It's slim pickings for small winemakers

IT'S tough running a small winery. Ken Eckersley, who has been making wine for 30 years, knows that.

The market is dominated by big companies. Their economies of scale are better, and they offer discounted, cheap wine to restaurants and pubs that small winemakers can never match.

"We've pulled our head in, we have realised … our market is where you can survive — that's the cellar door and mail order," Mr Eckersley said. "Without that, we're gone — it's 90-95 per cent of our business. That's true of many small wineries. We get 3000-4000 people a year on average."

Mr Eckersley and his wife Juliet own and run the eight-hectare Nicholson River Winery just outside Bairnsdale in East Gippsland. Located in beautiful hilly country dotted with trees and clumps of forest, the winery has a magnificent view over the river.

The cellar door interaction with customers has helped Mr Eckersley develop his own theories on how best to drink wine, and has changed the way he runs his vineyard and winery.

"Cellar door interaction is wonderful. It's a wine educator. Ignorance is normal at every point … there is no such thing as a wine expert."

He says how people drink determines their experience of a wine.

"Most drink wine too fast, and they tend to throw the wine down and get a distorted impression. The way to taste wine is to 'eat' wine, not drink it — that's the paradox. When you eat something, you put it in the front of your mouth and chew it. If you do that with wine — leave it in the mouth before swallowing — you get much more from a wine. If you drink it like water, you miss wine, only get a fraction of it. It's as simple as that, actually."

For Mr Eckersley, to get that quality, the answer is simple: "You've got to crop less, keep any disease down and go to more trouble. We average here about two tonnes (of grapes) per acre. You get better concentration."

The Nicholson winery has also pulled out 30 per cent of its vines and changed varieties. "We have shifted to American root stocks. We found the vines performed better. They're tougher, drought resistant — and more expensive, but in the total cost of things it's still small," he said.

"Also, we understand the area better — what it can do and what it does well. There are very few areas in the world where you can ripen pinot noir, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon at the same time. The maritime climate here is mild and we get a long season."

Nicholson's shiraz — or "syrah" as shiraz is known internationally — is more French in style: "more flavour based, without the heaviness".

Their syrah has triumphed in Europe, winning the "Silver Top of Class" awards at both the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London and the "Vinalies d'Argent, Vins du Monde" in Paris last year. The Nicholson winery is featured in a French book One Thousand Wines of the World.

The drought and some disease restricted last year's grape crop to 15 tonnes, although Mr Eckersley is confident of getting 30 tonnes this year. One tonne equates to about 900-1000 bottles. Once the new vines are fully productive — "it takes at least six to seven years to get a reasonable crop" — he expects to obtain a yield of 40-50 tonnes of fruit.

Alas, rising costs have also done away with the romantic image of wine-making in oak barrels.

"Barrels are now $1500. We used to do everything in oak. Not now. We only do one wine in oak. It's a lot cheaper," he said.

In four years' time, Nicholson's main varieties will be syrah, pinot noir, cabernet, merlot, semillon, and "still chardonnay" — all in all, about 20 different wines at different price points, some with small runs of only 50 dozen.

A boon has been the shift away from corks to screw caps. Corks have become expensive, and poor corks can ruin wine, hitting winemakers' margins.

"Australia and New Zealand have had lots of poor corks. Some corks are brilliant, but the bigger companies have the advantage," Mr Eckersley said.

Screw caps cost only 14¢ each, but in the end, "it's all about public acceptance".