By John Rozentals.
A riesling master, John Vickery, and his apprentice, Keeda Zilm.
I well remember being warned by my Senior Lecturer, Andrew Birks — himself a fastidious bastard — to make sure that I wiped my feet as I entered John Vickery’s Coonawarra winery back in the 1970s as part of a college excursion, and to leave the winery as spotless as when I entered it.
It was the sort of reputation that John carried with him, and he was indeed a legend of Australian winemaking, especially of riesling, a winemaker who was instrumental in cementing the leading roles of South Australia’s Clare and Eden Valleys as the kingpins of the variety in this country, and who had been judged by his peers in 2003 as Australia’s Greatest Living Winemaker.
Yet it was neither of those towering achievements that Vickery considers as his greatest contribution to Australian winemaking.
That’s reserved for his decison to bottle the 1998 Richmond Grove Watervale and Barossa Rieslings under screwcap — a decision which helped to undoubtedly and very much for the better change the way in which Australian winemakers sealed their precious product.
Vickery helped change the Australian wine industry — and ultimately the world wine industry — for good and for ever. And so say all of us.
These days, the Vickery mantle is largely occupied by the youthful Keeda Zilm, who had begun her attchment to winemaking as a cellarhand in the Clare Valley with O’Leary Walker Wines and had subsequentally graduated in oenology from the University of Adelaide.
She’s now looking after the wares of an Australian riesling master. Just make sure you keep your boots clean.
WINE REVIEWS
Vickery 2019 Watervale Riesling ($23): I, like I’m sure will most punters, love the floral, chalky and citrus notes that this relatively soft, round white is playing. It’s a great wine that almost any other time would easily make Wine of the Week. I’ll be drinking mine with freshly grilled bream, though John Vickery suggests Vietnamese chicken, served with roasted coconut, peanuts and lime.
Vickery 2019 Eden Valley Riesling ($23): I’m not surprised that scribes such as Halliday, Hooke and Allen chose this above the previous. It certainly has the leanness and minerality to appeal, though to me it’s still just a bit too lean. Look for intestity and a burst of citrus. I inevitably think of seafood when I think of riesling. Drink this one with freshly opened fresh oysters, or, as Vickery suggests, with prawn-and-lemon linguini.
WINE OF THE WEEK:
Shaw Wines 2019 Reserve Semillon ($40): I’m pleased that Murrumbateman grapegrower and winemaker Graeme Shaw is doing his happy dance among rows of his semillon vines, just as I’m pleased he has been able to choose the white variety for use as his Reserve wine for the first time since 2015. It’s a lovely dry white and, as Graeme says in his release notes, just jumps out of the glass. The wine is complex and multi-layered and potentially very long-living. Drink with quite richly sauced pork, chook or seafood.
