Cool, calm, collected. Three simple words that, to me, succinctly sums up Ravensworth’s Bryan Martin. I recently spent some time with him at Ravensworth HQ in Murrumbateman, and most gracious was he with his time and the sharing of the ways of his wine world. Bryan also introduced me to the next generation of the Ravensworth wine production team, with son Lewis rolling up the sleeves now too. The Ravensworth brand has been around for over twenty years and every step of their journey has been with a laser focus on cool climate quality wine production with a firm grip on a natural and sustainable reality. In the last ten years or so, annual wine production has grown from 800 cases to over 8,000. Most of this is shipping to mail-list customers in every corner of the country, with a lot also going to some of the finest restaurants in the land. While I was there, a shipment was also heading over to restaurants in Hong Kong, no doubt to be consumed by discerning wine drinkers with Cantonese culinary creations.
Bryan Martin inspects the progress inside the Ravensworth Press
The winery at Ravensworth is no ordinary caper. Most modern wineries are loaded from floor to ceiling with stainless steel, but not here. Bryan is a big believer in the power of ceramic, concrete and clay, in the form of ceramic eggs, Italian and anciently inspired amphora and imposing concrete sentinel-like monoliths. Vessels like these have been in use since ancient times and there’s plenty of recent research to suggest that due to their shape and smooth, corner-less surfaces, wines produced with these vessels can have elevated structure, texture and flavour. With a glimmer in his eye and a glint in his grin, Bryan talks with passion about producing wines in the most natural way possible. No pesticides or herbicides are used at Ravensworth and it’s a certified organic operation.
Nature takes care of business both above and below the ground in the nine-acre vineyard. There are no additives in the wines either, with Father Time being the overlord, letting nature nurture the wines into purposeful expressions of time and place. All this being said, the marvel of modern technology is all around too, but seemingly a support act to the main stage of nature.
The label art that adorns each bottle is also an important aspect of the Ravensworth brand. Visually alluring and thought-provoking, each label is a “..depiction of how we see wine and food. Entwined, joyous, slightly nervy..”.
Intriguing imagery on Ravensworth wine bottles
The butcher’s cleaver is another swash-buckling fragment of the brand, being depicted on labels, caps and even used as cleaver levers that open the entry into the cellar space. And this is no ordinary space either, with one getting an immediate sense of being cooled, calmed and collected within the hay bale-walled, repurposed timber-clad space. Here, the wines are seemingly at restful peace, maturing gracefully in the large format oak barrels. Bryan prefers his wines to develop with time in barrel rather than bottle.
Some of the Ravensworth range
Here is what I tried:
Estate Riesling 2021 – Pale gold with natural light from within. The aromas are of tropical guava and grapefruit with candied lemon peel. On the palate, it’s full and textured with ripe citrus flavours, a zip of acid and a savoury minerality that leads to a lingering finish. Prawn, mango and chilli salad for me with this.
The Grainery 2021 – Bright yellow gold in the glass. Ripe peach, pear and apricot with a touch of tropical paw paw and crushed almonds. It’s rich and luscious in the mouth with peach, pear and nectarine flavours. Neck this with an oven-warmed wheel of brie cheese with walnut and drizzled honey.
Estate Sangiovese 2022 – The aromas are of ripe raspberries and red cherries with a lick of liquorice and dash of white pepper. The palate is smooth with ripe red berry fruit flavours, fine tannins, lively acid and a lovely food-friendly finish. Linguine pasta with pork sausage, garlic, tomato and basil ragout.
Estate Shiraz Viognier 2021 – Deep seductive colour mauve in the glass with brilliant red flashes at the edge. There’s blackberry, ripe cherry and rose petal aromas with a crack of white paper and shake of star anise. It’s smooth and subtle in the mouth with blue and red berry fruit flavours. Just the gig for slow roasted lamb shoulder with ras el-hanout spice and pomegranate molasses.
There’s no publicly accessible cellar door at Ravensworth, so it was a real treat for me to be entertained by Bryan, for an enticing insight into what makes the tick and tock of the Ravensworth clock. Crafting quality, cool climate wines is not just a job for the Ravensworth team, it’s both a passion and a way of life.
To be an important part of the Ravensworth value chain – the customer part – sign up to the Ravensworth mailing list or you can order directly from their website. You’ll be very glad you did.
Brent Lello, Yass Valley Times Wine Columnist
