2008 Margan White Label Aged Release Semillon

Reviewed by John Lewis

“The 2008 Hunter vintage may have been a red wipeout, but whites like this offer considerable solace. It was sourced by Andrew Margan from grapes from the Beltree vineyard at Belford, planted in the 1930s by the Elliott family, and glows lime-tinted straw in the glass. Apple peel and hay scents show on the nose and the front palate introduces elegant lemony flavour. Spice, mineral and developing honey and toast characters combine on the middle palate and slatey acid refreshes at the finish.”

Drink with: prawns and yabbies with fennel and macadamia salad.

Ageing: 8 years

The Newcastle Herald
27th February 2013

Kwong goes green

By Inga Ting

Award-winning chef Kylie Kwong has joined other ”hatted” Sydney restaurateurs in backing the first international ratings system that ranks eateries based on their environmental, ethical and social impact.

The Sustainable Restaurant Association system, launched globally this week after three years running in Britain, allows diners to compare restaurants based on where they source their food, how they manage their energy, waste and water, and even how they treat their staff.

The not-for-profit organisation also advises member restaurants on how to become more sustainable and ethical.

Kwong says she has already inquired about signing up her one-hat Surry Hills restaurant, endorsing the scheme’s ”wholistic” approach. Since 2005, Billy Kwong has used locally grown, organic and biodynamic food – even the soy sauces, sugar, vinegar and oils are organic – and Fair Trade tea and chocolate. The restaurant also buys renewable energy credits from a wind farm in Hebei, China.

”If only I had someone like this seven or eight years ago when I shifted the menu from conventional to organic and local and biodynamic. It’s taken me a long time to find a balance in my menu to get my food costs right,” she said.

Other Sydney restaurants that have backed the global system include two-hat restaurant Biota Dining in Bowral and one-hat restaurants Sixpenny in Stanmore and Three Blue Ducks in Bronte. In Melbourne, three-hat restaurant Vue de Monde and the award-winning, zero-waste cafe Silo By Joost have also expressed interest.

About 500 British restaurants have completed the SRA assessment since the system began in 2010, including two Michelin star restaurants Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons near Oxford, Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and The Ledbury in Notting Hill.

Lisa Margan, chef and restaurateur at Margan Wines in the Hunter Valley, said she would ”fully support” an international certification program that was rigorous and thorough.

”The challenge in the past has been that no one knew where to start or how to go about it … There’s still confusion about what sustainability means.”

Margan Wines is currently certified under two different programs – Restaurant & Catering’s Green Table program and EntWine, offered by the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. Margan restaurant achieved its Green Table certification after completing an online questionnaire. Entwine, which incorporates international standards for environmental management practices, involved a “stringent” on-site assessment, Margan said.

“It took us one whole year to get certification, including going through a three-day on-site audit,” she said.

“There are some certifications that don’t require any on-site audit and that leaves the process open to interpretation or probably the better word is ‘exploitation’.”

More than 300 businesses, including about 100 restaurants, are certified with the Green Table program. But not everyone has welcomed the global system.

John Hart, chief executive officer of Restaurant and Catering Australia, said a global rating system was unnecessary, given that Australian restaurants could already sign up for certification through the Green Table program.

”I’ve looked at the Sustainable Restaurant Association stuff and I don’t think it’s got the integrity that our scheme has,” he said.

Hart also questioned the usefulness of sourcing and societal components in the global rating system, saying the link between environmental impact and food sourcing was ”spurious”. The Green Table program focuses exclusively on reducing environmental impact through energy saving, water saving, recycling and sustainable waste practices.

“They might be lovely, feel-good factors and they might be buzz words for consumers but I would really question the impact they have on the business’s environmental footprint.”

Kwong the best way restaurants could serve the community was by offering them the healthiest, most sustainable food possible.

“[The Sustainable Restaurant Association has] a wholistic view of the industry and I couldn’t agree with it more,” Kwong said.

“Restaurateurs and foodies are very influential people – especially in Australia because we’re all so obsessed with food … It’s almost our social responsibility and duty of care to send out the right messages and that includes sourcing produce that is ethical and sustainable.”

