Interview with Wayne Dutschke

Posted by The Observer on 23 May, 2002 at 16:34:44:
from: Australian Wine Forum

Saga of a precious patch of dirt: St. Jakobi Church block, Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia.By Ken Semmler ( Grapegrower ) and Wayne Dutschke ( Winemaker )

Once upon a time, many years ago, around the end of the 19th century, this 72 acre patch of real estate included only a few acres of vineyard, with most of the area being dedicated to cropping and dairy cattle. At the start of the 1930's Oscar Semmler, Wayne's grandfather, bought the block and more vineyard was planted, but it remained primarily a grazing area for dairy purposes. Oscar's Dad referred to the dirt as a "wonder of creation", a fact borne out by the wine now coming from it. The vineyard of that time, while reflecting the fortified market of the day, did not predict the potential to produce the rich varietal flavours found in current production.

Oscar's son Ken returned to the Barossa Valley in the early 1970's after first spreading his wings as a fighter pilot with the RAAF, dodging anti-aircraft fire above the jungles of Vietnam.

Then in 1975, the transition began with Ken starting the planting of the beloved Shiraz, and it is this first area of Shiraz which provides the precious component of "Dutschke" wine. Currently forty five acres are planted with Shiraz making up one third of that area, the balance including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay. It's rather fascinating to note that all varieties have performed well, both in an analytic sense and the all important consumer taste test!

In 1990 Ken and Wayne decided to keep some of these grapes for themselves and start producing wine of their own from this vineyard. Production never intended to be a big time operation, with the bulk of the fruit each year being delivered to the Krondorf and Mildara Blass Winemakers.

The winemaking experience that Wayne has gained came from working with some of the well known quality Winemakers of Australia, including Yalumba, Grant Burge, Krondorf, Mitchelton and Mildara Blass, as well as doing the wandering minstrel act of winemaking in California, Spain and France.

There was never any doubt that Wayne and Ken would be producing premium wines, given the quality of the fruit grown on the St. Jakobi Church block, and what makes the scenically beautiful patch of real estate even more attractive is that there's still room for more planting to support the production of "Oscar Semmler", "St. Jakobi" and "WillowBend".

What a happy thought, and a "wonder of creation" indeed!

Q:How many cases of wine do you make each year?
1999 and 2000 are both around the 2500 case production. 2001 saw me increase this to 4,000 cases total for the 3 wines (St Jakobi, Oscar Semmler and WillowBend)
Who do you believe has been the most influential person in the Australian wine industry in the past 50 years?
Apart from my Grandfather Oscar Semmler, (first Chairman of Directors at The Barossa Co-operative) I would say Wolf Blass and John Glaetzer (Winemaker for Wolf) These guys were responsible for introducing early drinking red styles with flavour softness and of course oak.
What is the biggest challenge you face at the moment?
As I am now on my own, leaving the full time position as Senior Winemaker at Cellarmasters back in April 2001, my largest challenge is making it all work. Making sure the "Cash Flow" works, that I am successful in building the brand "Dutschke" to around 5000 cases, and making sure there is enough time to dedicate to my family and to improving my golf handicap.

Q:Does it concern you that the big players are dominating the market so much?
No, not at all! There is always room for the smaller guys such as myself. As long as the big players continue to produce good quality wine, it is a great way of promoting Australian wine. The big guys often lead the keen consumer to the smaller producer.

Q:Are you pro or anti Robert Parker?
I am pro Robert Parker. Anyone who enjoys Australian and wants to write about them is doing us well.
I am a little concerned how much power this one fellow has, but while he supports good Aussie wine he's doing ok.
How is the Australian wine industry evolving at the moment with regard t new techniques or developments.
We are always trying new things. Experimenting with new fermentation techniques, oak preparation methods etc. We are always looking at doing the job better. It's one thing the Australian Wine Industry has always concentrated on. We are always keeping a close eye on what others are up to and always trying something new.

Q:Where did you learn to make wine?
I have learnt from a number of people over the years. Firstly at Yalumba winery back in 1979-1982, then with Doug Lehmann at Basedow winery in 1983. But I think the biggest influence on my winemaking skills has come from Don Lewis at Mitchelton Winery 1987-1989. But I'll be honest. I am always learning from other winemakers that I work closely with. I left Cellarmasters where I had been part of a great winemaking team form Nov 1997 to April 2001. These winemaker mates included Reid Bosward, Ashley Hooper, David Thompson, John Schwartzkopff, Steve Chapman, Mark Starick, Simon Adams and Nick Badrice.

