Recent Ratings and Awards - July/August 2009 (Wine Companion 2010)

(Originally posted on Thursday July 30, 2009)

We are thrilled to announce that our two largest wineries - Smallfry Wines and Kurtz Family Vineyards - have both been awarded a five star rating in the 2010 James Halliday Wine Companion.

Smallfry also received an extra gong for being named as one of the "Ten Dark Horses" (Ten of the best of the best wineries).

Absolutely fabulous news and not an easy task, as for a winery to get a five star rating they must usually have submitted at least two wines in the previous year that are above average standard (94 points or above).

Smallfry submitted these wines in the past year:
Eden Valley Cabernet Grenache Rose 2008 - Rated 94 points
Barossa Semillon 2008 - Rated 94 points
Eden Valley Red Blend 2007 - Rated 92 points
Barossa Grenache 2007 - Rated 91 points
Eden Valley Riesling 2008 - Rated 90 points

Kurtz Family Vineyards submitted the following wines:
Lunar Block Individual Vineyard Barossa Valley Shiraz 2004 - Rated 95 points
Lunar Block Individual Vineyard Barossa Valley Shiraz 2005 - Rated 94 points
Boundary Row Barossa Valley Shiraz 2006 - Rated 93 points
Boundary Row Barossa Valley Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2006 - Rated 93 points

Karra Yerta submitted one wine only and was rated four stars:
Limited Release Eden Valley Riesling 2008 - Rated 92 points

Gumpara do not have a rating as no wines were submitted this year.

As you can see from the above, our range of wines is of a brilliant standard and it is always good to see that fact acknowledged. There is still a glut in the market but it does keep us all encouraged when we see such accolades coming in from the press. Congratulations to Steve, Wayne and Suzi! Wayne is featured in the article below.

Regards,
Marie Linke

A Collective visit to Queensland

(Originally posted on Thursday July 30, 2009)

Three of the Collective wineries, Karra Yerta, Smallfry and Kurtz Family Vineyards spent the past weekend in Brisbane attending two tastings and a formal dinner organised by Purple Palate for the purpose of promoting their new business venture, Bar Barossa.

Over the three days, almost one thousand people were able to meet the winemakers from twenty-five different wineries and sample a good range of the wines produced in the Barossa and Eden Valleys. By all accounts it was a very successful trip and the Collective winemakers, James Linke, Wayne Ahrens and Steven Kurtz returned to the Barossa this week feeling inspired and positive about our future business prospects with Purple Palate, and in Queensland generally.

It is not often that such a large contingent of winemakers travel interstate for the one function and the organisation required to do so was enormous. Well done to the Purple Palate gang on doing such a fine job of making our winemakers feel at home and ensuring that each of the three events ran smoothly. Special thanks to Darren Davis for allowing us to use some of his photographs from the weekend on this page.

Regards,
Marie Linke

Recent Ratings and Awards - June/July 2009

(Originally posted on Sunday July 19, 2009)

Smallfry Wines recently received two awards at the recent Hong Kong International Wine Challenge: A Seal of Approval for the 2008 Eden Valley Riesling and a Bronze Award in the Wine Pairing with Traditional Sichuan Cuisine for their 2008 Eden Valley Rose'.'

Smallfry also received a Bronze Medal for their 2006 Eden Valley Riesling and 2009 Barossa Riesling in the 2009 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards.

Karra Yerta Wines 2008 Eden Valley Riesling was recently rated at 92 points and 4 & 1/2 glasses from James Halliday. The full review will be in the 2010 Wine Companion.

Regards,
Marie Linke

Barossa At Home review

(Originally posted on Tuesday July 7, 2009)

The first Barossa At Home weekend, held on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June provided an opportunity for the small group of Collective wineries; Gumpara Wines, Karra Yerta Wines, Kurtz Family Vineyards and Smallfry Wines, to showcase their impressive range of quality Barossa and Eden Valley wines.

Gumpara Wines and Kurtz Family Vineyards joined Karra Yerta Wines to hold a combined wine-tasting in the old Karra Yerta Wines red-gum stable at Flaxman’s Valley.

A selection of artwork from The Bethany Art Group adorned the walls of the Karra Yerta stable and provided an interesting conversation point for visitors. Bethany Art Group teacher Mr. Tony Haines said “The members of the Art Group appreciated the opportunity to display their work at Karra Yerta and were pleased to be a part of the Barossa At Home event.”

Smallfry opened their cellar door in Angaston for the entire weekend and also hosted an intimate dinner on the Saturday evening. Proprietor Wayne Ahrens said “This event gave us a real opportunity to show our wines with food. We have developed a range of wines very much with enjoyment with food in mind so to show them in that context shows them in their best light”.

Regards,
Marie Linke

Barossa At Home events update

(Originally posted on Wednesday May 29, 2009)

Collective is participating in the Barossa At Home events on the weekend of June 27 and 28.

Smallfry wines are hosting their own Intimate Dinner in their Cellar Door at Murray Street in Angaston on the Saturday night from 6pm.