MARGAN SHIRAZ 2010

Reviewed by Greg Bondar, Food & Wine Editor, Homes Guide Living – May 2013

The grapes for this wine were picked from forty year old vines growing on the red basalt volcanic clay. With an average yield of under one tonne per acre, the fruit for this wine was ripe and concentrated and the grapes were fermented under cool conditions using cultured aromatic yeast and transferred to 4 & 5 year old oak hogsheads for a period of eighteen months to allow it to soften and mature. The wine was bottled in January 2011. Initially showing vibrant purple in colour this wine displays a complex bouquet of dark red fruits, spice and hints of coffee bean, but it is soon distinguished by a rich, ripe palate of berries and spice, unique tannin structure and earthy complexity. Showing classic Hunter tannins, great palate length, balance and finesse it is very approachable now but with careful cellaring, this medium-bodied wine should continue to develop more complex savoury characters over the next decade. This is a very well made Shiraz indeed.

Homes Guide Living – Wine Review

By Greg Bondar

In just under two hours’ drive from Sydney and 90 minutes from Newcastle, the modern and trendy Margan Cellar Door and Restaurant can be found in the southwest corner of the mid Hunter Valley.

Using the family name Andrew Margan is Winemaker who has worked hard and long to produce some of the best value for money wines in the Hunter.  Andrew’s family first planted grape vines in the Hunter Valley in the 1960’s when his father, Frank, established the DeBeyers vineyard in Pokolbin.

Andrew’s background included twenty vintages working under the late, great Murray Tyrrell and six vintages in France before he went solo and with his wife Lisa (who now runs the Margan Restaurant).

In 1997 the vintage produced only 3,000 cases growing to around 35,000 cases of wine per vintage with distribution in all states of Australia and 16 export markets.  All Margan wines are single vineyard, estate grown wines covering 320 acres of low yielding 40 year old vines (originally established by Lindemans and Saxonvale).

Using irrigation to ensure healthy growth, but never to enhance yields, Andrew prefers to use Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) for canopy management.  Andrew is also perhaps one of the most environmentally sensitive growers in the Hunter, striving to minimise their carbon footprint as much as possible.  The Semillon is grown using organic principles whilst the other varieties are treated with minimum sprays for week and pest management and vine health aiming for low yields to ensure maximum flavour concentration and generally, crop vines at between one and two tonnes to the acre, depending on vintage and variety.

 MARGAN SHIRAZ 2010

The grapes for this wine were picked from forty year old vines growing on the red basalt volcanic clay.  With an average yield of under one tonne per acre, the fruit for this wine was ripe and concentrated and the grapes were fermented under cool conditions using cultured aromatic yeast and transferred to 4 & 5 year old oak hogsheads for a period of eighteen months to allow it to soften and mature.  The wine was bottled in January 2011.

Initially showing vibrant purple in colour this wine displays a complex bouquet of dark red fruits, spice and hints of coffee bean, but it is soon distinguished by a rich, ripe palate of berries and spice, unique tannin structure and earthy complexity.  Showing classic Hunter tannins, great palate length, balance and finesse it is very approachable now but with careful cellaring, this medium-bodied wine should continue to develop more complex savoury characters over the next decade.  This is a very well made Shiraz indeed.

Greg Bondar,

Food & Wine Editor, Homes Guide Living – May 2013

EARTH STEWARDS

The husband-and-wife team behind Margan Estate winery and restaurant are committed to organic principles and minimising their carbon footprint.

‘OUR KEY TO BUSINESS IS DISCIPLINE, ETHICS, MAINTAINING A FOCUS ON CONTINUED QUALITY AND BEING PROACTIVE AND RESPONSIVE TO CHANGES IN THE MARKETPLACE’.  LISA MARGAN

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY is a lofty goal often put in the too-hard basket.  The cost of running a sustainable business and the compliance rigours can dampen many a long-held dream, however committed a business is to the principle of being green.

Lisa and Andrew Margan made the decision anyway.

‘It was an easy moral decision, but we knew the path would create some initial pain so we waited until we were in a good position to take that first step’, says Lisa Margan, co-owner of Margan Restaurant and Tasting Room in Australia’s Hunter Valley wine region.

