Collective Barossa - Heritage, History and Wine.

Eighteen months on, and still going strong.

2011-08-03T13:54:00.004+09:30

Things have been very busy at Collective Barossa since April, as you can see from the lack of posts on this page. The team has still been working hard; vintage is over (Kurtz Family Vineyards and Gumpara Wines had a successful one, Karra Yerta not-so. For the first time in many years, not a single grape was picked from the old Eden Valley vineyard - you can read more about that at the Karra Yerta Wines blog), and the pruning is well underway. How time flies, when you're in the wine business!

We are all still having fun and enjoying pouring our wines for our customers. There's lots of laughs to be had, often, especially when there are a few of us behind the counter. After eighteen months, the team is really running like a well-oiled machine. It's great. We've each met some fabulous people - both customers and other people in the business. It's a very rewarding thing and our wines are not only travelling far and wide within Australia, but to many corners of the world. Inspirational!

It's still a tough time in the wine industry, for various reasons, but at Collective Barossa, Steve, Mark, James and I are committed to bringing our wines to the world, and love meeting our customers in person. If you are going past, do drop in. We've been having small groups visit us too, which is fantastic but please make sure that you make a booking so that we can go the extra yard to make your visit really special.

To keep on top of who's in-store serving, keep an eye on our Twitter account or our Facebook page as I post daily, usually. We have had a lot of our social media contacts come and see us in the shop and it's fabulous. Social media is kind of like having pen-pals and when someone introduces themselves as such and such (username), it's always a wonderful surprise:)

That's it for now, but if I get some spare time tomorrow, behind the counter, I'll post an update of staff changes and new items, new releases etc in the shop. It feels good to dust the cobwebs off the blogging keyboard:)

Cheers for now,
Marie

It's almost Vintage Festival time!

2011-04-08T02:12:00.005+09:30

On Easter Saturday, the 2011 Barossa Vintage Festival kicks off. This is one of Australia's biggest festivals and celebrates not only the end of harvest for the local wine industry, but our food, history and many other wonderful attractions that make the Barossa Valley so special.

At Collective Barossa, we will be celebrating too, despite the fact that vintage is about a month delayed, which means we will still be tending to grapes and wines, but somewhere in all of our busy schedules, we will make time for some fun, as is the Barossan way.

On Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, I will be joined by Shane Barker of The Lonely Grape, who will be showcasing some of the fabulous McLaren Vale wines alongside of our own Collective Barossa wines. This is a fabulous opportunity to taste the differences of terroir. Shane will have different wines from seven McLaren Vale wineries and the twenty-plus wines from the three Collective Barossa wineries will include some very special bottles - some new releases and even some very rare museum stock wines will be opened. It will be a great experience, and no doubt Shane and I will have a lot of fun, as we did on his last visit, late in 2010.

Thursday 28th April is Tanunda Town Day and we will have Mark or Steven (maybe both, if they have finished their grape-picking!) in-store and they will also be in-store on Saturday 1st May, so it's a great chance to meet the guys and have their own wines poured for you, with their own hands.

The Barossa Valley Archives and Historical Trust also have an Open Day on Tanunda Town Day, with morse code demonstrations, and will be showing historical films depicting Barossa scenes and events, concluding with supper, from Monday 25th April to Friday 29th April - 6pm to 8pm, each night. Cost - $6 per person.

We look forward to seeing you during the week! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Cheers for now,
Marie

I heard it through the grapevine....

2011-02-27T03:33:00.008+10:30

Vintage 2011 is just about upon us, so we are all gearing up for the busy months ahead. Mark found time between working in the Gumpara vineyard to attend the first ever State wine festival on February 25, 26 and 27 in Adelaide, Steven has been tending to his own vineyard and preparing for his vintage, James has been mowing and summer pruning the Karra Yerta vineyard before and after his full-time job, and I have been plugging away at all things shop orientated, with the help of the three guys on weekends.

We are all really busy, but happy with how things are going at Collective Barossa. In previous months we have had some fabulous visitors - various wine writers and other guests - and it's always fun for us to get together, often dragging our business meetings into the evening.

The passion of the people behind our counter is appreciated and recently we have received some amazing feedback, and we are most grateful, as it shows us that we are heading in the right direction. We do love what we do, and are glad that our customers and other visitors enjoy the time spent with us.

