Featured Partner
Elena Golakova-Brooks
Dandelion Vineyards & Cien Y Pico
Elena hails from Bulgaria, lives in McLaren Vale and makes wine there, in the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and also in Spain. She's a graduate of the University of Adelaide's BSc (Oenology) course and married to local doyen Zar Brooks, with whom she is a partner in the Dandelion Vineyards project. It's one hell of a balancing act she performs all year round - it's quite a life, but not a quiet one!
Q&A
Is there a wine or a person that inspires you as a winemaker?
The glass in front of me no matter the origin or sometimes even the quality inspires; sometimes a bad wine fires me up, especially when I make wine overseas with potentially great vineyards that are ruined with obviously bad viticultural and winemaking practices, but always the next great glass that makes you want to drink the bottle and change your mind. The person; Stephen Bennett, a great Australian winemaker who worked at my Mum's winery in Bulgaria when I was a teenager and who sponsored my study here. Last but not least my partner Zar, he is always opening great bottles and aspiring to the mind of wine, not just the names or analysis. It's not unusual for him to give me two or three wines ‘on the blind' with obscure options each and every day, at any hour, and I love that. True inspiration. Not just finding great wines but understanding why they are like they are. To taste like that is like talking with the author of great works but with your palate.
What is so-hot-right-now in wine?
You know the great ‘new' varieties like Riesling and Grenache. Sshhh. Oh and EMO sommeliers giving me angry lectures about ‘natural wine' when I ask politely the quietest of questions, like, ‘do you have a cold bottle of that?' I hope ice is natural.
What got you into wine?
My mother ‘Dani’, she worked in the Winery library in our local state owned winery in Bulgaria when I was a girl and thought all that winemakers did was wear lab coats, drink in the morning and go out to lunch. Of course!
What's your desert island wine?
That has changed in the last year. But my birth year, any vineyard, Domaine De la Romanée Conti, a cliché I know but when you get to try it without expectation and you can’t speak after tasting that’s a pretty good sign.
Why should you win the people's vote for the YGWA?
The wines can do their own thing but I really shouldn't. I once wanted to be voted the president of Bulgaria as a little girl though and that's not going to happen either. If I'm in control...
(Complete this sentence) If there was no wine in the world...
Then I would never ever have a chance to be president of anything.
As a winemaker, where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Simply working with the same vineyards I work with now, but with 10 more vintages to taste.
What’s the one word that sums you up?
“Lubopitna” (luv a tina) Which sort of means interested, but really translates as “to like asking questions, about everything!”
Is there a wine or a person that inspires you as a winemaker?
The glass in front of me no matter the origin or sometimes even the quality inspires; sometimes a bad wine fires me up, especially when I make wine overseas with potentially great vineyards that are ruined with obviously bad viticultural and winemaking practices, but always the next great glass that makes you want to drink the bottle and change your mind. The person; Stephen Bennett, a great Australian winemaker who worked at my Mum's winery in Bulgaria when I was a teenager and who sponsored my study here. Last but not least my partner Zar, he is always opening great bottles and aspiring to the mind of wine, not just the names or analysis. It's not unusual for him to give me two or three wines ‘on the blind' with obscure options each and every day, at any hour, and I love that. True inspiration. Not just finding great wines but understanding why they are like they are. To taste like that is like talking with the author of great works but with your palate.
What is so-hot-right-now in wine?
You know the great ‘new' varieties like Riesling and Grenache. Sshhh. Oh and EMO sommeliers giving me angry lectures about ‘natural wine' when I ask politely the quietest of questions, like, ‘do you have a cold bottle of that?' I hope ice is natural.
What got you into wine?
My mother ‘Dani’, she worked in the Winery library in our local state owned winery in Bulgaria when I was a girl and thought all that winemakers did was wear lab coats, drink in the morning and go out to lunch. Of course!
What's your desert island wine?
That has changed in the last year. But my birth year, any vineyard, Domaine De la Romanée Conti, a cliché I know but when you get to try it without expectation and you can’t speak after tasting that’s a pretty good sign.
Why should you win the people's vote for the YGWA?
The wines can do their own thing but I really shouldn't. I once wanted to be voted the president of Bulgaria as a little girl though and that's not going to happen either. If I'm in control...
(Complete this sentence) If there was no wine in the world...
Then I would never ever have a chance to be president of anything.
As a winemaker, where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Simply working with the same vineyards I work with now, but with 10 more vintages to taste.
What’s the one word that sums you up?
“Lubopitna” (luv a tina) Which sort of means interested, but really translates as “to like asking questions, about everything!”
