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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-14 Daily Xml
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McLAREN VALE WINE REGION

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:39): I rise today to congratulate a constituent from the seat of Mawson, Mr Michael Fragos, the chief winemaker at McLaren Vale's Chapel Hill Winery, who last week beat industry allcomers from all around the world to be named the winemaker of the year at London's highly acclaimed 2008 International Wine and Spirits Competition. It was a stunning performance, and for someone from McLaren Vale to pick up this award as the best winemaker in the world is something we are all very proud of in McLaren Vale.

I was at a function on Sunday, where many different winemakers from different companies were in attendance, and everyone was joined as one in their congratulations for Michael and his outstanding achievement. In McLaren Vale, the winemakers do band together. It is a very strong community; there are not the jealousies we see in some other wine regions. People really do see a win for an individual in McLaren Vale as a win for the region. It is a fantastic achievement, and it really helps us in our marketing of the great McLaren Vale wines, not only here in Australia but also around the world.

Of course, it was the latest in a long list of outstanding wins for McLaren Vale this year. In October, at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show, d'Arenburg's 2006 The Last Ditchwon the Best Other Varietal White or Rose Trophy. The VISY Great Australian Shiraz Challenge was won by Tatachilla for its 2002 Foundation Shiraz. The Best Restaurant in a Winery Award of the Restaurant and Catering National Awards for Excellence went to Penny's Hill Restaurant.

At the International Wine Challenge in London in September, the Red Winemaker of the Year was Samantha Connew from Wirra Wirra. Again, an outstanding achievement from someone from the seat of Mawson, in the area of McLaren Vale, to be named the best red winemaker of the year on the international stage.

At that same competition, the international cab sav trophy was won by Wirra Wirra for the Dead Ringer cabernet sauvignon 2004. At the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London, Chapel Hill Winery (again, Michael Fragos's winery) won the trophy for the Best Cabernet in Show and also won the Penfolds Trophy for the best Australian red wine, and that was for the 2004 McLaren Vale Shiraz.

In August, we saw the McLaren Vale region pick up The Advertiser Wine of the Year Awardagain. Gemtree Vineyards won it for the 2004 Obsidian Shiraz. In the same month (August), McLaren Vale, for the third year in a row, won the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy. It was won by Scarpantoni for its Scarpantoni 2006 Brothers Block cabernet sauvignon. Previous winners were Shingleback Wines last year, and Geoff Merrill Wines in 2005. So, that completed three in a row for McLaren Vale.

As I have said, we are all very proud of the wonderful achievements of McLaren Vale wineries, not only in winning all these trophies but also in the great work they do in producing sustainable wine and doing it in an environmentally friendly way, using recycled water. The grape growers and the winemakers of McLaren Vale continue to do that on a daily basis, and they continue to look for better ways of doing it.

Last week I was in Washington DC, where I met advisers to the first winegrower and winemaker to enter the US Congress since Thomas Jefferson. George Radanovich is a winemaker and a Republican from California and, in 1999, he and a Democrat, Mike Thompson, started up the Congressional Wine Caucus, which now has 250 members of the US Congress from all 50 states. It is quite a powerful group in that they look at different ways in which Congress and various state legislatures around the US can help the wine industry.

I will be writing to the member for Schubert, who looks after the Barossa Valley, and other members in this place who represent wine regions—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

Mr BIGNELL: Including the member for Finniss; they make some good wine over on Kangaroo Island. I think it is a good idea that we start up a wine caucus here and that we extend an invitation to members in other states who represent wine regions so that we can go into bat for the winemakers and the wine regions of Australia to help them to remove impediments to what is a fantastic industry—an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars not only to our state but to our country. So, I will be seeking some bipartisan cooperation, just as they have done in Congress. It will be a bipartisan committee and, if we all work together, the big winners out of it will be the wine industry and, in turn, our tourism industry.

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