BANJO HARRIS PLANE

September 2014
$12.50 Incl.GST
BANJO HARRIS PLANE
INDIE ACTION
IN THE UK
WIN A COPY OF
A YEAR IN THE
LIFE OF GRANGE
MCLAREN VALE’S
GIFT TO THE
WINE COMMUNITY
AN HOUR WITH BANJO HARRIS PLANE
WORDS ANTHONY MADIGAN
PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES BROADWAY
Banjo Harris Plane, the manager of Attica restaurant in Melbourne, is
the 2014 Australian Sommelier of the Year. If you make delicious wine
and work the land in a sustainable way, you’ll be in his good books.
T
witter went into meltdown recently when Huon
Hooke used his Sydney Morning Herald column to
slam Australian sommeliers for their “trendy wine
lists”. Sommeliers everywhere rushed to defend
themselves and Banjo Harris Plane re-entered the
Twittersphere after a self-imposed ban.
“I used to be really vocal on Twitter,” says Banjo, manager
of Attica Restaurant at Ripponlea in Melbourne and the 2014
Australian Sommelier of the Year. “I used to love getting into
an argument. I hadn’t done it for a while and was hesitant to
stick my neck out, but I did in the end because it was
important someone said something in a serious tone from the
point of view of a sommelier. A couple of people lost the
plot, but I don’t think it’s cause to get angry, it’s cause for
serious discussion.
“My colleagues work bloody hard at what they do, they
have a lot of other people’s best interests at heart and none of
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WBM September 2014
them write a wine list to be cool. I don’t know anyone whose
sole purpose is to go to work to make themselves seem
trendy. The people I know who write wine lists do it because
they love wine and they love talking about it and discovering
new flavours. They love learning the stories about different
producers and regions, chatting to the people who grow the
grapes and make the wine and then telling other people about
them. The basic love of wine I see in sommeliers stems from a
love of the entire story of wine. When we write a wine list, it’s
the retelling of that story in a different form. It’s not about
trying to trick people so we can have big mark-ups or list
obscure wines because we think it’s trendy.”
Banjo didn’t disagree with everything Huon wrote; he says
the local wine industry does deserve support on wine lists.
“I’ve always been careful about that,” says Banjo. “Our local
representation at Attica would be close to 50 percent. I’ve
always believed it’s important to champion the local industry.”
Attica, whose wine list has 550 wines, was named
Australia’s best restaurant by Gourmet Traveller in August.
Banjo tweaks the list every day; on the day of this interview
he spent four hours on it. “A list should constantly evolve,”
he says. “I’ve worked at places where 95 percent of the
entries don’t change; they’re just updated every time a new
vintage comes out. If something goes well, obviously we
continue to order it, but there are always new things popping
up, new wine projects being undertaken by assistant
winemakers and others. There’s plenty of new wine out there
and we like to get our noses in as much of it as possible.”
Banjo has been a supporter of Rootstock Sydney and was
famously photographed behind the orange bar last year in
orange sunglasses and orange body paint. He’s a big supporter
of sustainability – just don’t mention the word natural.
“I dislike the term natural,” he says. “I like delicious wines
that display inherent acidity and speak equally of the fruit
flavours of the grape and the mineral impressions of the soil.
Wines made without too many/any winery additions have a
better shot at doing this, providing the fruit was in good nick
to start with – and that means not messing with the fruit in
the first place.
“I’m not anti-sulphur, I just think it’s like taking a Panadol
every day. Wines that have character – and yes, that can
mean some level of oxidation, volatility or brett – are more
interesting than wines that are monotonous. In small doses
these ‘faults’ bring interest to wines. This has been true for
years for European wines – brett in Bordeaux, VA in Barolo,
oxidation in Sherry/Vin Jaune. So why do we shy away from
attempting to work with these flavours in Australia?”
