English, But With French Connotations

Imagine a tranquil and unseasonally mild late summer’s day, roofed by a sky of variegated clouds of white, grey and black, pushed from horizon to horizon by a freshening south wind. The sun occasionally and reluctantly emerges to reveal the brightness and depth of the outfield, resplendently green after several days of unexpected but quenching rainfall. Patches of the same colour can also be seen on the otherwise spotlessly bright flannels sported by the cricketers on the sward, attentive in their concentration of the bowler about to deliver, the batsman ready to strike, and in expectation of the luncheon shortly to be served.

Equilibrium is shattered as the ball, smashed by a batsman apparently aware of the willow and how to use it, cruises hard and flat into the bubbling pavilion, for the moment diverted from the game by the appearance of many and varied refreshments. Fortune prevails as only a single wine glass and no spectators break the path of the speeding bullet, but the stroke brings a tingling end to a competitive morning’s play.

The little cricket ground now known as the Coniston Oval, protected from the weather by a proud stand of fatherly cyprus trees, is found between a foaling paddock and fields of rich pasture. It is horse country and it’s ever so English. A brand-new and whitewashed pavilion watches over the ground, its clock steadfastly immobile on a quarter-past-one. The surprising thing is that it’s also wine country, and it’s in Australia. At Romsey, in Victoria’s Macedon wine region, to be precise.

Romsey Vineyards is the dream and lifestyle of eccentric Melbourne country house designer and frustrated cricketer Gordon Cope-Williams, his wife Judy and son Michael. With nearly thirty acres under vine nearly in full production, it’s clearly expanded from hobby to business status. It’s also a major, indulgent, but thoroughly worthwhile folly. You only have to be there ten minutes to envy the lifestyle, which was clearly on the cricketers’ minds as they made their way up the steps and into the pavilion for lunch.

Today was Sunday, February 11, the official opening of the Pavilion of the Coniston Oval, Romsey Vineyards. To celebrate the event, a team of Australian Lords’ Taverners, that modern-day cricketing troupe of retired Test and First-Class players, personalities, celebrities and cavaliers, had assembled to play a Romsey Vineyards Invitation XI, skippered by the sprightly Gordon Cope-Williams and handicapped by the inclusion of myself, your correspondent.

The situation at lunch was evenly poised – the Taverners were batting and had hit something in the region of one hundred and twenty runs from twenty-five of their allocation of thirty-five overs. Some of the batting was professionally clinical, most positively agricultural. Some of the bowling was of a standard, other was not. When delivered onto the wicket, it was occasionally dangerous. When delivered off the wicket, it presented a considerable threat to those fielding behind the batsman.

Frank Tyson, former Typhoon, English Test fast bowling spearhead and President of the Lords Taverners in Victoria, began his lunchtime address with what he described as one of the Lords Taverners’ favourite graces; “O Lord Above, O Lord Divine, Who changeth water into wine. Forgive, I pray these foolish men, Who try to change it back again.” Saying how much he appreciated the venue, developed in an English atmosphere with French connotations, Tyson explained that “We of the Tavern are of course, devoted to both the imbibing of excellent wine and also the appreciation of cricket, although we seem to vary in proportion as the day goes on.”

On holiday in Australia to open the pavilion was Wilfrid Weld, President Designate of the Hampshire County Cricket Club, who describes himself as about to become the worst cricketer of all time ever to be president of a county club. “I am delighted to see chicken on the menu”, he said. “If it wasn’t for cricket luncheons, the world would be over-run with chickens!” To be quite fair, Judy Cope-Williams’ excellent lunch was the best I had ever experienced at a game of cricket and light years ahead of anything O’Briens have ever served me at the MCG.

Ultimately set one hundred and sixty-five runs to win, the Invitation XI was outfoxed to the tune of around thirty short. Sent in to open the batting, I troubled the bowler, former VFL player Gareth Andrews, whose intention it became clear was to decapitate both myself and my partner. Unfortunately I failed to trouble the scorers, bowled clean by a straight one that pierced the beckoning gap between my bat and front pad.

That left me free to devote my full attention to Romsey Vineyards’ other attraction, wine.

The Cope-Williams plan to shortly have sixty acres under vine at Romsey Vineyards. They presently have twenty-seven, most of which are pinot noir and chardonnay, with thirteen and nine acres respectively. Romsey is one of Australia’s coolest mainland wine regions, so it is more than prudent to specialise in the varieties of Champagne and Burgundy; it’s essential. In really cool areas lack of acidity in wine is rarely a problem. One of the family jokes is that Gordon purchased five kilograms of tartaric acid in 1985 and hasn’t opened the pack yet!

The remainder of the vineyard is devoted to a mixture of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot, all of which in 1988 were blended into a single wine. Although all these vines are now bearing, it is only the third season for half the vineyard, which is still to yield fully. The 1990 vintage did, however, yield around ninety tonnes, about double that of the previous year.

In time the Cope-Williams will limit the fruit allocation to their Romsey Vineyards label to 90-100 tonnes. The rest is sold to the wine grape market, which according to Gordon Cope-Williams is still buoyant for the sort of fruit quality he can grow. Several companies, he says, have expressed an interest in his fruit, including Seppelt, Tisdall, Domaine Chandon and Landragin Australia.

