Chester Osborn: the man behind the loud shirts

Chester Osborn, the flamboyant head of D’Arenberg Wines talks to Angela Mount about his winemaking ethos and his quirkily-named wines.

Every picture tells a story, every Darenberg wine does too – let’s get the background….

Tell me about the history of D’Arenberg

My great-grandfather Joseph Osborn founded the business in 1912.  He had worked as Company Secretary for Thomas Hardy & Sons for 30 years.  At the time he had a stable of prized racehorses, which he sold to buy the vineyards in the McLaren Vale, and the business started from there. He was a lifelong teetotaller, but created a family dynasty.  The first winery was built in 1927; my father d’Arry renamed the business with his mother’s maiden name, and is responsible for the red strip across every label.  I’ve been involved in the business in some way or other all my life, and remember days in the vineyards and the winery from the age of 7.  I studied at Roseworthy, then took up the reins as Chief Winemaker in 1984.

Your wines all have quirky, memorable names.  How did that start?

That started in the 80s.  We were the first winery to use the word ‘noble’ for our botrytis wines, and ‘Old Vines’ also. Now the latter is almost a household term, but back then, we were the only ones.  It evolved from there.  The names give the wines individual personalities, and it makes wine consumers more emotionally connected, when there’s a story on the label.  It all adds to the fun.  The Money Spider Roussanne is named because our first crop of Roussanne in 2000 was covered in ‘lucky’ money spiders, so we had to delay a year.  Then there’s the Cenosilicaphobic Cat, a blend of Sagrantino and Cinsault, named after our old cat called Booze, who we noticed liked wine, but wasn’t allowed any – Cenosilicaphobic means fear of an empty glass.  And so it goes on. My latest is ‘The Old Bloke and Three Young Blondes’, a blend of gnarly of Shiraz, and youthful Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne, named after me and my three daughters. There is also the Athazagoraphobic Cat Sagrantino Cinsault, which is a tough one to pronounce, let alone understand. It means the fear of being forgotten.

What’s the winemaking philosophy at D’Arenberg?

Everything is organic and biodynamic;we pride ourselves on our heritage and that of the Mclaren Vale.  We own 500 acres of land, we work on a minimal input vineyard strategy, minimal irrigation, minimal spraying, and absolutely no fertilisation.  We also have very strict rules for the growers from whom we grow grapes.  We are making modern wines, whilst respecting the history and heritage of our estate.  The reds are still foot-trod, and we ferment everything in 5 tonne open fermenters, which were built in 1927.  Everything is basket pressed.  We play around with everything from the grapes in the vineyard to the blending and the names – each wine needs to have a personality and convey our ethos.

You have 74 different wines, using numerous grape varieties, including a big focus on white Rhone varieties. What prompted that?

We were the first wine producer to plant Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier back in 1995, when everyone else was simply planting Shiraz.  These are grape varieties that work well in the McLaren Vale, based on the climate and the soils.  We haven’t looked back since. We’re now growing Nero d’Avola, Negroamaro, Aglianico and Sagrantino; I’m hugely excited by these Italian grape varieties.  We’re also developing a new Mencia.

What’s the next project?

We’ve just launched that.  As well as being a passionate art lover and collector, I love great food, and I wanted to create the very best dining experience.  We have built the D’Arenberg Cube, a $13million project, with a restaurant situated in the middle of the vineyards, embracing the very best of cuisine and pushing the boundaries.  The idea came to me in 2003. It’s five storeys, glass, and looks like it’s floating over the vineyards, with 360 degree views, a sensory tasting room, a bar, and a 360-degree video room.

What started your love of colourful shirts?

My mother put me in a ridiculously colourful shirt when I was five, and it’s kind of stuck from there!

And what’s your personal philosophy about wine?

I’m deadly serious about wine whilst it’s in the winemaking process. Once it’s in the bottle, it’s all about fun. I love our wines, I love drinking them, I love telling stories. Everything should be colourful!