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
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 … Continue reading A snapshot of Aussie and Kiwi pinots
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 … Continue reading The argument’s in the can
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 … Continue reading International riesling challenge 2006 points to huge value for drinkers
Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2006 $15 to $18 Pewsey Vale 2006 earned a bronze medal winner at last week’s Barossa Valley Wine Show. As with so many bronze-medal, current-vintage rieslings, a sip in passing on the tasting bench reveals far less than a chilled bottle consumed at a leisurely pace. What started as a … Continue reading Wine review — Pewsey Vale & McKellar Ridge
Judged by share of media voice, Australia’s fragrant, refined, cool-climate shiraz styles have the upper hand over the sturdy, ripe warm-climate styles. Steadfastly, however, Australia’s wine investors and consumers continue to back the robust, ‘old fashioned’ warm-climate shirazes. Some might say that this is just the old guard doggedly sticking to the past, forever blind … Continue reading Brian Walsh, Octavius and the case for diverse shiraz styles
Last year I promised to come back with an extended shopping list of 2005 vintage Australian rieslings. As a group these present an extraordinary buying opportunity because they offer exceptional drinking and, in most cases, can be found at discounted prices in Australia’s extraordinarily competitive market. Australia — and especially South Australia — has an … Continue reading Wine review — a feast of Aussie 2005 rieslings
Bay of Fires Tasmania Pinot Gris 2005 $27 Bay of Fires is the premium Tasmanian brand of The Hardy Wine Company, made in Tasmania by Fran Austin. Fran’s pinot gris – sourced from the Coal River Valley near Hobart and from the Tamar River, north of Launceston – possesses some of the underlying textural richness … Continue reading Wine review — Bay of Fires, Majura Vineyard & Pewsey Vale
Turn your back on a pinot noir vine and it’s likely to mutate. No kidding. Not that it has much chance to these days because, like all grape vines, they’re bred pure from cuttings — avoiding natural reproduction and the mutation that does with it. Thankfully French monks maintained pinot’s purity through the Middle Ages. … Continue reading Pinot grigio, pinot gris — call it what you like, it’s still grey
The sheer delicious pleasure of drinking riesling, young or old, and the efficacy of screw caps for both early drinking and cellaring wines came through at the recent National Wine Show exhibitors’ tasting. Faced with 1400 wines and just four hours’ tasting time, quick forays into chardonnay, cabernet and shiraz turned to a dedicated look … Continue reading Riesling sizzles at the National Wine Show