Dick Wettenhall with Daniel Andrews after The Gurdies’ 2017 chardonnay won the Premier’s trophy for best Victorian wine. Despite the gale-force winds, cold wet summers, kangaroos and currawongs, the winery somehow produced many award-winning wines. By Dick Wettenhall
I HAVE just passed an echidna and lace monitor (tree goanna!) meandering along the St Helier roadside, after visiting The Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve in search of Flying Duck Orchids. At last I have the time for this now that I have sold The Gurdies Winery.
A decade of working in the vineyard and making wine in this spectacular location has provided much to reflect on. As one of Gippsland’s oldest, the vineyard was established by dairy farmer Frank Cutler in 1982. His pioneering efforts led the Western Port Council to engage consultants to formally investigate the potential for commercial viticulture in region in 1987. The availability of cleared land with favourable topography and low frost exposure was viewed as compelling and, in the ensuing three decades, Bass Coast has become the home of several of Gippsland’s most recognised wineries.
I HAVE just passed an echidna and lace monitor (tree goanna!) meandering along the St Helier roadside, after visiting The Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve in search of Flying Duck Orchids. At last I have the time for this now that I have sold The Gurdies Winery.
A decade of working in the vineyard and making wine in this spectacular location has provided much to reflect on. As one of Gippsland’s oldest, the vineyard was established by dairy farmer Frank Cutler in 1982. His pioneering efforts led the Western Port Council to engage consultants to formally investigate the potential for commercial viticulture in region in 1987. The availability of cleared land with favourable topography and low frost exposure was viewed as compelling and, in the ensuing three decades, Bass Coast has become the home of several of Gippsland’s most recognised wineries.
The consultants’ report noted that adverse summer weather posed risks for commercial viticulture. Little did I know the extent to which these risks were understated and that I would spend much of the next ten years lamenting crop losses due to poor fruit-set caused by strong winds, insufficient sunshine and heat for optimal grape ripening and crop-destroying fungal infections associated with excessive periods of rain and humidity. And then there were the crop-ravaging birds!
With a spectacular view over Western Port and a wildlife corridor, The Gurdies Winery is a
popular spot for picnics.
popular spot for picnics.
Seasons are relived through tasting the wines, with each wine telling the story of the successes, trials and tribulations of individual vintages.
The incredible 2013 season delivered warm dry summer weather conditions optimal for red wines, including a gold medal winning Merlot. But seasons with less favourable weather also produced reasonable wine. For example, the very wet and cold 2011 vintage produced an interesting Shiraz, only medium bodied but rich in blackberry and white pepper characters. This wine was particularly well received by European visitors familiar with cool climate Shiraz (Syrah!), but not so much by local customers who generally preferred the relatively full-bodied jammier wines from the hotter 2013, 2015 and 2016 vintages.
The most interesting was the 2017 vintage which produced several major-award-winning wines. Cool and wet early summer conditions were perfect for the slow development of Riesling and Chardonnay. Such conditions are normally less favourable for red grapes. However, an unusually warm and sunny ‘Indian summer’ in April enabled the full ripening of both Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, giving rise to lovely wines with intense pepper, fruit flavours and lingering palate complexity.
The incredible 2013 season delivered warm dry summer weather conditions optimal for red wines, including a gold medal winning Merlot. But seasons with less favourable weather also produced reasonable wine. For example, the very wet and cold 2011 vintage produced an interesting Shiraz, only medium bodied but rich in blackberry and white pepper characters. This wine was particularly well received by European visitors familiar with cool climate Shiraz (Syrah!), but not so much by local customers who generally preferred the relatively full-bodied jammier wines from the hotter 2013, 2015 and 2016 vintages.
The most interesting was the 2017 vintage which produced several major-award-winning wines. Cool and wet early summer conditions were perfect for the slow development of Riesling and Chardonnay. Such conditions are normally less favourable for red grapes. However, an unusually warm and sunny ‘Indian summer’ in April enabled the full ripening of both Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, giving rise to lovely wines with intense pepper, fruit flavours and lingering palate complexity.
