On The Grapevine

with David Ellis

Bremerton - all in the family

Rebecca and Lucy Willson have plenty to smile about with the success of their 'family affair' Bremerton label.

There's no doubting the line of discussion around the Willson family dinner table at Bremerton Wines in South Australia's Langhorne Creek.

After all, dad Craig gave up a management career in newspapers to take on managing and development of the company, mum Mignonne is a chef who does legendary lunches and morning teas at the cellar door, daughter Rebecca is winemaker and other daughter Lucy marketing manager.

And they've turned what was originally a lucerne farm into one of South Australia's most-respected vineyards and wineries, with production up from just 57 dozen bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon made from grapes bought from a neighbour in 1988, to 680 dozen in 1993, and a whopping 25,000 dozen in 2003, selling Australia-wide and to the UK, USA, Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and Holland.

Labels cover a Verdelho, 'Racy' Rosé, Tamblyn (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Malbec and Merlot), Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and a Shiraz; they also make an export-only label at a separate winery.

Tamblyn is their biggest seller; at $17.50 a bottle it's an easy-drinking and flavoursome wine with rich cassis fruit and integrated tannins on the palate, coupled with enticing violet and ripe cherry aromas. Match it with pasta, pizzas, lamb chops on the barbecue, or with a cheese platter.

Bremerton Wines are available at the cellar door - a converted circa-1866 horse stable - or from most fine wine retailers; Langhorne Creek is 70km SE of Adelaide.

Fact: There's actually no Langhorne Creek - only a town of that name on the Bremer River. In the 1800s cattle drover Alfred Langhorne regularly camped on the River, locals dubbing the spot "Langhorne's Creek" - which has stuck.