SIX years ago The Fabulous Ladies' Wine Society began a campaign to increase Australian wine industry gender diversity, estimating that female participation was 38 per cent, with only about 10 per cent in leadership and senior roles.
The society founder and chair, wine publicist and communications consultant Jane Thomson, says it hasn't been possible to update the estimates, but she believes there has been improvement. She points to the latest figures from universities that show 50 per cent of winemaking course graduates are female. I say if the three crackerjack reds reviewed below are any guide, there are now an encouraging better than 10 per cent women in leadership and senior roles.
The Coonawarra Katnook Estate 2019 Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon and 2019 Prodigy Shiraz is from a team headed by senior winemaker Natalie Cleghorn, while the Barossa St Hallett 2019 Higher Earth Syrah comes from senior winemaker Helen McCarthy.
Katnook and St Hallett are part of the giant Accolade group which also boasts the Hardys, Bay of Fires, Croser, Petaluma, Houghton, Grant Burge, House of Arras and Knappstein brands.
Cleghorn, Katnook's senior winemaker-site manager, worked as a track rider for the Hayes family racing stable at Lindsay Park before beginning a 23-year wine industry career in 1999 with a job in the Yalumba laboratory. Then came a Charles Sturt University wine science degree followed by 14 years at the Yalumba and Hill Smith Vineyards group and a stint at Clos Figueres in Priorat, Spain. An experienced show judge, she is a graduate of the renowned Len Evans Tutorial at Pokolbin and a two-time finalist in the Australian Women in Wine winemaker of the year award. In 2021 she joined Katnook, which in late 2020 was bought by Accolade from the Wingara Wines subsidiary of the huge German-controlled Henkell Freixenet group.
Helen McCarthy was born in England and came to Australia in 1988 with her family and in 1997 began a University of Adelaide winemaking degree. On graduation she worked at Lindemans, Wynns, Seppelts and Penfolds, in 2003 gaining a passion for riesling in moving to the Clare Valley's Taylors Wines. There she won the Gourmet Traveller Young Winemaker of the Year title, a Len Evans Tutorial scholarship and entry into a busy wine judging career. In 2019 she was attracted to the Barossa Zone and particularly its Eden Valley sub-region, working at Thorn-Clarke Wines and Mountadam, then in 2019 became custodian of St Hallett brand as senior winemaker-manager.
WINE REVIEWS
COONAWARRA SHOWPIECE
THIS superb Katnook Estate 2019 Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon is a Coonawarra showpiece with 14.5% alcohol, bright garnet hues, potpourri scents and vibrant blackberry front-palate flavour. The middle palate displays Satsuma plum, spice, mint, bramble jelly and savoury oak and a chalky tannins finish. PRICE: $100. DRINK WITH: Wagyu beef sirloin with horseradish and mushrooms. AGEING: 15 years. RATING: 5.5 STARS
PRODIGOUS SHIRAZ RED
WITH Odyssey, the Katnook Estate 2019 Prodigy Shiraz is at katnookestate.com.au, the Riddoch Highway cellar and bottle shops. It has 14.5% alcohol, gamey aromas, bright magenta hues and rich plum front-palate flavour. The middle palate shows Morello cherry, mulberry, coffee cream chocolate and vanillin oak and a finish of minty tannins. PRICE: $100. DRINK WITH: osso bucco. AGEING: 10 years. RATING: 5 STARS
EDEN VALLEY ELEGANCE
FROM Eden Valley shiraz, the St Hallett 2019 Higher Earth Syrah has 14.5% alcohol, berry pastille scents and glows deep purple. The front palate displays sweet ripe blackcurrant flavour, middle plate raspberry, dried cranberry, mint chocolate and mocha oak and an earthy tannin finish. At sthallett.com.au, the Tanunda cellar and wine shops. PRICE: $60. DRINK WITH: paella. AGEING: nine years. RATING: 4.5 STARS