A recalcitrant Basil and some of the winery's many awards. Wine tastings also uncover many painful memories: For example, the nine days of above-35 degree heat that caused complete loss of leaves from Riesling vines before the 2016 harvest; the large oil slick leaked from the old wine press onto the Verdelho juice made into my first medal-winning wine; the large gecko lizard that crawled irretrievably into the batch of grapes used to make the well rated 2014 Pinot Noir; my dog Basil’s inebriation on white port from a leaking tank; the 2019 Riesling compromised by acetic acid-producing bacteria during the 18 hours it took to whole-bunch-press the record crop; and the memory of working through the night to repair kilometres of nets damaged by kangaroos and gale force winds to save the very ripe 2018 Shiraz from invading currawongs. So much for the romantic view of wine making!
My final 2020 season was the worst and will no doubt be the subject of nightmares for years to come! Cool and wet summer conditions and lack of sunshine severely retarded grape development, to the extent that most of the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon had to be abandoned. Riesling did better, with slow ripening conditions resulting in the lovely intense fruit flavours and acidity needed for a fine wine. But then disaster struck! The terrible Gippsland fires had driven many birds west in search of food. Never before had so many birds been seen in the vineyard. Parrots, ravens and currawongs inflicted the most damage. But even worse, in the final days before harvest, the sugary juice on the remaining bird-damaged grapes attracted a massive infestation of European wasps, resulting in 80% crop loss. A veritable tragedy for a wine maker who had lost his last chance to achieve the holy grail, the making of the perfect Riesling!
While vineyard events are paramount, the wine maker can do much to improve wine quality. For a start, he/she has a critical role in identifying the narrow grape-picking window for achieving optimal fruit flavour intensities, acidity and sugar content. Also, critically important are the choices of yeasts, or whether to ferment in barrels, or include whole grape bunches in the ferments, or macerate before adding yeasts. Matching oak with individual wine varieties is an acquired art. In this, I received a crash course from Marcus Satchel, after he discovered to his horror my purchase of American oak barrels for making Shiraz… the “never-use-American-oak-for-cool-climate-shiraz” reprimand was delivered with such effect that the barrels remain unused to this day!
I discovered rather belatedly that effective branding was key to wine sales. As a scientist, I assumed that quality wines would sell themselves once tasted and recognised by wine show judges. But despite many awards, wine sales had been generally modest. I had failed to appreciate the importance of the wine label. This changed after wine industry ‘friends’ unsubtly informed me that my self-designed wine labels were “the worst in Gippsland” and did not do justice to award-winning wines! I was introduced to talented designer Sarah Mangion, who embraced the idea of a new wine label based on my photos of native orchids and honeyeaters. A bonus would be the linking of wine branding with my great passion, the incredible wildlife in the nature reserves flanking the vineyard. The new labels were so well received that wine sales increased three-fold!
My final 2020 season was the worst and will no doubt be the subject of nightmares for years to come! Cool and wet summer conditions and lack of sunshine severely retarded grape development, to the extent that most of the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon had to be abandoned. Riesling did better, with slow ripening conditions resulting in the lovely intense fruit flavours and acidity needed for a fine wine. But then disaster struck! The terrible Gippsland fires had driven many birds west in search of food. Never before had so many birds been seen in the vineyard. Parrots, ravens and currawongs inflicted the most damage. But even worse, in the final days before harvest, the sugary juice on the remaining bird-damaged grapes attracted a massive infestation of European wasps, resulting in 80% crop loss. A veritable tragedy for a wine maker who had lost his last chance to achieve the holy grail, the making of the perfect Riesling!
