BARREL BUSINESS
Cover: In the September issue of Grapegrower & Winemaker, we delve into a partnership between Seppeltsfield Wines and Lark Distilling which grants Lark access to one-of-a-kind barrels, and hear about the potential of amphorae as oak alternatives. Winemaker Jeremy Hodgson (featured on the cover) gives us behind-the-scenes details on the creation of Fermoy Estate’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, whilst Ilga Horvat provides the rundown on the implications of new workplace laws, and Sonya Logan explores why some are backing the Italian variety Bianco d’Alessano.
REGULARS
6 What’s online
6 In this issue
8 Winetitles insights
18 International briefs
96 Producer Profile: Ed Carr
NEWS
9 New cellar door at iconic Sydney landmark to promote NSW wine regions
10 Young Tassie Pinot proves its power at Sydney Royal Wine Show, breaking double-decade record
13 The latest Evans legend
14 Halliday Wine Companion Awards winners announced for 2025
15 Agreement reached in Jacob’s Creek workers strike
17 Revised One Sector Plan released: “That’s why you do a draft”
GRAPEGROWING
20 FEATURE The importance of controlling phylloxera spread
32 FEATURE Belief in Bianco d’Alessano
36 McLaren Vale grapegrower transitions land to production of alternative crop
OAK & ALTERNATIVES
42 FEATURE Giving unicorn barrels a second life
53 FEATURE New solutions to old problems: Amphorae as an oak alternative
WINEMAKING
59 Behind the Top Drops: Fermoy Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
65 Innovation and sustainability the focus of Wine Eng 2024
68 Young Gun: Boxi Zhen
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
74 FEATURE Educating young people on wine industry careers
78 Changes to workplace law in Australia
83 Welcome changes to support New Zealand’s seasonal employment
84 Scholars announced for Len Evans Tutorial 2024
SALES & MARKETING
85 Riesling and sparkling water combine to create ‘Australian first’ Riesling seltzer
86 Building relationships with buyers in digital settings
90 FEATURE Glass printing: cutting the cost and waste of premium labels
Halliday Wine Companion Awards winners announced for 2025
Halliday Wine Companion has announced its Award winners for the year, recognising the nation’s top wines, winemakers, viticulturists and wineries.
Hosted at Ormond Hall in Melbourne, the awards ceremony featured a first look at the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion and revealed winners across seven major categories including Wine of the Year, Winery of the Year, Winemaker of the Year, Viticulturist of the Year, Best New Winery*, Dark Horse Winery, and Best Value Winery.
The ceremony also honoured a new inductee into the James Halliday Hall of Fame: Australian Wine Industry, an award that acknowledges individuals in the Australian wine industry who are deemed to be of the highest regard and significance. Sixteen of Australia’s best wines were also celebrated as award winners for their varietal categories.
The Halliday Wine Companion Award winners were determined collaboratively by the Halliday tasting team, including
chief editor Campbell Mattinson, Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale, and Toni Paterson MW.
“We’re delighted to announce the 2025 Award winners and extend our congratulations to each of them,” said Halliday Wine Companion’s head of tasting, Katrina Butler.
“We’re blown away by the quality of this year’s winners and tonight we celebrate the strength and perseverance of the Australian wine industry with winners representing regions from across the country. The tasting team reviewed over 7500 wines for the 2025 Companion and we’re proud to be able to share the best of Australian wine with fellow enthusiasts, industry peers, and those new to the world of wine.”
The Awards also mark the release of the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion. The 2025 edition of the Companion includes over 5000 tasting notes and scores, and there are more than 7500 new notes.
The 2025 awards featured winners from regions across Australia, providing a picture of the strength and diversity of the nation’s wine industry. Victoria’s Yarra Valley shone, with two major awards hailing from the region, alongside winners from Hunter Valley, Margaret River, Geelong, Barossa Valley and Orange, and Hall of Fame inductee, Sue Hodder, from Coonawarra’s icon winery Wynn’s Coonawarra Estate. The varietal winners represent a range of Australian regions including the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Rutherglen, Central Victoria, the King Valley, Hunter Valley, Eden Valley, Wrattonbully, along with Frankland River, and Tasmania.
*All the producers nominated for Best New Winery represent “exciting additions” either to the Australian wine landscape, to Halliday Wine Companion, or both.
The full list of winners can be found online at www.winetitles.com.au/ halliday-winners-2025
Brown Brothers’ senior winemaker Cate Looney with the Patricia Brut Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2018, which was awarded Sparkling Wine of the Year.
The importance of controlling phylloxera spread
Grape phylloxera is a small but damaging pest that feeds on vine roots, decimating vine vigour and resulting in the death of the vine. Originating in North America, then spreading to Europe and destroying more
than two thirds of Europe’s vineyards in the late 1800s, phylloxera was first detected in Australia in 1877, in Victoria. South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have remained free from phylloxera, however many vineyard
operators in these states and territories are still cautious about the risk of phylloxera spread. As there is no treatment or cure for phylloxera infestation, affected vines must be pulled up and replanted to rootstock that is resistant to phylloxera.
Drew Noon with one of several new Vinehealth signs that Noon purchased to place where visitors can see it. Image courtesy Noon Wines.
Giving ‘unicorn’ barrels a second life
When South Australian winemaker Seppeltsfield bought a significant stake in Tasmanian whisky maker Lark Distilling in late July, details of the strategic partnership became publicly available. Seppeltsfield Wines is owned by Warren Randall, who is also a director of Lark Distilling, and the $14.5 million investment in the whisky company brings Seppeltsfield Wines’ stake in the company to 19.5 percent – only .4 percent short of the 19.9 percent share required for a takeover.
