Pinot noir is but a blip in Australia’s wine consumption statistics. But it’s one of the most satisfying varieties to drink when winemakers get it right, as they increasingly do. And though style and quality vary enormously, my experience is that those at the top mercilessly test their own wine against global peers, especially the … Continue reading Armand Rousseau inspires Aussie pinot makers
As we move towards vintage 2008 Australia’s wine industry is in dramatically different shape than it was last year. In spring 2006 as vines budded for the 2007 vintage, I was in the Barossa and Langhorne Creek hearing daily of cancelled grape contracts as large winemakers, with storage tanks full, anticipated a third consecutive bumper … Continue reading Snapshot of the Aussie wine industry
Rutherglen’s luscious, luxurious Tokays and Muscats may not the underpriced secrets they used to be. But they are, at least, as stunningly, deliciously brilliant as ever and readily available. They’re wines to savour slowly and, like good Cognac or single malt Scotch, half the pleasure is in the aroma. And that means that one glass … Continue reading Rutherglen’s glorious tokays and muscats
‘Although alcohol does not have a taste’, writes Professor A. Dinsmoor Webb (Oenologist, UC Davis, retired), ‘it has an effect, not just on the human nervous system, but on how a wine tastes. The alcohol content in a perfectly balanced wine should be unfathomable, but wines that are slightly too high in alcohol can have … Continue reading Alcohol and wine flavour
Like the Australian wine industry, New Zealand’s has enjoyed a decade of unprecedented, export-driven growth. However, New Zealand’s southerly latitudes and cooler climate dictates a vastly different wine-industry structure than Australia’s. With New Zealand’s warmest significant growing region, Gisborne, sitting at about the same latitude as Melbourne, it’s only natural that the Kiwi industry focuses … Continue reading Oz versus Kiwi wine style differences
The sheer quality, value and long cellaring ability of Australia’s 2007 rieslings presents a great buying opportunity for drinkers. But before presenting several gems from recent tastings, it’s interesting to reflect on this noble variety’s undeserved niche status. It’s a darling variety amongst winemakers and the converted. It attracts critical attention completely out of proportion … Continue reading Riesling misses the boom but won’t go away
Bidgeebong Icon Series Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2005 $32 While the 2006 vintage won a gold medal and trophy at the recent Canberra regional wine show, the currently available 2005 is on the money, too. It’s sourced from the Slacksmith family’s Humula vineyard at 400-450 metres above sea level – towards the lower end and presumably warmer … Continue reading Wine review — Bidgebong, Kirrihill & Morris
The emergence of shiraz as Canberra’s strongest wine variety is fortuitous for the region’s vignerons. Why? Because it plugs in neatly to a growing global view that Australia is the world’s shiraz specialist. And, arguably, the greater the diversity of styles we deliver the wider the interest that we’ll generate. Phil Laffer, one of Australia’s … Continue reading The power of a regional specialty
To wine boffins the names Chambertin, Corton-Charlemagne, and Montrachet conjure images of wonderful, though breathtakingly expensive, wines. Stripped of mystique, they are simply names of time-proven vineyards now firmly protected by French law and embedded in wine lore. Not just the names, but the prices paid by generation after generation of wine drinker, show that … Continue reading Site really matters — it’s the vocabulary of fine wine
About a year after putting historic Seppeltsfield on the market, Foster’s last week announced its sale to a group of investors led by little-known Clare Valley based Kilikanoon Wines. Kilikanoon Managing Director, Nathan Waks, says that the purchase is being executed through The Seppeltsfield Estate Trust. The trust’s owners include Kilikanoon Wines, Janet Holmes a’Court, … Continue reading Cellist Nathan Waks leads Seppeltsfield buyout investors