Wine
Arts Patronage Part of Althaus Domain
When Hobart artist Tom Samek was asked recently to sum up contributions made to the Tasmanian arts community by former Domaine A owners Peter and Ruth Althaus, the deep thinker paused before answering.
Peter looks up at the pearly grapes. Image courtesy Tom Samek.
“Drawing is better than words,” he replied in an email, noting the 2 January death of 79-year-old winemaker Peter Althaus.
Along with Samek’s simple message came a succinctly captioned pen and ink sketch.
“Peter looks up at the pearly grapes.”
It was a beautifully eloquent response, echoing many expressed by fellow artists and musicians on hearing Althaus had died suddenly in his native Switzerland. The Domaine A co-founders may have left the state on selling to MONA’s David Walsh three years ago, but the late couple’s commitment to the arts in Tasmania will be long remembered.
Peter and Ruth Althaus loved their adopted home from the moment they first set eyes on our pristine natural vistas and our uniquely Tasmanian approach to lifestyle. It was 1989 and the couple had recently purchased Campania’s tiny Stoney Vineyard from George and Priscilla Park.
A former IBM executive in Zurich, Peter Althaus had come to Tasmania to turn his wine hobby into a wine profession. Encouraged by his lab technician wife and business partner, the self-taught winemaker saw the family’s intended tree change as an opportunity to become inspired by the character of the Tasmanian landscape and its people.
Althaus made his first Domaine A wines at Stoney Vineyard on a tourist visa. The couple then returned to Zurich, leaving the Parks in caretaker mode, until the new owners returned permanently with their goods and chattels in August 1990.
It wasn’t long before the Coal River Valley vignerons began to reveal their passion for the creative talents of fellow Tasmania artisans, like printmaker Tom Samek and sculptor Stephen Walker. Wine enthusiasts visiting their 20ha property would immediately set eyes on a striking Folko Kooper installation, featuring three sentinel herons watching over Stoney Vineyard’s dam and it rows of manicured vines.
Three herons sculpture by Folko Kooper. Image supplied.
“We have many really good artists down here, and they make such beautiful things that they should be supported by everyone living here,” observed Ruth Althaus, who passed away in Switzerland in January 2019.
Practically every return visit to their European homeland provided the couple with a chance to share their love of Tasmanian art and craft.
In 1997, as part of a two-month tour focused on wine promotion, the Althauses staged significant exhibitions in the cities of Zurich and Schaffhausen.
The list of exhibitors read like a who’s who of contemporary art and furniture design. It included Jenny Turner (weaver), Paul Boam (painter), Tom Samek (printmaker), Mark Bishop (woodturner and furniture maker), Strato Anagnostis (then a kaleidoscope maker), Toby Muir Wilson (furniture maker), Patrick Hall (sculptor and designer) and the late Derek Smith (potter).
Caption: 1997 Tasmanian exhibition, Switzerland. Image supplied.
Their exhibition pieces left the state mid-year, carefully packaged and transported in a large shipping container, arranged and paid for entirely by the Althauses. Rubbing shoulders with cartons of Stoney Vineyard and Domaine A wines were assorted new releases from up-and-coming producers in the Derwent Valley, Stefano Lubiana Wines.
Speaking at the time, furniture maker Toby Muir Wilson noted the Campania couple’s generous private patronage was something of a rarity in an era when governments were being asked to do more and more to support local arts communities.
“I think there are plenty of opportunities for other private businesses that haven’t yet been involved with the arts to become involved,” he said in August 1997.
“The key to success is networking. That’s really important.”
Domaine A vintage. Image courtesy Mark Smith.
There are bound to be many Tasmanian artists – established and emerging – that today would echo Muir Wilson’s comments from almost a quarter of a century ago.
“It was through Peter and Ruth that I got to meet many other artists then working in Tasmania,” notes Mangalore sculptor Folko Kooper.
“I originally came to Tasmania from Sydney. Many of the connections being made between artists here had occurred quite organically. That changed enormously, especially when (Conservatorium of Music teacher) Maria Lurighi joined Domaine A in 2001 to help with wine marketing. That allowed many other creative people to become involved – people in food and music included. It was a winning combination in those days.
“It’s no surprise to see where the vineyard has ended up, a key part of David Walsh’s investments in food, art and music. As a wine business, Domaine A was a natural fit, considering all that Walsh has been doing over the years.”
The new ownership certainly sat very comfortably with the Althauses, having first turned down better offers from less preferred suitors.
“Most people who appreciate good art usually appreciate good wine,” Althaus observed on securing Domaine A’s future as an iconic Tasmanian wine brand.
The man, the vineyard, the finished product. Images courtesy Mark Smith.
