This week I had my first excursion out to the Barossa – famed for it’s high alcohol, bold Shiraz. However, I was out there to visit a very different kind of winery that’s been breaking with Barossa tradition and putting terroir first to deliver wines that speak to the uniqueness of the land…
A new story on an old place
Alkina, Barossa Valley
Alkina was established in 2015 by Argentinian businessman Alejandro Bulgheroni who wanted to add Australia, and the Barossa in particular, to his book of international, sustainable vineyards (he also owns wineries in Uruguay, Argentina, Italy, France and the US). He bought an existing site with 70 year old vines and a few buildings that were in need of some serious upgrading and tasked Amelia Nolan, a South Australian with an international wine career, to bring the place back to life.
Over the past six years the place has been transformed. The team at Alkina have carefully restored the traditional buildings on the land to create ‘a village’ containing a beautiful guesthouse, cottage, stunning tasting room with Mediterranean-style courtyard and of course the winery itself.
But it’s the vineyard and the land beneath our feet that’s been the team’s real focus. Terroir expert Pedro Parra, a Chilean who has worked across Europe, North and South America and who has a PhD in Terroir Viticole was brought in. Pedro used the latest technology to map the soils and rock across the vineyard to really understand the land and its potential. What he unearthed, literally – he also dug some pits in the vineyard, was that the predominant bedrock material in the vineyard is schist, with patches of limestone, clay and even iron present. He was then able to map these different areas in the vineyard according to geological patches creating distinct zones or polygons. From there the team made wine according to these polygons to understand the results in terms of wine characteristics. The results were worth it with real variation according to where the grapes were grown creating individual styles that could then be blended or kept as unique wines in their own right (see a bit further down for tasting notes!).
The vineyard itself is organic and biodynamic and the team have a real focus on regenerative farming. They have developed management practices to improve soil health and microbiology, water management, vine health and overall biodiversity. The wines are made under the guidance of acclaimed winemaker Alberto Antonini who truly believes in minimal intervention winemaking, letting the natural product speak for itself. The whole team view their winemaking role more as caretakers, bringing out the best reflection of the land through the fruit it produces.
A human’s influence is relevant for a short time, but the land is timeless if we look after it.
Alkina, Barossa Valley
The Wines
Alkina Terroir Wines
Three single wines are created from the sites defined by the geological Polygons and it is fascinating to taste and understand the difference.
Polygon 3: Grenache grown on the very rare combination of schist/ limestone soil – the limestone has the effect of cooling the wine and adding minerality, it’s beautifully elegant and fresh.
Polygon 5: by contrast this Grenache is grown on pure metamorphic Schist and that energy, concentration and power truly comes through in the wine
Polygon 1: this is old vine Syrah and all about the Schist from the most stony and rocky part of the vineyard – lovely dark fruit, very long and well rounded
The range is completed by the Old Quarter which combines polygon parcels to create Alkina’s flagship wine representing a gorgeous expression of old vine blocks. This is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Matarro. Delicious fruit, lovely and smooth with a really robust profile.
Kin Range
They also make a beautiful ‘Kin’ range – created to reflect the patchwork of blocks across the estate and to celebrate ‘the kin’ or the people who have worked so hard to re-build this beautiful place. My two favourites were:
Kin Rosé – a lovely rose, really crisp with layers of rhubarb and rose. The wines are made in concrete tulips which helps to build textural interest and structure into the wines, so hard to do for rosé, this wine was deliciously dry with so much flavour.
Kin Grenache – whole bunch fermentation takes the heat out of this typically sweet grape variety creating a sophisticated, savoury red wine that is bright, fresh with lovely structure
For details of all the wines click here.
This is a stunning place that is going to new depths to understand how terroir can influence our wines. You can find out more and experience it for yourself by booking a Rock Hammer Experience Lunch or a Polygon Tasting Experience.
The tasting room is open from Friday – Monday, details of the wine flights and visitor experiences can be found here. All the wine flights are served with San Danielle prosciutto, 18 month comte cheese and locally made bread – what could be a better accompaniment!
