Gordon Russell and Esk Valley aren’t the only ones making wine from vineyards in the Gimblett Gravels, but they do it differently. Glenvale, the winery that became Esk Valley, was built in 1933 and came with the original concrete, open top, fermenting tanks. They continued to be used, and when Esk Valley upgraded to a new facility in this century, Russell and the winery’s management replicated the originals by building new ones. He explained that after years of practicing, “I’ve learned to like concrete as a gentle means to extract tannin and colour out of the wines.” This played out when it I tasted Russel’s work…
