Winestate Magazine September October 2011

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NO.243 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011Editor & Publisher Peter Simic E-mail: [email protected] Editor Lara Simic E-mail: [email protected] Editor Michael Cooper E-mail: [email protected] Mike JaenschAdministration Vicki Bozsoki E-mail: [email protected] Director Renate Klockner E-mail: [email protected] Manager Peter Jackson E-mail: [email protected] Coordinator Stephen Dean E-mail: [email protected] DAI RubiconWinestate Web Site Justin Martin E-mail: [email protected] South Wales Winsor Dobbin, Elisabeth King, Clive HartleySouth Australia Skye Murtagh, Joy Walterfang, Graeme Andrews,Valmai Hankel, Nigel HopkinsVictoria Jeni Port, Hilary McNevinWestern Australia Mike Zekulich, Rod ProperjohnQueensland Peter Scudamore-Smith MW, Andrew Corrigan MW, Lizzie LoelNew Zealand Michael CooperNational Travel Winsor DobbinUSA Gerald D. BoydEUROPE André Pretorius, Giorgio Fragiacomo, Sally Easton MWASIA Denis GastonADVERTISING SALESAustralia, New Zealand & InternationalPeter Jackson, Winestate PublicationsPhone: (08) 8357 9277 E-mail: [email protected] O’Reilly, Public Relations - [email protected] Reid, Sponsorship Consultant - [email protected], South Australia & VictoriaWinestate Magazine (08) 8357 9277E-mail: [email protected] Bradley Phone: (07) 3391 6633 E-mail: [email protected] AustraliaKym Burke - O’Keeffe Media Services (08) 9381 7766WINESTATE New Zealand AdministrationKay Morganty Phone: (09) 479 1253 E-mail: [email protected] and Gotch Australia P/LNew ZealandIndependent Magazine DistributorsInternationalDAI RubiconHong Kong & ChinaEverwise Wine LimitedUKComagBRAZILWalker DistributionUSASource Interlink InternationalWINESTATE is published seven times a year by WINESTATE PUBLISHING PTY LTD,81 King William Road, Unley SA 5061.Copyright 2011 by WINESTATE PUBLISHING PTY LTD. This publication may not, in wholeor in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronicmedium or machine-readable form without the express permission of the publisher.Every care is taken in compiling the contents of this publication, but the publisher assumesno responsibility for the effects arising therefrom.ABN 56 088 226 411Winestate Telephone (08) 8357 9277 Facsimile (08) 8357 9212E-mail [email protected] Web Site www.winestate.com.au

contentsSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011WOR LD’S GR EATE S T 40 On the road to revelationSYRAH & SHIRAZ Australian wine is strengthening its foothold in Japan’s wine market, but52 Inseparable twins what is the Japanese perspective on Syrah, the identical twin of shiraz, this ‘continent of wine’? Yoshiji Sato has for the first time been given due joins Denis Gastin on the first leg of recognition in the name of our epic their Great Australian Wine Adventure. challenge. Editor and Publisher Peter Simic explains why it’s now 44 & 48 the World’s Greatest Syrah and Shiraz Challenge, and spells out Taking sides in the great organic- how the vast array of entries was organized and judged. biodynamic debate56 In the final analysis The growing practice of biodynamic/ Australia shared the honours with France in last year’s Challenge - but 52 organic viticulture is a polarising stands alone on the winners’ dais in 2011. Jeni Port and Greg Reid tell subject - is it the great green hope or the stories of the top three wines, produced from three different regions a cow-pat-fuelled load of nonsense? in two different states. OT H E R F E AT U R E S David Stevens-Castro argues the62 The cream of the crop For the budget-conscious to the big 30 British buyers confirm Hawke’s Bay case for this revolution, while Brian spenders, we present the Challenge as a serious market player Miller takes the opposite tack. category winners. Check out our judges’ top picks in 13 price ranges The international profile of New R E G U L A R S from under $10 to $200-plus. And there’s also a list of the leading wines Zealand’s second-largest wine from Australia, New Zealand, France region seems to be on the rise. Mike 12 Briefs and the Americas. Cooper explains how Hawke’s Bay, 21 Cooper’s Creed with Michael Cooper106 Read all about them Start your shopping list - and your with a century and a half of vinous 22 European Report with Sally Easton wish list - as you browse through history, is making a widening impact, 24 Wine Tutor with Clive Hartley the judges’ tasting notes on the 356 particularly with Bordeaux-style reds. wines that scored gold, high silver, silver, high bronze and bronze 32 Wine shopfronts migrate from 26 Wine Travel with Elisabeth King awards from our panel. vineyards to Main Street 28 Wine History with Valmai Hankel Traditionally an integral part of the 64 Grapevine wineries and vineyards, cellar doors 70 Wine Words are migrating to where the customers How We Judge are - the cities. Greg Reid looks at the 71 strategy behind the trend and talks 95 Subscription Form to some of the winemakers with an 98 What’s it Worth? urban presence. 100 Wine Investment & Collecting 36 Shiraz aficionados savour a world 162 Aftertaste of difference There may be interesting syrah alternatives from New Zealand and France, but Australia remains the undisputed king of shiraz, writes 73 Brandy, Cognac & Armagnac, Rob Geddes MW, as he explores New Releases and Top 40 Best Buys the different styles the various under $20. states have to offer. W I N E TAST I N G S Winestate Magazine 128 Semillon & Blends Issue Number 243 134 Yarra Valley & Southern Victoria September/October 2011 140 River Regions 146 Hawke’s Bay, NZ Cover photograph 153 Michael Cooper’s Recent Releases © Orange Lane STUDIOS. For a complete list of what we tasted for this issue please refer to www.winestate.com.au





editorialTIME FLIES WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN!It seems hard to believe that we are now running our sixthWorld’s Greatest Syrah & Shiraz Challenge. While we havejudged shiraz in this magazine for 33 years, it has only been inthe past six that we have made a concerted effort to sourcethe world’s finest examples to stand against the massive line-up of wines that we judge. To claim the title it is not just about big numbers but alsothe quality of the competition. In that vein we make surethat the top Rhone wines from Guigal, Chapoutier and PaulJaboulet are included, plus the iconic Australian brands fromthe Penfolds and Henschke stables, with New Zealand theup and comer in the syrah-branded line up. So not only is thistasting almost twice the size of its nearest competition, butwe like to think it’s also twice the quality of its rivals - maybenot twice, but you get the idea! This year we went further and scoured the retail trade tofind any syrah or shiraz wines from Europe and the Americasand managed to come up with about 40. Unfortunately, and much to our dismay, many of these didnot make the cut in the tasting (despite some impressive packaging) so you won’t see them in thismagazine. This also applies to some well-known Australian brands; it just goes to show a blind tastingfavours no one! However, if you would like to see all the wines tasted please check out our websiteat www.winestate.com.au for a full list. For the first time in six years our top 10 wines were all Australian, which again confirms the strength ofthe syrah/shiraz varietal in this country. (It should be pointed out that due to some logistical problems ashipment of Kiwi wines was not sent and some of these no doubt could have been contenders). Thosewho think that all winning Australian shiraz wines are blockbusters are mistaken, as this year’s winnersand past placegetters have come from the cool-climate regions of the Adelaide Hills, the Grampiansand even Clare Valley. Maybe the judges thought these wines were French or maybe they just likedthe fruit vibrancy involved; whatever reason, the results are interesting and always controversial. Our full panel of judges who worked tirelessly to compile the list of recommended wines areintroduced on page 54. Each day involved a different set of three judges evaluating the wines blindunder my final supervision. I can guarantee that no judge had any knowledge of any wine tasted untilafter all the scores were in and confirmed. After that, the result was mandated and no correspondencewas entered into. For our top 10 list and final award winners, every five-star wine was returned onthe final day of judging and put into a separate line-up to again be judged blind. From this the judgesselected their winners. The ‘trophy’ judging panel included Louisa Rose (chair), chief winemaker, Yalumba Wines andnational senior show judge; Martin Williams MW and national show judge; and Bill Hardy, corporateoenologist, Accolade, (formerly Constellation) and international show judge. Our thanks to them andall the other judges for a superb effort, and of course to all the wineries which submitted their winesfor this extensive evaluation. We hope you enjoy the results as much as we did bringing them to you.Cheers!Peter SimicEditor/Publisher September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 11

briefsWINEMAKER REVIVALSTELLAR DOUBLE AFTER FIRETALK about a big year! Hunter IN THE 2009 bushfires, YarraValley winemaker Liz Jackson Valley winemaker Ian Macleanis on a roll. Last year she lost his winery, 1.2 hectares ofproduced the NSW Wine of the mature grapevines and a shedYear, the 2003 Tempus Two containing every vintage of hisCopper Zenith Semillon. This Yarra Yarra wines going backyear she was named Hunter to 1983. Devastated by theValley Winemaker of the Year, loss, Ian has taken two yearsthe first woman to claim the title in the award’s five-year history. To to rebuild his winery and his wine dream. The grapes look to havecap a big 12 months off, Liz is due to give birth to her first child in finally put the fires behind them as well, and this year Ian was greetedSeptember. Best-known for her work with Tempus Two through her with a superb vintage. “I reckon they’re very charming wines, morerole as chief winemaker at the biggest contract winemaker in the feminine,” he says of both his reds and whites, including his flagshipHunter Valley, Monarch Winemaking Services, Liz is also winemaker cabernet sauvignon. “They’re really at lovely levels of alcohol (12.5-13at her father-in-law’s Hunter Valley vineyard, First Creek. per cent). They’ve got great complexity.” The new Yarra Yarra winery, sitting atop a hill in Steels Creek outside Yarra Glen, is far more eye-CHARDONNAY SURGES catching than ever in grey and charcoal striped Colorbond.DESPITE a cooler vintage and the departure of thousands of IMPATIENT PATIENTgrapegrowers from the Australian wine industry, this year’sharvest, estimated at 1.62 million tonnes, is higher than last year’s. AFTER three decades as a leading exponent of Australian riesling,The increase may be small, just one per cent, but it comes at a winemaker Jeffrey Grosset reckons he may have finally struck a near-time when producers country-wide continue to struggle with poor perfect vintage. “It’s so exciting,” he says. “This year is one of the bestsales at home and abroad. we’ve ever had.” He regards the 2011 vintage more European in style than previous years, but admits he was lucky to see the harvest through The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia reports that for the first to the end. Three days before the end of vintage he found himself intime since 2007, white grapes overtook red, accounting for 52 an Adelaide hospital having heart surgery to replace a faulty valve.per cent of the 2011 crush. To the surprise of many, chardonnayovertook shiraz, increasing in production by a whopping 23 per As Jeffrey recuperated in bed, his specialist came upon thecent to 405,000 tonnes. Where is all that chardonnay destined to sheepish winemaker texting under his blankets to his vineyardgo? Well, despite the best efforts of Aussie winemakers to reinvent workers in the Adelaide Hills. “We were picking pinot and I waschardonnay with elegance and finesse, it appears that a fair amount texting to see how the picking was going,” says Jeffrey. “The doctorof 2011 chardonnay could be destined for bulk exports, which are looked at me and I just said, ‘Vintage is very important’. He thengrowing phenomenally and now represent 46 per cent of the total. went off and told his theatre staff and they had a big laugh out of it.”www.wineco.net.au Exclusive Wine Offers Limited Releases Online Deals Earn Rewards W5inSetsatarste 9HJ4aalplmiodeiansytsChandon Vintage Brut 2005 (crown seal) VisPitenofuorldwse‘bBsiitne3f8or9’mCoarbeermnuesteuShmiroaffzer2i0n0g2s!$2499$5999$2499$1999 Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir 2010 The Marquise Chardonnay 2010 SHS9990Enquiries: P. 1300 138 838WINECO.NET.AUonline orders only at:E. [email protected] are a real family owned wine and spirits merchant, serving Queenslanders for three generations since 1905. We havetwo stores in Brisbane and now offer the whole of Australia access to some of the best wine and spirit deals available onlineat www.wineco.net.au - Welcome! Offer available until 30th September or until sold out.12 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

