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"