Category Archives: People

Canberra’s new brewer

13 April 2016Beer, PeopleChris Shanahan

Capital Brewing Co team, from left to right: Nick Hislop, Laurence Kain, Tom Hertel, Wade Hurley, Rich Coombes, Ian Stott

Canberra’s vibrant craft brewing scene becomes even more colourful from 21 April with the launch of the city’s sixth brewer, Capital Brewing Co. The new brewer joins our five existing players, the Wig and Pen Tavern and Brewery, Zierholz Premium Brewing, Tortured Gum Brewery, BentSpoke Brewing Co, and Pact Beer Co.

Canberra bar owners Tom Hertel and Laurence Kain began planning the brewery in June last year with Rich and Sam Coombes. The brothers, founders of the Batlow Cider Co, supplied Hertel and Kain’s Civic bars, Honky Tonks and Hippo Co.

The Batlow connection brings an existing national distribution network to the new venture. More excitingly for drinkers, it gives Capital Brewing Co direct access to one of the holy grails of brewing: a secure supply of hop flowers.

Rich Coombes says Batlow Fruit Cooperative commenced hop growing a couple of years back. As the first hop grower in the state, the cooperative received a NSW government grant and sent orchard manager Andrew Desprez on a study tour of US and New Zealand hop-growing regions.

Coombes says the cooperative harvested its second crop this year and, “Capital takes all of the US Cascade and Chinook varieties”.

Like other brewers, says Coombes, Capital uses pelletised hops. But it also has access to Batlow’s fresh hop flowers at harvest (used this year in Capital Evil Eye Red IPA) and a year-round supply of dried hop flowers, preserved in a cold store at two-degrees Celsius.

Unlike brewpubs BentSpoke or the Wig and Pen, which sell most of their beer on site, Capital Brewing Co intends to be a producer and distributor of beer with a distinct Canberra identity.

Tom Hertel says, “The name is a reference to the area. We [Hertel and business partner Laurence Kain] grew up here and we love Canberra. It’s a great place to live”.

While the three Capital beers being released on 21 April were brewed in Sydney, Hertel and his partners expect to commission their own US-manufactured brewery at Dairy Road, Fyshwick around September or October this year.

Hertel says, “We’re gypsy brewing at a couple of sites in Sydney. This isn’t the same as contract brewing, where someone else brews from your recipe. We rent tanks and have total control”.

Inspired by the San Diego craft beer scene, Hertel and partners brought California brewer Wade Hurley to Australia. Hurley produced the “gypsy” brews in Sydney and will head the Canberra brewing team.

The beers being released tomorrow show a distinct California influence. This reflects the personal tastes of the partners as well as California’s ownership of the strong, hoppy beer styles now being brewed globally.

Hertel describes Capital Brewing Co Trail Pale Ale as an American pale ale style, rich in malt and hops. Evil Eye Red IPA ratchets up the malt and hops even more. And Coast Ale, he says, provides lighter, easier drinking, “Like a California common. It’s a beer you’d take down the coast”.

Initially, Capital plans to sell kegged beer into the Canberra market, beginning with the launch tomorrow. However, production and distribution will expand when the Fyshwick facility opens.

“It’s a 1000-square-metre warehouse”, says Hertel. “We’ll have a large brewery, canning and bottling machines and a touch-and-feel tasting bar where people can watch the whole process”.

Running the brewery with brewer Wade Hurley will be two more Capital partners, Ian Stott and Nick Hislop, with backgrounds in brewery and cider-making logistics and sustainability.

Hertel and Kain recently sold their Honky Tonks bar. However, they retain Hippo and Co and will offer Capital Brewing Co Trail Pale Ale, Evil Eye Red IPA and Coast Ale on tap there from tomorrow. They expect other outlets to offer the beers, but details are not available at the time of writing. Hertel says they will list stockists on their website (capitalbrewing.co).

Canberra’s currant affair goes sweet and sour

13 April 2016Beer, Beer review, PeopleChris Shanahan

Pact and Pen's new brew — Pact and Pen’s new brew

Hello. I’m Tracy Grimshaw. This is a currant affair

A new sour beer made by two Canberra brewers goes under the Pact and Pen label as “Hello, I’m Tracy Grimshaw. This is a currant affair”.

Pact Brewing Company’s Kevin Hingston and the Wig and Pen’s Frazer Brown created the sour, redcurrant-flavoured brew for Melbourne pub, The Ale House Project.

The beer is being served during the Ale House’s “This is red” event between 11 and 24 April.

Hingston says with the Melbourne launch now done, Tracy will go on tap at the Wig and Pen, ANU, and the Durham Arms, Kingston.

The beer, styled on Germany’s Berliner Weisse, derives its sourness from the residues of micro-flora, including lactobacillus, living on the surface of cracked grain. The grain, which also nourished the fast-breeding microbes, was added to a mash of wheat and pilsner malts – all seeped at a Jacuzzi-like 40 degrees before being fermented.

