‘Lindeman’s is to focus on wines from the Hunter Valley as part of a drive to push the more premium, regional wines in its portfolio.’
Yes I know. It’s hard to believe but that’s the sub-heading of a short piece in DailyWineNews. Chief winemaker Wayne Falkenberg explained that the Hunter Valley was the “birthplace” of Lindeman’s, hence the reason for pushing the region. ‘Since it’s been our home, we really want to bring it back into the portfolio,’ he said. ‘At bin level we’re still a major player in quality but regionally we’ve lost a little ground so we’re bringing back regional wines.’
Falkenberg also tells us that Semillon is ‘a really underrated Australian white variety.’ He says he’s also keen to get ‘more bottle-aged Hunter wines back on the market – a style with which Lindeman’s used to “dominate” the tasting circuit.’
Why I want to scream when I read this crap
All these years of Southcorp, Fosters and TWE laying waste to what was once Australia’s greatest wine company, and now you remember the Hunter Valley, your great Semillons and the mature releases that used to give us so much pleasure?
A while ago, I wrote a piece called Lindemans – Death By a Thousand Cuts , which summed up what has happened to the company in the last quarter century. I wrote that ‘Lindemans began to resemble a city after a long siege. The victors had taken what they wanted and laid waste to the rest. Ben Ean was now a function venue, Leo Buring was just another lonely brand in the graveyard of Southcorp. A series of brand managers with no sense of history set about finishing the job. This is what’s left of Lindemans today:
Low Calorie Confections and Fairy Floss
Here’s what current Lindeman’s MD Michelle Terry told Eli Greenblatt from Fairfax about what drives her: ‘I get very passionate about whatever I am working on, I just like creating things and thinking about how they will impact a consumer’s life, creating growth plans and then watching them deliver.’
It comes as no surprise that Terry’s ‘working life has revolved around brands of some description, face creams, beer, gifts, homewares, she’s done it all – and now it’s wine.’ Greenblat tells us that Terry is also responsible for a handful of other TWE brands: Yellowglen, Great Western, Devil’s Lair, Fifth Leg and Rothbury.
That’s all these things are: brands. Fairy floss canned for an airhead audience, potted fairy tales about Eliza Lindeman and her 10 children. ‘Hidden below the vineyard, Mary could sit where the water lilies met the vines and be interrupted by no one but the croaking frogs. She could escape her daily chores and with one stitch at a time work on the surprise for her mother, Eliza.’
And suddenly someone remembers the Hunter Valley? Decades after they sold the best vineyards in the Hunter and moved Karl Stockhausen to head office in Lidcombe?
That’s why I want to scream …
Kim
