For all the international success of Australian wine (we exported $2.46 billion worth in the year to January 2009, 17% less than in the year to January 2008), our export markets know little of the diverse regional wine styles flowing from our 112 official ‘geographic indications’ (GIs). Our export success to date rests primarily on … Continue reading Taking our wine names to the world
Fourteen-year-old Bill Redman arrived in Coonawarra in 1901with his older brother, Dick. They’d heard that work was available at John Riddoch’s cellars, says Bill’s grandson, Bruce. ‘Bill was small and they put him to work in the cellar (he could fit into barrels’, adds Bruce, ‘but his brother was bigger and was put to work … Continue reading Redman — 100 years in Coonawarra
Brindabella Hills Canberra District Riesling 2008 $18–$20, Shiraz 2006 $22.50–$25 Roger and Faye Harris’s delicious, lime-like riesling has at last been recognised in a top-tier wine show – the 2008 recently winning gold in Canberra’s International Riesling Challenge. The wine was also rated by the judges as one of the best ten Aussie rieslings in … Continue reading Wine review — Brindabella Hills, Alinga Four Winds & Majella
Readers familiar with the work of Ralph Steadman might easily mistake the label cartoon on ‘The Ambassador’ Tempranillo 2007 (a new Canberra label) for an original from this great artist. I did, and was disappointed to learn that it wasn’t. One glance at the quirky, stout, dinner-suited, moustachioed, florid-faced, red-wine toting ambassador stirred memories of … Continue reading New Canberra label reminscent of Ralph Steadman
Giesen Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 $14–$20 Giesen sources its fruit from a diversity of vineyards across the Marlborough district. This has an impact on flavour as the area is far from homogenous and produces a spectrum of sauvignon flavours, ranging from cat’s-pee pungent to sweet, tropical-fruit. The 2007 leans more to a ripe, highly aromatic … Continue reading Wine review — Giesen, Mitolo & Murdock
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
Coonawarra reds fetch a premium today. But behind their reputation lies a twisting, sometimes profitless and often frustrating struggle that stretches back to the 1890s. Indeed, had it not been for the foresight of Samuel and David Wynn in 1951, our most famous cabernet region might be a sheep paddock today. The ‘estate that made … Continue reading Coonawarra — almost a sheep paddock
The quality and style of several great Australian wine brands owned by Foster’s remain intact despite the wine division’s ten per cent sales decline in the first half 2006–07. But will great brands like Penfolds, Wynns and Wolf Blass flourish long term under the Foster’s banner? Will Foster’s remain in the wine business in the … Continue reading Will Foster’s stay in the wine business
Tahbilk Nagambie Lakes Shiraz 2003 $17-$22 ‘I predicted a crop loss of 50% – the bad news is that is more like 70–75% which is a disaster’, writes proprietor Alister Purbrick of the 2007 vintage (see my column in next Wednesday’s Food & Wine for more info on Australia’s 2007 grape harvest). The problem has … Continue reading Wine review — Tahbilk, Balnaves & Peter Lehmann
As Christmas 2006 approaches Australia’s wine industry finds itself undergoing a major mood shift. Thanks to drought and savage spring frosts, the domestic wine lake that appeared to be permanent just a few months back seems to be evaporating. By conservative reckoning – assuming continued growth in domestic and export markets — grape supply will … Continue reading My best value wines of 2006