Hingston says the beer, while about double the strength of traditional Berliner Weisse, retains the style’s delicate sourness, offset by the sweet redcurrant.

Beer reviews

Thornbridge Kipling South Pacific Ale (UK) 500ml $9.45
Like coals to Newcastle, the UK’s Thornbridge brewery uses hops from Nelson, NZ. The hops give a distinctive fruity aroma to a beautifully harmonious, golden-coloured ale. The lively palate really sings with smooth, sweet malt, offset by flavoursome and lingeringly bitter, refreshing hops. This is a wonderful, balanced example of a beer revealing the full gamet of a unique hop variety’s aroma, flavour and bitterness.

Schlenkerla Oak Smoke Doppelbock (Germany) 500ml $7.98
Schlenkerla brewery of Bamberg, Germany, specialises in Rauchbier – an ale made from malt kilned with beech smoke. The brewery’s extra-strong (eight per cent alcohol) oak-smoked variant provides a slightly more subtle smokey experience. Charcuterie-like aromas and flavours permeate the opulent, malty, bitter palate.

Wine review – Robert Stein, Cockburn, Domain Day, Irvine, Majella, Van Volxem

30 March 2016People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Robert Stein Riesling 2015
Stein and Mirramar vineyards, Mudgee, NSW
$25
With his 2015 vintage, winemaker Jacob Stein takes us away from traditional floral, delicate Australian rieslings. Thirteen per cent alcohol puts it at the bigger end of the variety’s style spectrum. Then spontaneous fermentation on skins of a component, and barrel-fermentation in old oak barrels of the pressings, bring extra weight and grip to the palate. The result is a ripe, full, dry (if not bone dry) white that retains citrus-like riesling flavours and racy acidity. This is an impressive and interesting riesling, heading off in its own direction.

Rockburn Pinot Noir 2013
Gibston and Parkburne, Central Otago, New Zealand
$38–$43
At two degrees south of Australia’s southernmost vineyards, Central Otago produces wines of greater body and ripeness than we might expect at the latitude. But the area’s dry, sunny, continental climate produces distinctively powerful pinots that fetch high prices in world markets. Rockburn provides a taste of the style in a warm year. Vibrant, dark-cherry-like varietal flavours back an assertive palate, comprising fruit, warming alcohol (14 per cent) and strong, fine, drying tannins. Winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis writes, “This pinot is generously proportioned but remains taut for the moment”. I agree. A year or two in bottle should bring all the flavour elements together.

Domain Day “S” Saperavi 2004
Mount Crawford, Barossa Valley, South Australia
$24–$35
Impressed by its longevity, winemaker Robin Day planted the Georgian red variety saperavi at Mount Crawford. Day writes “I have my vineyard and cellar door on the market as I aim to retire and write (an anecdotal travelogue is half written)”. While we wait for Day’s hilarious stories, his wines seep into the market, sometimes at very low prices. His 2004 saperavi, for example, can be found on winerobot.com.au for $24 by the dozen, while Dan Murphy offers the 2005 vintage at $28–$29. The 2004 appeals for its warm, earthy, mellow aroma and rich, firm, medium-bodied palate. It’s fully mature now and a delight to drink.

Irvine “The Estate” Shiraz 2014
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$25–$28
The Wade and Miles family recently purchased Jim Irvine’s brand and Eden Valley property. The revamped label now draws fruit from wider sources, including the Wade and Miles family’s Barossa Valley vineyards. Sam Wade writes, “The wine styles are also moving towards a fresher, brighter style in response to the changing palate of the consumer”. However, the Barossa’s warm-to-hot climate hasn’t changed. So the new, lighter style shiraz belies the reality of its warm origins. It’s a very pleasant, clean, fruity red of medium body, soft tannin and drink-now appeal.
Majella Shiraz 2013
Majella vineyard, Coonawarra, South Australia
$30–$35
Majella shiraz caught our attention from the very first vintage, 1991 – the year the grape-growing Lynn family began its gradual, and now complete, transition to winemaker. Their shiraz, though elegant and fine boned in the Coonawarra style, nevertheless requires cellaring to bring out its best, perhaps even more so in the powerful 2013 vintage. Behind the light, vivid, limpid colour lie deep, sweet berry fruit flavours, tightly bound up in fine but assertive fruit and oak tannins. The wine has its charms now, but from past experience we can expect the delicate and lovely fruit to flourish with a decade or so of cellaring. First reviewed in July 2015, the 2013 vintage looks even better half a year later, especially given its outstanding cellaring record.

Van Volxem Saar Riesling 2013
Saar River, Mosel wine region, Germany
$35
Roman Niewodniczanski’s historic wine estate, at Wiltingen, Germany, makes a range of single-vineyard rieslings as well as this dazzling blend from steep sites on the Saar River. At Manta Restaurant, Woolloomooloo, bone-dry Van Volxem 2013 served both as an aperitif and company for a variety of juicy, NSW oysters. Delicate yet intensely flavoured, with a laser edge of acidity, the wine suited the food, the moment and the setting. The unique combination of power and delicacy of Saar and Mosel rieslings comes from the very cool growing conditions at around 49 degrees north. The Saar flows north into the Mosel near Trier. Wines from both rivers belong to the official Mosel wine region. Imported by Fox Beverages and available by order through fine wine retailers.

