Vino d'Auge: Vendemmia all' improvviso!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Vendemmia all' improvviso!

In a momentary decision (on Sunday 15th March) that took all by suprise, the prosecco had to be picked by yesterday (Monday 16th) at the latest. Thanks to Silvio for his flexibility, and the picking crew (fielded mostly by the home team, thank you!) we managed to have the grapes off the vines by lunch time, and pressing finished by 9pm. The juice is clarifying in the cold night air at Anton's place in the Basket Ranges before being racked into tanks to begin fermentation. Once the base wine is fermented to dry, it'll be racked into pressure-tight kegs and dosed with a measured quantity of sugar solution to kick-off the secondary fermentation and give the wine its mousse.

Sunday: Prosecco looking spot-on. The rapid ripening in the two weeks since the last visit is incredible. Harvest cannot be held off any longer in order to hold any measure of delicacy in the finished wine.

Anton van Klopper and Silvio dal Cin

Sunday: Dry

Monday: Drizzle, all bloody day!
but harvest looked very healthy indeed. Prosecco is a vigorous yielder: big bunches, and plenty to each vine.

Anton and Jules

some buckets of harvested prosecco grapes showing the variation in ripeness between the east-facing and west-facing trellises. West for ripe fruit characters (apricots), and east for acidity and freshness (green tea).

Carozelli cucumbers! A secret of Silvio's. 'Eat them like an apple' - delicious.

BACKGROUND TO VINO D'AUGE

Italian grape varietals have been cultivated in Australia for over 50 years but have remained on the fringe of acceptance until now.
A few suggestions why;

improvements in clonal material that concentrates flavours and enhances finished wine-structure;

Growers are looking for alternatives out of curiosity and economic opportunism;

Many Australian wine makers experience vintages overseas returning home enthusiastic to experiment with different grape varietals and techniques and;

wine retailers and restaurants are challenged to provide their clientele with unique experiences.
This is where vino by Auge was born.

Adelaide's vibrant restaurant scene carries a heritage of creativity and drive. At Auge we strive to provide new and creative experiences.
Chef Tom Robinson focuses on reinterpreting Italian classics, sourcing the best produce possible.

My job as sommelier is to support Tom's food with a range of wines that heighten gastronomic and intellectual stimulation. To do this I focus on Italian wines and wines made from Italian varietals grown in Australia.

For 2009 the Vino d'Auge project is concentrating on utilising more 'italianate' wine-making techniques to create true Italo-Antipodean wines.

So what wines will be made?

For your aperitivo, we a making a dry and frothy PROSECCO. The prosecco vines are probably the oldest in the country and are cultivated by the charming Dal Cin family at Norton Summit in the Adelaide Hills. We'll make the prosecco using a true 'transfer method' to ensure that the wine retains fidelity to it's Venetian heritage.

To accompany your antipasti, we will again make SANGIOVESE ROSSATO. With the Dean family, their perfect plot of sangiovese in the Picadilly Valley (Adelaide Hills), and James Erskine's surperb precedent, we'll give an '09 expression to secco-style rossato.

With your secondi piatti et formaggi, may I recommend our NEBBIOLO SFORZATO. A truly exciting project based upon the majestic nebbiolos of Lombardy's Valtellina DOC. The role model for this wine is Nino Negri's 'Cinque Stelle' Sforzato (Thank you Maurizio Ugge for importing this wine ). Sforzato, meaning 'forced', are wines that have a component (or entirety) of grapes that are apassimento or rack-dried. The wine is fermented to dryness but retain a glycerol richness and resounding depth of flavour - typically the flavour is somewhere between Barolo and Amarone. I look forward to working with Tom Shobbrook and making Australia's first sforzato.

To create a diverse range of wines requires a diverse range of viticultural and winemaking expertise and experience. My role is as project co-ordinator, stylistic 'director', student, cellar hand and executive (read 'scape-goat' if my enthusiasm runs too far from my abilities!). The true blood in Vino d'Auge are the winemakers and grapegrowers whom have taken their time, passion and expertise to facilitate the project and to gently coach our fledgling efforts into truly unique vinous expressions.

A role call:

Thank you Arturo, Silvio and Jules of the Dal CIn Clan who form 'Team Prosecco'.

Thank you Judy and Duncan Dean of 'The Deanery' who provide the most beautiful sangiovese grapes outside of Tuscany

Thank you Tom Shobbrook for expertise in all things Italian - let's make the sforzato extraordinary.

Thank you Anton, Sally, and Lucy Van Klopper for all of the inspiration, hard work, expertise, laughs, vino et mangare. I hope it never ends!

Dave Scott
Auge
d.scott@auge.com.au

Monday, March 16, 2009

Vendemmia all' improvviso!

VINO D'AUGE PARTNERS

BACKGROUND TO VINO D'AUGE