Monthly Archives: November 2009

Wine review — Craigow, Kelvedon and Spring Vale

Posted on 29 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Craigow Tasmania

Riesling 2005 $28 Sauvignon Blanc $25 Gewurztraminer 2005 $23 Dessert Riesling 2008 375ml $19

Today we’re taking a little stroll through Tasmania, beginning with this delightful, maturing, dry riesling discovered at the excellent Smolt restaurant of Salamanca Square, Hobart. We followed up with a visit to Craigow’s cellar door in the Coal River Valley, about half an hour’s drive from Hobart. Other classy wines from the estate, founded in 1989 by Dr Barry Edwards, are the light, fresh and zesty sauvignon blanc 2009, the purely-varietal, sweet Dessert Riesling 2008 with its bracing, fresh acidity and the most delicate gewürztraminer imaginable – its sweetness offset, again, by remarkably fresh acidity. See www.craigow.com.au

Kelvedon Estate East Coast Tasmania

Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $22 Pinot Noir 2008 $28

In 1829 Jack Cotton’s great, great grandfather established a 200-hectare farm, just south of Swansea on Tasmania’s east coast. In 1998 Jack planted one hectare of pinot, within spitting distance of the sea, on the now 2,200-hectare sheep property. In 2006 he established 0.9 hectares of sauvignon blanc near the original vines; and in 2000 and 2001 planted a separate, slightly more elevated site, to 2.5 hectares each of chardonnay and pinot noir, contracted to Constellation Wine Estate’s Bay of Fires operation. And he’ll be adding another two-hectares this year. The wines are first rate: the pinot ripe and generous but finely structured; and the sauvignon, light, herbal zesty and mouth-wateringly fresh. Order through kelvedonestate@bigpond.com

Spring Vale Vineyard Freycinet Coast Tasmania

Melrose Pinot Noir Pinot Meunier 2009 $22 Pinot Noir 2007 $40, Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $24 Pinot Gris 2009 $28

William Lyne took up a land grant at Cranbrook, north Swansea, in 1826. Since 1986 Rodney and Lyn Lyne have planted 6.6 hectares of grapes on the property and 2007 purchased a neighbouring property ‘Melrose’ and its vines. The Lyne’s daughter Kirsten and her husband, David Cush, make the wines on site. The ‘ Melrose’ expresses a deliciously fresh, fleshy drink-now version of the two pinots; but the 2007 pinot is a far more serious wine – penetratingly varietal in aroma and flavour with a fine, taut acid and tannin structure. The richly textured, finely structured sauvignon offers ripe, tropical flavours. And the very dry pinot gris offers pear-like varietal flavour and savouriness www.springvalewines.com

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Tasmania rolls Burgundy and Champagne into one

Posted on 25 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

In the nineties as Australian wine regions agonised over their boundaries, Tasmania got smart. Its winemakers saw that as small, comparatively homogenous producers, their interests would be best served by promoting the island as a whole. In opting for ‘Tasmania’ as their only entry in the register of protected names they neatly avoided the distraction of formally defining the state’s widely spread wine producing areas.

In the ensuing decade, as other states with vastly more varied wine styles defined zones, regions within zones and even sub-regions within regions, Tasmania stuck to its guns and still has ‘Tasmania’ as its only official appellation. But this hasn’t hindered the emergence of regional identities within the state.

Indeed, as soon as you set foot in a Tassie winery you’ll be given a copy of the excellent Tasmania’s wine routes 2009–10 and see on the map four regions: North-West, Tamar Valley, East Coast and Southern. And if you happen to be Hobart based, you’ll see the Southern region further sub-divided into the Derwent Valley, Coal River Valley and Huon Valley/d’Entrecasteaux.

But the location of Bream Creek Vineyard in the East Coast region, for example, demonstrates the difficulty of formally defining boundaries. It’s just a spit from Coal River Valley or Hobart but more than two hours’ drive from the northern end of the East Coast.

With vineyards located between 41 and 43 degrees south, and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, Tasmania enjoys a moderate climate with an extended, cool ripening period. This suits the production of delicate wine styles, dominated by pinot noir and chardonnay, used in both sparkling and table wine making The two varieties accounted for 71 per cent of production in 2008.

