Lumen Waite 100 - Flipbook - Page 16
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When wine
came to Waite
Many a successful winemaker made their way through Roseworthy Agricultural
College before it merged with the University of Adelaide in 1991. The move saw
South Australian teaching and research in oenology and viticulture transferred to the
University’s Waite campus, which has since become a global icon of winemaking.
Walking through the Waite Agricultural Research
precinct is a bit like a stroll through a garden. Students
flit between the world-class facilities like bees in search
of pollen. There’s plenty to explore and the potential for
cross-pollination of knowledge is priceless.
Roseworthy was established in 1883 and was the first
agricultural college in Australia. By the time Peter attended as a student in 1981 (at the tender age of 17)
and graduated in 1983, the facilities were starting to
wear. He has fond memories of sensory lessons and the
collegiate nature of Roseworthy, but says the move was
ultimately positive.
The 184-hectare patch is home to the Australian Wine Research Institute
(AWRI), the Waite campus library, South Australian Research
and
Development
Institute
(SARDI), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO), and the
University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, a part of
which has an impressive winery
(Hickinbotham
Roseworthy
Wine Science Laboratory).
“I have an emotional connection to Roseworthy
because I grew up there and I loved the
place, but there were several advantages
to moving to the Waite campus,” Peter
says. “The winery at Roseworthy was
dated and needed rejuvenation, and the
vineyard there was pretty ordinary.
“Moving to an urban-based location
made it so much easier for more people to
be involved, and as a result, they collected
more students. The investment they could
attract by putting it up at Waite campus was
also significant, so it’s a much better facility
and position to be in.”
The site has been a hive of
winemaking activity since
Roseworthy
Agricultural College merged with the
University of Adelaide in
1991, after a rationalisation
of tertiary education institutions nationally. Suddenly, a short bus
ride was all it took to reach science and sensory lessons at
Urrbrae in Adelaide’s foothills, rather than the 50-minute
drive to Roseworthy.
Winemaker Louisa Rose agrees. The
head of sustainability and brand ambassador
for Hill Smith Family Wines completed her
degree in 1992, after straddling subjects in
both Roseworthy and Waite.
“Waite had much more of a community feel
to it,” Louise says. “Being in beautiful old buildings they
turned into our sensory space was an absolute treat. My
recollections of tastings in the first year at Roseworthy
was doing them in science labs.”
This longer drive is a journey Revenir winemaker and
director Peter Leske remembers well.
The new facilities were also enjoyed by Peter’s daughter, Georgina Leske, who followed in her father’s footsteps and graduated in 2022.
“I literally grew up at Roseworthy,” Peter says. “My
dad was an agricultural economist and was on the board
of management of the Roseworthy winery. We lived in
one of the staff houses. As kids, we’d ride our bicycles to
the winery and explore.”
“The facilities at Waite are amazing,” she says.
“They’ve got three or four different red fermenters you
can use for your wine project. I’d never heard of a roto
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