Depending on who you talk to, the wine surplus of a few months back has either turned to shortage already or, by a more conservative reading, might be on the wane, allowing supply and demand to harmonise by 2008/2009 – a few years earlier than previously expected.

While the turnaround is unlikely to mean an instant surge in wine prices, it may relieve the relentlessly downward pressure of recent years and breathe a little hope into a battered industry.

The dramatic and sudden change in fortune is a result of severe spring frosts and drought. Together these could reduce the 2007 grape harvest to “about 1.56 million tonnes, compared with a potential 1.94 million tonnes in an average season”, according to the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation’s Lawrie Stanford.

And the same adverse weather leave the “prospect of another low yielding season in 2008, which could see further draw-downs of stock to a balanced position as early as 2008-09 if export sales continue as forecast”.

Well-known winemaker, Brian Croser, disagrees with this outlook. In an interview on November 22nd, he expressed the view that the industry has moved into a period of grape shortage and that it was “all totally predictable”.

Croser argues that the last three vintages, at about 1.9millon tonnes, were above what you would expect long term averages to be for the area under vine.

At the same time wine exports had been growing steadily at the equivalent of about 65 thousand tonnes a year but little planting activity had been undertaken.

He estimates that with a dramatic frost/drought crop reduction in 2007 and 2008, and continuing growth in exports, that the shortage will continue.

The chief difference between the Croser and AWBC viewpoints seems to be that Croser believes we don’t have sufficient vines in the ground to service future demand whereas the AWBC does.

It bases this belief on an ability to draw down on surplus wine stocks and “greater production through precision vineyard management and higher extraction rates”.

But, as the AWBC’s Eric Wisgard told me, the figures they work with are far from precise. At best they are indicators, based on the best figures available, to be used for industry planning.

And, where Croser sees shortage looming, Wisgard says, “we don’t want to talk about planting” and reiterates the belief that our 150 thousand hectares of vines could lift its yield, in future to 2.1 to 2.2 million tonnes – well up from the 1.9 million odd of recent years.

From a grower’s point of view, the merits of a smaller forthcoming vintage depend very much on where you are.

While some growers face huge crop losses, others find that the shortfall brings previously unwanted grapes into play. For example, down in Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale Foster’s had advised some growers as recently as September that their grapes would not be required in 2007.

Now, says winemaker John Glaetzer, Foster’s have returned looking for chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon at guaranteed minimum prices — presumably in response to frost damage amongst those varieties in the company’s Limestone Coast vineyards.

The best reading I can make of the situation is that the slack has been taken up and that if export and domestic growth continue, price rises will inevitably trickle through. But it won’t be this Christmas as the red-hot festive retail wars are already exploding around us.

TOP DROPS

Champagne Cattier Chigny-Les-Rose $29.95 to $39.95
This is a Coles Myer import and can be found at their First Choice and Vintage Cellars outlets. Thankfully the potential margin advantage of importing direct appears to have been largely competed away, hence the very attractive pricing. It’s from vineyards in the vicinity of Chigny-Les-Roses, a village about ten kilometres south east of Reims. The robust flavour and structure reflects the dominance of pinot noir and pinot meunier in the blend, albeit without the complexity and polish of the more broadly based blends we see from the larger Champagne Houses.

Champagne Taittinger Brut Resérve NV $74.95
With a little more chardonnay in the blend than most NV’s (40 per cent versus about 33 – the remainder pinot noir and pinot meunier), good old Taitts is on the light and cheery side of Champagne, albeit with a rich and creamy mid-palate. This is a lovely, delicate aperitif style with the lightness of chardonnay and yummy brioche-like nuances of pinot meunier, the lesser of the two pinots, but indispensable nevertheless. Pinot meunier tends to fill the frost-prone dips in the Champagne region and is more fruitful than pinot noir in this situation as it buds later, giving it better odds of missing the chill.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Last week the Chateau Shanahan lined up ten pinot noirs from Australia and New Zealand to get a little snapshot of the state of play.

As the tasting consisted only of unsolicited samples, the omissions are greater than the inclusions. But it revealed that both countries now produce convincing pinots across a number of styles and even at the budget end.

That’s not a sniff of disapproval, by the way – just acknowledgement that pinot requires a cool climate, low yields and attentive winemaking to achieve a decent result. And for pinot, that means the word ‘budget’ implies a starting point more like $15 than the  $6 or $7 we might expect, for example, of entry point shiraz.