Farewell Edgar Riek, Canberra wine pioneer

17 February 2016People, Vineyard, WineChris Shanahan

Dr Edgar Riek
1 May 1920 to 9 February 2016

How can we sketch even a portion of a life as long, rich, varied and inventive as Edgar Riek’s? The 95-year-old Canberra wine pioneer, and founder of the National Wine Show of Australia, died Tuesday 9 February 2016, following a fall a day earlier.

Riek’s influence rippled through every one of the diverse areas that came under his gaze, including his distinguished CSIRO science career, viticulture, wine, winemaking, horticulture, fly fishing, bridge and food.

In a Canberra Times article marking Riek’s 90^th birthday in 2010, Albert Caton chronicled some of Riek’s non-wine-related achievements:

“One of the old-school natural scientists, Riek’s main professional interests concentrated on the study of insects. He wrote eight of the chapters of the definitive Insects of Australia. Somehow, he also managed to find time to prepare a definitive taxonomic work on the Australian freshwater decapods (yabbies, marrons, Tasmanian freshwater crayfish, and such)”.

Caton also notes Riek’s breeding, at his Lake George property, of prickle-less prickly pear and thin-skinned walnuts. He also established there hundreds of fruit and nut trees, including truffle-inoculated hazelnuts, a magnificent bay tree and a spectacular mulberry tree. Later, in his Ainslie backyard, he crossed small, looking-up hellebores with a tall, droopy variety to produce a vase-friendly, mid-sized, looking-up version.

Perhaps Riek’s most enduring contribution to Canberra horticulture, came long before his move into grape growing. At a time when garden books referred to European practices, he contributed chapters for the Canberra Gardner (now in its 10^th edition) on “varieties growing in Canberra and their propagation”, writes Caton.

In 1953, eight years after joining the CSIRO in Canberra, Riek and others founded the Canberra Wine and Food Society. The club originally bottled its own wine, but gradually developed an extensive cellar and took food as seriously as it did wine. But Riek’s interest in wine and food extended well beyond club activities.

A 2006 Canberra Times article reported Riek worked for a time on CSIRO weed research in Bright, Victoria, and took the opportunity to visit nearby Rutherglen. “I just started going to Rutherglen fairly regularly, two or three times a year, and got to know that industry very well – so much so that they invited me to judge at the Rutherglen shows”, said Riek.

The Rutherglen connection sparked a life-long friendship with winemaker Mick Morris and led to Riek’s great expertise in making and blending fortified wine. Indeed, a barrel of Riek muscat lies under his Ainslie house. And other barrels of fortified remain in Riek’s old winery, says current owner Peter Wiggs.

Later, Riek and his wife Mary purchased land on the western shore of Lake George. Here they pastured their daughter Helen’s horse and established fruit and nut trees. In 1971, shortly after buying the land, Riek planted his first grape vines. In the same year, another brilliant CSIRO scientist, Dr John Kirk, planted vines at Murrumbatemen.

The Canberra wine industry was thus established in 1971 by two distinguished scientists acting entirely independently of one another.

With little information about which wine grapes might grow best, Riek planted 40 varieties, including several native American and Chinese vines. However, the Burgundy varieties, pinot noir and chardonnay, featured prominently in the 3.25-hectare vineyard.

He held great hopes for the pair, and at a lunch celebrating the 41^st anniversary of the Canberra District Vignerons Association on 20 November 2015, Riek recalled, “I thought we had Burgundy conditions”.

Like any of Riek’s decisive actions, his selection of the Lake George site resulted from a thorough understanding of what was required to grow grapes and other plants successfully.

Winemaker Alex McKay worked on the property during Riek’s ownership. He also led a rejuvenation of the site for the Karelas family some years after they purchased it from Riek.

McKay says, “His site selection was absolutely brilliant. It was brilliant how he worked it out”. Riek had figured that even on a very slight slope, warm air moved to the slightly higher northern end of Lake George, providing a measure of frost protection. And Riek had told winemaker Ken Helm how his car windows defrosted as he drove along that section of the lake.

McKay adds, “the soil, drainage and aspect” all suit grape growing, and “you would struggle to find better sites in the area”.

By “sites”, McKay refers not just to the Lake George vineyard, but a vineyard site Riek selected on Mount Majura for a friend, Dinny Killen in the late 1980s. The vineyard now belongs to Mount Majura Winery.

Winemaker Frank van der Loo says he came to Majura aware Riek had selected the site. But he became deeply impressed as he realised the depth of Riek’s involvement. He selected the site for a reason, then designed the irrigation and vineyard layout and even helped in the digging and planting.

Had Riek done nothing more than establish Lake George vineyard and identify the Mount Majura site, he would have left an enduring legacy. But his influence reached far wider.

