Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/935769
{ SOMMjournal.com } 47 family member at the helm. As for what's in store for future generations, Richard says he and Victoria "want to continue to invest in our vineyards, our winery, and our people. We want to be one of the great growers of organic grapes and organic wines in Australia and around the world." Angove Family Winemakers organically farms 100 percent of its family-owned vineyards, which span 500 hectares (roughly 1,235 acres) across Australia. "Those vineyards just seem to be better balanced and produce really good grapes packed with flavor, and it is all about taste at the end of the day," Richard says. "We want our vineyards to be there in a hun - dred years' time. We're very committed to family ownership, so for the sixth genera- tion, I need to look out for our precious resource—our soils." Carving His Own Path Richard's own winemaking experience comes not only from growing up in his family's winery, but from travels and educa - tion he pursued away from home. After earning a viticulture degree from Adelaide University, Richard spent time in Napa, Spain, and Okanagan, as well as other winemaking regions in Australia. With these new insights and experi - ences fresh in his mind, Richard returned to the family business in 2009 and transi- tioned from a production role to a posi- tion in what he calls "the pointy end of the winemaking business": sales and marketing. "When you're a winemaker, you grow the grapes, make the wine, and bottle it, then you think you're done—but that's prob - ably about 15 percent of the job," he adds. "The other 85 percent is actually getting into people's houses and telling a story. That's truly hard work in this industry." A Love Affair with McLaren Vale Winemaking at Angove is a democratic process typically led by Chief Winemaker Tony Ingle, Richard, and Richard's father and sister. "For Warboys [Angove Warboys Vineyard Shiraz], we'll look at each barrel individually and work out the consistency of style," Richard says. "We challenge each other, but it works. We also try to get it right in the vineyard first, though, because if we can get the fruit right, that makes the winemaking easier." Considered one of the brightest gems in the Angove portfolio, the Angove Warboys Vineyard Shiraz is a representation of the company's "best vineyard in McLaren Vale" that the winemaking team "works very hard on every year," Richard says. The vineyard consists of roughly 16 hectares (39.5 acres) of old-vine Shiraz "that produce extremely small crop and small berries, and make lovely concentrated wines that really speak of where they grow," he adds. Angove produces roughly 200 cases of the Warboys Vineyard Shiraz and Gr - enache: a small, handmade production. On the other—and larger—hand, Angove's facility is also capable of producing its McLaren Vale Family Crest label at around 10,000 cases. Regardless of production size, the young - est Angove family members have been particularly keen on taking advantage of the Mediterranean climate of McLaren Vale, as well as the diversity within its 500-million- year-old geology. "What we love about McLaren Vale is its consistency in climate and beautiful variations in soils," Richard says. "The north is almost sand, and this is great for really lovely, perfumed Shiraz and Grenache wines. Further down there's clay soils, which make denser, richer wines, then even further south there are slightly- elevated alluvial soils that make elegant, really pretty wines. As a winemaker you can source from different parts of the region and have different blending options to make a really classic McLaren Vale Shiraz." Angove's current love affair with McLaren Vale represents just one facet of the company's incredible history— a history Richard firmly believes will unfold even more fruitfully in the years to come. "I actually feel that although we're 132 years old, we've never been younger in terms of our outlook to the future," he says. "I think our best wines are still in front of us because every year we get the opportunity to make them again." The new generation: Sophie, Richard, and Victoria Angove. Victoria and Richard Angove as children in their family's winery. Old-vine Shiraz: the main attraction in the Warboys vineyard.