‘Being farmers, we are committed to looking after the land so it is able to look after us for generations to come’, Margan says.  ‘We are determined to ensure our carbon footprint is as small as possible.’

The estate boasts a 0.4ha kitchen garden, which supplies the restaurant with up to 90 per cent of its fruit and vegetables.  They also have free-range chickens for eggs, olive groves, beehives and a flock of black-faced Suffolk sheep to supply spring lamb for the menu.

‘We take sustainability very seriously and have a dedicated horticulturist to manage it using organic principles to ensure we steer clear of pesticides and herbicides, hand weeding where possible.’, Margan says.

‘We like to plant heirloom seeds as these old-fashioned varieties are often superior in flavour.’

CUTTING THE CARBON

• Guests drink filtered rain water at no charge, rather than bottled water.
• All glass, paper and green waste is recycled.
• Kitchen oil is recycled into biodiesel to fuel farm machinery.
• All water is recycled.
• Food waste is fed to chickens or composted.
• Green, organic, biodynamic and fair-trade products are bought where possible.
• Margan Estate has passed the audit for Entwine Australia and is accredited with Green Table Australia and the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia for environmental sustainability.

The couple lived in Bordeaux, France, for two years while Andrew made wine and Lisa cooked as a chef and did a Master’s degree in science and nutrition.

They started their own business with the help of a bank loan, some short business courses and  “a good relationship with their accountant”. They didn’t need to consider other forms of finance as they built the business on the same property as their home.

“We had to wait until we had a bit of money to invest in some upgrades and until we had a ‘settled’ business without major change coming from other areas,” says Margan of the shift to running a sustainable property.

“We didn’t do any official due diligence, however we were working within the food and wine business in the Hunter Valley and had a great understanding of the industry via that. We did a detailed SWOT analysis, which helped shape our direction.

“Our core business is wine. We grow the grapes – from 100ha of vineyards – and make the wine on site. We engage wholesale distributors to sell the wine, about 30,000 cases annually, around Australia and to about 15 export destinations.

“We’ve added wine tourism to our products and this is a growing source of revenue and a great way to control our brand and the experience our customers have.”

Andrew runs the vineyard and winery operations while Lisa runs the restaurant and retail part of the business. “We each have veto power in own areas so that enables us to break decision deadlocks – and to stay married,” Margan says.

“Our key to business is discipline, ethics, maintaining a focus on continued quality and being proactive and responsive to changes in the marketplace. Know what you’re trying to achieve for whom and do it really well.”

Margan says it was expensive to make their business sustainable, but the upgrades will pay for themselves in the long run with things such as reduced electricity costs. They  elected not to pass on the costs to customers.

“Ultimately we will be ahead as changes start to save us money,” she says. “Consumers who understand what sustainability means love what we do. Others are curious and ask questions. Perhaps there are some who are sick of the bad press about carbon pricing – they just care about the quality of the product they are paying for.”

- Lynda Dugdale, In The Black magazine- March 2013

The red for everyone

Rating 4.5/5

This delivers a barrel full of Hunter shiraz character – perfumed fragrance leading with pretty, feminine spice. There’s plenty of underlying earthy aromas before you hit the motherlode of rich and powerful fruit with bang-on ripeness. 

Article:

If there is one red variety Australia would raise its flag by, shiraz takes the mantle purely in terms of sales figures, international reputation and spread of vineyard resources across many states and regions.

But the idea that Australian shiraz is a one-size-fits-all kind of wine is too simple by far.

The reason we love it so much comes down broadly to its vibrant berry and plum fruit aromas and flavours, its generally sweet fruit palate, a popular set of characters that translates across all price points from bargain basement cask to the iconic and luxurious.

The variety performs well in warm inland regions like the Riverland, Sunraysia and the Riverina, which provide vast quantities of everyday drinking, but has hit its straps and risen to a great fame in South Australian regions like the Barossa and McLaren Vale.