While the split between sparkling and table wine production is anybody’s guess, it could be as high as fifty-fifty given increased Tasmanian sourcing from mainland sparkling-wine producers and a growing number of home-grown brands.

Talking to grape growers across Tasmania it becomes clear that Constellation Wines (formerly BRL Hardy) is a major buyer of grapes for both still and sparkling wine. And Foster’s, Australia’s largest winemaker, is on the scout, too, snapping up top quality fruit for its Heemskerk brand and multi-regional icon blends, including Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay.

In the latter, Foster’s has simply discovered, as Hardy’s did a decade earlier, that some of our greatest chardonnay grapes come from Tasmania. For example, Eileen Hardy Chardonnay, Constellation’s flagship white wine, has been predominantly Tasmanian for around ten years.

While the big producers, especially Constellation, exert a profound and positive impact on the Tasmanian wine scene, the view from the ground is of tens of small and medium sized independent makers sprinkled around the island.

The Australian Wine Industry Database lists 84 Tasmanian vignerons. But I suspect the number might have grown since it was compiled a year ago.

Tasmanian makers, focused at the top end of the bottled wine market, account for half a per cent of Australia’s wine grape output, contributing just 9,628 tonnes of the 1,827,647 tonnes crushed in 2008.

Pinot noir, at 4,355 tonnes, is the state’s most widely grown variety, accounting for 45 per cent of the crush in 2008 – highlighting the vast difference between this cool little Island and the mainland, where pinot accounts for only about two per cent of the harvest.

In 2008 Tasmanians harvested 2,501 tonnes of chardonnay, its second most important variety; 992 tonnes of sauvignon blanc; 732 tonnes of riesling; 452 tonnes of pinot gris and tiny quantities of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, gewürztraminer, shiraz and other niche varieties.

In effect, given the dominance of pinot noir and chardonnay, Tasmania is the equivalent of France’s Champagne and Burgundy regions rolled into one, albeit on a far smaller scale.

Tasmania’s first modern vineyards appeared near Launceston in 1956 (Jean Miguet’s La Provence, now Providence and owned by Stuart Bryce) and on the Derwent in 1958 (Claudio Alcorso’s Moorilla Estate, now owned by David Walsh and partners).

But growth was slow. Thirty years after Miguet planted his first vines, Tasmania had only 47 hectares of bearing vines, producing 154 tonnes of grapes – equivalent to about 11 thousand dozen bottles.

By 1999 the area under vine had grown almost tenfold to 463 hectares, producing 3,199 tonnes (224 thousand dozen bottles). And by 2008 vines covered 1,315 hectares, yielding 9,628 tonnes (674 thousand dozen bottles).

As we’ve seen, this accounts for only half a per cent of Australia’s wine production. But it’s all pitched at the top end of the market. While some of it may disappear anonymously into mainstream sparkling wine blends, the majority come to market under Tasmanian labels.

It’s far more than the Tasmanians themselves can drink, so producers look to the mainland, tourists and exports for sales in an increasingly competitive market.

Fortunately for them, they have something unique and delightful to offer, as we’ll see over the next few weeks.

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Beer review — Red Duck and Lord Nelson

Posted on 25 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Red Duck Overland Bright Ale 330ml $4.90 From the Purrumbete Brewing Company, Victoria, Red Duck is a lightly hazy, pale-coloured, easy-drinking ale. It’s moderately alcoholic at 4.2 per cent, with an emphasis on zesty freshness and refreshing hops bitterness rather than overt malt flavour. Strangely, Overland doesn’t rate a mention on the Red Duck website.

Lord Nelson Old Admiral 330ml $3.80 Sydney’s Lord Nelson, opened in 1842, claims to be Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub. In 1987 it began brewing on site and has become one of the Rocks area’s must-visit sites. The opulent, malty, high-alcohol and generously hopped Old Admiral ale is best on tap, but the bottled version slips down easily enough.

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Hobart’s beer oasis

Posted on 25 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

For a cold brew on a hot day there are few nicer spots than the Old Sydney Hotel in Bathurst Street, Hobart, if you happen to be down that way. The front bar has the cosiness of an English pub – a watering hole where people of all ages sip and chat comfortably against the background of live acoustic music.

