Meeting Parker’s ‘Australian Winemaker of the Year’

In 1995, the Australian Wine Industry set out to conquer the world. ‘Australia 2025’s’ premise was to establish a plan for Australia to become the most important exporter of wine in the world. Seven years into it, their planting goals had been met. Ten years into ‘Australia 2025’, their sales goals were right where they wanted to be; twenty years ahead of schedule. According to Nielsen, one out of every ten bottles of wine sold in the state of Florida is Australian. For the past five years, Australia’s growth curve outpaced all other wine categories. So, you might be asking yourself, why do the Aussies need any more help in marketing their wines? Because: the demographics of the Aussie wines being sold are all generally under $10. Even with tremendous press in Robert Parker’s, Steven Tanzer’s, and The Wine Spectators reviews, the percentage of ‘premium’ Australian wines being sold is far below the Australian producers hopes and expectations. That being said, there are more and more spectacular values coming out in Australia’s ‘premium’ wines.

We at the Wine Warehouse believe that we carry a nice range of the under $10 Australian wines, but that our strengths lie in the ‘premium’ and ‘super-premium’ categories from down under. One winery that pops to mind as a tremendous ‘mid-teen’ value is Heartland. Heartland’s winemaker and partner is 29 year old ‘phenom’, Ben Glaetzer. Not only was he Robert Parker’s ‘Australian Winemaker of the Year,’ with praise such as ‘he has shown an exquisite talent for accessing fabulous vineyards and turning out world-class wines, he has also been Quantas Airlines ‘Young Winemaker of the Year.’ Recently we met with Ben and his importer for lunch to run through his full range of wines. It didn’t surprise us when we received a friendly Aussie greeting and the first words out of Ben’s mouth were, ‘g’day mate, care for a beer?’

Heartland own 1000 acres of vineyard, 550 of which are in the Langhorne Creek region, with the remaining 450 acres being on the Limestone Coast. By owning their vineyards, Heartland has a more ‘hands on’ control of their grapes and the quality that is coming into their winery.

Langhorne Creek was settled in the early 1850’s and is 70km south east of Adelaide. Langhorne is famous for the ‘lake doctor,’ climatic effect that has an afternoon cooling breeze coming in from the ocean. This cooling effect helps keep vibrancy and acidity in the grapes.

The Limestone Coast is further down the coast, 300km south east of Adelaide and shares many characteristics of its neighbor Coonawarra. This area was once an inland sea over a million years ago. The base of the area is abundant limestone formed from the abundant ancient marine life. In addition, layers of terra rossa soil have formed by decomposed limestone with high levels of oxidized iron. Fruit from this area tends to ripen very slowly, developing full fruit flavors to create vibrant, mouth filling wines of finesse and elegance.

We first tried the Heartland wines in our stores early this year. They were extremely well received and sold out very quickly. Don’t fret, Wine Warehouse has come to the rescue! In order to insure that we will have the wines available at the best prices to our customers, WW has brought in a container load of three of the Heartland wines; 2005 Viognier/Pinot Gris, 2004 Shiraz, and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon.

One of Ben’s main reasons for setting up Heartland is due to the amalgamation of large companies in the Australian wine industry. Ben feels that due to many wineries consolidating under one roof, their wine’s styles have also merged into a more generic, less vibrant style that is not truly indicative of what Australia has to offer. Ben knew that he could do better than that, and he has with these three offerings from Heartland.


2005 Viognier/Pinot Gris ‘Langhorne Creek’
Ben’s notes: ‘The nose is bursting with stone fruits – peaches and apricots and some lime citrus characters. The delicious multi – layered palate begins with typical Viognier pear flavors intermingling with fresh melon flavors from the Pinot Gris.’

We bought this wine immediately after first tasting it. Wow! Many straight Viogniers can appear to be pretty sappy. This wine has tremendous balance and lift, with the Pinot Gris adding complexity and texture. Honeysuckle, lemon and green melon flavors scream out. Has a minerality not often associated with new world Viogniers or Pinot Gris for that matter. Not a typical grape combination. Certainly worth a try. Has been a real crowd pleaser.

Retail $19.99, WAREHOUSE $15.99



2004 Shiraz ‘68% Langhorne Creek, 32% Limestone Coast’
Ben’s notes: ‘A dark, rich purple color. This delicious black Shiraz has hints of chocolate, menthol, and tobacco leaf on the nose. Plums, blackcurrant, and spice flavors abound on the palate and are balanced by fine, supple tannins.’

We certainly found the chocolate and the dark fruit characters. A beautiful aroma of violets that goes down with a silky, vanillan texture. Hedonistic Shiraz, without having to be 16% alc.

Retail $18.99, WAREHOUSE $14.99

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘55% Langhorne Creek, 45% Limestone Coast’
Ben’s notes: ‘A densely colored wine displaying lifted blackberry and cassis on the nose. The palate offers sweet fruit flavors shown on the nose with a hint of mint and a rich texture followed by a long finish with big velvety tannins.’

The beautiful thing about this Cabernet, are the flavors. Spicy mint, cedar and cassis offer classic Cabernet characters from the 'old world,' yet with a supple and ripe, 'new world' texture.

Retail $18.99, WAREHOUSE $14.99

The tasting at our Winter Park store with from right to left, Ben Glaetzer, WW Store Manager Glen ‘Papi’ Mederos, Heartland’s General Manager Vicki Arnold, and a happy WW customer.