jamie goode's wine blog

Tuesday, September 12, 2006


Steve Webber of De Bortoli was one of the many interesting people I met in the Yarra Valley, earlier this year. He's genuinely passionate about what he does, he loves wine, and he's prepared to experiment. Note the chalked inscription on the barrel to his right. There was another labelled 'Cornas', which may have been the best Aussie Syrah I've yet tasted. Whatever people say about overproduction, Aussie wine is thriving at the high end because of winegrowers like Steve who are trying to push the boundaries a bit.

6 Comments:

At 9:14 PM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

I liked their 2003 Pinot Noir - particularly the Reserve bottling. The Cornas sounds fascinating!

 
At 9:32 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

De Bortoli are on a roll at the moment. Steve is doing great things with Pinot Noir. Chardonnays are smart, too. The Cornas was brilliant: fermented with stems, tasting for all the world like something from the Rhone with a lovely spicy structure. Sadly, just one barrel and will not be released, although if I could I'd love to buy a sixpack - Steve, if you are listening?

 
At 11:57 AM, Anonymous Nick Dymoke-Marr said...

Steve Webber is a great guy and the team at de Bortoli have transformed the business over the past few years. They rightly deserve all the success they've had.

 
At 6:47 PM, Blogger Salil said...

Is the main De Bortoli winery in the Yarra, then? (I'd noticed one on the map when in the Hunter Valley, although that may have just been a tasting cellar)

Must keep that in mind - I'll probably be heading by the Yarra in late December, on either side of the Boxing Day test, so will definitely try and make a visit down to De Bortoli. Was an appointment with the winemaker necessary there (or arranged by press/etc)?

 
At 10:32 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

De Bortoli has a couple of centres, but the one to aim for is the Yarra operation which Steve fronts. They have a cellar door, and if you are in the vicinity of the Yarra, I'd recommend this as one of the stops - it always pays to contact the producer in advance making clear your interest, even if there's a cellar door.

While in the Yarra, make sure you visit the following:

De Bortoli
Domaine Chandon
Giant Steps/Innocent bystander
Yering Station
Yeringberg (for the history)
Coldstream Hills

 
At 4:55 AM, Blogger Salil said...

Thanks for the tip offs! I'm also keen on visiting the Hanging Rock winery outside Melbourne - don't know if I'll have time for all of that (maybe I ought to hope for a quick three day thrashing in the MCG test, which should free up two days :-)), but De Bortoli's very high on the list (especially as I didn't get a chance to stop by the one in the Hunter when there in June).

 

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