briefsTIT-FOR-TAT SPAT New chairman of judges, Yarra Valley winemaker David Bicknell, has also welcomed further changes, including making the “winesNEW Zealand winemakers, banned from entering three important of imagination” category open to wines made with no addedAustralian shows, have taken the news badly, with a number preservatives, so-called ‘natural’ wines made with no additives ofreportedly claiming it was because New Zealand wines were any kind and wines that push the boundaries of winemaking andwinning too many trophies. Australian organisers behind the show ‘lateral’ thinking. The single-vineyard class will now have aRoyal Hobart, Perth and Canberra National shows say they have new minimum quantity of just 100 dozen, down from 250 dozen,turned away the Kiwis because an agreement of reciprocal rights and will include riesling.for Australian wines in the New Zealand Wine Awards and RoyalEaster Wine Show has not been met. The Kiwis allege it was only THE DIP DEFEATEDan informal agreement. ELEVEN years after the While the tit-for-tat goes on, one Australian show organiser has introduction of the screwsuggested that Australia will lose from the ban. Warren Mason, cap, Australian winemakersfounder of the Sydney International Wine Competition, says are pretty excited by some ofAustralian winemakers and wine judges could benefit from more the changes they have seenexposure to the wines of the internationally successful Kiwis. in their wines. Cork taint may“The New Zealanders are generally making food-friendly wines be a thing of the past but so,and consumers, not only in Australia but around the world, are too, is the notorious ‘dip’ that,responding very favourably,” he says, adding that he has no under cork, young Aussieintention of preventing the Kiwis from entering his show. white wines, especially semillon and riesling, oftenJIMMY GETS NEW RULES suffered. Under cork, it was accepted that a youngTHE ROYAL Melbourne Show continues to reinvent itself as a riesling or semillon wouldmeaningful show for the 21st century. This year, for the first go into a flat spot, a ‘dip’ in vibrancy, at around 18 months totime, the Jimmy Watson Trophy for the best one-year-old and two years. Sometimes the dip lasted one year, sometimes two(now) two-year-old Australian red wine will be open to bottled or three. Now, producers such as Andrew Thomas at Thomaswines only. The decision follows sustained criticism of the show Wines in the Hunter Valley say the ‘dip’ is no longer there in winesfor allowing classes of unbottled wines to be considered for under screw cap. He believes the cap keeps his semillon freshthe award. Unbottled wines equate to unfinished wines and for longer before it merges gently into ‘middle age’. “It’s beensome producers who have won the Jimmy Watson have been one of the real positives associated with screw caps,” he says,accused of releasing a wine that had little to do with the wine “and might explain why young Hunter semillons now seem to bethey had originally entered. The change in rules means makers doing so well in our wine shows.”can no longer deliberately increase the volume of their winefollowing a win. a journey of discovery through Australian food and wineRestaurant Wine Bar Wine Store Wine Education Wine Odyssey Australia, 39-43 Argyle St, The Rocks, NSW 2000 Contact For Bookings: 02 8114 0256 or [email protected] September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 13

briefsNEW FORAY INTO TASSIE BIG NAMES FOR HOBARTLEADING Adelaide Hills winery Shaw + Smith has followed inthe footsteps of Brown Brothers by making a major investment in JANCIS Robinson OBE,Tasmanian vineyards. After Brown Brothers’ purchase of Tamar widely regarded as one ofRidge and associated brands last year, Shaw + Smith has signed the greatest wine writers anda deal to buy the Tolpuddle Vineyard in the Coal River Valley, 20 educators in the world, hasminutes from Hobart. been confirmed to present the opening and closing Shaw + Smith, owned and operated by cousins Martin Shaw and addresses when HobartMichael Hill Smith, settled on the 20-hectare Tolpuddle Vineyard for hosts the 8th Internationalan undisclosed sum on July 1. The vineyard is planted exclusively Cool Climate Symposium forto chardonnay and pinot noir and was established in 1988 by the Viticulture and Oenology, early next year. Jancis, a Master of Wine,Casimaty family, Tony Jordan and viticulturist Garry Crittenden. Its will be joined by wine luminaries from Australia and abroad, includinggrapes are among the most highly sought after in Tasmania and are Tom Stevenson (the world’s leading authority on champagne andcurrently sold to several leading sparkling and table wine producers. other sparkling wines), Pierre-Yves Bournerias (oenologue and winemaker at the Institut Oenologique de Champagne) and veteran From the 2012 vintage, the new owners have flagged crafting Tasmanian winemakers Dr Andrew Pirie and Andrew Hood.single-vineyard chardonnay and pinot noir that they hope will be“among the very best, most expressive vineyard designated wines Other key delegates include Australian Wendy Stuckeyin Tasmania and Australia”. (winemaker at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington), Michael Brajkovich from Kumeu River Wines, New Zealand), Dr Andy “Of course, while we look forward to making our own wine, likely Reynolds (research chair in viticulture at the Cool Climate Oenologyunder the Tolpuddle Vineyard name, we will continue to supply and Viticulture Institute at Brock University, Canada) and leadinggrapes to the long-term supporters of this magnificent vineyard,” viticulture researcher Dr Richard Smart.Martin Shaw said. Another of the highlights of the event will be the presentation of The vineyard takes its name from the Tolpuddle Martyrs who were results of an innovative, three-year, $1.8 million research project ontransported to Tasmania from England in the 1830s for setting up an improving the quality of cool-climate pinot noir and sparkling wines.agricultural union - their leader, George Loveless, lived and worked The conference will explore four themes: cool-climate viticulture,on the property. “We did a road trip from the north of Tasmania to oenology, sparkling wine and marketing. The subject of Jancis Robinson’sthe south and quite simply this vineyard was the most impressive keynote opening address will be: ‘What’s hot about cool climate?’;we saw,” Michael Hill Smith said. “We could not be more excited her closing presentation will consider ‘Marketing the cool climate story’.about the potential for truly great wine to come from this place.” The four-day symposium will run from January 31 to February 4.The first vintage of Tolpuddle Vineyard wines will be from the 2012vintage and released in 2013. MORE JAZZ IN THE VINESPOKOLBIN’S BIG PLANS THE LONGEST-running annualPLANS have been lodged with Cessnock Council for a new $3.5 music festival in the Huntermillion winery at Pokolbin. Eagles Rest is an established Hunter Valley, Jazz in the Vines, is backlabel producing semillon, chardonnay and shiraz, but grapes for its 19th year. On Saturday,from its 80-hectare vineyard are currently processed by other October 29, jazz fans of allwineries. Now the company is looking to build a new winery on ages will descend on Pokolbinthe site, processing around 250 tonnes of grapes a year. Architect for one of the biggest days ofRob Brown says the facility will be state-of-the art, designed to fit the Hunter’s social calendar.in with the local landscape. “The winery itself is made up of five The star-studded line-upcurving, parallel barrel-vaulted pavilions linked by a courtyard to includes Kate Ceberano, Jamesa large tower which is the centre point of the cellar door,” he says. Morrison, Emma Pask, Soul diva Lisa Hunt, Weird Assembly and George Washingmachine. VIP Jazz Club members get VIP parking, reserved seating at tables of eight in the club marquee, nibbles on arrival, a buffet lunch and a five-hour drinks package (11am to 4pm), which includes specially selected red and white sparkling and still wines, beer and water. Tickets are available on the website at $280 each (plus booking and transaction fees). See www.jazzinthevines.com.au for bookings and further information.14 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

briefsSTUART JOINS CHATEAU GREEN CHAMPIONSBAROSSA Valley winery Chateau Tanunda has appointed StuartBourne as senior winemaker following the departure of Tim Smith. VIGNERON Prue HenschkeStuart joins from Barossa Valley Estate, where he completed 10 has been honoured at theconsecutive vintages as winemaker and was responsible for the 2011 InStyle and Audi Womenbenchmark BVE E&E Black Pepper Shiraz. of Style Awards, winning the ‘Environment’ category. “I am absolutely thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to join The highly regardeda world-class winery at such an exciting stage of its development,” he viticulturist, married tosays. “After 10 years at BVE I truly feel part of the Barossa’s winemaking winemaker Stephen, hascommunity and believe I have gained an intrinsic understanding of this built a formidable reputationbeautiful region with its unique culture and history.” for groundbreaking environmental work during her 25-year stewardship of Henschke vineyards in the Eden Valley and Owner John Geber says: “Stuart’s accomplishments and Adelaide Hills, leading the way in areas including soil managementexperience combined with his dynamism will suit the chateau very and vineyard sustainability.well. Over the years many winemaking greats have honed their craft She has invested considerable research time in developing besthere, including Geoff Merrill, Grant Burge, Max Schubert, Peter practices for mulching, and composting to improve soil healthTaylor and Robert O’Callaghan, and I’m sure Stuart will more than and organic sprays. She is also a pioneer of vineyard companionlive up to his predecessors’ achievements.” planting, introducing native grasses as groundcovers and flowering perennials as nectar sources to attract insects for pest and diseaseCANBERRA’S control. “My mantra is to live within the natural landscape, not overBIG BIRTHDAY the top of it,” she says. All of Henschke’s vineyards are in transition to organics, using biodynamic principles.THE CANBERRA District is Balgownie Estate Yarra Valley, meanwhile, has been awardedcelebrating its 40th anniversary the ‘Best Environmental Initiative’ award at the Australian Hotelsof winemaking - a milestone Association (Victoria) Accommodation Awards for Excellence. Themarked by the release of the estate’s key design elements include self-sufficiency in clean waterbook Wines of the Canberra (tank water making up 850,000 litres annually), sewage purificationDistrict: Coming of Age, written and recycling (conserving seven million litres of water annually),by local winemakers Brian insulation (of rammed earth construction), and flow-throughJohnston and Janet Johnson. ventilation (significant reduction to air-conditioning). When it comes to fresh food produce, 80 per cent of the It was back in 1971 that the vegetables and salad greens consumed in Rae’s Restaurant andfirst of now more than 35 commercial wineries was established near at the resort are cultivated on the property.Canberra and the region has been going from strength to strengthever since. Clonakilla, where Tim Kirk is at the helm, helped spearhead YARRA CHANGEOVERthe popularity of the shiraz/viognier blend and has a lovely cellar dooroverlooking the vines at Murrumbateman, while regional pioneer Ken THERE has been a changing of the guard at Yarra Valley wineryHelm is regarded as one of the best riesling makers in the country. Coombe Farm Estate. Nicole Esdaile, formerly chief winemaker atLark Hill produces arguably Australia’s best example of gruner veltliner Rutherglen Estates, has taken the management and winemakingto date, while other Canberra District wineries worth keeping an eye reins at one of the region’s oldest family estates. As well asout for include Lerida Estate, Shaw Vineyard Estate, Mount Majura, producing its own wines, Coombe Farm supplies premium grapesCollector Wines, Capital Wines, Eden Road, Gallagher and Yarrh. to many of the region’s most prominent producers. If you time your visit to coincide with the October long weekend, Coombe Farm is located on the original St Huberts vineyard inyou can enjoy the Murrumbateman Moving Feast, a food and wine Coldstream, planted by Hubert de Castella in the mid-1800s. Thefestival, and sample all the wines from the Murrumbateman Cool 60 hectares of vineyards were planted in the late 1990s under theClimate Wine Show. For details see www.canberrawines.com.au. guidance of the current resident of Coombe Cottage, Dame Nellie Melba’s granddaughter, Pamela, Lady Vestey. “It’s a very exciting new challenge for me,” Nicole Esdaile says. “Having been involved with the wines of Coombe Farm in a consulting role since the end of 2009, it was impossible for me not to notice the enormous potential for the wine and the business. We have a great site, the fruit is fantastic, the vineyards are now approaching full maturity and we have the resources to trial new varieties and clones.” September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 15