On the strength of Riek’s savoury pinot noirs, Jim Lumbers hoped to establish a vineyard next door. He sought Riek’s help, and he obliged. “Edgar persuaded the owner, Betty Bolas [Riek’s next door neighbour in Ainslie], to subdivide the land and sell half to me”, recalls Lumbers. He adds, “Edgar identified the best bit of the land [for a vineyard]”. Lumbers, with partner Anne Caine, subsequently established Lerida Estate and winery on the site.

In 1974, Riek with John Kirk and Ken Helm formed the Canberra District Vignerons Association. All three attended its 41^st anniversary lunch last year, where Riek gave what was probably his last public speech.

Riek’s wine interests reached well beyond the Canberra District. Over many years he developed a network of friendships with major figures in the Australian industry.

The networks indicate deft political skills on Riek’s part, which he used to build the Canberra Wine Show, later the National Wine Show of Australia, on behalf of the National Capital Agricultural Society.

Riek acknowledged support he received in the early days from the Hunter Valley’s Murray Tyrrell and Lindeman’s Ray Kidd. And over a longer period, the influential Len Evans helped Riek forever tweak the quality of the national show.

Riek’s intense curiosity about every aspect of food and wine (and whatever else attracted his interest) drew him into a wide network of colleagues and friends. Those interviewed for this article noted an intense, unremitting curiosity, inventiveness, ability to apply knowledge, and a lifelong willingness to embrace and explore new ideas.

Winemaker Nick O’Leary described him as “a good friend and mentor” who only recently visited the winery to comment on his 2015 wines. Winewise owner, Lester Jesberg, likewise called him a friend and mentor.

Alex McKay of Collector Wines worked with Riek as a uni student. Riek inspired him to become a winemaker through his “attention to detail, precision and deep understanding of biology, ecology and so on”. Riek also loved the sensual rewards of his trade and insisted on good food and interesting wine with lunch after a hard morning’s work.

“He was the ultimate forager”, says McKay, with a profound understanding of seasons and habitats. Riek would visit Lake Bathurst for sea-eagle eggs, climb nearby poplars for other eggs and eat anything that moved or grew.

Suzie and Ian Hendry, long-term vignerons, recall being alarmed by Riek’s appetite for fungi. Despite his great knowledge on the subject, he’d occasionally announce plans to try a new variety and would they please check up on him if he didn’t visit in the morning. They eventually paid for a phone to be installed in his farm cabin.

Riek’s old friend, wine merchant David Farmer, recalls, “Edgar would try things. He didn’t dismiss ideas. He embraced them. He would try, reject and try something new. He would join with other like-minded people in a collegiate approach”. That collegiate, scientific approach became a founding principle of the Canberra wine scene. Riek’s influence on it was profound and will continue.

Wine review – Simao and Co, Vickery, West Cape Howe, Toolangi, Schild Estate and Willow Creek

14 October 2015People, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Simao and Co Vintage Fortified 2014
Alpine Valleys and Glenrowan, Victoria
$48
This is the story of a seventh generation winemaker, six grape varieties, purple feet and a totally slurpy wine inspired by Portugal’s vintage ports. In 2013, winemaker Simon Killeen left the old family business, Stanton and Killeen, and shortly afterwards struck out on his own. Like his late father, Chris Killeen, Simon loved Portuguese port. Inspired by a vintage in the Douro Valley in 2012, he made Simao 2014 by applying traditional Portuguese techniques – including foot-stomping of crushed bunches, stalks and all, and hot fermentation – to shiraz, tinta roriz, alicante bouschet, tinta barroca, durif and touriga nacional. He fortified the wine with neutral brandy spirit. This brought the alcohol content to 20.5 per cent, arrested the fermentation and left around 60 grams per litre of sugar in the finished wine. The result is a ripe and vibrantly fruity wine, made even juicier by its slight sweetness and cut by the racy tang of brandy. It’s in the approachable, elegant style of Portuguese vintage port, but should age gracefully for some decades.

Vickery Riesling 2015
Zander family Quarry and Kosi blocks, Eden Valley, South Australia
$23
Last year MD Wines launched Vickery Watervale Riesling 2014, made jointly by former Leo Buring riesling maker, John Vickery, and Phil Lehmann. In 2015 the pair produced two rieslings, one from Watervale (reviewed two weeks back), the other from the Eden Valley. The Eden Valley lies a little further south on the Mount Lofty Ranges than Clare and, being cooler, produces a different style of riesling. The 2015 shows a highly aromatic, floral side of the variety with a strong but delicate, dry palate combining apple- and –citrus-like varietal flavours and powerful acid backbone.

West Cape Howe Two Step Shiraz 2013
WCH Langton vineyard, Mount Barker, Great Southern, Western Australia
$24–$28
For good reason shiraz remains Australia’s most widely planted grape variety. Our vignerons harvest around 400 thousand tonnes of it every year, putting it a nose in front of chardonnay’s 380 thousand tonnes, but streets ahead of nearest red rival, cabernet sauvignon’s 220 thousand tonnes. Almost every region has its shiraz, in styles driven largely by climatic differences. In Western Australia’s deep south, West Cape Howe 2013 combines bright, fresh red-berry flavours with the black pepper character seen in cooler climates. There’s a savoury element, too, so it all adds up to an appealing, distinctive expression of our national red specialty.

