Media Kit - Middleton Family Wines

Larry Cherubino Profile
Since 2003, Australian winemaker Larry Cherubino has been working as a consultant
in the major wine regions of the world. His extensive experience with all aspects of
wine production gives him an exceptional knowledge and understanding of the
winemaking process from vineyard to bottle.
Larry became seriously interested in the wine industry after completing his degree in
Horticulture in 1994. After receiving a degree in Oenology through the University of
Adelaide in 1996, Larry gained firsthand experience as a cellar worker in both
Australia and Europe.
Larry's first winemaking position was with BRL Hardy at Tintara winery in Adelaide in
1996. During his three years at Tintara, Larry also experienced vintages in other wine
regions of Australia as well as in Italy and France. In 1998, Larry moved home to
Western Australia and took the position of Senior Winemaker at BRL Hardy's Houghton
Winery in the Swan Valley. After the first six months Larry was appointed Senior
Winemaker/Manager and was promptly promoted to Senior Winemaker/Regional
Manager of Western Australia. Larry was responsible for all winemaking, packaging
and viticultural operations in Western Australia for BRL Hardy. During his time with
Houghton, Larry also had the opportunity to experience vintages in Tuscany, Bordeaux,
Burgundy and the Loire. After five very successful years at Houghton, Larry and his
wife Edwina made the decision to start their own wine consultancy business in 2004,
which allows them to travel to different wine regions both within Australia and
overseas, including Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.
Larry was nominated as a finalist for Winemaker of the Year 2003 by Gourmet
Traveller Wine Magazine and was awarded Western Australia Winemaker of the Year
2003 by the Western Australia Wine Guide. Larry was also a finalist for Gourmet
Traveler Wine Magazine’s Winemaker of the Year in 2009, and Larry Cherubino
Wines was chosen as Winery of the Year in James Halliday’s 2011 Wine Companion.
The winery was also National Producer of the Year in Australian wine writer Matt
Skinner’s 2011 Wine Guide.
Larry’s Ad Lib brand (known as Ad Hoc in Australia) is now available in the U.S.,
imported by Vintage New World, a Middleton Family Wines affiliated company.
&
Savory Cupcakes
How about this summer’s fun food: Savory Cupcakes! After all, Ad Lib wines are the crisp, flavorful
wines with a bit of fun from Western Australia, and they’re packaged with screw cap closures for
guaranteed freshness and easy access. Ad Lib wines pair well with everything.
Man cakes, pickle cakes, bacon and egg cakes…the trend toward
savory cupcakes is pushing the culinary envelope of flavor. There’s
even a retreat for cup cake aficionados, where the cognoscenti
gather to wax poetic on exotic flavor combinations (it’s called
CupcakeCamp NYC). And how could you not appreciate a cupcake
made with ale, bacon and cheddar cheese?
Why not try a Savory Cupcake potluck this summer, complemented
with Ad Lib wines (remember, they’re the wines with a bit of fun…).
Here are some tips for making your own Savory Cupcake recipe:
Cupcakes aren’t just for desert anymore. They’re mini meals that
can satisfy your daily nutritional requirements. More Cupcakes
in Chicago even offers a BLT cupcake sprinkled with real bacon
chunks, capped by a saucer of ranch dressing and four tiny slices
of red and yellow tomato. Whew! Go on-line and search for “savory
cupcakes” for more ideas.
Keep it simple.
Be open minded.
You might not get it right on your first go; make your Savory
Cupcake recipe challenge a learning experience.
Start with a basic savory recipe. Bacon is always a good ingredient
to start with, so add only a couple of other “eccentric” ingredients.
Take the time to build your confidence.
Use common sense.
If something doesn’t taste good on its own, then it’ll be lots worse
in a cupcake. Anchovies? Probably not.
Award-winning Aussie
winemaker Larry Cherubino has
extensive experience in his
native Australia, Europe, South
Africa, New Zealand and the
U.S. Australia’s influential
Wine Business magazine
chose Larry as one of its
“50 Stars of 2009:”
Contact for More Information:_________________________________________________________________ • Presented by Middleton Family Wines Company • www.MiddletonFamilyWines.com
YOU BE THE JUDGE:
To oak, or not to oak?
Ad Lib: crisp and flavorful wines … with a bit of
fun, from Western Australia. Packaged with screw
cap closures for guaranteed freshness and easy
access…oak, or no oak.
Mix Master Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Tree Hugger Chardonnay
Hen & Chicken Chardonnay
Straw Man Sauvignon Blanc
Wall Flower Riesling
Middle of Everywhere Shiraz
Ad Lib Hen & Chicken Chardonnay,
Pemberton, Western Australia: Big
berries, little berries…relax and enjoy a
tightly textural take on Chardonnay.
Ad Lib Tree Hugger Chardonnay,
Margaret River, Western Australia:
No trees were harmed in the making of this wine.
