Last November Nigel Dolan became Group Red Winemaker for Beringer Blass’ Australian operations, but it was only a matter of time. Prior to that he was part of the package sold by Len Evans to Ted Kunkel in 1996 when Mildara Blass purchased The Rothbury Estate group of wineries. Prior still, he’d been part of the Saltram sale when it changed hands from Seagram to Rothbury, so his survival instincts deserve some respect. Dolan’s move to Saltram from his senior post at Seppeltsfield just after the 1992 vintage attracted the same sort of headline space that Adam Gilchrist might today generate if he suddenly decided to don the gloves for New Zealand. Despite his critics, Dolan didn’t throw away a good career only to stray down a winemaking cul-de-sac. His almost instantaneous improvement in wine quality at Saltram was enough to attract Evans and his ambitious Rothbury team as buyers. By the time Mildara Blass took over, Dolan’s wines had become key quality benchmarks in its fast-growing portfolio. Dolan retains a personal responsibility for the Saltram, Mamre Brook, Metala and Pepperjack brands. Pepperjack is a recent arrival that offers easy-drinking richness and softness at an early age, and at a fair price. Much like a Barossa version of the famous white label Metala, which, under Dolan’s guidance, has resumed its place as one of Australia’s favourite quality inexpensive red wines. With more of an accent on quality, the top wines under the Saltram, Mamre Brook and Metala labels, such as Saltram’s No. 1 red series and the Metala Black Label Shiraz, stand out like beacons in what has been until recently an under-achieving Mildara Blass corporate red wine folio. Dolan is clearly pleased that his corporate role hasn’t detached him from the hands-on scene with the brands he champions. His red wines are typically intense and generous in their flavours. They have structure and balance, and are usually given meaaured underlying strength based around ripe tannins and integrated oak. They’re never porty, jammy, one-dimensional or over-extracted. To Dolan it’s stating the obvious to say that the best winemakers are those who think about their wines and their future, and don’t just react to circumstances. ‘They don’t work to a formula or basic routine, but assess each batch of fruit that comes along before applying the best winemaking technique to bring out its best qualities. That means changing practices from time to time, and responding differently from vineyard to vineyard and from year to year.’ As a winemaker for a big company Dolan takes the view that his ultimate responsibility lies with the consumer. ‘If you compromise that responsibility, you’re in trouble’, he says. ‘And if you have consumer support, the support of your company will follow.’ If ever an Australian winemaker was born into his present role, that winemaker is Nigel Dolan. He was born in the house in which he presently lives with his family, the historic Mamre Brook homestead developed over the years by the Salter family and their winemaking successors on the Saltram property. His father, Bryan ‘Skip’ Dolan was Saltram’s winemaker at the time and is credited with the first vintage of a wine very close to Nigel Dolan’s heart, the Stonyfell Metala. Nigel Dolan enjoys not only his family’s continuity with Saltram and Metala, but the satisfaction of being able to measure his own contribution to their wines over nearly a decade.