Toolangi Chardonnay 2014
Toolangi vineyard, Dixon’s Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria
$25.65–$28
Garry and Julie Hounsell planted Toolangi vineyard at Dixon’s Creek, Yarra Valley, in 1995. They hand the fruit over to various winemakers including, for chardonnay, David Bicknell of Oakridge and Willy Lunn of Yering Station. Bicknell makes the higher priced “Estate” chardonnay ($38), while Lunn makes this classy drop, which is also estate grown. It shows the juicy nectarine-like varietal flavour of Yarra chardonnay bubbling through the textures and flavours derived from fermentation and maturation in oak barrels. Taut acidity pulls all the flavours together into one totally enjoyable whole.

Schild Estate Grenache Mourvedre Shiraz 2013
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$14.25–$18
Who can resist the sweet, ripe fruit flavours of the Barossa in a favourable vintage like 2013 – a year marked by warm, dry conditions “but without any significant periods of severe heat”, write the Schild family. Their 2014 blend leads with the appealing aromatics and ripe, red-currant-like flavours of grenache. The other varieties come into play on a solid, earthy palate, backed by mourvedre’s rustic tannins and spice and the generous flavour and softness of shiraz. This is an easy wine to love – and the price is right.

Willow Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013
Willow Creek vineyard, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
$33.25–$40
Established in 1989, Willow Creek arrived in the comparatively early days of Mornington Peninsula pinot noir. At the time grape growers and winemaker were learning how to manage the variety in the vineyard and winery. The blossoming really began in the 1990s, followed by a great finessing this century, as ever-better fruit arrived in wineries. In Willow Creek 2013, winemaker Geraldine McFaul captured the fruit flavour of of a warm season in a cool climate. The seasonal heat shows in the great ripeness and richness of fruit flavour and firm, grippy tannin structure. This powerful combination should nourish the wine through a long cellaring life.

Wine review – Vintner’s Daughter, Logan, Tahbilk, Bodegas Catena Zapata and Mauro Vannucci Pietranera

7 October 2015People, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

The Vintner’s Daughter Riesling 2015
Vintner’s Daughter vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$28
In September 2014, Ken Helm’s daughter Stephanie Helm and husband Ben Osborne bought Yass Valley winery and vineyards at Murrumbateman. The couple’s first riesling, from the excellent 2015 vintage, showed its class a few months later when it won the trophy as best riesling of the 2015 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. It’s an auspicious start for the new Vintner’s Daughter brand. It’s an absolutely delicious riesling, delivering pure, varietal, floral and citrus flavours, cut through with shimmering, fresh acidity. A small amount of residual grape sugar rounds and softens the palate, but it remains fine, delicate, dry and suited to medium-term cellaring.

The Vintner’s Daughter Gewurztraminer 2015
Vintner’s Daughter vineyard, Murrumbateman, Canberra District, NSW
$28
The pink-berried gewürztraminer grape is one of several clonal mutations of the very old savagnin vine. It produces distinctly different wine from the other variants, though they have the same genetic fingerprint. Savagnin blanc, for example, makes savoury, taut, dry whites. In contrast, gewürztraminer produces highly aromatic whites with distinctive musk- and lychee-like characters and, quite often, a viscous texture. Stephanie Helm and husband Ben Osborne’s version revels in gewürztraminer’s aromatic qualities, in a very clean and pure but not overwhelming style. The dry palate reflects the aroma and is supported by zippy, fresh acidity.

Logan Shiraz 2013
Orange, NSW
$28
The altitude of Orange’s vineyards ranges from 600metres to around 1100 metres, meaning the region suits many grape varieties. Shiraz works well in the lower, warmer sites. But even so, these are cool conditions for the variety and the wines, as Peter Logan’s demonstrates, are spicy and medium bodied rather than burly and bold as they can be in warmer areas. The warm 2013 season gave Logan a particularly juicy, sweet mid palate which, combined with its soft tannins, means easy and delightful drinking now.

Tahbilk Roussanne Marsanne Viognier 2014
Tahbilk vineyard, Nagambie Lakes, Victoria
$22–$24
Australia’s marsanne specialist still uses fruit from vines planted in 1927, though the variety was first planted on the property in the 1860s. Recent plantings of marsanne’s Rhone Valley companions, roussanne and viognier, now join it in a three-way blend, led by oak-aged roussanne, which makes up 46 per cent of the blend. The combination yields a full-bodied, richly textured, savoury dry white with an appealing bite to the finish – a characterful white, well removed from our usual fare. The three-way blend seems the way to go with these varieties: marsanne and, even more so, viognier, can be too much on their own; while fairly neutral roussanne has the ability to subdue its raucous Rhone Valley mates.

