Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - A Reflection

View of the Pyrenees Ranges
from the winery

I decided that it’s time I went beyond tasting wine from barrels and bottles to actually see for myself what went on at a winery, to better understand the transformation from grapes to wine in real life (rather than what’s written in the textbooks!). A friendly contact (thank you, Graeme!) and some enquiries resulted in a “yes” from Taltarni Vineyards in the Pyrenees in Victoria, Australia. And I could even stay on the property – which was rather good news, given the size of the town of Moonambel where kangaroos most certainly outnumber human beings! It is winter in the Pyrenees, a rather wet and chilly one, according to the locals! When I arrived, I had just missed a torrential storm which tore down a number of trees along the country roads, having caused much chaos to road traffic and inconvenience for people getting to and out of the wineries. 2010 in Australia has so far seen a lot of rainfall. Lush landscape abounds, bloated lakes and gushing rivers – quite a change from the arid landscape a few years back. The heavy rainfall has brought good and bad news: good news being the assurance of availability of water for irrigation in the vine-growing season at Taltarni and the not so good news being the delay caused by the storms to pruning work in the vineyard and to deliveries to the winery!

Taltarni Vineyards

Established in 1969, Taltarni (http://www.taltarni.com.au/ ) has focused on making a success of its winemaking efforts in a number of emerging regions, starting in the Pyrenees, then Tasmania and later Heathcote. Taltarni’s reputation has largely been built on elegant sparkling wines made in the traditional method, as well as excellent quality reds and whites. Its pursuit of excellence, elegance and finesse for its wines can be attributed to a combination of French winemaking style, Australian regional characteristics and relentless efforts by its winemaking team, now led by COO and Chief Winemaker, Loïc Le Calvez (energy-charged Frenchman from Brittany who claimed he didn’t speak English so well when he first arrived in Australia more than 8 years ago! I am sure Simone, his most charming wife, would take a lot of the credit for Loïc’s only very lightly accented fluent English!). Taltarni’s range of wines include T-Series, Three Monks, Estate and Reserve. Clover Hill is a related winery in Tasmania, focusing mainly on vintage sparkling wine and aromatics, as well as Pinot Noir. Karina Dambergs, the Winemaker, who is very passionate about sparkling wine, now splits her time between Moonambel and Tasmania, across two homes and two sets of kitchen utensils! Robert Heywood joined the team in 2009 and is the Assistant Winemaker at Taltarni. Robert worked in the Barossa before he joined Taltarni. Like Loïc, he is also a red wine lover. Robert is getting married in September – congratulations!

Nothing quite prepared me for the bone-chilling cold and the physical strain that I was to experience during my 8 days there. I had packed in my suitcase a pair of industrial gloves (the thick type that workmen use in factories) and some thermal clothing that I bought last minute (as I do not ski regularly!). The gloves turned out to be rather redundant as a lot of the tasks were almost impossible with gloves on, such as the delicate task of tying back the cordon to the wire after pruning using a fiddly piece of zip-lock strip. So I decided to handle the secateurs with my bare hands – needless to say I felt a noticeable strain in my palm the following day! The fleece hat and the scarf were quite useful and I sported them every day, in addition to the bright orange over-sized Taltarni fleece that I had borrowed, which I would wear on top of two layers of wooly jumper. (Next time, I’ll know to prepare thermal leggings!) The temperature in the winery could quite often get lower than the temperature outside especially when cold stabilization activity was going on (which required -5 ℃ for an entire tank lasting 8 – 10 days!).

I took care of my meals for most days, except the evening when Loïc and Simone very kindly invited us to their home for dinner. Packet soup turned out to be the most useful food item, as it provided immediate nourishment and warmth! I would need to “warm up” a pot of yoghurt before enjoying it as it would just be too cold straight from the fridge and too much for my already chattering teeth! I religiously prepared fruit in the morning but the sensation of biting into a chunk of ice-cold acidic orange or crispy apple every morning turned out not to be such a pleasant experience. I bought some lettuce, with the intention of adding some green colour and nutritional value to my sandwiches, but I had not wanted to bother with it the whole time!

Coming from Hong Kong, the thought of being out of communication had not crossed my mind, but it happened at Moonambel! There was absolutely no mobile communication except for a few very selected spots at the winery and in the vineyard! Occasionally, there would be some data reception, allowing a few emails to come through and get sent….so that Richard would know that I was still alive! After a couple of days, I had learnt not to be bothered by it and the peace and quiet allowed me to speed through my book! (The second book in the Millennium triology by Stieg Larsson.)

