Yearly Archives: 2007

Look out Burgundy, here comes New Zealand

23 April 2007WineChris Shanahan

In the eighties and nineties, New Zealand, led by the Marlborough region, carved a global niche for itself with sauvignon blanc. This century it’s set, I believe, to create a similar niche for pinot noir, the difficult-to-make but seductive red originating in France’s Burgundy region.

Already it’s New Zealand’s number one red variety in tonnes produced, ranking third behind the popular whites sauvignon blanc and chardonnay.

At present the hot money as to where New Zealand’s finest pinots might come from probably sits on Martinborough (north east of Wellington) and Central Otago, near Queenstown.

But a number of other areas, including Nelson, to the west of Marlborough on the north coast of the South Island, and Waipara, to the north of Christchurch, are also in the running.

Judged by international column centimetres devoted to New Zealand pinot noir, Central Otago ought to be favourite. But it’s early days in this amazingly diverse and viticulturally risky region.

Marlborough, typecast as a sauvignon blanc producer, doesn’t always rate a mention in pinot noir commentary. Yet it’s a major producer of the variety and it’s not all destined for sparkling wine production.

Marlborough’s big push into pinot began in the mid nineties as Montana, New Zealand’s largest wine producer (subsequently acquired by Pernod Ricard), established broad acres specifically for red table wine production.

From growing broad acres to making top pinot noir is a huge step, requiring great attention to detail in vineyard and winery. Even so, by 2003, Montana and its subsidiary Stoneleigh were producing attractive varietal pinots at several quality and price levels.

The last time I visited Montana, in winter 2003, the winemakers believed that the skills they were learning on a small scale could be scaled up to make large volumes of attractive pinot at a modest price. Wines tasted subsequently tend to support this confidence.

However, every region needs its flagship wines – products seen as benchmarks of a style, much as Ata Rangi and Martinborough Vineyards have done for Martinborough and Felton Road has done for Central Otago pinot noir.

While a couple of Marlborough producers – like Fromm – have gone close to that distinction, I believe that Wither Hills, part of the winemaking arm of brewer Lion Nathan, is about to get there.
And while production of Wither Hills Pinot Noir is not massive, it’s sufficient to take advantage of Lion

Nathan’s large distribution network. In other words, unlike the superb product of those boutique makers, at least you and I have some chance of finding Wither Hills pinot in a retail store.

Whatever, the volume available, Brent Marris’s achievement in making pinot of this quality is formidable. It’s been a long-term goal of his in a lifetime of growing grapes and making wine in Marlborough.

Today Brent tends extensive vineyards containing several pinot noir clones planted at a variety of sites along the base of the Wither Hills. He processes these in a winery purpose built to handle numerous small batches – each fermented and matured separately prior to final blending.

The resulting bright, fresh, complex wines give infinitely more drinking pleasure than the dirty, dull, expensive or just mediocre wine that too often poses as Burgundy.

The Burgundians still make the best pinot noirs. But unless they can lift the standard of average Burgundy, then New Zealand is going to have a field day. And Marlborough could be leading the pack.

Wither Hills Marlborough Pinot Noir 2004 $45-$50
At least one corner of Marlborough produces wine of a quality to challenge Martinborough and Central Otago in New Zealand’s pinot noir ratings. On the cooler, southern side of the Wairau Valley, Wither Hills — run for Lion Nathan by long-time Marlborough vigneron Brent Marris – makes what I believe are some of the best commercial pinots in the world. It didn’t happen overnight. But with maturing vines, a diversity of clones, multiple sites and a purpose built winery, Brent now makes bright, pure, beautifully fragrant and intense pinot like this stunning 2004. I’ve yet to taste the $50 French Burgundy that could hold a light to it.

