Beginners Luck

THINGS are crook in the wine game.

Yet another vintage has rolled by, another year of fruit left unpicked, of contracts with growers broken, of falling grape prices, of an industry sinking into an ocean of unwanted wine.

"Surplus to requirements," is the catchphrase of our time. You hear it from producers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers.

We're up to the gunwales with the stuff and still new vineyards appear - 109 last year, although that is probably a conservative figure.

Life is tough, all right, but perhaps some are making it tougher than it need be.

For every two or three struggling players, there is one Cirko V, a confident newcomer with good wine (including a stunning viognier) and a long-term plan for a modest but profitable wine business. That makes it (unfortunately) unusual enough to be noticed. And Cirko V has been noticed.

The tiny Beechworth brand has been picked up by independent retailer Armadale Cellars and is finding placement on wine lists such as Simone's at Bright, and Wardens Food and Wine at Beechworth. Oh, and it was launched five months ago.

Ask Phil Hude at Armadale Cellars how many rejection letters he sends out annually to newcomer wineries and you'll appreciate how impressed he must have been by Cirko V.

What is Cirko V doing right that others aren't?

Even before I tasted the wine I was struck by the name and the unusual label featuring a stick-figure circus performer. It's unconventional. It teases you to find out more. So I did.

Kristy Taylor is a former financial controller and product developer in women's clothing for Coles Myer. Her partner, Peter Lumsden, coached Stephen Huss to the Wimbledon men's doubles final last year.

In 2003, Kristy and Peter decided to start a family and a new life, sold their St Kilda property and bought an established 7.2-hectare vineyard called Milawa Farm, near Markwood outside Beechworth. The vineyard had shiraz and merlot (two grapes they knew something about) and viognier (a grape they knew nothing about).

This is a common story of sea change in the wine industry. What separates this couple from some others is the planning, planning and more planning that went into the move. "Sometimes I think I have analysis paralysis," laughs Kristy.

Even finding a name was a protracted affair.

"We went through the branding process like a proper retailer does," says Kristy, with her Coles Myer background on show. "Things that came to our minds were arts-inspired - ballet and theatre - but we wanted it to be not as serious."

Having just seen Cirque du Soleil, the couple started looking at Esperanto (the language of Cirque du Soleil songs). The first stab at a name was Cirko Vie, meaning "circus life". Eventually it was shortened. The circus theme is a recurring one, both on the label and the website, and the launch was held at Circus Oz.

So, even before opening the wine you have a strong sense of individuality and identity. These qualities will carry the maker far but, of course, they have to be backed up by the wine.

Kristy and Peter aren't winemakers and weren't grape growers until Kristy started viticultural studies. but they did something wise. They employed long-time local grape grower Henry Collet. "He was an old-school grower, very practical, and was fantastic for us," says Kristy.

Much of the fruit was already contracted (a bonus), but not the viognier.

"I don't think Peter or I had even drunk a viognier up to the point of buying the property," she says. "But we weren't here very long before people were asking about it. Then someone rang, and another, and then Yalumba flew in from South Australia and said they wanted it. I thought, 'what is this variety?' "

OK, they were naive, but they were incredibly lucky too. Viognier would be their ticket to early success.

Yalumba got the grape and made it into Redbank The Widow Jones 2004 viognier, which took a trophy at the 2005 Melbourne Wine Show.

Hooking up with Yalumba proved invaluable.

"Between Henry (Collet) and Yalumba, the lesson we very quickly learnt was times are tough and you need to produce a quality product," says Kristy.

One month before the 2004 vintage, Peter pushed forward their plans to make a little wine for themselves. They contracted a winemaker in the area known for his handling of viognier, Trevor Knaggs of King River Estate.

There's very little luck involved in making a quality product, and the couple understood the need for something above average. Why should consumers pay $20 for a poorly expressed wine when we can get a handsome $12 wine of better quality from a big wine company? Small makers aren't doing consumers any great favours any more.

And so Cirko V was born with a viognier, a shiraz/viognier and a merlot, all delivered under screw-cap with packaging that takes your eye and a wine quality well above the standard of many newcomers. The flavours are emphatic and you can sense a firm direction.

The 2005 viognier ($32.95) is fleshy and velvety with an autumnal, apricot charm. A fantastic wine.

The 2004 shiraz/viognier ($27.95) has a pronounced viognier-inspired perfume that almost overwhelms. It's dense and peppery with an enveloping sweetness.

I haven't tried the 2004 merlot ($23.95) but it would probably be right to say it's a work in progress.

"The '04 is in a lighter beaujolais style," explains Kristy, "but I think the '05 is leaps and bounds ahead. And it was a better season."

Spoken like a true three-year industry veteran.