45
{
YEARS
Outstanding quality, character and consistency
}
Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader�, August 24, 2011 - 1
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years The man behind the bow tie
The unique thinking and business sensibility of the man behind one of the most popular wine brands in the world has built the company up to what it is today. The often quirky decisions of the man behind the bowtie, Mr Wolf Blass have elevated the company Wolf Blass to an iconic status. Wolf Blass has stepped down as owner and now holds the position of roving ambassador for the company, a role which he says allows him to criticise without getting sacked. He now spends his time looking at new concepts in marketing, designing labels and doing PR with media in the international markets, a role he says he fully respects. “I no longer directly get involved in the quality of the wine. I look at them and say what I think about them but there are enough people to make that decision,” Wolf said. The transition to his new role was made easier for Wolf because he says he has great faith in the current CEO, Mr David Dearie. “Having a new Chief Executive, having a new board standing on their own feet, you’re going to find there is now a direction going forward.” He said his faith in Mr Dearie stems from his ability to listen and observe. “He digests information and then makes consensus from the executive staff from the top down to the bottom.” The company is thriving under its new board, with a major six-figure decision made with British Sky to put Wolf Blass on television in conjunction with the Wallabies rugby team, and also in conjunction with the forthcoming Olympic Games. With the company in good stead at the moment, Wolf says things were not always as promising as they are now. “There were a couple of crucial times.” He says Australian wine was a non-event in the earlier years of the company and nobody was talking about it. “But at one stage we became the flavour of Australia. The first export we did was in Fiji, then Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Wolf says the most crucial turning point in the history of the company was when he invited wine writers and judges from every state in the country to a wine tasting with 1,200 glasses, flying them in by business class. “From then on, I think it is almost history.” He says about 90 per cent of all red wines winning trophies in the 1970s and 1980 went to Wolf Blass. “Then we went overseas and became international winemaker of the year. We went to wine shows in the United States, we went to Asian wine shows, to Europe, Budapest, Yugoslavia, to Paris. “It didn’t matter where we went, as long as we could collect silverware for the satisfaction of the company and the staff, and also to bring the name out. “We spent money and we had suddenly a good distribution arm because reputable distributors wanted our products.” The awards have always been important to Wolf, who says the Silver Label was not one of his favourite ideas because the colour means coming second to him. Wolf says the company has gone from a little tin shed to a small wine village in 45 years. He says it is an achievement to have a living person behind the name on the label, something which is not common in the industry. “Most of the corporations in Australia may have the second name, but not the full name. “The company is doing everything in its power to retain me as an international ambassador.” This means Wolf is travelling three to four months a year
Roving ambassador, Mr Wolf Blass. representing the company. “I’m not only speaking on behalf of Wolf Blass, the brand, but I’m also representing the Australian wine industry at the same time.” He says from here, the company will be striving to get the pricing structure right so there is value for money, but also profit. “So we are back on our feet and we are building the strength of what our technical personnel can put into the bottle.” The most satisfaction Wolf has gained from his time at the company and his life is making other people rich. “All of the employees had to be shareholders in the company. I lent money to those who didn’t have it so when the company was taken over by Fosters everybody made money. “That’s the most satisfaction I’ve ever had. “Finance has never played a big part in my life, it’s never been a motivation but success is parallel to making money, otherwise you’re not going to be a successful businessman.” Wolf says he is happy with his role and very content with his life in general and sometimes shakes his head and wonders what there is left that he hasn’t achieved.
When people ask him what else would he like to achieve, he jokes he wouldn’t mind having a horse that wins the Cox Plate. He is keeping busy with the Wolf Blass Foundation and is looking at getting a wine museum running. His beloved Norwood Redlegs and Adelaide Crows, along with his passion for horse racing and the Pistol Shooting Club at Mallala also take up a considerable amount of his time.
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years From tin shed to global company From a small tin shed, to one of the most iconic brands in the world, Wolf Blass has had an unexpected rise to the top. The small tin shed was an old army shed just outside Nuriootpa on Bilyara Road, on a 2.5 acre piece of land. The first Yellow Label was made in 1966 and the Grey Label Cabernet Shiraz was launched the following year. The eagle, the national emblem of Germany, was chosen as the symbol for Wolf Blass after Wolf discovered Bilyarya was the Aboriginal term for eaglehawk. Wolf Blass Wines International was formed in 1973, the same year the first Black Label was launched. The company quickly began winning silverware, a tradition that was set to continue for many years. Wolf Blass broke a record in 1999, becoming the first winery to produce a wine to win four Jimmy Watson Trophies. This wine, the Black Label, is just one of the premium wines that has given the company its luxurious characteristic for the years it has been operating. Wolf Blass became a public company in 1984, with Wolf regaining a 60 per cent share. The company merged with Mildara Wines to become Mildara Blass Limited in 1991. They were then taken over by Fosters in 1996. Wolf Blass has continued to create outstanding wines for 45 years, with no signs of slowing down.
