Bleasdale awarded Halliday Wine Companion Winery of the Year

Zeroing in on the bursting flavours of violet and raspberry, or bitter chocolate and cocoa powder, has become a key part in the process of making wine at this year's Halliday Wine Companion Winery of the Year.

The Langhorne Creek winery is 173 years old and muscled out 1200 wineries to take out the prestigious award, which was handed down by founder, James Halliday.

A sample of wines are entered into the competition for tasting by nine judges, which then go on to feature in the annual Halliday Wine Companion guide - a national wine encyclopedia.

Bleasdale Vineyards senior winemaker, Paul Hotker, reached his 16^th year at the winery and played a significant role in the winery's success throughout the years.

"There is always one award which makes the difference and this is definitely it," he said.

When Mr Hotker arrived at Bleasdale he was asked to meet a 'brief', which he still honours today.

"It was to elevate Bleasdale wine quality and where it sits in the market - Bleasdale has always been wine for the people," he said.

"We have always offered good value wine but I have introduced a heap of new wines into the portfolio, which are still great value."

After sixteen years of work, the winery sits in a pretty good position.

"This award is the one which turns the tide," Mr Hotker said.

"They say it takes a generation to turn a business around and we are coming up to a generation as we speak. This makes me feel like I can relax finally, or just for now at least."

Throughout the years, Mr Hotker's main goal has been to capture fruit flavour and put it in a bottle for generations to share.

"In an ideal world, the goal is to not do a lot of winemaking. This sounds very easy but it is actually the most difficult part," he said.

"It is easy to just 'paint by numbers' or work off the numbers to make wine, which is what the large corporate wineries do."

Mr Hotker believed wine needed to taste like the place it came from.

"Painting by numbers is for kindergarten children. It makes wine all taste the same," he said.

To avoid this winemaking dilemma, Mr Hotker asked his team for three words to define each vineyard, which separates it from its neighbours.

"It helps us to understand what we are trying to capture from each vineyard," he said.

"After a few years, we have learned the distinctive signature of each, so we are always trying to capture it."

THE Potts family established award-winning winery, Bleasdale at Langhorne Creek in 1850 and today, fifth and sixth generation family members still work for the business.

About 173 years ago, Frank Potts established the winery and exclusively made forfeited wines until 1961, when they released their first red table wine - a 1961 Malbec.

Throughout its decorated history, the winery has been awarded 70 trophies in just the past decade.

Some include this year's big win, Winery of the Year 2024, as well as back-to-back Halliday Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year for 2023 and 2024, Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the 2019 Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, Max Schubert AM Trophy for Most Outstanding Red Wine of Show at the 2018 Royal Adelaide Wine Show.

Senior winemaker Paul Hotker said Bleasdale followed a traditional way of winemaking - without a doubt separating it from its competitors.

"It is a less technical way of making wine but is it? It is actually about capturing the flavour of a particular vineyard and its growing region, rather than trying to turn it into a general wine and losing its identity," he said.

"I think our way is what gives the joy of exploring wine. It is about making it taste different otherwise where is the interest coming from?"

Mr Hotker said the Australian wine show system was designed to improve winemaking.

"It does not matter if you are a woolgrower, graingrower or winemaker, the show system is there to highlight what is good," he said.

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