Grey Sands, a study in intensity

This small family run vineyard just outside Exeter in the Tamar Valley is like a crossroads. It's where European style hospitality meets a single minded focus on quality.

The hospitality is evident immediately. Bob and Rita Richter open their home when people come to taste their wines. If the weather is nice you sit out on their deck taking in the expansive view.

But be prepared to be 'tested'. Bob, in particular, really wants to know what you think of the wines. He won't do to you what he does to his own family. "You can't just have a wine" Rita says "Bob wants to know what you smell, what you taste ... use your words he'll say!". While he won't go that far, he will give you 'the look' if all you say is "yeah it's alright".

It is difficult to adequately describe the intensity Bob brings to his approach to wine. Rita suggested that he is like the character played by Bill Pullman in the movie 'Bottle shock'. To make sure she made her point she lent us a copy. Bill Pulman plays the owner of a vineyard that produces a wine which beats the best France has to offer. There are some strong similarities but the Bill Pulman character goes into a boxing ring to settle arguments with his son. Bob didn't mention anything of that sort.

People aren't the only things tested at Grey Sands. The vineyard is set on very poor soil, hence the name, and isn't irrigated. The site selection and approach to irrigation reflects the lessons Bob and Rita learnt while living in England and traveling through Europe. Secondly the vines, once they are established, are tough and this is exactly the characteristic they want to encourage.

Mind you having 'tough' vines is a double edge sword. When Bob and Rita decided to remove some  in preparation for new varieties they discovered that some of the vines had tap roots up to 30ft long. "(We were) pulling down hill using a four wheel tractor and all wheels were spinning but the vines weren't coming out" Bob remembered.

Like all fair minded people Rita and Bob are tough on themselves as well. Rita tells the story about how they used to have to manually net their vines. This was so physically taxing that after a weekend of it she couldn't lift her arms up when she went to work on the Monday. "People at work kept saying 'oh I'd love to have a vineyard!' it was hard to take" she laughed.

So Bob and Rita are prepared to match their intensity with real effort but how did all this come about? After all, while Rita is Italian and had an early exposure to wine, Bob grew up in a teetotal household. No doubt meeting Rita had an impact but the spark was going into bottleshops while they lived in the UK

"You go into an English bottleshop .... it was like an aladdins cave ... Bulgarian wine, Argentinian, Californian".

Sampling all these wines not only cemented a passion but Bob worked out that the best wines came from cool climates. So when they decided to return to Australia it occurred to them that Tasmania would have the best climate for the sort of wines they loved.

In 1985 they came to have a look.  "I thought I was going to discover Tasmania" Bob laughed. "But there were plenty of pioneers before me". So Bob wasn't Abel Bob Tasman, but what they saw confirmed their beliefs. They were in the right state.

However it was a chance encounter with a local pharmacist that helped Bob and Rita find their ideal location. "Gavin Scott had just set up the Glengarry vineyard on this very hill" Robert recalls "we tried his, either 85 or 86, pinot noir and cabernet out of barrel, ... well it was pretty nice". These wines had the characteristics that Bob believed were lacking in the wines he had tried from Pipers Brook.

This encouraged them to focus their search on the areas around Exeter. The chance to purchase the perfect vineyard site came through a local real estate agent who's get up and go had got up and gone. In response to Bob's query about vacant land the agent said "yeah there is a block but there's no sign, can you take this one and put it up for me?" Needless to say the sign never went up but the block did get sold so maybe the agent wasn't lazy, just unorthodox. 

Having a vineyard is one thing but how do you develop a unique wine label. "So many people tell us they want a vineyard and I always ask what's your vision?" Bob and Rita will tell you if you can't clearly articulate what you want to achieve then you shouldn't even buy the land let alone start a vineyard. 

Again, being fair people, they apply these rules to themselves. The Grey Sands label reflects this clarity of purpose and is deliberately 'classic' in its layout and construction. It clearly puts the wine front and centre. No elaborate artwork or graphic design, instead it relies on text for differentiation. This vision continues with the back label. Their tasting notes have a date. Bob and Rita know that wines change but want to at least give the drinker some indication of what to expect from the wine.

