| Australia has taken the wine world by storm. Over the past decade, it has eaten up market share like a hungry wallaby and left European producers in their antipodean dust. The soft, easygoing wines bearing cute and cuddly names have changed how a new generation of wine drinkers think and talk about wine. Australian winemakers’ simplified approach to marketing and aggressive use of modern technology to craft the kind of wines North Americans love to drink has given them a market position that even the French now envy. Behind this fresh, new approach are some of the most innovative and creative wine minds in the world – a new generation of Australian winemaker that is highly motivated and free from the bureaucracy that shackles so many of their European counterparts. Australia has become a hotbed of fresh thinking and creative influence. Winemakers are no longer content to stay at home and relearn old knowledge – they’re seeking higher levels of education, travelling the world relentlessly and gathering information on how to best apply their craft back home.
At just 29 years of age, Ben Glaetzer is perhaps the epitome of the new generation winemaker. Before he was old enough to drink legally in Canada, he already had five vintages under his belt at the family estate and had even been commissioned to make wine as far away as Armenia. Winemaking is in Glaetzer’s blood – his family has been tending grapes in the Barossa since 1888. His father Colin crafted the famous wine E&E Black Pepper Shiraz and his uncle and two brothers are also winemakers. Glaetzer has never known any other career. He took over the family estate in 2002 and the changes have been dramatic. Wine critics who rarely gave the estate much serious consideration have suddenly propelled it into Australia’s elite class.
Never afraid to take a chance, Glaetzer has planted some of the most unexpected grapes in Australia. On a hunch, he decided to plant two relatively obscure grapes called Lagrein and Dolcetto, which had never been commercially produced in Australia before. In fact, they are rarely grown outside Northern Italy. His risk paid off, and his Heartland Dolcetto/Lagrein ($17.95) is one of the most innovative and successful wines to come out of Australia in recent times. It’s this sort of thinking and risk taking that has made the Glaetzer portfolio so exciting to watch.
Glaetzer’s benchmark wine Amon-Ra ($65) sells out hours after hitting the shelves in Alberta, and is listed among the greatest wines created in Australia. However, what really separates Glaetzer from his peers are his more modestly priced wines, that receive the same attention to detail as the high-end efforts. The Heartland Sticklebacks ($12.95) are among the fastest growing brands in our market – little wonder when you consider that less than 100,000 cases of these are produced annually, and they compete against wines that are cranked out in factory-like settings by the millions.
Today Glaetzer spends five months a year on the road making sure his wines are finding homes in top wine shops and restaurants and not being scooped up by ubiquitous super markets. He understands that you have to do more than make good wine – he wants to ensure that the people selling his wine share in his passion and vision. When his wines were awarded near-perfect scores from top wine critic Robert Parker, he didn’t jack up the prices like so many before him – instead he stayed the course and created a fan base that remains incredibly loyal today.
When Glaetzer is not on the road, he spends most of his time tending to his many vineyards. He, like most successful winemakers today, believes that growing great fruit is the key to making world-class wine. And, while his style is unique among Barossa wineries, his wines remain true to the land from which they came. What sets apart the Glaetzer wines is their underlying complexity and elegant grace. While the wines are powerful and satisfying, they manage to deliver their message without the overbearing oak and alcohol often associated with this region. They appear more elegant and less clumsy than their peers do.
Glaetzer is currently visiting Calgary to promote his wines at Wine Stage, an event that features independent wine shops and top restaurants in Calgary. He believes it is important to maintain the role of wine retailers hand-selling and promoting small producers. As the wine industry is under constant assault of homogenization from giant corporations, it’s nice to see such a passionate response from one of the leaders of fine wine production in Australia. |
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