You don’t have to be mad; but it helps…
Stuart Olsen is not your average winemaker. Without a formal education in oenology Stuart has no existing paradigm for his winemaking.
Stuart’s first release was a 2008 Mudgee red. He has recently released two more wines, the 2009 and 2010 Eloquesta wines. The wines are blends of Mudgee shiraz and petit verdot, with a splash of viognier.
A self-taught winemaker, Stuart has used a number of techniques and varieties learnt from working with various winemakers whilst travelling the world. “I have a love for deeply coloured, soft and perfumed wines,” he explained. “This has led me to use an unorthodox blend of shiraz and petit verdot. These varieties work well together, with the viognier helping to lift the floral essence of the wine.
“We don’t have too much equipment in the winery; a few barrels and tanks. Most of the winemaking is very traditional, allowing the fruit to shine. With only one wine per vintage, there’s nowhere to hide. Unlike the larger wineries where there is flexibility to move parcels of wine around, if the fruit is no good, it shows up in my wine.”
Whole bunch and whole berry fermentation and carbonic maceration for one week prior to gentle foot treading have helped to produce these highly perfumed, soft yet rich wines. “Mudgee reds need longer, cooler ferments to bring out these characters,” said Stuart.
After foot treading for three days the ferments are hand plunged daily for a number of weeks before pressing. The wine is then matured ‘sur-lie’ in a combination of French, Hungarian and Russian oak on healthy, champagne yeast in a refrigerated shipping container. “Many winemakers think I’m a touch mad ageing ‘sur-lie’ as it can create very reductive wines, however it’s the quality of the yeast that ensures my wines have matured well.”
“The 2009 vintage in Mudgee was exceptional, with good winter rains and a long, sun drenched ripening period. It was ‘peaches’, as is the label of the 2009. The 2010 on the other hand was tougher; a ‘red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’ type vintage, with sporadic rain challenging my patience.” The hue of the 2010 label reflects this.
"In the vineyard I rely heavily on the taste of the berries to determine when to pick. After I dropped and broke my hydrometer in 2009, I went back to what I had learnt in my travels – the ripeness of the fruit is all about seed ripeness, along with soft tannins. This has since become the backbone to harvesting my fruit. I spend a lot of my time in the vineyards tasting the seeds, and even the stems, in the lead up to harvest.”
The Eloquesta wines are bottled with a minimum of sulphur, instead using gentle carbon dioxide to preserve the wine. It is recommended that the bottles are decanted for at least an hour to allow the carbon dioxide to dissipate and the wine to really open up.
Please visit www.eloquesta.com.au for further information on Stuart Olsen and his Eloquesta wines.
Distribution and Pricing: TheEloquesta Wines are available in select restaurants in NSW and ACT, and direct from the winery at www.eloquesta.com.au
2010 Eloquesta Shiraz Petit Verdot (Mudgee) $28.00 2009 Eloquesta Shiraz Petit Verdot (Mudgee) $28.00
For more information and images please contact:
David Cumming at Define Wine on +61 (0)414 736 342 or [email protected] Stuart Olsen at Eloquesta Wines on +61 (0)458 525 899 or [email protected]
Eloquesta Wines is a small winemaker utilising premium, individual vineyards from the Rylstone, Eurunderee and Mullamuddy sub regions of Mudgee to make a unique red blend. The wines are made with traditional winemaking techniques, discovered by Stuart in his wine travels through Eastern and Western Europe, as well as closer to home at Lowe Wines, Cirillo Estate and Torbreck.