On a recent visit, the bar offered sixteen beers on tap, ranging in style from wheat ale to stout, with selections from several microbrewers as well as Australia’s brewing giants Lion Nathan and Foster’s, owners, respectively, of Hobart’s Boag’s and Cascade breweries.

The local selection included the hearty, malty Winter Willie Warmer Dark Ale from Willie Simpson’s new Seven Sheds Brewery, located at Railton, near Devonport on the state’s north coast; and its pale and delicately fruity counterpart, Moo Brew Wheat Ale, from just up the Derwent River at David Walsh’s extraordinary Moorilla Estate complex.

What a pleasant surprise, too, to find delicious, fresh draught beers from distant Stone and Wood Brewery, Byron Bay – the exuberantly, fragrantly hoppy Draft Ale and zesty, light but complex Pale Lager.

Judging by the Saturday afternoon crowd and range of beers being pulled, the drift to interesting beers is alive and well.

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Wine review — Lock and Key, Moppity Vineyards and Gallagher

Posted on 22 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Lock and Key Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $10–$15 Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 $16–$20 In 2004 Jason and Alecia Brown bought the 78-hectare Moppity Vineyard from the receivers. Established in 1973, and the second oldest in Hilltops, the vineyard was mature but run down. After much TLC it’s now showing just how good the fruit is as the Browns turn all their efforts to production for their two labels – Lock and Key and Moppity Vineyards. The cabernets are rich but elegant –Lock and Key, on the lighter, leafy side but still with delicious berry fruit flavours and firm tannins offers tremendous value; Moppity is riper, with more body and depth.

Lock and Key Hilltops Shiraz 2008 $10–$15 Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Shiraz 2008 $16–$20 Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Reserve Shiraz 2007 $45–$50 Shiraz is unquestionably the signature variety for the Hilltops region as it makes juicy, soft, medium bodied wines that are easy to love. The wines are transforming perceptions of who does what best in Australia. And the Browns, with their significant plantings, are showing that a regional specialty can offer sensational value as well as distinctive qualities. The medium bodied Lock and Key is as good a red as you’ll ever find for the money; Moppity Vineyards ramps up the fruit concentration, but is still refined and elegant; and the Reserve shows the greater power, savouriness and firm tannins of the 2007 vintage.

Gallagher Brut Rose 2008 $25 and Duet Sparkling 2008 $25 Winemaker Greg Gallagher brought to Canberra a couple of decades’ sparkling-winemaking experience – valuable know-how extending from vineyard management to making and maturing base wines, blending the components before bottling and then getting the bottle fermentation and maturation right. Greg’s know-how shows in these two very appealing bottle fermented sparklers – a delicate, blushing rose, blended from 65 per cent pinot and 35 per cent chardonnay, with its fresh tease of red fruits and fine, dry finish; and Duet, an aperitif style pinot chardonnay blend, sourced from Greg’s Murrumbateman vineyard.

Zork SPK closures unimpressive

Both of the Gallagher sparklers are sealed with Zork’s new SPK plastic closure and can be resealed after opening. However, we were unimpressed by the new ‘award winning’ seal: we found the plastic security strip difficult to remove; we were thoroughly drenched after one seal refused to budge then came away explosively, spurting half the contents over our tasting bench (and us)t; and it’s inelegant, looking more suited to cheap bubbly than high quality wines like Greg Gallaghers.

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Big value in niche rieslings

Posted on 18 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

The International Riesling Challenge, held in Canberra in October, reminds us that riesling remains our best value-for-money white wine variety. The results catalogue is packed with delicious, potentially long-lived wines available at modest prices. However, riesling remains a niche variety, ignored by the vast majority of drinkers, despite the decades of praise heaped on it.

In a recent presentation, James Halliday said that before the mid eighties “more bottles of (true) riesling sold than all other major white varieties combined”. Between 1976 and 1986 Australia’s riesling production grew rapidly, then dipped slightly over the next decade and half, before growing modestly over the last few years to reach 36,900 tonnes in 2009. However, viewed on a graph, the riesling-production story looks near enough to a 20-year straight line – under a soaring rocket called chardonnay, that peaked at around 400 thousand tonnes.

