Rolf, Christa and Harry spend two weeks every November trying the wines and assessing them for quality and flavour profiles. This is also the time they work out the blends of the various wines.

There are over 800 barrels to taste from nearly 60 batches (vineyards), and wine is sorted according to flavour profile (eg. fruity, spicy, elegant and smooth, big and bold, etc). They are then classified as such and allocated to certain wines within the Rolf Binder portfolio. For instance, the Bulls Blood is a big rich wine; the Heinrich spicy; the Halliwell / Christa Rolf is red berries and chocolate.



It is a difficult job to concentrate on, from 8am to 5pm every day for two weeks. It also requires a lot of beer at the end of the day to cleanse and refresh the palate!

But so far, the 2010 vintage reds are looking exceptional, and there will likely be a bottled Hanisch and Malcolm from the vintage (only bottled as separate wines in very good years).

It will be a couple of years before we see them, but looking to be well worth the wait.