Wine review — Brother in Arms, Wirra Wirra & Pizzini

22 April 2007Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Brothers in Arms Langhorne Creek No. 6 Shiraz Cabernet 2004 $22
In 1932 Jack Kilgour made Stonyfell Private Bin Claret, a shiraz cabernet blend from the Metala vineyard, Langhorne Creek. In 1959 the wine, Jack’s last, adopted the vineyard name and is still sold today as Stonyfell Metala Shiraz Cabernet. While Foster’s owns the Stonyfell brand, the vineyard, with vines dating from 1891, belongs to the Adams family. As well as selling fruit from the 280-hectare vineyard, the family produces two excellent reds – the bright, smooth and plush 2004 No. 6 Shiraz and a mellow, satisfying 2002 Shiraz ($45). Historically, much of Langhorne Creek’s output provided a smooth richness to multi-region blends. The Adams family is intent on displaying the regional character undiluted. See www.brothersinarms.com.au

Wirra Wirra Woodhenge McLaren Vale Shiraz 2005 $30 & Adelaide Hills 12th Man Chardonnay 2006 $24.50
This is a very smart double act from winemaker Samantha Connew – silk-smooth, opulent shiraz from warm McLaren Vale and citrusy, complex chardonnay from the cool heights of Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. The shiraz comes from ‘some of Wirra Wirra’s oldest vineyards’, the press release tells us. And it shows the flavour concentration and smooth, fine tannins of top grapes and gentle winemaking. The chardonnay has the fruit intensity to handle Burgundian winemaking tricks like high-solids, indigenous yeast ferments in oak barrels. These add texture and a tasty patina of flavours that enhance the delicious fruit. See www.wirra.com.au

Pizzini King Valley Sangiovese 2005 $24
This is surely one of Australia’s best-value red wines. Over an excellent meal at Mezzalira recently, it impressed once again (yes, I know I’ve reviewed it before), especially as it held its own against a couple of $70 reds. Fred Pizzini has been making it for decades now and the maturity of the vineyards and winemaking show in the wine’s depth and polish. It starts bright and fruity. But a few sips reveal a more complex, savoury dimension as well as the firm, fine tannin backbone of the variety. I suspect that this will be a vintage to age well for five or six years, though there’s no need to wait. Our bottle disappeared rapidly enough. See www.pizzini.com.au

Florita — the story of a vineyard

18 April 2007Vineyard, WineChris Shanahan

This is the story of the Florita vineyard and of how the competitive force of commerce, brilliant winemaking, the work of a great visionary, and blind luck made it one of Australia’s great riesling-growing sites.

In the 1940s wine merchant Leo Buring purchased the Florita site at Watervale, towards the southern end of South Australia’s Clare Valley. He planted the sherry varieties, pedro ximenez and palomino, and, believes winemaker John Vickery, a little crouchen (known then as Clare riesling), trebbiano and shiraz – but not riesling.

Although sherry was our favourite tipple in those days, Buring, a graduate of Roseworthy College and with wine studies at Geisenheim and Montpellier universities to his credit, had been a pioneer of the Australian table wine trade since the turn of the century.

He maintained a cellar in Sydney’s Redfern (now the home of Langton’s Auctioneers), provided winemaking advice to vignerons and bought table wine in bulk for blending and bottling at his Sydney cellars. John Vickery recalls that he also swapped much of the sherry he made for table wine.

Buring established, as well, a winery and cellars – Chateau Leonay (now Richmond Grove) – at Tanunda, in the Barossa Valley. Then, in the late fifties he closed the Redfern operation and shifted the bulk wine, stored in 350-500 gallon wooden casks, to Chateau Leonay.

In 1955 a young Roseworthy College graduate, John Vickery, became winemaker for the ageing Leo Buring at Chateau Leonay. John made both table and fortified wines and recalls ‘a terrific flor sherry solera’ that’d been established by Buring using flor yeast cultures that he’d pirated from Spain’s Xerez region.

The sherry in the solera, made from grapes grown on the Florita vineyard, was sold under Buring’s ‘Florita Fino’ label – probably the first wine to bear the vineyard name.

Six years after Vickery joined the firm, Buring died at the age of 85. A year later, in 1962, Lindemans purchased the Buring business and retained John Vickery as winemaker.

By now table wine consumption in Australia was on the move, having been sparked by Orlando’s Barossa Pearl in 1956, driven further by a string of similar ‘pearl’ styles (including Buring’s Rhinegold) and the arrival of crisp, fruity whites, also pioneered by Colin Gramp at Orlando in the fifties.

