OLMO’S Reward is a fine red wine from Frankland Estate that marks a significant visit to WA in 1955 by an American agronomist from the University of California.
OLMO’S Reward is a fine red wine from Frankland Estate that marks a significant visit to WA in 1955 by an American agronomist from the University of California.
The Vine Fruit Research Trust and the Fulbright Foundation invited Professor Harold Olmo to WA to investigate the early decline of vines in the Swan Valley.
His knowledge and experience proved valuable. All the Swan Valley grape growers who thought they were growing a semillon clone were corrected when Professor Olmo pointed out they were actually chenin blanc. He also indentified the Great Southern as a potential premium wine grape growing region, in particular Mt. Barker and Frankland.
Frankland Estate first dedicated a red wine to the American academic in 1994 and the current vintage is 1997. Only made of the finest fruit grown on the estate, Olmo’s Reward is the company’s yardstick wine. A complex blend of grape varieties that compliment each other – and the dedicated couple who make and grow the wine.
Barrie Smith and his wife Judi Cullam bought the Frankland property in 1974 and planted mainly red grape varieties in 1988, fencing their sheep off from the vines. In the white wine world they have grown some magnificent riesling but the Frankland reds are testimony to Olmo’s vision.
Cabernet sauvignon doesn’t dominate the blend as you might expect. Merlot and cabernet franc make up the bulk of the red, some 80 per cent. Then along come the royalty and her majesty cabernet sauvignon adding a touch of aristocracy with her courtiers petit verdot and malbec.
Olmo’s Reward is a unique style in the world of WA red wines. In USA, where much of the red ends up, the wine is known as the Bordeaux from the Bush. Frankland Estate is enjoying an export bonanza with some 50 per cent of their product going overseas.
This is a very approachable red wine, because of the structure of the fruit blend and because of lengthy and careful in-house maturity that is built-in before a bottle sees the daylight of the market place.
For two years, the red is sentenced to confinement in 40 per cent new French oak. After bottling, another luxury of time takes place, as it rests for some 18 months before being freed for consumption.
It is a wine of wonderful aromatics and this is one area where the cabernet franc shows its hand.
It is also a high acid wine and acts as the framework of the wine’s refined structure.
Another important role is played by the merlot, which contributes body and the meat of the wine.
Berries and spiciness dance on your palate as the other components do their thing in this clever upside-down blend.
Sure this is a valuable food wine, the ripe fruit character demands company from the pantry and as it was grown within the sound of sheep – roasted lamb or grainy mustard coated cutlets done in a heavy based pan would be perfect.
Look for an understated label of cream and pinkie/ mauve with twisted roses that represent those bushes at the end of the vine rows at Frankland Estate. You will pay just over $30. And the wine is value for money at that price.
And most of all, remember the professor from the University of California who knew Bordeaux from the Bush would grow there.
The Vine Fruit Research Trust and the Fulbright Foundation invited Professor Harold Olmo to WA to investigate the early decline of vines in the Swan Valley.
His knowledge and experience proved valuable. All the Swan Valley grape growers who thought they were growing a semillon clone were corrected when Professor Olmo pointed out they were actually chenin blanc. He also indentified the Great Southern as a potential premium wine grape growing region, in particular Mt. Barker and Frankland.
Frankland Estate first dedicated a red wine to the American academic in 1994 and the current vintage is 1997. Only made of the finest fruit grown on the estate, Olmo’s Reward is the company’s yardstick wine. A complex blend of grape varieties that compliment each other – and the dedicated couple who make and grow the wine.
Barrie Smith and his wife Judi Cullam bought the Frankland property in 1974 and planted mainly red grape varieties in 1988, fencing their sheep off from the vines. In the white wine world they have grown some magnificent riesling but the Frankland reds are testimony to Olmo’s vision.
Cabernet sauvignon doesn’t dominate the blend as you might expect. Merlot and cabernet franc make up the bulk of the red, some 80 per cent. Then along come the royalty and her majesty cabernet sauvignon adding a touch of aristocracy with her courtiers petit verdot and malbec.
Olmo’s Reward is a unique style in the world of WA red wines. In USA, where much of the red ends up, the wine is known as the Bordeaux from the Bush. Frankland Estate is enjoying an export bonanza with some 50 per cent of their product going overseas.
This is a very approachable red wine, because of the structure of the fruit blend and because of lengthy and careful in-house maturity that is built-in before a bottle sees the daylight of the market place.
For two years, the red is sentenced to confinement in 40 per cent new French oak. After bottling, another luxury of time takes place, as it rests for some 18 months before being freed for consumption.
It is a wine of wonderful aromatics and this is one area where the cabernet franc shows its hand.
It is also a high acid wine and acts as the framework of the wine’s refined structure.
Another important role is played by the merlot, which contributes body and the meat of the wine.
Berries and spiciness dance on your palate as the other components do their thing in this clever upside-down blend.
Sure this is a valuable food wine, the ripe fruit character demands company from the pantry and as it was grown within the sound of sheep – roasted lamb or grainy mustard coated cutlets done in a heavy based pan would be perfect.
Look for an understated label of cream and pinkie/ mauve with twisted roses that represent those bushes at the end of the vine rows at Frankland Estate. You will pay just over $30. And the wine is value for money at that price.
And most of all, remember the professor from the University of California who knew Bordeaux from the Bush would grow there.
