From Australian vine to your glass!
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Dan & Rosalie Cornew and Jim Davies |
The McKay, Davies and Cornew families formed a partnership spanning two continents but with a common objective: to create a world class Australian wine that over-delivers. The full team is composed of the vineyard families (McKay-Davies-Cornew) and winemaker (John Ellis). Dan and Rosalie Cornew are based in San Francisco, California from where they manage the sales and marketing for the vineyard. The Davies and McKay families focus on managing our sustainably farmed vineyard and producing our award winning wines . Our small structure, and our physical presence in both Australia and North America allows us to deliver our premium wines at exceptionally good value.
In 1996, we turned our passion for fine wine into a viticultural reality. In just over three years since our first release, we are being recognized by wine critics as a leading producer of premium Victorian cool-climate wines. What is our open secret?...ideal climatic and soil conditions, sustainable farming practices, expert winemaking under John Ellis , and relentless attention to detail every step of the way. In addition, our direct business model, whereby we use our own import license into US, allows us to skip the importer layer and price aggressively.
McKay-Davies-Cornew Families: The Vineyard
After an extensive search, we found the ideal region for a vineyard that could produce extraordinary fruit for cool climate style wines. Our commitment to superior quality is evident in every aspect of the vineyard. We selected a prestine region with temperature gradients very similar to those in Bordeaux. Furthermore, the land was "clean" as it had never been industrially farmed, and hence had never had pesticides and herbicides applied. The afternoon maritime winds were leveraged in the layout of the vineyard to abate mildew pressure and insects, and hence, significantly reducing sulphur requirements. The latest composting technology has been applied to virtually eliminate the use of pesticides. Information systems allow us to track viticulture indicators down to the individual vine. In sum, our approach leads to the holistic, meticulous, but unfettered growth of the best possible fruit from this extraordinary vineyard.
John Ellis: The Winemaker
John Ellis brings decades of experience and knowledge in winemaking. His philosophy is one of minimal intervention. He describes the process as simply extracting the flavors from the fruit and bottling them into the wine… letting the fruit "do its thing."
John runs the winery with the brush of an artist and the laboratory of a chemist, using state-of-the-art equipment. With careful attention to detail, John allows the wines to evolve in the direction set by the fruit, yet strictly controls the process to identify the perfect transition moments at each stage.
John boasts an impressive trajectory in winemaking spanning many decades. He was selected to launch the first vintage (1974) from Rosemount Estate and within two years led them to 65 medals. He then went on to start several successful winemaking ventures, such as Tisdall and Hanging Rock. In addition to being a senior wine judge in Australia, John was honored with a Distinguished Service Award in 1994 in recognition of his service to the wine industry of Victoria.
John has partnered with the Pretty Sally Vineyard team, sharing in its growth and success.
Dan and Rosalie Cornew, Cameron Mercer: Marketing and Sales
Dan and Rosalie joined their friends the McKay and Davies families
in 2003 as partners in the Pretty Sally Vineyard. With our entire
marketing and sales operations located in California Dan and Rosalie
import, distribute and market Pretty Sally wines for the U.S. and
worldwide markets. Cameron, a ten year wine industry veteran, lends his keen wine sensibilities to the team having worked as a sommelier for the Ritz Carlton Naples and with fine wine wholesalers.
The result: Wines recognized as extraordinary examples of Victoria's premium cool climate style wines. Pretty Sally wines are now variously described as "Revolutionary", "Sublime", "Surreal", "Pretty" and " just plain good!"
About Pretty Sally: Who was she? |
