Each of Australia’s icon reds has a unique story – from the clear-sighted vision that sparked Grange’s steady march to international renown; to the brick-by-brick building of elegant classics like Cullens Margaret River Cabernet Merlot; to the bumpy, variable quality route traversed by Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz. Blass’s flagship arrived with a thump … Continue reading Wolf Blass Black Label — rebuilding an icon, part 2
Victoria’s King Valley stretches northwards from the sub-Alpine country around Whitlands, at a chilly 800 metres above sea level, gradually descending and comparatively narrow, before fanning out over the hot Oxley plains around Milawa at around 170 metres. Growing conditions vary greatly in this thirty kilometre long valley. Varying altitudes, rainfall, latitudes, soils and aspects … Continue reading King Valley overview
2005 may be seen as a turning point for the Australian wine industry – the year when surplus production, created by an export induced vine planting spree a decade earlier, finally began to take its toll on winemakers and grape growers while providing drinkers with a cornucopia of low priced wine. The squeeze on margins, … Continue reading 2005 review and a look ahead
David Farmer — former Canberra wine merchant, in town last week to launch his new Barossa-based business, Glug — believes traditional liquor retailing has gone forever to Coles and Woolworths. Even after the current margin-sapping wine glut clears, consolidation among producers and retailers virtually ensures a changing landscape. For independent retailers that means finding a … Continue reading Farmer finds independent retail niche
As reported last week, David Farmer, co-founder of former Canberra-based Farmer Bros, is about to re-enter the wine trade via a cellar door mail order operation –glug.com.au — in the Barossa Valley. While setting up the business, though, David’s been applying the disciplines of his old trade, geology, to the Barossa. This work when published … Continue reading Geologist David Farmer defines Barossa land surfaces
A long winemaking history, varied landscapes, large area under vine and sheer numbers of winemakers underlie the Barossa Valley’s ability to make so many wine styles so well. Riesling, semillon, chardonnay, viognier, shiraz, grenache, grenache-mourvedre-shiraz blends, cabernet sauvignon and a range of sublime fortifieds all earned gongs at last week’s Barossa Wine Show. This tasty … Continue reading Barossa show turns on a treat
After a hot, flavour-sapping 2004 vintage, the milder 2005 season seems to have produced rieslings of subtle perfume, delicious flavour and, in the better examples, the classic intensity and acid structure for long-term cellaring. As these flow into an increasingly competitive market over the next few months, it’ll pay to stock up – provided, of … Continue reading Aussie 2005 rieslings looking good
As far north and as coastal as it is, the lower Hunter Valley of NSW ought to be too warm, too wet, too humid and, with Sydney so close, too expensive to make wine. But it has successfully done so for 170 years and today it is more varied and innovative than at any other … Continue reading Hunting the Hunter wine region innovations
Rose’s long predicted moment in the sun may, at last, have arrived – in a very small but dynamic way. According to A.C. Nielsen, Australian retail sales of bottled rose grew 108.3 per cent by volume and 79.5 per cent by value in the year to November 2004. By the end of December, says Orlando-Wyndham’s … Continue reading Rosé — a bland, surplus-driven boom
The battle for the top of the bottle is diversifying as the pure-cork monopoly crumbles. What was once the domain of the cork came under challenge from synthetic plugs in cheaper wines in the mid nineties before being blown wide open by recent widespread acceptance of screw cap sealed premium wines. But the synthetic plug … Continue reading Aluminium giants Alcan and Alcoa join the wine-seal fray