2010 will be marked in my diary for two poignant reasons; one, it was the day that our almost eighty year-old Eden Valley Riesling vines were hand-picked, and secondly, that it was on that same night (albeit that 2am was really Sunday March 8th), that my new business, Collective Barossa was vandalised for the second time in seven short weeks.

The first episode of vandalism, just three weeks ago, was far less damaging than last night's effort but nonetheless, still, a disrespectful and stupid act. This morning's effort resulted in the opening of the shop being delayed significantly and more than a few hours of intense cleaning of shattered glass. A sad state of our community. I do hope that the perpetrators realise eventually that to intentionally damage any building, let alone one built in 1866 which has stood strong and proud for so many decades, is a terrible thing to do and it should weigh heavily on their conscience.

Also, they should think about the fact that this building, home to a magnificent collection of priceless items, lovingly and consistently tended by the dedicated committee members, all volunteers, and many of them in an older age bracket, theoretically belongs to them also, and will one day in the future belong to their own children i.e. in the community sense. I do hope that the people responsible can be caught and learn a valuable lesson, about others in our small community and also perhaps about themselves. I sincerely thank Don and Irene Ross of the Museum Committee, James of Karra Yerta and Steve of Kurtz Family Vineyards (who both were busy doing pump-overs of their 2010 red wines at the time of my call for assistance) for their help in tidying up the unnecessary mess.

On a brighter note, due to my time being tied up with my business, I didn't have the opportunity to help with the hand-picking of the riesling this year, and must admit, I missed it and don't feel as if I know much about it. However, in saying that, I have been regularly given reports from James who informs me that this year's riesling vintage is a very good one.

The grapes were picked a touch earlier than usual and the crop was above average in tonnage. Only a matter of hours later, a steady light rain (which has returned spasmodically throughout today) started, giving the ranges a much needed, gentle drink. It should help to freshen up the shiraz and semillon vines but I am glad that the riesling was picked before it as that was the variety most at risk of damage being so ripe and ready. The 2010 juice is now under the watchful eye of our riesling winemaker, Peter Gajewski.

Our Barossa Shiraz grapes that we source from the Kalimna/Moppa area were also picked last week, and James has been doing pump-overs on that, morning and night, religiously over the past days. Again, he is making our red wines at Biscay Road Vintners. He is incredibly lucky to be working along side Peter Schell and Jason Schwarz, two exceptionally talented and creative winemakers and general all-round nice guys.

So life is busy, still, but we are working our way through vintage as best we can, with a few curve-balls thrown at us along the journey. We just keep plodding away, hoping that in some way, things will work out. That's all you can do. As my favourite author Hunter S Thomspon used to famously say "Buy the ticket, take the ride". We certainly did, and we certainly are...