briefs WINERY BROWN’S TO EXPAND NEW CHEF STEFANO Lubiana Wines BROWN Brothers has has announced plans for the announced the appointment construction of new facilities of Douglas Elder as head at its headquarters at Granton, chef of their Epicurean north of Hobart. The $600,000 Centre at Milawa. He joins project has council approval the Brown Brothers team and will feature a cellar door, after making a name for wine tasting and sales facility, himself at Beechworth’s and a small vineyard cafe acclaimed Wardens capable of seating around restaurant, where he earned 40 visitors and including a an Age Good Food Guide wood-fired oven. chef’s hat in consecutive years. Douglas has also The two-storey, Tuscan- worked at Ezard’s at the Adelphi in Melbourne, the Lake Houseinspired facility will feature a number of eco-friendly innovations - in Daylesford and at Villa Gusto in Bright, where his menuincluding solar hot water - and will offer visitors panoramic views of consisted almost exclusively of local produce.the Granton site and the nearby Derwent River. An on-site orchard, The Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre was established in 1994vegetable garden and olive grove will supply fresh, biodynamically to demonstrate the pleasures of enjoying wine with food. Rossgrown produce to the vineyard cafe. The development represents stage Brown, as part of the third generation of this winemaking family,one of a long-term project that envisages an underground sparkling was instrumental in its development after noticing visitors to thewine cave, a small distillery producing alcoholic spirit from waste grape winery wanted to discover more about wine and food.marc and a dedicated work space for an artisan cheesemaker.PROFESSIONAL WINE STORAGE FOR THE COST OF A CUP OF COFFEE!Most people have 6 to 12 bottles of wine that should not wine-arkbe kept at home. Those special wines you have beenholding onto for years, waiting for that special occasion FOR COLLECTORS OF FINE WINEto pull the cork (or twist the cap as it may be).FOR THE COST OF A CUP OF COFFEE A MONTHWine Ark provides:> CLIMATE CONTROLLED MANAGED STORAGE*> FULL INSURANCE> 24 HOUR ONLINE ACCESS> WINE CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR CELLAR> SELL YOUR WINE ONLINE FROM YOUR ACCOUNT> NO HANDLING OUT FEES> PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND FRIENDLY STAFFMembers of our Cellar Club also enjoy access to rare andcollectable wine, invitations to regular wine tastings anddiscounted storage rates. For more information please call1300 946 327 or visit www.wine-ark.com.auFollow us on Twitter, Facebook, or youtube channel *for 12 bottles16 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

briefsTHREE NEW BARONS SIZZLING INNOVATIONBOB McLean, Bernard Hickin and Andrew Caillard are the three PERENNIAL McLaren Vale favourite Wirra Wirra is encouraginglatest Barons of the Barossa, being inducted into the wine fraternity visitors to its cellar door to linger longer and cook themselvesduring the biennial Barossa Vintage festival. Since being founded a steak or some sausages in a new barbecue area, or enjoy ain 1974, the Barons’ ranks have swelled to 114 men and women new viewing platform. The vineyard walkway/viewing platformwho have been recognised for their contribution to the region, its has been christened “The Jetty”, while visitors are invited towine, food and traditions. Stephen Henschke, the fraternity’s Grand offer suggestions for the name of the barbecue area after WirraMaster, says the trio have contributed enormously to the international Wirra GM Andrew Kay’s suggestion of “The Crematorium” wasreputation of the Barossa. Bob has worked for several Barossa howled down. The barbecues are free to use and are availablewineries and now owns the McLean’s Farm label, while Bernard has 11am-4pm daily. Wirra Wirra has also introduced private toursworked as a winemaker at Jacob’s Creek since 1989. Auctioneer and tastings, which must be booked in advance. Visit www.Andrew was described as “a terrific advocate for the Barossa”. wirrawirra.com.‘There is an art to capturing an image of wine that truly reflects the skill and care of the winemaker. Two crafts. Both vital’ Orange Lane STUDIOS www.orangelane.com.au ph: 08 8331 0000 September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 17

briefsCOAL MINE SCUTTLEDA DECISION to reject a proposed coal mine at Osmington,15km from Margaret River, has been welcomed with relief bythe local wine industry. The EPA, Western Australia’s statutoryenvironmental authority, assessed the proposal as beingenvironmentally unacceptable. Throughout the assessmentperiod the Margaret River Wine Industry Association has beena strong advocate against the coal mine and has activelylobbied the State Government.GOURMET GUESTHOUSE TEQUILA EXTRAVAGANZAMUDGEE has a new vineyard retreat with the recent opening SYDNEY has wine bars by the dozen, and plenty of beer cafes,of Rosby Guesthouse, a luxurious homestead 10 minutes from too. Now it has its first tequila bar with the opening of Rock Lilytown that has views of vineyards and Mudgee in the distance. at Star City. A bar and live music venue aimed at attracting aFour king-size rooms with private en suite bathrooms and young, hip crowd, Rock Lily boasts it offers the largest selectionverandahs lead into large living areas, while original artworks of tequila in Australia. This intimate, 200-capacity bar hasdecorate the walls. already hosted parties for two of the biggest names in hip-hop, Snoop Dogg and Nelly. Rooms are decorated with Turkish rugs and Moroccan artefacts,and there are also luxury bathroom products, high-quality linen, The inaugural list features no fewer than 120 tequilas - andan open fireplace and fluffy bathrobes. Attractions include Rock Lily is the only place in Australia you can find many of them.personal wine tastings in the nearby mud-brick cellar, artist Margaritas take front row on the menu with cocktails includingworkshops and custom picnic baskets of local cheese, grass-fed a ‘Cadillac’ (traditional 1930s-style margarita, but using Grandbeef and vegetables from the garden. Bespoke breakfast trays Marnier) shaken, frozen or stirred with your choice of tequila. Therefeature local sourdough and fine teas, and guests are offered is also a large American bourbon/whiskey menu.complimentary wine from the award-winning Rosby estate. Rock Lily is on Level One of Star City and is open Wednesdays Midweek rates start from $150 per night per room, with weekend to Sundays from 5pm until late. For more information visitnights starting at $200 per room with a two-night minimum. Room www.futurestar.com.au.rates include a bottle of Rosby premium wine on arrival and agourmet breakfast tray. Rosby Guesthouse is on Strikes Lane, WINERY’S PUB VENTUREMudgee; phone (02) 6373 3856; email [email protected]. SIRROMET Wines owner Terry Morris has bought a partnershipFAREWELL TO LISA share in the historic Dugandan Hotel at Boonah in south-east Queensland and plans to add a cellar door experience forTHE long-serving events manager of the Coonawarra visitors. “This is an iconic pub known for its old-style countryVignerons’ Association, Lisa Gulyas, has quit her post to return charm, great food and cold beer, and none of that is going tohome to Canada. In five years in the role she was instrumental change,” he says. “However, we plan to introduce wine tastingsin increasing Coonawarra’s profile through events including the and other things for regular customers and tourists, building onCoonawarra Roadshow and Cellar Dwellers series. Vignerons’ the success of cellar door at Sirromet’s Mount Cotton winery.association president, Sue Hodder of Wynn’s, paid tribute to This will provide a unique pub-cellar door experience that allowsher efforts, saying, people to enjoy award-winning wines created by the winemaking team at Sirromet, set in an historic pub on the popular Scenic “Lisa has a certain flair and sense of style and that’s great for Rim wine trail.” Terry’s partner in the hotel venture is fellow Goldus when we’re marketing wines to the top end, the luxury end of Coast businessman Dean Merrell.the wine business.”18 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

FOOD FOR FUN BIG CHANGES AT CAPITALHAYDEN Ellerton, formerly head chef of Terroir at HungerfordHill in the Hunter Valley, has transformed the dining options at IT’S a case of “all change”the Denman Hotel in the heart of Thredbo. He has already made at Capital Wines, which willthe fine-dining The Terrace restaurant at the Denman one of the soon open a new cellar doorbest eateries in regional New South Wales and recently opened at Gundaroo in the CanberraThe Old Pool in the same hotel. wine district and has appointed a new chef at its He describes The Old Pool as a “fun dining” restaurant. It serves flagship regional restaurant,hearty dishes such as spicy meatballs with tomato chilli relish, Grazing. Chef Kurt Neumanndukkah and toasts; clam chowder, lamb shoulder and traditional will head the new restaurantcoq au vin along with a range of dishes with house-made pasta. team, with long-time chef Tom Moore stepping back from The Old Pool menu is designed to share or to indulge day-to-day involvement toindividually with entrees and share plates from $4 to $10, mains concentrate on his Belconnenfrom $22 to $29 and comfort food desserts for $12. “We wanted bakery and ultimately to move to Canada with his family.to create an accessible price point menu in a traditionallyexpensive holiday environment” says Ed Denny, owner of the Kurt is the former head chef at Canberra restaurant CourgetteDenman Hotel. “It was important the food be fresh and original and was sous chef to Dean Sammut at Artespresso. As well asand Hayden has created just that.” heading the team at Grazing, a regular award winner, Kurt will also be working with the Capital Wines team to oversee food directions Hayden completed his apprenticeship with Peter Doyle and won for their new cellar door, cafe and regional epicurean centre, whichan Australian Gourmet Traveller star as head chef at Terroir in the are being completed alongside Grazing.Hunter Valley, as well as Alpine Restaurant of the Year 2010 forThe Terrace Restaurant at the Denman. The Denman is at Diggings Visitors will be able to dine at Grazing or choose a more casualTce, Thredbo; phone (02) 6457 6222; www.thedenman.com.au. experience at the cafe. Regular wine and food tastings and masterclasses are planned and the restaurant’s already extensive kitchen gardens are being expanded to cater for the increased demand. Kurt will keep the Grazing menu focused on house-grown produce and regional meats. He will also introduce degustation options for dining and introducing a “chef’s table” concept for those who want to share the kitchen experience. “These are exciting times for us here in Gundaroo,” says Capital Wines principal Jennie Mooney. “Tom and Kurt will work with me to transition the opening of the new facilities. We believe we will have a world-class food and wine tourism experience for visitors.”VALE’S NEW FESTIVAL NEW WA SALES DRIVEMcLAREN Vale’s events calendar is about to get busier, THE WA wine industry has launched an ambitious $1.1 million three-yearwith a new festival celebrating the start of vintage set to launch international campaign to boost overseas sales. The State Governmentin 2012. The inaugural Harvest Festival McLaren Vale is slated is providing $377,000 to fund the move, with producers contributingfor January 14, with the McLaren Vale Sporting Complex the $770,000. WA Wine Industry Association president John Griffiths saidproposed venue for the fledgling event. The festival, which at the campaign launch in State Parliament that the emphasis would bewill have a “Blessing of the Harvest” theme, will showcase the on the fast-growing Asian region, especially China, where WA exportsregion’s food and wine. Ministers of several denominations will had increased 30 per cent to 55 million litres in the year to March.bless the area’s produce and pray for favourable weather anda successful vintage. He said prestige wines - especially reds - had risen in popularity as the Chinese population became more urbanised. Singapore, Hong Festival chair Vicki Vasarelli of Vasarelli Wines says the festival Kong, Japan and South Korea would also be major market targets inis an exciting initiative that will bind the region before the crucial the campaign, which it was hoped would turn Asian consumers intoharvest period. “This is the beginning of an annual event that will WA wine ‘evangelists’. The association was commissioned by the statebe for everyone to enjoy.” Department of Food and Agriculture to determine what could be done to overturn a worrying decline in WA exports in the past five years, caused Pip Forrester, chair of the McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and primarily by the global financial crisis and the high Australian dollar.Tourism Association, has welcomed the idea, saying, “The morethe merrier. We only really have the one big event (Sea and Vines) The wine industry is worth almost $400 million a year to the WAat the moment so we’re always looking for more. This will bring a economy, or 34 per cent of the horticulture industry, its highest-valuedlot of people to McLaren Vale.” sector. Direct employment rose from 3890 in 2000 to 6000 in 2010. September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 19