A young Wolf Blass.
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader�, August 24, 2011 - 3
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Black Label makes a mark
Wolf Blass’s iconic Black Label has made an unprecedented reputation on the world wine stage, living up to its aim of becoming one of the best red blends from South Australian Vintages. Since it’s first appearance in the 1973 Vintage, Black Label has achieved more than 250 gold medals around the world, including three consecutive Jimmy Watson trophies. Chief Winemaker at Wolf Blass, Mr Chris Hatcher said Black Label was the wine that really established Wolf and put him on the map back in the original business. “To me, we need to have respect of the Wolf Blass brand around Black Label. I think it’s like the classic cars of the world; you can look at it and no matter what vintage it is, you know that mark.” Mr Hatcher said Black Label reflected the history and quality of the brand and was very much around what Wolf first started. Black Label’s philosophy was brilliantly simple, in that it was created by combining the best red wines from the South Australian Vineyards. “Black Label is an interesting
thing in that there is no formula to make it. The principle of Black Label is blending to get the best quality.” Mr Hatcher said it got down to the selection of the individual barrels, and at the end of the day, they didn’t think too much about whether it needed to be so much Cabernet or so much Shiraz. “The blends vary enormously from Vintage to Vintage, although people can recognise straight away whether it is Black Label.” Black Label’s principle was not about individual regions or vineyards, but a fusion of them all to create a wine that is far greater than the sum of its parts. “We don’t even look at the variety or region, we look at it and think, is this Black Label?” The wine showcases rich, ripe fruit characters, with great structure, persistence of flavour, seamless texture, long velvety tannins and carefully integrated oak. Following a process of carefully monitored bottle and barrel maturation, the wine is released four years after vintage.
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years New technology provides safety benefits Advances in technology have provided major health and safety benefits for Wolf Blass employees in the crushing and fermentation areas. Since the first on-site vintage crush and fermentation in 2001, the work has become less labour intensive, with the whole processes now done via computers. Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald was involved with the initial upgrades at Wolf Blass and said they had recently been working on upgrading the machinery’s safety features. “Whilst we put the machines in years ago, there has been a lot of focus within the group on upgrading safety on the equipment.” Mr McDonald said they now used controlled automation, which meant the whole fermentation process could be done from the safety of a computer. “A lot of the manual handling has gone, so rather than the cellar operators having to get inside the vessels to shovel fruit out, we use automation.” The site is state of the art in terms of business and location, so it is important to ensure it’s high safety standards. “There is a lot of protection around the screw conveyors so where our pressers sit, the screw can’t operate unless there is a press sitting on top of it.” “The machinery will also shut down if you open the door so there isn’t the risk of someone getting their arm caught.”
Mr McDonald said as well as improving safety, the crusher and fermentation unit had also been expanded to allow more processes directly on site. “The expansion has allowed us to process in one spot, so utilization of our assets are better. “We now have four crushers installed on site, with three of them capable of doing 60 tonne per hour.” He said they had almost doubled their yearly crushing since 2001, and were now crushing between 45 to 50,000 tonne per year. Mr McDonald said the change from their old concrete style fermenters to stainless steel meant the processes had become a lot more efficient. “The old concrete fermenters required waxing so the wine didn’t leach into the concrete, whereas the stainless steel ones won’t do that. “The stainless steel is newer technology and easier to keep clean. There is also less maintenance involved and it will probably last a long time.” Mr McDonald said they had advanced in the process of controlling the fermentation rate through temperature control, and would work on continually modernising the processes. He said they continue liaising with the cellar hands to improve on something different each time. “If there is something we can do to make the job easier or more efficient, we will make sure we do it.”
