Behind the label
“When wine is aged in oak barrels, a portion of it evaporates; winemakers call this the “Angel’s Share”. The rest is their gift to us …
THE ANGEL’S SHARE
The first time I heard this saying it struck me. I had visions of all the angels in heaven rolling around after consuming more than their share. But also I thought it was a lovely sentiment.
I liked the idea that wine is a gift, and somehow it has made its way down from heaven to us. Respect for Mother Nature and our environment is one reason why we are doing things organically.
You’ll see the angel theme run throughout our wines. You’ll also see strong themes of family, and a connection to the land where my family have lived for over 100 years.
Koonara Angel’s
AMBRIEL’S GIFT
EZRA’S GIFT
ANGEL’S PEAK
We named our Family Reserve Ambriel’s Gift Cabernet after Ambriel the angel of communication and protection. Liquid “gift of the Gab”.
For all the people born in May, Ambriel is also the sun sign of Gemini.
The angel Ezra (who we named our Family Reserve Ezra’s Gift Shiraz after) is said to encourage writers, and help people unlock their abilities and self expression. We hope a bottle of this wine inspires you.
Also – a little trivia – Gordon Michael Woolvett, portrays Ezra, in the TV Series Supernatural. So there you go.
Coonawarra is almost flat – although it does have an almost imperceptible rise and this is typically where the famous terra rossa can be found.
Our Angel Peak Shiraz is a tongue in cheek reference to our seemingly flat land.
ANGEL’S FOOTPRINTS
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
THE KOONARA ANGEL’S
Our Sauvignon Blanc is named Angel’s Footprints “Friends are angels that lift you up when your wings have forgotten how to fly. Many people walk through your life, but true friends leave footprints in your heart.”
I read this quote and thought it was a great tribute to friends, and Sauvignon Blanc is the perfect wine to share with mates.
It’s also a wine that requires a very soft press, as gentle as angels feet.
Our Sparkling Pinot is named the Guardian Angel, and is grown in our Mount Gambier vineyards.
A guardian angel is assigned to protect and guide a person, which I’m sure is something we could all use now and then.
Our first vintage of the Guardian Angel was in 2008. Mount Gambier is the coolest region in mainland Australia and the perfect place to produce Chardonnay, and luscious Pinot Noir.
We love being a part of many Festivals throughout the year. When you come along you will probably meet our Koonara Angels.
A tribute to our family
LUCY & ALICE
FLOWER’S FOR LUCY
A SONG FOR ALICE
We named our Pinot Gris after our two beautiful daughters Lucy & Alice.
Our house is in the middle of our Coonawarra vineyards, that is why we only practises organic viticultural. Pride of place, and respect for our delicate ecosystem is very important to us.
We named our Moscato Flowers for Lucy after our eldest daughter, born in 2009.
Before the girls started school, they would stroll into the Cellar Door to say hello, and almost always be holding flowers picked along the way.
Alice’s flowers would proudly go to Nicole, while Lucy’s – with her arm out stretched proudly – went to me. “These are for you dad,” she’d say.
One day (when she is old enough) – the burst of floral flavours in this Moscato will be my flowers to her.
In 2015 we released our new Riesling, A Song for Alice. Alice (born 2010) pointed out Lucy had her own wine and it was only fair she had her own too. Good point.
Alice loves to sing songs she has made up. They are beautiful in their purity and make Nicole and I smile. When she is old enough, this will be our song to her.
THE BIG GUNS
THE HEAD HONCHO
EMILY MAY
The Big Guns Shiraz is a tribute to my father Trevor Reschke, who was in the Australian national team for clay target shooting, and the state team over 20 times.
More often than not you would find him shooting crows in our Coonawarra vineyard just before vintage. To this day crows still avoid it.
Here’s to you Trev.
The Head Honcho was created from our 10 acre single Cabernet vineyard in Coonawarra.
I named the Head Honcho after our winemaker Peter Douglas, although he would probably cringe if he knew. We’ll see.
Head winemaker at Wynns in Coonawarra for 15 years, he has spent time working in prestigious wineries in France and Italy. He is at the top of his game, and we are very lucky to have him.
Our Emily May Rosé was named after my Gran – Emiline May Reschke. She lived on our property in Coonawarra until she was 99.
She was an accomplished dressmaker and designer, teacher, bridge and scrabble guru, and professional floral artist.
Here’s to you Gran.
Labels of the land
THE GOLDEN ORB
WANDERLUST
CAPE BANKS
In our Coonawarra vineyards lives the Golden Orb spider, and our Golden Orb Sparking Shiraz is a tribute to this cool little guy.
You can see the sun shining on their golden webs at sunset, and dew hanging heavy on their fine threads in the morning.
During the summer they help us with pest control, and catch vineyard pests such as flies, beetles, locusts, wood moths and cicadas.
This is one reason why we haven’t used pesticides in the vineyard for over ten years. They help us in our pursuit to becoming completely organic in the next 3 years.
Coonawarra half way between Melbourne and Adelaide.
We love the people who make the journey to come and visit our cellar door; they have Wanderlust. They are the daring explorer, the lover of life with tales of adventures and experiences from their many trips. This wine’s for you, intrepid travellers… We are very proud of our wines – we hope you enjoy them.
We named our Cape Banks Pinot Noir and Cape Banks Chardonnay after the striking lighthouse, which is about 30 mins drive from our vineyards in Mount Gambier.
Est. in 1883, the Cape Banks Lighthouse is a 15 metre orange monument near Carpenter Rocks, on South Australia’s rugged South East coastline.
The lighthouse’s powerful lamps shine shafts of warning light across the extremely wild Southern Ocean. Hidden below is a treacherous reef.
It’s also where one of the worst maritime disasters in Australian history took place in 1859. The SS Admella passenger steamship struck a reef about 1km away from shore. The passengers clung to the wreck for over a week as they watched one rescue attempt after another fail. 89 lives were lost, mostly due to cold and exposure.