nzbriefswhat’s happening on the NZ wine sceneVITICULTURISTS HONOURED ST HELENA FOR SALETWO vastly experienced CANTERBURY’S oldest commercial winery, just north of Christchurch,Marlborough growers who and its large estate vineyard, are up for mortgagee sale, after thehave established their own company was placed in liquidation in March. St Helena no longerwineries featured in the 2011 bestrides the Canterbury wine scene the way it did in the 1980s,Queen’s Birthday Honours. when its gold-medal 1982 and 1984 pinot noirs electrified theAllan Scott, co-founder of the fledgling local wine community and put the region on the NZ winemiddle-sized, family-owned map. Recently, its focus has been on exporting large volumescompany that bears his name, of moderately priced Marlborough sauvignon blanc to the UK,was appointed a Member of packaged in bottles and - not without controversy - three-litre casks.the New Zealand Order ofMerit (MNZM) “for services to AMERICAN WEALTH FOR MARTINBOROUGHviticulture”. Ivan Sutherland,co-founder of Dog Point BILL Foley, an entrepreneurial American billionaire, snappedVineyard, was awarded an up Martinborough’s largest vineyard, Te Kairanga, in May. TeMNZM “for services to rowing Kairanga controls 100 hectares of vineyards and produces aboutand viticulture”. 70,000 cases of wine annually. The company has recently been loss-making, but the move gave Bill good volumes of New Zealand Allan played a key role pinot noir to sell, to match his sauvignon blanc from Marlborough.in the development ofMarlborough’s vineyards. “William P. Foley II, Vintner” - as profiled on the website of FoleyWhen Montana arrived in Family Wines - made his first move in NZ in 2009, when he boughtthe region in 1973, he got a the assets of the New Zealand Wine Fund, a private investmentjob as a vineyard labourer, vehicle. The deal included the Vavasour winery (which pioneeredtearing down fences and planting vines. After rising through the Awatere Valley wine in the late 1980s), over 100 hectares ofranks at Montana, in 1980 he switched horses, joining Corbans to vineyards, planted mostly in sauvignon blanc, and the Goldwateroversee the establishment of their Marlborough vineyards, notably brand (originally based on Waiheke Island).Stoneleigh. A decade later he and his wife, Catherine, launchedtheir own label, Allan Scott. Last year brought two further acquisitions, including the wine distributor EuroVintage - a joint venture with liquor industry stalwart Ivan, from a well-known Marlborough farming family, and his Nick Hern - and Wharekauhau Lodge, where guests pay overwife, Margaret, own substantial vineyards in the Wairau Valley. He $1500 per night. Bill built his fortune in title insurance, still chairswas also Cloudy Bay’s viticulturist for many years, before joining two Fortune 500 companies, and now plans to bring “financialforces with winemaker James Healy to release the first Dog Point discipline to the wine industry”. His 10 wineries in California andwines in 2004. Ivan won a bronze medal in the rowing eights at Washington include Chalk Hill and Sebastiani. His NZ wineriesthe 1976 Montreal Olympics. are expected to benefit from his established networks in the US.MARLBOROUGH’S SOLID VINTAGE WINEMAKER’S GROUP ELEVATIONTHE 2011 vintage provided a stiff test of grapegrowing and BEN Glover, chief winemaker at Wither Hills, has been appointedwinemaking skills in many of NZ’s wine regions, due to an group winemaker for Lion (formerly Lion Nathan), overseeing theunusually rainy summer and autumn. However, the good news production of all its New Zealand wine brands. Ben, who retainsis that Marlborough, where 60 per cent of the country’s vines are his position at Wither Hills, has also assumed responsibility for theplanted, enjoyed a relatively favourable vintage. portfolio of wine brands Lion purchased from Pernod Ricard NZ in late 2010. Those brands include Lindauer, Corbans, Huntaway Warm summer weather ensured the harvest would not be late. and numerous others.April - the key harvest month - was cool in Marlborough and the leastsunny since 1995, but March had been favourably dry and sunny. Rob “We believe we have been very lucky to acquire a few real gemsAgnew, of Plant & Food Research, enthused, “The ripening period from Pernod and are looking forward to maintaining style andfor sauvignon blanc has been very dry and relatively botrytis-free.” building on the quality credentials of brands such as Corbans and Huntaway especially,” Ben told The Press. Lion, Japanese-owned, Cloudy Bay and Brancott Estate have predicted intensely flavoured is a brewing and wine giant formed by a 1988 merger betweenwines with slightly lower than normal alcohol levels. Churton summarised L.D. Nathan and Lion Breweries. In May, the company announcedthe vintage as “fantastic, with really good concentration and balance in its decision to drop the ‘Nathan’ and call itself Lion.our fruit”. Seresin says its pinot noir is “especially exciting”.20 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

c o o p e r ’s c r e e d WORDS MICHAEL COOPERWINE SHOWS SLIP UNDER THE BORDER PROTECTION UMBRELLAWinestate has played a crucial role Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Marlborough New Zealand winemakers, Warrenin reviewing New Zealand wines for Pinot Noir 2007. The Hobart judges also recalls, were invited to enter Australiannearly 20 years, but New Zealand’s kept awarding their best sauvignon blanc competitions when the industry was “stillinvolvement in other major tastings trophy to New Zealand. fledgling and needed a leg-up in termsin Australia has suffered a series of of exposure. That’s completely changedsetbacks. Scott Gadd, CEO of the Royal The Perth Royal Wine Show was founded now… And, of course, there’s also theAgricultural Society of Tasmania, wrote by the Royal Agricultural Society of tit-for-tat argument that New Zealand’sto NZ wineries in May, announcing that Western Australia, to “showcase the national wine show doesn’t accept entriesthe Hobart competition would no longer resources and endeavours of its people”. from Australia.”accept entries from New Zealand. Last year, the Perth judges awarded their trophy for best sauvignon blanc to Villa The term ‘national’ is not applied in any Hobart is not the only Australian show to Maria Private Bin Marlborough Sauvignon official sense on the NZ show circuit, but theexclude New Zealand of late. The Perth Blanc 2010. A trophy for “the exhibitor Air New Zealand Wine Awards (organisedRoyal Wine Show earlier this year banned whose five or more judged entries gained by the industry itself), and the Royal Easterentries from NZ. Last year, the National the highest average points” went to Wine Show, founded in the 1950s and runWine Show of Australia, in Canberra, also Nautilus Estate. by the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoralclosed the door to Kiwi wineries. Association, come closest to ‘national’ status. The National Wine Show of Australia Many New Zealand winemakers have is held by the Royal National Capital Neither of these major shows has everbeen quick to assume that the shows Agricultural Society. When NZ was admitted Australian wines. Nor does thethrew away their welcome mats because excluded from the competition, according Bragato Wine Awards - organised byof the oversupply of Australian wine and to Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand New Zealand Winegrowers to celebratethe popularity of Kiwi sauvignon blanc in Winegrowers, the reason given was single-vineyard wines - or the regional competitions in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.There’s also the tit-for-tat argument thatNew Zealand’s national wine show doesn’t accept But several New Zealand wine showsentries from Australia. do invite Australian participation and are typically deluged with entries. TheseAustralia. But are they missing the point of that entry was introduced to help NZ include the heavily promoted New WorldAustralian wine shows? wine gain entry to the Australian market, Wine Awards, run by the grocery chain, but that was no longer needed. Radio Foodstuffs; the New Zealand International “Royal Hobart, along with all other New Zealand reported recently: “It’s Wine Show, organised by Aucklandcapital city shows, is regarded as one disappointing, he says, but he’s viewing wine store owner, Kingsley Wood; andof Australia’s national shows,” says it as a back-handed compliment.” the Marlborough-based SpiegelauScott Gadd, “and we regard New International Wine Competition.Zealand’s two national shows to be the Who won the trophy in Canberra forAir New Zealand Wine Awards and the best sauvignon blanc in 2009? Vavasour Three of Australia’s capital city wineRoyal Easter Show… Our decision was Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2008. shows - Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydneybased upon the fact that we consider And the pinot noir trophy? Nautilus Estate - have never invited entries from NZ.it inappropriate to allow New Zealand Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008. Ray Jordan, wine writer for the Westwines to enter one of our national shows, Australian, believes the Hobart, Perth andabsent any reciprocal arrangements Warren Mason, director of the Sydney Canberra shows’ decisions to excludefrom [those] shows…” International Wine Competition, one of New Zealand make sense: “They are the few Australian shows still accepting Australian wine shows. We should be First staged in 1975, the Royal Hobart Wine entries from New Zealand, notes that trying to foster our own winemakers andShow is now the second-largest in Australia. “the state capital wine shows were set develop them and their varieties.” up many years ago by royal agricultural Last year, the judges awarded their societies as a means of helping primary That view is shared by New Zealand’strophy for best pinot noir to Saint Clair producers to improve their produce by leading winemaker judges. One toldMarlborough Pinot Noir 2009; the year exposing it to a panel of their peers.” me, “I have never understood whybefore, the trophy went to Villa Maria Australian regional or national shows ever allowed New Zealand entries.” Another declared, “I wouldn’t have New Zealand in Australian competitions either!” September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 21

