Welcome to eKT
I’m in love again folks...and pinching myself since I’m so happy with my grapes from this year’s harvest. After the challenging vintage across much of South-Eastern Australia in 2011, it’s such a delight to see the vines in great health and to taste wines with such vibrancy. Our season has certainly created wines that are full of fruit intensity and balanced with a solid structural backbone; I really believe they will cellar well.

Speaking of cellars...after selling out of all of my 2011 riesling releases (thanks everyone for your support) it’s comforting to know that my wines have safely finished primary fermentation. As the season changes and we head in to the next phase of winemaking, which means preparing new riesling babies for bottling, I’m reminded of just how much has been achieved. Since the grapevines were so healthy this season I’ve purchased some more fruit and have enjoyed the biggest vintage for KT: a whopping 47 tonnes.!!! So you’d really be helping me out if you could all drink a little more this year...

At the moment in the winery I’m busy topping my 2012 red barrels as they tick through malolactic fermentation and starting to rack riesling off yeast lees. I’ve also been tweaking the 2010 5452 blend and after a number of taste trials, this release will be blended from shiraz (35%) grenache (31%) tempranillo (20%) and mataro (14%), showing all of the typical 5452 spice and celebrating the 2010 fruit concentration.
Along with that, I’m also heading out and showing off my new 2010 Churinga Vineyard shiraz and cabernet sauvignon wines that have been recently released. 2010 reds are crackers!

Some of the great (and welcome!) feedback from my customers....thanks to all...

“The Melva....hmmmm - quite a revelation. I read of it in one of the newspapers and saw that it was available at Five Way. A delicious wine, and well worth the detour. Not that I'm an enemy of the bone dry lemon and lime juice bracing kind of style, but the pulpy texture of the Melva, and the different flavours (not much in the way of citrus, at least to my palate) made for a very engrossing drink. I loved it, and I'm looking forward greatly to the next vintage. All the best John Gunson Albury Victoria

“Hi Kerri,
It was lovely chatting to you on the phone earlier today. As discussed, we had your lovely 2011 Churinga Riesling wine at the Source Restaurant in Tasmania. We liked it so much.” Lisa Dawson Sydney NSW

“You will be pleased to know that I took four of my regular business lunch colleagues to lunch on Friday at Four in Hand, Paddington. I arrived early and ordered a bottle of the 2011 Churinga Watervale Riesling. I thought it was particularly good. However, I wasn't sure if it was just my natural bias towards your wines. So, when my guests arrived I quietly poured them a glass and waited for their reaction. The conversation suddenly stopped when one of them said "what's this wine, it's got great complexity, layers of flavour and a wonderfully refreshing finish". The conversation was then diverted to a round table discussion on the wine. I of course took the opportunity to give them a briefing on KT Wines and on how you have become one of my favourite winemakers. The overall verdict at the table was high praise.” Ron Phillips Sydney NSW

Evening Kerri, trust you are well.
Good for your business to see a very positive report on your baby Melva from James Halliday in the Australian on Saturday. Congratulations. Also enjoyable to drink your Tinta with a home-made pizza on Saturday night- very drinkable and smooth, but still solid.Thank you for that.All the best with the fermenting and yeasting and plunging and the hard work.
Wes Pickering Adelaide SA

For those of you who might fancy a glass of red as the nights are getting colder, I’m offering my mailing list customers a special six pack that includes all of my current red releases... they’re not quite hot off the press.. but they might just keep you warm...
Stay well everyone...
Cheers, KT xx

Welcome to eKT
Happy New Year folks. I do hope that your festive season has been full of good cheer. I’m celebrating the start of 2012 with the release of my new wine, tinta by KT, an early (and easy) drinking Tempranillo made in a style the Spanish call ‘Joven’ (lit. youthful). The distinctive label was modelled on a tile I brought back with me from the Spanish town of Granada and it was made with beautiful grapes grown at the Bastian vineyard. I’ve loved pouring it to all of my wonderful wine friends who have visited through Watervale over the holidays. . . so thanks to everyone for including me in your travels. The KT roving tasting table has been lots of fun...

