Barossa winemaker and vigneron of the year winners
The church bells rang on cue, the weather was kind and the ancient grape crusher produced the first juice of the harvest at the annaul Barossa Valley Baron's harvest event in February.
Awards for 2009 were announced at the annual start to vintage, with Jo Irvine of Irvine Wines winning the 2009 winemaker of the year award and Mick Koch taking vigneron of the year.
Jo is an accomplished winemaker and daughter of local legend, Jim Irvine, and manages all viticulture and winemaking for the family lable. She has a passion for experimenting with new wine grape varieties and has won numerous international awards for her zinfandel and albarino wines.
Mick is one of the few survivors of the disastrous vine pull in the late 1980's and is custodian of some teasured old vines, full of character and intensity. Part of the Trees for Life profram, he has planted three thousand trees on his property over the past twenty years.
Honorary Vigneron, Louisa Rose reported that the yields will be down and that there is some variability due to the heat. But quality looks to be on track.
"Barossa grapevines are used to doing it tough, particularly our old vines; buffered against individual seasons by their age and reach into the ground. Certainly we would have preferred not to have the recent heatwave, and of course particular vineyards have suffered more than others but the Barossa should fare better than some other regions," she says.
Two bronze plaues were presented for placement in the footpath at Keil Garden. This year Max Schubert AM and Dennis Leonard Reimann were honoured for their huge contribution to the Barossa.
Regions
- Barossa (including Eden Valley) (SA)
- Barossa Valley (SA)
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