What our best winemakers drink at Christmas
WINEMAKERS FROM AROUND AUSTRALIA SHARE HOW THEY CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND WHAT THEY’LL BE POURING.
“We visit the church that overlooks the Hill of Grace vineyard on Christmas Eve…”
STEPHEN AND PRUE HENSCHKE Henschke, Eden Valley, South Australia
Husband and wife as well as chief winemaker and viticulturist, Stephen and Prue are the fifth generation of Henschkes to produce wine. They consider themselves “custodians” of their land for their children Johann and his wife Angela, Justine and Andreas, and are very focussed on sustainablilty.
Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? Stephen:
Absolutely. Great wine is made in the vineyard. Our historic sites, such as the 50-year-old Wheelwright, 100-yearold Mount Edelstone and 150-year-old Hill of Grace vineyards, have a strong personal history and story to them.
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? Prue: We visit the church that overlooks the Hill of Grace vineyard on Christmas Eve, followed by dinner with our children and grandchildren, and then presents, in keeping with Stephen’s German heritage. We shuck a lot of oysters on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to enjoy with Bollinger.
What do you eat on Christmas Day?
Prue: My sister and I put together a lunch of Australian seafood, which Stephen pairs with crisp white wines, followed by duck or turkey and vegetable dishes matched with some special reds from our cellar. Lunch is usually served late so we end up having Christmas pudding covered in cherries and dessert wine for dinner!
What are your must-have wines for Christmas? Stephen: Early in my career, I worked vintages at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and Château Canon in Bordeaux, so I like to bring out something from these producers. We always open a bottle from Johann’s wife Angela’s family winery, Torremilanos, in the Ribera del Duero region in Spain.
Do you have a dish you like to cook for Christmas? Prue: I have a traditional German recipe for Honigkuchen (honey biscuits) that has been passed down.
(03) 8564 8223, henschke.com.au
LISA MARGAN Director, Margan Wines, Hunter Valley, NSW
Lisa Margan and her winemaker husband Andrew established Margan Wines in 1996, which was followed by their eponymous onsite restaurant 10 years later. They are committed to their “estate grown, estate made” ethos.
Explain your ethos. We try and grow as much as we can on the property, which includes produce for the restaurant as well as wine from our 100 hectares of vineyards. We have full sustainable farming accreditation and are almost carbon neutral.
How do you celebrate Christmas? With whoever is available from both our extended families and our three children who are all at university in Adelaide and Sydney, so it will be great to have them home.
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? Andrew and
I have a 30-year Christmas Eve tradition of eating foie gras and sipping Sauternes in memory of our time living in Bordeaux. However, I fear the foie gras has to go as it is not ethically produced. We also always open a bottle of Champagne (Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is a favourite) and serve it with oysters. It acts as a little ‘warm up’ to the main event. On Christmas Day we have a light breakfast, gift giving and then we all prepare for lunch.
Who cooks? Andrew cooks grilled duck breast with caramelised red onions and jus as well as a baked ham for main course. The kids and I do roast vegies, salads and little things to graze on for entree. We all have our special dishes and the kids are great cooks.
After mains we have cheese, which I raid from the restaurant cool room
The matriarchs of the family traditionally did dessert. Andrew’s mum was a friend of Margaret Fulton and faithfully followed her pudding recipe. Served with ‘proper custard’ and the best rum butter. My mum did the Christmas cakes and a trifle. Both these ladies have gone from our lives now so it’s up to me to take over here this year. I’m feeling the pressure!
What are your must-have wines for Christmas? There is always Champagne, chablis and German riesling. We’ll open our 2019 Albarino, 2017 White Label Shiraz and 2018 Barbera. Our botrytis semillon is a Christmas favourite. We’ll serve a few wines blind and try and guess what they are. Family guests like Iain Riggs (managing director and chief winemaker of Brokenwood, also in the Hunter Valley) will bring amazing wine to share. After we have cleaned up, the day usually ends with a Margan Vermouth Negroni as we dangle our feet in the pool and watch the sun set over the Brokenback Range.
(02) 6579 1317, margan.com.au
BRUCE TYRRELL AM Managing director, Tyrrell’s, Hunter Valley, NSW
In 2006, Bruce received a Order of Australia for his contribution to the Australian wine industry and is a Hunter Valley Living Legend. Bruce’s children Jane, John and Chris — the fifth generation —have followed in his footsteps.