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 5
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Creating phenomenal wine
Chief Winemaker at Wolf Blass, Mr Chris Hatcher knows from experience the phenomenal wine that can be created when combining engineering ideas with the best wine making techniques. When the team consolidated at Wolf Blass in 2001, they worked together on a fermenting process which enabled them to create their best wine yet. Prior to 2001, their best red wine had been created in small batches in open fermenters at Saltram, Angaston, and they were faced with many safety issues and inherent problems with the system. “Basically, when we decided to consolidate here, the winemaking team got together and said although there was hygiene and other issues involved, an open style fermenter was the best technique we could use. “Engineering then came up with a solution that was something new to the industry and meant we would have phenomenally good control, and it would be safe – so it fixed that issue.” The concrete tanks, which were causing problems having to be wax coated, were switched for stainless steel tanks and processes were changed to maximise the quality of the skin pressing. Mr Hatcher said in red wine making, they were fermenting on the skins, and didn’t want to damage them in the process, which was inevitable in their previous systems. “The more you put them through a screw wire or a pump, you actually sheer the skins and seeds and get a lot of bitter compounds come out – so in previous systems, we actually would have downgraded our pressings.” In the newer processes, the way they took the skins out of the fermenter and into the press involved no
Congratulations Wolf Blass Wines on your 45th Anniversary
The crushing process. mechanical handling, so they increased the flavour component in their pressings. “Being able to pick the tank up and tip it into the press has maximised the flavour we get out of our grape resources.” Only half of the tanks ran for the first vintage and since then, they had actually doubled the capacity of the shed. “Overall the crushing capacity has also increased. We have put an extra crusher in since the first year and we’ve certainly put in more red fermenters.”
He said the whole winery had been planned around the ability to grow logically, whereas most wineries had been designed for a small volume. “In broad terms, it was an extremely well planned winery when it was first built, and I think from an industry perspective and certainly from a wine making perspective, the crushers and fermenters were a green field that had a lot of input from both wine making and engineering.”
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Barrel storage – a flavour influence Barrel storage is an important part of wine making and can influence the flavour of the wine inside. There are many types of barrels available, which are chosen by the wine maker depending on the type of wine that is to be created. Wolf Blass employees are no strangers to the different types of barrels, with close to 40,000 barrels on site. Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald said the initial plan for the site was to take it to a 75,000 tonne processing capacity. Mr McDonald said prior to the year 2000, the barrels were stored in sheds at the Northern end of the site, and they had now extended the storage to cater for more barrels. “Consolidating smaller wineries into the one location and the success of the brands has led to growth, so the winery accommodates that.” He said they had also constructed storage sheds with sandwich panel construction, which had allowed the temperature of the wine to keep constant throughout barrel storage. “With the old storage, we found the wine’s temperature could fluctuate slightly between day and night and now the fluctuation is minor, which is good for the wine.” He said the size of the barrel dictates the amount of contact area the wine had with the barrel, so flavours would be stronger in a smaller barrel of wine than in a larger barrel. The age of a barrel could also change the flavour of a wine, Mr McDonald said, with the older barrels tending to lose their characteristics after a while. “You can get a lot of flavours into the wine with a new barrel, so we only keep our barrels for four years before they are replaced again,” he said. “Barrels are a consumable like a grape is. You need the grape to make that product and you also need a quality barrel to make it to a high standard.” He said there were many aspects that could affect the outcome of the wine including barrel size and age. “We have many different sized tanks here to give the wine makers full flexibility across the range of products. “If they want to get the parcels quite unique and are doing small vineyards, they can use the small tanks. For more successful bigger products like the Yellow Label, they can blend it up in really big volumes when it is required for bottling,” Mr McDonald said.
Supervisor of White Oak, Miss Deanna Ruediger and cellar hand, Miss Emma Euding stirring the sediment in the barrel and emptying them.
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 7
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Relocation of tanks
With the advantage of efficient technology and plentiful space on site, a major project has resulted in the relocation of fifteen large tanks from Penfolds Winery onto the site at Wolf Blass Wines in 2008. Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald said the position of the company was to put more processing on site and the movements were part of an initial strategy to consolidate the equipment. “The Penfolds site needed a lot of engineering work to bring it up to standard; it’s an older facility and two thirds of the site had already been sold off,” Mr McDonald said. “The tanks were in good condition and we thought, rather than wasting the equipment we would bring it up here.” Initial movement of the large tanks involved the temporary closure of Nuriootpa’s main street and the tanks were cut into smaller pieces for transportation purpose. “It was a big project. We had to cut them to get them through the main street because of power lines and buildings, although they were still very wide loads.” Many of the smaller tanks could be moved in whole and the total operation involved the movement of more than four million litres of tank storage from the Penfolds site. Most of the site’s development had been in tank relocation, although they had also brought rotary type fermenters on site from Saltram in 2001. “The benefits of being a large group is being able to move things like this around, and put new things on site,” Mr McDonald said. “We’ve got the room to get bigger and we’re continually looking to improve our processes on this site - whether it is to improve technology, filtration, or whether it is more blending tanks to give the winemakers more flexibility. “As the demands build, if we need more equipment, we will review whether we need to expand.”
Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald overlooking the tank farms.