To take on Orlando in the booming riesling market, Lindeman head, Ray Kidd, replanted the 32-hectare Florita vineyard almost entirely to riesling – leaving only about one hectare of crouchen as the only other variety.

By the 1963 vintage, with new protective winemaking equipment in place at Leonay, Vickery was poised to make the great Leo Buring rieslings – many from the Florita vineyard – that earned 50 trophies and 400 gold medals by 1997.

Many of those glorious wines might never have seen the show circuit, though, had it not been for the vision of Lindeman head, Ray Kidd. Ray established in Sydney an air condition, humidified cellar to allow large-scale re-releases of the company’s bests wines.

The cellar held tens of thousands of cases of wine. And though ultimately it failed commercially, it revealed spectacularly the tremendous keeping qualities of our best rieslings via the show circuit and re-release to consumers.

John Vickery’s sublime winemaking skills and Ray Kidd’s cellar, together, showed what the Florita vineyard could produce.

By the mid eighties, Lindemans, now owned by Philip Morris, began selling assets including the Florita vineyard. These were fairly tough times for the wine industry, but long-term Clare company, Jim Barry Wines, seized the opportunity, albeit at a stretch.

Recalls Peter Barry, “we sold five acres with some vines and a house. We had to. But we kept seventy-five acres”. That little slice of Florita now belongs to Noel Kelly and wine from it sells under his Clos Clare label.

Peter says that they immediately grafted the one-hectare stand of crouchen to sauvignon blanc. But four years back they grubbed this out, planted riesling, and, for the first time, the entire 30-hectare Florita vineyard is planted to riesling.

Acquisition of Florita allowed the Barrys to introduce a Watervale riesling to their range and to sell surplus stock into the bulk market. But the Florita trademark remained with the seller.

Well, the wheel turned and in the nineties Orlando purchased Chateau Leonay, hired John Vickery as winemaker and began buying riesling from Florita for its Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling label, launched in 1994.

This relationship lasted until about 2000, by which time Orlando had widened its grape sourcing in the Watervale region and the Barrys had decided to keep their Florita fruit.

Then, in 2004 the Florita trademark lapsed and was taken up by the Barry family, enabling the launch of a Jim Barry wine under the Florita name.

Peter says that for years they’d been making multiple wine batches from the vineyard, mainly in nine thousand litre lots, but with outstanding parcels as small as one thousand eight hundred litres.

In 2004 the Barrys blended these finest parcels, totalling about five per cent of Florita’s production, to produce the first Jim Barry Florita Riesling 2004 – the $45 wine, consumed over the Easter break, that inspired this column.

It really was the epitome of Watervale riesling with its brilliant, green-tinted colour, shimmering lime-like aroma and delicious, very delicate flavour.

Peter Barry tells me that it was an instant success, particularly loved in Amsterdam and the UK, where it sells for about twenty pounds a bottle.

It’s been a long journey for Florita, now a distinguished flagship for Australian riesling in general and, hopefully, one of many single-vineyard specialties that might, over time, raise awareness of the things that we do best.

Wine review — De Bortoli, Stoneleigh, Kahurangi

15 April 2007Wine reviewChris Shanahan

De Bortoli Windy Peak Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2007 $11–$15
The press release says of the 2007 vintage, ‘The King Valley where De Bortoli has over 200ha of vineyards and where we source a lot of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, was hardest hit reducing our crop of useable fruit to less than ten per cent’. The huge crop loss forced De Bortoli to wider sourcing for this delicious blend: to the Yarra, King, Murray and Hunter Valleys, Mornington, Orange, Canberra and the Riverina. The result is a zesty wine showing the lightness and passionfruit-like character of sauvignon blanc supported by the length and structure of semillon. It’s made for current drinking.

Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006 $16 to $19
Stoneleigh, part of New Zealand’s Montana Group, belongs now to French owned Pernod Ricard Pacific – proprietors, as well, of Australia’s Orlando Wines. Stoneleigh’s sauvignon blanc, sourced from the warmer Rapaura sub-region of Marlborough, is distinct from the more herbaceous Montana style, produced from the cooler Brancott area. Stoneleigh presents the passionfruit and tropical character of ripe sauvignon cut with bracing minerally acidity – reminding us that Marlborough really is a cool area even in its warmer sites. What makes Marlborough really special, though, is that the bracing acidity becomes a refreshing foil to the amazingly juicy, luscious fruit flavour.

Kahurangi Estate Nelson Pinot Noir 2004 $25
Many years ago Neudorf of Nelson (a few hours drive west of Marlborough at the top of New Zealand’s South Island) demonstrated the chardonnay and pinot noir potential of this cool, sunny region. At a tasting late last year, and again recently, Neudorf’s neighbour, Kahurangi, started slowly with its pale, slightly aged hue. But the perfume and fine, intense palate continued to seduce for several days after opening the bottle – a very positive sign. Where many pinots fade rapidly, this one shows the durability characteristic of the best. It really is a subtle, delicious expression of pinot noir with the ability to offer something new with every sip.

Champagne, nature’s accident, and its Aussie emulators

11 April 2007WineChris Shanahan

Real Champagne, from the region of that name in northern France, provides the model for Australia’s rapidly evolving premium sparkling wines. It’s a century since we first copied Champagne-making techniques. But it’s only in the last few decades that we got to the heart of the matter in seeking the right grapes.

In the first wave, starting in the late seventies, leading wine makers began to move away from second-string varieties like ondenc and chenin blanc and towards two of the three classic varieties, chardonnay and pinot noir. But resources were small and generally from warmer areas with grapes more suited to table wine than sparkling-wine production.

The second wave saw grapes planted specifically for sparkling wine production. These plantings, in the far south or at high altitude, produce the far better bubblies that emerged in the eighties and nineties. Wines like Croser, Seppelt Salinger, Chandon, Deutz Marlborough Cuvee, Jansz vintage, Hanging Rock, the Hardy range, notably its flagship, Arras, made by Ed Carr and Taltarni’s Tasmanian Clover Hill are products of a continuing southward and upward vineyard expansion. (In a third wave of evolution we may well see a day when most of our best bubblies come mainly from Tasmania –already the primary source of Hardy’s Arras — and New Zealand’s south island.)

What we’ve witness in Australasia is the reverse of what happened in Champagne. There a marginal climate forced the evolution of sparkling wine; here our search for flavour and delicacy in sparkling wines leads inexorably to cooler grape-growing conditions.

Champagne’s major city, Reims, lies at latitude 49°18’ north. That’s marginal grape-growing territory indeed. Nevertheless, it’s the centre of an industry with around 30,000 hectares of vines dedicated to sparkling wine production.

But for most of its winemaking history Champagne made still wines. The harsh climate, however, ensured great inconsistency of quality from year to year, especially in reds. These tended to be thin, pale, and insipid in off vintages. With too little heat and sunshine, grapes tended to be high in acid and low in colour and sugar.

As well, cold autumn days often knocked out the yeast cells before fermentation ended. With spring and warm weather, yeasts sprung back to life converting the remaining sugar in wine barrels to alcohol and carbon dioxide. This natural tendency for wines to effervesce in spring was nature’s accident just waiting for humans to harness. And when they did, Champagne was born.

Total control of the process took a few centuries, perfected only after Pasteur unlocked the mysterious relationship between yeast and sugar, and bottle manufacturers made glass strong enough to resist five atmospheres of pressure.

Rendering Champagne sparkling rid the region of its insipid red wines, too. Since all the colour in a red grape is in the skin, the area’s makers learned to make white wine by removing juice from contact with the skins of the red varieties, pinot noir and pinot meunier, as quickly as possible.

Today, two thirds of the grapes making clear Champagne are red. Had the evolution from still to sparkling wine meant nothing more than changing from one insipid wine to another, there’d be no vines left in the district today. Instead, the Champagne method unlocked exquisite flavours inherent to these cold-grown grapes.

Now, the chemistry of grape ripening is complex but, in brief, grapes struggling to ripen at this latitude achieve ripe flavours with high acid and low sugar levels. Grapes harvested at an alcohol potential of only 10 per cent make quite intensely flavoured (if a little tart) wine in the Champagne region.

