Hollick Wines :: Latest Hollick News

Simone Crowned Coonawarra’s Dessert Champion

It was an anxious wait at Hollick Wines on Friday night as Simone Burdon was crowned this year’s Great Coonawarra Dessert Challenge Champion. Simone’s Lucindale Blue Cheese Crème Brulee with Blue Cheese Biscuits served with red grapes received the highest combined score in the competition. Celebrity judge Winsor Dobbin joined Hollick Winemaker Matt Caldersmith and Upstairs Chef Ian Perry on the judging panel.

Before announcing Simone as the winner, Winsor described the winning dessert as:

“A stand out dessert that complemented Hollick’s Sparkling Merlot magnificently”. Simone’s dessert was creative yet simple and elegant”.

Simone was crowned this years champion from a total of 16 entries which included some fabulous desserts including Cherry Ripe Pudding with Sparkling Merlot Toffee and Sparkling Merlot Jelly. The minor placings were awarded to Louise Rose and her Chai Pannacotta with Spiced Plums and Toasted Pistachios and Genny Kidman’s “The Bridesmaid” Merlot and Cabernet Jelly with peeled, seedless grapes garnished with fresh cream and grated dark chocolate. All entrants received a bottle of Hollick 2006 Sparkling Merlot.

The Great Coonawarra Dessert Competition was held in conjunction with Coonawarra’s After Dark event. Hollick Wines Mel Hollick described this year’s event as a success and thanked all participants for the time and effort put into creating their desserts.

“The team at Hollick Wines are grateful to all participants for their support of the competition and look forward to hosting the Great Coonawarra Dessert Competition again in 2009”.

Download the winning recipe (40KB PDF)

Aussie Music Legend Rocks Hollick Wines

Hollick Wines hosted the 4^th annual Hot Summer Night event in their Coonawarra winery recently. Australian rock legend Ross Wilson and his band the Urban Legends rocked a packed Hollick Wines barrel shed as the winery showcased a selection of great local food and wine combined with a classic Australian rock legend.

Celebrating 25 years of Hollick Wines

Ian and Wendy have celebrated their 25th Anniversary this year hosting a series of dinners around Australian capital cities, and concluding with a formal dinner in Coonawarra at ‘Upstairs at Hollick’ on Friday 16th November.

A proud Ian and Wendy took the time to thank the industry that supported them magnificently over the past quarter of a century and were quick to recognise the enormous amount of help they have received along the way.

“Reaching 25 years in business is a great milestone, and tonight is a time to reflect on what has been achieved. Wendy and I thank the many of you who have helped in one way or another and tonight is a celebration of both the occasion and your support for Hollick Wines” Ian said.

Over 50 guests attended the celebration, which included overseas distributors, wine industry colleagues from Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and the Murray Darling wine regions, along with past and current Hollick Wines staff. Guests were treated to a superb 5-course meal, matched to some of the outstanding wines produced by Hollick Wines over the past 25 years, including the 1985 Jimmy Watson trophy winner, the 1984 Hollick Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now, as daughters Melanie and Kate enter the business, Ian and Wendy look forward to them taking the Hollick brand forward. “It is difficult to admit that you are yesterdays man (or woman), but the fact is that we are not the future of our business, but they and some of their fellow workers are, so please join with us in wishing them luck for the next 25.”

SA Tourism Awards

Hollick Wines and Upstairs at Hollick were awarded a top three placing at the recent 2007 South Australian Tourism Awards. The award caps off another brilliant year for the winery and restaurant.

Congratulations to Wendy for the time and effort she put into preparing the submission.

Movember

Our clean shaven Assistant Winemaker Sean (right) and Vineyard/Winery Assistant Corey (left) have taken up the Movember challenge, all in the name of charity. Our Hollick Mo bro’s are taking part in the annual Movember month to raise money and change attitudes towards men’s health issues including prostate cancer and depression. Congratulations to Sean and Corey on their charitable moustache growing efforts.

Amongst the Vines

With below zero temperatures forecast in early spring, our Vineyard Manager Stewy and his enthusiastic team, have been kept busy protecting our Coonawarra and Wrattonbully sites. The entire staff at Hollick Wines applauds Stewy and his team on their efforts in protecting the crop during the dangerous frost season. Apart from the obvious danger the frost season brings, drier conditions make frost protection all the more difficult. Frost control systems have just been installed in our new vineyard, Wilgha North.

Apart from protecting the crops throughout the frost danger period, Stewy’s team have been busy maintaining the vineyards: spraying, slashing, shoot bashing and lifting foliage wires to ensure that our Wrattonbully and Coonawarra sites produce high quality yields. The vineyard has seen new plantings of Cabernet Franc and additional plantings of Pinot Noir. The decision to plant Cabernet Franc was influenced by its synergy with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends, and as the demand for our Pinot Noir continues to rise we have planted some more clones to trial their suitability for Coonawarra.

With minimal frost damage and excellent recent rainfall early predictions indicate the 2008 vintage will be great, with flowering occurring as early as mid November.