In 2011, we have lots of great plans yet to implement, but for the immediate future, we are all focussing on vintage and making more great wines for you to taste and buy. For the moment though, we are on our last stocks of Gumpara's 2007 Victor's Old Vine Shiraz, we have limited twin packs of the Kurtz Family Vineyards 2005 & 2006 Boundary Row Shiraz, and the Karra Yerta six pack verticals ('05 to '10 Eden Valley Riesling). The Karra Yerta 2010 Shiraz Grenache, which has been a big hit for summer, and only nineteen cases made in total, won't be around much longer either, so do pop in to see us, or phone and mail any orders through. We are happy to hold stock for up to a month for you:)

Cheers,
Marie

The Grape Escape!

2011-01-04T12:01:00.007+10:30

Now that the Christmas and New Year comings and goings have settled, I can finally catch up on some posts for the blogs that I write. This post is about a wonderful weekend (on November 21st and 22nd, 2010) that we had at Collective Barossa with a special guest who brought some amazing wines from another superb wine region of South Australia - McLaren Vale.

Shane Barker is a friend of mine from McLaren Vale who owns a business called The Lonely Grape and is an administrator of a website and Facebook page called Taste McLaren Vale. Through Collective Barossa, I promote a selection of smaller wineries from the Barossa, and Shane does the same with wineries from the McLaren Vale area. His finds are always of exceptional quality and value, and as a great fan of McLaren Vale, especially their grenache wines, I very much enjoy Shane coming to visit so that I can learn more about the wines from his region.

Having comparison tastings is one of the things I love to do at Collective Barossa, and we will be doing more of this in 2011. Comparison tastings are having the same varietals tasted alongside each other eg. McLaren Vale shiraz tasted alongside a Barossa Shiraz, McLaren Vale Grenache tasted alongside a Barosa Grenache etc.

Some of the wines that Shane showcased along-side of our Gumpara, Karra Yerta and Kurtz wines wereWillunga Creek 2007 Out for a Duck Cabernet, Thorpe Wines Sparkling Shiraz, Caught Red Handed 2008 Shiraz and Sabella Vineyards 2007 Shiraz. It was a fabulous selection and I enjoyed trying these wines as much as our customers did. How lucky are we to live in such a great state that has so many wonderful wines?

Cheers for now,
Marie

Collective Barossa Christmas Goodies!

2010-11-23T21:30:00.016+10:30

Yes, being only four weeks until Christmas Eve, you have permission to start panicking about Christmas. Most people are already in a frenzy and don't think about ways to make it an easier, more relaxed time. I do this by shopping locally for gifts as I cannot stand the madness of lobbing into crowded shopping centres with stressed-out customers.

Collective Barossa has a small but special selection of goodies for Christmas gifts, and you can have a taste of wine for free, while shopping! It doesn't get much better than that really.

Linda from Footeside Farm has come up with two lovely new ideas for Christmas: A small rustic Gift-Box which has macadamia oil and dukkah with a small dish for the oil. The second item is a Large Gift Basket which contains a bottle of Karra Yerta Wine (red and white wine packs avaiable), a jar of dukkah, macadamia oil, wattleseed cookies, a jar of Apricots in Port, a dish for the oil and two wine glasses, all beautifully presented on a woven cane-type platter.

For the serious wine lover, we have the Karra Yerta Wines Eden Valley Riesling six pack which includes the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 single vineyard wines at a bargain price. I can almost guarantee that you would not find another offer like that anywhere in Australia. Looking for something that no-one else will buy for your someone special, then look no further. The 2009 riesling received a Bronze Medal at the 2009 Canberra International Riesling Challenge and the 2010 riesling won Gold at the 2010 Canberra International Riesling Challenge. The other vintages were highly rated by various writers as well so the quality and value in this pack is second to none.

The very special three Gumpara Liqueurs are available in a quality gift-box and are a real taste of luxury for those who like a classy tipple. I find the liqueur semillon poured over vanilla icecream and fresh grapes delightful on a hot day. Christmas Day lunch dessert, perhaps...?

For the bookworm there is the Wine Companion, Adelaide Hills Magazine, Vinodiversity, Barossa Wine Traveller, or from the Museum book-store, a small but amazing collection of historical books/booklets.