But it also inpired delightful wines from many other regions where the climates vary extraordinarily and hence the styles do as well – think NSW’s Hunter Valley, Victoria’s northerly and central districts such as the Pyrenees, Great Western/Grampians, Heathcote and Yarra Valley as well as other cooler areas like NSW’s Orange, and SA’s Adelaide Hills.

The spectrum is wide and to generalise about regional styles is increasingly ridiculous, but for a starting point, the Barossa is renowned for its full-bodied and robust approach; Hunter shiraz is typically more medium bodied, less robust, and can develop earthy and almost leathery characters as it matures.

In a recent cross-regional tasting, many Hunter 2011 shirazes stood out magnificently.

The Hunter produced beautifully structured, medium-bodied red as the region does so well with some amazing fruit vibrancy and aromatics.

Tony Love, Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 30/4/2013

SHAPE MATTERS

Margan Wines invites you to a Riedel Glass Tasting.

Hosted by Alan Elder from Riedel Australia Saturday 1 June 2013 at 11am sharp 1238 Milbrodale Road, Broke NSW 2330 $125 per ticket

Join Margan Wines for an exclusive Tasting, with the classic Vinum set valued at $190, and learn the incredible difference your glass makes to wine. Enjoy a selection of their premium wines from your four Vinum glasses, carefully selected to highlight Margan’s portfolio (Semillon, Oaked Chardonnay, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon). These glasses are yours to take home after the event.

Call Margan Cellar Door on (02) 6579 1372 or email cellardoor@margan.com.au
RSVP before Monday 27 May 2013. Bookings essential, limited seats!

Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne -
Media Release 3 April 2013 

Only One Month Until Next Generation Take It To The Next Level -

Win a VIP experience for you and a friend as the Next Generation Hunter Valley’s month long travelling wine bar reaches new heights at their grand finale in Melbourne on 17 May.  

It’s only one month to go until the 6 Hunter lads, best known as Next Generation Hunter Valley, take their extraordinary wines (and large personalities) on their third and most epic east coast adventure yet – a month long travelling wine bar popping up in Brisbane (3 May), Newcastle (4 May), Sydney (10 May), Canberra (16 May) and Melbourne (17 May).  

The pop up wine bars are always a fun night out where you can mingle with friends, taste some of the Hunter Valley’s best wines and share a glass with the larrikin winemakers themselves. There’s also great Hunter cheese available for purchase, cool tunes and generally just a great vibe. 

What David Hook, Andrew Thomas, Rhys Eather, Nick Paterson, Mike De Iuliis and Andrew Margan have in common is the uncanny ability to make and market exceptional wine while having a lot of fun and all share the relentless ambition to put the cool new wine styles the Hunter Valley is producing, on the map. 

This year, the boys have taken things to the next level and have organised an even BIGGER prize for one lucky Next Gen fan and a mate! Entry is via the Next Generation Hunter Valley Facebook page – here – for the chance to win the ‘Next Generation Next Level VIP Experience!’.  

This awesome prize includes:  
 Return flights to Melbourne from any major Australian city for you and a friend  
 Overnight accommodation in Melbourne for two people twin share  
 Special VIP tickets to the finale pop up in Melbourne (of course!)  
 Plus a whole lot of fun, guaranteed!
Total prize is valued at more than $1000

Tickets are on sale NOW. Visit www.nextgenerationhuntervalley.com.au to buy tickets and for more information on the unique venues we’ve organised to create this east coast extraordinaire. 

It’s going to be a huge month of wine and wacky adventures so make sure you’re following @nextgenhv  #COC2013 on Twitter and www.facebook.com/nextgenhuntervalley. To have the latest and greatest delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to the newsletter here: http://www.nextgenerationhuntervalley.com.au/. For more information and enquiries: info@nextgenerationhuntervalley.com.au

The 6 Hunter lads best known as Next Generation Hunter Valley are soon to take their extraordinary wines (and large personalities) on their third and epic east coast adventure – a month long travelling wine bar popping up in Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra  and Melbourne. The most epic Caravan of Courage yet will make its first stop on Friday May 3. Dubbed “One More For The Road”, the month long travelling wine bar will show each city how the Hunter rolls with a night full of wine and wacky adventures.

Read more details and dates…