Emmanuelle Bekkers
TAKING QUALITY SKY HIGH
French-born winemaker Emmanuelle Bekkers is a wine obsessive, working with her husband and fellow perfectionist Toby to find out just how high McLaren Vale wines can soar.
In South Australia’s progressive wine region of McLaren Vale, Emmanuelle crafts tiny quantities of exceptional red wines that are all about restraint and finesse. She and her husband Toby regularly travel to Europe for inspiration, and this shines through in their craft. But for Emmanuelle, making world-class wines doesn’t mean replicating anyone else’s approach. Her wines are all about showcasing McLaren Vale at its finest.
Pushing the limits
Emmanuelle has her father’s advice to thank for her entrance into the wine world.
“I did a degree in biochemistry and while I was wondering what I would do, my father asked me what I liked, and I said, ‘the transformation from a product to an end product’,” says Emmanuelle. “And he said, ‘That’s exactly what wine is all about. Go and study winemaking.’ And for one of the first times in my life I did what he was telling me to, and I never regretted it.”
After learning her craft in France and working in well-known regions, Emmanuelle travelled to Australia in the 1990s for a change of scenery. In a historic McLaren Vale winery, she met her future husband Toby, a viticulturist, and eventually they established their own label, Bekkers.
With the goal of pushing the limits of what’s possible for McLaren Vale wine, Emmanuelle and Toby produce premium Syrah (Shiraz) and Grenache wines that have been widely praised. In 2019, the couple were finalists in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Winemaker of the Year awards.
“When Toby and I decided to create Bekkers Wine, it was really to showcase that McLaren Vale is a great wine-growing region that people can be proud of,” says Emmanuelle.
Toby manages the vineyard, and in the winery, Emmanuelle takes a light-touch approach to create restrained wines that reflect where they were grown.
“Walking in the vineyard when the fruit is ripening, and tasting the fruit, it connects with me in the sense that it tells me what to do in the winery,” she says. “I don’t want to put my mark on the fruit, I really want to be very gentle and extract what the vineyard has produced.
“I think McLaren Vale has everything for a winemaker to be happy … What we try to do is encapsulate the generosity of McLaren Vale into our wine and add finesse.”
“I don’t want to put my mark on the fruit, I really want to be very gentle and extract what the vineyard has produced.” – Emmanuelle Bekkers
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