ORGANIC WINES A FAMILY AFFAIR

WHEN the Statham family talk about their organic Rosnay vineyard near the little village of Canowindra in the central ranges of NSW, they’re talking about more than just eschewing artificial fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.

To them it’s a whole lifestyle thing that goes back to when Grandfather Statham grew home-vegies organically, his passion being enthusiastically embraced by his son, and in turn his sons as well.

Now the close-knit Statham family not only doesn’t use artificial aids in the vineyard, they’ve grown thousands of native trees in belts amongst their vines, balanced minerals organically, they mulch and compost, and even move large flocks of sheep around small units of land for short periods of time to better distribute manure, build-up organic matter and compact the soil less.

It’s resulted in what was once a farm beset with powdery soil with little organic matter, now a rich organic island producing quality wines with higher levels than normal of micro-nutrients anti-oxidants that can help the body detoxify.

The 2005 Semillon could arguably be dubbed the flagship of the ten year old Rosnay’s whites, a perfect seafood-matcher with outstanding crisp apple, light grassy and lime flavours, and a toasty complexity.

Super buying at $16 to go with pan-fried crab cakes and sautéed asparagus.