Courtney Treacher Brookland Valley Unison Interview

Brookland Valley releases new Unison range

Award winning Margaret River winery launches new range reflecting the iconic region's unique character.

As Australian winemakers across the country reflect on the end of vintage for another year, award winning Margaret River winery, Brookland Valley, has released a new range of wines aimed at capturing the essence of one of the country's most iconic wine regions.

The recently released Brookland Valley Unison range promises wine lovers quality and style synonymous with the region, at an RRP of $21.99.

Brookland Valley Chief Winemaker, Courtney Treacher, said the Unison range had been crafted to strongly represent the very essence of the Margaret River wine region, and in particular the Brookland Valley vineyards' unique terroir and conditions which work together, in unison, to create a truly special drop.

'Margaret River is recognised as one of the world's premier wine regions, in particular for these grape varieties," she said of the three wines in the range; a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, a Chardonnay, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

'With Unison, we wanted to create a range that boasted minimal interference to encourage natural nuance of flavour, effectively putting the pure characters of the Margaret River region in a bottle."

'We know that wine lovers care as much about regional character as we do, so we're really excited to be able to present a wine that reflects the essence of the Margaret River, a special place where all ideal growing conditions come together."

Treacher says Brookland Valley's philosophy of -The land. The location. The vines.' Represents a triumvirate that every winemaker recognises is at the heart of a wine's quality, and a region's reputation.

'The Brookland Valley location is one that we want people to be talking about in much the same way they do the premier wine growing areas of France and Spain," she said.

'We believe the wines in the Unison range will help to achieve that, and give Australian wine lovers a new sense of pride in the sheer quality of wine that can be produced and delivered at an affordable price point."

The Brookland Valley Unison range has an RRP of $21.99 and is available from independent liquor stores nationally, as well as Liquorland and First Choice Liquor.

BROOKLAND VALLEY
Margaret River
UNISON
2011 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Brookland Valley is committed to producing exceptional wines from the remote and beautiful Margaret River region.

Tasting Notes:
Wine Style: Sweet.....1...2...3...4...5...Dry
Light......1...2...3...4...5...Full bodied

With a hot growing season, timely rainfall in Margaret River saw the fruit ripen in top condition. Careful monitoring of the fruit was required to ensure flavour was picked at its peak. The fruit was harvested at ideal ripeness and the wine shows full, rich, round flavours and fine, persistent, supple tannins. It was fermented in open fermenters and pressed directly to Bordeaux coopered French oak for maturation over 10 months.

The wine shows aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry, complemented by notes of bay leaf, black olive and hints of dark chocolate and spice. The palate exhibits supple tannins, complemented with generous fruit flavours. Powerful cassis, plum and mulberry flavours are balanced with more savoury notes of black olive and bay leaf, with some hints of dried herb and tobacco.

Food: Enjoy served with beef fillet with porcini and European girolle mushrooms
Alcohol: 14.0%

BROOKLAND VALLEY
Margaret River
UNISON
2012 CHARDONNAY

Brookland Valley is committed to producing exceptional wines from the remote and beautiful Margaret River region.

Tasting Notes
Wine Style: Sweet.....1...2...3...4...5...Dry
Light...... 1...2...3...4...5...Full bodied
The 2012 vintage was another excellent vintage in Margaret River. High winter rainfall saw the vines replenish vital water supplies for the growing season to follow. A warm summer meant that sugar accumulated steadily in the berries and with careful monitoring of the fruit we were able to ensure the fruit was harvested when flavour was at its peak.

Selected vineyard parcels were harvested and gently pressed to extract the finest quality juice. A combination of stain less steel and French oak fermentation has provided a wine of great freshness and complexity. The wine was matured on yeast lees for four to five months with regular lees stirring to build texture in the wine. Carefully selected components were blended, receiving minimal fining and filtration prior to bottling.

The bouquet shows subtle notes of white peach, guava, fig and nougat combining with cashew nut, vanilla and toasty characteristics derived from French oak and yeast lees maturation. The complex and supple palate melds fig, stone fruits and citrus with brioche and almonds. The texture combines a fine acid to give elegance and length of flavour.

Food: Enjoy served with veal saltimbocca and steamed vegetables.
Alcohol: 13.5%

BROOKLAND VALLEY
Margaret River
UNISON
2012 SAUVIGNON BLANC SEMILLON

Brookland Valley is committed to producing exceptional wines from the remote and beautiful Margaret River region.

Tasting Notes
Wine Style: Sweet.....1...2...3...4...5...Dry
Light...... 1...2...3...4...5...Full bodied

The 2012 vintage was another excellent vintage in Margaret River. High winter rainfall saw the vines replenish vital water supplies for the growing season to follow. A warm summer meant that sugar accumulated steadily in the berries and with careful monitoring of the fruit we were able to ensure the fruit was harvested when flavour was at its peak.