Finally, the artwork that is on display is all for sale (aside from Tony's lovely Art Nouveau style mirror) and there are the delicious Gully Garden goodies. I am also hoping to have our first arrival of Collective Barossa wine glasses in time for Christmas. I'll keep you posted on that.

Much like the wines available at Collective Barossa, our range is not enormous but if you are seeking something unique at a great price, and don't want the hassle of dealing with crowds, then pop in and see what we have in-store, if only to taste the Sparkling Shiraz which is absolutely perfect with ham and turkey:)

Cheers for now,
Marie

Latest news and reviews! November 2010

2010-11-07T22:37:00.007+10:30

The past months have literally flown by, and subsequently, I have been tardy on updating the blogs that I write. So, the next month, before the busy Christmas Season starts, will be spent posting much information including events or goodies that will be put in place for the Festive Season.

I have updated the 'Wine List' and 'Medals & Awards' pages on this blog, tonight and here are a few of the latest reviews on the Gold Medal winning Karra Yerta 2010 Eden Valley Riesling:

http://winewilleatitself.blogspot.com/2010/10/2010-karra-yerta-riesling.html

http://www.ozwinereview.com/2010/10/karra-yerta-riesling-2010.html

http://fullpour.com/2010/10/karra-yerta-riesling-2010.html

Philip White rated this wine at 94+++ points with a cellar life of up to thirty years!

Karra Yerta has also released a six pack vertical of their rieslings, from and including the 2005 to 2010 vintages and this rare offering is available from Collective Barossa for $150 per six pack, plus delivery. Karra Yerta has also released a stunning new red wine, which has had minimal oak treatment; a 2010 Shiraz Grenache for $20 per bottle. With a lower alc/vol level of 13.5%, it is a perfect day-time red wine.

Gumpara Wines 2007 Victors Old Vine Shiraz stocks are getting low, as are the Kurtz Family Vineyards 2005 Boundary Row Shiraz. The Kurtz Family Vineyards 2006 Lunar Block is also available but stocks are extremely limited. The 96 point Halliday rating ensures that this wine is a sell-out every year, and due to the overwhelming demand, it is not available for tasting. New releases from both of these wineries will be available in the coming months.

Cheers for now,
Marie

Spring is in the air!

2010-08-27T14:44:00.005+09:30

As I sit at the lovely biedermeier table in the Collective Barossa shop, keyboard tapping away during my quiet times in between customers, the brightness of the daffodils in the vase on the table is a constant reminder that Spring is only a few days away.

The shop is looking rather colourful at the moment with the some of the Gully Gardens products now available - dried apricots, peaches and pears, dried fruit bars, yoghurt dipped apricots, dark chocolate dipped fruits and much more. These provide a nice contrast to the Footside Farm range of native foods. You can purchase some of the Gully Gardens or Footeside Farm products to enjoy in-store with a platter of Linke's German Smallgoods and cheese from the Barossa Valley Cheese Company. I'm really looking forward to the warmer weather and being able to open up the end room door of the shop, so that customers can sit in the intimate little bottom room and enjoy a glass of wine with some of the delicious local produce.

I'm totally loving being able to be creative and support some of the other micro-businesses in the region. The Barossa has so much to offer, and much like the three wineries in the Collective Barossa shop, the brands are not well-known so working together to promote our fine products, be it wine, native foods, fruit, meats and cheeses, is not only positive for the small businesses concerned, but also for the customers who are always learning about lesser known products that otherwise they may not have had the opportunity to discover.

The other very exciting news is that with every day that passes, we are getting closer to having our new releases available over the counter, for tasting and for purchase. Between the three wineries, we will have quite a few additions to the Collective Barossa range, and I think there will almost be something for everyone. There are so many things to look forward to, including some of the final renovations of the shop and fittings. It's taken eight months but there is light at the end of the tunnel and by all accounts, the hard work has been more than worth it:)

Changes being made to this blog.

2010-08-05T01:50:00.003+09:30

This is just a brief update to inform you that there are major revamps being made regarding this blog, which was formerly for Collective.

I am in the midst of moving some of the information from this blog to the new one which is specifically for Collective (as opposed to this one which will be primarily for the shop, Collective Barossa). The new blog for Collective is at http://collectivewineries.blogspot.com

Inevitably, some posts on both pages will be the same, but there will be many differences also. With the growth of the Collective Barossa shop, it was just time to make the break and separate the two entities in some form.

