Yelland & Papps
Young Gun of Wine 2017 Top 50
Michael Papps – with wife Susan Papps – set out to make light, energetic wines in the Barossa. Their Second Take Grenche does just that, but their Second Take Roussanne is something else, though! A totally unique, and textural and savoury, and moreish fruitful wine.
Yelland & Papps
Our practices and product encompasses not only the old-vine material of the Barossa, names familiar to all such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mataro but also a passion for the future stars of the Barossa.
Varieties such as Vermentino, Carignan, Roussanne, Barbera, Primitivo, that are well-suited to Australia’s most famous wine region and the proof is in a glass of Yelland & Papps wine.
Living in a sustainable fashion, using minimal inputs during the winemaking process allows the fruit to speak in a clear voice.
Michael Papps
The Yelland and Papps story and mine, doesn’t fit in with the usual line spun by wineries in the Barossa………” six generations of this, five generations of that.”
My story is about a new beginning, a young couple, with a young family, forging our own path within a wine region as first generation winegrowers. While not locals (there is a saying in the Barossa that you have to have a grand-parent “in the ground” before you are considered a local) my wife Susan and I call the Barossa home. We are as passionate as any sixth-generation Barossan about the region, its vines and its history and its characters.
I have lived in the Barossa for the past 20 years, working in the wine industry in a number of sectors from winery work to bottling lines. Today my wife and I own a five-acre property on the valley floor outside of Nuriootpa. We have two young children, Peyton and Campbell. No prior study of winemaking could hold us back and we started producing wines from 2005, initially only for family and friends. We realised that our passion lay in the wines and vines of this famous region and Yelland & Papps was born.
Q&A
What got you into wine?
My wife, Susan Papps. Before I met Susan I use to drink Beer and Bourbon, didn’t take long to switch over, never brought up with wine or friends so was a quick decision to not let her drink a bottle of wine by herself. I consider myself very considerate!
What song is the soundtrack to your life; what wine is the winetrack?
Song would have to be Swear Jar by Illy, I don’t have much time for fake people and people all about themselves …hate egos. Music is a big part of YP it keeps us all awake.
With wine, what’s next?
Next year we release two wines that we have pushed the boundaries on and have been a while in the making, these are exactly what we were trying to do and we are pretty stoked with them. Susan and I always have a style that we stay true to and these are a reflection of this and where we are heading. Every year we push boundaries in the winery and try something different, luckily most of them work out, can get pretty expensive when you f%%$# up.
What’s your favourite TV show… and what’s the perfect wine to drink with it?
what is TV….? I have 2 kids and by the time they go to sleep, Susan has already selected another renovation show to watch. Most nights when we feel like a bottle of wine when we haven’t fallen asleep already it is Beaujolais and more Beaujolais.
What wine lesson - or winemaking lesson - did you learn the hard way?
Try not to do two things at once or get distracted, I think this happens to most people….in a small winery with a tasting room on site, spreading yourself too thin, but hey this is what it is all about. Never a dull moment.
Michael Papps – with wife Susan Papps – set out to make light, energetic wines in the Barossa. Their Second Take Grenche does just that, but their Second Take Roussanne is something else, though! A totally unique, and textural and savoury, and moreish fruitful wine.
Yelland & Papps
Our practices and product encompasses not only the old-vine material of the Barossa, names familiar to all such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mataro but also a passion for the future stars of the Barossa.
Varieties such as Vermentino, Carignan, Roussanne, Barbera, Primitivo, that are well-suited to Australia’s most famous wine region and the proof is in a glass of Yelland & Papps wine.
Living in a sustainable fashion, using minimal inputs during the winemaking process allows the fruit to speak in a clear voice.
Michael Papps
The Yelland and Papps story and mine, doesn’t fit in with the usual line spun by wineries in the Barossa………” six generations of this, five generations of that.”
My story is about a new beginning, a young couple, with a young family, forging our own path within a wine region as first generation winegrowers. While not locals (there is a saying in the Barossa that you have to have a grand-parent “in the ground” before you are considered a local) my wife Susan and I call the Barossa home. We are as passionate as any sixth-generation Barossan about the region, its vines and its history and its characters.
I have lived in the Barossa for the past 20 years, working in the wine industry in a number of sectors from winery work to bottling lines. Today my wife and I own a five-acre property on the valley floor outside of Nuriootpa. We have two young children, Peyton and Campbell. No prior study of winemaking could hold us back and we started producing wines from 2005, initially only for family and friends. We realised that our passion lay in the wines and vines of this famous region and Yelland & Papps was born.
Q&A
What got you into wine?
My wife, Susan Papps. Before I met Susan I use to drink Beer and Bourbon, didn’t take long to switch over, never brought up with wine or friends so was a quick decision to not let her drink a bottle of wine by herself. I consider myself very considerate!
What song is the soundtrack to your life; what wine is the winetrack?
Song would have to be Swear Jar by Illy, I don’t have much time for fake people and people all about themselves …hate egos. Music is a big part of YP it keeps us all awake.
With wine, what’s next?
Next year we release two wines that we have pushed the boundaries on and have been a while in the making, these are exactly what we were trying to do and we are pretty stoked with them. Susan and I always have a style that we stay true to and these are a reflection of this and where we are heading. Every year we push boundaries in the winery and try something different, luckily most of them work out, can get pretty expensive when you f%%$# up.
What’s your favourite TV show… and what’s the perfect wine to drink with it?
what is TV….? I have 2 kids and by the time they go to sleep, Susan has already selected another renovation show to watch. Most nights when we feel like a bottle of wine when we haven’t fallen asleep already it is Beaujolais and more Beaujolais.
What wine lesson - or winemaking lesson - did you learn the hard way?
Try not to do two things at once or get distracted, I think this happens to most people….in a small winery with a tasting room on site, spreading yourself too thin, but hey this is what it is all about. Never a dull moment.