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?Wine sells on its traditions, but depends on contemporary technology?.
That might be a casual wine drinker's simplification of the winemaking revolution which has transformed the Australian industry and made it a huge export earner. A family always willing to experiment, three generations of the Hickinbothams are written into the Australian wine story. First was 'Old Hick', who started the wine course at Roseworthy College in Adelaide. His son Ian, now 74, is a legend with over half a century in the business, back to his days as winemaker at Wynns Coonawarra, and innovations with white and sparkling wines. He is still busy as writer and critic. Ian's son Andrew did a BSc at La Trobe (where he met his wife Terryn, a botanist) and then studied oenology at Dijon University in Burgundy. From his observations in France, he believed Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier would thrive in the Peninsula's cool climate. As a consultant, he introduced them to 26 local vineyards. For the family vineyard, Andrew and Terryn found an ideal site, with highway access for cellar door sales and lunches. The winery and restaurant, built from recycled materials, still display traditional winemaking; you will see oak barrel fermentation of chardonnay, seeking particular characteristics. There are also the stainless steel fermentation vats now common to most wineries. But many visitors are bemused to see wine fermenting in scores of large 1,000 litre plastic bags within wooden crates. 'The three-layered polymer bags, permeable to oxygen, are our natural progression from Stephen's carbonic maceration,' Andrew says. 'Very little romance, but it works, and cuts a huge amount of labour out of winemaking. Anything you can ferment in stainless steel will yield the same, and often better characters in a FermentaBagTM. 'Our latest estimate is that the cost of production is around seven per cent of conventional winemaking.
Hickinbotham of Dromana - the art and science of winemaking
Hickinbotham of Dromana is a place to enjoy the best local wine, food and music and imbibe some of the history of winemaking in Australia. Andrew Hickinbotham's grandfather, Alan, developed pH control for wine makers and was instrumental in establishing Australia's first wine growing (oenology) course at Roseworthy College, South Australia. Andrew's father, Ian, developed the now famous Wynns Coonawarra Estate Wines, carbonation methods, and the Kaiser Stuhl stable. Andrew Hickinbotham has developed three new vine growing methods, a new Australian grape variety, Taminga, and more recently, a revolutionary fermentation process for small wineries and home winemakers. As a consultant, he planted vineyards on the Bellarine Peninsula and many of the early vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula. Hickinbotham also has a passion for new exotic wines - strawberry champagnes or spicy mango and Maraschino liqueurs. He was the first wine maker on the Peninsula to make fine cider from local Red Hill apples. "I don't call that an innovation - I call that a necessity," he says. Because of the hangovers and allergies caused by additives, Hickinbotham believes organic methods are the next challenge for independent wine growers. He already uses fewer additives than most wine makers in Australia, without sacrificing palate, and leads the way in exploring organic growing methods. Hickinbotham says simply, "I try to make wine as much as possible from grapes." The cellar door is as good a blend as any of Hickinbotham's wines. Made from parts of an old school gymnasium and a hall, it boasts a bar made from a wooden state bank counter, cobbled brick floors, and a booming open fireplace. Outdoors, among the gum trees, there are barbecues, a museum and a children's play area. Indoors, there is live music and a lively atmosphere all year round.
Mornington Peninsula wineries
There are over 170 small vineyards and 40 cellar doors on the Mornington Peninsula, all within a short drive of each other, and some of the most beautiful beaches in Australia. The climate of the Mornington Peninsula is cool and clear (compared to the drier western and humid northern grape growing regions in Australia). Cooler climates produce lighter, finer and more complex wines. Warmer climates produce richer fruitier and sweeter flavours. The Mornington Peninsula is famous for its crisp, clear and elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. Sauvignon Blanc, Taminga, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are also specialities. Late ripening and long gentle Autumns produce ripe grapes with intense varietal flavours, high natural acidity and fine tannins in reds. The Pinot Noir (meaning "black pine") wines have a spicy ageing complexity and the Chardonnays often have a distinctive peach and honey flavour. Almost all the wineries on the Mornington Peninsula produce wines made from local grapes. Most vineyards are now over 15 years old and are therefore producing their best wines. Andrew Hickinbotham says his Pinots have grown in richness and complexity every year. Today over 85 per cent of wine in Australia is made by less than ten percent of the country's wineries and the remaining diversity is diminishing. This means that most Australian wines have no distinctive regional or varietal character. Small wineries can also afford to adopt organic growing methods and use fewer preservatives. They tend to have higher quality yields and to squeeze only the best juice, the first crush, from the grape. Smaller wineries also attend more detail to their wines. The cellar doors with restaurants on the Mornington Peninsula tend to provide menus that use local food produce as well. Mornington Peninsula wineries allow you to sample the newest combinations of local food and wine.