Winery: Bekkers Wine
We spent a wonderful afternoon with French-born winemaker Emmanuelle Bekker (Emma). While taking us through our tasting, we learned of her history and the Love Story behind Bekkers Wine. It was the perfect setting; the floor to ceiling windows of their intimate tasting room showcasing the vineyard views.
The Story:
Emmanuelle gained her degree in Oenology from Montpellier and was a winemaker in Burgundy and the Languedoc. In 1995 while working in Languedoc at Domaine de la Baume, a wine estate owned by an Australian family, she asked if she could do a vintage at their winery in Australia. That's how she ended up at Hardy's Tintara, a winery with a long history in McLaren Vale established in 1853. She worked for Steve Pannell, and met Toby, her now-husband, while he was doing all the vineyard sampling. Toby grew up in McLaren Vale and studied Agriculture at the University of Adelaide.
Emma discovered how beautiful McLaren Vale was and loved going into all those old vine vineyards. She also found similarities to her home in France with the rolling hills and the sea as a backdrop. Falling in love with the region, and Toby, Emma extended her stay. Long story short, and after a lot of back and forth, she made McLaren Vale her home. They both went on to make a name for themselves in McLaren Vale. Toby spent over a decade as the viticulturist and GM at Paxton. It was here he spearheaded Organic and Biodynamic practices and transitioned their vineyards. While Emma was the winemaker at Chalk Hill and oversaw the design and creation of the processing facility in Langhorne Creek.
In 2010 they decided to take a sabbatical with their two kids to France, and this is where they hatched the plan to combine their passions, a viticulturist and a winemaker, to create Bekkers Wine. To them, the vineyard is the most essential part. Farming organically or biodynamically is preferable, but they don't believe in rigid rules; everything in balance. They knew they wanted to do something a bit different, making fine wines in McLaren Vale, seeking to produce wines that are refined and elegant.
The Bekker's believe McLaren Vale has everything to be a world-class region. It has rich and diverse soils and a fantastic climate. It's a region that can easily produce generous wines with lots of flavors and aromas. The winemaking community is a passionate group of modest and small producers.
I hope this leads you to discover McLaren Vale and Bekkers Wine.
The Wines:
They produce a Syrah, Grenache, and a blend of the two. They are a small producer making 1500 cases but looking to grow. They bring together grapes from different sites, each possessing unique terroir, individually vinified before combining into the final wine. It's just the two of them making the wines so they can control the timing and pay attention to details. Emma likes to handpick the grapes early and use a state-of-the-art grape sorting machine. The fermentation is long and slow, without any added yeast. They use large format oak with very little being new.
2017 Grenache:
This Grenache was from old vines (60 to 80 years) and is simply unbelievable. It spent 15 months in used oak to showcase the flavors. Highly perfumed; plum, cherry, and blueberry with hints of cloves and spice. On the lighter side of medium-bodied, all the fruits and spices were shining through and possessing a tart acidity.
Emma said it's a difficult grape to work with, but that's what interests her because every year is a challenge. When you get it at its optimum, it's a beautifully textured wine. It has all the layers of red fruit and spice. She also stated that compared to Syrah, Grenache has a far greater ability to express the vintage as well as the site.
2016 Syrah:
The Shiraz is their premium wine, which comes from two old low-yielding vineyards. It spent 24 months in oak (20% new). This full-bodied wine is all dark fruit, spice with a bit of dark chocolate.
2017 Syrah (58%) Grenache (42%) Blend
The combination of the two grapes was, for us, the best of both worlds; a beautiful nose with a weightier wine. The bouquet was floral, raspberry, and sweet fruit. It’s medium to full-bodied wine; silky, and velvety to taste and perfectly balanced.
Premier Cru Chablis Story:
Emma believes McLaren Vale does excellent reds, but it is a little more challenging to grow fine whites. Not feeling McLaren Vale Chardonnay was right for what she wanted to make, she persuaded Toby to let her produce a wine from France. Wanting to make a wine with purity, minerality, and good texture, she sought a Premier Cru site. After an involved search, they landed on vineyards in Les Vaillons, where she has become good friends with the woman who manages the vineyards. Emma goes back and works every vintage, doing double vintages in France and Australia. Joking that it's a good thing, they are in different hemispheres. They bottle the wine in France and ship it back to McLaren Vale. What a fun find!