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).

Bring out the Bubbles - more Sparkling Shiraz reviews

It is becoming an Australian tradition to have Sparkling Shiraz at Christmas (and New Year). It's a wine which males love for its red wine flavours and the ladies, for the bubbles. So all in all a perfect choice that sits well with most guests at your dinner table, and it complements many different foods.

Much like Julian (see review below) I am a fan of having it with duck. But as Philip White suggested, it would be just as lovely with roast pork. It really is a versatile wine!

Thus, this wine was chosen by two of our favourite Queenslanders to indulge in during the holiday season. Please see their reviews below.

NV Karra Yerta Sparkling Shiraz

It's Christmas day and I'm taking time out between preparing lunch and relaxing to note my reaction to this wine, just opened and to be consumed with the main meal (in my case, confit of duck).

A joyous gush of mousse, quite electric in its vibrancy and pleasingly voluminous. I can't help smiling at the lurid purple of many sparkling Shiraz wines; this one had me grinning like the Cheshire Cat. This isn't a tits-out style, though. The nose is subtle, showing spice, tart blackberries, a hint of fortified wine, some aged characters and a general impression of complexity combined with fresh berry juice.

The palate is equally measured, showing real elegance despite the fizz. Mercifully, it's not a sweet wine; in fact, the savouriness of the flavour profile combined with chalky, abundant tannins creates quite the opposite impression. It's all quite intense; more blackberries, spice and various oak-derived flavours mix on the middle palate. Riding above it all is a clean juiciness that smoothes over the wine's sophisticated framework, ensuring you could just as easily linger over each sip as slam it down fast, per your mood or the occasion.

Very glad to have the opportunity to taste this wine on a special day of the year; I believe only twenty cases exist. Make haste. And Merry Christmas to you all.

Price: $A35
Closure: Crown seal
Source: Sample

Posted by Julian on Friday, December 25, 2009 at 7:53 PM

http://fullpour.com/2009/12/karra-yerta-sparkling-shiraz-n.html

******************************************************************************
NV Karra Yerta Sparkling Shiraz

Barossa 14.5% Crown Seal $35 Source - Sample

This wine now has a beautiful new label which I will endeavour to place alongside the note in the near future. And may I say it deserves it too.

Cherried and nutty it had me thinking of David Lynch's Twin Peaks for some reason. The oak is is there but completely in balance aiding a structured and refined wine that is as much savoury as it is sweet. And that's what I love about it the most. It's there in the texture too with a bit of mid palate creaminess but also a focused dry and lithe quality which is particularly apparent on the persistent finish. There are some darker fruits and maybe even a touch of liquorice. But the cohesion and execution are what sets it above the pack, not a list of flavours.

An absolute ripper that is as beautiful to drink as it is to look at and a style of Sparkling Shiraz that I personally would like to see more of. Along with the Flaxman NV, I can't recommend this highly enough.

Posted by Jeremy Pringle at http://winewilleatitself.blogspot.com/2009/12/karra-yerta-sparkling-shiraz-nv.html

A Miracle on Murray Street & a new review for our Sparkling Shiraz!

As a follow-up to my previous post, regarding my attempt to open a new shop showcasing the wines of the Collective group, I am pleased and relieved to announce that sensibility did shine through, and despite the initial objections not being dropped, the two objectors lawyer and myself were able to come to a mutual agreement and thus, the Collective Barossa shop will be opening very soon!

My time-frame was delayed whilst trying to work out exactly what was happening, so my original plans of painting and moving the furniture in were moved back but now that all the legalities are sorted and my new licence has been granted, I can move forward and so this week will be a team effort to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Of course, having so many willing helpers is a bonus, despite it being the week before Christmas! I am incredibly lucky that many members of the community stood behind me in this venture and provided incredible support, in every way, during the rather stressful past fortnight. I have been inundated with emails and phone calls from around the world and that definitely has given me the extra boost needed to find the motivation to find time to take this huge task on at this rather mad time of year. For more information on the Collective Barossa shop please visit this page: http://collectivebarossa.blogspot.com

From our entire family, including our much loved labrador, we would also like to wish you all a very Merry and Safe Christmas and New Year! And speaking of Christmas and New Year, here is our very first review on the perfect wine to put on your table over the holiday season - our NV Sparkling Shiraz.

Our Sparkling Shiraz has been dedicated to two wonderful gentlemen who were dear friends of our family and are unfortunately no longer with us; Mr. Geoff Cotton, who along with his friend Sandy, discovered the fatal tree disease Mundulla Yellows in 1979 and Dr. Frank Podger who discovered Jarrah Die-Back in 1964. We hope that through this dedication they, and their hard work, are not forgotten. They are both mentioned on the back label of this wine. The photograph on the left below is of Dr. Podger and my husband, sons and dog in 2000 or 2001 on one of Frank's trips to the Barossa when I helped him map the progress of Mundulla Yellows in the area.

This review was published in this weekend's The Independent Weekly and was written by Philip White. Tasting notes will be put on our website www.karrayertawines.com.au in the next few days.

Karra Yerta Wines NV Sparkling Shiraz
$35, 14.5% alc/vol, crown seal, 94 points.

