Quizmaster
ps What's become of that Apprentice and Taswegian fellow?
Friday Quiz - Dr Bailey Carrodus
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Quizmaster
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Friday Quiz - Dr Bailey Carrodus
This weeks quiz will be at the usual time (10.00 AEST), I hope
Quizmaster
ps What's become of that Apprentice and Taswegian fellow?
Quizmaster
ps What's become of that Apprentice and Taswegian fellow?
Last edited by Quizmaster on Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:37 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Quizmaster
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Gavin Trott
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Quizmaster
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- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
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Quizmaster
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:51 pm
The following comes from a range of sources including Yarra Yering’s site and a range of authors. From my own perspective, he was a fabulous, generous and engaging man. I first met him on a trip into the Yarra Valley in 1981 on a cold, wet, winters day. Walking into the tasting room warmed by the open fire (the fuel was old vines) was a unique experience, with Baileys mother attending and his dog sleeping at his feet. His wines were my first from the region and transformed my wine drinking habits from that day forward. Doubtless like many others, I have so many fond memories of trips to Yarra Yering. At anytime of the year in the early days, to the annual May release in the later days, to the current releases combined with a number of older vintages in recent years. I fondly remember an early morning visit some time last year with a friend - we’d wanted to purchase some No1. Realising the winery was closed when we got to the front gate we took a punt. On the off chance, we called Bailey to see if we could simply grab a case or two, “where are you and what time would you be here†was his response. “Well, we’re actually standing in your winery now!†I’ll be there in two minutes†and two minutes it was. Not only was Bailey happy to accommodate our request, he insisted we try the wine we’d just bought, he then further insisted we try the entire range whilst talking us through each and discussing everything from climate change, to the French and debate and discussions of past vintages. He was always alert and thoroughly engaging. He was also a hell of a lot smarter and shrewder than us, as we walked out $5,000 poorer that morning, but we were considerably richer from the experience and our cellars are now stocked with some stunning wines.
If you have not experienced an aged Yarra Yering and you are serious about wine, before you leave this earth you must try an old No1 or No 2.
Yarra Yering and Mount Mary remain my favourite Australian wines, not least because when you drink them, you can relate to the men who made them, you can smell the wineries they were made in, you can recall the day you first tasted them, you can see the vines in the paddocks where the grapes came from and … they taste pretty good! To finish, I recently had a 1983 No1 courtesy of a friend, and it was sublime.
Dr Bailey Carrodus had a M.Sc. from studying in New Zealand. He studied and taught oenology (at South Australia's Roseworthy Agricultural College in the 1950s), and attained a Ph.D. in Botany specialising in plant physiology from Oxford University. He was one of the leading experts in viticulture in Australia. After a stint of study in Europe, he returned to Australia and worked for the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO). In the first few years of the winery, Carrodus maintained his research for the CSIRO, producing studies including Male Scent-organ Chemicals of the Vine Moth (1978), before retiring in 1979.
After a lengthy search, Carrodus chose the site, and founded Yarra Yering, in the Yarra Valley which seemed to meet all the requirements – grey silty clay loam with bands of gravel for good drainage, on a north-facing slope high enough out of the valley to avoid late spring frosts. Most of the original 12-hectare plot was planted in 1969 and the 1973 vintage was the first commercial wine produced in the valley since 1921.
Bailey Carrodus, however, is best known for producing some of Australia's greatest wines. Yarra Yering's Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Red Wine No1, and Shiraz blend Red Wine No2. Both feature in Langton's classification of Australian wines. Yarra Yering are profound, intelligently made wines - their finesse, richness of fruit and impeccable structure are almost deceptive - while they drink well in their youth, wines such as the Dry Red No.1 and No. 2 have the ability (and the history) to age for decades.
The reputation of the valley in the 19th-early 20th centuries rested on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, and these were the main varieties planted, but Bailey decided to experiment, by also planting Pinot Noir.
Bailey was a pioneer, a clear thinking, wonderfully idiosyncratic, perpetually experimental and innovative winemaker. Consider his wines:
The No.1 Dry Red is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Franc was excluded because the only Australian examples had an earthiness which was not wanted – so Malbec and Merlot were in the early plantings and later some Petit Verdot. "Cabernet needs to be structured, let others be fleshy and voluptuous," he once said.
Shiraz on its own will develop the desired complexity with about ten years in bottle, but the Rhone Valley shows what some companions will do for it. Carrodus tried some other Rhone reds, but had difficulty ripening them. Eventually he was given some Viognier, and there has been a small amount in the No.2 Dry Red since 1984. Early vintages – up to 1982 – had some Mouvedre in the warmer years. In the ‘70’s that was only one year in three, so they pulled out the late-ripening only to replant a little in a very warm spot, because its contribution to the Shiraz wines was very satisfactory. The No.2 Dry Red now has small proportions of Viognier, Marsanne, and Mouvedre.
The experimentation continued, a north-west facing slope was terraced and planted with Portuguese sorts of grapes, mainly Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao with some Roriz, Tinta Amarello, Souzao and Alvarelhao. The No.3 Dry Red is a table wine made from those Portuguese varieties – they considered the grapes to be of such good quality a table wine was worth an experiment. The last release also has Cabernet and Shiraz, to increase the volume of the two main blends. Other experimental plantings are Sangiovese and Barbera.