You can visit Grey Sands throughout the year, their only stipulation is that you make an appointment. They, like many people who own small vineyards, work full time which rules out a permanent cellar door. Inexplicably they have been the subject of some criticisms from punters over this policy. Rita explained that some people appear to think that the 'appointment only' requirement is because they are snobbish. 

They are definitely not and you will discover this for yourselves when you go and visit. However they are really busy and thankfully really intense, just like their wines.

The Current Range.

You'll find we already have reviews of the Pinot Gris, Chardonnay Viognier, Pinot Noir and Merlot on our roadtest pages. We will also post a review on their second label Merlot and the flagship Romanesque soon. So what follows is Bob and Rita's thoughts on their wines.

2008 Grey Sands Pinot Gris

Rita believes that the secret to this wine is the fact that it is fermented in old oak barrels. "We ask, wine maker Fran Austin, to use the oldest barrels she has" . Bob agreed and added "To me ... the heart of really good wine ... is (that) they have a savoury component to them". "There's so much more to wine than just simple fruitiness. It's that savoury component that makes wine really intriguing ... especially if you're having it with food".

This wine is very intense and that comes from the time it sits on lees. There are issues with using the lees technique. "You lose a bit of fruitiness ... you wouldn't use this on something like riesling ... But for a fuller wine ... you gain that savoury length". For our thoughts see our roadtest.

2007 Grey Sands Chardonnay Viognier

Bob has done a fair amount of experimentation over the years and has arrived at a style that utilises very ripe grapes, wild yeast and relatively low acid. "There would be winemakers who would say you really add some acid". "But I find high acid wines wearing".

It is a great wine already but Bob and Rita have big plans for it. They are in the process of developing a white Romanesque and this wine will form the basis of that future addition to the Grey Sands range. We liked it and you can read our review here.

2008 Grey Sands Pinot

 "Not for the faint hearted" Bob laughes. They use oak from Burgundy to put some power into the wine. Rita believes that this approach makes this pinot a little disceptive. "It has power but it's well hidden" she said.

The road to this pinot hasn't been smooth. The vines were planted in 1992 the first few years saw too little fruit. "It wasn't worth the expense of netting ... the birds were getting a good feed". Even when there were sufficient grapes Bob and Rita weren't happy with the wine. "It didn't have the body we wanted for a Grey Sands wine" Rita explains.

Like a problem child that ends up making its parents proud we think this is a tidy pinot. A slightly more thoughtful set of comments can be found here . 

2004 Glen Grey Merlot and 2005 Grey Sands Merlot

The weather over the 2004 and 2005 years was very different. 2004 was a cool season that produced a lot of fruit. But it was a difficult year because the wine lacked the concentration that usually exists in a Grey Sands wine. "It wasn't until last year that you could smell anything" Rita complained.

This is why the 2004 is under a different label. To our mind it is a subtle but very earthy merlot. Look for a full review soon.

To Bob and Rita's relief 2005 was a much warmer year and the fruit ripened to a greater extent. This merlot has a longer and slightly sweeter finish. He believes that the 2005 is an example of what they are trying to achieve. An intense wine that will age well.

It has impressed people on the mainland and is now available in a number of high quality restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney. This pleases Bob no end. He accepts he'll never be rich selling wine but it is the recognition that makes it all worth it. You can see what we think of it here.

2005 Grey Sands Romanesque

 "What the hell is this" was the reaction of the judges in the wineshow at which this blended red wine first appeared. "We stopped entering wineshows" Rita said. The confusion is understandable some people have confused it with a port!

The name of this wine comes from on of Bob's three great passions, wine, gardening and ancient history. In particular he loves Romanesque architecture. He has applied this name to this blended wine as a homage to northern Italian wines. Rita recommends this wine if you're having Tapas or aromatic curries. We recommend it when you're at Festivale at about the time the main act comes on.  

We know we're going to enjoy this wine a lot so we've deliberately put off doing a review until closer to Christmas.  Some things really are worth the wait!

If you want to know more or order their wines head to their website 

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