How will you celebrate Christmas this year? I will be with all the immediate family on the Gold Coast where we’ll meet up with my wife Pauline’s extended family.
What do you eat? Peking duck pancakes and sparkling shiraz, followed by Pauline’s special baked ham with salads.
What do you drink? We start with Champagne, this year it looks like 2008 Dom Pérignon. Some great old Tyrrell’s whites — Vat 1 Semillons and probably some Stevens Single Vineyard Semillon — and proper pinot noirs.
Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? The original 320 acres is our land and it is part of us. I always thank the generations before me for providing that connection. It is our land and we are at one with it.
What do you love about living in the country? No bloody neighbours! Peaceful mornings and evenings, and a chance to watch the weather. (02) 4993 7000, tyrrells.com.au
VIRGINIA WILLCOCK Chief winemaker, Vasse Felix, Margaret River, Western Australia
Virginia has just completed her 14th vintage as chief winemaker for Vasse Felix and looks forward to Christmas so she can catch up with friends and family and share the fruits of her labour.
What do you like about working in a rural area? The beautiful air, the sounds of local wildlife, the smell of the forest, the ocean and the grasses, not having to line up anywhere, sparsely populated beaches, the fresh produce, the beautiful wines, the artistic and creative community, the wine culture — it’s endless. The only down side is the three-hour drive to Perth if you want to fly anywhere (also an upside), this is changing next year with direct flights to Melbourne from our region. Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? Completely. Each small section of grapes has it’s own personality when made into wine, driven from it’s little plot in the vineyard. Understanding each plot helps us make better decisions in the winery. You also feel connected to nature as each season brings its unique personality and we have to adapt to it.
How do you celebrate Christmas?
It rotates every three years: one year with my family in Perth, one year with my husband’s family in Adelaide and then one year at our own home in Margaret River with friends.
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? The only tradition we follow is to eat the greatest food and drink the finest wine wherever we are, and celebrate being together.
What do you eat and drink on Christmas Day? Seafood entree and roast meat for main, pending best produce available, which depends where we are. There are always more wine courses than food courses, it’s a dominant feature with a varied and expansive wine list. My family, my husband’s family and all our friends are wine obsessed.
What are your must-have wines for Christmas? Grower Champagne, Margaret River chardonnay, white Burgundy, pinot noir from Tasmania or Yarra Valley, barolo or barbaresco, and Margaret River cabernet.
(08) 9756 5000, vassefelix.com.au >
PETER GAGO AC Chief winemaker, Penfolds, South Australia
After spending the year travelling the world flying the flag for Penfolds, English-born Peter Gago will pack the car with gifts and cases of wine and drive from Adelaide to Melbourne to celebrate Christmas with family.
What do you like about working in a rural area? The people, pace and priorities. There’s a stark reality — you can see the trees, you can enter the forest. There’s a heightened relative degree of honesty, awareness, resilience in the country. But some areas are becoming less ‘rural’ as suburbs sprawl.
Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? Absolutely. Vines are planted in diverse soils and microclimates in Australia. Beyond the science, the mystique and magic of winemaking effortlessly couples with the spirituality and honesty affixed to the land… In vino veritas.
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? Christmas is completely traditional, from the bon bons to the Christmas pudding (sans threepenny pieces). All family members converge to the one address — this year it is in Melbourne. At Christmas, we always drive interstate with a car full of wines and gifts. Friends query why we don’t simply fly across, but we enjoy it.
What do you like to eat and drink on Christmas Day? Ideally traditional fare for lunch and assorted fresh seafood from across Australia for dinner. I open special wines that can be shared — a glass of something memorable for everyone to sip. The more sipping, the more we can open and try! The more eclectic the better.
What is your must-have wine for Christmas? Champagne. Ideally in a magnum. Hot, cold, wet, dry weather — it doesn’t matter! Champagne it is!
Do you have a dish you like to cook for Christmas? I do the wine, others do the food. No one complains about this — we all stick to our strengths. In the kitchen? I polish the glasses. 1300 095 930, penfolds.com
“Christmas is completely traditional, from the bon bons to the Christmas pudding…”
MITCHELL TAYLOR Managing director and winemaker, Taylors Wines, Clare Valley, South Australia
For Mitchell Taylor, Christmas is a time for all three generations of the family to get away together. This year will be extra special as they’re also celebrating Taylors’s 50th anniversary.
