With International Women\u2019s Day being celebrated on Friday March 5th, it seemed appropriate to pen an article shining a light on the success of Australia\u2019s women of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amongst Australia\u2019s best female winemakers are many who are the creators and hands behind some on my favourite wines. Names like Liz Heidenreich \u2013 the first ever female winemaker for the Jesuit operation at Sevenhill in the Clare Valley, before making wines under her own name in the Barossa Valley; or Gywn Olsen who makes the wines for Briar Ridge and Pepper Tree in the Hunter Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our nation is blessed with outstanding wine producing regions and world leading winemakers. Amongst the throng of exceptional industry leading ladies are people like Vanya Cullen of Cullen (Margaret River), Sue Hodder of Wynns (Coonawarra) and Prue Henschke of Henschke Wines (Barossa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in my book, if we\u2019re going to talk big names in winemaking, then there\u2019s none bigger than Sarah Crowe of Yarra Yering fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah Crowe, chief winemaker for Yarra Yering, has to be up there with the iconic brands that have put the Australian wine industry on the world map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah\u2019s career started only two decades ago when, in 2001, she got her hands dirty in the vineyard at Brokenwood in New South Wale\u2019s Hunter Valley. From there, she became an assistant winemaker in 2004 and, in 2009, was awarded the \u201cRising Star of the Year\u201d award by the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That steppingstone led to her taking the reins at Bimbadgen in 2010 and, in 2013, she joined the winemaking team at Yarra Yering where she has since risen to the prominence of head winemaker. Perhaps the most spectacular feather to be planted in Sarah\u2019s cap was in 2016 when Sarah was named as James Halliday\u2019s 2017 Winemaker of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an industry as fickle as wine, a star on the rise can just as easily fade away as it can grow in luminescence. In Sarah\u2019s case it has undoubtedly been the latter. Far from dimming like a waning moon, Sarah has taken Yarra Yering and its iconic brands from strength to strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If success is in the numbers, look no further than the sale prices for one of my most collected wines, the Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1. This Bordeaux-inspired blend is currently on offer for $120 a bottle \u2013 not an insignificant ask yet certainly more affordable than the 2018 Yarra Yering Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon which sells at a $275. Even the Dry Red No. 2 and Underhill Shiraz are currently on offer at $120 a bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 has always been a personal favourite; perhaps because of my penchant for the Bordeaux blends. It\u2019s never high in alcohol and the current release shows generous red fruits, sumptuous flavours and a complexity that belies its youthfulness. Cedary tannins highlight a finish of finesse and hint of even better times ahead for the patient cellar-master. I love the wrap that Halliday\u2019s Chair of judging panel, Tyson Stelzer, gave to it recently \u201cSarah Crowe and her team have elevated 2018 to rank among the greats, a seamless and thrilling union of fragrance, energy, polish and poise, sealed with the ultimate line and length. Breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah will be visiting Queensland later this year and will be the headline act at the Travis Schultz Wine Makers Master Class, backed by NAB for SunnyKids on the Sunshine Coast on Friday 28th May. A leader in her field and a role model for so many up-and-comers, it\u2019s not that she\u2019s one of the greatest female winemakers we\u2019ve seen in this country but rather that she\u2019s one of the greatest winemakers in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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