Chris Sargeant in 'Good Fruit and Vegetables' by Gail Thomas
Chris helps build the “grape wall of China”
GAIL THOMAS.
16 Oct 2016, 5 a.m.
News
EXPERT ADVICE: Geelong winemaker Chris Sargeant is participating in the Ningxia Winemakers Challenge in China where he is assisting a vineyard to produce a competition wine.
GEELONG winemaker Chris Sargeant has a wealth of winemaking experience in Victoria, NSW, Portugal and California USA.
He studied wine science at Charles Sturt University and has been instrumental in the making of many award-winning wines for various wineries.
His latest adventure has taken him to China as part of the Ningxia Winemakers Challenge a project organized by the International Federation of Vine and Wine of Helan Mountain’s East Foothill with support from Ningxia’s Bureau of Grape Industry Development that is funding foreign winemakers to practice their craft and compete for cash prizes.
Forty-eight candidates from 18 nations are participating in the two-year Challenge that pairs each winemaker with a local winery.
Chris grew up in Melbourne and worked in the city but loved the rural lifestyle and spent weekends in the Yarra Valley where his father has a small vineyard.
“After studying at Wagga I did my first vintage at Bailey’s Glenrowan then went to Rothbury in the Hunter Valley so I saw two different regions in my first year,” he said.
“I’ve worked at a lot of places and believe by working at as many places as possible you are also influenced by different winemakers and mentors.”
Chris was keen to participate in the Chinese competition, not only from a winemaking perspective but also to more understand their culture, and adds that being a competitive person the idea appealed, plus the competition exposes you to other winemakers from various countries who do things different ways.
Companies in China applied to be part of the competition as it is such a young industry they haven’t got experienced winemakers.
About 250 winemakers from around the world applied, with 60 selected and 48 who turned up, including 12 Australians from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
“It was like a raffle at the exhibition hall. Our names flashed up on a screen and a winery owner got up and said ‘start and stop’,” Chris said.
“If it stopped on your name that was the winery you got billeted to. The winemakers then got up - there was a map of a government-owned vineyard with 60 blocks all planted to cabernet- it flashed over each block of around 3ha so when you said ‘stop’ the block it stopped on was yours.
“There was lots of media, papers, TV etc. with a big ceremony then the winemakers were taken to see their blocks which are in a very remote part of China.”
With so many people available and labour being cheap everything is done by hand as they are trying to create an industry so people can have jobs.
Vines are irrigated as the vineyard is surrounded by the Helan Mountains so when the snow melts it fills up the dams plus it’s also on the Yellow river.
“The soil has a high pH and vines have to be buried in winter as is it’s so cold with temperatures dropping to minus 20-30 degrees,” Chris said.
“They tie the vines down then come through with a hoe rendering the soil over the top.
“That’s not a problem; its digging them up that’s difficult. The best I saw were some on bamboo sticks so you could lift the stick to pull the vines back.
“It was like a raffle at the exhibition hall. Our names flashed up on a screen and a winery owner got up and said ‘start and stop’,” Chris said.
“If it stopped on your name that was the winery you got billeted to. The winemakers then got up - there was a map of a government-owned vineyard with 60 blocks all planted to cabernet- it flashed over each block of around 3ha so when you said ‘stop’ the block it stopped on was yours.
“There was lots of media, papers, TV etc. with a big ceremony then the winemakers were taken to see their blocks which are in a very remote part of China.”
With so many people available and labour being cheap everything is done by hand as they are trying to create an industry so people can have jobs.
Vines are irrigated as the vineyard is surrounded by the Helan Mountains so when the snow melts it fills up the dams plus it’s also on the Yellow river.
“The soil has a high pH and vines have to be buried in winter as is it’s so cold with temperatures dropping to minus 20-30 degrees,” Chris said.
“They tie the vines down then come through with a hoe rendering the soil over the top.
“That’s not a problem; its digging them up that’s difficult. The best I saw were some on bamboo sticks so you could lift the stick to pull the vines back.
HOME MADE: The distinct lable design of one of Chris Sargeant’s own shiraz brand.
“With the trellising and the vines being buried, it’s not set up for machine harvesting but the Chinese are clever at adapting.
“A standard spray regime is used. Richard Smart is viticultural consultant to my winery and he said that by burying the vines pathogens from the soil can get into them and they might get disease problems.”
Chris is a non-interventionist winemaker and found the fruit from his plot was excellent quality.