Loïc very generously gave me a few bottles to bring back to Hong Kong to try: 2006 Clover Hill Blanc de Blancs, 1986 Taltarni French Syrah and 2004 Taltarni Reserve Shiraz Cabernet. I shall be writing with my tasting notes…….

My 8 days at Taltarni in the Pyrenees had been for me a most invaluable and enriching experience. I was able to make sense of some of the tasks in the winery and the vineyard, those tasks that I had previously learnt on WSET courses, such as pruning, topping up, racking, fining, filtration, sparging, additions, riddling, disgorging and bottling. I was able to appreciate that each task involved such skill, hard work and planning. Above all, there are very clear steps and guidelines (do’s and don’ts) for every procedure and strict compliance is observed everywhere by the staff in the winery. Quoting Karina, the Winemaker can be compared to the Chef of a restaurant where he/she is not actually the only person behind your meal. What you have is a team of co-workers in the kitchen, each carrying out his/her part of the duties to contribute to the final dish, while ensuring quality and consistency, with every dish. Effective planning of resources is paramount in the winery/vineyard, as are well-laid out procedures and instructions for each activity. An effective leader, a strong team, an ambiance that encourages teamwork and shared values, are all aspects of the “winning team”. In a complimentary way, the wheel continues to turn because all the cogs are aligned and functioning, knowing their integral role in the whole picture.

Kangaroo hopping across the vineyard

Thank you very much, everyone at Taltarni, you had made me feel so welcome and had taught me so much! My experience here has made me better appreciate the hard work that goes into the making of each bottle of wine and now I can even taste the bitter sweetness with each sip! I would very much like to return for the summer/harvest activities so that I could see more of this fascinating viticultural and winemaking cycle. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing more of the Taltarni wines on shelves at wine shops in Hong Kong and to hearing more of your awards and success stories.


To read my daily diary, please follow the blog series: "Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 1" through to "................Day 8"

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 8

Day 8 (25 August 2010):


My last day at Taltarni. It’s a double shift day. The first shift started at 6 am and the second would start at 2 pm. I cheekily turned up at the winery at 7:30 am, relieved to find that it actually took them an hour to set up. So the bottling line for T-Series Sauvignon Blanc did not start till 7 pm and I had only missed out on a little bit of the action.

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Dinner with Loïc and Simone

Dinner with Loïc and Simone (24 August 2010):


About 7 pm, Jacques (Taltarni’s Financial Controller, aka my housemate) came back to the cottage to fetch me to go to Loïc’s house for dinner. The house perches on the hillside and normally it would be a lovely walk amongst the vines, but not when it was 4.3 °C outside and blowing a gale force wind with lashing torrential rain. So Jacques drove. We passed by two enormous trucks, heavily laden with bottles. Thank goodness they made it to Moonambel in the storm! We needed the bottles for bottling the following morning! What a relief!

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 7

Day 7 (24 August 2010):


I must have stood under the piping hot shower for close to 15 minutes and with a mug of hot tea in hand, I was feeling human again. Today I felt really cold – it must have been like 5 °C inside the winery and staying at this temperature from 7:45 am to 4:15 pm was quite tough on the system, even with my oversized bright orange Taltarni fleece on. I should have worn two pairs of trousers! I found my teeth chattering, my hands frozen to almost numbness, both my legs shivering vigorously inside my trousers to the point that I felt I was about to pull a muscle or something in one of my legs! As I am writing this in the warmth of my bedroom, I can still hear the wind howling outside but there seems to be a temporary respite from the torrential rain storm, until the next one comes along. The Taltarni chime has just stricken five……

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 6

Day 6 (23 August 2010):


I returned to Taltarni this morning. I got a lift in the car with Loïc, the COO and Chief Winemaker, and his wife Simone. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive. We started at 7:45 am from my hotel and we reached the winery at about 10:30 am. We had a good chat on the way. I found out that Loïc studied oenology in Bordeaux, then came to Australia to do a harvest and then fell in love with the place (and Simone) and has been at Taltarni for 8.5 years! I told him my observation of the sense of ownership and pride amongst the employees at Taltarni – think he approved of my observation!

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 5

Day 5 (20 August 2010):


I spent the morning at the winery and this time we did two rack-returns, namely emptying wine from barrels into a huge tank while removing the lees at the bottom of the barrels, before returning the wine from the tank into the barrels, followed by the necessary topping up and sulphur cleaning of the top of the barrels to prevent bacterial contamination. The transfer of wine from barrels to tank basically involved a mono-pump and a couple of rather long and robust hoses. Again muscle power came into this!

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 4

Day 4 (19 August 2010):


At the winery, it works like this. Robert or Karina would issue the daily work sheets and the operational staff would execute these procedures. This morning we had 4 work sheets to complete. The first one was about earth filtration.