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8 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Meeting the customer’s needs The purpose-built Wolf Blass Packaging Centre, which began operating in 2005, is the final destination for the Wolf Blass products before they are sent off to customers. The Packaging Centre, adjacent to the winery, was built to produce about 15 million cases of the 17.5 million cases of wine. Mr Colin Nolan, Site Operations Manager at the Packaging Centre, said the centre produces for national and global demand, supplying to Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America. The three production lines produce still and sparkling wines, with 24,000 still bottles produced an hour and
14,000 sparking and moscato bottles an hour. “We actually receive the wine from the winery where it goes into a buffer tank, then we fill, label and pack the product and store it in our warehouse,” Mr Nolan said. “Some of it will go to Outer Harbour for container loading and other domestic product will go to Mildura for national distribution.” The high-speed process takes the wine from tank to final warehousing in just 10-15 minutes. The staff at the centre, are continually reviewing operational performance to ensure the customers receive their stock correctly the first time. “Our point of difference is around wine quality and
Packing process: • The wine is piped into tanks next to the bottling plant, where it’s filtered to ensure shelf life. • It is transferred to the bottling line fillers, while the raw materials are delivered by truck. • The bottles are filled and a closure is applied (cork or screw cap), then they’re transferred to the labeller.
we need to make sure we’re holding true to that. “We also have to make sure we give our consumers a product they’re happy with that is aligned to their needs. “Ultimately it’s about giving the customer what they need, when they want it.” Mr Nolan said their competitive advantage is their lowest cost to produce strategy when it comes to wine packaging. “We focus on reducing material waste, optimising machine rates, minimising down time, optimising changeovers and producing what we do safely and of the right quality.”
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• Each stage of the operation is individualised for the product, with sparkling requiring different corks and hoods, the bottles are
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warmed before labelling occurs and hoods are applied. cartons automatically erected from flat. • The cartons are sealed and layed down depending on the product, then transferred to the palletiser where they’re loaded onto pallets for storage in the warehousing area. • It is then sent to Outer Harbour or Mildura.
Mr Colin Nolan, Site Operations Manager at the Packaging Centre.
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 9
Proud to be part of the Wolf Blass success story...
For the past three and a half years McColl’s has transported some of the leading Australian wine maker’s top drops across the Barossa and beyond. Naturally, in the Barossa moving wine is our primary work. We have a dedicated team of local staff and six prime movers and 13 tankers also call the region home. Moving wine, dairy products, bulk sweeteners, fruit juices, food oils and a variety of other specialist products is what we at McColl’s do well. Whether it is the milk on your cereal or the glucose in your favourite sweet treat, somewhere along the line McColl’s has probably moved it. McColl’s is Australia’s largest independent carrier of milk and bulk chemicals. We also have one of the most modern and specialised food grade tanker fleets in the country. Rest assured McColl’s fleet of 50 prime movers and 150 bulk food grade tankers meet the strictest health and safety standards. Only food grade products are carried in these tankers. Service, reliability, investment in technology and an emphasis on compliance and safety standards is what sets McColl’s apart and it is why some of Australia’s biggest companies use us.
GIVE US A CALL If you are looking for a bulk food transport operator you can trust please call your local McColl’s representative Jason Rhyan on (08) 8562 2083. DH1622
10 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Visitor Centre welcomes guests The Wolf Blass Visitor Centre offers many varied experiences for almost every occasion imaginable. Mrs Ronelle Linke, Wolf Blass Visitor Centre Functions and Events Co-ordinator, has been involved in countless events from weddings to corporate events, gala dinners and even vehicle launches. “There really isn’t anything we haven’t done,” Mrs Linke said. The Visitor Centre was host to a Taste and Tweet event for World Chardonnay Day, where guests tasted Chardonnay’s from all over the Barossa and posted their thoughts on Twitter, along with people from all over the world. The next event - World Cabernet Day will be held on September 1. The Wolf Blass Visitor Centre has a high visitation, with anywhere up to 14 buses a day making the trip to see the modern facility. “We see a lot of tour groups, from large 50 seater coaches to 12 seater mini-buses.” The Visitor Centre opened in 2004. “It’s stunning, the aesthetics are beautiful. It’s circular so it’s quite unusual,” Mrs Linke said of the spacious centre. “It’s an absolutely unique design, modern but also complimentary to the Barossa’. “There’s a definite wow factor.” A big talking point amongst visitors is the rustic floor, made of Northern Spotted Gum, recycled from Queensland. The centre offers a number of
experiences from a ‘Classic Wine Flight’ to a ‘Blend it Like Blass experience’ which allows guests to experiment to create their own blend, which Mrs Linke said is not only fun, but educational too. The Wolf Blass Function Centre caters for weddings, functions and conferences. “Our service is personal with wine educators and experts eager to help you host and enjoy a memorable experience” In December 2010, the Wolf Blass Visitor Centre opened the doors to ‘The Charcuterie’ - a cosmopolitan style eatery. Our guests can enjoy coffee made by a barista, accompanied by sweet pastries and freshly baked cakes. Or for something savoury, gourmet baguettes and wraps, a selection of hot pastries and gourmet platters. New to the charcuterie is our ‘Specialty High Tea’ – your favourite tea accompanied by a selection of warm savouries, mixed finger sandwiches, fresh scones with local jam and cream. For those guests wanting to take a piece of the Barossa home, the Charcuterie is laden with specialty gourmet produce, both local Barossa delicacies and the cream of South Australian producers, as well as a range of unique merchandise. The centre is open for a tasting experience seven days a week, every day of the year except Christmas day.