europeanreport WORDS SALLY EASTON MWWITH PORT LESS To make the best wines, almost invariably a big, muscular style. But as in Australia,POPULAR, DOURO MAKES red, the varieties need careful blending, Sicily has altitude as well as girth, andA STILL STATEMENT another of the Douro’s techniques to deal other nero d’avola of some refinement and with the extreme climate. elegance can be found in the hills.THE DOURO valley, home of port, was oneof the original fortified wine production zones SICILY’S BLACK JEWEL Higher altitude, around 500m and above,in the world. But with the slow decline of can result in the alcohol being up to two perdemand for port wine, the region, some 45,000 STAYING in the Mediterranean warmth, cent lower, with the wines showing greaterhectares of vineyards in 250,000 hectares Italy’s Sicily is the biggest island in the elegance and a more modest body.of territory, is also producing some fine still sea. The island’s vineyards are bigger thanwine - Douro wine - from the same wealth of those of entire countries - Germany, Chile, LUXEMBOURGgrape varieties that are used to make port. South Africa. This is a big island, with lots of BUBBLES ALONGIt’s an extreme viticultural environment: a vineyard. It is Italy’s historical vinous breadbit hotter than the Barossa Valley, McLaren basket. The climate is consistently warm AT ALMOST the other end of the viticulturalVale and Rutherglen, not far off the basic and hot, which makes it ideal for all sorts and climatic extreme, the tiny country ofclimate parameters of Murray-Darling and of fruit and vegetable growing. Indeed, Luxembourg, landlocked between France,the Riverland, and cooler than South Burnett Sicilian vegetables enjoy wide renown. Belgium and Germany, has some 1300in Queensland, or Swan Valley near Perth. hectares of vineyard, versus Sicily’s 119,000. The grape variety Sicily has made its own, The country’s entire vineyards run along Daytime temperatures in summer can though, is the red nero d’avola, a variety that the left bank of the river Moselle (Mosel insometimes reach 40 to 50˚C, and in a survives and thrives in the hot Mediterranean German) for 42km, before the river wends itsclimate that has warmed by 1.2C over summer sunshine; a similar climate to Mystic way into Germany to become one of the mostthe past 35 years, viticulture in the Douro Park in the Murray Valley, where Brown famous vineyard areas in the world.is likely to get more extreme. It is the Brothers have been cultivating nero d’avolaadaptations to this extreme environment for five years. In Sicily, nero d’avola accounts Luxembourg’s vineyards are much lessthat might offer lessons for other hot for 16 per cent of the vineyard area, though if renowned, and with much less riesling. Givenclimates such as those in Australia. you exclude the quotidian catarratto (white, its northern latitude, it’s no surprise that more much of which goes into the production of than 90% of the vineyard area is devoted to The Douro is a mountainous region, so marsala fortified wine or is used to produce white grapes, and the main red, pinot noir,higher altitudes have helped the production grape concentrate), then nero d’avola ups made its entry only this millennium.of Douro wine. Port wine needs super-ripe its accountability to a quarter of the island’sgrapes for all the juicy, sweet fruit and vineyard area. Nero d’avola is produced While much of the country’s wine is stillplentiful tannins of that style, so grapes are all over Sicily, much of it labelled simply as wine, around 15 to 20% of productionpreferred from the lower altitudes, nearer to ‘IGT, or the newer IGP Sicily’ (equivalent to is traditional method sparkling wine, athe river, from around 100m to 500m above French Vin de Pays), whether the wine is category the country is keen to expandsea level. But above 500m, up to around simple or complex. and improve. Under European Union800m, is better for Douro wine. It’s a little regulations, in France, and clearlycooler up high, and still wine needs normal, Quality ranges from the average to the Luxembourg, cremant is the word usedrather than super, ripeness. excellent and the variety’s reputation is to describe traditional method sparkling growing, both in blends and as a single wines that are produced outside the French Combined with altitude is the selection variety, with the best being worthy of barrel region of Champagne. And Cremant deof grape varieties, which are well adapted and bottle age. Its flavour spectrum ranges Luxembourg has been developing sinceto the heat. Paul Symington, managing from cooler, red berried fruits through to dark the category was created 20 years ago.director of Symington Family Estates, says, berries, loganberries, plum, chocolate and“We have grape varieties here that could spices in a full body, with decent acidity. In Luxembourg the rules allow cremant toadapt to outside the region.” He adds that be made using any of the 15 grape varietiesthe highly respected touriga nacional “is Translated literally, it is the ‘black of authorised to be grown in the country,able to ripen in great heat, as it is able Avola’, and Avola is located on the extreme including the main ones planted - rivaner,to keep photosynthesising in heat, and it south-eastern tip of Sicily, some 25km south auxerrois, pinot gris, riesling, pinot blanc,keeps its acidity”. Touriga nacional has of Siracusa along the coast. Proximitous elbling, pinot noir and gewurztraminer. Suchbeen calculated to be around 2000 years Pachino, another 25km further south, flexibility of contents is undoubtedly a resultold, during which time it has developed to produces nero d’avola of note, and being of the tiny scale of viticulture in the country,resist heat and water stress. near sea level, these are reputed to be of but based on a recent tasting, achieving high quality is still a work in progress.22 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

Hahndorf Hill Winery Adelaide Hills GRU 2010 - our debut vintage of Gruner Veltliner – attracted a fair bit of comment. ‘… a lively and crisp palate, with apple, lime and a faint hint of gruner pepper; the length is very good, and bodes well.’ – James Halliday, www.winecompanion.com.au ‘In a blind line-up of mixed alternative variety whites I identified the (Hahndorf Hill) white as extremely good gruner.” - Tim White, The Australian Financial Review ‘I was shocked by how authentic an Adelaide Hills gruner veltliner tasted. It’s a strikingly close replica of the Austrian model.’ - Huon Hooke, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘Very few wines manage such an exquisite balance of fleshy sensuality and mineral austerity ...’ – Philip White, The Independent Weekly ‘… great purity, an anticipation of cleansing. But it is clearly GV …’ - Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com ‘The palate instantly delivers crisp citrus and green-apple flavour, with nashi pear crunch and deeper cidery complexity through the back.’ – Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide ‘2010 Hahndorf Hill Winery GRU Gruner Veltliner (A$28) impressed me with its intensely floral nose.’ – Nick Bulleid MW, Gourmet Traveller Wine ‘… purity, mineral drive and refreshingly soft acidity … It’s a real crowd pleaser.’ – Chris Plummer, www.australianwinejournal.blogspot.com ‘Plenty of zing ... its fresh feel is a real winner.’ – Tony Love, The Advertiser ‘GRU is fresh, bright and appealing ...’ - Peter Bourne, The Sydney Morning Herald ‘... sports that mid-palate flesh for easy appeal … ‘ – Mike Bennie, Best of the Best, Gourmet Traveller Wine ‘Gruner finds its groove ... focused and steely from Hahndorf Hill in the Adelaide Hills.’ – The Hot 100, Gourmet Traveller GRU 2011 is due for release this October. To reserve your allocation, visit the Gruner page on our website or call our cellar door at (08) 8388 7512. www.hahndorfhillwinery.com.au

winetutor WORDS CLIVE HARTLEYAPPEARANCE - WHY THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYETHE EVALUATION of a wine is a sensory have the potential to be very pale; water- Anthocyanins are part of the phenolics inexperience that involves the analysis white in fact. Often these bleached or a grape that increase as the grape ripens.of appearance, nose and palate. This bright colours indicate low pH levels (high So stronger colour is obtained from ripernaturally uses your sense of sight, acid) in a wine. The scale to measure pH grapes and that is one reason why oursmell and taste. So much enjoyment is logarithmic so a small amount, such Barossa shiraz is so inky and black while,can be gained from appreciating and as .02, can make a big difference in the a Northern Cote du Rhone is lighter red.understanding these three aspects of appearance and taste of a wine. It is anwine imbibing. So, in this and the next two inverse scale, so the lower the number the The amount of anthocyanin differs witheditions of Winestate we will discuss each higher the acidity. Generally, white wine has each grape variety but can also beelement separately and in detail. a pH of between 2.9 and 3.5, while reds are influenced by the winemaker. Pinot noir, normally between 3.2 and 4. The lower levels for instance, has a low anthocyanin content The appearance might seem a trivial of pH protect a wine from bacterial spoilage and thin skins, resulting in a light intensityaspect, but it can give a lot of clues about and generally allow the wine to age better. and strawberry/ruby colour. However, if thethe wine. It can indicate whether it has winemaker chooses to macerate the skinsbeen stored correctly, or what influence High natural acidity could allow the more during fermentation they can extractthe production process has had. It gives an winemaker to reduce the amount of additional colour, to some extent.insight into the chemical composition and sulphur dioxide needed to protect themight tell you whether that glass of wine wine. That is good news for some allergy Grenache is another grape with thinner skinoffered in a restaurant is from a bottle that sufferers. The acidity of a wine directly but its colour can be concentrated by eitherhas been open too long. Understanding comes from the grape, influenced by lowering the vines’ yield, leaving the grapeswhat to expect from the colour is the first where it is grown, or it can be adjusted to ripen longer or increasing skin contactstep to assessing a wine’s quality. by the winemaker. Grapes grown in cool during fermentation. A hotter fermentation will extract more colour as well. Some grapeStronger colour is obtained from riper grapes and that is one reason why ourBarossa shiraz is so inky and black while, a Northern Cote du Rhone is lighter red. When you look at a wine, you assess climates have higher acidity and the varieties have distinctive colours - suchbrightness, clarity, intensity and colour. wine therefore is paler than a hot-climate as nebbiolo, that has as a telltale orange rim.Amazingly, our eyes are finely tuned wine. White wines slowly mature andinstruments with the ability to distinguish oxidise over time in bottle which darkens Youthful red wines should display purplebetween a million shades of colour. the colour, so expect a more golden or, more often, ruby colours that develop appearance. If a white wine spends time as the wine ages in barrel. As a red wine Wine, both red and white, should be in oak it is exposed to a process of slow ages in bottle, the anthocyanins link withbright. The opposite to bright is dull, and oxygenation, and therefore will be darker tannins to form long-chain molecules thatif a wine is dull then it is probably going than a wine kept in an inert environment. eventually fall out of the wine as sediment.to taste dull and be past its best. A wine In young wines, expect to see medium- That is why red wine becomes lighter inshould also be clear. Now that is not to intense lemon coloured chardonnay (often colour and with the process of oxidationsay you should be able to see through it aged in oak), while high-acid riesling and the wine shows more garnet, followed bybut, again, it should not look like a murky sauvignon blanc will either be water-white brick-red and tawny.swamp or have an abundance of sediment. or pale lemon-green.The latter is part of the ageing process Other observations include the ‘tears’and does not affect the smell or taste in Red wines also exhibit bright, often or ‘legs’. I’ve always commented that I’ma detrimental way, but it is just unsightly. purple, colours with lower pH levels. not a ‘legs’ man and they mean little in But the grape plays a bigger part in judging the overall quality of a wine. They Different grape varieties display different determining the colour of a wine. This is indicate the viscosity of the wine and arecolours and that applies to both white and due to the amount of anthocyanin in the caused by alcohol, sugar content and otherred wines. Let’s look at white wine first. all-important grape skin, as most red/black ingredients, including glycerol. But they do grapes, with a few exceptions, such as add to the first impressions and provide Colours range from water-white through alicante bouschet, have colourless juice. more evidence that there is more to thelemon-green, lemon, gold and, finally, appearance of a wine than at first sight.amber. Generally, all white grape varieties24 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

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winetravel WORDS ELISABETH KINGALSACE, WHERE HISTORY AND WINE TOURING BECKONALSACE has it all - social, culinary and Human Rights buildings are hard to miss, Rhine. Tourists flock to this architecturalartistic history, incredible physical beauty but the charms of the city’s historic centre masterpiece from all over Europe toand the best gewurztraminer on the offer the most interest, from Marc Mimram’s witness the performance of its Renaissanceplanet. In fact, the most Germanic region pedestrian bridge over the Rhine, to the astronomical clock when it puts on its dailyof France is one of the few wine regions German town of Kehl, to the half-timbered show at 12.30pm. It’s a grisly comment onin the country that boosts the star quality houses dating back to the 15th century. the ephemeral nature of life, from a cockof its white varietals. Pinot gris, muscat, crowing to Death striking the last chime.gewurztraminer and riesling are the big A ‘free city’ of the Holy Roman Empirefour and the top bottlings have Grand Cru until it was annexed by France in 1681, In fact, there’s a historical footnote atstatus. And deservedly so under names Strasbourg is also a famous university town every turn in Strasbourg. Goethe oftenthat are the proverbial music to the ears which lured the likes of Gutenberg and frequented the wood-beamed taverns ofof wine lovers the world over - Hugel, Goethe. Long a meeting point of the Latin the rue des Freres, a warren of mediaevalTrimbach and Beyer. and Germanic worlds, this ‘crossroads of alleyways where the great philosopher/ Europe’ location made the small Alsatian dramatist rubbed shoulders with tanners Now is the time to grab a discounted airfare city with a population of just under 500,000 and fishermen. Jacques Chirac, the formerto Paris if you can spare the time. From the a shoe-in as the site of the European French president, dined at Chez YvonneFrench capital, Strasbourg, the capital of Parliament because of its chequered history. on the rue du Sanglier, a favourite hauntAlsace is easy to reach in only two hours of local journalists and pollies. But youand 20 minutes, thanks to the super-fast TGV Many make the day trip can walk into any low-beamed winstub, astrains. Why the rush? Throughout autumn and traditional Alsatian wine bars are known,well into November, every wine village from just for the choucroute that has a painted sign swinging over theEguisheim to Riquewihr seems to put on a door and be assured of a warm welcome,wine festival and the best way to sample this garni - a steaming pile good food and a top-notch beer or wine.largesse is to set aside some time to tour theAlsatian Wine Route (www.vinsalsace.com). of sauerkraut, potatoes, German tourists flood into Strasbourg on weekends, especially during the Christmas The 170km route weaves through over 50 sausages and pork. markets, one of the oldest in Europe.wine locations that punctuate the postcard- Some of them come to browse through theperfect Vosges foothills, and the website In one of history’s great ping-pong boutiques on the quai des Pecheurs andhandily offers a schedule of events. So it’s territorial tussles, Germany reclaimed the quai des Bateliers, but many make theeasy to draw up a plan that covers every Alsace after emerging victorious from day trip just for the choucroute garni - awine style from federweisser, as young the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, but steaming pile of sauerkraut, potatoes,wine is known in a province where the was forced to return the region to France sausages and pork that truly flies the flaglocal Germanic dialect still holds sway, following its own defeat in World War I. for French/German partnership. The mostto a Riesling Ste-Catherine from one of After France surrendered to the Germans atmospheric place to enjoy this treat thatmy favourite Alsatian estates, Domaine in 1940, Alsace changed hands again to calls for a major appetite is the MaisonWeinbach in the Kaysersberg Valley, become Elsass, a part of Hitler’s Third Kammerzell, a landmark half-timberedwhere you might meet the dottily charming Reich, then was handed back to France building near the cathedral where you don’thostess, Colette Faller, if you are lucky. for the second time in less than 30 years need to have a drink or two to feel like the following his downfall. Yet in spite of floors are sloping. They are. I always prefer to start any visit to Alsace trauma, or because of it, Strasbourg sitsby immersing myself in the cosy but easy with its image of itself - German Strasbourg’s only city-based winery is insophisticated atmosphere of Strasbourg, thoroughness teamed with French flair. the Place des Tripiers. You can’t miss it;but it makes a great finale to a wine tasting there’s a giant wine vat outside. Restaurantsholiday, too. For the casual visitor, in- Being tossed back and forth has its serving up choucroute, flammekueche (adepth cramming may not be required but advantages. The pink sandstone Gothic flat, pizza-style tart covered with onions,a cursory knowledge of the history of the cathedral, the world’s tallest building bacon and a dozen other toppings), foiecity is highly recommended. The futuristic until 1874, benefited enormously from gras and other rib-sticking Alsatian dishesand hulking presence of the European employing artists from both sides of the are plentiful on the centuries-old Place duParliament, Council of Europe and Court of Marche Gayot as well. The staff and students26 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