Q:What is the best wine you have ever made and why?
I think a Cellarmaster wine, the 1998 Black Wattle Mt Benson Cabernet Sauvignon is most likely the best wine that I have made. And of course any of the Dutschke wines ( St. Jakobi, Oscar Semmler and WillowBend) are not too bad either.

Q:In your opinion which are the overall top 5 wineries in Australia?
Those that are consistently doing well are:
Majella
Rockford
Henry's Drive
Torbreck
Noon's
There are plenty of great Aussie wines and wineries around. We cannot of course forget Henschke.

Q:Do you believe that the world will wake up to Australia's beautiful Rieslings?
I hope so. It certainly is the best white grape variety we handle in Australia. Clare, Eden Valley and the Goulburn Valley in Victoria do it very well.

Q:Will Italian varieties ever play as major a part as Shiraz or Cabernet?
No I don't think so. These varieties are certainly what we do best with in Australia.

Q:What would you do to market Australian Wine worldwide?
Meet up with good agents who can best represent me in each of those markets I'd like to see my wines.
I'd to travel with these agents and visit everyone who buys my wine. I enjoy travelling and enjoy having a chat with those interested in my wine. I am always interested in finding out who it is who is buying my stuff. I am lucky that I pretty much have the agents representing me now where I want my wines to be.
I am never going to be producing huge quantities of wine, so even at this stage I really do not need to find new markets just better serve those I already have.
What is your most embarrassing "wine" moment?
There have been a number of embarrassing moments, but one recent one was: During the year we had a group of overseas retailers and distributors visit our vineyard. I was doing a demonstration of "Champagne" disgorging, by freezing the neck of the bottle and removing the plug of yeast. When trying to remove the cap the neck of the bottle broke off. The plug of yeast and about 1/3 the volume of Sparkling flew out, landing onto the jacket and face of one of the nearby distributors. No harm done! Just went back and found another bottle of bubbles to disgorge more gracefully.

Q:Do you have any other amusing stories you could share with us?
There are many:
Most of these stories are much funnier while there experiencing it first hand. Few include snakes, lizards, watches, lunch boxes and drink bottles going through crushers. Others include crazy blokes I had worked with at various places and the stupid things we would do. Some things are better left unsaid. But I do remember quite vividly a well groomed, smartly dressed Doug Lehmann ready for a meeting trying to help out in the vintage cellar one day. While working at Basedows with Doug Lehmann we had a problem with a hose blocked with Deep Red Shiraz skins and seeds. While trying to clear the blockage I started the pump with Doug still looking into the end of the hose. Doug got to see the blockage clear close up. Head to toe with skins and seeds!

Q:What wines that you have made should we be drinking now?
Any of those with a "Dutschke" label on
Please describe your style of wines and any other information you may feel appropriate about the winery/history for our readers?
The reds I produce from our vineyard in the Southern Barossa Valley between Lyndoch and Williamstown are generous in fruit flavours, being mouth filling and full. We typically find the wines offer spicy fruit characters as well as the typical ripe plum the Barossa Shiraz is known for. They have shown to be very consistent in quality and style since the first wine we produced for ourselves back in 1990.
So glad my ancestors decided to settle in the Southern Barossa and plant a few grape vines. Also very pleased Australian wines are received so well around the world. We have 72 acre of land between Lyndoch and Williamstown in the Barossa with 45 acres of vines.
Varieties include in order of largest planting are:
Shiraz,
Cabernet Sauvignon
Chardonnay
Merlot,
Pinot Noir
Riesling
Frontignac.
This property was originally managed by my Grandfather "Oscar Semmler" and his brothers with some of the earlier vines being planted in the mid 1930's. The early varieties were planted for fortified wine production, something the Barossa was once recognised for. Uncle Ken (Semmler) replaced these vines in the mid 70's with varieties better suited for table wine. These are those listed above.
We supply Mildara Blass with most of the fruit grown on our vineyard, keeping back only a percentage of what is produced each year for our own wine production. 1990 was the first year we chose to turn some of our precious fruit to wine. That year we only produced 120 cases of Red and 80 cases of Chardonnay. Over the last 12 vintages we have slowly grown this quantity to the 4000 case volume I processed this year. This still leaves Mildara (Beringer) Blass with 200 or so tonne of premium from our precious patch of real estate.

Reproduced with permission from W.Dutschke.