Adrian Utter in conversation
It’s very cold and very grey but not yet raining. As I drive north, I fly by the palatial cellar doors of the Yarra Valley, zipping up the Maroondah Hwy I reach a quiet and yet to be disturbed Healesville. Next up is the beautiful Black Spur drive; as I wiggle and wind higher and higher, the trees get taller, the mist descends and the temperature drops. The bushy ferns burst at the seams of the road, the long trunks of the mountain ash trees rise high into the sky, throwing a pinstripe blanket on me, the mist and the road below. As I crest the range and start to descend the countryside opens up into the beautiful Acheron Valley; a secluded pocket of tranquillity nestled at the foot of Mt Cathedral. So unassuming is Utter Wines I cruise straight past and have to make a u-turn to venture back and find the gate.
I’m met by Adrian, his kids, nieces, nephews, dogs and father, Bob, who I’m fortunate to chat to before he dashes off for a truffle delivery.
What a beautiful place, even in the midst of winter! Where exactly are we?
It’s quite funny, we’re just north of the Yarra Valley but the Black Spur drive cuts us off from most of the northbound traffic which often chooses to bypass us and take the Melba Highway instead. That’s Mount Cathedral right there, hidden in the mist and this is the Acheron Valley. We’re the Upper Goulburn Valley officially but everyone gets us confused with NSW which is no good!
How did the family business come to start?
Bob: The family farm has undergone a number of business iterations over the years, but the wine and truffle partnership today possibly laid seed back when Adrian and I had our first business when he was eleven years old. We used to collect pine cones from the nearby pine plantation, dry them out and sell them as 'natural fire starters’. It was even 50-50 then, as it is now! I guess the interest in fermentation began with a beer brewing kit I bought Adrian for his birthday. Whilst I dabbled in some home bench winemaking back in the day, Adrian has led the charge with the grape growing and winemaking. The independent spirit that I remember from cellar doors when I was young lies behind what Adrian and I look to accomplish. But there’s also the truffles and the cattle so there’s always something to do, never a dull moment!
Right on cue, the phone rings and Bob is called away to deliver some truffles.
Adrian: I suppose Utter Wines is my ‘hobby’. I work as an agronomist four days a week, working as a soil and viticulture consultant to some of the big vineyards in the area. But as a kid I always liked growing things, I’d grow plants from cuttings and really enjoyed being outside on the farm. I actually planted the first vines when mum and dad were on holiday. They’d never have let me otherwise! The property has been in our family since the 1930s and whilst I knew the first site wasn’t perfect for growing vines I was curious to see what would grow. I worked a vintage in Champagne, and whilst in France I tried some of the Côte-Rôtie wines and loved them. Everyone said it would be too cold for Syrah, but I planted it anyway to prove a point! A few years back we actually planted some red gums which normally stop growing 10km further north, because we’re that bit colder. Give it a few years though and climate change will resolve that.
When did you study winemaking?
I didn’t! My philosophy is get it right in the vineyard, then just don’t f**k it up! That said, there’s been a few years where we’ve had to throw away some juice or vinegar away! Dad has joked we should just throw the grapes out once they’re picked! But I do have a few winemaker friends I can call in for some advice. Everything I do is in small batches though; I hand pick the grapes on the valley floor and hillside vineyard when each clone is ready, which is rarely at the same time, then I ferment and mature them individually. Everything I do is to experiment and understand the soil, but the ultimate goal is to create a balanced and healthy ecosystem for the vines and grapes to grow. I grow legume veggies between the vines which are good for the soil, I never use insecticides but sometimes I use herbicides with the new vines to help them establish themselves. If I can grow strong and healthy vines, the rest is easy! Up on the hill I’ve just planted marsanne, gewurztraminer and viognier but the foxes love the viognier! They’d eat all of it if they could. But it will be interesting to see how the vines go the next few vintages.
Speaking of edible delights, am I right in thinking it’s truffle season?
It is! We were out last night hunting for some but we’ll see if Lily (chief truffle hunter) finds any more today. It’s been a fairly wet season which isn’t ideal for the truffles and some trees have been far more productive than others. I visited some truffle growers down in Tasmania and what interested me most was how much of an unknown truffles are. Lots of producers aren’t in agriculture so I thought my interest in soil paired with our climate and region could be a good combination. It's also one of the few things available to grow in winter; I’d have my work cut out if I grew summer veggies alongside the grapes and vintage. That said, truffles and grapes are worlds apart. Even with an understanding of the soil, there’s still so much I can’t measure. With vines and grapes you can measure everything to an inch of its life, with truffles you can’t even see them until the dogs start to dig them up. I’ve learnt to trust the dogs’ nose when it comes to sniffing the good ones. Fresh truffles are more subtle than the truffle oil aroma, which is actually synthetic! You look for a sweet truffle smell when picking, then they’re best cooked with soft flavours, like cheesy pasta or pizza or grated on an omelette.
You also have cattle on the property, are they another passion project?
Goodness, no! They’re low maintenance lawn mowers. The property was ravaged by the bushfires in 2009, but we lost few of our real assets because of our grazing management. The cattle keep the grass short and work wonders as our fire preventative measure. Our neighbour spends weeks on end mowing his grass, we chose to have cattle instead! My real passion project, which has been ten years in the making is starting to take shape though. I’ve always wanted to build a house into the hillside overlooking the valley and Mt Cathedral. I’d love to build a winery next to it so they can run off the same solar panels, and it would be much better for cooling in the summer. A friend who is an architect has helped me with the designs, but as ever the admin slows everything down. There’s always something going on, but when I do find some free time I love going camping with the kids in Central Australia, where phone signal is scarce and emails get lost!
So you love growing plants, do you like drinking wine?
Ha, yes! Wine’s great and whilst I have more fun in the vineyard it’s been really interesting learning to make my own. The first year I did buy some grapes to mess around with but now I would never consider it. I think it’s great I can bottle something which is 100% from our land. Even the labels are inspired by the ranges and drawn by mum. Each year I bottle a Riesling, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. We also do small, non-commercial batches from the remaining original trial vines. Once I did a white field blend as there just wasn’t enough of each variety to single ferment. I chucked all the grapes in the tank and fermented them together. I grow a few different clones of Pinot, some on the valley floor others on the hill. I love how different the grapes turn out in the two vineyards. I try to get a new barrel every other year, but I’m always conscious of buying barrels which won’t impart too much tannin. And the shiraz is so unique. Whilst it’s not as warm as the Rhone, as I hoped it’s not too cold for it to grow. The hillside vineyard and valley floor vineyard are so different though, sometimes I pick the same grapes 6 weeks apart! I’ve got 2017 and 2018 vintage shiraz to try actually -- the difference is so stark. Let’s have a try….
And at that, I put my pen down. With a visit to Adrian and Bob’s Riverhouse Wine & Truffles you can kill many birds with one stone; vineyard, views, wines, truffles, good conversation and art: Adrian’s mum Louise’s has her own art studio at the farm too, information can be found at www.louisefoletta.com.au
To buy wines direct book a tasting here, alternatively you can purchase them at the following wine shops:
Blackhearts & Sparrows (various shops)
Boccaccio Cellars (Balwyn)
The Wine Corner (Carlton North)
Bottega Tasca (Carlton)
Cloudwine Cellars (South Melbourne)
Cognoscenti (Belgrave)
Decanters by the Bay (Port Melbourne)
Toscano’s (Kew, Richmond, Toorak)