Greg follett

Greg Follett has a great understanding of the grapes which come from his family vineyard at Langhorne Creek. This has enabled him, with the support of his parents and brothers, to grow a prosperous business built on award-winning wines.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in the glitz and glamour of the wine industry that we almost forget that winemaking is an agricultural pursuit. There’s little chance of that happening on a visit to Lake Breeze. One can’t listen to Greg Follett’s story without getting a palpable sense of history, of the importance of family, and of wrestling an honest living from the land.

One of Greg Follett’s ancestors began farming at Langhorne Creek in the 1850s, Arthur Follett came to the region in the 1880s and planted grapes shortly afterwards for table grapes and fortified wines. For much of its history the main income from the farm has been from dairy cattle. However, Follett’s parents, Ken and Marlene, decided to place greater emphasis on wine grapes, pulling out doradillo and palomino during the 1960s and 1970s and replacing them with cabernet sauvingon, shiraz and chardonnay. Not only do these make up a sizeable proportion of the 90 hectares currently under vine, but Lake Breeze’s success owes a great deal to the existence of marvellous old vines.

As the Follett brothers finished school they got involved in work on the farm. The oldest, Roger, became vineyard manager, and Greg did vintages at Wolf Blass and Penfolds before starting at Roseworthy in 1989. Their grapes at the time were being sold to Penfolds with the best making Bin 707. Ken Follett was encouraged to make some wine by Rob Gibson of Penfolds, and so a small amount of the 1987 was vinified. First made in 1989, the best known of the Lake Breeze reds, Bernoota, carries the name of the 1930s homestead, adjacent to the winery, in which Ken and Marlene still live and derives from the local Aboriginal dialect meaning “camp among the gum trees”.

Follett did vintages at Krondorf with Nick Walker, at Hardys with David O’Leary, at Gyser Peak in the Napa with Darryl Groom in 1991 and in 1994 he spent time with Jacques Lurton in the Minervois. He made his first Lake Breeze wines in 1992 – small quantities of the Bernoota and a cabernet. Follett’s confidence was boosted when the 1992 Bernoota won Best Wine at the McLaren Vale Show and the Lake Breeze Cabernet won Best Red at the Small Winemakers’ Show.

This is a family-run business with brothers Roger (sales manager) and Tim (vineyard manager) joining Follett, while parents Ken and Marlene continue to make a significant contribution. The business has grown incrementally as cash flow has allowed; they now sell 25,000 cases a year. A 12-hectare property was purchased at Kangaroo Island in 1999 and the False Cape label established to take the fruit from the vineyard run by sister Julie and her husband Jamie Helyar.

Like Langhorne Creek, Greg Follett flies under the radar. Perhaps it’s the modest prices. Perhaps Langhorne Creek is still suffering from the years when the vast bulk of its wine was sold without the regional signature in large company blends. Wolf Blass himself never hid his admiration for the quality that was possible from the area’s vineyards.

I remember judging at the Langhorne Creek Showcase when the 2009 Lake Breeze Cabernet was the region’s top wine. I couldn’t believe the quality, nor that it was selling for $24. The Bernoota Shiraz Cabernet is regularly one of the best $20 reds in the country. The 2012 has won a trophy and four gold medals: it has integrated blackberry and bramble flavours, is vibrant, yet restrained with a smooth texture and wonderful approachability. It also ages well; the 2009 is spicy, silky smooth with great length while the 2004 is velvety, vitality and has deep blackcurrant and licorice flavours. The 2012 Winemakers Selection Shiraz has brooding aromatics, elegant mulberry and black cherry flavours, plush with a gently firm finish. The flagship Arthur’s Reserve Cabernet is a classy red with ripe briary and blackcurrant and the depth and length to age immaculately. Lake Breeze’s second label – Bullant – was named for the Bullant block, because there were heaps of bull ants there. It may be only $16 a bottle but there’s no problem with the quality, the 2013 Bullant Shiraz has a gold medal.

One elusive award that Greg Follett covets is the Wine of Provenance trophy at the Adelaide Show where a winery puts up three vintages of one wine. The Lake Breeze Cabernet has twice been short-listed for this.

Like Greg Follett, the Lake Breeze wines are unassuming but quietly impressive. Never doubt the value they represent.