WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL EDITION OF
HEASLIP WINES NEWSLETTER
This edition features:
Where to begin - with my father, Jeffery Gordon Heaslip, my earliest influence and entry point into the world of wine. In my early days it was not so much an appreciation of wine but a cheap way of getting drunk, and thus bottles mysteriously disappeared from Dad's cellar!
The Clare Valley has held a special interest not only through the family farming history (see Heaslip Wines website), but also through Mum and Dad's love of the area. Marie's first teaching job was just North-East of Clare at the tiny town of Farrell Flat. Her father's side of the family plied their farming skills at Redhill, not far West of Clare.
After leaving school I spent 8 years in commercial kitchens moving up the chain from dishwasher to running an a la carte restaurant and bistro in Port Lincoln, South Australia. Here the love of food and wine developed. During this period I also worked on sheep and cropping stations in Western Australia and Far Northern South Australia and a vineyard in the Barossa Valley.
From there I headed to Central Australia and spent 7 years managing two Table Grape properties and so my understanding of grape vines and how they work began. My interest in organic horticultural production developed here also; how to improve soil fertility and the incredible role microbes play in releasing nutrients for crops to access.
My aim with our dry grown vines at Armagh is to build up organic matter in the soil and let the billions of micro-organisms in the soil do their fantastic work. This also includes the addition of sustainable foliar fertilisers as the need arises as well as BFA approved fungicide sprays.
Marie lives at the property full time keeping on top of all the necessary jobs, while my wife and I along with our two daughters spend a few months a year there during harvest and pruning. The rest of the year is spent in the Northern Territory.
Marie's retirement and my wife Philippa Stansell's income as a teacher-linguist on remote aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, as well as my various off-farm jobs have all culminated in the dream of a vineyard in the Clare Valley being realised.
May the dream be a long one!
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THE 2005 VINTAGE
The Shiraz was picked about one week later than optimum time and this has produced a big wine considering the very young age of the vines (4 years).
Allow to breathe for 1 - 2 hours. Drink now or good cellaring potential.
The Cabernet Sauvignon are a year younger than the Shiraz and were picked again about a week later than optimum.
Allow to breathe for 1 - 2 hours. This wine has great cellaring potential and will benefit from a few years in storage before opening.
The vines are a bit more variable in their growth stage and so some of the grapes picked were raisin-like, very well matured and super sweet. This difference between the Cabernet and Shiraz can be picked up in the bouquet.
THE 2006 VINTAGE
We have just had our first tasting of the 2006 vintage which is being made by Neil Paulett of Paulett Wines. The wine has been in French and American Oak now for around 11 months and we are very happy with the way it is developing. It is a lighter , “quaffing” style, but should also have cellaring potential and should be a good complement in style to our “bigger” 2005 vintage. Should be available by the end of the year.
(Taken from Wine Tasting web site)
Here we tackle the age old question: Why swish? While it was originally thought that certain regions on the tongue detected specific flavours, we now know this is not true.
The front and back of the tongue contain the taste buds and rather than specializing in a particular taste sensation, all taste buds are capable of detecting sweet, sour, bitter and salty flavours, although there may be some slight differences in sensitivity. So that you get the most out of your taste buds when wine tasting, swish the wine around your mouth, which will allow all of your taste buds (and your sense of smell) to participate in the detection of the finer flavours of the wine.
Smell and Taste
Have you ever tried desperately to detect flavour from a food or beverage when you had a terrible cold? You probably tasted very little, if anything at all. Research indicates that 70 to 75% of what we taste is actually due to our sense of smell. Specialized “aroma” nerves in the nose are necessary to identify tastes more subtle than sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Smell and taste go hand-in-hand when wine tasting…without your sense of smell you would be unable to detect the delicate flavours of chocolate, herbs or smoke in your wine.
Wine Tasting Techniques
Wine tasting is not just like art... It is an art! While wine tasting can be subjective in nature, wine connoisseurs follow some general “guidelines” when judging a wine. It's very easy to learn the techniques of wine tasting, and if you already enjoy wine, learning the nuances will simultaneously increase the pleasure you derive from tasting.
The three steps in wine tasting are: Look, Smell, and Taste.
Look:
You can tell much about a wine simply by studying its appearance. The wine should be poured into a clear glass and held in front of a white background (a tablecloth or piece of paper will serve nicely) so that you can examine the colour.
The colour of wine varies tremendously, even within the same type of wine. For example, white wines are not actually white: they range from green to yellow to brown. More colour in a white wine usually indicates more flavour and age, although a brown wine may have gone bad. While time improves many red wines, it will ruin most whites. Red wines are not just red: they range from a pale red to a deep brown red, usually becoming lighter in colour as they age.
Rim colour: You can guess the age of a red wine by observing its “rim”. Tilt the glass slightly and look at the edge of the wine. A purple tint may indicate youth while orange to brown indicates maturity.
Swirling: Swirling the wine serves many purposes, but visually it allows you to observe the body of the wine. “Good legs” may indicate a thicker body and a higher alcohol content and/or sweetness level.
Smell:
Swirl your wine. This releases molecules in the wine allowing you to smell the aroma, also called the bouquet or nose. The two main techniques that wine tasters use are:
• Take a quick whiff and formulate an initial impression, then take a second deeper whiff or;
• Take only one deep whiff.
Either way, after you smell the wine, sit back and contemplate the aroma. Don't try to “taste” the wine yet, concentrate only on what you smell.
It may be difficult to describe in words when you're a novice, but after trying many wines you will notice similarities and differences. Sometimes a certain smell will be very strong with underlying hints of other smells. Take your time. By labelling an aroma you will probably remember it better. You may even want to keep a notebook of your impressions of wines, and save the labels; next time you see the wine you won't have to purchase it to know you like it…or don't!
Taste:
The most important quality of a wine is its balance between sweetness and acidity. To get the full taste of a wine use the following three steps:
• Initial taste (or first impression): This is where the wine awakens your senses (your taste buds respond to sensations).
• Taste: Slosh the wine around and draw in some air (even if you do look funny in front of your dinner guests). Examine the body and texture of the wine. Is it light or rich? Smooth or harsh?
• Aftertaste: The taste that remains in your mouth after you have swallowed the wine. How long did the taste last? Was it pleasant?
After tasting the wine, take a moment to value its overall flavour and balance. Is the taste appropriate for that type of wine? If the wine is very dry, is it supposed to be?
Some serious wine connoisseurs assign a point score to determine its quality. While this method can be useful, it is in no way necessary to determine a quality wine. The more different wines you try, and the more attention you pay to each wine, the better you will become at ascertaining and describing each wine's characteristics.
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Our online store is now fully operational, the wine will be ready for delivery in May. It will be sent by Australia Post at very competitive rates and should arrive around 3 - 5 days after posting.
Feel free to use the online facilities to pre-order, and get payment instructions. You will receive a confirmation email to acknowledge your order and you will be notified as soon as wine is ready for delivery.
Visit Heaslip Wines Online Store!
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You will find some other great information and photos on the website:
www.heaslipwines.com.au
Check it out and order some wine!
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