In Australia, 1970’s bubbly makers, notably Seaview’s Norm Walker, pioneering with pinot noir and chardonnay tended to harvest grapes from comparatively warm areas — like Coonawarra and Padthaway — at similar sugar levels to those found in Champagne grapes. While high in acid, the grapes had little flavour and made harsh, green wines.

And when the grapes were allowed to ripen more, they tended to produce fat and flabby sparkling wines without the intensity or delicacy of Champagne. Some of these were terrific big wines, laden with rich fruit flavours. But makers seeking flavour with delicacy knew they had to find grapes more in the Champagne mould.

Today, the evolution is well advanced. Mid-priced bubblies like Hardys Sir James and Jacobs Creek Reserve Brut offer phenomenal value to consumers. And, of course, the our top shelf wines like Hardys Arras and Hanging Rock offer a serious alternative to some of the French originals.

But even the best of our bubblies, in my opinion, can’t yet match the delicacy, finesse and intensity of the best Champagnes, sourced from the finest vineyards. That we don’t yet have a Dom Perignon, or Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, though, is hardly surprising.

The French had many centuries to develop sparkling Champagne and another two to perfect the winemaking art and identify the greatest vineyard sites – now formally classified. Science, plus intelligence of the French experience, allowed our vignerons to fast track much of the winemaking.

But even with the best science, finding the most suitable vineyard sites remains largely a matter of trial and error within well-defined climatic parameters. All else being equal, this is the key to quality and future improvement, albeit incrementally from now on.

From a competitive point of view that’s not a bad position to be in. The French have probably already made their best bubblies. But ours are yet to emerge.

Flowering interest in hops

11 April 2007BeerChris Shanahan

Canberra brewer Richard Watkins says that if you can appreciate the difference between dried and fresh coriander, then you can understand why fresh hops flowers have an advantage over the pelletised version in brewing.

Hops is the brewer’s only spice in most beers and plays a crucial role — through its aroma, flavour and bitterness — in countering the sweetness of malted barley, beer’s seminal component.
Richard has just returned from a trip to Tasmania where he learned that small brewers don’t have to rely on mainland middlemen to source hops.

He says he’s found an independent hops grower on the upper Derwent with the capacity to produce small quantities to order of classic hops varieties including Saaz, Goldings, Hallertau, Fuggles, Amarillo and Chinook – and even selective crosses thereof.

Richard says that hops flowers dried to about eight per cent moisture content can be stored from one hops season to the next in good condition

Wine review — Cumulus, Fox Creek & Eileen Hardy

8 April 2007Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Cumulus Wine Climbing Orange Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $19.99
At last year’s Orange District wine show judges James Halliday, Celine Rousseau and I pushed this wine to the top of the cabernet class – meaning a trophy as well as a gold medal. Away from the sip-and-spit pressure of a wine show and six months on, the wine still looks good. It has well-defined varietal aroma and flavour with typically firm, drying tannins. And there’s a richness to the mid palate that’s often lacking in cabernets from inland regions. My only quibble is that the tannins are a wee bit tough – something you won’t notice over a good steak. Great value.

Fox Creek McLaren Vale Short Row Shiraz 2004 $28
As the 2004 vintage approached, one winemaker told me of the ‘wall of fruit’ awaiting harvest. He had misgivings because big crops sometimes mean lower quality. There was much crop thinning in an effort to concentrate flavour. But even then most areas enjoyed a big harvest. With the dust long settled on what is now generally seen as a terrific vintage, we can enjoy wines like this generous, soft, Fox Creek Shiraz. It’s sourced mainly from the ‘Short Row’ block near the winery, they say, and expresses the Vale’s generous flavours, soft tannins and appealing, savoury edge. See www.foxcreekwines.com

Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2005 $50 to $55
Hardy’s flagship white parallels Australia’s chardonnay history. It began in 1986 as a fairly big, short-lived, oaky white sourced from Padthaway, at the time probably the coolest region growing appreciable volumes of chardonnay. It was typical of wines of the time and one of the leading examples, too. Eileen’s sourcing followed the best chardonnay plantings, heading further south and to higher altitudes in the ensuing years to mature as a fine, potentially long-lived style this decade. The current release, a Tumbarumba-Tasmania blend, has — in its intense, delicious fruit flavours, complex barrel-related complexities and taut structure – more than an echo of the great French white Burgundies on which it is modelled.

