Alquimie Edition 7 is out now, featuring a profile on the emerging Jarad Curwood of Chapter Wine, who was amongst the Young Gun of Wine Top 12 in 2015.
We were quite tickled by the punchline to the tale of how Curwood had a local woodworker fashion some 2,000 litre vats from reclaimed 100 year old oak. Here’s the extract:
Curwood has made a 2,000 litre vat from some old oak. As he showed his prototype, he recounts the story of how it came about with another tenant in the Woollen Mill: “Hugh Makin, who makes furniture from recycled timbers, he was making this table one day, and I walked in one day and said, ‘Whoa, that looks amazing. Is that Oak?’
“‘Yeah, it’s French oak I got. I came across some old oak vats.’
“And I was like, ‘What do you mean, old oak vats?’
“‘About 80 to 100 years old.’
“‘OK… Stop making a fucking table out of it!’
“And he said, ‘don’t worry, there’s heaps more.’
“‘What do you mean heaps more?’
“‘Shitloads of them!’
“‘Alright, well let’s have a look at it…’”
Pointing to his vat, Curwood talks about the old oak, “It starts about 40-60 mm thick; and it’s almost 100 year old; seasoned in Australian wine. We just took off the inside layer, less than one millimeter. I thought they would impart a lot more flavor then they have, which was good that they haven’t, which was the intention.”
It was a big, tricky job. You can tell just by looking at the finished piece, which, bound with an iron rope-like girdle, has a charm to it. “I can’t believe they came together and worked. I said to him, ‘I think there’s a huge market in this if you want it.’
“He built that one and said, “nah, I think I’m just going to stick to my furniture.”
Alquimie Edition 7 also features 10 years of Young Gun of Wine; and journeys far and wide, to Scotland’s ghost distilleries; Switzerland, and the white chasselas grape; Italy’s island of Sant’Erasmo; London’s fine dining tables; and the terroir of California’s Wilamette Valley, to name a few of the places this latest edition of the magazine takes you.
Available throughout Australia in select newsagents and specialty stockists. For the eastern-seaboard, Alquimie recommend seeking out Books For Cooks (Vic), Beautiful Pages (NSW) or Scrumptious Reads (QLD).
As the nation begins winding back COVID-19 restrictions, hospitality venues are slowly reopening across the country and preparing for post pandemic life. From cellar door tastings to tasting menus, here’s a state-by-state breakdown of what wine fans can expect.
This year marks the 16th annual edition of the Young Gun of Wine Awards – created for young wine labels and winemakers on the rise. The annual list has become the go-to guide for drinkers looking for cutting-edge wines. And now, the time has come to uncover our top winemakers for 2022.
Today, we announced the 2019 YGOW Award Winners at an industry event in Adelaide.
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