What do you like about working in a rural area? I love being close to nature with the fresh air, no traffic and the unique sounds of the Australian bush. When you leave the city and drive toward the winery, you get a chance to reconnect with country Australia that is unlike anywhere in the world.
Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? Definitely. No two vintages are the same and each year Mother Nature throws up unique challenges, which have an impact on the wine. The beauty of winemaking is that you are continually adapting to the climate and terroir of the region.
How do you celebrate Christmas?
Christmas is all about close family. It’s great to bring together the older and younger generations for a break before we begin the busy period of vintage. This year we’ll be on the NSW coast.
Most memorable Christmas?
Spending the day with my grandparents as a kid learning to fish. My grandfather Bill Taylor Snr. was a great storyteller.
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? We always start with Mass the night before, it’s a great reminder of the importance of goodwill. Then in the morning we celebrate gift giving with the kids.
What do you like to eat and drink on Christmas Day? We start with prawns and oysters with a Clare Valley riesling or a chablis from Burgundy. The main meal is hot turkey, ham and Christmas pudding with all the trimmings. I love planting a $50 note in the pudding for the youngest member of the clan to discover! Cabernet is a favourite for our family, so an aged bottle from the cellar is always a treat. This year, we’ll open The Legacy 2014 — a new release to honour Taylors’s 50th.
1800 804 295, taylorswines.com.au
ED CARR Chief winemaker, House of Arras, Tasmania
Ed Carr pioneered sparkling wine production in Tasmania and his House of Arras bubbles more than hold their own up against Champagne. Why not support Australian grown and made, and serve Arras at your Christmas celebration this year?
What do you like about working in a rural area? All of the cool climate vineyard and winery sights are some of the most picturesque regions of Australia. Downsides are experiencing the tough years that are inevitable in agriculture — frost, drought, heatwaves and bushfires.
Why did you choose Tasmania to produce wine? The cold maritime climate and ancient soils of Tasmania act in synergy to allow the culturing of pristine grapes most suited to our premium wine production. These grapes ripen very slowly, which allows the flavours to develop to their peak while retaining a high natural acidity critical for this wine style. The resultant wines are elegant and show great longevity, which lend perfectly to the House of Arras style.
What do you like most about creating sparkling wine? Premium sparkling wines have multiple stages of crafting over many years with some House of Arras icon wines requiring more than a decade to reach their quality.
How do you celebrate Christmas? Christmas is almost always enjoyed at home in Adelaide under the air conditioner or in the pool. It’s great to share the festive season with grandchildren and long-term friends.
What do you like to eat and drink on Christmas Day? The traditional Christmas fare of the northern hemisphere made with local produce matched with appropriate cool beverages of beer, sparkling wine and the inevitable sparkling shiraz.
What is your must-have wine for Christmas? Arras Grand Vintage, it’s a refreshing style with great complexity allowing diverse food matches.
(03) 6382 7622, houseofarras.com.au
CHESTER OSBORN Chief winemaker, d’arenberg, Mclaren Vale, South Australia
Since 1912, the Osborn family have been making wine in Mclaren Vale, with fourth-generation Chester at the helm since 1984. Chester came up with the idea to build the d’arenberg Cube, an eye-catching angular five-storey glass and steel building that houses a restaurant, wine sensory room and museum. Despite his taste for ground-breaking architecture, he sticks to tradition at Christmas.
What do you like about working in a rural area? We are fortunate at d’arenberg to be close to the ocean, and have spectacular views over the Mclaren Vale region, the Willunga Hills and the Gulf of St Vincent.
Do you feel connected to the land through winemaking? Everything
I do involves the land, soil and climate, so I feel a deep closeness to our environment.
How do you celebrate Christmas? Christmas is usually at our house here in Mclaren Vale, surrounded by family and extended family. It’s great to catch up and share a few wines!
Are there any traditions that you follow every year? It’s usually the same year to year, a very traditional ‘winter’ roast and pavlova, and plenty of it. That keeps the crowd happy. Plus a good bottle of red or three!
What is your must-have wine for Christmas? It’s got to be The Dead Arm Shiraz. We always open an old vintage that’s been tucked away in the cellar, and it keeps everyone happy.
(08) 8329 4888, darenberg.com.au