Ben Glaetzer - continuing the legacy

Martin C · Post by **Martin C** » Mon May 31, 2004 8:43 pm

Hi all,

Met Ben and his lovely wife Vicky over the weekend when he was here for a winemaker's dinner. Despite of his new found fame, he has his feet planted firmly on the ground, A humble and easy going bloke indeed.
When I asked him what are the characteristic to look for in his wine, he replied, " Freshness & flavour"
Despite of the technical background having graduated fr Roseworthy in 97 his wine-making approach is still pretty much "hands on"(practical)
His 1st job was at Tyrells making some lovely wines out of McLaren & Heathcote. I told him one of my all time fav. wine was the his father last vintage of 1996 E&E Black Pepper. True to tradition, Ben Glaetzer has done his family mighty proud. In such a short time, his Mitolos have achieved "Cult" status where the demand exeed supply. His Heartland wines has improved leaps and bound since the inugural 2000 vintage, IMHO Limestone Coast never has it so good.
He told me he is now in charged of the Woodstock(since 2001) which to me is an underperforming winery of late. When I told him the "Stocks 2001" were less than inspiring, and he replied there are plenty of work to be done in the winery like cleaning & clearing out the deadwood and 2002 vintage is the one to lookout for.

Regards,
MC

Gavin Trott · Post by **Gavin Trott** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 11:07 am

Hello Martin

I agree re Mitolo for overall quality, also Heartland for fantastic value for money, serious over delivery.

Woodstock, need a boost, so a good move for them I feel, will watch the 2002's with interest.

Martin C · Post by **Martin C** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 2:02 pm

Gavin,

Ben is such a "HOT" commoditty in AUS now, he is crushing more than 400+ parcel using 26 diff. grapes varietals which include Zin, Tempranillo & Sangiovese.

Rgds,
MC