THE WINE FRONT

Winemaker Profile by Adam Catford. 

Name: 
Wayne Dutschke

Age:
46

Where you currently make wine:
Dutschke Wines

Location: 
Barossa Valley, Lyndoch, South Australia

Where you’ve made wine in the past:
Yalumba (Barossa), Basedow (Barossa), Mid-Murray Co-op (Swan Hill, Vic.), Krondorf (Barossa), Arrowfield (Hunter), Robert Pepi (Napa Valley, California), Mitchelton (Goulburn Valley, Vic.), Grant Burge (Barossa), Casa de la Vina (Valdepenas, Spain), Bodegas Alanis (Galicia, Spain), Bailys of Glenrowan  (Vic), Golden State Vintners (Monterey, California), Cellarmaster (McLaren Vale/Barossa), Bodegas Borsao (Campo de Borja, Spain), Dutschke Wines (Barossa)

Most significant wine you’ve ever drunk:
1979 Krondorf McLaren Vale Barossa Cabernet (I think there may have been Coonawarra in the blend too). It was the 1980 Jimmy Watson winning wine.

Could you describe this wine?
This wine is so much more than how it tasted. It’s the story behind it. This could be a story too long for me to include here, but I’ll give it a go. While working the Vintage at Krondorf in 1985 we were having dinner in Grant and Helen’s home when Grant pulled out a bottle of this wine. The wine was magnificently complex, mouth filling and rich. This wine showed the strength of blending between regions, the strength of Cabernet as a variety and of course the strength of winning a significant gong at a very significant time, clever marketing and how one builds a brand. It was a great story in the bottle and that moment taught me so much. Helen and Grant Burge taught me plenty too. I revisited this wine 9 years later when looking at a line up of past Jimmy winners in Hamburg with another mentor Don Lewis and the wine still looked so good. There’s often more in a wine than how it tastes.

Wine you’re most proud of having been associated with the making of?
There are plenty. Good ol Dutschke St Jakobi Shiraz makes me proud. From a small patch of Shiraz on the family vineyard it just seems to deliver every year.

Then there was also the 1998 Black Wattle Mt Benson Cabernet. A wonderful vintage from a new wine-producing region in the South East of SA.  At one stage was the most awarded wine in the Cellarmaster collection of wines. It is still a great drink.

What wine that you have made has the most interesting story behind it – and what is that story?
Back in July 1993 I received a phone call from my good mate Don Lewis, asking if I have ever been to Spain. The answer was no. The next question was, “would I like to go?” The answer was yes. So in August we set off to Spain to squash some grapes in a joint venture project between Mitchelton and Bodegas y Bebidas of Spain. Not speaking a word of Spanish other than “por favor” (didn’t know what it meant) we set up for Vintage. The 1993 Solana Cencibel (Tempranillo) from Valdepenas Spain was a wonderful drop. It won Red Wine of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London in its first year. A great way to kick the project off! That’s 15 years ago now. It was a great way to be involved in the international scene of winemaking.

Is there any wine you’ve been associated with the making of that, if you had your time again, you’d treat/make differently? 
I’m sure there is. There would be plenty that I’d do differently. For example, even though the 93 Solana Cencibel was a good wine, I am sure I would have made this wine differently, knowing what I know now. We’re always learning. You do what you think is best with what you have at the time.

In your opinion, which wine style/grape variety does Australia and New Zealand, respectively, do best?
There’s no doubt New Zealand is Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are becoming more complex & smarter wines all the time. I’d say it still is Shiraz for Australia. There are some very clever expressions of Shiraz now making it all the more interesting.

Other than the wineries you have worked with, which Australian/NZ winery is best represented in your personal cellar? 
Rockford. Another great story!

Favourite wine region (Australia):
Barossa Valley

Favourite wine region (world-wide): 
Galicia, Spain.

Favourite movie: 
Ratatouille

Favourite book (general): 
Inside Gilligans Island

Favourite wine-related book: 
My Dad Has Purple Hands

Desert-island food-wine match:
Tom Yum Soup and Cold Flor Fino Sherry, or better still a dry fine Riesling (Austrian, Alsatian, Clare, Eden Valley or German) to drink with all the fish we’d catch.

How do you take your coffee? 
Depending on the time of the day, White with one or double espresso.

What do you most love about the wine industry?  
The people, sharing stories with great mates both in the industry and consumers and the squashing of grapes.

What do you most detest about the wine industry?    
The Cash flow

Any comments you would like to make in relation to the wine industry here or globally?
Passion is the driving force. It’s not about making money.