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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-19 Daily Xml
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Barossa Wine Community

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:34): Member for Mawson, I remember drinking those first batches and, yes, some of the stuff got funky, but it is good to see that they have come good and had some great opportunities.

I rise today to recognise the Barossa wine community, justly regarded as one of the state's most valuable wine regions, and its continued efforts to spread the good work of our wonderful home. The Barossa consistently punches above its own weight when it comes to wine production. In 2018, the Barossa crush of 68,563 tonnes contributed 9 per cent of the total volume of grapes crushed in South Australia but 25 per cent of the value. It just goes to show that it is not necessarily about the total tonnes: it is about the farmgate value that you get for that crush.

The Barossa Valley crushed 56,970 tonnes, which was down 22 per cent from 2017 but 9 per cent above the five-year average, and the Eden Valley crushed 11,593 tonnes, down 3 per cent from 2017. Last week's Barossa Wine Show, Australia's largest regional wine show, recorded 918 entries across 28 classes, assessed by 19 judges over three days. I think that a lot of people would think that tasting wine all day sounds like a great gig, but after about the 20th shiraz it really does start to become hard work, and all credit to the judges and everybody involved.

I would like to say well done to all the winners, in particular Peter Lehmann Wines with its Best Wine in Show for its 2015 Wigan Riesling. I think that the Wigan Riesling has been a winner at almost every show I have been involved in, and certainly there were some cracking wines there on the night. Phil Lehmann's grenache as part of his St John's Road was absolutely fantastic. There was a St Hugo chardonnay, which was also very exceptional.

It is great to see newcomers. Andrew and Skye Quin—good Angastonians—with their winery, Quin Wines, picked up four awards, including Most Successful Small Producer in their first year. Andrew has a bit of heritage as the chief winemaker at Hentley Farm, but this little project—which I think he was trying to keep under the radar—is some absolutely fantastic wine, and the 2016 shiraz and the 2017 shiraz were really cracking drops on the night.

It would be easy for a region like the Barossa with its already world-recognised reputation for wine, food and tourism to rest on its laurels, but Barossans are not like that. Barossans are always striving to improve, looking at new ideas and ways of doing things. So last year, when the Barossa Grape and Wine Association rustled up a group of more than 40 wine, food and tourism businesses to test out a new concept, we knew that it was going to go well.

Together with the wine industry experience planner, Revel Global, a plan was hatched to build on the success of the 'Barossa. Be Consumed' advertising campaign and take the Barossa to Melbourne. The 2017 event at the historical North Melbourne Meat Market surpassed all expectations, with a crowd of nearly 1,000 people. This year the event expanded with two events: one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. At the Carriage Works venue in Sydney on 14 July, 820 tickets were sold, and at Melbourne's meat market a week later, on 21 July, the event was once again a sell-out, with 950 tickets sold.

Also, 44 wineries joined with two gin distillers and one brewer to showcase more than 200 wines, gins and ciders, representing every possible expression of Barossa winemaking. Over $150,000 in wine sales were recorded across the two events. Attendees were able to purchase their favourite wines through the Sip, Pick, Pack and Ship service, which allowed them to consolidate their orders and have them shipped directly to their door.

The food experience was also expanded this year. One of our region's favourite eateries, Harvest Kitchen, road tripped all the way to both events to bring guests their traditional and delicious Barossa food, all locally sourced of course, from Hutton Vale lamb, Saskia Beer's chicken, Linke's Butchers’ kranskies and Careme Pastry, just to name a few.

Of course Barossa Coffee Roasters were also there bright and early to make sure that the day started right for our regional ambassadors, and Steiny's Traditional Mettwurst showcased some of its most popular products. A new addition this year was Barossa Makers' Table, which allowed guests to watch and learn from artisan producers. They created Barossa favourites honigkuchen (honey biscuits) and Mandeltorte, and also demonstrated how to pickle and preserve fruit and vegetables, including fermenting sauerkraut. The lucky guests were allowed to taste samples straight from the oven.

A traditional kegel bowling alley was set up. For those who do not understand, a kegel is bowling alley where you have to manually stick the pins up. By all accounts, there were plenty of pudels rolled throughout those events. I would like to thank everybody who was involved. This is a fantastic and great Barossa initiative. I look forward to these things continuing in the future as we cement a meaningful impression of a region. Judging by the feedback I have received, it is very much a job well done.

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