While vineyard events are paramount, the wine maker can do much to improve wine quality. For a start, he/she has a critical role in identifying the narrow grape-picking window for achieving optimal fruit flavour intensities, acidity and sugar content. Also, critically important are the choices of yeasts, or whether to ferment in barrels, or include whole grape bunches in the ferments, or macerate before adding yeasts. Matching oak with individual wine varieties is an acquired art. In this, I received a crash course from Marcus Satchel, after he discovered to his horror my purchase of American oak barrels for making Shiraz… the “never-use-American-oak-for-cool-climate-shiraz” reprimand was delivered with such effect that the barrels remain unused to this day!
I discovered rather belatedly that effective branding was key to wine sales. As a scientist, I assumed that quality wines would sell themselves once tasted and recognised by wine show judges. But despite many awards, wine sales had been generally modest. I had failed to appreciate the importance of the wine label. This changed after wine industry ‘friends’ unsubtly informed me that my self-designed wine labels were “the worst in Gippsland” and did not do justice to award-winning wines! I was introduced to talented designer Sarah Mangion, who embraced the idea of a new wine label based on my photos of native orchids and honeyeaters. A bonus would be the linking of wine branding with my great passion, the incredible wildlife in the nature reserves flanking the vineyard. The new labels were so well received that wine sales increased three-fold!
The new wine labels featrured Dick's photos of orchids and birds.
While core winery operations occupied much of my time, the most satisfaction came from sharing the vineyard with local wildlife from the neighbouring forests and exploring ways in which synergies between viticulture and the forest dwellers can be harnessed to improve vine health and crop yield. The focus was on insects and birds which feed on the mites, caterpillars and snails living in the vines and inflicting considerable crop damage. To reduce this damage, the numbers of beneficial insects were increased by dispensing with insecticides and expanding areas of locally sourced native shrubs, thereby providing shelter for beneficial native birds and insects in close proximity with the vines.
Even more noteworthy, while working in the vineyard, I developed an acute awareness of the environmental significance of the neighbouring Gurdies and Hurdy Gurdy Nature Conservation Reserves and the important contribution the vineyard makes to the wildlife corridor linking them. This corridor has a broader significance in that it contributes to the overall network of precious remanent forests and other ecosystems surrounding Western Port Bay, as embraced by the Western Port Biosphere Project. This awareness prompted me to spend my final weeks at the winery (assisted by a grant from Melbourne Water and help from the Bass Coast Post editor!) planting native shrubs to provide additional cover for wildlife traversing the vineyard…The need for this was highlighted by the sight of three wedge tail eagles and several other birds of prey circling above while we planted!
Sadly, not all sectors of the community see the need for protecting these precious remanent forests. In this context, I have been appalled to learn of plans to extend sand mining in the Gurdies forest. Thankfully, concerned locals are lobbying the Bass Coast Shire and the State Government to restrict such developments in the future. Now that I am freed from the winery, I will have more time to contribute to this important cause!
Even more noteworthy, while working in the vineyard, I developed an acute awareness of the environmental significance of the neighbouring Gurdies and Hurdy Gurdy Nature Conservation Reserves and the important contribution the vineyard makes to the wildlife corridor linking them. This corridor has a broader significance in that it contributes to the overall network of precious remanent forests and other ecosystems surrounding Western Port Bay, as embraced by the Western Port Biosphere Project. This awareness prompted me to spend my final weeks at the winery (assisted by a grant from Melbourne Water and help from the Bass Coast Post editor!) planting native shrubs to provide additional cover for wildlife traversing the vineyard…The need for this was highlighted by the sight of three wedge tail eagles and several other birds of prey circling above while we planted!
Sadly, not all sectors of the community see the need for protecting these precious remanent forests. In this context, I have been appalled to learn of plans to extend sand mining in the Gurdies forest. Thankfully, concerned locals are lobbying the Bass Coast Shire and the State Government to restrict such developments in the future. Now that I am freed from the winery, I will have more time to contribute to this important cause!
 Purple bearded orchids, above, and flying duck orchids, right, inspired the new wine labels. Photos: Dick Wettenhall |  |