End of an era at Emoyeni

Advertising promotion

A COMBINATION of COVID-19, the economic climate, the algal bloom and having the Ardrossan jetty closed for the past seven months has led Ossie and Maria Hollitt to make the tough decision to close Emoyeni Wines.

“We can no longer prop up the winery with our superannuation,” Maria said.

“This time last year, we would take more than $1000 most Sundays the cellar door was open but for the past few Sundays, we have had no customers.”

The cellar door will be open most Sundays until May 8 for tasting and sales, giving patrons a chance to take advantage of a half-price sale on all cartons.

Emoyeni Wines began in 2000 with 200 shiraz vines planted in limestone-based soil improved with local topsoil.

The vineyard uses sand for moisture retention and limited drip irrigation from captured stormwater.

Plantings expanded to 400 shiraz vines, with 300 riesling vines added between 2008 and 2011.

The first 2005 crop was lost to birds, leading to annual netting to protect future vintages.

“Since then, an average vintage has seen us produce 1000 litres plus of both shiraz and riesling,” Maria said.

“In 2020 we only picked 500 kilograms of shiraz and 300kg of riesling — not enough to do anything with, so we bought 500kg of grenache from McLaren Vale, blended the three and made a rose.

“On three occasions we have made a sparkling shiraz called The Mooster which is a bottle-fermented, unbelievable quality wine which we are probably best known for.

“We also have a smooth tawny port which spent 21 years in wooden barrels and was fortified twice a year with rum.”

Early vintages were picked by family and friends, then sporting clubs did the work.

In more recent years, a team of Cambodian people did the picking and later the pruning too.

The base wine grapes were destemmed, crushed and fermented at Emoyeni before going to the Barossa Valley for bottling.

Maria and Ossie said closing Emoyeni Wines was sad.

“For many years we have had local food trucks and local musicians performing on long weekends and many a good time was had by all,” they said.

“It has been a challenging but rewarding 26 years and we have met and made a lot of friends and met many interesting people.”