Meeting 333 -"Bethany Wines"
Friday 16th April 2010 Neville Hall, Waltham St Lawrence
The Schrapel Family came to the Barossa Valley (named after Barossa near Andalusia) from Silesi
on the "George Washington" in 1844. They planted their first vines in 1852 from cuttings carefully
nursed from Europe, although the grapes at that time were all sold on. It was not until
5th generation Geoff and Robert Shrapel built their winery in 1981, that they made their first vintage.
With three vineyards across the area, they managed to retain many of their older vines through the Australian
Government's Vine Pull Scheme of the 1970s. They are now well known both for the quality of
their wines and for their hospitality.
The Branch has been trying to arrange a tasting of Bethany wines for some time. Johanna Raffan
was therefore very pleased to welcome Mark Chapman of Peter Osborne Fine Wines in Watlington,
their UK importer, in order to present a selection from his range of Bethany wines. After a
good German Sekt aperitif, not out of keeping since Barossa is still a very Germanic region,
we went on to taste a 2007 Dry Riesling, a 2006 Reserve Riesling and a 2007 Barrel Fermented Semillon.
The Rieslings both exhibited a very traditional nose with the Dry being quite high in acid and
the Reserve being better balanced. The Semillon showed a much lighter nose but had an intense flavour - good drinking!
The 2007 Bethany Cabernet Franc Rose was rich with lots of summer fruits although it might be
a touch sweet for some palates.
Now on to the reds: first up was the 2006 Bethany Old Vine Grenache. These old vines deliver
low volume/high quality grapes and the result can be tasted in the glass. Good colour,
a distinct nose is followed by spice in the mouth and a long aftertaste. This scored well
with the group. The 2005 Bethany Shiraz went half a step further up the ratings: this wine
coats the tongue with a rich, long, very well balanced flavours - almost meaty. Finally their
2006 Bethany LE Reserve Shiraz delivered really rich upfront style, stronger all round than
the previous Shiraz and scored top marks for the evening. These wines are all 14 or 14.5%
and are not cheap, so maybe they are sipping wines rather than drinking wines which would be
a real treat for a special occasion.
We also tried their N.V. Bethany Old Quarry Tawny Fortified which was smooth with
a lovely aftertaste of raisins.
Charlotte Turner partnered the wines with a Moorish Lamb Casserole with Couscous.
The delicious Lime Slice, from a recipe by Australian celebrity chef Bill Granger,
which followed rounded off a very interesting and enjoyable evening.
(Chris Graham)