AFTER studying for a Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture and working in garden centres, at 26 Sarah Crowe opted for a change of profession working in the vineyard at Brokenwood and studying a Bachelor of Applied Science – Viticulture at Charles Stuart University.
Fast forward 15 years and it was a change that has paid dividends and recently seen Sarah receive one of the wine industry’s highest honours in being named James Halliday's 2017 Winemaker of the Year.
Sarah’s career has taken her from vintage cellar hand in the Hunter Valley and flying winemaker stints at Adelsheim Vineyards and Ponzi Vineyards in Oregon, USA and Paul Jaboulet Ainé Rhone Valley, France to becoming assistant winemaker at Brokenwood Wines followed by chief winemaker at Swish Wine and senior winemaker at Bimbadgen in the Hunter Valley.
In September 2013 Sarah took over the mantle as winemaker at the prestigious Yarra Yering vineyard in the Yarra Valley.
“The job at Yarra Yering was advertised - amazingly a job like this normally gets filled immediately on the quiet but the general manager decided to throw it out to the universe. Lucky for me,” she said.
“I called him to discuss it and he (having worked in the Hunter himself) said he thought someone with experience there would be well suited and asked me to apply.
“When I flew down for the interview it was only my second time in the Yarra Valley and immediately as I was driving up the driveway I knew I wanted to move here.”
Yarra Yering was established in 1969 by Dr Bailey Carrodus who built an international reputation for his keenly sought after wines.
Following his passing in 2008 the business was purchased in 2009 by two investment bankers who both also have separate interests in other wineries in Australia, New Zealand and France.
Agriculture and investment in land and water are big parts of their other business holdings.
Yarra Yering has 25 hectares under vine planted to shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay, merlot, malbec, petit verdot, viognier, marsanne, touriga national, tinta coa, tinta roriz, tinta armarella, alvareho and sousao.
Sarah credits Dr Carrodus for providing her with all the riches a winemaker craves to produce really great wine.
“I simply want to make wines which are true to the integrity of the fruit I have to work with,” Sarah said.
“This fruit is exceptional and with the advances in the scientific understanding of winemaking we have today, I can only improve on the original vision and legacy created by Dr Carrodus.
“I also make the wines for Warramate next door to Yarra Yering that has 7ha under vine – shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, riesling, cabernet franc and merlot.
“Both vineyards are dry grown. We are on a north-facing gentle slope at the foot of the Warramate Hills, drainage is excellent with gravel bands running down the hill.
“Today we are more mindful of our soil, the soil biology and returning nutrients back to ensure the vineyard has a long life ahead of it.
“The original trellis was very basic. We therefore had a single wire low trellis until 2014, as the original trellis was rotting we are finally able to re-trellis and think about the best configuration for easier canopy manipulation for fruit protection or exposure– depending on what it needs.
“Yields are 1.2-1.5 tonnes to the acre with some variation among varieties, it is low but a result of being dry grown.”
When it comes to global warming Sarah notes harvest is creeping earlier so pruning needs to be finished earlier as budburst is earlier and grapes picked earlier.
The winery and its design dictates much of the processing of fruit; the key is the tea-chest fermenters which will never change.
“We have some new processing equipment which is designed to be more gentle on the grapes and more gentle tannin extraction, and we also have an air bag press for whites and some reds now too,” Sarah said.
“Minimum intervention is the goal of every winemaker. Some of the changes I’ve made are using less new oak and less time in oak - the grapes are good enough that they don’t need to be propped up by oak and the consumer doesn’t like to see oak anymore.”
The Yarra Yering wines have traditionally made up of blends. The tiny production of reserve label ‘Carrodus’ wines were introduced from 2008 vintage but are not produced every year.
Generally one or two barrels and Sarah has moved these to straight varietals that Bailey Carrodus chose to plant.
Yarra Yering wines have a reputation as being capable of being cellared for a long time, 30 years or more.
“With reducing the level of new oak and bottling earlier I am trying to make the wines more approachable in their youth knowing they will still go the distance, this is the quality of the fruit not oak and we are also now bottling under screwcap,” she said.
These subtle changes Sarah has made to the winemaking at Yarra Yering have contributed to significant outcomes in the quality of the wine.
James Halliday was glowing in his praise of Sarah.
“Sarah has done an amazing job with what was her first full vintage. She has also made a wine I always thought was impossible - a Shiraz Pinot Noir in the Yarra Valley. She was the very first to do it and it's a beautiful wine, a marriage made in heaven,” he said.
Halliday rated the 2014 Yarra Yering Carrodus cabernet sauvignon 99 points.
“The purity and the intensity of the gaze of this wine is daunting and humbling. Cassis, bay leaf and cedar are the aroma and flavour headstones, ripe, but finely honed cabernet tannins of a quality no two year-old First Growth Bordeaux could possibly aspire to, provide the texture and structure,” he said.
He also scored the 2014 Yarra Yering Carrodus Shiraz 99 points while the Dry Red No 1, Dry Red No 2, Underhill Shiraz, 2015 Light Dry Red Pinot Shiraz were close behind with 98 points and the 2014 Pinot Noir 97 points.
Sarah is extremely modest about taking out the Winemaker of the Year Title.
“It isn’t something I ever would have thought about. When you submit the wines you really just want good scores to help consumers have trust in your wines,” Sarah said.
Sarah also has a string of other accolades including 2009 Rising Star of the Year, Hunter Valley Legends and Wine Industry Awards, 2010 Len Evans Tutorial Scholar and has chaired various other industry committees.
She is also involved in wine show judging spanning over ten years that has included shows in NSW, Hunter Valley, Royal Adelaide, Royal Queensland, Yarra Valley, Royal Melbourne, Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, Rutherglen Wine Show and as panel chair at Margaret River, the International Cool Climate Wines Show and Royal Sydney Wine Show.