Miss Caragh Heenan and Mrs Hayley Cartwright, Cellar Door Vintrepreneurs’.
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years
Consolidating the team Development of a large Administration building in late 2000 brought together what was once a scatter of office blocks through the site at Wolf Blass Wines. The consolidation meant all aspects of the operations at the site were brought into the one location, building a strong administration team. Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald said the move meant staff did not have to walk across the site to communicate and it made life much easier. “Prior to developments, many staff teams were separated.” The Administration building was designed with an open floor space and offices along either side, giving the team the space and flexibility to work closely with each other. “The offices along the sides are the only ones here, and the rest is virtually open plan. We have the ability to alter the plan to suit our needs so it is a pretty flexible building.” The building was fitted with suspended floors, meaning the power points could also be moved if they were to alter the layout of the open plan. Mr McDonald said with many different departments liaising in the one area and the open workspace it made for the perfect working environment. “We like to keep teams that need to liaise with each other in the same area.” He said essentially the building hadn’t changed much since it was constructed, although they had made small expansions as the site grew. “As we brought more people into the building, we needed more toilets and things like that, so we now have two main male and female toilets within the building.” He said the current building was very customer friendly and most people had embraced the upgrades. “It seems to accommodate all the people that it needs to. At the moment the layout works really well.”
Regional Manager, Engineering and Supply, Mr Ben McDonald outside the Administration building.
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EARTHMOVING & PLANT HIRE CONTRACTORS KAPUNDA • Cartage
Wolf Blass are leaders in cutting-edge technology customers’ expectations whilst meeting statutory and equipment, and their state of the art laboratory obligations and remaining quality focused. ensures they are able to carry out advanced “We’ve got a lot of experience within our team, testing. and aim to provide diversity in their jobs.” Quality monitoring is a large role within the winery Mrs Dswonitzky said they provided different job and an experienced laboratory team ensures they opportunities to their employees and encouraged them to go to other sites within the group so they are working to quality policies. Laboratory Manager, Mrs Sarah Dswonitzky said could see the different processes. because they were one of the larger laboratories Proficiency Testing is carried out in the laboratory within their group, they had a lot of automation not to ensure it is performing to the best ability and available at smaller laboratories within the Wine achieving ISO 17025 standards. Group. “It is the dedication, not just of this department, “We have made some small expansions to but of the whole site, which works in line with Quality the facility over the past six years including the Management Systems to achieve best practice introduction of a microbiology lab and new testing outcomes whilst building Continuous Improvement equipment.” into our processes. Mrs Dswonitzky said they now had access to a “At the moment we are running efficiently, and Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS), if wine making wanted to adopt different practises a leading piece of automation in laboratories. – that is something we would react to.” This instrument is used to detect volatile phenols that are associated with the growth of the yeast Dekkera/Brettanomyces in wine. The presence of this yeast changes the aroma profile and the taste of the wine and is generally considered to be a wine fault. Quantitative analysis of 4-Ep and 4-Eg using the GC/MS is much faster than the traditional method of plating and colony enumeration of the Dekkera/Brettanomyces populations. “We have samples come from our interstate and New Zealand wineries for testing and the GCMS is constantly in use.” The main duties of the team are to provide analytical service to wine making and deal with samples from cellar operation Laboratory Technicians, Miss Dee Bennison and wine movements, filtration and wine preparation for bottling. It Mrs Sara Grafton make up part of Laboratory Manager, is our goal to strive to exceed our and Mrs Sarah Dswonitzky’s experienced team in the laboratory.
As a South Australian company, Dominant understands the complexities of the wine industry. Working closely with many wineries has lead to the development of high performance products specific to the industry and its needs.