State-of-the-Art Wine Cellars HAND-BUILT IN FRANCE • HIGHEST OF STANDARDSof the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, an • Perfect cellaring temperatureelite academy for future politicians and • Regulated humiditypublic servants, often lunch here during the • UV-treated glassday. At night, a more casual atmosphereprevails as office workers unwind over wwDiwsc.otvrearntshtehfeurllmra.ncgoema.ta: uan after-work aperitif or glass of riesling.Yet Alsace has more Michelin-starred PRECISE TEMPERATURE EASILY ACCESSIBLErestaurants than any other region of France,including the two-star Au Crocodile, where Available nationally throughchef Emile Jung rules the kitchen and serves all major electrical appliance retailersthe most memorable food in town. Seventeenth century gossipmongerswhispered that Armand de Rohan, Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg, was the illegitimateson of Louis XIV, following his mother’sshort-term affair with the Sun King. Whoknows, but he certainly had a Versailles-style taste in architecture if Strasbourg’sPalais Rohan is any yardstick. One ofthe most impressive buildings in the city,it houses three museums, including theMusee des Beaux Arts, a beautifully editedcollection of 17th century French, Italianand Flemish paintings. While the steel andglass frame of the Museum of Modern andContemporary Art of Strasbourg (MAMCS),set amid the historic old town, houses theworks of Monet, Paul Klee, Kathe Kollwitzand other 20th century masters. I always make a point of making a detourto the town of Colmar to see the IsenheimAltarpiece in the Unterlinden Museum.In one of the most famous tryptychs inEurope, the tortured images are consideredto be unrivalled in depicting the agony ofJesus on the cross. Commissioned by theAntonine monastery of Isenheim, the twosets of wings were painted by Germanartist Mathias Grunwald from 1506 to 1515.Almost an allegory of the survival instinctsof Alsace itself, the altarpiece was hiddenduring the French Revolution to save it fromdestruction. And during both world wars,both the French and German governmentsmade the preservation of the altarpiece anational priority. Now that’s worth raising aglass of riesling to. September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 27

winehistory WORDS VALMAI HANKEL ANDRE L. SIMON, PART THREE:THE INTERNATIONAL WINE AND FOOD SOCIETYPROBABLY Andre L. Simon’s greatest Alsatian wines. Two hundred people paid drink the blend of grape-juice and spiritcontribution to the world of gastronomy 10 shillings and sixpence (10/6, about within a year of its being compounded. Sowas his founding, with writer AJA Symons, $1) to attend. In those days the average it has to be matured and sent overseas,of the Wine and Food Society (now the male wage was about three pounds six there to be marketed”.International Wine and Food Society), in shillings ($6.60).October 1933. Its main aim was to raise Simon acknowledged that, especiallythe standard of cookery in England, Simon gave a rousing speech, noting that “in the Hunter River, Great Western andand “to bring together and to serve all one of the society’s aims was ‘to overcome Lilydale Districts, extensive vineyardswho took an intelligent interest in the indifference to the flavour, variety, and produced much better grades of winesproblems and pleasures of the table”. cooking of food, as well as the ignorance of of a light, dry or ‘beverage’ type, winesThe International Wine and Food Society the merits and charm of wine”. Simon was capable of acquiring with age a distinctiveis the world’s oldest and most renowned thinking big, hoping for not hundreds but charm, even if they rarely acquire anygastronomic society. thousands of members. He would surely volume of bouquet”. South Africa and be delighted to know that today the IWFS is Australia shared a handicap to making In 1933 England was emerging from a global, and has more than 6000 members better-quality wines: “The Vignerondepression. Some “thought it bordering in 130 branches in 30 countries. resents any criticism and is convincedon the obscene to open a bottle of that the wine he makes - but does notchampagne in a public restaurant”, Victor The second meeting, inspired by drink - are as good as the best thatGibson, president of the Wine and Food Simon’s short-lived position as managing can be made anywhere”. But, SimonSociety of Australia, wrote in a tribute director of the Madeira Wine Association, admitted, there were men such as Leoto Simon in 1970. Gibson was echoing a body formed to promote madeira in Buring in Australia who “place good winethe sentiments of Simon himself who, the UK, was a tasting of 10 madeiras, before quick returns, and bring to the ranging from “comparatively youngThe Vigneron resents any criticism and is convinced that the wine he makes- but does not drink - are as good as the best that can be made anywhere.in an interview published in a London blends of wines costing from 5/6 (56c) to making of wine that professional pridenewspaper on the occasion of his 90th 6/8 (68c) a bottle” to an 1864 verdelho, which is so necessary, if not absolutelybirthday in 1967, admitted that “It was “a pre-phylloxera wine, fine of body, indispensable, to the producing of reallya little bit of a challenge … to start a and even finer of bouquet”, and a good wine”. It’s interesting to comparesociety devoted to gastronomy just after 1790 Reserve, “a pre-Napoleon wine of these comments with Simon’s laterthe Bank of England had given up gold exceptional interest and vitality”. These opinions of Australian wines, which we’lland everyone was very downhearted ... were described as two “very rare old- see in a future column.People still had money, but didn’t like to bottled vintage wines costing from 18/-be seen spending it”. ($1.80) to 35/- ($3.50) a bottle”. In the beginning, Simon and Symons owned the society. Their only source of It was in this climate that the Wine and The fifth meeting, in March 1934, was profit (if any) was what surplus could beFood Society held its first meeting, on a tasting of ‘Empire Wines’ from South made from writing, printing, publishing14 November 1933, at the Cafe Royal in Africa and Australia. Members were given and posting the magazine, for whichLondon. In an account of this landmark notes, reproduced in Wine and Food, subscribers paid a guinea a year.occasion published in the first issue, which unfortunately did not identify the Contributors were offered a tax-freeSpring 1934, of Wine and Food, the wines. The notes, presumably written by ‘reward’ of wine, in lieu of payment in cash:Society’s ‘Gastronomic Quarterly’, Simon Simon, were brief and general. Most wine Simon believed that his authors woulddescribed the five dishes and three white made in Australia, he noted, “is distilled have regarded a cheque for five guineaswines he had selected to showcase to into brandy or consumed as fortified wine, as an insult, whereas a dozen bottles ofthe members as some of the most typical with this difference [from South Africa] ‘Chateau-bottled Claret’, although costingdishes of Alsace and some of the best that there are no … coloured people to less, was quite acceptable.28 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011



REPUTATION RISING

BRITISH BUYERS CONFIRM HAWKE’S BAY AS A SERIOUS MARKET PLAYERMIKE COOPERHAWKE’S BAY was more popular than HAWKE’S BAY HAS A That’s not enough to help Hastings MUCH LONGER HISTORY, grapegrower Keith Sowersby. A former headthe Barossa Valley among UK wine buyers A MUCH GREATER DEPTH of horticulture at Hastings Boys’ High School,in the latest British market survey. Released AND VARIETY, AND A he resigned in 2003 to focus on his 10-hectareby the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, MORE CONSERVATIVE AND vineyard. Last year, his sauvignon blancthe Consumer Intelligence Report for May CONSISTENT APPROACH. grapes unwanted, Keith pruned the vines2011 measured the number of regular wine with a chainsaw - and went back to teaching.drinkers who had purchased wines from wines and reds), cabernet sauvignon, pinotvarious regions over the previous three gris, syrah, cabernet franc, malbec and - a However, a recent survey by Markhamsmonths. Rioja topped the list, ahead of fast-rising star - viognier. - accountants and business advisers -Bordeaux, Cotes-du-Rhone, Champagne revealed that 90 per cent of Hawke’s Bay’sand Chablis. Hawke’s Bay placed 14th - So how is Hawke’s Bay performing producers expect to be trading profitablyone place ahead of the Barossa. during the current international recession? five to 10 years from now. Oversupply was Nicholas Buck, of Te Mata Estate - the new seen as the key threat, but the biggest How this fits with last year’s observation chair of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers - says opportunity was export growth.by Rod McDonald, then chair of Hawke’s Hawke’s Bay’s diversity is a fundamentalBay Winegrowers, is not clear: “Globally we strength, in terms of having not placed all After a ‘wine summit’ last year, Hawke’s Bayare small and not yet well-known, in terms of its varietal eggs in a single basket. Winegrowers settled on the image it plansawareness of Hawke’s Bay as a wine region to promote: Hawke’s Bay is the country’sand the level of quality and wine styles we “This means,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today, major red-wine region, backed up by white-produce.” However, it does suggest that “that we are less easily marketed in terms wine varieties, including chardonnay andthe international profile of New Zealand’s of a simple message, such as Marlborough sauvignon blanc. One familiar term set tosecond-largest wine region is on the rise. or Otago, which have achieved market be abandoned is ‘Bordeaux-style’. “This penetration saying: ‘This region means this implies the superiority of Bordeaux wines,” Marist missionaries planted the first vines variety.’ Those regions are now experiencing says Lyn Bevin, of Wine Hawke’s Bay,in Hawke’s Bay in 1851. During the 1890s, the pains that go with rapid growth. Hawke’s “and positions Hawke’s Bay as a good-the mission made its first recorded sales Bay has a much longer history, a much value alternative instead of a category inand several wealthy landowners produced greater depth and variety, and a more its own right.” Feedback from overseasand sold table wines from classic grape conservative and consistent approach. also suggests that many wine lovers fail tovarieties. By 1909, Bernard Chambers’ Therefore the highs and lows are mitigated.” understand how the self-defined Gimblett14-hectare Te Mata vineyard of pinot Gravels winegrowing district sits within themeunier, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, broader Hawke’s Bay region.riesling and verdelho was the largest inthe country, annually producing 12,000 Tasted blind, while in their youth, Hawke’sgallons (54,552 litres) of wine. Bay’s blended reds show a wonderful ability to compete with the superstars of Bordeaux. Today, with 85 producers and a bearing In Hong Kong, a couple of months ago,vineyard area of 5000 hectares, Hawke’s eight 2009 vintage reds from the GimblettBay is barely one-quarter the size of Gravels were blind-tasted alongside eightMarlborough, in terms of vine plantings, legendary Bordeaux reds from 2008. Thebut far bigger than Gisborne, Central Otago exclusive tasting for media, trade andand the several smaller regions. collectors was hosted by Singapore-based wine writer Lisa Perotti-Brown. As a relatively warm, North Island region,Hawke’s Bay’s strengths lie in Bordeaux- Chateaux Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-style reds, syrah and chardonnay - which in Brion were ranked first and second, but theexport markets all encounter stiff competition third-ranked wine - ahead of Lafite, Margauxfrom many other Old and New World and Latour - was Mission Jewelstoneregions. From cooler, inland sites, Hawke’s Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2009, whichBay is also producing impressive aromatic retails at a recommended $NZ39.whites from such varieties as sauvignonblanc, pinot gris and gewurztraminer. HAWKES BAY TASTING STARTS PAGE 146. In terms of plantings, Hawke’s Bay is Opposite: Villa Maria’s 60-hectares Omahu Gravelsdominated by chardonnay, merlot and Vineyard. Inset: Winemaker Tony Bish, Sacred Hill.sauvignon blanc. The region also hassignificant areas of pinot noir (for sparkling September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 31