A joint effort of the indomitable Linke family with Nathan Schulz and Colin Sheppard, this black beauty comes from ancient vines on the top of the Barossa Range. It's never mushy or sweet like too many dark sparklers, instead offering a blitz of black bitters and mystery, as if somebody'd managed to distil an entire valley of blackberry vines, thorns, ripe berries, and all. It has a dark vegetal tone, like tomato or blackberry leaf. It's been liqueuered with vintage port, but still finishes with adults-only tannins and staunch natural acidity, leaving the mouth puckered and wanting. Forget the turkey: this would do best with a traditional Barossa ovenful of juicy roast porkfat, crackling and beets. Dribble.

The Importance of the Generations

The past few weeks have provided some interesting and challenging moments for us at Karra Yerta. Some have been good, most frustrating, but in the end, all of them with a common denominator - the importance of keeping and promoting the heritage of our beautiful area.

Last Thursday I was fortunate to attend the Barossa Generations Lunch at Chateau Tanunda where the admirable Jane Ferrari of Yalumba Wines was MC hosting a panel of impressive local identities including Prue Henschke, Stefan Ahrens, Bob McLean and John Duvall who were available to discuss and answer questions relating to the importance of families encouraging their younger generations to take a hands-on role in their family businesses to not only ensure that the family businesses survive into the future but also that new and fresh ideas are implemented where possible so that we can all work together to increase the regions appeal to tourists and locals alike.

Ironic then that a wonderful new business venture that I have been working on for the past four months has been stalled indefinitely by concerns (and subsequent objections in regards to my application for an appropriate liquor licence) from two large companies that already have a large presence and holding in the area.

It was my intention to open a shop in Tanunda before Christmas this year which would enable four small family wineries to have a combined cellar door outlet which would tie in with the beautiful location it was in - the Barossa Museum. My vision was to provide tourists with a total heritage experience i.e. being able to taste and buy bottled wines from 5th and 6th generation descendants of the original settlers of the Barossa which would have been a wonderful thing for the families and the museum. At this stage it appears that a pre-Christmas opening is not possible and at the worst case scenario, it could even take months before we can open our doors. That is a shame for all the wineries concerned, the Museum and also for my two sons who I had planned to have help me over the Christmas holiday period. The experience for them alone would have been priceless and is indeed an important part of the whole Generations concept as ultimately it is my dream for the new business to have them involved in it, both now and in the future.

So that leaves the question as to where is the Barossa really heading as far as the Generations go? I do hope that common sense prevails in this instance and that a mutual agreement can be reached between myself and the parties opposing my application. In the meantime I am hoping that our loyal customers can continue to support us by purchasing our wines directly from us. I will keep you all updated via this blog and my regular newsletters as to the progress on what could and should be a wonderful thing for the entire region, and ultimately make our lovely area even more of an enticing place to visit.

A Lazy trip to lovely McLaren Vale and beyond.

Life is completely crazy here at the moment - I have a new business about to start (along with still running many aspects of the winery, and indeed, the family, house and garden) and took a few days off for some important business and even more important leisure before I land head first into a whirlwind next six months. I amaze myself at how much I can squeeze into a mere forty-eight hours sometimes!

I left the Barossa at 4pm on Tuesday with a car load of sparkling shiraz to deliver to Glasscraft Print. The wonderful manager, Bronte, helped me to unload the car and then gave me a very brief look at the terrific facilities at his business at Mount Barker before I headed further south to Kuitpo for a very important meeting with someone I had been wanting to meet for a very long time.

When I arrived at the Lazy Ballerina cellar door in the middle of the magnificent Kuitpo Forest, there was absolutely nothing lazy about the man behind the label, James Hook. Despite having worked a full day at his other job as a viticulturist, there he was, while waiting for me to arrive, busily loading the wheelbarrow with mulch and tending to his family's incredibly beautiful garden.

James graciously took me on a tour of the Lazy Ballerina cellar door and gardens while I happily clicked away on my over-worked digital camera trying to encapsulate even a little of the beauty around me. I was truly stunned by not only him, but also by all the hard work he and his parents had done to create such an incredible place which after bushfires many years ago, had left little to work with. Totally inspirational! And that was before trying his wines. I had always refused to try the Lazy Ballerina wines until I had met the man himself so needless to say, when we left to continue our journey to a mutual friend's house for a wonderful dinner, I didn't walk out empty handed. I highly recommend James' wines to everyone!

The next morning, after a peaceful and relaxing slumber, belly still full of fine food and wines from the previous night, I arose, and headed further south to McLaren Vale. My stop here was to another equally incredible place called Fall From Grace which is run by an effervescent lady named Gill Gordon-Smith. She sells the most divine range of international wines and also runs wine education classes - it's a must-do stop on your list if you are visiting McLaren Vale. She also happens to be the Spieglau distributor for trade so I now had the glasses to accompany my Lazy Ballerina wines. Could it get any better? Yes it could.

By early afternoon I had left McLaren Vale, headed further north again, past Yangarra where I'd previously had a look at the amazing new winery being built with James Hook, tour-guided by Philip White, and headed east toward the historic town of Strathalbyn before taking a sharp south turn to end up at Clayton where I spent the late afternoon and evening with my lovely new friend Annabelle. One of South Australia's most talented artists, Annabelle is as vibrant and gorgeous as the art she produces and I couldn't have thought of a better way to end my very short break than to spend it with her.

In less than forty-eight hours I had met two incredible new people, spent time with two good friends, and throughout, enjoyed the best of what South Australia has to offer - fine food, fine wines and great hospitality. Now, back home and back to the grind, I feel much more refreshed and ready to face the next month which is surely going to be quite mad... but more about that in my coming posts.