The next king of Mudgee

As a break from blogging about social turmoil and political fiascoes, this entry is going to be about two pleasant subjects: wine, and lovely hard-working people.

Mudgee is one of the small wine-producing regions of Australia that is rarely seen on the shelves of bottle shops. Like Rutherglen, Orange and Margaret River, it has its local aficionados, and most of the wine is sold at the cellar door. We were introduced to Schuetz Wines of Mudgee through a random inclusion in a selection prepared for us by a local wine merchant.

Called Epica, it was truly a memorable wine. So, months later, being in the Blue Mountains with visiting friends, we decided to extend our road trip to take in the curious place called Mudgee.

We had called ahead to let Ernest Schuetz know that we were hoping to buy another case of his wonderful wine.  We got an unexpected response: "Well, I don't have a cellar door yet. But if you come out to the vineyard, we can do a tasting and I'll have a case there for you." No cellar door? This was a surprise because the Epica bottle was so elegant, and the wine so beautiful, that we assumed that Schuetz was a major producer.

After  back roads and wrong turns, we finally made it to the vineyard, to the elegant Schuetz residence:

...a one-bedroom, no-frills house overlooking the 10-hectare vineyard. There we met Ernest  and his wonderful wife Jo. And we began to be completely charmed.

Ernest Schuetz is a man who takes his winemaking very seriously. His understanding of his fruit and how it will impact his wines is deep, his vinting decisions informed by years of experience, and it's all driven by an intense passion for winemaking.

He is also a man who brings his work home with him.

I don't know many vintners who dry grapes in their own living room. But Jo has only herself to blame: it was her idea to produce an amarone-style wine, which requires the drying of grapes to intensify the sugars.

Ernest had generously selected a wide range of his wines for us to taste.

They even included a 10-year-old shiraz, the first vintage he produced, a real museum tasting. This happened to be the 10th anniversary of Jo and Ernest meeting, and the 10th year they have produced wine. We were privileged to be included in its tasting because we were the first to visit their "temporary cellar door."

I don't want to give the impression that these are cute people who will succeed "some day." They are already succeeding in spectacular fashion. Low yields, good weather, ruthless selection of the best clusters, intelligent vinting--these have added up to at least 5 gold medals and one trophy (sorry if I forgot any, Ernest) in only ten years in Mudgee.

And those medal winners were what we were offered. I have had many tasting experiences, but not one as pleasant as this one: sipping these elegant, gold medal-winning wines at the Schuetz table,  Jo's baking adding pleasant background smells, while dreamily looking out over the vineyard.

A number of small things have added up to create Ernest's present success and bright future. One is his good choice of associates. His winemaker is Jacob Stein of Robert Stein wines, who recently was selected as Australian Young Winemaker of the Year.

But the real secret is Ernest and Jo's willingness to work hard and long toward a goal. They live simply (although they do have a house in North Sydney in addition to the spartan vineyard residence). While Jo works at an expedition planning company, Ernest drives around Sydney selling product.  They have recently arranged for a beautiful new "real" cellar door in Mudgee. They make jams and honey, which will supplement wine sales there. They arrange for friends and family to help with the pickings (they almost roped us in as well!) and pay them with barbecue and cakes.

Generously, Ernest offered to deliver our new case of Epica to our Sydney flat. We couldn't simply let him do that and walk away, so he and Jo accepted our invitation to dinner with our visiting friends:

Just to make it a little more special, Ernest brought some barrel samples from the 2012 vintage. I have to tell you, those were so good they were more like finished wines than barrel samples. 2012 is going to be a great year for Schuetz.

Hard work, knowledge, dedication, humility, and drive. I give you the next King of Mudgee:

A reprieve for freedom of speech, the press, and legal rights

The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, was forced to withdraw the media regulation bill, admitting that he did not have enough votes in Parliament to pass it.

This news has been swamped by the more dramatic but less consequential sacking of several Cabinet ministers, caused by their unwelcome support for former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

I also learned, but only after the fact, that the media regulation bill also contained a subtle assault on the principle of "innocent until proven guilty." 

Perhaps Australians will notice how fragile their freedoms are. Perhaps it is a good time for a conversation about whether those freedoms should actually be enshrined in law. Perhaps an unpopular idea--it's so American.

Social consensus is ephemeral. Australia today is every bit as divided as America. Unions and the underprivileged on the one hand, business and middle class on the other. That tension seems to have contributed to this latest attack on fundamental rights.

Would labor unions here actively oppose a Bill of Rights equivalent? It seems like something that would actually have support on all sides of the political spectrum.

But then, I don't claim to understand Australia. Only to be observing her.

Freedom of speech and the press still under assault

The Government's attempt to restrict speech simply because it might insult or offend was withdrawn after intense criticism. Even the human rights people thought it went too far. The resignation of the Attorney General 3 days after the reversal may or may not have been related.

However, the sister right, the right of a free press, evidently is still in jeopardy. At least, that's how the CEO of News Limited characterizes government action on privacy law protection for journalists. The subhead of the article reads, "THIS government will go down in history as the first Australian government outside of wartime to attack freedom of speech..."

Perhaps the Pirate Party will protect Australians' rights, should any of its members be elected.