Bodegas Catena Zapata “Alamos” Malbec 2014
Mendoza, Argentina
$18–$20
Watch out Aussie shiraz. Generous, fruity Argentinian malbec provides comparable drink-now appeal, on its own or with food. We discovered Alamos Malbec 2014 on a cool spring afternoon at Hopscotch Bar, Braddon. The wine’s deep colour, vibrant, fruity perfume and flavour, and soft tannins provided joyous drinking for a niece’s thirtieth birthday. The wine, made by the Catena family, comes from high-altitude vineyards in the Andes. Malbec comprises 85 per cent of the blend, with 10 per bonarda and five per cent shiraz. What Argentina calls ‘bonarda’ is, in fact, douce noire, a red variety of France’s Savoie region. It’s Argentina’s second most widely planted red variety after malbec.

Mauro Vannucci Pietranera Toscana 2011
Carmignano, Tuscany, Italy
$45
Like cool water, lapping rough, rocky walls, this Tuscan sangiovese’s sweet fruit flavours slap against rustic, mouth-gripping tannins. Deep, savoury flavours and assertive tannins counter every appearance of the fruit, creating a nevertheless harmonious red wine of two distinct parts – fruity and savoury. The rustic, savoury characters set it apart from the fruit-sweet wines we generally make in Australia. And those savoury characters suited the food of Italian and Sons, where we encountered it. The wine comes from Carmignano, to the west of Florence. It’s available by the glass at Italian and Sons or through the Melbourne importer at rossiandriccardo.com.

Wine review – Vickery, Tar and Roses, Balnaves, Xanadu, Bream Creek, and Taittinger

30 September 2015People, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Vickery Watervale Riesling 2015
Brazel, Castine and Koerner vineyards, Watervale, Clare Valley, South Australia
$19–$23
This beautiful riesling is a collaboration between riesling master John Vickery (first vintage 1951) and Barossa based Phil Lehmann, winemaker for the WD Wine group, owners of Hesketh Wines, St John’s Road and Parker Coonawarra Estate. Vickery’s involvement extended from fruit selection to “the final classification, where only the very best components were selected by Phil and John for the finalised wine”, writes their partner Jonathon Hesketh. Vickery 2015 is full-bodied style at 13 per cent alcohol. But at the same time it’s refined and delicate, with the juicy, irresistible, lime-like varietal flavours unique to this Clare Valley sub-region. What a great bargain it is.

Tar and Roses Sangiovese 2014
Heathcote, Victoria
$20.89–$24
Italy’s sangiovese grape makes an enormously wide range of styles in Australia, depending on clone, growing climate and winemaking approach. Don Lewis and Narelle King source their sangiovese from Victoria’s warm Heathcote region. These grapes have, “consistently given us a rich, full style that we like, always highlighted by assertive tannins, true to the variety”, they write. The medium coloured 2014 starts with bright and vibrant, sour-cherry-like varietal flavour. However, very strong tannins wash in through the fruit, giving a grippy, savoury and very dry finish.

Balnaves “The Blend” 2013
Balnaves vineyards, Coonawarra, South Australia
$19–$20
“The Blend” combines merlot (52 per cent), cabernet sauvignon (46 per cent), and a splash of petite verdot from several Balnaves family vineyards. The wine provides a contrast to the similarly priced, prettier, cabernet from Xanadu, also reviewed today. The chocolate-like, earthy richness of merlot leads the blend, which reveals both the ripe-berry character of Coonawarra and deeper, more savoury flavours, backed by quite firm, though gentle tannins.

Xanadu Next of Kin Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Margaret River and Frankland River, Western Australia
$15–$18
Xanadu’s early-drinking cabernet comes principally from the company’s vineyards at Walcliffe, Margaret River, “supplemented with a small portion (13%) of cabernet selected from a mature vineyard in the Frankland River region”, writes winemaker Glen Goodall. The medium-bodied red shows an aromatic, floral side of cabernet. The palate reflects the aroma, and throws in a mint-like seasoning with the fruit, some spice from oak maturation and the variety’s fairly astringent, drying tannins.

Bream Creek Pinot Noir 2011
Bream Creek Vineyard, Marion Bay, Tasmania
$34
The beautifully sited Bream Creek vineyards rolls down a mild slope, giving visitors panoramic views east to Marion’s Bay and Maria Island. The cool site, on Tasmania’s lower east coast, was planted to vines in 1974 and purchased by one of the state’s best-known viticulturists, Fred Peacock, in 1990. Peacock’s 2011 pinot reveals the great purity and finesse of the variety grown at this latitude. Bright, cherry-like varietal aroma and flavour underpin a juicy, fine and elegant red, of silky texture and lingering, dry finish. The wine looks very young at four years, with barely a sign yet of the gamier pinot flavours likely to emerge in the years ahead.

