Australian wineries are clearly having to become more creative in their search for brand names for new wines. Yalumba’s latest effort is Mawson’s, a red wine sourced not from the polar icefloes of Antarctica, but from a combination of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot from the not-so chilly but nevertheless coolish mainland Australian region of the Limestone Coast. Unlike some of the more ambitious names out there which can really stretch the imagination to creaking point, Mawson’s does have a genuine connection with Yalumba, since the company was actually a sponsor of the famous explorer’s expeditions to the southernmost continent in 1911-14 and 1929-31. According to Yalumba, its wines featured prominently in promotional photographs and songs written by the expedition team. One can only imagine what new and untold markets for its marvellous old brandies Yalumba might today enjoy had the expedition settled down and populated the world’s most inhospitable continent. More recently, Yalumba was a supporter of Project Blizzard, which in 1997 undertook much-needed restoration of Mawson’s huts at Cape Denison. As far as a drink is concerned, the Mawson’s blend is a rich, smooth and deeply flavoured wine obviously made to provide immediate enjoyment. Its lightly briary aroma of sweet red berries and cherries is backed by some cedary and vanilla oak, while its generous, easy-drinking palate bursts with dark plums, blackcurrants and mulberries. For just on $20 it will do just the ticket for this year’s Christmas lunch and will partner many a happy roast into next winter. Most of this year’s inaugural release comes from Coonawarra, the wine region adjacent to the newly-named Wrattonbully district which is not, as popular opinion may suggest, named after a chain of English theme pubs. Yalumba’s vineyard manager in this part of the world is Peter Freckleton, whose grandfather subdivided his property in the area into 100-acre blocks, selling one of them to guess who? Douglas Mawson himself. Now that’s what I call marketing.