Whilst the two entities are still closely linked, they are two separate things and with the two blogs being kept separate, there will be less confusion for our customers, readers, and me (who writes three active blogs, has two blogs that are currently inactive (recreational writings as opposed to wine:) and has at least five Facebook pages to admin). It will also give me more freedom to write about Collective Barossa without filling up the Collective page. Perhaps even over time, the other members of Collective will post their own vintage reports, thoughts etc to give their own perspective on things, on the new Collective blog page. That would be fun and I am sure they would love it once they got the hang of it.

So for now, please bear with me while all the changes are being made - to this page, and the new one. I'll plug away and hopefully it won't be too long before all is as it should be:)

Cheers
Marie

Winter news and reviews!

2010-07-15T00:19:00.009+09:30

July is here, and the past months have been very busy, in every way, for all of the people involved with Collective Barossa. Pruning is well under way, some of our wines are being bottled, labels are being designed and in between, the jet-setting promotional work is well under way.

News from Collective Barossa is that the shop continues to grow in every way, and the support from our buyers continues to amaze me. There is always something happening and over the coming months, many exciting things are planned so for now, the best way to keep an eye on what is going on, is to bookmark the Collective Barossa Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Collective-Barossa/170955857806?ref=ts

Also, it has been the time for new releases and subsequent sending of samples to the press so here are a few links to the most recent reviews that some of the Collective Barossa wines have received. We are all incredibly inspired by seeing such encouraging reviews for our wines. Keep a watch, though, as there are many more reviews to come over the coming months:) Apologies for posting the links only, but there are far too many for me to add individually.

Karra Yerta Wines:

http://winewilleatitself.blogspot.com/2009/12/karra-yerta-sparkling-shiraz-nv.html

http://winewilleatitself.blogspot.com/2009/10/2009-karra-yerta-riesling.html

http://winewilleatitself.blogspot.com/2010/05/2005-karra-yerta-barossa-shiraz.html

http://fullpour.com/2010/05/karra-yerta-bullfrog-flat-eden.html

http://fullpour.com/2010/04/karra-yerta-barossa-shiraz-200.html

http://fullpour.com/2009/12/karra-yerta-sparkling-shiraz-n.html

http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/entertainment/karra-yerta-nv-flaxmans-valley-sparkling-shiraz/1714780.aspx

Kurtz Family Vineyards:

http://www.ozwinereview.com/2010/04/kurtz-boundary-row-grenache-shiraz.html

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Cheers for now, and feel free to contact us with any enquiries for any of the Collective Barossa wines via this page.

Cellar-bration Time! C'mon!

2010-04-29T00:51:00.004+09:30

The official opening of the Collective Barossa shop was held on Saturday April 10, on a typical Barossan autumn evening - cool with the odd shower, red wines abound, and warm, inviting food to replenish the soul.

Approximately fifty-five people attended and were able to indulge in their choice of almost thirty five different wines, whilst discussing the finer points of the bottles' contents with the winemakers from each of the four wineries.

Philip White, wine journalist, officiated for the night and spoke highly of the initiative used by the four families to join together to promote their brands. He was also impressed with the Barossa Museum and commended the Museum Committee on their efforts in preserving some of the Barossa's finest historical items.

Wayne from Smallfry, displayed his culinary skills in making an incredible paella which almost created a frenzy as the steaming pot was delivered into the room. A perfect feast for the cold Barossa evening, helped along of course by the abundant supplies of warming red wines.

The feedback from the evening was extremely positive and it gave many the opportunity to finally understand what the Collective is all about, and I am pleased to say, everyone was rather inspired by the concept of the families having hands-on roles in the shop and being accessible to the public. Now that vintage 2010 is over, the four guys will be popping into the shop more frequently so if you are keen to visit the shop to meet any of them in particular, please contact us so we can try to arrange that for you. We are passionate about our area, our wines, our heritage and are always happy to have a chat during the spare time that we are not working on our wines or vineyard.

We appreciate all of the support from so many in the industry and hope that we can continue to showcase our wines in the grass-roots manner that so far, has proved so fulfilling. Cheers to the future of the Australian wine industry, especially all of the little guys still out there willing to have a crack at it:)

Collective Barossa Wine list and awards/medals etc.