Smallfry's dinner will include food from their farm and garden: a three course Slow Food Dinner plus cheese with wine including a few extra surprises. Some museum stock will be available for tasting. A maximum of six guests at $120 per person. Smallfry is also open for Exclusive Tastings on both days from 11am to 3pm (no cost). To make a booking please phone Wayne on 0413011697 or email Suzi at suzi(at)smallfrywines.com.au

The other three Collective wineries, Karra Yerta, Gumpara and Kurtz Family Vineyards have joined together to host tastings and a dinner in the old Karra Yerta red-gum stable at Flaxman's Valley.

Winemakers James Linke, Mark Mader and Steven Kurtz will be present at the Exclusive Tastings on the Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm (cost $5 per person) and also at the Intimate Dinner which will be held from 6pm. This dinner is $100 per person and includes a four course meal and tastings of museum stocks from the three wineries.

For more comprehensive information regarding the tastings and dinner at Karra Yerta (including the menu choices available) please go to http://karrayertawines.blogspot.com/2009/05/barossa-at-home-update-june-27-28-2009.html

Regards,
Marie Linke

A Field Blend of our wines in Tasmania

(Originally posted on Wednesday March 25, 2009)

The 2009 vintage has been an exceptionally busy one for all of the Collective wineries. Some of us are preparing to bottle our white wines, and others are purchasing barrels to transfer red wines into. We have all had successful crops and are certain that our wines will again be of the highest quality this year. I hope to post some brief vintage reports in future blog entries.

Each of us is continuing on our individual paths but here is a snippet of exciting news which involves all of us. A new business venture in Tasmania called Field Blend has recently come online. The two men behind Field Blend are William and Michael Frost. Both men had a long held passion for wines and saw a need for making access to small producing, low yield artisan wines easier and more confidence-inspiring. Through their website they are giving people this opportunity. Each of the Collective group are looking forward to working with the Frosts.

A special visitor to the Barossa this week was UK wine-writer Andrew Jefford who is based in Adelaide for twelve months. John and Jan Angas hosted an intimate dinner for Andrew at their winery, Hutton Vale. Two members of Collective attended - Wayne from Smallfry and James from Karra Yerta, along with representatives of four other Eden Valley small wineries.

Over the coming months some of us are attending dinners in other states plus organising our own Barossa At Home events so things are still really busy but there is no doubt that we are all starting to see the rewards of many years hard work.

Regards,
Marie Linke

Vintage and Event updates

(Originally posted on Wednesday March 25, 2009 - NB some of the information has been edited for this re-post)

Each of the Collective wineries are in the middle of vintage. It is a very hectic time but I am pleased to report that we have all managed to harvest most of our crops at the moment and that whilst the quantity may be down, the quality is terrific.

The four of us were recently featured in an article in the Wine Business Magazine in the trade section (WBM Top 100) along with other smaller wineries from the Barossa. It was great fun participating in the article and an added bonus was that we were able to meet those we didn't know as yet and taste more fabulous wines.

In about three weeks time (Easter Monday) the 2009 Barossa Valley Vintage Festival will kick off. This is always a wonderful time to visit the Barossa to see fabulous heritage displays and enjoy some of our fine regional food and wine.

The Barossa Wine and Tourism Association has created a new Barossa event. Barossa At Home will enable guests to have dinner and wines with the people behind the wineries in the winemakers homes. Guest numbers will be strictly limited. Small Fry Wines are having their own dinner at their cellar door in Angaston and the remaining three of us, Gumpara, Kurtz and Karra Yerta will be combining for a dinner in Karra Yerta's old red gum stable. Please email me for more information or bookmark this blog as I will post information on confirmation of details.

Regards,
Marie Linke

Welcome to the Collective blog

(Originally posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - NB some of the information has been edited for this re-post)
 

The idea of almalgamating a small group of family-owned boutique wineries evolved over a number of barbeques and get-togethers where much fine Barossa food and many wines were consumed.

Each family felt that we had something rather special in our hands with our individual small brands of wines and although each winery was finding its place in the market, there were still products that many people had not tasted, let alone purchased. Only one member of our group had a cellar door (Smallfry) and the rest of us sold our wines through retail outlets or by mail-order.

When all of our wines were put on the table, we realised what a comprehensive and enticing range of wines we had produced. Between us we had the finest Eden Valley Rieslings, amazing Barossa Shirazes and other reds, delicious rose's and dessert wines (see the list on the right hand side of the page). Our portfolio was certainly something to be admired and subsequently, after analysing our own individual places in the industry and doing some brain-storming, we realised the main thing that we had in common (other than our passion for the Barossa and making wines from the area) was our heritage - all of our families were some of the very first settlers to arrive in the Barossa in the 1840's.

So Collective was born. We have all known each other for many years and have helped each other with many aspects of the processes involved in making wine such as putting bird-netting on vines, hand-picking each other's grapes and even sharing crops to prevent wastage in the current economic situation.

The first Collective function was held last weekend and we received very positive feedback from everyone who attended so feel very positive about working together in the future.

Please email us at collectivewineries@gmail.com for more information on our wines or to be on our mailing list for future events.

Cheers,
James & Marie Linke, Mark Mader, Wayne Ahrens and Steven Kurtz