But as we saw last week, that rocket ran out of thrust in 2004 and finally lost its number one position earlier this year to sauvignon blanc, led by the New Zealanders with seventy per cent of the still rapidly growing sauv blanc market.

But even in decline, chardonnay still accounts for a quarter of all bottled white wine sales in Australia by value. While riesling might appear to be holding its own in absolute volume, its dramatic loss of market share since the burgeoning of chardonnay in the eighties and sauvignon blanc this decade remains something of a mystery.

Dramatising riesling’s niche status is the rapid rise this decade of pinot gris (aka pinot grigio) in our production figures. In 2009 Australian vignerons harvested 40,500 tonnes of it – a little ahead of riesling’s 36,900 tonnes. This is probably fashion driven as from my experience the ratio of mediocre to good pinot gris runs at about ten to one – the opposite of what you’d expect of riesling.

But riesling’s stubborn refusal to become popular, galling as that might be to its spruikers, is surely one of the reasons we pay comparatively little for often stellar quality.

For example, among the Riesling Challenge’s gold medallists in the Australian dry categories, prices range from as little as $15 (probably $10 on special) to around $45, with the majority somewhere in between.

The judges awarded nineteen gold medals in these classes, the majority of them to currently available wines and with a sprinkling of harder-to-find back vintages. The latter simply prove riesling’s durability – and the rewards that come from cellaring.

If the results don’t fully reflect the diversity of styles we make across the continent, the judges nevertheless spread their favours reasonably widely. Not surprisingly, the classic Clare and Eden Valleys (neighbours on South Australia’s Mount Lofty Ranges) dominated with fourteen gold medals. But Canberra scored two golds, Tasmania one, Coonawarra one and Mansfield, in Victoria’s Upper Goulburn region, one.

The full honours roll makes a great shopping list. The prices given below are either cellar door or current retail prices found online. Some of the wines may not be released yet; and older ones may no longer be available, although it’s worth Googling the wineries and asking.

Canberra gold medallists Helm Premium Riesling 2009 $45 Shaw Vineyard Estate Winemaker Selection 2008 $22

Coonawarra gold medallist Wynns Coonawarra Estate Riesling 2008 $17–$20

Upper Goulburn gold medallist Delatite Riesling 2008 $23

Tasmania gold medallist The Wine Society Tasmania Riesling 2007 (2009 currently selling at $16.99)

Clare Valley gold medallists Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2009 $14–$17 Knappstein Ackland Vineyard Watervale Riesling 2009 $32.95 Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 2009 $20–$25 Sevenhill Clare INIGO Riesling 2008 price not available Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 2008 $14–$20 Cardinham Estate Clare Valley Riesling 2003 (2008 currently selling at $18) Leo Buring Leonay Clare Valley Riesling 2005 (probably high thirties)

Eden Valley gold medallists Poverty Hill Eden Valley Riesling 2009 $18–$22 St Hallett Eden Valley Riesling 2008 $16–$20 St Hallett Eden Valley Riesling 2005 (hard to find, go for the current release) Peter Lehmann Wigan Eden Valley Riesling 2004 ($40 at cellar door) Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling 2007 $28–$32 (officially ‘Barossa’ but sourced from elevated, cool, southern Barossa sites skirting the Eden Valley).

Multi-region gold medallist Jacob’s Creek Reserve Riesling 2009 $15–$18 (region not given but generally a blend of very good predominantly Clare and Eden Valley material).

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Beer review — Stone & Wood

Posted on 18 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Stone & Wood Pale Lager 330ml $3.90 Brad Rogers and the team at Wood & Stone, Byron Bay, hit all the right notes with this juicy, pale-lemon-coloured lager. It’s ultra fresh, has a smooth, pure, malty richness belying the light colour and complex, harmonious hops aroma, flavour and bitterness.

Stone & Wood Ale 500ml $8.00 We mover from Wood & Stone’s easy-drinking lager, to an altogether more assertive beast – an opulent, dark-mahogany-coloured ale, laden with sweet, intense toffee-like aromas and flavours. These come from wood-fired stones added to the kettle to “rouse the boil and caramelise the brew”.