2010-03-26T18:12:00.005+10:30

WINES AVAILABLE FROM COLLECTIVE BAROSSA CELLAR DOOR

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS (2009 James Halliday 5 star winery)

2005 Lunar Block Shiraz SOLD OUT

2006 Boundary Row GSM

2005 Boundary Row Shiraz

2007 Seven Sleepers

KARRA YERTA WINES (2009 James Halliday 4 star winery)

2009 Eden Valley Riesling

2008 Eden Valley Riesling

2007 Eden Valley Riesling

2006 Eden Valley Riesling

2006 Shiraz Cabernet

2007 Shiraz Cabernet

2005 Bullfrog Flat (Eden Valley) Shiraz

NV Sparkling Shiraz (disgorged 2008)

NV Sparkling Shiraz (disgorged 2009)

GUMPARA WINES

2008 Old Vine Semillon

2007 Victor's Old Vine Shiraz

2009 Barossa Vermentino

2006 Reserve Shiraz

NV Tawny Grenache

NV Liqueur Frontignac

NV Liqueur Semillon

Please contact me for wine prices and delivery prices.
Wines are for sale in Australia only at this stage, sorry.

AWARDS AND MEDALS

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS 2007 Seven Sleepers Dry Red Blend - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2009 Barossa Wine Show

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS 2006 Boundary Road Shiraz - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2009 Barossa Wine Show

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS 2006 Boundary Road GSM - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2009 Barossa Wine Show

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS 2005 Boundary Row Shiraz - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2008 Barossa Wine Show

KURTZ FAMILY VINEYARDS 2006 Seven Sleepers - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2008 Barossa Wine Show

KARRA YERTA WINES 2006 Shiraz Cabernet - SILVER MEDAL @ 2009 Barossa Wine Show

KARRA YERTA WINES 2009 Eden Valley Riesling - BRONZE MEDAL @ 2009 Canberra International Riesling Challenge

KARRA YERTA WINES 2005 Barossa Shiraz - SILVER MEDAL @ 2008 San Francisco International Wine Show

GUMPARA 2008 Old Vine Semillon - SILVER MEDAL @ 2008 Barossa Wine Show

GUMPARA 2006 Victor's Old Vine Shiraz - SILVER MEDAL @ 2008 Barossa Wine Show

Vintage continues and a new website for the Barossa Museum is online

2010-02-27T14:27:00.011+10:30

All of the families of Collective Barossa are in the midst of Vintage 2010. A lot of the grapes on the Barossa floor are already off the vines and the Eden Valley vineyards are soon to be harvested. It really has been an odd, early, intense vintage.

The weather has been kind to the grapes (and the grape-pickers) with not many days in the high thirties/low forties so by all accounts, the 2010 wines should be sensational.

The Collective Barossa shop has been open for six weeks as of today, and still, the feedback has been incredible. So many customers have expressed their delight at being able to make the one stop and have access to four different wineries wines, thus saving time travelling around when their time is limited. Many also choose to visit the Museum to see the wonderful displays, and many of the international tourists who come specifically to see the Museum are walking out with bottles of wine in their hands to enjoy on their travels. It's all working out fabulously.

The Barossa Valley Archives and Historical Trust Committee have just created their own website for the Barossa Museum so to have a sneak preview at some of the incredible things you can see when you visit us personally, go to this link: http://www.barossamuseum.com.au/

Finding our feet, and harvesting as well!

2010-02-07T19:53:00.008+10:30

The Collective range of wines have now been officially available at the Collective Barossa shop for twenty-two days and what a great learning experience it has been, for us, and the visitors to the shop.

Many visitors now know of the four small wineries and are most impressed with the range and price of the wines available. It has shown us just how many people were unaware of our existence in the wine arena. The extra bonus is that being situated in the Museum, we also get to meet and showcase our wines to a high ratio of international visitors and that is always fun; discussing differences of tastes, preferences and perceptions (ie riesling is sweet etc).

