No 'right' way to make wine: The Other Right
HER NAME
GALIT
MAKES SIPS AT
THE OTHER RIGHT
After moving to Australia from Israel in 2009, for what was only meant to be an 18 month stint, Alex and Galit made their way in the winemaking game “organically and slowly”. With a bio-physics degree and a young daughter, Alex *naturally* did his post-grad in winemaking, bringing Galit along for the experimental ride. The two are very much a ‘hands-on’ duo: After fermentation, they always start on the final wines together. Their varying opinions on flavours, the market and wine in general, dare we say, make the perfect blend. Now in their 10th year, it’s hard to believe they never planned to make their wines commercial (on behalf of everyone that has tried their wines, thank fuck they did).
The slower, or in their words “seemingly lazy”, approach to winemaking is something that seems to have been carried through every bottle we’ve sipped. Their wines are youthful, fun and relaxed and Alex and Galit are humble, firm believers that there is no ‘right’ way to do things. *
*Although we *personally* feel they’ve nailed it.
“I think the main thing for me - was to really drop any need to have things perfect. I don’t aim for that anymore - I aim for done. I say it to my daughter, “Done is better than perfect”. You can have the best plan, and sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you have, and just accept it.”
SIP’ER: What is your key role within The Other Right? Is there anyone else that leads it with you?
GALIT: My husband Alex and I started The Other Right together in 2011. In the beginning, the roles were quite mixed - we both did a little bit of everything. It took a few years to realise that we were good at different things and very bad at other things, and that it would be better for the brand and our relationship to have some separation of our roles. [Laughs]
Now, Alex is doing a majority of the winemaking. There are a few crossroads in the winemaking process that we make sure we decide things together - it’s always before vintage starts, when we have a look at all the vineyards and and make forecasts of how many grapes there are, what the quality is like and what kind of wines we’re going to make. From there, Alex is then the vineyard manager to pick the wine, bring it to the winery and the winemaking. After fermentation, we start on the final wines - that’s something we always love doing together. Mainly because we have different opinions about the flavours that we like, the way we see wine, or the way we see the market. We each have a different input on what to make so it’s always quite interesting to get to that point.
SIP’ER: It’s good to get different perspectives!
GALIT: Yeah, some things I don’t like, and he really likes - and the opposite. Alex is always very good at saying, “Oh, let’s just pour it down the drain.” It happens every release, really! And it’s always my job to go, “No, no, wait! Let’s see what we can do with this!”. Other than making wine, we both have day jobs - so basically, winemaking is our night and weekend jobs. During the day, Alex is a wine scientist and I’m a full-time student. For The Other Right, I’m doing the labels, the branding and marketing and all the logistics that are behind the scenes.
SIP’ER: Oh my gosh, how do you have the time?!
GALIT: I find time to be really elastic, up to a point. Alex and I are both the same; when we’re very busy, we somehow find the time to do other things! We love sports, that’s a huge part of our lives. So we try to do 5-6 hours of exercise per week, and spend time as a family too. We work hard, but I don’t think we can do it any other way - we can’t commit to just one thing, we’d get bored very quickly!
SIP’ER: They say if you need to get something done, you give it to a busy person.
GALIT: That’s right!! I see it all the time. It’s funny because when we were emailing and you said you both still work a day job, I was like, “Yeah… obviously!”. And then you start another thing. That’s just how it works.
SIP’ER: Speaking of starting things, how did you start The Other Right?
GALIT: We’re both from Israel and we moved to Australia in 2009 just after the Global Financial Crisis, when we were both without work. Our daughter was just born, and we didn’t have much to do. We started making wine in Israel a few years before that - and it worked really well and the wine was actually decent! A friend just said, “If you don’t have a job, just had a baby that’s the time to go and study!” We found this program here in Adelaide that Alex could do. He’s a bio-physicist by his first degree, so we came here and he did his post-grad in winemaking. Then he started helping a few friends during vintage. We actually came to Australia to stay for 18 months but then we really liked it here - we met some amazing people who were very open, very encouraging and generous with their time and resources. After Alex finished studying, we thought we’d make just a little bit of wine on our own and it just grew from there! Very organically and slowly but now it’s our 10th year. It was just to play to begin with and we didn’t think we would go commercial at all.
SIP’ER: What’s been your career highlight so far?
