Jane Wilson is a jolly, animated and often stressed Scot who makes good wine - fantastic wine, in fact. After dropping by Botobolar (see last post) last Saturday during our official day off (we rarely get one), we thought "Let's surprise Jane!" She is one of the progressive farmers in our Catchment Management Authority Farm Systems class. (See earlier posts.) Jane and her husband David Lowe were gracious and hospitable, even though we caught them in the middle of a busy time making wine.
David gave us a grand tour, plunging his hands into the mushy wine mush to show us how it was made and pouring us a glass of raw wine (several glasses - a red and two whites) that were at different stages of development. The red was spectacular for an untouched wine. David said the less he has to do to a wine the better.
The whites were still developing. This pinot gris had a sweet apple juice flavour. We sampled their wines in their comfortable tasting area in the warehouse/winery (they live upstairs while their home nearby is being constructed - funky.)
Jane and David are big on soil. Soil creates the spirit of a wine. Perhaps 'soul' is better than spirit. They have developed a composting system, turning old stems, etc., into soil food. Jane is planning to use compost tea. (Yuk!)Lowe Family Wines are quality.
In 1833, David's ancestor Sarah Lowe travelled with her large brood of kids, animals and wagons over the Blue Mountains to take up a large tract of land granted by the governor to her husband (who subsequently died). She ended up owning most of the land around us in this district - 12,000 acres - but the generations lost it through wine, women and gambling, says David. Now there's only the wine, and when it's that good you don't need to gamble. Visit www.lowewine.com.au and try the 2003 Mudgee Reserve Shiraz. We also loved the 2004 Mudgee Zinfandel. Both robust Mudgee reds. I'm going to have one right now!
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