We are really pleased to say that the feedback has been absolutely wonderful, even though we had some slightly rough days finding our feet and settling in. As in the past, we all enjoy working together and this enables the whole concept of a combined cellar door to fall easily into place. It's a fabulous experience for all of us. James, Mark, Wayne and Steve have all helped Marie out at various times over the counter and the customers are very appreciative of the fact that the actual winemakers are talking to them about the wine they are tasting. But best of all, the guys are really enjoying being able to talk to their customers about their wines. It is all working very well and can only get better after vintage when the guys will all have more time to spend in the shop.

On the vineyard fronts, each of us, in our own way, are in the midst of vintage. The bird nets have been put on the Eden Valley vineyards, the harvesting has begun on the Valley floor. It is a very busy time. The weather so far, has been relatively kind to us in regards to the harvest season and there is always a huge sense of relief when your grapes are picked and safely delivered to where the processing will begin. Fingers crossed, we will all have yet another bumper year.

Finally here are some of the latest photos of the Collective Barossa shop.

Taking care of business - Collective Barossa is officially open!

2010-01-19T22:50:00.022+10:30

We are exceptionally pleased to announce that the Collective Barossa wine-tasting and sales shop was officially opened on Saturday January 16, 2009. What a day to start with, it also being the annual Hot Rod Show day at Tanunda. It was an incredible experience for us all.

The photos below show what we started with, and the others show what we have achieved with the help of not only the Collective families but also many wonderful friends who were more than happy to work in forty degree plus temperatures to help us get ready to open. Good friends truly are priceless! The most heartfelt thanks go out to you all :)

At the time of writing this blog entry, Marie has just completed her fourth day of trading. Mark, James and Steve have all been assisting at various times, Wayne is coming in on Thursday, and the customers are loving having the actual winemakers present to showcase and talk about their wines. It really is rather spectacular to see some of the interactions happening. Museum visitors stop to taste the wines, and wine-tasters are enticed to venture into the grand old building to see the incredible display of historic German items. It seems to be a good marriage. There are still a few bumps to be ironed out, and some loose ends to tie up (ie painting, shelving and curtains etc) but all in all, we are up and away and things are looking very positive after the many months of incredibly hard work.

Some of the feedback already received has exceeded all of our expectations and has been inspirational. We feel strongly that in the coming months, as we settle in and find our feet, literally, that not only will we prosper but that we will also provide our visitors with an exclusive and personal experience and make many new friends. It is indeed an exciting time. Exhausting, but as we all know, life is about reaping rewards from hard work, and one thing that Collective, and Marie (in regards to the setting up and licensing of the shop) have done, is work incredibly hard to bring our dream of a combined cellar door to reality which is now right here, happening, and receiving much appreciated support from the community and visitors alike.

We look forward to making many new friends and acquaintances in the coming months. Collective Barossa is open seven days a week from 11am to 5pm. Call Marie on 0438870178 for any enquiries regarding the tasting room or the Museum. Our address is 47 Murray Street, at the southern end of Tanunda (opposite the Tanunda Courthouse)

Exciting news for Collective!

2009-12-19T10:52:00.013+10:30

Over the past four months Marie has been busy applying for a liquor licence to open a shop in Tanunda where all of the Collective wineries will have their wines permanently available for tasting and sale of sealed bottles. We are thrilled to announce that after a few hiccups, her licence was granted yesterday and thus, the shop will be open very soon.

The shop will be situated in the front room of the Barossa Museum at the southern end of the main street of Tanunda. Formerly the old Telegraph Station, this heritage listed two storey historical building provides the perfect background for the Collective wineries. Both businesses will compliment each other i.e. the Museum houses one of the best historical displays in Australia of furniture, clothing, tools and knick-knacks from the early settlers of the Barossa in the mid eighteen hundreds, and Collective, as you already know, is a group of small family wineries whose ancestors were some of the original settlers of the Barossa. The concept is to tie both things together and provide tourists and locals with a total heritage experience.

As a bonus, it will also enable our mailing list customers, and other visitors to meet and speak with the families behind the Collective labels as they will be popping in regularly (aside from Vintage when it may be hard to find any of our winemakers for obvious reasons), and sometimes even taking over in the shop for the day here and there, as time permits, to give Marie a day off. We all feel that meeting our customers is an important part of our business philosophies and love nothing more than to have a chat about our wines and tell you the stories behind them. That is the heart and soul of the Barossa - the personalities in it, and the stories they tell, so we look forward to sharing some of these with you in the shop.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all from us here at Collective. We look forward to having you visit us in 2010!

