Wednesday, March 26, 2008

We're all in this together....


Yes I know, another Aussie song (I am having a patriotic love affair with all Australian music at present - not sure why..?) but anyway, as Ben Lee so aptly wrote in his song, "We are all in this together". A very unusual philosophy for the present cut-throat wine industry but a shame that most (small) wineries don't realise that if they helped each other, it would be better for all!

A very wise man gave me similar advice about three years ago at 2am at a bar in the Crown Casino in Melbourne. His name - James Lindner, of Langmeil fame. James is a terrific guy and we literally bumped into each other at the Crown at that ungodly hour of the morning (he was visiting Melbourne on wine business and I was on a girl's weekend to an AFL Best & Fairest dinner). After quite a few hours of conversation with James and on taking much notice of his advice and experience, I decided that on my return to the Barossa Valley I was going to talk my husband into turning our hobby (amateur
wine making) into a proper business, and so Karra Yerta Wines was officially born.

James was very open and giving on his opinions on how the wine industry would fare over the coming years but his two important pieces of advice were (1) always make a top quality wine and (2) try to work with others so that you will all succeed. He has much passion for the industry, and is not
just driven by dollars and that I assume is one of the reasons that Langmeil Wines consistently do so well in the market. Their passion shows through and I find it a great source of inspiration.

Now on that note, it is because of the "all in this together" philosophy that I am about to recommend another winery's wine! Yes, the inspiration for this blog post has come about because of another winery who I feel strongly have their heart in the right place. Of course it helps that they are responsible for making our very own stunning rieslings but, aside from that, I really like their wines and I am a firm believer in helping those who help you and all of that sort of karmic stuff.

The wine I am drinking right now is a Rocland Wines "Kilroy was here" 2006 Barossa Shiraz. There is also a cabernet and a sparkling shiraz under the same label. Great stuff indeed and if you want to learn more about "Kilroy" go to www.kilroywasherewines.com

The "Kilroy" range has very modern and innovative packaging - the label design and story are most unique. And very different to our own range of wines - in lots of ways. Our label and story is more "traditional" and even though we make a Barossa Shiraz, it is still different to the Kilroy one. I think that is the secret to wine - there is no right or wrong - it all is so variable. And that is why we should all work together. The world is big enough for everyone to be successful if we all do the right thing and help each other!

Until next time....

No comments: