Top Gun Broadens Horizons
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday January 2, 2002
Andrew has just launched a smart new label called House of Certain Views.
IN the face of fluctuating wool, lamb, beef and grain prices, NSW farmers and graziers have become aware of the need to add diversity to the range of products their land produces.
In many instances this has seen property owners putting in wine grape vines in places that had never before seen vineyards.
Tumbarumba, Gundagai, Young, Orange and Cowra have already established good reputations for winegrowing and new areas such as Armidale, Tamworth, Narrabri and Coonabarabran are emerging promisingly.
The new vineyard areas have inspired a fascinating new initiative by young top gun Hunter winemaker Andrew Margan, 40.
Following up the great success of his Hunter-based Margan Family label wines, Andrew has just launched a smart new label called House of Certain Views which showcases small-parcel wines from new winegrowing areas.
The name came into his head when he was working in France as one of the legion of Australian `flying winemakers' and it reflects the new creative horizons and the actual scenic vistas that come with the new high-altitude wine areas.
The first three wines to hit the market at $35 a bottle are the House of Certain Views 2000 Mount Kaputar Merlot, which is reviewed in today's UNCORKED, the 2000 Coonabarabran Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1999 Orange Shiraz).
Others are in the pipeline and the label has already won wine show medals.
At the 2001 Sydney Wine Show the House of Certain Views 2000 Chardonnay, made from Coonabarabran grapes, won a bronze medal in the current-vintage full-bodied premium dry white class.
In the 2001 Australian Boutique Winemakers' Awards, 2000 Mount Kaputar Merlot won the trophy for the top merlot.
The same wine won a bronze medal in the merlot varietal class at the 2001 Sydney show and late last year the wine won a silver medal at the National Wine Show in Canberra.
Andrew Margan hasn't limited his role to making the wine from the pioneering growers. Over the past five years he has deeply involved himself in the varietal makeup, viticulture and quality control of the new vineyards.
`These pioneers have risked a lot to move into an industry where they have had little assistance and they have been very willing to learn about high-quality grape production,' says Andrew.
The Mount Kaputar Merlot comes from the Oakbank vineyard, owned by retired national parks officer Charlie Richards.
The land was previously rough grazing country and Charlie has planted his vineyard 450 metres above sea level on the slopes of Mount Kaputar, an extinct volcano.
There are no other vineyards for 100km around and the closest major population centre is Narrabri.
The vineyard produces onlymerlot, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon grapes, which Andrew says are full-flavoured and show good tannins and excellent natural acidity. The 2000 Coonabarabran Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Rocky Ridge vineyard at 650 metres above sea level where the days during the ripening season are mild and the nights are cool.
Rocky Ridge's owners are Wayne and Debbie Clarke and the chardonnay, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sauvignon blanc vines have been planted in what was pilliga scrub only a short time ago.
Debbie is a nurse and Wayne is a maintenance technician at the Coonabarabran observatory. Andrew says the mainly dryland vineyard is in a soil that is basically raw sand in which the vines struggle to grow and produce small yields of ripe, big-flavoured, well-structured grapes.
The 1999 Orange Shiraz comes from the Printhie vineyard, which is 650 metres above sea level and is owned by Jim and Ruth Swift.
Before venturing bravely into the new world of winegrowing, the Swifts used the land for grazing and cropping.
Andrew considers the Orange wines to be leaner in structure than those of Coonabarabran and Mount Kaputar, but showing excellent finesse. As well as shiraz, the Printhie vineyard has cabernet sauvignon and viognier, from which a House of Certain Views wine will emerge in a few years' time.
Also coming up is a House of Certain Views red made from the Italian barbera variety. The grapes for this wine will come from Andrew and Lisa Margan's Ceres Hill property in Milbrodale Rd, Broke.
The Margans obtained barbera cuttings from the Montrose vineyard at Mudgee and planted them at Ceres Hill in 1998. They now have 2.4ha of fully yielding barbera to add a Broke-Fordwich red to the House of Certain Views line-up.
Andrew believes barbera has good potential in the Hunter.
Andrew Margan is the son of prominent wine and food identity Frank Margan, who was a partner in the De Beyers vineyard and for many years ran The Cottage Restaurant in Cessnock.
In his teen years Andrew began working on vintages at Tyrrell's Broke Rd winery and, after leaving school, he completed an Agriculture degree at Hawkesbury and got a full-time job with Tyrrell's.
In 1989 he bought land in Milbrodale Rd, Broke, and began establishing his own vineyard. Then between 1989 and 1993 he worked in wineries in the famous French wine region of Bordeaux, annually shuttling back to Tyrrell's for the Hunter vintage.
After four years in France, Andrew returned full-time toTyrrell's as a winemaker and marketing manager. Then in 1996 he and Lisa decided to launch into their own venture.
Margan Family Winegrowers is centred on the 53ha Ceres Hill property, where the Margans have 10ha of vines.
They have a further three hectares on their Beltree vineyard and lease vineyards that give them a total vine area of 34ha.
They have built a 700-tonne capacity winery at Ceres Hill and also have their home on the property. Margan Family wines can be found in some wine stores and restaurants and are available at the Small Winemakers' Centre, on the corner of Broke and McDonalds roads, Pokolbin.
* AS I noted in this column on November 14, all Andrew Thomas's shiraz reds thus far have been Hunter-McLaren Vale blends, but Andrew plans to add a Thomas Reserve-label 100% Hunter shiraz to his portfolio from the 2002vintage.
That won't mean an end to the blends because Andrew believes there is a remarkable synergy between Hunter and McLaren Vale shiraz. He says that the Hunter component will always be predominant, with the savoury spice of the Hunter and the fleshy richness of the McLaren Vale producing a unique, distinctively variety style that drinks well when young and ages handsomely.
© 2002 Newcastle Herald