TRUCKS:
• Quarry supplies • Soil removal • Water trucks • Domestic and stock water deliveries
CIVIL CONSTRUCTION:
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• • • • • • •
Tank cleaners Sanitisers Cleaners for floors and outside tanks Bottling plant products Floor scrubber products Heavy duty hand cleaners General house keeping cleaners
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Staff training available
PHONE MARK:
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Visit www.domchem.com or call 1300 789 852
0428 386 692 Email: launnom@westnet.com.au
& CIVIL
ABN: 81 162 160 077
Lic. BLD 187058
14 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011
Quality ISO 9001
Food Safety CODEX HACCP DH1661
Fax: (08) 8566 3797
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 15
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Passionate employee Mr Chris Hatcher has come a long way since his early days growing up in a Methodist household with no alcohol to the Chief Winemaker of one of the most iconic brands in the world. “I guess I was a little rebellious when I was growing up and I thought that was probably worth a challenge in itself,” Mr Hatcher said. His passion for wine is evident in his enthusiasm for the job he has been doing for more then two decades. He originally intended to stay for only two or three years, but says he has never had a dull day at work, which has kept him interested in what he does. “It’s been a good ride. It’s been interesting and challenging. “I’ve got all the things you want out of work, there’s never a day that’s the same. There’s never a day that’s dull. He said the great thing about the wine industry was that no vintage was the same. “For a challenging job, I see nothing better than winemaking because it’s a business but it’s also agriculture. “I honestly can never see myself not being involved in wine in some way. “If I can get the passion that I have for the brand to our consumers and to the people that work here, then I’m doing my job.” Winemaking is the perfect culmination of Mr Hatcher’s interests, science, the old world and food. His passion also stems from the great relationship he has with Wolf Blass. “Wolf was fantastic with his staff, right from the start it was more or less like a family and it was still like that when I came here. “The guys used to have barbecues regularly and the family Christmas function was always fantastic. Wolf always came to those things.” Mr Hatcher said he still walks around the winery with Wolf Blass, who stops to talk to the employees. He said many of the cellar hands were long-serving employees because the company was such an enjoyable place to work. “If I go out to the winery and I make a mess, the guys
will come down to my office and tell me off for making a mess in the winery. “To me that is where you get to a successful company because they take great pride in what they do. “It’s their winery and they want to share the success of the company. The guys in the cellar love the wine shows because it’s a stamp of approval in what they’re doing and they take great pride in all those things.” He said it was not only the people he works with at the winery that make the job so enjoyable, but also the people in the industry from all over the world. “No matter what country they’re from, the people that work in wine are all the same. “They’re hospitable and they have the same interests we do. “In that sense, I couldn’t think of a better job to have.” He said it was a great feeling to see people overseas loving Australian wines. “It’s a great thing to be able to walk into a bottle shop in some remote place in the world and see Australian wine firstly, and Wolf Blass wine secondly.” Mr Hatcher said he’s starting to get older and one of his great pleasures is being able to share his knowledge with young winemakers that he learnt from Wolf Blass and winemaker, Mr John Glaetzer. “They’re not going to be around forever and I’m not going to be around forever so it’s important to carry through the brand integrity, the brand style and history. “Those things are important to a brand and a brand becomes very commercial when you lose them. “It’s fantastic to still have Wolf around because he obviously has got a link to when he started. “I see that as my role going forward, that I am still a link to him if he’s not around and hopefully the next generation after me can take that over and carry that through.” He said retirement is not on the cards for him any time soon, even though a lot of his friends are coming up to that stage in their lives. “I won’t be doing what I do on a day-to-day basis forever, but I can’t ever see myself not being involved in wine.”
Mr Chris Hatcher. Mr Hatcher’s passion has rubbed off onto his daughter, Kate and son, Tom, who are both in the wine industry. Kate is a marketing manager for a wine importer in London and Tom will complete his viticulture degree this year. “We’ve got a make, grower and a marketer in the family, so we’ve got a full business. But we’re definitely not doing that.”
GEA Westfalia Separator would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Wolf Blass Wines on their 45th Anniversary and offer our continued support! * You only want to buy one Wine Centrifuge, make sure it is the right one!
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Congratulations WOLF BLASS WINES on 45 years of excellent winemaking Specialising in • Wineries • Hotels • Food Processing • Freezing • Cold Storage • Industrial & Commercial • Air-Conditioning Phone 8562 4885 Fax 8562 1446 24 Hours - 7 days a week
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47 Northgate Drive Thomastown Victoria 3074 Phone: +61 3 9463 1999 Fax: +61 3 9464 5455 Email: kevin.dawe@geagroup.com www.gea-westfalia.com.au
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16 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years The Winemakers Matt O’Leary
Matt’s future as an award-winning winemaker was meant to be, growing up in a family that included wine merchants, a publican and a wine writer.Matt worked at Wolf Blass as an intern for Chris Hatcher, Saltram and Krondorf while studying for his Bachelor of Applied Science (Oenology). His dedication comes from a passion for winemaking and the reward of making people smile with a product he has put his heart and soul into.
