Kent Comley is a dedicated cork dork. A wine marketer and sommelier, but ultimately a wine lover who has been immersed for 30yrs in the wine and hospitality industries.
Kent and Co is the culmination of this passion and experience.
Kent and his wife Christine now manage the Barn Steakhouse, Accommodation and Palais in the quiet, lush rural beauty of OB Flat, which is 7km south of Mount Gambier. The restaurant is a local institution and Kent curates the wine list which has been named South Australia’s best by the influential Gourmet Traveller magazine and at the SA Restaurant and Catering awards.
Mount Gambier is Australia’s newest wine region and also one of the coolest on the main land, the climate moderated by the vast, cool Southern Ocean. The climate is marginal for wine grape production, but that is its allure. When grapes are grown at the extremes, the resultant wines can display the rare combination of power and finesse, yet retain natural freshness.
The best wines demonstrate intrinsic balance, so that the interplay between fruit, oak, acid and tannin is seamless. Impeccable balance is the goal that underpins every bottle of Kent and Co wine, hence the depiction of a set of scales on the label. To produce wines that show balance and thus maximum drinkability is the aim at all times.
Kent is the most dangerous rendition of a cork dork, a Pinot Noir nut. Conveniently, Mount Gambier is Pinot Noir country. It is early days for the variety in the region, but there is much to like at this early juncture. Kent saw the early potential of Mount Gambier Pinot Noir when working in Coonawarra at Hollick Wines, often Mount Gambier Pinot was blended with the Coonawarra Pinot Noir to add richness and freshness.
Kent and Co wine is made from parcels of outstanding fruit from the pioneering growers of the Mount Gambier region and established growers from Coonawarra. The wines are made in consultation with leading Coonawarra winemakers.
The objective is always for maximum fruit expression, elegance and power without weight, and of course wines with a deft balance. Drinkability is assured.