production

ONE OF the world’s leading wine consultants has teamed up with an Argentinian oil and gas billionaire in a multi-million dollar vineyard and winery development in the Barossa Valley. Alberto Antonini, who has been named by both Decanter magazine and The Drinks Business as one of the world’s top five wine consultants, is advising Alejandro Pedro Bulgheroni on the development of Greenock Farm, a 40ha property at the northern end of the Barossa that was purchased last year for $1.95 million. With only 12ha currently planted to Barossa iconic grape varieties (shiraz, grenache, mataro and semillon) there are imminent plans to plant a further 18ha with the same varieties, while restoration work has already begun on the 150-year-old stone barns and farm buildings on the site. The first vintage, under a label name that is still going through the international trademarking process, is expected in 2018. While it is considerably smaller than the Bulgheri Family Vineyards recent US85 million vineyard and winery development Bodega Garzón in Uruguay, the company’s Australian managing director Amelia Nolan promises that, like Bodega Garzón, it will be a cutting edge development that will push boundaries in all directions. Bulgheri, who spent three years exploring Australian wine regions with Antonini and Nolan before settling on the Barossa, has now added Australia to a portfolio that includes multiple estates in California, Argentina, Uruguay, France and Italy.
“We like the Barossa a lot,” said Antonini. “We had many options, but this was a place of inspiration. The Barossa has great terroir and has built a great reputation, but what I taste now is not what we think the Barossa is capable of delivering. We will focus on the origin of the grapes, the unique place, not the variety. Varieties are generic, but places like the Barossa are unique.”