Romsey Vineyards is actually the Cope-Williams’ second viticultural venture in the chilly Romsey area. The first was even cooler, now spoken of as the “Disaster at Rocky Hill”, an experiment across the road from the present site. Although it’s virtually adjacent, grapes ripen there several weeks later, providing a risk that not even Gordon Cope-Williams would care to bank on. Rocky Hill, as its name implies, is higher and very exposed, boasting only a thin volcanic soil of rock and scoria. Although still cool enough and marginal enough to frighten away many an experienced viticultural hand, the Cope-Williams’ second vineyard is positively tropical by comparison.

Using successful techniques developed recently to assist ripening fruit in cool climates, Romsey Vineyards is now trained to vertical canopies, designed to encourage the best fruit exposure and to control unwanted vegetative vigour. Between three to five hedgings per season are still required to counter the vines’ energy and growth.

For its premium label, used only for wine grown, made and bottled on the vineyard, Romsey Vineyards will maintain a range of four wines, of which the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are already available. Small amounts of their methode champenoise have been sold in the past, but larger quantities will reach the marketplace with the release of the 1987 vintage.

Michael Cope-Williams’ experience in France has clearly influenced Romsey Vineyards’ winemaking techniques, which are are simple, traditional and effective. “Our philosophy and practices are based around the fact that we don’t use tricks”, says Gordon, who with Michael, a Roseworthy graduate in winemaking, is responsible for the winery’s production.

The Cope-Williams are patiently working towards the styles of wine they hope to make regularly and restrict themselves to only one modification in technique each year. This way they hope to develop an understanding of the various cause-and-effect relationships they can achieve in their wine with different techniques. For example, 1989 marked the first vintage in which a considerable portion of the chardonnay was given a malolactic or secondary fermentation. The result was successful, and it should be incorporated into the general ‘recipe’ for Romsey Vineyards Chardonnay.

The Chardonnay is hand-picked and given a short period of skin contact before inoculation with cultures of imported yeasts. Once a look under the microscope reveals that the fermentation is under way, the must is transferred to French barriques and hogheads, where it completes its the ferment. Apart from the occasional racking and fining, that’s where the wine stays until bottling, around eight months later.

A tasting of chardonnays reveals an evolution from the delicate, austere 1985 wine, still years away from its peak; through the brassy, peachy 1987 vintage with its spanking new oak; to the more complex, juicy, integrated and very elegant 1989 wine, which is clearly the best yet. The malolactic has clearly helped by developing the softness and weight on the palate. This is a very good wine indeed.

The Romsey Vineyards reds are all fermented to dryness in open one-tonne fermenters, are then pressed and transferred to oak casks, where the second fermentation finishes. They remain there for around twelve months prior to bottling.

The Cope-Williams have settled on a logical approach to come to grips with that troublesome but occasionally incredible variety, pinot noir. The 1986 Pinot Noir was made using conventional Australian winemaking techniques to provide something of a benchmark reference for future experimentation.

The 1987 wine is more interesting, for it involved a full-scale experiment involving several aspects of winemaking, including open fermentation, extended skin contact and whole berry fermentation to isolate those techniques most compatible with the fruit grown at Romsey. The wine itself, a blend of all the trials, shows delightful cherry and tobacco fruit with some of the gaminess encountered in good pinot, although it tends to be a little thin and tart.

1988 was the year the results were put into practice. The wine has a delightful red-crimson colour and complex rose petal/cherry fragrance. The palate is full and soft, with well-knit acidity and length. It has an interesting asparagus note and should gain further weight and body with age. It’s a serious pinot noir of some quality.

Most interesting of all is the Romsey Vineyards sparkling wine, made from estate-grown pinot noir and chardonnay and which undergoes the entire traditional methode champenoise process on the property. Even the expedition liqueur is made and matured on site to a formula they’re not going to part with. The fruit is picked considerably greener than it would be for the still table wines, even to the point where on occasions it has had to be de-acidified. But of most interest is the cellar for the maturation and riddling of the wines after tirage, which is directly underneath the cricket pavilion, whose dual purposes entirely suit mine!

Once again, the Cope-Williams are learning fast with time. The 1988 sparkling wine, disgorged on the day for me to try, was an 80:20 blend of pinot and chardonnay with a pale salmon colour with a hint of straw. It’s a mouthfilling, austere wine with good length of generous strawberry and creamy flavours and bready autolytic characters. Elegant and refined, it showed excellent acidity and balance. I expect it to made headlines on release.

In time Romsey Vineyards will become one of Australia’s best wineries to visit. The Cope-Williams residence is a modern interpretation of traditional Gothic themes, including a vaulted chapel-like music room designed especially to provide the best acoustics for chamber music. From the top of the tower, which marks the eastern end of the house, is a perfect panorama of the property and its vineyards and the oval. It will be used for meetings and tastings.

Outside is a rapidly-maturing garden of rare size and quality, home to a deciduous copse and the country’s largest collection of Australian-bred roses, collected by the farm manager over many years, principally from private gardens. Then there is Judy Cope-Williams’ own private indulgence, a large walled rambling formal garden that never seems to go out of season.

The house itself includes two self-contained guest suites able to accommodate four people which are available to paying guests throughout the year. Guests may breakfast alone and eat their main meals with the Cope-Williams family, courtesy of Judy’s not inconsiderable culinary talents. Enquiries are welcome on (054) 29 5428.

Romsey Vineyards and all it involves is an extraordinary project now taking shape. It’s pioneering a new viticultural region, a new concept in hospitality, and is the only winery in Australia I know with its own cricket ground. Indeed, it possibly boasts the only champagne cellar underneath a cricket pavilion on the planet.

But most importantly, Romsey Vineyards is starting to score its runs where it counts. In the bottle. Please login to post comment