Caroline Dunn
Caroline moved into the winemaking industry from hospitality, where she managed some of Sydney’s most renowned restaurants.Caroline collected every major academic prize while completing her Bachelor of Science (Oenology).She came to Wolf Blass in 1997 as a red winemaker and made two exemplary wines during the 1998 vintage with the team. She made the 1998 Wolf Blass Black Label with John Glaetzer, which collected the record breaking fourth Jimmy Watson Trophy. Her name became the first female name to adorn the trophy. Caroline created the first Platinum Shiraz vintage, which went on to win Australia’s great Shiraz Challenge at the 2002 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London.
Marie Clay
Marie received the Southcorp wines scholarship after graduating from Adelaide University with fist class honours in Oenology and entered as a graduate winemaker. She undertook training from the company’s best winemakers in Australia’s most significant wine regions, Coonawarra, the Barossa and Great Western. She also gained experience from vintages in Burgundy and Tuscany. She has focused on the Grey Label wines, and loves seeing someone enjoy a wine she has made.
Steven Frost
Steve completed a Bachelor of Science (Wine Science) and is now a vital member of the team that produce the luxury wine range. He plays a part in creating Platinum and Black Label wines through careful vineyard selection, separate maturation and artful blending. His favourite wine is the Wolf Blass Platinum Label from the near perfect 2004 vintage, a wine Steve says epitomises what they strive for each year.
Mr Matt O’Leary, award winning winemaker.
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Proud to be associated with Wolf Blass Wines. Congratulations on 45 successful years.
grosenzw@bigpond.net.au
Accent Wine Packaging First Choice in Timber Wine Packaging Accent Packaging On Time - ToWine Specification - Great Price. First Choice in Timber Wine Packaging Congratulations to all at Wolf Blass on a history On - Toquality, Specification - Great Price. of Time outstanding character and consistency.
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Warehouse 5 38-46 Barndioota Rd Salisbury Plains SA 5109 Facsimile: (08) 8258 3032 Email: peter@accentwinepackaging.com Web Site: www.accentwinepackaging.com
Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 17
W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years
Gold medal wines
Mr Chris Hatcher, Chief Winemaker at Wolf Blass, believes the wines made at the winery today are even better than when the man behind the company started out. “From my point of view, we’re making much better wines today than they did when Wolf started off,” Mr Hatcher said. “That’s a lot to do with our vineyard resources. We understand vineyards a lot better today than when he started.” Mr Hatcher said Wolf revolutionised the wine industry with the soft, approachable style of red wine he made. “Basically the Australian industry’s success today in the world market is based a lot around that style. “So we’ve kept that philosophy but we’ve refined it and been able to make better wine because we’ve got better resources and better equipment in the winery.” Mr Hatcher said the key to making good wine lay in the vineyard, the winemaker and the winery. “If you haven’t got good vineyards, no matter how good a winemaker you are or how good equipment you’ve got, you’re going to make average wine. “If you haven’t got all of those three things in combination, then you’ll make average wine.” He said a joy of working at Wolf Blass was the enthusiasm of the young people who work there, which stems from their access to a broad range of fruit sourced from most of the main regions. “There’s a lot of ability to play and maximise the quality because we’ve got a lot of small tanks to be able to do that.” He said they make wines on the site like the Platinum Shiraz, which sells for in excess of $150 a bottle, that can win against the best wines in the world. They can also make good commercial wines, like their Yellow Label range. “We take great pride in being better than our competitors at that price point, too. It’s not all about the premium wines.” The younger winemakers are given ownership over some of the more commercial wines. “They put their heart and soul in that, and that’s all part and parcel of being part of the big picture.” The luxury wines are released each year on Wolf’s birthday on September 2. This year is the 35th release of the Black Label. The Grey and Platinum Labels will also be released. The Black Label is a blend of varieties and regions, with the Platinum Label having the best representation of Shiraz from the Barossa for the year. The Platinum Label is all about the Barossa and it focuses more on the vineyard. “The Platinum and the Black Label both win gold medals and trophies but they have completely different philosophies of winemaking.” “The Black is more centered around when Wolf started, Platinum is more of a contemporary way of winemaking.
BULK WINE FREIGHT MAN The Grey, Black and Platinum labels.