I’ve also got Riesling fever...

Summer of Riesling Program of Events*

Sunday 5th February 3-7pm Crown Lane East Sydney
Australian Riesling tasting including wines by KT

Monday 6th February 5:30-8pm Doltone House Pyrmont Sydney
Featuring as part of the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting, “Riesling Fever” is a tasting of Rieslings from around the world, hosted by over 40 producers where I’ll be pouring some of my Riesling babies including my unreleased 2008 Peglidis Vineyard Aged Release Riesling.

Wednesday 8th February after 6pm DeVine Food & Wine Sydney
wines by KT and DeVine join forces for a relaxed evening with Rieslings from around the world enjoyed with tasting platters. ph 0292626906 for bookings.

Thursday 9th February 5-8pm Five Way Cellars Paddington Sydney
wines by KT instore tasting including new release 2011 tinta by KT and unreleased 2010 Churinga Vineyard Shiraz and Churinga Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon..

Friday 10th February 5-8pm Australian Wine Centre The Quay Sydney
wines by KT instore tasting including new release 2011 tinta by KT and unreleased 2010 Churinga Vineyard Shiraz and Churinga Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon..

*I’m so excited about the Summer of Riesling week.. I’ll be spending time with a number of Riesling producers from around the world whose wines I really admire and more importantly love to drink! For ticket purchases and more information about these great events make sure you visit the websites. I’m looking forward to seeing you there... Cheers, KT

www.feirt.com.au | www.summerofriesling.com.au | www.fivewaycellars.com.au | www.australianwinecentre.com

Welcome to eKT
Just when everyone is starting to plan holidays, festive menus and what to pack in the esky; my dear grapegrowers are tending to my precious grape resource out in the vineyards that are growing at a rate of knots. After dodging the hail recently, the weather in Watervale has been perfect for winegrowing with soaking rains being followed by fine, sunny days... and this means the vine shoot growth is keeping us busy controlling their canopies to ensure good air flow and dappled light exposure on the precious bunches.

Years ago in my previous life as manager of Leasingham Wines I was a part of some exciting research with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) involving the production of tannin and other phenolic compounds. Simply put, tannin in wine is responsible for the textural qualities of astringency and are predominantly contained within the seeds and skins of the berries. This is why the process of red fermentation on skins is so important because at this stage of winemaking we can change and optimise the character and structure of our wines. Timing, temperature and technique are all critical.

One of my important learnings from working with the tannin team was that when it comes to producing tannin - the vines are working at it now. If we want that tannin to be high in quantity and strong in composition, then we have to put the work in now before the berries go through the process of veraison - when they start to colour and accumulate sugar. This is generally when we all want to take holidays... Dammit!

So to make sure that vintage 2012 is the best we can make it - it looks like this season we’ll all be jolly out in the vineyards...

My birthday this year (December 21st) will be (partly) celebrated with the bottling of a new wine, tinta by KT, an early (and easy) drinking tempranillo made in a style the Spanish call ‘Joven’ (lit. youthful). It was made with beautiful grapes (see below) grown at the Bastian vineyard...I’m thinking that with it leading up to another important birthday at Christmas it can only be a good sign. For those of you who have been patient and placed orders already it’s not far away... Here’s a cheeky glimpse of the new label...

Finally folks, in celebration of Christmas... and to make sure your esky is full of cheer by KT this festive season, I’m offering a special six pack for you...

christmas by KT special six pack
2010 rizza by KT x 2 bottles + 2011 rosa by KT x 2 bottles + 2009 5452 by KT x 2 bottles 

christmas by KT is a special six pack
$117.00 + delivery.

One thing about running my business as a one gal band you realise just how much you rely on many other important people to help make wines by KT happen. The love and
support from you all is much appreciated and over these holidays I’ll be celebrating another wonderful year and making plans to make 2012 even stronger.
To everyone who has dropped by in Watervale or come along to my tastings across the country I’m so grateful... I do hope you get to enjoy some of my wine babies over the holidays so we can celebrate them together.
Thanks so much to all of you for being a part of my life and supporting my wines. Wishing you all a safe and happy festive season... and a cracker vintage in 2012! KT xxx

PS - Dear Father Christmas... a delivery bloke that can lift heavy things this year would be great.. cheers... 