Champagne Taittinger 2008
Champagne, France
$110–$160
There’s sparkling wine and there’s Champagne – the real thing from France’s Champagne region. But the latter isn’t always better than the former. Indeed, too many undistinguished wines bear the prestigious Champagne label. However, really good Champagne, like Taittinger 2008, still sets the world standard. In this instance a 50:50 blend of chardonnay and pinot noir from top-ranking Champagne vineyards forms the base of a remarkably intense, fine, vigorous wine. Completing the picture is six years’ ageing on yeast lees in bottle – the magic bit that gives Champagne so much more flavour and structural dimension than the base wine alone could give.

Tempranillo from six top Aussie winemakers

9 September 2015People, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Mayford Tempranillo 2014
Mayford vineyard, Porepunkah, Alpine Valleys, Victoria
$38
Though planted throughout Australia and used by about 340 winemakers, Spain’s tempranillo remains a niche variety. Our vignerons harvest just four to five thousand tonnes of it annually, depending on vintage conditions – about one tenth the volume of pinot noir, or one hundredth of shiraz. However, it makes instantly appealing red wines in a spectrum of styles. At a recent “Tempra Neo” tasting featuring six producers, Mayford stood out as the most complete red. Its ripe blueberry-like varietal flavour came packaged in strong, savoury tannins that gave a chewy, satisfying richness to the palate and an assertive, dry finish.

Mount Majura Vineyard Tempranillo 2014
Mount Majura, Canberra District, ACT
$45
After the deeper, darker 2013 vintage, Mount Majura 2014 reveals a fragrant, fruity side of tempranillo. The aroma and palate both suggest ripe, red berry characters, which push through the variety’s distinctive firm but fine tannins. The bright fruit character gives the wine tremendous drink-now appeal – though the tannins and underlying savouriness should see it evolve for three or four years in bottle. At the “tempra neo” event promoting the variety, winemaker Frank van de Loo said “tempranillo is very sensitive to site and vintage”. The latter explains the notable variation between last year’s wine and the new release.

La Linea Tempranillo 2014
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
$27
David Le Mire and Peter Leske source tempranillo from a range of sites in the Adelaide Hills. In 2014 their blend offers a notably aromatic, lively, buoyant expression of the variety. Intense, delicious fruit flavours, combined with fresh acidity and fine-boned tannins, make this elegant, medium-bodied wine very appealing now. Tempranillo’s savoury side might show through with bottle age. But I doubt it will ever appeal more than it does now in its fresh and fruity youth.

Running With Bulls Tempranillo 2014
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$18–$24
The Yalumba group’s Running with Bulls rated as the bargain of 16 Spanish and Australian tempranillos tasted at a “tempra neo” event in late August. Yalumba began working with the variety in 1999 and until recently produced two tempranillos under this label – one from the Barossa, the other from Wrattonbully, hundreds of kilometres to the south, near Coonawarra. The new release shows a pleasingly ripe, fleshy face of the variety with an abundance of caressing, soft tannins, typical of the Barossa Valley.

Gemtree “Luna Temprana” Tempranillo 2015
McLaren Vale, South Australia
$18
Mike Brown marches to the biodynamic calendar and writes, “We called the wine Luna Temprana as “temprana” is youthful and early and “luna” denotes the wine’s growth via the lunar cycle”. He makes specifically for early drinking, meaning it’s all about fruit, unadorned by winemaking inputs. The fresh, musk-like fruit really sings at present, though the variety’s savoury tannins give a solid grip to the finish.

Tar and Roses Tempranillo 2014
Heathcote, Victoria
$19–$24
Don Lewis and Narelle King write, “Our aim is to preserve fruit characters through the production process to the finished wine. It’s these fruit characters that underpin our style”. However, the pair like to build on the fruit flavour, particularly through maturation in oak barrels. They preserve fruit character by fermenting with selected yeast strains, adjusting acidity and controlling temperatures of the ferment and the cap of skins. The result is a solid tempranillo combining pure fruit character with the flavour and tannins of oak. The currently noticeable oak flavours will likely submerge into the wine after a little bottle age.

Wine review – Parker Coonawarra Estate, Yalumba Galway, Giant Steps, Curly Flat, Scuttlebutt and Wagner Steeple

2 September 2015People, Vineyard, Wine, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Parker Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
North-western Coonawarra, South Australia
$18.90–$24
Our wine of the week earned its place for sheer flavour, value and fidelity to the Coonawarra regional style. The winery now belongs to WD Wines, an energetic business that also owns the Hesketh and St John’s Road brands. Jonathon Hesketh and Phil Lehmann, drive the businesses – Hesketh in charge of marketing and Lehmann making wine. In the excellent 2013 vintage, Lehmann captured the ripe, full flavours of the cabernet grape, complete with the mid-palate flesh that can be missing in cooler years. His approach for this wine, made to meet a particular retail price, emphasises Coonawarra’s cassis-like varietal flavours (OK, there’s a touch of mint), with sufficient tannin to give true cabernet structure and authority. This is a lot of wine for the price.