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 3

Day 3 (18 August 2010):


I was assigned to the disgorging line. Today we disgorged Clover Hill Vintage Brut 2005.

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 2

Day 2 (17 August 2010):


It was the only day during the whole week when the sun shone and one could even feel the pleasantly mild warmth of the wintry sun rays! I spent the day with Matthew, the vineyard manager. Taltarni means “red earth”. The estate covers 700 hectares, including 500 hectares of bushland and 200 hectares of vineyard area, of which only about half of the area is planted at the moment.

Diary from the Pyrenees August 2010 - Day 1

Day 1 (16 August 2010)


Landed at Melbourne Airport at 5:56 am. After a coffee break (and a giant muffin!) at the airport coffee shop, I boarded the coach for Ballarat at 7:50 am. Arrived at Ballarat at about 9:40 am and got collected by Jackie, one of the accounts staff at Taltarni. Just over an hour later, we arrived at Taltarni. I noticed the somewhat schizophrenic weather during our drive, one minute pouring and the next bright and sunny.

Second birthday dinner this week

12 Aug 2010: Jonathan's birthday party at On Lot 10. Our group of 6 took up the modern bistro's cosy ground floor area. We each ordered a starter and then we shared the family-sized portions of entrecote, roast chicken and suckling pig. I have been consistently impressed by the food quality and efficient service at On Lot 10. The tiny kitchen under the young chef's leadership has really grasped the essence of no-fuss good-quality bistro style hearty cuisine of succulent meat cooked to perfection, accompanied by tasty veggie side orders and not forgetting the potatoes roasted in goose fat!

For the wine selection, we started with a Dom Perignon 2000, already building up a good level of richness and complexity laden with smoke, toast, ripe pears and mineral. This was followed by a Meursault Blagny by Michel Bouzeron which has retained its acidity and structure well, displaying lively citrus and lime blossom character.

For the red, we brought a magnum of 1985 La Conseillante, part of Jonathan's birthday present! Ruby red hue. Beautifully matured bouquet of violets, blueberries, blackcurrant leaf, tobacco, cedar, cigar box, spicy sweet oak. Very fine structure and velvety texture with very smooth tannins and well-toned acidity to make it a great accompaniment to the meaty fare. Finishes long and sweet. Just a gorgeous wine now, will continue to drink well for 8+ years. 18.5/20

Our rating for On Lot 10: Food 4/5, Service 5/5, Ambiance 4/5, Price 4/5. The only dish that let us down was the cheese platter, which practically offered no choice, with just a few slivers of one cheese, served with some tiny slices of apple and toasted bread. The chef said that he just couldn't generate enough interest in cheese from his customers....therefore, very hard to keep a selection of cheese fresh all the time. So he decided to just offer one cheese. He said if we wanted to, we could pre-order a cheese platter and he'll make sure he gets some fresh supplies on the day.

The first birthday celebration this week

11 August 2010: Technically, it's a pre-birthday celebration for our friend Pin, as the actual day is on 19th August, but his fellow connoisseurs of fine wine and cuisine came all the way from Singapore to Hong Kong to pre-celebrate Pin's birthday at Otto e Mezzo in Central.

We kicked off with a Cristal 2002. A ripe fruit nose of pear, apple puree, custard tart, is enriched by notes of brioche, honeysuckle and honey. Medium-bodied, very fine mousse, the very embodiment of elegance and power. Probably drinking a little too young, will benefit from further bottle age. 18/20

Then followed the Gaja Rossj-Bass 2008. 100% Chardonnay. The citrus and lime blossom character was very apparent in this young wine, supplemented with lusciously rich notes of marzipan, honeysuckle, spicy oak, toast and vanilla. Full-bodied, rich and characterful. A little light on the acidity for my personal preference but still a very well-made wine. Good length. Would be interesting to try older vintages of this wine to see how it develops. 16/20

Served side by side for comparison was the 2000 Patrick Javillier Cuvée Speciale Corton-Charlemagne. It needed decanting time of 1+ hour and further time in the glass to develop. When it eventually opened up, it was a grand vin and went particularly well with Chef Bombana's signature dish of poached egg in artichoke puree sprinkled with delicious winter black truffle from Australia. Initially slightly closed nose (also because of over-chilling!). Complex bouquet of pear, melon and passion fruit, overlaid with butter, toast, spice, vanilla and mineral. Richness on the palate is well-balanced by a good level of acidity and youthful vigour. Benefitting from time in the glass, the wine opened up to reveal its complex, intense and rounded character, with immense concentration of flavours. A lingering finish. Perfect for drinking now, but will continue to evolve and drink well for another 6 -8 years. 17.5/20

Then came a pasta dish and Pin arranged for us to have a "small" portion of the lamb with rosemary pasta. We then served two reds, allowing them to further develop in the glass.