News article from The Mercury

2009-11-08T15:07:00.008+10:30

Here is a recent article in the Tasmanian newspaper The Mercury about Mark and Steve's recent visit to Tasmania for the Field Blend wine dinner.

Recent Ratings and Awards - September/October 2009

2009-10-14T13:21:00.007+10:30

The months of September and October have been incredibly busy again for all of The Collective. Mark has started summer pruning in the Gumpara vineyard, Wayne has gone to Brisbane this week for a function promoting Smallfry at Bar Barossa and James has been grafting vines in the Karra Yerta vineyard. Next week Mark (Gumpara) and Steve (Kurtz Family Vineyards) are off to Tasmania for a function with Field Blend, and Marie has just returned from Melbourne for a visit with Karra Yerta's Victorian distributor. Karra Yerta has also received some amazing reviews over the past month - you can read them here.

It seems that every week, one of the group is interstate which must be a good thing, and each winery is having much success with their respective sales. It is still a very hard market to be in but all of our products are standing in very good stead.

September was a huge month for most of us. Two local events kept us on our toes. The first was the Taste of Spring Eden Valley Riesling tasting held at the Eden Valley Institute where over seventy-five different Eden Valley Rieslings were on show to media, journalists and the wineries. What an incredible day. It was inspirational to not only see all of the rieslings laid out on the tables but also to taste the differences (and similarities) between the varying terroir of the region. A lunch catered by Gill Radford of Radford Wines complemented the wines perfectly. Smallfry and Karra Yerta provided three rieslings each at the tasting and they were all very well received.

Later on in the same week, it was the 2009 Barossa Wine Show. This is one of the state's most prestigious events and the following is a list of which Collective wines won medals:

Silver Medal (Class 16)
Karra Yerta Wines 2006 Shiraz Cabernet

Bronze Medal (Class 11)
Kurtz Family Vineyard 2006 Boundary Road Shiraz

Bronze Medal (Class 15)
Kurtz Family Vineyard 2006 Boundary Road GSM

Bronze Medal (Class 16)
Kurtz Family Vineyard 2007 Seven Sleepers Dry Red Blend

Bronze Medal (Class 6)
Smallfry Wines - 2009 Smallfry Eden Valley Rose'

POSTSCRIPT: Karra Yerta Wines also won a Bronze Medal for their 2009 Eden Valley Riesling at the 2009 Canberra International Riesling Challenge on October 18, 2009.

Budburst, books and barramundi...

2009-08-30T13:18:00.008+09:30

The Collective group have spent the past months busily working in their respective vineyards; pruning and tie-ing on the vines, and Steve and Wayne have also been jet-setting around the East Coast of Australia doing winter sales trips. All in all, the month of August has been a very productive one for all of us in our own ways.

Although there's very little time to relax at this time of year, last week Mark and Steve managed to get away from it all on a week long fishing trip to the Northern Territory on a hunt for barramundi (the rest of us are awaiting a call to let us know when to pick up our share:). Hopefully they made it through unscathed and didn't manage to have any close encounters with the crocodiles whilst in their dinghy.

Wayne and Marie took a few hours out of their schedules to attend the official launch of Tyson Stelzer and Grant Dodd's new wine book "Barossa Wine Traveller" which was held at the Barossa Wine and Tourism Association on Friday 28th August. The book is a more personal guide to tasting the best of the Barossa with many quotes from the winemakers and all four of our Collective wineries are featured in it. To order please go to this link: Barossa Wine Traveller. At only $19.95 it has to be one of the best value wine books around! The photo below is of Tyson, Grant and Wayne at the launch.

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

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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.

A Collective visit to Queensland

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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 one of his photographs from the weekend on this page.

Recent Ratings and Awards - June/July 2009

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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.

Barossa At Home review

2009-07-07T11:47:00.001+09:30

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”.

Barossa At Home events update

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

Three of the 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
To make bookings please phone Marie on 0438870178 or send an email to jmlinke(at)bigpond.com or karrayertawines(at)gmail.com

A Field Blend of our wines in Tasmania

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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.

Vintage and Events update

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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.

Welcome to the Collective blog

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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 collectivebarossa@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