GALIT: Oooh a career highlight is so hard because I’ve done so many different things! I’m not sure if there’s just one career highlight… Maybe I’ll just say a life highlight if that’s okay?
SIP’ER: Of course!
GALIT: It’s definitely my daughter. Although a cliché, she changed our lives completely and we wouldn’t have been doing what we do if it wasn’t thanks to that. One of her first photos is with me having a glass of wine in my hand because I was carrying her to this winemaking course in Israel and she was with us at the winery alllll the time as a baby.
SIP’ER: [Laughs] We love that! We’d love to see the photo. And what wine would you pair with this life highlight?
GALIT: It would have to be the first wine that we made, which was a Cabernet Sauvignon in Israel. We’ve never made Cabernet Sauvignon since, and I don’t think I’ve even drank it since! But somehow in my head, when I think about where wine finds me in my heart - it’s this moment: My daughter in a baby carrier and I’m holding a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
SIP’ER: What’s the most challenging part of your job that not many people might know about?
GALIT: I think the most challenging thing is the constant change - no two years are the same. Whenever you think you’ve cracked something and make it work, something changes. It’s always been like that - we don’t own our own vineyard so we work with growers and it’s been a huge journey for us: To find growers that we can connect with and have the same philosophies. For example, we only work with organic fruit - so once you find that, you think you’ve nailed it and set it, but then they decide to sell their property and there goes all of your Chardonnay. You can’t really plan ahead; you can’t plan for next vintage, you can’t plan for next week. It’s always changing. It’s such an organic process, and in the end with organic processes, you never know how it’s going to end up. We just made this wine that was absolutely beautiful - we thought it was going to be the highlight of the next release - and at the moment, we’re thinking it’s not going to be part of the release at all because we’re not happy with how it evolved in the bottle. So I think these are the main challenges. You have to improvise all the time. We’re both very good at this, but sometimes it’s very, very tiring.
SIP’ER: What do you feel like drinking when things don’t necessarily go to plan?
GALIT: For me to relax, I need a glass of a very light red - like our Hearts Will Repair. I just find it very soothing. It’s low in alcohol, so you can just drink and relax without it affecting you too much.
SIP’ER: We feel you with plans changing - even when we were starting SIP’ER, we thought we we’d thought of everything but you find out very quickly that you haven’t! You’ve gotta go with the flow a bit - just lean into it.
GALIT: I think the main thing for me - was to really drop any need to have things perfect. I don’t aim for that anymore - I aim for done. I say it to my daughter, “Done is better than perfect”. You can have the best plan, and sometimes you just have to do the best you can, with what you have, and just accept it.
SIP’ER: What’s your favourite wine you produce?
GALIT: I really like the orange wines we make. Sunshine On My Skin is one: It’s a Viognier and it’s a very different Viognier to the norm. It’s very easy to drink and I also like it because it doesn’t have any connotations with it: It’s not red, it’s not white… It’s just everything in one!
SIP’ER: We can’t wait to taste it, sounds up our alley! What do you want people to take away from the experience after drinking The Other Right?
GALIT: I would love people to just feel relaxed and comfortable. Not to drink too much. Drink a little, and maybe think about what they’re drinking and how it was made. We’re definitely trying to make wine that’s not ‘smashable’ - just something that’s a little treat and effortless.
SIP’ER: What’s the best way to drink The Other Right? How do you love to drink your own wines?
GALIT: I think the most enjoyable way to drink my wine is when I’m out camping next to a fire. Somehow everything tastes better - being out in the fresh air, being very tired next to a fireplace. That’s my perfect situation. But every other way is fine too! We always love to see people drinking wine however they want; putting ice in their wine if it’s too hot, drinking from cups rather than glasses… It’s all a different experience. Just be playful with it.
SIP’ER: Oof, we love a fireplace. We’re also aligned with the philosophy of there’s no “right” way to drink wine - just drink it however you like to drink it.
SIP’ER: If you had to match one of your wines with your personality, which would it be?
GALIT: I think it’d definitely be Sunshine On My Skin. It’s sunny, happy and not complicated. The name came about from how the skin smells like when you’re on the beach in the sun, warm, salty, and almost peachy. If I had to imagine myself somehow, I’d be this girl in this dress drinking this wine out in the sun.
Photo credit: Meaghan Coles