CITYCELLARDOORSWine shopfronts migrate fromvineyards to Main StreetGREG REIDT H E C E L L A R D O O R is very much Credit is also given to Gregory Blaxland, who in 1816 became one of the first toa part of the Australian wine industry. Dotted produce wine of reasonable quantity andthrough wine regions right across Australia, quality. Today history is remembered atit is both a promotional tool and a generator Vicary’s Winery on The Northern Road atof income for wineries, big and small. Luddenham, which was originally owned by a member of the Blaxland family. Cecil Vicary Traditionally, the cellar door has been part took over the property and in 1918 planted aof a winemaking operation, usually located vineyard, with the first wines made in 1923.alongside the vineyard and close to theproduction facility. That was even the case The winery is now owned by Chris Nicco,when wineries were part of the metropolitan a Roseworthy graduate winemaker, whoareas of our capital cities. However, over introduced his Heron’s Wing range of winesthe past 40 to 50 years, as the urban sprawl in the 1990s, followed by the first ‘kosher’has claimed vineyards around big cities, the wines made for the Jewish market.wineries and their cellar doors have moved,through necessity, to the many regional In Adelaide, the cellar door picture is muchwinegrowing areas dotting the nation. clearer - and growing. While many of the iconic wineries of SA have fast disappeared Few cellar doors have stood the test of from metropolitan Adelaide - Seaview,time in highly urbanised areas - except in Hamilton Ewell, Tolley’s, Angove’s, to nameSouth Australia. And now a new trend is a few - some well-known names remain.developing - again largely in South Australia- to bring the traditional cellar door back to The most famous is the time-honouredthe cities and the people who provide the Penfolds Magill Estate vineyard, winery anddollars to make them work. The customers. cellar door. Strategically placed in the foothills overlooking Adelaide and only 15 minutes A quick tour around the nation, via the from the CBD, the historic Estate is the originalinternet and Yellow Pages, shows that home of Penfolds wines and of Australia’stoday only a handful of cellar door facilities most prized wine, the famous Grange.operate in capital cities. One exception isin Sydney, where Australian history tells us Today the facility offers a rare snapshotPhillip Schaeffer was the first private vine of winemaking history dating back moregrower in the nation - starting not long after than 165 years. The original undergroundthe First Fleet arrived. tunnels, Grange cottage – the original home32 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

EACH MEAL ISA CELEBRATIONAND WE LIKETO SHARE OURLIFESTYLE WITHOUR CUSTOMERS.of Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold - theheritage-listed bluestone cellars and StillHouse all fascinate those who love wine. Nowhere near as famous, but also a partof Australian winemaking folklore, is thePatritti Winery and cellar door facility in thesouth-western Adelaide suburb of DoverGardens. Founded by Giovanni Patritti inthe mid-to-late 1920s, Patritti Wines todayclaims to be the only truly operationalwinery in Metropolitan Adelaide. Giovanni’s original ‘shed’ now housesa modern winery as second- and third-generation members of the Patrittifamily operate and manage the facility.

While still producing excellent red and One wine company that has done things Moving west, the Swan Valley region inwhite table wines, the Patritti family also a little differently is the Aramis Vineyards Western Australia is virtually metropolitanoffers an extensive range of non-alcoholic wine company, working from its vineyard Perth, but with one exception its wineriesfruit juices which are also in high demand at McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide. Initially and cellar doors are not part of this exercise.on the international market. Aramis took its wines to the SA public by pioneering one of the first tasting room- The exception is the RiverBank Winery Which brings us to the new trend of locating restaurant-cafes in Adelaide in trendy and restaurant in Caversham, in the Swancellar door facilities back in the cities. Early Gouger St in the heart of the CBD. Valley, just 25 minutes from the CBD.this year Tomich Wines launched a newlyrenovated city tasting room in a bluestone Spoon offered a great deal, but now Aramis Offering vineyard views down to theturn-of-the-century villa on King William Rd Vineyards has gone a step further, opening Swan River and a relaxed, friendlyin Unley. Tomich Wines initially established its own cellar door on Sir Donald Bradman atmosphere, RiverBank Estate providesa vineyard along the Onkaparinga River, just Drive at Mile End, just two kilometres wine tastings and sales augmented by anupstream from the town of Woodside in the from the heart of the city. Says owner Lee architecturally designed restaurant withheart of the Adelaide Hills - an area rapidly Flourentzou, “While we have enjoyed being wide verandahs and large lawns. It catersmaking a name for itself as a producer of part of the Adelaide hospitality industry over for everybody from a single couple to apremium-quality, elegant and vibrant wines. the last couple of years, the growth of Aramis private celebration, wedding reception orThe new tasting room at Unley provides a Vineyards label demands more attention. a corporate event.perfect place to explore the Tomich range Today our primary focus is on makingwhile also offering wine lovers a range of premium wine and making these changes The cellar door renaissance is alsoclasses and merchandise. will allow us to do that.” occurring in regional areas, with producers moving sales facilities from the winery to the main street. Again, SA seems to have led34 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

the way, with the heritage-listed, ironstone- with varieties such as shiraz, tempranillo, So too is something very different inwalled cellars of Tintara in the main street of sangiovese, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, the middle of Healesville in the heart ofMcLaren Vale, a home to the Hardy brand chardonnay, petit verdot, cabernet franc, the Yarra Valley. This is the spot wherefor more than 80 years. albarino and verdelho. the Giant Steps and Innocent Bystander Winery meet its customers. The wines Down the street, the Vasarelli family Moving to the Barossa Valley, the Grant are made on-site using a gravity flowopened its cellar door and restaurant Burge empire has its main production system for fermenting tanks and barrel hallin December 2009. Maria and Michael facility and a very special cellar door under the watchful eye of Phil Sexton, theVasarelli, along with their parents, Pat and in the old Illapara Winery in the main winemaking guru formerly from WesternVicky Vasarelli, own the facility and say, street of Tanunda. A wonderfully crafted Australia. The facility offers its own bistro,“Cooking is synonymous with good food, underground cellar door offers some of wood-fired pizzeria, artisan bakery,good wine and good company. Each meal the finest fortified wines in the Grant Burge cheese room and providore.is a celebration and we like to share our range, alongside a small selection of thelifestyle with our customers.” white and red ranges. So the cellar doors of the past are changing with increasing numbers of wine producers Nearby in Main St, McLaren Vale, the A few kilometres to the north-east, bringing their wares to their customers. It willButtery family bring their “shopfront” several of the small wine producers of only be a matter of time before increasingto the customers with the Gemtree the area have got together in Angaston numbers of ‘cellar doors’ will dot all ourcellar door offering wines from their with the Taste Eden Valley cellar door. capital cities, and that can only be good forsignificant vineyards in the McLaren Again, this is an example of bringing the all concerned - the wine industry, the wineFlat region. Today Gemtree owns 130 wineries to the ‘punters’ and appears to lover and generations to come.hectares of vines, providing the winery be working well. September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 35

TShGeSpercethariutrmaz 36 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

DRINKERS SAVOUR A WORLD OFDIFFERENCE FROM HOME AND ABROADROB GEDDES MWTHE STORY OF SHIRAZ is written of the glass and mirroring exactly what you Margaret River’s march to the top was are about to taste, with more in common uninterrupted, with Voyager, Sandalford,through the bottom of a glass, and with the syrahs of the Northern Rhone than Howard Park, Cape Mentelle and Vasse Felixreviewing the past year is no different. Just Australia. These are remarkable, medium- (do either of the last two make a bad wineas the glasses we now drink from are from bodied, affordable wines, so perhaps it’s a at the moment?) showing the way. Saracenmore exotic countries, so are the wines in good thing that they comprise only three per Estate is leaning on the edge of being “outthem. Australians are drinking more imports cent of the planted area in New Zealand. there” with its exciting style of savoury spice.- up from three to 15 per cent in the past The capacity of Western Australia at largedecade. This offers more opportunities The market is full of wines from 2009, a is important, both in terms of quality andto drinkers, yet no country is appearing vintage where Mother Nature, rather than diversity as it leads the way in pricing onceto challenge Australia’s ascendency or the winemakers, really put her fingerprints you leave the Barossa behemoths behind.diversity in shiraz. on the wines rather - particularly in South Australia, where the heat arrived and the Overall, in the past 12 months it’s the Rivals are out there, that’s for sure, and state’s previous experience of hot harvests refinement of shiraz vineyard wines andthe trend is to see and hear about more led to a lot of grapes being harvested early, sub-regional/regional wine styles that offersof them, with themed tastings abounding, with corresponding fresher aromas and the most interest and continues to provideincluding New Zealand’s Gimblett Gravels tighter fruit structure than the opulent 2008s. more detail and diversity to Australia’sgetting on the road to show their wines with A good many entry-level wines will need offering, with some notable events on thea selection chosen by Andrew Caillard MW. to be checked to see whether they meet calendar to mark shiraz’s evolution. expectations, while above $20 there are some Andrew recently hosted a tasting in surprisingly refined wines with a higher level The validity of Barossa sub-regionalSydney of wines chosen by blind tasting to of freshness than 2008 and brighter, tighter shiraz from a taste viewpoint has increasedreflect the quality of their acclaimed 2009 flavours. With nature’s touch obvious in these during the year, with buyers showingvintage. As Craggy Range winemaker Rod wines, those made from grapes picked early commitment. St Hallett has dipped its toeEasthope says of the aroma of their shiraz/ will stand the test of time. There are still a lot of into the pond with an array of sub-regionalsyrah, “These are wines that do the thinking either raisiny or herbal wines to avoid. wines that amply highlight the range offor you”, with their vivid, aromatic black flavours and styles in the Barossa.pepper and red fruit aromas reaching out September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 37