Then there is the Dry White No1 (Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc), the Chardonnay, Pinot, Merlot, Viognier, and of course the Potsorts (it started life as Portsorts, which made some sense, but they had to take out any form of ‘port’ from the label).
When they bought the Underhill block, it had been planted with a different clone of Shiraz from the one in the Yarra Yering Dry Red No2, and the soil is somewhat heavier clay. The wine they get from here is so distinctive they keep it apart from the rest of the vineyard. It has become one of Yarra Yering’s major export lines.
James Halliday regards his red wines as some of the greatest made in the country stating they are always made without compromise and with the utmost attention to detail. When he grew dissatisfied with the red wines of 1988, he recalled them, offering a full refund. James elected to retain his, but it was typical of the Socratean dissatisfaction that Bailey used as his yardstick.
RIP
If you have not experienced an aged Yarra Yering and you are serious about wine, before you leave this earth you must try an old No1 or No 2.
Yarra Yering and Mount Mary remain my favourite Australian wines, not least because when you drink them, you can relate to the men who made them, you can smell the wineries they were made in, you can recall the day you first tasted them, you can see the vines in the paddocks where the grapes came from and … they taste pretty good! To finish, I recently had a 1983 No1 courtesy of a friend, and it was sublime.
Dr Bailey Carrodus had a M.Sc. from studying in New Zealand. He studied and taught oenology (at South Australia's Roseworthy Agricultural College in the 1950s), and attained a Ph.D. in Botany specialising in plant physiology from Oxford University. He was one of the leading experts in viticulture in Australia. After a stint of study in Europe, he returned to Australia and worked for the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO). In the first few years of the winery, Carrodus maintained his research for the CSIRO, producing studies including Male Scent-organ Chemicals of the Vine Moth (1978), before retiring in 1979.
After a lengthy search, Carrodus chose the site, and founded Yarra Yering, in the Yarra Valley which seemed to meet all the requirements – grey silty clay loam with bands of gravel for good drainage, on a north-facing slope high enough out of the valley to avoid late spring frosts. Most of the original 12-hectare plot was planted in 1969 and the 1973 vintage was the first commercial wine produced in the valley since 1921.
Bailey Carrodus, however, is best known for producing some of Australia's greatest wines. Yarra Yering's Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Red Wine No1, and Shiraz blend Red Wine No2. Both feature in Langton's classification of Australian wines. Yarra Yering are profound, intelligently made wines - their finesse, richness of fruit and impeccable structure are almost deceptive - while they drink well in their youth, wines such as the Dry Red No.1 and No. 2 have the ability (and the history) to age for decades.
The reputation of the valley in the 19th-early 20th centuries rested on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, and these were the main varieties planted, but Bailey decided to experiment, by also planting Pinot Noir.
Bailey was a pioneer, a clear thinking, wonderfully idiosyncratic, perpetually experimental and innovative winemaker. Consider his wines:
The No.1 Dry Red is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon – Cabernet Franc was excluded because the only Australian examples had an earthiness which was not wanted – so Malbec and Merlot were in the early plantings and later some Petit Verdot. "Cabernet needs to be structured, let others be fleshy and voluptuous," he once said.
Shiraz on its own will develop the desired complexity with about ten years in bottle, but the Rhone Valley shows what some companions will do for it. Carrodus tried some other Rhone reds, but had difficulty ripening them. Eventually he was given some Viognier, and there has been a small amount in the No.2 Dry Red since 1984. Early vintages – up to 1982 – had some Mouvedre in the warmer years. In the ‘70’s that was only one year in three, so they pulled out the late-ripening only to replant a little in a very warm spot, because its contribution to the Shiraz wines was very satisfactory. The No.2 Dry Red now has small proportions of Viognier, Marsanne, and Mouvedre.
The experimentation continued, a north-west facing slope was terraced and planted with Portuguese sorts of grapes, mainly Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao with some Roriz, Tinta Amarello, Souzao and Alvarelhao. The No.3 Dry Red is a table wine made from those Portuguese varieties – they considered the grapes to be of such good quality a table wine was worth an experiment. The last release also has Cabernet and Shiraz, to increase the volume of the two main blends. Other experimental plantings are Sangiovese and Barbera.
Then there is the Dry White No1 (Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc), the Chardonnay, Pinot, Merlot, Viognier, and of course the Potsorts (it started life as Portsorts, which made some sense, but they had to take out any form of ‘port’ from the label).
When they bought the Underhill block, it had been planted with a different clone of Shiraz from the one in the Yarra Yering Dry Red No2, and the soil is somewhat heavier clay. The wine they get from here is so distinctive they keep it apart from the rest of the vineyard. It has become one of Yarra Yering’s major export lines.
James Halliday regards his red wines as some of the greatest made in the country stating they are always made without compromise and with the utmost attention to detail. When he grew dissatisfied with the red wines of 1988, he recalled them, offering a full refund. James elected to retain his, but it was typical of the Socratean dissatisfaction that Bailey used as his yardstick.
RIP
Not to forget to YY Merlot, which on first release was one of or the most expensive domestic wine to buy in Australia at 100+ per bottle.
Bailey had a realistic view of the wine, when a friend visited for a tasting he said 'would you like to try the wankers' wine?'.
He also produced a sparkling white, which developed very nicely with time in the cellar.
Bailey had a realistic view of the wine, when a friend visited for a tasting he said 'would you like to try the wankers' wine?'.
He also produced a sparkling white, which developed very nicely with time in the cellar.
Murray Almond