We tasted the 1993 de Voguë Bonnes Mares first (already decanted for 1 hour). Bright ruby colour. A most alluring and intense perfume of red fruits and floral aromas, raspberry, red cherry and violets, layered with spicy, mineral, tobacco, chocolate and tea leaves. Seamless integration of acidity and fine tannins, giving this wine a silky textue yet a vigorous structure. An elegant and sensuous wine, exuding extreme sophistication, classic beauty and leaving me with the memory of a great wine, showcasing Burgundy at its best. Finishes long and sweet. Drinking extremely well now and will continue to drink well for 10+ years. 19/20

Next we tasted the 1999 Gaja Conteisa. The ‘conteisa’ was the medieval quarrel between the zones of La Morra and Barolo over the prime vineyard land of Cerequio. Not entirely classic Barolo. It's 92% Nebbiolo with 8% Barbera, benefitting from the added freshness contribution from the higher acidity Barbera. (Hence the Langhe DOC.) Deep garnet-ruby. The wine had been decanted for 1.5 hour. A beautifully warm bouquet of rose, violets, mushroom, earthy, sweet spices, chocolate, prune and dried fruit rose to greet the nose. An extremely well-made wine, with a lively acidity, smooth tannins, velvety texture, concentrated fruit character, depth of character and a very fine structure. Lingering finish. A very fine wine indeed! 18/20

Seeing the last drops of Gaja Conteisa being emptied from the decanter, our palate yearned for another red. The 1999 Joseph Phelphs Insignia was called into action, but first it needed to be double-decanted. Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon (71%), 21% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec. Deep ruby. A complex and classic bouquet of blackberries, black cherries, bell pepper, sweet spices, cedar and tobacco. Full-bodied, rich mouthfeel and a long and powerful finish. Drinking well now, but will definitely benefit from further bottle ageing for another 5 - 6 years. 17/20

Pin and his friends had lamb for the main course. Richard had a rich beef dish! I had the turbot, which was delicious but I didn't quite get the red wine sauce as was mentioned on the menu! Wondered what sort of red wine Chef Bombana used for this reduction!

We finished the evening with the second 2002 Cristal. A rosé this time. A lovely pale salmon pink colour. Savoury and fruity character, redcurrant, strawberry, frangipane, with hints of thinly baked apple tart. Just a very elegant wine with great poise, concentration and finesse and a perfect conclusion to our evening! I liked it slightly more than the blanc. 18.5/20

Chef Bombana came at the end to join us for a few drops of our wine (he kind of got there a bit late!). Richard and I told him about how a taxi driver in Positano had heard about his famed truffle cooking and showed us a magazine in Italian with an article on the chef. The chef looked quite bemused about how far his reputation travelled! Found out that Chef was from Lombardia. Perhaps after our discussion last night, we might find more Valtellina and Valtellina Sforzato on the wine list at Otto e Mezzo! We all thought Chef Bombana's cooking was superb and was definitely of 1 Michelin star quality!

Thank you very much, Pin, for inviting us to join in your pre-birthday celebration! I can't wait to hear what you will be drinking on the actual day!

An impressive array of wines!

31 July 2010: Richard and I had invited my former WSET Diploma classmates (and their spouses) to our home for dinner. Each person was supposed to bring a bottle or two of something interesting. I had prepared some simple snacks as starters followed by two joints of roast beef, mashed potato with black truffle and grilled vegetables.

Our list of wines for the evening read like this:

Alain Thienot Brut NV: our house champagne for the moment!

Equipo Navazos La Bota de Fino No. 15 (saca June 2008): a very elegant fino, with all the characteristic notes of sea salt, iodine, lemon, herbal, camomile and almonds, and piercing acidity and a long finish. Still tasting quite fresh, but I fear that we should drink our remaining bottles with relative speed to retain this freshness. Drinking at peak now. (I just wish more people would share our love for fino sherries!)

Pavillon Blanc de Chateau Margaux 1999: previous bottles had been oxidised and not very pleasant. This one was just perfect. Medium bodied, good level of acidity, notes of honey, lanolin, herbaceous, mineral and grilled nuts. Good length.

Fattoria Petrolo Galatrona 2007 (in magnum and with 1.5 hour of decanting time): Intense ruby colour. On the nose, red cherries, blackberries, plums, chocolate, Mediterranean herbs, liquorice, spices and smoke. Medium-bodied, balanced soft tannins and acidity. Good length. 100% Merlot. Very small production. Drinking well now, will evolve over next 4 - 5 years.

