Monthly Archives: January 2010

Beer in plastic bottles — it’s coming

13 January 2010BeerChris Shanahan

Late last year Byron Bay Brewery released its Premium Ale in PET plastic bottles – targeted at NSW venues now obliged by law to keep glass out of the hands of violent drunks. But protecting people from drunks and drunks from themselves is only one motive in the growing search for glass alternatives.

While public safety concerns drove Foster’s use of PET for wines sold at the Melbourne Cup in recent years, its larger scale adoption for exports of Wolf Blass wines in PET to Canada resulted primarily from Canada’s environmental laws.

Similarly, environmental concerns drove Lion Nathan’s release of three PET-packaged Mitchelton wines in Europe in late 2009.

In our carbon-conscious times, it’s hard to see how we can ultimately resist packaging with one-seventh the weight of glass. The savings, and presumably lower emissions, of handling and shipping promise to be enormous.

We’ve embraced plastic almost universally for soft drink and mineral water. But consumer acceptance of wine and beer in plastic depends on the product being in good condition. And it seems that earlier problems of gas permeability (air getting in, carbon dioxide getting out) have been overcome, for short-term storage anyway, by the development of multi-layer PET containers.

Currently beer in PET has a shelf life of about six months – compared to nine or ten months in glass. It may be a while before PET becomes mainstream, but the shift is underway.

Wine review — Tyrrell’s, Hardys and Turkey Flat

10 January 2010Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley — $24–$34

Belford Semillon 2004
HVD Semillon 2004

These individual vineyard wines express subtle shades of the idiosyncratic Hunter semillon style. The wines are low in alcohol and tending to lemony austerity when young. But with age they soften and the palate fills with delicious honeyed and toasty flavours – without losing the crisp, fresh acidity that attenuates the flavour. Thanks to the screw cap there are no caveats in recommending these just-released near-six-year-olds (a hit and miss affair in the days of cork). They’re in beautiful condition with shimmering lemon-green colour, stunning freshness and appealing early maturation aromas and flavours – and they’ll age for many more years. These are simply extraordinary.

Hardys

Nottage Hill Chardonnay 2007 $10–$12
Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2006 $60–$70

Hardys, now part of USA-based Constellation Brands, boasts of its shift to regional branding, begging the obvious question – is there a future for multi-region blends? It’s easy to say yes for lower priced, fruity, simpler products like Nottage Hill where ‘Australia’ or ‘South Eastern Australia’ should be sufficient provenance. But as magnificent as it its, the flagship Eileen Hardy, blended from Tasmanian, Yarra Valley and Tumbarumba grapes doesn’t jell in a world super-premium market based on regional identity. Perhaps it’s time to drop the concept, and showcase the beautiful fruit from each of those regions in separate regional brands.

Turkey Flat Barossa Valley

Rosé 2009 $22
Butchers Block Marsanne Viognier Roussanne 2009 $27
Grenache 2007 $28
Butchers Block Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre 2008 $27

Peter and Christie Schulz’s beautiful Barossa vineyard, near Tanunda, still produces shiraz from vines planted in 1847 – some of the oldest in the world. But the estate now has vines, as well, at Bethany, Koonunga Hill and Stonewell, producing generous, warm, friendly reds, a full, fresh white blended from three Rhone Valley varieties and one of the purest, fruitiest rosés around – blended from grenache, shiraz, cabernet and dolcetto. The reds, though, are always the highlight. The shiraz grenache mourvedre 2008 offers the full, ripe flavours of the vintage; and the grenache 2007 is high toned but savoury and destined to become even more complex with age.

Wine review — Shaw Vineyard Estate and Banrock Station

3 January 2010Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Shaw Vineyard Estate Canberra District

Laughter Series Riesling 2009 $15
Reserve Isabella Riesling 2009 $28

Here’s a couple of attractive wines from Graeme Shaw’s vineyard, on the Western edge of Murrumbateman. Isabella – Graeme’s new flagship, named for Isabella Anderson, matriarch of the former wool property’s founding family – is a knockout with its shimmering pale lemon-green colour, delicate floral, musky aroma and very fine, intense, brisk, dry palate. It’s all the more attractive for containing just 11 per cent alcohol. Isabella’s quaffing cellar mate’s a little darker and duller coloured with full, citrus-like varietal flavour and a slightly tart finish – not a bad wine, but there’s lots of low-priced competition out there in the quaffing stakes.

Banrock Station Mediterranean Collection – $14.99

Savagnin 2009
Pinot Grigio 2009
Fiano 2009

With the persistence of drier, warmer seasons Australian winemakers are looking to Spain and Italy for alternative grape varieties suited to these conditions. I’m not sure how pinot grigio – a mutant of pinot noir and at its best in humid, cool climates – snuck into this line up, but it’s a decent drop nevertheless, certainly in the drier style and leaning to pear-like varietal flavour. Savagnin, imported from Spain as albarino, until someone discovered the stuff up, is aromatic but bone dry and savoury. And fiano, a Roman variety, is full but pleasantly brisk and tart. Fiano and savagnin are currently available only at cellar door.

Banrock Station Mediterranean Collection – all $14.99

Montepulciano 2008
Tempranillo 2007

Here winemaker Paul Burnett works with one of the lesser-known (in Australia) Italian red varieties, montepulciano (not to be confused with the Tuscan town of the same name) and the increasingly popular Spanish tempranillo. In Italy, montepulciano hits it peak in Abruzzi, between the Apennines and Adriatic. This Aussie expression has pure, plummy fruit flavours, cut through with distinctive, savoury, dry tannins – a style that works well with char grilled meats, white, pink or red. The tempranillo is fleshier, with vibrant, juicy, ripe, blueberry like flavours and soft but abundant tannins drying out the finish.