The 2012 vintage provided Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon with intense varietal characters and balanced acidity. Individual parcels were fermented separately in stainless steel with selected yeasts at cool temperatures to retain varietal aromatics. Extended yeast lees contact provides further complexity, texture and palate length.
This wine shows a vibrant aroma of fresh guava and grapefruit, with a dash of lime zest. On the palate, the pure varietal characteristics of passionfruit and gooseberry give a refreshing focus to this wine. A creamy texture from lees contact provides subtle palate complexity.

Food: Enjoy served with fresh fish and chicken, combined with Asian spices.
Alcohol: 12.5%

Interview with Brookland Valley Chief Winemaker, Courtney Treacher

Question: What is involved in your work as a Brookland Valley Chief Winemaker?

Courtney Treacher: The role of the winemaker is fairly varied and spans from making harvest decisions in the vineyard, many winemaking and style decisions in the winery from the juice stage, through ferment and maturation and preparation for packaging. A lot of these decisions are based on taste so it is important to always be thinking about the flavours, balance, length and structure of the wines every time you taste.


Question: What inspired this career path, for you?

Courtney Treacher: I made the decision to direct my career down the winemaking at a relatively early age of 15 or 16. I always liked the idea of creation of taking grapes from the vineyard and manipulating the natural processes of fermentation and maturation to turn them into interesting and flavour filled wines.


Question: Can you talk us through the unique inspiration behind the Brookland Valley Unison range?

Courtney Treacher: With the Brookland Valley Unison range we could see that there was a gap within our product portfolio that meant it was difficult for the consumer to transcend from the Brookland Valley Verse 1 wines to our Estate range of wines. This created an opportunity for us to introduce the new Unison range. We decided to focus the range on what the Margaret River region does best – Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blends, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. We then went out and sourced parcels of fruit that displayed the characters within these wine styles that are distinctly Margaret River.


Question: How does the minimal interference to encourage natural nuance of flavour make the Brookland Valley Unison range different to others?

Courtney Treacher: We really focus on showcasing to the consumer the flavours and freshness that we see when we are walking the vineyard. We use gentle extraction techniques and cool temperatures to retain this freshness and use yeast to enhance the flavours of the fruit. The influence of oak is there to subtly support and lend structure to the wine.


Question: Can you talk us through which wines in the range suit which meals and times of year?

Courtney Treacher: While there are some fairly general rules of thumb with wine consumption and food matching. I believe the first rule should be if it tastes good to you then it's the right combination. Generally the Sauvignon Blanc Semillon is a warmer weather wine as it is light and refreshing, I would enjoy it with a BBQ, chicken or fish dishes, asparagus, fresh salads and dishes with a hit of spice. The Chardonnay has a little more body and so is a little more versatile and great for drinking any time of year and with a greater range of dishes from seafood to red meats to pasta. People normally tend to drink red in the cooler months and with heavier foods however the Unison Cabernet Sauvignon is bright and flavoursome and not weighed down with heavy oak meaning it also matches with a broad range of dishes – again try it at your next BBQ, with your favourite roast or (one of my favourites) with a cheese platter.


Question: Can you talk us through the process for creating a wine, in short?

Courtney Treacher: Your first decisions start in the vineyard looking at the flavour and ripeness of the grapes and deciding when to pick. The juice is then extracted from the grapes in the winery – the white grapes are separated from the skins while the red grapes are left in contact with the skins as this is where all of the colour and a lot of the tannin is found. Yeast are then used to turn the sugar in the grape juice into alcohol. Depending on the wine style you are making the wine will either be prepared for packaging shortly after fermentation or undergo a longer maturation and may spend time in contact with oak. Sound simple – right?


Question: What's a typical day like, for you?

Courtney Treacher: My days usually start early and involve a lot of time tasting (and spitting of course!), looking at analysis and planning where each wine is at and what we need to do to present the best possible wine we can. Any wine that is moving out of barrel involves tasting every barrel and all of the wines are tasted every time they are transferred or receive any addition. It is important for a winemaker to do a lot of tasting of their own product to ensure that the quality is maintained and also to keep an eye on what competitors are doing.


Question: What do you enjoy most about working in Margaret River?

Courtney Treacher: We have some excellent fruit resources and there are many very passionate wine producers in the area. I also can't complain about the beaches and natural beauty of the area.


Question: Why is it important to you to provide quality wine at an affordable price?

Courtney Treacher: We can't all afford to drink expensive wines. A glass of wine is something that might help you wind down at the end of a hard day, it's something to enjoy with your friends, something to enhance a meal or you might like to have a glass of something to celebrate a special occasion. I think these are small pleasures that should be within everyone's grasp. We place a great deal of pride in being able to make the best wines that we can at a price that people can also enjoy.


Question: What is your favourite food and wine pairing?

Courtney Treacher: I find this a really tough question to answer because I love tasting different wines and flavour combinations. But I do love Chardonnay, so I would probably say Chardonnay and oysters for pure indulgence or equally as enjoyable with fish and chips and a good view at sunset.


Interview by Brooke Hunter