The Auswine Forum

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-a ... 7237640242

Doing the math, that quantity comes out at about $9 a bottle (wholesale).

It was Kellermeister.. Their premium wine is the Wild Witch.. Reading the story, they don't seem too perturbed by the loss calling it an "old" chardonnay vintage...

“It was just some old chardonnay vintage. The premium reds are safe and sound.
“That would have been pretty unfortunate but we are very lucky.”

Really, "just some old Chardonnay vintage"? Clearly they don't think they make good Chardonnay. Anybody who makes good wine would appreciate them and mourn their loss. By way of contrast look at the pride of place Tahbilk gives to their inexpensive Marsanne.

Sometimes I wonder if it is this attitude that contributes to a number of forum members here who don' t drink or appreciate white wines. I wonder if they also don't eat seafood.

Mahmoud.

"Mr Pearce said the drained wine was a 2010-11 chardonnay vintage, which was kept in an area of the winery used to store wine before it was bottled."

Why on earth did they have a tank full of 2010-11 chardonnay??

sjw_11 wrote:"Mr Pearce said the drained wine was a 2010-11 chardonnay vintage, which was kept in an area of the winery used to store wine before it was bottled."

Why on earth did they have a tank full of 2010-11 chardonnay??

Good question.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:“It was just some old chardonnay vintage. The premium reds are safe and sound.
“That would have been pretty unfortunate but we are very lucky.”

Really, "just some old Chardonnay vintage"? Clearly they don't think they make good Chardonnay. Anybody who makes good wine would appreciate them and mourn their loss. By way of contrast look at the pride of place Tahbilk gives to their inexpensive Marsanne.

Sometimes I wonder if it is this attitude that contributes to a number of forum members here who don' t drink or appreciate white wines. I wonder if they also don't eat seafood.

Mahmoud.

Mahmoud -- do you ever make your way to Ottawa?

Rick

Some tasting notes from a visit to Kellermeister (and other CDs) 18mths ago

http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13457

Was impressed they had a couple of Riedel Eve decanters, bugger to use, but very impressive

Bytown Rick wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:“It was just some old chardonnay vintage. The premium reds are safe and sound.
“That would have been pretty unfortunate but we are very lucky.”

Really, "just some old Chardonnay vintage"? Clearly they don't think they make good Chardonnay. Anybody who makes good wine would appreciate them and mourn their loss. By way of contrast look at the pride of place Tahbilk gives to their inexpensive Marsanne.

Sometimes I wonder if it is this attitude that contributes to a number of forum members here who don' t drink or appreciate white wines. I wonder if they also don't eat seafood.

Mahmoud.

Mahmoud -- do you ever make your way to Ottawa?

Hi Rick,

Unfortunately no, I was in Toronto and Montreal last year as I have relatives there but not in Ottawa. If you come out west I'm sure I can scrounge up some older Aussie whites (and reds) to open.

Mahmoud.

PS: For the antipodeans on this forum, Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, hence "Bytown Rick".

n4sir wrote:Prominent SA winemaker Trevor Jones accused of destroying $300,000 worth of wine
By court reporter Loukas Founten
ABC News
31 March 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-31/s ... atenews_sa

A prominent South Australian winemaker has faced court accused of destroying more than $300,000 worth of wine from a Barossa Valley winery.

Trevor David Jones, 57, has been charged with serious criminal trespass and property damage.

Jones previously made wine for Kellermeister Wines at Lyndoch, where it is alleged he deliberately opened taps on four wine tanks releasing nearly 25,000 litres of wine in February.

He now runs his own winery, Trevor Jones Fine Wines, also based at Lyndoch.

Jones was not required to enter a plea during his appearance in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court.

He is next due to face the Adelaide Magistrates Court in June.

sour grapes?

Why did he destory virtually unsaleable chardonnay?? What a thing to seek revenge on...
Its funny I always thought he was at least a co-owner at Kellermeister but it turns out he just made the wine there a really long time:

Trevor's bio
Trevor Jones began his winemaking career in 1977 at Bernkastel Wines, with Rob O'Callaghan, working through two vintages, before accepting a position as assistant winemaker at Karrawirra Wines in 1979. In 1982 Trevor was appointed winemaker and remained in that position until 1986. During Trevor's time at Karrawirra he also made wines for Kellermeister Wines.

At the end of 1986 Trevor moved to the Upper Hunter Valley, in NSW, to take up employment as winemaker for Tyrrell's Vineyards at their Glenbawn Estate Winery. In 1989 he returned to the Barossa Valley as full time winemaker for Kellermeister Wines.

During his time at Kellermeister Wines, Trevor also worked as a consultant winemaker for both Anglesey Wines and Glenara Wines, the latter he is still involved with. Trevor was also employed by St. Hallett Wines as a contract winemaker during eight vintage seasons.

And then this guy took over ...
In late 2012, Pearce bought Kellermeister from its founders, Ralph and Val Jones. At just 32 he therefore finds himself at the helm of one of
the Barossa’s most respected boutique wine brands – and one which has carved out a strong consumer following with its Wild Witch, Storyboard and retro labels; under his direction Kellermeister has also been producing a Barossa cider, another popular tipple.

“I’m commonly referred to as being a bit eccentric,” he says with pride. “I take a quirky perspective on things. I find normal really boring. We don’t have big budgets to spend on PR and advertising, so we need to tell our story through our wines. That’s why we hold so many events in the winery – when people go home they know we are not just another in-house supermarket brand.”

Bristling with ideas about where he might take Kellermeister over the next few years – he has already introduced a new small-batch label,
Threefold Farm, to its established range – Pearce is also determined to respect the legacy of Ralph and Val Jones who lured him from Wirra Wirra in 2009 to become their chief winemaker.


My mind could come up with 100 salacious scenarios how this all ended at at this point, but I won't speculate... Bizarre story all round though.

Hmm

25,000 litres totalling $300,000 works out $12 a litre in the tanks. On that you would add the costs of bottling, wholesale and retail pricing - plus tax.

Was this the main component of Yattarna?

Perhaps the chardonnay had very good insurance?

Like any good story, there's now a huge twist:

SA magistrate dismisses charges against Barossa Valley winemaker Trevor David Jones over $300,000 chardonnay spillage
The Advertiser
By Sean Fewster

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 67bb64c424

ONE of Australia’s most prominent wine critics faces potential contempt of court and defamation proceedings for commenting on a court case.

Lawyers on Wednesday accused James Halliday of contempt of court for writing about Barossa Valley winemaker Trevor David “Boots” Jones.

The accusations were made during a hearing in which the court dismissed charges Mr Jones had deliberately drained $300,000 of chardonnay from a rival’s tanks.

Umm...methinks all of us might have to be a little careful commenting here, particularly in relation to said persons former career.

Cheers
Craig.

Scotty vino wrote:http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/police-investigate-deliberate-draining-of-12-million-litres-of-wine-from-winery-at-monash-in-sas-riverland/news-story/603fcaa8f8a7199427a136800dbb92f4

Yes, came across this earlier today. That's a lot of booze gone.

Depending on the quality, that might not be a bad thing...... for the industry.

Apologies to anyone who has actually been affected by this - I am commenting on the industry rather than the circumstances.

Cheers

Michael