T’Gallant Juliet Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2005 $13.99
Before its acquisitions by Mildara Blass (and now a part of Fosters), T’Gallant built a reputation for pinot noir and a range of styles from pinot’s white mutant, pinot gris. The good work seems to be continuing under the corporate banner. Indeed, it was pleasing to sip at this luncheon style, budget-priced pinot noir.

Pinots at this price easily often taste more like raspberry cordial than wine. But Juliet, although light in colour and body, has clear varietal aroma and flavour with sufficient acid and backbone to complete the red-wine picture. Recommended for current drinking.

Ra Nui Marlborough Wairau Valley Pinot Noir 2005 $30
This is a fuller bodied and convincing pinot style from the Wairau Valley, the first and northernmost of the two major valleys now making up New Zealand’s Marlborough region. It has the silky depth to justify the $30 price tag and, encouragingly, provided outstanding drinking for three days after the bottle was opened. It’s imported by Tyrrells and should therefore enjoy wide distribution.

Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir 2005 $18.99
Stoneleigh was part of New Zealand’s Montana group, recently acquired by France’s Pernod Ricard. In the late nineties, the Montana team commenced serious work on pinot noir including means of scaling up ‘boutique’ pinot noir production methods for larger commercial output.

The Stoneleigh reds and whites tend to reflect the ripe flavours of the warmer, northern side of the Wairau Valley, origin of the brand. This 2005 certainly shows that ripeness – without losing varietal definition — and attendant firm tannins.

Matua Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2005 $19.99
This is another sound Foster-owned brand that, to my taste, is outclassed in the pinot budget stakes by neighbouring Stoneleigh, Mornington cellar mate T’Gallant Juliet and Austin’s Sixfootsix reviewed below.

Nautilus Marlborough 2005 $39.95
From the purpose-built Nautilus winery, this is on a par with the very best Marlborough pinots and could hold its own in a line up from New Zealand’s other pinot hot spots, Martinborough and Central Otago, too. It has a rare flavour intensity, texture and complexity. It’s owned by Yalumba (S. Smith and Son) and therefore enjoys good distribution in Australia. Limited production, however, means that it usually sells out soon after release.

Cockfighters Ghost Tasmania Pinot Noir 2004 $34.95
This was a surprise Tasmanian sample from David Clarke’s Hunter-based Poole’s Rock Winery. They make some terrific wines up there, but I couldn’t get excited about this one.

Yarra Ridge Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2005 $15.99
It’s a good price for pinot but to my taste doesn’t capture the varietal character as well as the similarly priced samples from T’Gallant and Austin’s Sixfootsix. Part of the Fosters group.

Austins Sixfootsix Geelong Pinot Noir 2005 $16
The eastern and western flanks of Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay both make excellent, top end pinot noir. And in this version from Austin’s Wines, Geelong, we see some of pinot’s true magic at a modest price. It looks, smells and tastes like pinot noir and even comes with the structure – built on high acid and fine tannin – not generally seen in cheaper versions.  This delivers the dry, satisfying, savoury drinking experience of a real red without sacrificing the varietal flavour, medium body and silky texture of pinot. It’s available from the cellar door, phone 03 5281 1799.

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 the Chateau Shanahan tasting, Neudorf’s neighbour, Kahurangi, started slowly with its pale, slightly aged hue. But the perfume and fine, intense palate continues seduce as we sipped away at the bottle over several days. When most pinots have faded, this one showed the durability of the variety. It really is a subtle, delicious expression of pinot noir with the ability to offer something new with every sip.

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Pinot Noir 2005 $27
Like the Kahurangi, above, this is another wine that grows in interest with each glass. It’s the product of the much-changed De Bortoli approach to viticultural and winemaking reported here some weeks back. Hand picked, hand sorted berries were indigenous yeast fermented whole in open tanks with cap plunging only towards the end of fermentation. After twenty-one days in contact with the skins, the wine was settled then gravity filled to oak casks for maturation then bottled without filtration. This low-intervention regime produced a complex, fine, intensely flavoured, deeply textured pinot to savour any time over the next ten years

Last week’s article on the success in Germany of Rich Prosecco — the Paris Hilton endorsed Italian sparkling wine in a designer can — attracted an email from Melbourne based Barokes Wines.

Barokes say that in the last year, even without the help of Paris Hilton, they sold over 2.3 million cans of Australian wine worth $9.4 million, principally to Asia but with sales, too, in Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe and Scandinavia.

Like Rich Prosecco, Barokes canned wines appeal strongly to younger people accustomed to enjoying drinks, whether alcoholic or not, in ready-to-drink formats. But because Barokes offer a range of wine styles in cans – and spreads its marketing effort more widely, it may ultimately appeal to a broader demographic.