Latour 1999 (in magnum, with 1 to 1.5 hour of decanting time): Deep ruby colour. A complex nose of blackcurrant, blackberries, violet, cedar and tobacco. Took a while to open up. Very lively acidity, with firm but very fine tannins. Lingering finish. Drinking well now, will evolve over next 6 - 8 years.

L'Ermita 1999 (also benefitted from 1.5 hour of decanting): 80% Garnacha, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cariñena. A wine of immense elegance, richness, complexity, concentration and depth. A intensely perfumed nose with notes of raspberries and red cherries, layered with crème caramel, vanilla, dried fruits, sweet spiciness and smokiness. A true beauty with a very long and memorable finish. Really impressed by this wine by Alvaro Palacios. Would have gone better with a gamey dish, such as duck, goose, venison, or even roast leg of lamb, or lamb tagine. Also great with the comté cheese. Drinking beautifully now, will evolve over next 8 - 10 years.

Harlan Estate 2004 (with 1.5 hour of decanting): a wine of immense richness and concentration, with black fruits, sweet spices, vanilla and some jammy character which some found less appealing at the wine's youthful stage of development. Definitely not ready yet and will need much more bottle time to evolve and reveal its potential. Another 8+ years bottle age to be ready for drinking?

Talbot 1982: Bouquet of leather, tobacco and violet. A very elegant drink, with well-aged maturity and finesse. Drinking at peak now.

Shafer Estate Hillside Select 1998: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Complex bouquet of blueberries, blackfruits, violet, bell pepper, tobacco, cedar and a brûlée character. Lively acidity, firm but fine tannins. A very fine drink with a very long finish. We had it double-decanted. Just wish we had given it more time to be appreciated. Drinking well now, but will evolve over next 6 - 8 years.

Weingut Fritz Windisch Spätburgunder Weißherbst Eiswein 2007, Asheimer Sonneberg, Rheinhessen: All I remembered was a very well-made eiswein with an unusual grape variety - pinot noir! I thought it was a perfect dessert on its own, but I still had my share of almond tea made with TLC by Angel! (I saved Maria's Chinese herbal sweet soup for breakfast the following morning and it was very nice too!) By the way, Weißherbst (or Weissherbst) is a special pink wine made from a single variety, and it may be at either QbA or Prädikatswein quality level.

I think we all had a really good time! I shall be savouring the aftertaste of the L'Ermita for months to come! What a treat!!

Gaja Magari 2006 and Montevetrano 2005

29 July 2010: Dinner at W52, Wyndham Street, Central, HK. We got there early for drinks and at HK$ 52 a glass (including 10% service charge and a buffet of tasty snacks and gorgeous parma ham), it was a great happy hour deal - so we loaded up on pinot grigio! Therefore, at dinner, we went straight for the reds. I had ordered 2 different reds, a 2006 Gaja Ca'Marcanda Magari (blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc) and a 2005 Montevetrano (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Aglianico). The 2006 Gaja Magari was a wonderful expression of the Tuscan sun, soil and ripe fruit. A deep ruby colour, the wine showed a profound richness and rounded character, complexity based on black fruits, liquorice and Mediterranean herbs, blended into a whole, with intensity and concentration. 17/20





The 2005 Montevetrano was new to me. I had heard so much about it that I could not resist ordering a bottle to see if it's deserving of its cultish accolades! I dare say we were not disappointed. A deep ruby colour, medium bodied wine, balanced with vivacious acidity and grippy fine tannins. A complex and intense bouquet comprising black cherries, blackberries, layered with spicy and savoury character, together with the attractiveness of chocolate, coffee, liquorice and vanilla. The volcanic minerality of Campania had not gone amiss and it seemed to have added a level of austerity to add to the complexity and structure. The wine had spent 8 - 12 months in new oak and it spent 6 months in bottle prior to its release. A lengthy finish and a truly memorable wine. Perhaps too young to drink, and it will surely evolve to reveal its full potential in complexity and finish. 17.5/20

I had thought both wines very expressive of the terroir and the grape varieties, both extremely well made in quite different styles. The Magari concentrated, rich and powerful. The Montevetrano perfumed, intense and intellectual, in some ways slightly more elegant.

The vin santo was a little disappointing....just a little too rancio for my liking.





I saw some very delicious looking côte de porc (for two) being served at next door tables....definitely coming back here with Richard.....I have always found that the service at W52 could do with a little improvement.....well, if the food is good, the wine divine and the company excellent, what more would you need??!! Food 4/5; Service 3/5; Ambiance 4/5; Price 4/5