“The Grey label was Wolf’s first wine and is actually a regional wine from Langhorne Creek so it’s sort of gone in a full circle in a way.” The Medlands vineyard, which is halfway between Tanunda and Nuriootpa, has consistently been in the Platinum blend over the 11 vintages it has been made. Mr Hatcher said one of the most interesting things about Wolf Blass Wine was wherever they take it, it’s successful. “When we’ve gone into Asia, gone into the UK market and Canada, it’s always been successful and a lot of people think it’s just Wolf Blass the man but it’s bigger than that and you can’t put your finger on it, it’s just one of those successful brands. “I say to Wolfy quite often when I see him, he must walk around here and think, ‘how did this ever happen’ because he never had that intention to have a business like this. “He was just making small parcels of wine when he started off, he didn’t look at the success.” Mr Hatcher said the most popular brands in the modern era all originated in the 1800s but since WWII, Wolf Blass and Rosemount are the only two brands that have been really successful. He said while he is proud of everything the wines have achieved, he is never completely satisfied with anything. “You’re never really that happy that it’s absolutely right. “That’s what drives you to continually improve.”
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18 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011
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W OCelebrating LF B LASS 45 Years Environmentally and community friendly Manager Continuous Improvement and Asset Reliability.
to all at Wolf Blass Wines on this great achievement!
From the team at Broens SA (formerly Calbic) – a proud supplier to your company
Phone 8255 4544 www.calbic.com.au
WATER SEARCH
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Mackenzie, Regional
CONGRATULATIONS
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LEFT: Mr Lachlan
Groundwater and Geological Consultants PROVIDING GROUNDWATER MONITORING SERVICES
“It’s a great benefit to them and it’s a great benefit to us because the reality is that wastewater needs to go somewhere and this provides a beneficial reuse of the water.” Mr Mackenzie not only works with the treatment plant, he also works to build capability across the business and improve all processes. “It’s a programme where we’re working to build people’s capabilities as well as the business processes,” Mr Mackenzie said. He said they are trying to help employees solve their own problems and identify where there are opportunities for improvement. “They are given the avenue for those opportunities to be properly assessed and action taken. “What we’re trying to generate is everyone in the business having the ability and the opportunity to improve their part of the business, rather than not having a voice to say there might be a better way to do something. “It’s quite a complex area but in many ways it’s as simple as giving everyone in the business the opportunity and the ability to improve their small part in the business and then collectively that rolls up into a big improvement.” The improvement began on the packaging side of the business and focused on efficiency. “The packaging lines run 24 hours a day, five days a week so the focus was on making sure the equipment was actually running for as much of that time as possible to maximise the output of the facility.” Mr Mackenzie has been looking at where value could be added in the winery and where there is waste and inefficiency, to remove it from the business. “We are training our people up, giving them new skills and a different way of looking at things so they have a different way of looking at problems and solving them.”
Underground water supplies for stock, domestic, irrigation and mining
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Servicing the wine industry with cartage of waste and water.
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WOLF BLASS WINES on your 45 Anniversary th
ECO WASTE & COMPOST SOLUTIONS PRODUCERS OF TOP QUALITY COMPOST NURIOOTPA, S.A. 5355
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Wolf Blass Winery is not only environmentally friendly, it is also helping the community with its wastewater management system. Mr Lachlan Mackenzie, Regional Manager Continuous Improvement and Asset Reliability, is helping the company to improve its processes, including the wastewater system. The wastewater generated from washing the equipment and pumping wine around the site is collected at the treatment plant. Stormwater is also collected and segregated from the wastewater most of the time. No waste water or storm water leaves the site uncontained. “We have a biological treatment process, not unlike a sewerage treatment plant in terms of the fact we have a live system. “It uses bacteria to consume the sugars and the organic matter in the waste water and treat the water to a quality suitable for long term storage and reuse.” Wolf Blass have a series of treatment lagoons and wetlands that ends in a lagoon adjacent to the public entrance to the site. The vast majority of the treated water is sent to the Barossa Valley Golf Club through a six to seven kilometre pipeline. The water, which is in excess of 40 mega-litres a year, is an important source of water for the golf club. “The water we’re able to supply them means they don’t need to draw on ground water and they don’t need to draw on mains water or river water supply as much as they otherwise would.” “Basically we supply that to them all year around so they’ve got storage dams and it’s available for them to use when they irrigate over spring and summer.” Wolf Blass have been supplying the club with water for about 10 years. “We’ve got a great relationship with the golf course, we keep in touch with them and make sure the water is suitable for their needs.
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Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 - 19
Wines carrying the Wolf Blass Yellow Label are exquisite single varietals from South Australia, the Wolf Blass heartland. Fruit driven, delicately balanced and flavoursome, they embody everything that’s possible when a winemaker sets his sights above all others.
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20 - Wolf Blass 45th Anniversary, “The Leader”, August 24, 2011 FOSGRO0434_Yellow Label Press_400x262.indd 1
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