If you want to make a wine that accurately expresses the character of a particular place, then there are five things you shouldn’t do, according to one of the world’s most influential wine consultants, Alberto Antonini.
The handful of mistakes were rapidly reeled off by the respected Italian wine consultant on 5 June in London, as he geared up to present the latest releases from a new project he is working on, Alkina Wine Estates in the Barossa – a property owned by Alejandro Bulgheroni, an Argentine oil and gas billionaire who has gone into the wine business in a big way, notably with Bodegas Garzon in Uruguay. Speaking about the philosophy of the Australian estate, which was established in 2015, following Bulgheroni’s acquisition of vines and land near Greenock in the Barossa Valley, Antonini recorded how “he had a feeling it was a very good terroir”, having “felt the chemistry of the place” after seeing the farm for sale. Form that moment on, his aim – like all his projects – was to “try and make wines that could deliver the essence of their origin,” which meant organic and biodynamic farming, along with regenerative approaches to soil management – which focused on increasing the carbon content of the soil by disturbing it as little as possible. Since the purchase, Antonini has overseen the planting of 18 hectares of vines at the estate without using any herbicides, commenting, “I don’t think anyone is South Australia has done that” – before
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
