Propagandists in the French wine industry portray Australia as one big, hot, homogenous country pumping out vast quantities of “industrial” wine. While our export success with bright, fresh, affordable varietals – largely at the expense of French producers – might be partly to blame for this perception, it’s as far from the truth as a … Continue reading Extraordinary diversity in Oz wines
As reported last week Cowra’s wine output recently halved as demand for its grapes evaporated. In response, a dozen independent growers formed Cowra Winemakers to promote the area’s soft, fruity, easy-drinking, inexpensive wines. Like South Australia’s Langhorne Creek and Wrattonbully regions, Cowra’s broad-acre developments fed largely into multi-regional blends. As a result Cowra became perhaps … Continue reading Cowra boutique wines — part 2 of 2
Two weeks ago a dozen independent Cowra winemakers visited Canberra. Their story is a microcosm of the shrinking act now underway in Australia as big makers pull the pin on grape contracts, export and local prices decline, and domestic tastes shift dramatically away from chardonnay to sauvignon blanc. Cowra, the group told me, had already … Continue reading Cowra part 1 of 2 — honey, they shrunk the wine industry
A recent database published by Winetitles, Adelaide, lists 2320 Australian vignerons, mostly small and sprinkled across southern Australia. As a judge at the recent Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, I was struck by the diversity of styles and high quality now offered by these small makers. Indeed we judged at such a leisurely pace (for a … Continue reading Winewise awards — a view from the judge’s bench
Riposte ‘The Stiletto’ Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris $22–$26 Barwang Tumbarumba Pinot Gris 2008 $17–$20 Pinot gris, a clear or yellow or golden or grey or pink, long-tamed mutant of pinot noir, comes in so many styles – bone dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet or sweet – it’s almost impossible to define. But the most intensely flavoured, possessing … Continue reading Wine review — Riposte, Barwang and Angoves
No vintage is all good or all bad. And it seems that 2008 was a mix of both extremes – from tales of woe and withered fruit in South Australia’s March heatwave to delight at a riesling vintage that may measure up to the legendary 2002. While water shortages continued to plague growers along the … Continue reading Australia 2008 — vintage vignettes
Tyrrell’s Brokenback Hunter Valley Shiraz 2004 $20 The best Hunter shiraz has a fine-ness that belies its warm-climate origins. In the old days these were often called ‘Hunter Burgundy’ – partly in keeping with generic labelling of the time and partly because of structural, if not flavour, similarities to Burgundy (i.e. pinot noir from France’s … Continue reading Wine review — Tyrrell’s, d’Arenberg & Marius Wines
You read the vintage hype, stash a few boxes away and now, a decade on, comes the moment of truth. Do your treasured 1998 Coonawarra cabernets measure up to the excitement surrounding the vintage? It was a warmer than average season in the region, producing sturdier reds than usual. This prompted a 1998s-are-atypical critique, followed … Continue reading Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon 1998 — a report card
Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz 2004 and Tiers Vineyard Piccadilly Chardonnay 2005 about $75 Brian Croser’s new Tapanappa releases come from single vineyards in Wrattonbully and the Piccadilly Valley, South Australia. The red, a blend of seventy per cent cabernet sauvignon, twenty per cent shiraz and ten per cent cabernet franc, is highly perfumed, … Continue reading Wine review — Tapanappa, Shaw Vineyard Estate, Seppelt, Zema Estate & Carlei
In 2001 brewer Lion Nathan acquired Petaluma, the upmarket wine company founded by Brian Croser in 1976. In January 2003, Croser — in partnership with, Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages, Bordeaux, and Société Jacques Bollinger, the parent company of Champagne Bollinger — purchased the Koppamurra vineyard at Wrattonbully, near Coonawarra. The partnership — Tapanappa Wines … Continue reading Petaluma’s Brian Croser joins Bollinger, Lynch-Bages in Tapanappa venture downunder