Yalumba Galway Vintage Shiraz 2013
Barossa Valley, South Australia
$10.45–$18
Yalumba Galway “Claret” once counted among Australia’s great reds, built for the cellar. It raised important eyebrows, including the only ones that counted in 1965, when, at an Adelaide lunch, Prime Minister Bob Menzies declared the 1961 vintage to be, “the finest Australian red I have ever tasted”. But time, markets and marketing diluted the Galway name. Today it stands in the crowded drink-now segment, offering generous and loveable – if not eyebrow-raising – quality. Galway 2013 delivers the appealing flavours of Barossa shiraz – ripe and generous fruit, with soft, easy tannins.

Giant Steps Tarraford Vineyard Chardonnay 2014
Tarraford vineyard, Yarra Valley, Victoria
$45
Pulp Kitchen on a cold Saturday night, and the rich, earthy food calls for, and gets, equivalent wines: a taut, elegant, savoury 2007 pinot noir from the great Burgundy vineyard, Clos de la Roche, made by the highly regarded Olivier Bernstein. However, we begin with an outstanding Australian chardonnay, inspired by Burgundy’s originals. From a cooler Yarra sub-region, it reveals all the brightness and intensity of modern Australian chardonnay, boosted by the delicious inputs of barrel fermentation and maturation.

Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2013
Curly Flat vineyard, Macedon Ranges, Victoria
$50–$56
Curly Flat’s pinots invariably rate well on release and develop nicely with bottle age, and little wonder given Phillip Moraghan’s attention to detail in the vineyard and winery. Tasted alongside the leaner, savoury, maturing, richly textured 2011, the new 2013 appeared ripe, fruity and soft. But with air and patience over a few days of tasting, the wine’s deeper, savoury flavours emerged, along with the silky texture and substantial tannins essential in top-shelf pinots. Right now, the 2011 provides more satisfying, mature drinking, but the 2013 has great potential, which it should begin to reveal in as little as one year.

Skuttlebutt Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015
Margaret River, Western Australia
$16.15–$18
The back label gushes fruity descriptors: citrus zest, passionfruit, gooseberry, ripe melon and ripe peach flesh, with a sting of “savoury nettles” thrown in. On the other hand, we can settle for “very fruity”, because it is, with the unbeatable freshness of a young wine, barely away from the bosom of mother vine. Suck it down joyously now. You can never get closer to the freshly fermented grape than this.

Wagner Stempel Riesling Trocken Gutswein 2014
Siefersheim, West Rheinhessen, Germany
$36
Winemaker Daniel Wagner writes, “There is no doubt this is a vintage of very high quality, which, however, could only be brought in at the cost of tremendous losses through selection”. Wagner’s comment if anything understates his attention to detail in the vineyards, which ultimately produces such racy, delicate, deeply flavoured rieslings. Though full bodied for riesling, Wagner’s 2014 remains delicate, with apple-like flavours, cut through with thrilling acidity. The combination of intense flavour, finesse and high acidity suggest good cellaring prospects – if you can resist the urge to drink it now.

Wine reviews – Joseph Chromy, Lustau and Stella Bella

31 August 2015People, Wine reviewChris Shanahan

Joseph Chromy Tasmanian Cuvee NV $25.50–$30
Czech-born Josef Chromy built a fortune in meat before investing in (and disposing of) various sizeable Tasmanian wineries. The latest venture, at Relbia, a short drive southeast of Launceston, includes 60-hectares of vines, a winery, restaurant and functions centre. Chromy’s non-vintage blend demonstrates, deliciously, why Tassie became the centre for Australia’s top-shelf sparklers. Cool-grown pinot noir (two thirds of the blend) and chardonnay give a great depth of flavour to this dry, delicate wine. Eighteen months maturation on spent yeast cells added depth and structure to the wine, but the fruit flavours remain at the centre.

Lustau Pedro Ximenez San Emilio Very Sweet Sherry 375ml $27.55–$30
What better company for a plush Debbie Skelton dessert than a mellow sweetie from Xerez, Spain? The makers sun dry their pedro ximenez grapes and allow the super sweet juice to ferment briefly. They arrest the ferment, add spirit to the still very sweet juice and move it to American oak casks in a “solera” system – a progressive ageing process that takes in young wine at one end and pushes out mature stuff at the other. The mature wine offers sensational raisin-like sweetness and dried-fruit flavours, with the ethereal texture and patina of aged characters derived from oak maturation.

Stella Bella Skuttlebutt Margaret River Cabernet Shiraz 2013 $18
Stella Bella, one of Margaret River’s larger producers, makes wines under the Stella Bella, Serie Luminosa, Suckfizzle and Skuttlebutt labels. Like so many other high quality makers of any scale, Stella Bella’s lower priced wines benefit from the considerable effort put into the top wines. You can enjoy the $30-odd Margaret River cabernet, knowing it’s in the mould of the flagship $75 Serie Luminosa cabernet. And the drink-now, $18 Skuttlebutt cabernet shiraz brings true Margaret River cabernet flavours and elegant structure, fleshed out pleasantly with the addition of shiraz and a splash of merlot.