Staff Profile -- Matt Caldersmith Winemaker

Before joining the Hollick Wines team, Matt, his wife Megan and their three young children were based at Denmark in WA where Matt enjoyed a successful stint as the Assistant Winemaker at the highly rated Forest Hill Vineyards. Originally from Sydney, Matt completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Oenology) degree at Adelaide University with first class honours. Matt’s dedication to producing quality wines continues to build on Hollick Wines formidable reputation.

A keen surfer, Matt is regularly seen braving the icy waters of the Limestone Coast.

Latest Releases

2006 Sparkling Merlot

The 2006 Sparkling Merlot is the first of our new packaging to be released and we hope you enjoy its fresh, new look. We have made the move to a crown seal closure to reduce the incidence of disappointment due to cork malfunctions. We hope you enjoy the perfect serve it provides time after time! We have also updated the label as we move to more consistency with other labels in our range.

The 2006 Sparkling Merlot shows Varietal Merlot aromas of satsuma plums, blackberries and violets which are enhanced by dark chocolate notes. It’s a wine of appealing texture and generous flavour. The sweet berry infused Merlot fruit flavours are enhanced by a fine bead creating a creamy sensation in the mouth. Fine tannins ensure a soft mouth feel and good length on the palate. Definitely one to enjoy with “Oeufs Hollique” on Christmas morning, or throughout the rest of the day!

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2004 vintage delivered near perfect conditions for the ripening of Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra, with the combination of the long growing season and the unique terra rossa soils producing distinctive and impressively intense Cabernet Sauvignon. The vintage was notable for healthy crops and a relatively late vintage with Cabernet Sauvignon being completed on the 10th of May. This wine has recently been selected for the specialized “Vintage” stores in Ontario, Canada.

It offers a wonderfully intense and vibrant pot pourri of dark berry fruit aromas, laced with nuances of mint and dark chocolate. The wine stains the palate with dense and juicy black fruits. Robust and textured, abundant fine grained tannins give the wine excellent length and presence on the palate and excellent potential for cellaring.

2007 Frizzanté

Frizzanté is a new wine on our list and we hope you enjoy its fun, fruity flavour. Frizzanté or Vino de Aguja, Petillant or Perlwein as it is also known across the world, is described as a wine consisting of small bubbles that offer a refreshing tingle and is slightly less effervescent than Champagne.

Made from a small amount of Riesling from our Coonawarra vineyard following the devastating frosts of October 2006, it’s lively, tropical and melon fruit characters leave a refreshingly sweet finish and a sherbet like fizz on your tongue. Serve chilled when friends visit.

Gifts for Friends in the UK

Once again our friends at Hedley Wright Wine Merchants have a special Hollick Wine pack that they can arrange to send to family and friends in the UK. The Christmas pack includes a bottle each of the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, 2005 Pinot Noir, 2004 Tempranillo, 2003 Wrattonbully Shiraz, 2005 The Nectar and 2005 Sparkling Merlot all for £64.95, with free UK mainland delivery for orders over £100. Visit www.hedleywright.co.uk and follow the Hollick Christmas Case link.

Up, Up & Away

We have enjoyed some recent success with international airlines British and Qatar Airways. Be sure to watch out for Hollick Wines on your next overseas trip. The soon to be released 2006 Reserve Chardonnay will be served in First Class on British Airways flights from early next year, whilst the 2004 Wrattonbully Shiraz will be served in First Class and Business Class on all Qatar Airways routes from Europe to Asia, Africa, US and very soon Australia and South America.

SA Variety Bash Visits Hollick Wines

Elvis, Batman & Robin and Shrek were spotted at Hollick Wines recently, tasting wine and cheese as the SA Variety Bash congregated at Hollick’s Coonawarra winery, the first official Bashers Fun Spot of the 2007 Variety Bash.

Hollick Hustlers Celebrate Touch Football Glory

The Hollick Hustlers have again competed in the annual Portavin Touch Competition in November. The competition raises money for Adelaide’s Hutt Street Centre which provides essential support and development services to homeless and marginalized people in Adelaide.

Under the guidance of Matt “The General” Caldersmith, the team began training in late September eager to improve on their inaugural 2006 campaign. After several weeks of training which included a fiercely contested practice match against Penola’s local team, the Hustlers were looking competitive and confident. The round robin competition was played in Adelaide’s parklands on Sunday 25th November. The Hustlers displayed great teamwork and discipline on the day winning their way through to the Quarter Final where they were eventually defeated in a close match. Congratulations to the team on a fantastic effort.

Telephone Sales

Hollick Wines would like to thank their loyal customers for their support of our recent telephone promotion. It’s a great way for us to check that your contact details are up to date. If your contact details change, please email your new details through to admin@hollick.com or phone us on 1800 654 189.

Living in the 80’s

Prawn Cocktails and Crème Caramel made a return to the kitchen recently as Upstairs at Hollick held their Living in the 80’s night during the Cabernet Celebrations Weekend. It was a full house as Chef Ian Perry prepared a sumptuous menu that included favourite 1980’s era dishes including Smoked Chicken, Crêpes and Meringues bringing back memories from the decade of raa raa skirts and flannelette shirts. Dinner guests danced the night away to the classic 80’s tunes of Aha, Katrina & The Waves and Wham. It was a fantastic night enjoyed by all who attended.

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