From Terroir To Country

Wine is a story about place. About how places shape us, and we them. About how that relationship between people and place finds expression. The French call this Terroir. In Australia this idea has a much longer history – outside of wine – in Aboriginal concepts of Country. Increasingly – as farmers and winemakers seek to understand and better acknowledge Aboriginal Country – these questions intersect with the food and wine industry. Coonawarra winemaker Sue Bell, Professor John Carty and Dr Jared Thomas will lead a fascinating conversation exploring these themes.

Taste wines from important places – think Koomilya from McLaren Vale – along with those made by First Nations people like Bell.

Carty is head of humanities at the South Australian Museum, a role that makes him responsible for the most significant collections of Aboriginal art and cultural heritage in the world. A widely respected thinker, he is also a board member on the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and director of the National Centre for Aboriginal Language and Music Studies.

The multi-talented Thomas is South Australian Museum and UniSA research fellow in Aboriginal material culture and arts – and an award-winning author of fiction for children and young adults.

This after-hours event at the South Australian Museum promises to be a unique celebration of traditional wisdom, and of its influence on remarkable wine.