COOL AND CAREFUL
One of the greatest challenges faced by Queensland based distributors is warehousing. The extreme heat of the Queensland summer can be of huge detriment to the sale of quality wine and for this reason it was of absolute importance that we launched Cork and Co with warehousing capable of giving us perfect cellaring conditions.
Our warehouse is fitted with highest grade insulation, heat extraction and powerful air conditioning systems. We also work with our wineries to ensure that their wines are shipped at the most suitable times so as to ensure that all wine arrives in Brisbane in the best possible condition.
At Cork and Co we are committed to a handful of basic principles in winemaking and viticulture, all of which centre on the production of truly fine wine without being at the expense of the land that we farm. These principles are respect for our vine yard, respect for the winery, the need for experimentation in order to change the status quo and true respect for wine. Individually, following any one of these ideals can result in good wine but rarely if ever can we make truly great wine without a combination of the four.
A Respect for the vineyard is fairly straight forward and is the simplest concept in the world of wine. If we grow good grapes, chances are we will make good wine. The saying winemakers go by is that you can make bad wine with good grapes but you cannot make good wine with bad grapes. It’s s a one way street. So it’s no surprise that our most fundamental principle is to work with wineries who are focused on promoting and developing bio-mass within their vineyards.
This can be done through a number of farming methods; Biodynamics, Organics, Quantum Organics, Lutee Raisonee, Sustainable farming, the list goes on. None are perfect but a melange of them all most often results in really good grapes and more importantly a commitment to any one of these often indicates an approach to farming which is more of a way of life than just a job.
A Respect for the winery is a little more convoluted but is the idea that to make great wine you have to be respectful of what it takes to make great wine. That is you can be a minimal intervention winemaker but you must know when it is time to intervene and by the same token you can be a commercial winemaker but you must understand when to avoid technique or the use of additions. I like the idea that winemaking is a bit like a painting in a museum, the fruit is the painting and the winemaker ing is the framing, in one sense we don’t want the frame to be more of a spectacle than the painting itself and in the same sense we don’t want the frame to be so underwhelming that it detracts from the beauty of the painting.
We are also seeing a lot of experimentation in winemaking and from it a fairly significant part of Australia’s wine scene is becoming recognised as the new status quo. A true respect/love of wine is perhaps the best part of this, its reliant on people in the industry not just being in it for the job but the love of wine. This is easy to see, when you meet the wine obsessed it is almost always bleedingly obvious, sometimes it’s as obvious as being tattooed on them! The importance of this is that with a love of wine comes understanding of the history of wine, an understanding of the way wines develop and ultimately a more educated approach to all of the above.
The history of wine is vast and even a limited understanding of it offers a fair more relevant understanding of why our wines are grown, made and taste as they do. As the saying goes ‘how can we know where we are going, if we do not know where we came from? Ultimately our commitment is to fine wine made with a conscience. Respect for vineyard, winery, experimentation and wine itself are the proponents of what we care about most.
If you consider all winemaking technique this concept is completely applicable and all leads back to the need for balance. The need for experimentation revolves around the idea that for us to move forward we need to experiment. With experimentation comes the good and the bad but if we learn from the bad we will always be better for the exercise. A lot of what we are seeing in varietal selection based on the need for sustainability is based on educated experimentation. Working with drought resistant varietals in areas that are often unpredictable weather wise year on year and month on month.