Welcome to eKT
I’m so excited to say that vintage 2011 represents my fifth successive Riesling release for wines by KT and after a season that was a true test of character and judgement, I couldn’t be happier about my new wine babies in bottle. I’m really looking forward to travelling the countryside showing them to you this year.

One of the most fragile times during the winemaking creation is the bottling process. I nurture them during the harvest time, watch around the clock throughout their fermentation and cover them with inert gas at filtration and transfers. I taste and retaste - go home and return to taste again.. just to make sure they’re looking as I’d hoped. I lie awake at night thinking about how my tanks of deliciously delicate Riesling will evolve and grow leading up to their release date. I really love it but it totally stresses me out.

At bottling time my wines suddenly leave their stable home in tank and I transport them on the Churinga truck down the road to the line in Auburn, where I can guide them through. There’s no turning back. The hard work has been done and the proof is in the bottle. I’m chuffed to say that after all of the hard work, my wines this year are full of the mouthwatering juicy acidity and freshness that my Watervale vineyards are renowned for. We love being five years old...

For those of you keen to taste my three new Riesling releases - Peglidis Vineyard, Churinga Vineyard and melva by KT there will be many opportunities with tastings and dinners being organised across the country this year.
I’ll be keeping you posted.

For those of you who can’t wait, the wines are now available and for mailing list customers orders of a dozen or more are freight free until the end of September.

After happily dragging my wine trolley up and down the streets of Sydney, I’ve recently returned from a really successful promotional visit. I’m proud to say that you can enjoy my wines in some fabulous restaurants and wine bars over there.
Those of you who braved the elements to get down to see me at Cremorne Cellars should be congratulated and a really big thanks to Ron and Ann-Marie Phillips, the newly married Harrisons, Anthony Krithinakis and Justin McDonald for coming along to see me at Five Way Cellars in Paddington.
Yours and of course everyones support is really appreciated.
Look forward to seeing you sometime.
Cheers, KT xx
PS - my new website page is finally up...and is clearly still work in progress.

Welcome to eKT
Water... we complain when we don’t have enough of it... and we complain when we have too much.

Just as drought conditions present difficulties for winegrowers, excessive rainfall over the harvest period brings with it a completely new set of challenges and this vintage was a true test of character and judgement.

Rain, hail or sunshine I always hand–harvest my vineyards to make sure only the best bunches are picked, but with rain causing berry split and botrytis bunch rot issues this season, it was even more important to select vine to vine and then bunch by bunch. In fact one bunch in three was left on the vine or dropped to the ground. I’m so grateful to my growers and the picking crew for their extra care this season.

The juice from the clean fruit after pressing was in pristine condition and showed mouthwatering natural acidity. Now that the wines have finished fermentation they have retained all of the grapes freshness and delicate flavour of the juice. Our hard work and careful handling have produced great reward and I’m super excited about my new creations.

Red wine growing also presented its challenges and to be honest shiraz is probably not as exciting as the previous three vintages but there’s plenty of great material for my 5452 blend. Unexpectedly, given the vintage conditions, I also picked some deliciously spicy monastrell which will also be an exciting component.

Harvested early in the season a real highlight is my Bastian Vineyard tempranillo showing lots of vibrant fruit for rosa and savoury concentration for 5452. Keep an eye out for a new wine baby of mine which will be released later in the year - an unoaked tempranillo. Hasta luego amigos.

So in celebration of red winemaking, Winter and all things warm and comforting, I’m offering my mailing list wine family members a special six pack to enjoy in front of the fire.

winter by KT is a special six pack
2009 current release reds
5452 by KT x 4 bottles Churinga Shiraz + Churinga Cabernet $160.00 + delivery

Thanks everyone for your support. Maybe I’ll see you all out pruning...?
Cheers, KT xx
PS - my new website is not far away.. & I mean it this time!