Morris Wines joins Yellow Tail family
A dramatic last-minute rescue has saved Morris Wines, one of our oldest and most venerable wineries, from closure.
About lunchtime last Friday the staff at Morris Wines in Rutherglen cashed the till and closed the cellar door for the last time under the ownership of drinks multinational Pernod Ricard.
Twenty minutes later the till was turned back on and the cellar door opened for business again with a new owner, Casella Family Brands.
As reported in this column last month, when Pernod Ricard announced it would be closing Morris and putting the winery and vineyards on the market, there was uproar: how could nearly 160 years of winemaking history come to such an abrupt and ignominious end?
Luckily, John Casella was one of those appalled at the potential loss of Morris. Casella’s Griffith-based family wine company has built a fortune with its Yellow Tail brand and in recent years has begun to build a small empire of premium wineries with the acquisition of Peter Lehmann in the Barossa, Brands Laira in Coonawarra and now the legendary estate in Rutherglen.
It’s a great outcome — but it very nearly didn’t end quite so happily.
Only a couple of weeks ago, when the future of the business still looked bleak, representatives from wineries across the country gathered at Morris to taste and put bids on the stock sitting in barrel in the cellars — including the ancient, irreplaceable fortified wines that are the heart and soul of the family’s reputation, built up across five generations. Luckily, Casella acquired the whole business just in the nick of time, before those bids had been accepted.
“I’m absolutely delighted we’re with the Casella family,” says fifth-generation David Morris, who stays on as chief winemaker. So are we, David. So are we.
Wine List of the Year
More good news: fermentAsian restaurant in Tanunda, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, took out top honours at last night’s Wine List of the Year Awards in Sydney — and Grant Dickson, the bloke responsible for the winning list, also walked away with the Judy Hirst Award, named in honour of the woman who established the competition back in 1994.
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer restaurant. I have been a huge fan of Dickson’s amazing list at fermentAsian for many years. I wrote about it glowingly in these pages in 2012: I love the incredible depth and breadth of wines to be found in its nearly 90 pages; the mouth-watering mix of the everyday and eclectic; the almost unbelievably low prices (no 300 per cent mark-ups here, thank you very much — Dickson actually wants people to buy and drink these wines, not just admire them); the detailed, evocative descriptions that accompany almost every selection.
The list is brimming with Dickson’s passion and knowledge and energy — and that’s what makes it such a perfect match for the thrillingly delicious Southeast Asian food of his partner, chef Tuoi Do.
It’s also a win for South Australia: this is the first time the wine state has achieved top billing in the 20-plus year history of the awards, with previous winners mostly being big, serious Sydney or Melbourne lists such as Rockpool Bar and Grill.
If you’re not going to be in Tanunda in the near future to experience fermentAsian’s list in the flesh, so to speak, may I suggest you download it from the restaurant’s website (www.fermentasian.com.au) to see what all the fuss is about?
And if, like me, you’re one of those people who cares just as much about what you’re drinking as what you’re eating when you dine out, these awards are a pretty handy guide to which restaurants, cafes and bars around the country do a particularly good job with their booze offering. More: winelistoftheyear.com.au.