He uses Seguin Moreau French oak barrels for a portion of his wine and a portion was put into tank and will be blended back with new oak as no older wood was available.
Unfortunately his winery wasn’t built at the time for vintage so they leased the university winery where he was also able to teach students, who are the future of the Chinese wine industry, basic cellar skills.
“They don’t tend to drink a lot, just sniff and taste. Currently there is an under-supply of wine but a lot of rich Chinese people who do have that wine culture are buying wine," he said.
“With the amount being planted I think they will also have to export if the wine-drinking culture doesn’t kick through to the lower classes.”
I have been thinking outside the square and have made a Riesling with portions being barrel and tank fermented, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet based rose and a pinot noir made in the lighter style.
- Chris Sargeant
While the winemakers don’t get paid, costs of seven trips back over the course of the two year competition are covered with final judging in September 2017.
Ten per cent of the wines get a gold medal and cash prize; 20pc get silver and a small cash prize and every winemaker gets 2000 bottles of their wine to sell and the wineries get the balance.
“By taking your wine back to your country it also helps market Chinese wine for them. The winery I’m involved with is also starting up a chain of high-end retail wine stores so I’m hoping to win as the trade-off is they will then come to you for future consultancy,” Chris said.
“If I get my wine out of barrel at 14 to 15 months of age and get it bottled it will have a good six months to settle before judging.”
Leasing the Bellarine Estate winery Chris also makes wines using parcels of fruit sourced from Sutherlands Creek in Geelong under his own Sarge wines banner, and adds the bird and butterflies on the label design represent his wife and four children.
“I have been thinking outside the square and have made a Riesling with portions being barrel and tank fermented, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet based rose and a pinot noir made in the lighter style,” he said.
“I believe Geelong shiraz is the best in the country, having the most Rhonesque of all meaty, savoury elements, I got some durif which I’ve blended with 10 percent viognier fermented as whole bunch for something different, and a cabernet blend from cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot that I’m thinking of going down the path of an unoaked style with that.”
Chris headed back to China in September for vintage and the launch of the Meiyu winery he is working for.
“With the trellising and the vines being buried, it’s not set up for machine harvesting but the Chinese are clever at adapting.
“A standard spray regime is used. Richard Smart is viticultural consultant to my winery and he said that by burying the vines pathogens from the soil can get into them and they might get disease problems.”
Chris is a non-interventionist winemaker and found the fruit from his plot was excellent quality.
He uses Seguin Moreau French oak barrels for a portion of his wine and a portion was put into tank and will be blended back with new oak as no older wood was available.
Unfortunately his winery wasn’t built at the time for vintage so they leased the university winery where he was also able to teach students, who are the future of the Chinese wine industry, basic cellar skills.
“They don’t tend to drink a lot, just sniff and taste. Currently there is an under-supply of wine but a lot of rich Chinese people who do have that wine culture are buying wine," he said.
“With the amount being planted I think they will also have to export if the wine-drinking culture doesn’t kick through to the lower classes.”
I have been thinking outside the square and have made a Riesling with portions being barrel and tank fermented, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet based rose and a pinot noir made in the lighter style.
- Chris Sargeant
While the winemakers don’t get paid, costs of seven trips back over the course of the two year competition are covered with final judging in September 2017.
Ten per cent of the wines get a gold medal and cash prize; 20pc get silver and a small cash prize and every winemaker gets 2000 bottles of their wine to sell and the wineries get the balance.
“By taking your wine back to your country it also helps market Chinese wine for them. The winery I’m involved with is also starting up a chain of high-end retail wine stores so I’m hoping to win as the trade-off is they will then come to you for future consultancy,” Chris said.
“If I get my wine out of barrel at 14 to 15 months of age and get it bottled it will have a good six months to settle before judging.”
Leasing the Bellarine Estate winery Chris also makes wines using parcels of fruit sourced from Sutherlands Creek in Geelong under his own Sarge wines banner, and adds the bird and butterflies on the label design represent his wife and four children.
“I have been thinking outside the square and have made a Riesling with portions being barrel and tank fermented, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet based rose and a pinot noir made in the lighter style,” he said.
“I believe Geelong shiraz is the best in the country, having the most Rhonesque of all meaty, savoury elements, I got some durif which I’ve blended with 10 percent viognier fermented as whole bunch for something different, and a cabernet blend from cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot that I’m thinking of going down the path of an unoaked style with that.”
Chris headed back to China in September for vintage and the launch of the Meiyu winery he is working for.