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Open vineyards
Tasmania’s cool climate wine industry not only comprises winemakers of significant national and international stature, one of its strengths is that many of these key players have a high degree of public accessibility.
Drop by all but the largest of the state’s vineyard cellar doors and the chances are the hands that pour your tasting sample also grew the grapes and made the wine as well.
Next month will see vineyards and wineries hold their annual Southern Open Vineyards Weekend. Set down for February 19, 20 and 21, the event will see producers in a variety of locations pouring some very special wines for their cellar door visitors.
Foremost among them will be vineyards in the Coal River Valley, Derwent Valley, Huon Valley/D’Entrecasteaux Channel and the Southern Midlands.
For small-scale producers like Quiet Mutiny that tend to travel beneath the radar, the weekend presents a rare opportunity for them to meet their adoring fans and prospective buyers.
Many vineyards and wineries taking part are sole operators, or are small family-run businesses that do not have the wherewithal to build and operate a financially viable cellar door alongside equally challenging winegrowing, winemaking and marketing activities.
They’re also likely to have very limited production volumes, effectively ruling them out of conventional cellar door sales for the remaining 51 weekends of the year.
Coal River Valley: sunshine and soils. Image courtesy Mark Smith.
Hopefully, a significant number of them are also likely to be using the weekend as their first opportunity to promote the gold medal and trophy wines awarded at the 2021 Tasmanian Wine Show, which commences in Hobart the coming week.
“Winemaking can be a solitary occupation and even more so this year due to COVID-19,” says Quiet Mutiny’s Greer Carland.
“The Southern Open Vineyards Weekend is a chance for winemakers to proudly showcase their work, but more than that, it’s an opportunity to meet and get to know the people who enjoy their wine.
“There are quite a few producers like my mum and dad at Laurel Bank Vineyard, just outside Hobart, who only open their doors for this one event.”
Carland adds that as the event requires participants to travel from location to location in their own vehicle, the Southern Open Vineyards Weekend is perfectly suited to operating safely in our present-day COVID times. Social distancing will be required in participating vineyards and all visitors will be required to register on arrival via a scanned QR code.
Be sure to log on to the event website to view a full list of participating vineyards, along with details of their various special tastings and planned activities.
Hobart’s Mark Smith wrote his first weekly wine column back in 1994. Now more than 1700 features and 25 years later, he continues to chart the successes of Tasmania’s small scale, cool climate wine industry with regular contributions to some of Australia’s leading industry publications.
PICK OF THE CROP
NV Delamere Sparkling Rosé $40
What sparkling treasures we find hidden in the Pipers Brook district of north-east Tasmania. If you’re in the near vicinity, make a beeline for Delamere Vineyards. This NV Rosé from Fran Austin and Shane Holloway offers exceptional value. It opens with the striking hues, very fine bead and wonderful vigour you’d expect of this classic wine style. The long creamy palate that follows delivers Pinot Noir’s hallmark red berry and pomegranate characters with gently savoury, mushroomy complexity and perfect natural acidity. An essential entertainer this summer. www.delamerevineyards.com.au
2020 Meadowbank Riesling $35
Meadowbank n the Derwent Valley has been synonymous with outstanding Riesling since the early 1980s. Its roll call of winemakers over the years is star-studded, with Dr Andrew Pirie leading the way early on and Dr Edge’s Peter Dredge providing outstanding service nowadays. The site’s continentality lays the foundations for superb wines. A long season punctuated by very warm days and chilly nights produces crackerjack Riesling of genuine stature. This is yet another – floral, limey, zesty, and destined for a long life. www.meadowbank.com.au
2019 Holyman Chardonnay $32
With winemaker Joe Holyman producing such attractive Chardonnay under his Stoney Rise label, you’re hard pressed to come up with reasons for wanting to buy his swish Holyman. It’s a bit like wondering if you should select overdrive when your sleek coupe is already purring along in top gear. But shifting up does provide an altogether more enjoyable experience – smooth, refined travelling with plenty of milestones along the way. The 2019 wine is stylishly oaked but driven by intense citrus and melon flavours. Grab a bottle and enjoy the ride. www.stoneyrise.com
2018 Bream Creek Cabernet Merlot $36
Cabernet Sauvignon is something of a heart break grape in Tasmania. It needs plenty of heat and sunlight to ripen, and even then sales are slow because the variety is so unfashionable. Bream Creek adds Merlot to soften the blow and it’s a recipe that works well in warm, dry seasons like 2018. This release has two international gold medals to its credit, so there’s no doubting the quality. Its blackcurrant and mulberry flavours are well sustained on a medium-bodied palate and trimmed by savoury tannins. Good drinking. www.breamcreekvineyard.com.au
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