Don’t talk to Banjo about chemicals, either. “Whether they
be used in broad-scale agriculture or on a small winery, I
dislike them,” he says. “Humankind has gone through the
past 50 or so years spraying chemicals onto the land with no
WBM September 2014
15
DESIGN CLINIC
DESIGN CLINIC
ADVERTORIAL
MEDALLION
MAGIC
A
NOW THAT’S
M
ART!
cLaren Vale winery d’Arenberg has launched a
new range of wines called Artisans. In typical
d’Arenberg style they threw a party for 350
guests at the Loft Oyster & Wine Bar in Adelaide
to mark the occasion. The poster-sized invitations featured
screenprinted fonts and images, and guests on the night took
home a copy of a poster screenprinted on the spot.
The range includes The Money Spider Roussanne 2012, The
Twenty Eight Road Mourvedre 2010, The Derelict Vineyard
Grenache 2010, The Bonsai Vine Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre
2009, The Sticks & Stones Tempranillo Grenache Tinta Cao
Souzao 2009, The Galvo Garage Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Cabernet Franc Petit Verdot 2009, The Laughing Magpie
Shiraz Viognier 2010, The Wild Pixie Shiraz 2011 and The
Cenocilicaphobic Cat Sagrantino Cinsault 2009. All of these
wines now have consistent branding to distinguish themselves
as belonging to the Artisans range.
d’Arenberg uses more than 33 grape varieties, and will be
planting four new Italian and Spanish varieties this year.
“We’ve always been interested in experimenting with new and
alternative varieties,” says Chester Osborn. “For over a century
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WBM September 2014
the red Rhone varietals of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre
have thrived in McLaren Vale, so in the 1990s we were among
the first to plant their white counterparts, Marsanne,
Roussanne and Viognier. In 2000 we released The Laughing
Magpie, which was the first Shiraz Viognier blend to come
from the region. After many more vintages and awards, The
Laughing Magpie has earned an iconic status and is one of the
flagship wines of the d’Arenberg range.”
Chester has a minimal intervention approach. “We don’t
use fertiliser or herbicide in our vineyards, and there is
minimal or no irrigation, and no soil cultivation. In the winery
we use traditional techniques such as open fermentation,
foot treading and basket pressing. All of these gentle
methods allow the personality and characteristics of each
variety to shine.”
d’Arenberg collaborated with award-winning Adelaide design
team Voice to create an artistic interpretation for each of the
wine names, which were then screenprinted by a local artist,
Simone Tippett, and digitally recreated on each label.
Along with a souvenir print, party guests also went home
with a little set of cardboard loudspeakers.
n exceptional vintage in 2010 provided Hugh Hamilton
with the fruit to fulfil his dreams of creating a pre-eminent
wine and KSD the opportunity to collaborate and produce
this truly hand-crafted presentation for Pure Black.
With CEO Mary Hamilton as the passionate key driver, we were
inspired to design with materials that went beyond conventional
borders. The medallion was made of 3mm forged metal and tooled
to suit the bottle surface. The centre was then sand-etched to
provide a textured background to contrast against the fine detail in
the dimensional sheep. The entire medallion was then plated in
black nickel.
High-gloss wax was sourced from USA and each bottle was handdipped before the medallion and back label were hand applied using
a purpose built jig. Each bottle was then carefully placed into a gift
box, slid into an outer sleeve and hand numbered. The box covering
resembles fine soft leather, is lined with high density black foam and
embellished with black foil stamping.
To launch the wine, 120 select members of their Black Sheep
Wine Club were invited to attend and join the Pure Black Club. The
function was held in the stunning Mortlock Library in South Australia
and, in Mary’s words, “The night was nothing short of amazing! We
had 120 of our best customers, many who had come from interstate
for the evening. People were totally bowled over by it. The wine tasted
sensational. The sales were spectacular. Thank you for your support
and everything you do with our business and our family.”
One happy client – one very happy design company.
See the stunning video at hughhamiltonwines.com.au
Packaging Design
The purity
of black
KS Design Studio
47a High Street
Kensington SA 5068
08 8332 0000
[email protected]
ksdesign.com.au
WBM September 2014
57

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