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Canberra is Aussie amateur brew champ

Posted on 18 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

It’s official. Canberra’s amateur brewers are the best in Australia. Craig Webber, president of Canberra Brewers, says local contestants won the Australian amateur brewing championship, held recently in Canberra, by a wide margin.

And the qualities that took us there showed in a later taste-off of fifteen local beers, each previously judged the best of its style. I was one of four judges for the Wig & Pen trophy, assessing the diverse line up of international styles – English standard pub ale, Bohemian pilzen, Vienna lager, bock, Munich helles lager, English extra special bitter, American brown ale, robust porter, Russian imperial stout, English-style India pale ale, American barley wine, Belgian triple, German hefeweizen, Flanders red ale and rauchbier.

After much sipping and discussion we narrowed the field down to four brews, each an outstanding example of its style – the English standard pub ale, the extra special bitter, the robust porter and the Rauchbier.

The ballot produced a clear trophy winner – Mike Day’s extra special bitter, an appealing deep-amber ale with distinctive, zesty hops. Mike also won second place for his gentle, refreshing English style pub ale.

Mike’s winning ale recipe will now be brewed by Richard Watkins and offered over the bar at the Wig & Pen in the new year.

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Wine review — Draytons, Yalumba and Running With Bulls

Posted on 15 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Draytons Vineyard Reserve Pokolbin Shiraz 2007 $30 This is one of those beautiful old school Hunter reds – medium bodied, gentle, supple and soft but savoury and earthy, too. It’s sourced from two old Drayton family vineyards at Pokolbin, a sub-district of the Hunter Valley – the 40-year old Bull Paddock Block and 110-year-plus Old Flat Shiraz Block. The grapes were hand picked, fermented in small, open vats and matured in a mix of new French oak and older French and American barriques. While the oak supports the wine, it doesn’t get in the way of the pure fruit flavour from those venerable old vineyards. It’s a gem.

Vineyard Reserve Pokolbin Chardonnay 2009 $30 Try this and you’ll see why judges at the 2009 Hunter Valley Wine Show gave it a gold medal and trophy. Winemaker Will Rickard-Bell captured the vibrant, pure, succulent, nectarine-like varietal flavour and added subtle background flavours and texture with careful oak treatment: fermentation of half the blend in new French barrels and the balance in steel tanks, followed by a few months in older barrels. Will says it’s sourced from a very small plot of vines planted to the Penfolds clone back in 1965 – making it one of Australia’s oldest chardonnay vineyards. See www.draytons.com.au

Yalumba Langhorne Creek Vermentino 2009 $14.95 Running With Bulls Barossa Tempranillo 2009 $18.95 The ability of vermentino, an Italian white variety, to withstand heat and drought makes it a good candidate for Australian vineyards. There’s a fair bit of it being planted now. But the true test will be whether we enjoy the wines it makes. This one has a fresh passionfruit-like aroma and flavour, reminiscent of ripe sauvignon blanc, but seems a bit coarse and hard on the palate. Spain’s tempranillo is another comparative newcomer to Australia with potential to become mainstream, thanks to its flesh fruit flavour and firm, but not hard, tannins. Yalumba’s is a ‘bistro’ version of the style – zesty, fruity and ready to drink now.

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Beer review — Brains and Daleside

Posted on 11 November 2009 by Chris Shanahan

Brains SA Premium Beer from Wales 440ml can $4.00 It’s all the way from Cardiff, just $4 a can, and a very good example of dry, mild ale: burnished-copper colour; attractive, fruity-malty aroma; malty but dry palate with subtle hops flavours and mildly bitter finish. It’s understated, complex and at 4.2 per cent alcohol easy to sink a few.

Daleside Old Leg Over 500ml $8.20 From Wales we head north and west to Yorkshire for a darker, but still dry-ish ale, billed as ‘a right grand Yorkshire beer’. It’s beautifully fresh, with roasted-malt and nutty flavours to the fore – and well-judged hops bitterness kicking in refreshingly at the finish. All that, and it’s just 4.1 per cent alcohol.

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Monthly Archives: November 2009

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