For example, Barokes is making headway in the competitive airlines business not because it appeals to a particular age group but because a can is lighter (and therefore cheaper to transport) and safer than glass.

Its growing success, like those of other innovative but controversial products, breaks down preconceived notions. In turn, this creates new commercial opportunities as well as benefiting the consumer.

Take, for example the wine cask. Who’d have thought that a plastic bag in box could drive a conservative industry’s popular sales push? But, in Australia, it did. And casks still account for around half of domestic wine sales. Originally a vessel for only cheap bulk wine, the cask later adapted to provide drinkers with more upmarket varietals at lower prices than could have been delivered in bottles.

And consumers have been clear winners from the recent re-introduction of screw caps – a move driven by producers fed up with cork’s shortcomings.

By introducing the screw cap to top end wines first, makers sent a clear message that the move was about quality, not economics. In breaking down our bias for cork, the screw cap opened the way for other innovative closures like the glass Vino-Lok and plastic Zork.

It also put the wind up what was a complacent cork industry to fight back with innovative, effective new hybrids like Diam – composed of fragmented cork, decontaminated and glued back into shape.

While the idea of wine in cans faces similar, early resistance to earlier innovations, it offers solutions to several problems.

From a marketing viewpoint, as Barokes have shown in Japan and Rich Prosecco in Germany, the package itself makes wine appealing to new audience.

On a larger scale the issue of shipping costs and global warming means that, inevitably, wine exporters will seek to reduce the weight of goods.

For some that might mean shipping in bulk and bottling in the destination country. While that means a reduction in added value to the country of origin, it’s an entirely logical choice for multinational companies concerned more with overall returns.

Another course of action will be to find lighter wine containers be they a new generation of glass, plastic or internally laminated aluminium cans.

Should cans enjoy broad commercial success – and Barokes efforts suggest that they could — then another of our wine biases comes under siege.

The idea of Grange in a can may seem far-fetched. But so did the notion of Grange under screw cap just a decade ago. Yet that will be the reality from the 2006 vintage*. What this shows is that innovation brings change, and not always in predictable ways.

 *Subsequent to this article being written Penfolds winemaker, Peter Gago, revealed a plan to develop a unique glass-on-glass seal for Grange. See ‘A new seal for Grange’, May 30th 2007 on this site.

WINE REVIEWS 

Lark Hill Canberra District Chardonnay 2005 $30
This is the best Canberra District chardonnay I’ve tasted. It’s sensational and, not surprisingly, comes from the vineyard with the best long-term chardonnay track record. It’s the culmination of two decades’ work by the Carpenter family with a few recent changes, in particular, seeming to have rounded off an already class act.  The quality impact of biodynamic production is hard to quantify as the fruit was always good. But the use of wild-yeast ferments in just the right oak barrels, blocking palate-fattening malolactic fermentation and a screw cap seal mean a luxuriously textured, pristine varietal wine with the freshness and taut structure to evolve for many years.

PHI Lusatia Park Sauvignon 2006 $43, Chardonnay 2005 $48, Pinot Noir 2005 $52
A few weeks back I wrote of the graceful wines being made by Steve Webber and Leanne De Bortoli in the Yarra Valley. Steve and Leanne apply those same low-intervention principles in a joint venture with Stephen and Kate Shelmerdine, owners of Lusatia Park Vineyard. The wines express the subtlety and elegance of fruit from the Shelmerdine’s elevated, cool site in the southern Yarra Valley. To me the standout is the beautifully perfumed, fine, silky textured pinot noir. And the whites appeal, too, for their finesse, texture and subtle varietal expression. The wines are distributed by Mezzanine, phone 1300 136 561.

Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2005 $18 to $23
Yalumba offers three viogniers, each outstanding at its price – and little wonder. Since establishing Australia’s first significant plantings in the Eden Valley in 1980, they’ve worked hard to tame and bottle what winemaker Louisa Rose calls an ‘incredibly challenging’ and ‘unpredictable’ variety. The amazingly plush, complex $60-a-bottle ‘The Virgilius’ comes from those original plantings; and at the other end the $10-$13 ‘Y’ is a tasty South Australia blend. In between, at $18 to $23 retail, comes this opulent version from the Eden Valley. Partly barrel and partly tank fermented with indigenous yeast, it offers viognier’s unique and delicious apricot-like aroma and flavour and silky, slippery texture.

Rather than tut-tutting, Italian winemakers ought to applaud Guenther Aloys’ launch, in designer cans, of Rich Prosecco, a semi-sparkling wine from Italy’s Treviso Province.