Journalist Meg Riley spoke to the CEO of Lark, Satya Sharma, about the finer-grain details of the deal, and how other producers could seek to replicate similar arrangements.
Seppeltsfield Wines and Lark Distilling announced their ‘strategic partnership’ on the 29 July, securing Lark’s access to exclusivity over Seppeltsfield’s oak barrels for its whisky maturation.
In its announcement of the strategic partnership, Lark released a presentation for investors to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), outlining the terms of the deal.
The partnership will grant Lark secure access to Seppeltsfield’s premium oak barrels, and gives the company first right of refusal over the barrels.
As Lark noted in its release to investors, the CEO of Treasury Wine Estates, Tim Ford, has previously described The Randall Wine Group, which is the owner of Seppeltsfield Wines as Treasury’s “most important strategic supply partner, globally”.
The agreement includes rare, fortified tawny, muscat, tokay, PX and oloroso barrels used by Seppeltsfield, with Lark given exclusivity on naming rights and usage in relation to whisky products. The document also referenced a deal between whisky producer Macallan’s and winemaker Grupo Estevez as having set the precedent for such partnerships.
From napkin notes to ASX agreements
“It’s really important to understand the importance of casks in the whisky making process,” said Satya Sharma, CEO of Lark Distilling. “We make new-make spirit, and move that into cask, and that sits in cask for various periods, but by law, it’s at least two years to be called whisky.”
Generally speaking, Sharma said that Lark ages much longer than two years – he estimates closer to five or eight years, if not more.
“We’ve got whiskies we’ve released that have been 20 years,” he said. “So the importance of casks plays a massive role in the actual end product.
“We think at least 60% of the end character that you get out of the whisky product comes from its interaction with the wood, so things like the flavour profiles, the colour and the aromas, help mature and create the end product that you see at the conclusion of the process.”
“We think at least 60% of the end character that you get out of the whisky product comes from its interaction with the wood.”
Satya Sharma
ED CARR
Chief Sparkling Winemaker House of Arras
How did you get your start in wine?
I must admit that winemaking wasn’t on the cards for me when I was deciding on what I wanted my career to look like… I actually studied chemistry and microbiology at university which landed me in a role at a winery lab in Reynella. It was from there I met Norm Walker of Romalo sparkling cellars who asked for my help to solve the issues he was having with secondary fermentation in his wines. As a new graduate I had very little idea what secondary fermentation was all about, but we were able to work through the process and soon after I was appointed assistant winemaker. From there I learnt about méthode traditionnelle sparkling winemaking, and found my studies equipped me with a more scientific way of looking at winemaking, taking more of a focus on what’s happening at a molecular level.
Location:
Pipers River, Tasmania
Ed Carr, House of Arras.
What is the best thing about working in the wine sector?
Sparkling winemaking is a challenging process with so many complex and yet critical stages from the vineyard to the final product. It is rewarding to work through all these stages to create the finished wine in the glass. I have always found the wine sector very collaborative; the people are really focussed on quality and the consumer is very interested in and supportive of quality sparkling wine styles. Each harvest year has its own set of challenges and it is very satisfying to work with the team at every stage to ensure fruit quality is maintained and ultimately the best wine is crafted.
What have been some of the highlights of your career in wine?
A definite highlight for me has just been seeing the Tasmanian wine industry grow and gain the recognition it thoroughly deserves. The industry has come a long way in the last 10-15 years and I’m proud to be part of the movement to put Tasmanian wine on the global wine map and showcase its quality with a broad spectrum of consumers.
But most recently, I will say being awarded Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge [in July] was such an honour and a moment I will never forget. To be recognised with such an accolade by my fellow winemaking peers meant more than I can say, and really endorsed the winemaking philosophy of the House of Arras – I’m so proud of what we are achieving.
What are some characteristics of Tasmanian wine that help it stand out?
Something that has become really evident to me with Tasmanian sparkling wines is the great longevity they hold. With extended time on lees they are able to slowly evolve into wines of great complexity but also retain that vital brightness and vibrancy that I believe is on par with the best examples of sparkling wine across the world. Tasmania’s cool maritime climate allows grapes to undergo a long ripening process allowing full physiological maturity, elegant structure, and the ability to retain essential higher natural acidity.
How have you been able to explore viticulture throughout your career and across different regions?
Across my time at Penfolds and BRL Hardy I worked with fruit from coolclimate regions such as the Adelaide Hills, Tumbarumba, the Yarra Valley and Tasmania. It was at a time when cool-climate regions were gaining recognition for their role in producing quality fruit for sparkling wines. It was really interesting to compare the impact of the local terroir on the wine style and quality.
When I first visited Tasmania in 1988 there were only 46 hectares under vine – today that number is over 2,000! We sourced our first grapes from Tasmania in 1995 and it became immediately apparent that the Tasmanian terroir supported the style of wine we wanted to make.
Over the years since 1995, the vineyard resource for Arras has evolved to include most of the recognised viticultural sub regions throughout Tasmania. We have identified how these sub regions are best suited to the grape varieties and how resultant wines ultimately fit into
the House of Arras blends. The House of Arras started with a single blend that ultimately became the Grand Vintage label, it has now evolved to a complete range of wines where the labels express the individual blends whilst retaining the benchmark core of the House of Arras style.
What are some of the challenges involved with being a part of the winemaking industry?
The industry has traditionally been through many peaks and troughs primarily due to the global economic conditions. It is critical that Australian wine producers adopt a long term, financially viable model with an emphasis on premium wines that express true terroir and individuality. These would be the base of a broad sales distribution in both domestic and international markets in order to reduce the risk if a single market were to falter.
What would be your advice to someone just entering the industry?
Winemaking is all about attention to detail at every stage of the wine’s production. Hence, it is critical to
House of Arras cellar door.