Beer review — Schloss, Wernesgrüner & Cooper’s

4 April 2007Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Schloss Pils 330ml 6-pack $11.99. Wernesgrüner Pils 335ml 6-pack $11.99
These Aldi imports sit squarely in the German Pilsen-style mould – bright, light golden lagers with dry finish and pronounced hop bitterness. The Schloss is a little darker in colour and not as stunningly fresh as the Wernesgrüner. Both offer outstanding value for money and were purchased at Aldi, Holt.

Cooper’s Extra Stout 375ml about $3.30
The recent cool nights prompted a visit to this warming old friend — a beautifully fresh and balanced beer. It’s deeply coloured, with persistent, creamy tan-coloured foam and opulent, malty, fruity, roast coffee aroma and flavours – finishing dry and refreshingly bitter. It’s bottle conditioned and therefore carries a natural yeast sediment.

No small beer for Aldi founders

4 April 2007BeerChris Shanahan

Wikipedia says that Germany’s wealthiest men, Theo and Karl Albrecht, retired founders of Aldi supermarkets, earn an estimated 1.5 billion Euro a year from their 5000 outlets.

And their winning formula – small groupings of popular household items at low prices – includes a couple of treats for Aussie beer drinkers.

Buying in large volume and selling direct to consumers allows Aldi to offer two very good German beers – Schloss Pils and Wernesgrüner Pils — at prices that must annoy the hell out of the big brewers and rival importers.

$40 a slab for the Schloss Pils pits it squarely against big volume locally brewed premiums and the German imports of Coles and Woolies, and below the price of fair-dinkum boutique products.

This creates a conundrum for craft brewers. They simply cannot compete on price even if they win on individuality.

But for those seeking a cold drink on a hot day, who can argue?

Wine review — Grant Burge, Ravensworth & Lillydale

1 April 2007Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Grant Burge Barossa Valley Meshach Shiraz 2002 $100
Grant Burge’s flagship red comes from several southern Barossa vineyards — including a section of Grant’s Filsell vineyard, planted in the 1920s. Although finessed in recent years – partly through the use of finer French oak in conjunction with more assertive American oak – it remains an extraordinarily concentrated red, built for the long haul. It’s certainly earned its stripes amongst the country’s elite wines, even if writer opinion currently favours cooler climate styles. At the release tasting Burge previewed his sensational Shadrach Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – a blend from Coryton Park in the Eden Valley and Barossa floor. It’s a sensational wine due for release in few years.

Ravensworth Canberra District Sangiovese 2006 about $22
This is an incredibly good follow up to Bryan and Jocelyn Martin’s 2005 vintage – winner of a gold medal and trophy at last year’s regional show. Bryan says he fermented both vintages on viognier skins — a little trick, he believes, that helps to brighten and stabilise colour and smooth the texture. But this is mere seasoning to a delicious wine that captures the spirit of Italy’s ubiquitous sangiovese grape. There’s a Aussie-style bright, inviting and fruity dimension to Ravensworth. But the medium body and savoury, persistent tannins that follow are Italian, and the real point of difference in a wine that ought to blossom over the never next five or six years. See www.ravensworthwines.com.au

Lillydale Estate Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2005 $16 to $20
Judges voted this mid-priced chardonnay as best chardonnay, best white wine and best table wine of Canberra’s 2006 National Wine Show of Australia. Encountered again recently it remains in the fine-boned, oak-fermented, oak-matured style that’ve now pretty well replaced the fat and overtly oak styles that dominated the market two decades ago. Delicious, melon-like varietal chardonnay flavour is the key to the wine’s great appeal. But a matrix of aromas and flavours derived from barrel fermentation and maturation on yeast lees adds subtly to the drinking pleasure. And that’s further enhanced by its silky texture and great freshness.