In a series of Paris Hilton hosted parties, starting in a Tyrolean ski resort last April before fanning out over Germany (and even to Munich’s beer-drenched Oktoberfest), the little gold tinny and its contents seems to have been a huge success.

The promoters claim to have sold one million cans of Rich Prosecco in the four months following its release. One press release called it “Generation Y’s trendiest lifestyle beverage”.

And therein lies a hint for Australian winemakers as well as the Italian hand wringers. Unlike wine in traditional packaging, Rich Prosecco in cans appears to have broad appeal to young people.

Guenther Aloys’ success with Prosecco-in-can suggests that there’s at least one way forward in an oversupplied global industry facing a demographic crunch.

In its Australian Wine Industry, Challenges for the future report issued in October, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics writes, “Despite rising incomes in both traditional and non-traditional wine consuming countries, global demand for wine is not responding as more wine drinkers move into retirement (with attendant lower income) and younger age groups exhibit a preference for other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages”.

It’s worth noting, too, that there’s nothing novel in attracting drinkers to wine with light, fresh, fruity, slightly sweet flavours. It’s been a perennial theme in Australian winemaking and marketing – and very successful at times, too.

We’ve been spared Paris Hilton, at least, but it was just such a wine style – Barossa Pearl and a host of bubbly look-alikes – that in the fifties and sixties turned many Australians on to the pleasures of wine drinking.

Even without bubbles, crisp, fresh, slightly sweet, fruity wines – notably Lindemans Ben Ean Moselle — carried the pop wine drinking culture forward. And, more recently, we’ve seen mixed success with semi-sweeties like Glass Mountain and Soho.

And, of course, we shouldn’t forget one of the biggest selling sweeties of all, Brown Brothers Spaetlese Lexia. It’s been thriving for decades now.

But what none of these has achieved – from Barossa Pearl in the fifties to the still popular Spaetlese Lexia – is broad appeal to young adults. The market has generally been to a more mature person that may or may not move on to dry wines and will almost certainly drink less when older.

The success of Rich Prosecco, then, clearly lies more in the presentation than in its pleasant, undemanding flavours – a style described by Prosecco producers on the official regional website as being “made with the young and less expert consumer in mind”.

Those traditional producers might pooh-pooh the can, and even ban it in Italy. But Guenther Aloys’ designer packaging is more in tune with what younger drinkers are used to in their preferred tipple — pre-mixed drinks, mostly spirit based.

Throw in the colour of Paris Hilton, the glamour of ski resorts and top night-spots (and a premium price) and you have wine as fashion – meaning significant volumes for the producer and presumably good profits, too.

Australian winemakers have long wondered how to tap into the exploding ready-to-drink market. Rich Prosecco shows that it can be done. If it succeeds in Germany, why can’t similar products succeed with young people both here and in our major export markets?

WINE REVIEWS

Schloss Vollrads Rheingau Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken 2005 $26
This gold medal winner from Canberra’s International Riesling Challenge comes from Germany’s Rheingau district. Vines were first planted there in the eighth century and riesling recorded there since 1435. The latitude’s long, gentle growing season suits riesling so well that today it constitutes eighty-five per cent of the Rheingau’s vine plantings. The styles are wonderfully delicate and generally low in alcohol – with the sweeter wines as low as seven or eight per cent. This one, at eleven per cent, is a wonderful, teasing, pour-another-glass aperitif combining gentle sweetness with intense but delicate fruit flavour. Available at www.fermoy.com.au

Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 2005 $14 to $18
Given its provenance, exceptional ageing ability, superb show record and the sheer drinking pleasure it provides, Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling surely ranks amongst Australia’s greatest value wine buys. The 2005, already with four gold medals to its name, delivers the classic, zesty, lime-like flavour, freshness and fine structure of riesling grown at Watervale, in the southern Clare Valley. Orlando Group White Winemaker, Rebekah Richardson, tells me it’s a blend of the best Watervale material of each vintage, as assessed by the Orlando team. That team, incidentally, includes veteran John Vickery, a key figure in the development of modern Australian riesling.

Printhie Orange Region Merlot 2005 $15
Merlot’s out of favour in some quarters at present, perhaps because so many Australian attempts at the style tend to be either green and hard or overburdened with oak or tannin. But this one – a silver medallist at the recent Orange Wine Show – demonstrated what good fruit, gently handled, can do. It’s from Printhie’s Phalaris Vineyard and, says winemaker Rob Black, winemaking focused on capturing the fruit flavour without extracting too much tannin. The appealing fragrance, elegant structure and simple, delicious fruit make it ideal for drinking right now. It seems Orange has a real future with this variety. See www printhiewines.com.au

Ah, wine shows. They seem to be everywhere. Canberra alone has five that I know of: in chronological order, Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, Canberra Regional Wine Show, Murrumbateman Cool Climate Wine Show, the Hyatt International Riesling Challenge and the National Wine Show of Australia.

