Maverick

Ron Brown is the wily old fox heading up the Maverick Wines partnership with Jeremy Vogler, Adrian Bell and Christopher Taylor (the winemaker). Brown is based in Tokyo, and has had a leading role in many facets of the (imported) wine industry of Japan.

He and his partners moved swiftly during the grape surplus years to acquire four vineyards in prime positions in the Barossa and Eden valleys in 2004. They are Trial Hill in Pewsey Vale on the hillsides of the eastern Eden Valley, Old Ben in the so-called High Eden Valley, Barossa Ridge in the Vine Vale subregion and Greenock Rise in the eponymous Greenock subregion in the hills of the northern Barossa.

Maverick produces four single-vineyard shirazs from each of these plantings with Trial Hill Eden Valley Shiraz being the flag-bearer. In all, there is a touch over 30 hectares, the lion's share to shiraz (17-plus hectares), the remainder a Joseph's Coat of chardonnay, riesling, grenache and cabernet sauvignon (plus or minus two hectares each) with smaller parcels of merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot, semillon, roussanne and viognier. Vine age is between four and over 100 years, the majority of vines 10 to 30 years old.

The promotional material assembled is extremely slick and sophisticated, particularly given the wide range of markets that Maverick has already penetrated. In Australia it is a mix of the very best restaurants in Sydney (inter alia Tetsuya's, The Boat House, Catalina, Wine Banq and Pavilion in the Park) and Adelaide (The Grange Restaurant at the Hilton, the Hyatt Regency, Cos and more) plus specialist retailers in both cities. Interestingly, Melbourne has, with one exception (Europe Cellars), been ignored.

In Tokyo, 11 of the most desirable restaurants and hotels carry the wine, plus the Hilton in Osaka. In addition, sales to the UK, Singapore and the Philippines are set to be followed by the US, Russia, India and Scandinavia.

The cake is being sliced very thin: total production in 2006–07 was a little over 3000 cases per year, but projected to rise to over 7000 cases in 2008. Time will tell whether drought and frost will stand in the way of that. Regardless, the biggest volume of any of the individual vineyard wines so far released in Australia is 970 cases (the 2006 Maverick Twins Barossa Grenache Shiraz Mataro) with the 2005 Trial Hill Shiraz (a beautiful wine; 96 points, $60) only 460 cases.

This may all seem a smoke and mirrors game, but the quality of all of the wines is exemplary and the prices have been sensibly pitched. Moreover, 30 hectares of vines should be capable of producing between 15 000 and 20 000 cases, assuming they are in full bearing and all the grapes are able to give wines of appropriate quality and style.

At the moment much of the volume turns around two wines: Australian Terroirs Barossa Chook Red (a shiraz) and Eden Valley Chook White (a chardonnay). The derivation of the name for these second labels is distinctly quixotic. Brown asked Andrew Caillard MW to provide a brightly coloured painting for the label. Caillard, as well as co-head of Langton's auctions, is an accomplished painter with several one-man exhibitions to his credit. He rang Brown to say some chooks had mysteriously found their way on to the painting, and asked whether this was okay. The answer was ‘yes’, and the planned Terroirs White and Red had ‘Chook’ appended to the name.

The price was planned to be 20 per cent above large-selling brands such as Jacob's Creek, but to offer greater value, both in quality and by single region origin, rather than the ubiquitous South Eastern Australia appellation. The success of the wines took Maverick by surprise, the 2000-case make of each disappearing overnight. The plan is to double production in 2008, using (as in 2007) grapes from young vines from Maverick's own plantings, plus contract-grown grapes.

It pays to be in the right place at the right time if you read the cards right. The Maverick partners did just that. The shift from grape surplus to acute shortage has occurred with dizzying speed, making the timing all the more felicitous.

Just as droughts end with rain, there is likely to be another surplus somewhere down the track. When there is, Brown and co will probably be there to take advantage of it.

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2007 Maverick Trial Hill Eden Valley Riesling

The 2007 Trial Hill Eden Valley Riesling (94 points, $33) is remarkably good given the hot, dry, early ripening vintage. It comes from a two-hectare block on a northeast-facing slope in an amphitheatre high in the Valley, and has lemon, lime, mineral and spice aromas, then a very intense and long palate of ripe apple and citrus flavours, finishing with fresh, citrussy acidity. It may live and develop for a decade, but the year suggests it would be prudent to assume a shorter life span, even with the screwcap. Moreover, there is abundant flavour right now, so there is no particular need to wait. A 'drink some, keep some' regime might be the most rewarding.
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