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Written by Jane Faulkner
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Saturday, 11 April 2009 00:00 |
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ANY winemaker can tell you it's increasingly difficult to produce a well-priced wine that has a stamp of quality too, especially when it comes to pinot noir and chardonnay. Yet TarraWarra winemaker Clare Halloran manages exceedingly well at both.
She makes an estate pinot noir and chardonnay that hover around $22 and are totally delicious. These wines are better than ever because the fruit that goes into each is now sourced completely from the gorgeous TarraWarra vineyards. This turnaround started with the 2008 vintage. Before then, they came under the winery's second label, known as Tin Cows; they were good but supplemented by fruit grown elsewhere.
"Frankly, I never liked the Tin Cows label," Halloran confesses, but adds that the name change also represents the gradual development of all the wines, the emphasis on estate-grown fruit and the considerable work that has gone into the vineyards. It's all about having better quality fruit.
Halloran also produces a reserve pinotnoir and chardonnay sourced from lower-yielding vines - about 5 tonnes to the hectare - and both are built for ageing. They need a few years more in bottle to develop, settle and mellow.
"With the estate label, we are trying to make good value wines that deliver on quality too," she says.
Of course, it all depends on vintage. In 2007 no reserve wine and a fraction of the Tin Cows label was made because of smoke taint from bushfires affecting much of the Yarra Valley.
Skip to the '09 vintage, and despite the heat wave and devastating bushfires, the chardonnay is looking promising. At least Halloran can talk up the current release of reserve wines from 2006 and estate wines from '08.
Despite some very testing vintages in the past few years, Halloran says: "I really enjoy vintage as it's the one opportunity to get things right, and I'd never wish it away.
"Besides, you have to think about what you're doing, take time and do things properly."
TarraWarra includes a marvellous museum of modern art and - for the Burgundy-obsessed - the first Sunday of each month is now dedicated to that region. It means you can BYO red or white burgundy at the winery's restaurant or buy a bottle off the specially selected list. Burgundy Sunday started last week so book in for May.
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