Different people with different objectives operate them, but each one aspires to improve the breed, promote wine, inform wine consumers and build prestige for itself.

And each of Canberra’s events has a different focus: Winewise on Australian and New Zealand small makers; Canberra Regional on wines from the local and adjoining districts; Murrumbateman on wines from Australian ‘cool climate’ growing regions; the Riesling Challenge on rieslings from around the world; and the National principally on winners from other Australian and New Zealand shows – a sort of wine grand final.

With the exception, perhaps, of the Murrumbateman show, each attracts the cream of Australian wine show judges, suggesting that four of the five are taken very seriously indeed not just by leading judges but by the industry at large.

Being taken seriously by the industry means that a show attracts not only the best judges, but also the highest calibre of entries. This makes the task of judging far more rewarding.

And it means that the gongs go to worthy wines, thus rewarding top-notch makers and, at the same time, delivering first-class buying advice to consumers.

That this virtuous cycle becomes self-perpetuating was apparent at the Hyatt International Riesling Challenge, judged by Yalumba’s Louisa Rose and her team in mid October.

Now in its seventh year, the Challenge this year attracted a record 458 entries from nine countries.

While from a consumer’s point of view it’s unfortunate that probably the majority of superb German rieslings on show cannot be purchased here, it’s clear that many German producers are attracted by the Challenge and the promotional opportunities it presents back home.

In any event there are rich pickings from the very long list of Australian and New Zealand medal winners. These embrace a diversity of styles from dry to semi-dry to sweet across many vintages. In fact, you can scroll through the entire catalogue of results at www.rieslingchallenge.com

Flicking through the catalogue, it’s amazing how many of the top-scoring wines are available at comparatively low prices. The gold-medal winning Hardys Siegersdorf 2006, for example, retails at around $14 and as low as $9.99 on special.

Or the best-wine-of-show trophy winner, Tim Adams 2006 (top drops), sells for just $18 at cellar door. The list goes on.

Even more mouth watering (and a pointer to long-term form) is the list of affordable classics in the museum class for dry rieslings from 2003 and earlier vintages.

Six of the twenty medallists in this group of thirty-one wines came from Orlando – three each under the Richmond Grove Watervale (1998, 1999, 2002) and St Helga Eden Valley (1998, 1996 and 2002) labels. These are utterly delicious wines. They retail at modest prices and have proven cellaring ability.

That little bracket also suggests that a future candidate for the Wolf Blass Award for services to riesling – rightly given this year to Ken Helm — might be John Vickery. Now in his seventies, John created the great Leo Buring rieslings of the sixties and seventies and these days consults to the Orlando white wine team.

Stonier Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2005 $25
Founded by Brian Stonier in 1978, Stoniers evolved slowly at first as it learned the tricks of grape growing on the Mornington Peninsula. During the nineties the quality of its chardonnays and pinot noirs lifted dramatically as, at great expense, Brian brought the exuberant vines under control, restricting yields and achieving a resultant lift in flavour concentration. Now under the ownership of Lion Nathan with winemaker Geraldine McFaul at the helm, Stonier regularly produces some of the best pinot noir in Australia. The 2005, though light in colour, delivers the magic fragrance and fine, silky depth of this most difficult variety.

Fischer Canberra District Riesling 2005 $18
Like so many growers in the district, Wayne and Jenny Fischer, of Mount Nanima Vineyard, Murrumbateman, established vines following the Hardy move to Canberra. In 2005, when a potential sale to Hardys fell through, the Fischers sent their riesling grapes to winemaker Richard Parker at Long Rail Gully. Clearly it was a case of handing good fruit to the right winemaker, because the result is absolutely delicious – a tremendously fresh, citrusy, dry riesling to enjoy now or any time over the next four or five years. It’s available at the cellar door, phone 6227 5638, or at selected retail outlets.

Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 2006 $18
Tim Adams 2006 won a gold medal trophies as the best current vintage wine and best wine of show at Canberra’s recent International Riesling Challenge. The success of this modestly priced wine underscores yet again what great value riesling offers. The judges rated it as the best wine of 458 entered from around the world. It’s in the very zesty, tight, refined style of the best from Clare and ought to drink well for twenty years if carefully cellared. Ken Helm, a driving force behind the show, received the Wolf Blass Award for his services to riesling.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2006 & 2007