When Stephen and Rhonda Doyle planted the first Riesling vines in Orange in 1984, it was clearly a leap of faith. Chardonnay was firmly established as the flavour of the decade in white varietals and their counterparts in South Australia were busy attracting the subsidy that attended the destruction of too many quality, low yielding old vines in South Australia.
Because of the structure of payments under the vine-pull scheme, a hectare of meanly yielding ancient Riesling attracted as much subsidy as a fat paddock of, say, Shiraz. And as growers were generally paid by the ton for their grapes, when chainsaws fired up, they were pointed at varieties like Riesling.
Not only that, the dry (Australian) style of true Riesling so respected today was then a rarity. The wine style Riesling was, for all its supposed nobility and breeding often seen as a nondescript sweet wine style made from Muscat Gordo Blanco and surplus Sultana grapes best drunk quick and cold. Rationally, planting a vineyard of classic Riesling in an unknown area with the aim of producing what was then an unpopular style of wine was a bound into the unknown.
“Rhonda sought a compromise to avoid what she firmly believed was a step toward economic disaster. She had been enjoying drinking Muscat de Beaumes de Venise with dessert at Peter Doyle’s (no relation) then Reflections’ Palm Beach restaurant, and as Riesling could be made with varying levels of residual sweetness, it was agreed that I could make my favoured classic dry wine style if I also had a crack at a (perceivably more saleable) super late harvest style as conditions allowed,” Stephen Doyle, Bloodwood owner and Winemaker elucidated.
“Over almost thirty years, the wine gods have seen fit to honour that original promise a mere eight vintages. The grapes have been picked as late as early July and as early as mid-May depending on weather conditions in late autumn and early winter. The 2011 is our current attempt to keep my promise.” And wife Rhonda adds, “The circle is complete. You can enjoy our Silk Purse with Peter Doyle’s beautiful desserts now at est in George Street, Sydney.”
Partnering the recently released 2011 Bloodwood Silk Purse is the 2010 Bloodwood Chardonnay. This Chardonnay is made from grapes grown on the region’s oldest Chardonnay vineyard, planted in 1984 with much bemusement from neighbouring farmers. The rest, as is often said, is history.