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The Shane Holloway Podcast
Delamere the chat (16.9 mb   18:28 minutes) Delamere the chat part 2 (16.8 mb   18:24 minutes)	In this part of our conversation, we hear about Shane's background, why he bought Delamere and how stressful it is trying to tell people about environmental change. We are impressed at the wine Shane has drunk over the years. We don't quite know what to think about Shane's views on teenage winemaking and fruit liberation. We hear why Shane is enjoying being the Vice President of the Tamar Wine Route. The second part of the conversation opens with Shane explaining why he wants to run his own vineyard. He praises Stefano and Monique Lubiana for showing what the Tassie wine industry can achieve. He waxes lyrical about his wife Fran Austin and about the new addition to the family. He explained the role passionate arguments and terrible comedy played in bringing Fran and he together. To finish Shane has no trouble answering our patented personal questions. Owners of the venerable old Morris 1100 may want to sit down before listening.
Delamere sparkling (13.6 mb  14:55 minutes) Delamere chardonnay (5.94 mb  6:29 minutes) Delamere rose (4.02 mb  4:23 minutes) Delamere pinot (8.64mb 9:26 minutes)	In this part of our conversation Shane takes us through the current line up at Delamere. All the wines are intense but well balanced. They were all impressive but the 05 blanc de blanc and 08 chardonnay really made us stand up and take notice. Chardonnay is Shane's favourite and it shows.

Shane Holloway - He's an individual.

Over joyed to see us

Shane is what the young folk would call a 'dude'. Forthright, opinionated and lots of energy. You'll certainly never be left wondering what he thinks which is refreshing and makes conversations a lot easier. Looking at the photo you immediately notice a couple of things. He's wearing a very practical man scrunchie that keeps his flowing locks out of the wine vats. He's also wearing an expression of sheer joy at the prospect of being in a winepunter's podcast.

Springing interviews on people is more your A Current Affair than winepunters but we were left with no choice. We couldn't get him to reply to our emails and phone calls. Was it something we did we wondered. "Oh I never answer the phone or reply to emails" Shane told us cheerfully.

We suspect this isn't true. He looks like the sort of chap who is a survivor and should his wife, renown winemaker Fran Austin, ring we have no doubt he would be on the phone in a flash.  Having finally run him to ground we discovered that our 'Shane is a dude' first impression turned out to be correct. He is unlike any of the other people we have interviewed so far. He's definately an individual.

Shane and his girls

For a start he owns a Range Rover but is a fan of 'The Breeders', a 90's alternative rock band who, as far as we can tell, don't have a lot of time for Range Rover owners. What's more, he and Fran only own 3 proper Burgundy glasses. "We decided that you don't share good Burgundy with more than one person. Once you have four people at the table you get out the cheap stuff" Shane explained. Our advice, check how many people are coming to dinner if you ever get an invite. If you want quality burgundy you may have to leave your partner and the kids at home. 

But the thing that really stands out is his determination. Former Delamere owner Richard Richardson wasn't interested in selling and yet he did. So how did Shane do it?. "Nine months of sitting there, drinking a bottle every night talking Richie into selling to me".

Shane loves his art

The reason for the effort soon became clear. Shane was keen to own Delamere because of its potential. "I always thought Delamere wine was under appreciated" he said. "But the potential was in the wine ... I guess it's the unique characteristics this site brings". Shane admits that unlocking this potential will not be easy "you saw the narrow rows and low terracing ... the work force is going to get sick of bending over!". Still Shane is very aware of his good fortune "how many 26 year old vineyards come on the market? To be thirty four years old and owning a twenty six year old vineyard that my parents didn't plant ... I laugh everyday!"

The prices

So Shane is a young man with a great vineyard, an internationally renown winemaker wife and a Range Rover beer bus. Most of us would probably put the feet up and say "my job here is done". But Shane has only just begun. We got to 'enjoy' the beer bus because Shane wanted to show us what he has planned for Delamere. "We need to grow" he said. This isn't just an economic issue. "The best parts of this vineyard haven't even been planted". One of the proposed sites will have the same aspect as the neighbouring Sinapius vineyard. Given the quality of the wine coming from there you'd have to agree with Shane's confidence. 

Generally the winepunter conversation will wind it's way to finding out how people meet and so it was with Shane. He met Fran while working at Bay of Fires but the combination of terrible comedy and an argument over the legalising of cannabis turned friendship to love. At the risk of falling into the trap of stereotyping, looking at Shane you'd probably think he was all for legalising the happy weed. You'd be right.

The entry

But it wasn't all gossip and funny stories. Talking to Shane means having a serious conversation about wines in general and winemaking in particular. There isn't much doubt that he wants to be known for his wine styles and quality rather than just the volume of his sales. Not that he isn't serious about the business. He recently took on the Vice Presidency of the Tamar Valley Route so he is also serious about the success of all the vineyards in the valley.

Tasting the Delamere wines was in some way a revelation - you realise you like a wider range of wines than you thought. They are all good but some really made an impression.

The 05 Blanc de Blanc was stunning. It combines freshness with a creamy consistency. This is the wine sparkling sceptics need to try. Drink it and you get what all the fuss is about. The bad thing is that you also get a taste for hand made sparkling which means you need to get a promotion at work.

Chilli workin' like a dog

Turning to the 08 chardonnay we found another outstanding wine. It provided the springboard for Shane to be included into the young guns of wine. "I made this for me .... I am really pleased at how well this style has been received" he said. It's just as well because Shane took some risks with it. "I did everything they told me not to do at uni with this wine". It is working with punters as well as critics. This wine is a gotcha. "I like hearing people say they don't drink chardonnay and then seeing them walk out with a case" Shane quipped.

The Delamere rose is based on the style Shane loved when he was in the south of France. The wine is made quickly with little interaction with the grape skins. This makes a very light, bone dry and enjoyable drop. The other thing you notice is the different colour - it's almost a pale orange rather than the usual deeper pink. Being light it is lower in alcohol. "You can drink bucket loads of it ... a bottle before work and everything's still kosher" Shane told us. Hmmm can't wait to try that out. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, drinking bucket loads is easier because it's priced around $18.

The taste finished on the pinots. Shane is particularly proud of his 08 pinot. He has worked hard on increasing the intensity of flavour that he gets from his grapes. This has meant a change in the way the Delamere vines are being pruned. There has been a deliberate strategy of reducing the amount of grapes produced on each vine. This carries risk if there is a bad year - then overall volume of grapes can be very low. However Shane takes this risk in the knowledge that the fruit produced will naturally be more intense which means less intervention during the winemaking process.

Arty entry

The eventual goal of this pinot intensification process is to produce a wine that sits above the current Delamere pinot range. It won't be a reserve as such but a new label that is made when the quality of the fruit is right. Shane would have told us the name of this new label but he would have had to kill us. "All I'll say is that it's named after a naughty angel". There you go theology students, get busy with the research and let us know. Given what Shane has produced already, we were very impressed with the 08, this new pinot should be a belter

Not only did we get a wine education, we may have to rethink our views of Shane. As we were leaving he said "maybe next time I'll answer the phone now I know this (the podcast) is over".

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