Can’t we all just get along?
Focus Period Tools
Heated discussions about oaked vs. unoaked Chardonnay pervade wine tastings. Not much middle
ground, so Ad Lib winemaker Larry Cherubino does a little bit of each to keep everyone happy.
•Ad Lib seasonal menu concepts
Oak aging can add a creamy, richer and woodier taste to Chardonnay. Those that appreciate the body
and flavor that great oak imparts should reach for Ad Lib Hen & Chicken Chardonnay. A Chardonnay made without using oak, like the Ad Lib Tree Hugger Chardonnay is nothing but
unadulterated fruit character of tropical lemon, banana and crisp acidity. •Target account mailing postcard with Fine Wine= Bit Of Fun theme
•Ad Lib case card available
•Special wine by-the-glass pricing
•Special retail feature pricing
AD LIB IS IMPORTED & DISTRIBUTED BY VINTAGE NEW WORLD, A MIDDLETON FAMILY WINES AFFILIATED COMPANY • WWW.MIDDLETONFAMILYWINES.COM
A WA R D S C O M P I L AT I O N
2008 Wallflower Riesling
wine is light bodied, balanced, and crisp.
“EXCEPTIONAL”
Dan Berger’s Vintage Experiences
The Buried Cane Chardonnay is a crisp, dry white with the ripe
apple, gooseberry, quince, and honeydew melon, layered with
jasmine and green tea aromas.
“EXCELLENT”
Frediric Koeppel, BiggerThanYourHead.net
I felt as if I could eat the Ad Lib Wallflower Riesling 2008 with
a spoon. This seductive riesling from Western Australia’s Mount
Barker region bursts with apple, orange zest, lime and grapefruit,
jasmine and honeysuckle and a touch of the grape’s requisite
petrol or rubber eraser element.
89 POINTS – Paul Lukacs,Wine Review Online
www.larrycherubino.com.au/adhoc
The Mt. Barker region in Western Australia yields extremely crisp,
often bracing dry Rieslings. They can be so tightly wound that they
taste austere, even mean, in their youth. This particular Riesling,
however, is open and ripe, with fresh peach and apple flavors, and
a satisfyingly long finish.
“+” – Ronn Wiegand,Restaurant Wine
The Riesling is dry, medium bodied, and delicately flavored
(honeysuckle, peach, pear, apple), with firm acidity and a long
finish.
GOLD GOLD SILVER
bronze
Riverside International Wine Competition
Los Angeles International Wine Competition
Critics Challenge International Wine Competition
San Francisco International Wine Competition
2008 Straw Man Sauvignon Blanc
“” – Ronn Wiegand,Restaurant Wine
The Sauvignon Blanc is supple and medium full bodied; a fruity
style of Sauvignon (apple, peach, lime), with herbal overtones, and
a crisp, long finish.
90 POINTS / “VERY GOOD” – Ken’s Wine Guide
“This pale yellow Sauvignon Blanc from down under was clearly
one of the best Sauvignon Blancs that we tried this month. It
opens with an attractive grapefruit like bouquet. On the palate, this
W H A T ’ S
N E X T
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W H A T ’ S
N E X T
GOLD SILVER
bronze
Riverside International Wine Competition
Los Angeles International Wine Competition
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
2008 Tree Hugger Chardonnay
“EXCELLENT / GREAT VALUE”
Frediric Koeppel, BiggerThanYourHead.net
Winemaker is Larry Cherubino — “Little Angel” — one of the
best winemakers in Australia today…The wine radiates purity
and intensity, offering amazing body, density and character
while maintaining a crystalline edge of vibrant acidity and a
resonant mineral element that rivals the White Cliffs of Dover.
The finish hints at white flowers and orange zest. A beautiful
chardonnay.
“+” – Ronn Wiegand,Restaurant Wine
Tree Hugger Chardonnay is full bodied, dry, crisp, and finely
flavored (peach, grapefruit, lime), with a long finish.
GOLD Critic’s Challenge Wine Competition
BRONZE San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
2008 Hen & Chicken Chardonnay
“VERY GOOD +”
Frediric Koeppel, BiggerThanYourHead.net
At first, I thought that the wine was fairly Burgundian, with
its touches of bacon fat and Parmesan rind, its vivid, ripe
pineapple-grapefruit flavors; after a few minutes, it displayed
marked smoke and spiciness, with flavors of buttered and
roasted peach and grapefruit…If you like a chardonnay with
oak that comes to the forefront, you will probably think that
this one is Excellent.
silver
silver
Critic’s Challenge Wine Competition
San Francisco International Wine Competition
2007 Middle of Everywhere Shiraz
SILVER
bronze
I N
Critics Challenge International Wine Competition
San Francisco International Wine Competition
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B U S I N E S S
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