THE LUSTRE OF NSW AS A HOME FOR MEDIUM-BODIEDWINE NOW STRETCHES FROM CANBERRA IN THE SOUTHTO ORANGE IN THE WEST AND UP TO THE HUNTER. St Hallett single-vineyard series was The lustre of NSW as a home for the 2009 releases Andrew Koerner isreleased, taking the Barossa sub-regional medium-bodied wine now stretches making massive, rich, value-laden wineswines to market, with notable examples from Canberra in the south to Orange in under the Blue Pyrenees label, withfrom Ebenezer, Eden Valley, Greenock and the west and up to the Hunter. Tyrrells increasing focus on purity and the telltaleMoppa all showing different personalities have released a series of wines from eucalypt receding from the regionalthrough the acidity, depth of flavour and some of NSW’s oldest vineyards. They style under his watchful eye. For thoserichness of fruit; the Ebenezer was a stand- are on fire after skipping the 2008s due producers not smoke-affected, 2009 wasout for its fleshy density and length of texture to the deluge with their six 2009 high- a fantastic year across all styles.within the Barossa spiced plum spectrum. end shiraz all celebrating century-plus old vine origins. A part of the Stevens Among the small producers of the Yarra This year’s Sydney Royal Wine Show Vineyard planted in 1867 and released there has been an increasing focus onthrew up (not literally) an idiot from Orange as “Old Patch” may be the oldest in the character tracing the individual characterswhich took three trophies: the 2009 Idiot valley. With the vineyard-named Stevens of the sub-regions; painstaking work hereShiraz, made by Philip Shaw, former chief wine selling for $25 it shows bargains can as the delicacy of these wines and theirwinemaker for Rosemount and Southcorp. be had. Among the smaller producers, small production means they will only everThis wine took a position generally taken Andrew Thomas is making the Hunter find a small audience.by the Mornington Peninsula’s Paringa or wines of his life. NSW 2009s are veryother cool-climate shiraz; it’s a remarkable good drinking now, with the top wines Tasmania has only three shiraz makers,wine, barely medium-bodied with all the having extensive cellaring capacity. and the Grey Sands 2007 Shiraz at $40fruit character of its elevated cool home points to the risk of this variety here byand delicious black pepper/red berry spice Smoke taint from the bushfires has held making it only six years out of 10. It’s well- and only $20. back a lot of promising wines but among worth waiting for with its medium-bodied, savoury spice and berry flavours.38 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011



ON THEROAD TOREVELATIONDenis and Yoshiji’s Great AustralianWine Adventure - part 1DENIS GASTIN AND YOSHIJI SATO Yoshiji Sato is the wine editor of Japan's (and associated wine styles) in just the liquor industry newspaper, the Shuhan south-eastern corner of the continent.WHAT DENIS WANTED News. We have been working together for All up we travelled 3147 km - equivalent toTO SHOW YOSHIJI 13 years and have travelled extensively the distance from Paris to Rome and return together on wine discoveries in other - in covering 11 regions and 22 wineries.I HAVE always felt that wine experts countries. He has been to Australia onvisiting Australia will mostly leave with 10 occasions, on a drop in/fly out basis. Wine is an industry characterised bya patchy impression of what represents So I was very keen to demonstrate the diversity, not conformity, and is valuedAustralian wine. Mostly they arrive in a ‘continent of wine’ aspect of Australia to for the vast detail it can provide thosecapital city and travel to the nearest wine him on a tour sponsored by Wine Australia. who are fascinated by it. People who areregion, go back to the capital city and fly attracted to wine, not surprisingly, areon to repeat the experience in another It was no small task. Yoshiji could people who tend to have very personalstate - or go directly home. allocate 13 days but, because we had sentiments about what they do and don’t to go by car all the way, in my view, that like, what is of interest and what they But in a continent the size of Australia you effectively ruled out Western Australia, will talk about. As a wine journalist withhave to do the kilometres on the ground to Tasmania and Queensland. But the point 20 years in the trade, Yoshiji is all ofeffectively comprehend the differences in could be made effectively, in my view, that - and more - and has already seen alandscapes, vegetation, soils and climate, by demonstrating first-hand the vast good deal of the industry on flying visits.all of which impact differently on wine styles. contrasts in the physical environment But this was deliberately different.40 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

Denis Gaston & Yoshiji Sato at the lookout near Orlando’s Steingarten vineyard in the Barossa, the last call on their trip. Befow: (l-r) Sydney Harbour Bridge. Country road in New South Wales. Country signs. Harbor in Melbourne, Victoria. A narrow dirt road divides grape vines from burnt out scrub on February 12, 2009 in the Yarra Valley. A sign reminding tourists to drive on left in Australia. Rural scene roadside car door farm field. Signs near the beach at St Kitts. Gum Trees (Eucalyptus) line both sides of this road in the Barossa Valley.WHAT YOSHIJI around 10 days. So come and drive with wine marketing strategy in Japan and IEXPECTED TO SEE me in the near future!” believe it was definitely successful.My first report on the wine regions of It sounded like a joke to me - otherwise After we completed the adventureAustralia was in 1997, when I was 28. Denis must be crazy, I thought. For a I wrote it up comprehensively in an unusualOn that occasion I met Denis Gastin in normal Japanese person, a 3000km drive ‘Australian wine edition’ in Shuhan NewsSydney through a mutual friend. After that at one time sounds crazy. We would simply in July 2009. It was very well received,I asked him to write about Australian wine take the Shinkansen (super express train) with lots of positive reactions being sentfor Shuhan News, which he has done from for any long journey. But this obviously to us. I thought my job had been done.1998 to the present. I personally have wasn’t a joke. Whenever we met eachtranslated all his articles, so I know a lot other he would always say, “Let's drive But another project was begun. Wineabout his thinking. from Sydney to Adelaide.” I always replied, Australia asked Denis and I to do seminars “Someday, in the near future.” in Tokyo and Osaka for both the trade I remember it was in 1998 that Denis told and consumers in September 2010.me that if I really wanted to know about But then, unbelievably, it happened! Wine It was promoted by Wine Australia as:Australian wine I should travel, by car, from Australia arranged it for us in February “A Great Adventure from Sydney to Adelaide,the Hunter Valley to the Barossa Valley, 2009. We set out to drive from Sydney to visiting 11 Wine Regions - by CAR!” Again, itvia the Yarra Valley and Coonawarra. He Adelaide and we visited 11 wine regions was very well received, particularly the seminaradded: “It’s not difficult; you can do it in on the way - over 12 days. Wine Australia for trade people in Tokyo, where we received backed this adventure as part of their new 120 reservations and a lot of people waiting. September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 41

The audience was really stimulated by what region. Now I can explain how different way to learn about our industry: to seewe were putting to them and many wine the mountainous blue sky night of Orange it through the eyes of a very well-wine-bloggers put our seminar on their webs. It is to the hot, humid, flat land of Griffith, full informed visitor, essentially experiencingwas also reported in the print and electronic of lovely Italian immigrant culture. I miss it for the first time - not just flitting in andmedia. We presented our impressions orally, Griffith pizza! flying out after barely a glance.and with a visual presentation that consistedof 166 photo and text slides. I now know there are many kinds of gum Two blokes alone together in a car for 12 trees in the fields. I know how important days is, in itself, quite a challenge. Yoshiji We also featured some Aussie music, water is for Aussie grapegrowers and maybe does not quite share my taste inespecially by The Waifs and The Audreys, farmers, as well as for people in the country music - and I confess to subjecting himpart of what Denis put together for us to towns. I know there are many out-of-the- to my soundtrack, a little excessively. Ilisten to as what he called “the soundtrack” ordinary winemakers who make great wines. was also going over the top about thefor our tour. The audience thought it was I know there are many good restaurants with gum trees, and what they represent in thelike a road movie. We were very pleased. excellent wine lists, in very small villages. Australian context - but I think I probablyI thought our task has been done. But it is got away with this.not. Denis brings me yet another challenge: Now I understand Denis is not crazy.to tell our story to Australian readers He is right. I have travelled and reported He is, at heart, a pinot/chardonnaythrough Winestate magazine. Wow! What on Australian wine over 10 times but my man: me, a shiraz/semillon man. Whatcan I do for Australian wine lovers? understanding of Australian wine is much we have always shared, though, is a deeper than before this journey. I hope compelling interest in wine per se and aSO, THE ROAD Australian wine professionals will tell us determination to explore the corners ofMOVIE HAS BEGUN more about the way of Australian wine life this fascinating subject and to share our and its details. It is much more useful for findings with a reading audience.In this road travel my body and soul the Japanese wine market.absorbed the topography, landscape, What I hoped for were some surprisesclimate, distance, water, change of A FOOTNOTE and to appreciate, through other eyes, theatmosphere, special feeling when you FROM DENIS intrinsic value of the regions, the uniqueare in the empty land, biodiversity, gum achievements of the viticulturists andtrees, cuisine, food, farmers, winemakers, What more could I say? I've done this winemakers and, particularly, what thecheerful restaurant people - in each trip before, a couple of times with wines you think you are so familiar with international visitors. For me it is another represent in an international context. And that is what I found once again, looking at it all through Yoshiji’s eyes. I was convinced again of the vast wine spectrum we present to anybody willing to put in the effort to discover it. I was impressed by the convincing achievements of the devoted viticulturists and winemakers and how their stories and their wines stand up in the international context - they entertain, and they satisfy. There were no disappointments for me. Join us in the next edition of Winestate for more about our journey - specifically, what the regions showed us. Denis Gastin has been the Yoshiji Sato is the wine editor for Australian correspondent for Shuhan News, Japan’s authoritative Shuhan News since 1998. For liquor industry newspaper, the past 20 years he has also published every 10 days. It has a been a contributor to a wide circulation of 75,000, principally to range of wine publications liquor retailers and distributors, and across Asia. He covers Asia for is read regularly by many, many wine industry reference books more. In his long career with the such as The Oxford Companion journal he has travelled extensively, to Wine, The World Atlas of Wine regularly visiting most of the world’s and Wine Report. major wine producing regions.42 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011DENIS YOSHIJI

BAROSSA VALLEYADELAIDE GRIFFITH MUDGEE PENOLA SYDNEY ORANGE YARRA VALLEYHAMILTONMELBOURNE MORNINGTON PENINSULA

Tis Ohe FrgautnuirceNO LONGER A NOVELTY,BUT A NECESSITYDAVID STEVENS-CASTROSO-CALLED ‘GREEN’ WINE Essentially, organic agriculture produces food without using synthetic fertilisers oris a very strong rising trend. All over the chemicals. This does not mean growingworld, wineries are experimenting with a garden carelessly. On the contrary, it isorganic and biodynamic techniques. even more necessary to understand livingOthers are focusing their efforts on carbon systems and how they interact. It is ofemissions and the ability to claim that utmost importance to support a balancedthey are carbon-neutral. Motivations for relationship between plants, soil, insectsthese forays are inevitably varied - from and animals.the genuinely enthused grower whohas a developed knowledge of organic It is also significant to understandagriculture and a keen desire to produce the difference between organic andusing the best practices possible, to some ‘certified organic’. Third-party certificationmajor corporations purely ‘cashing in’ on guarantees an auditable check at everythe green dollar. stage through the chain of production - from the farm right through to processing, At this stage, though, it is unlikely that many packaging and retail.have fully contemplated the likelihood that inthe near future, rather than being a novelty, Top of the list of methodologies thatorganic production will be a necessity. generates the most controversy - and even some misinformed ridicule - is In our desperate search to get greater biodynamic production, which is a formyields per hectare, we are succumbing to the of organic agriculture based on therealities of overuse of all natural resources principles of Austrian philosopherproducing erosion in the soils from neglectful Rudolph Steiner. Steiner created hisuse of the land. Organic farming is emerging techniques after World War I to assistas the solution to these problems. It is vital farmers who were struggling with lessto promote the development of organic productive crops in increasingly aridagriculture, especially in these times of soils. In simple terms, biodynamics inincreasing natural disasters, conflicts food production is based on connectingbetween countries and problems caused all the energy sources in the universe,by the increase in world population. When including the sun, moon and Earth - aswe choose organic, we support a better well as the flora and fauna on our planet.way of life.44 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

THE GREAT ORGANICBIODYNAMIC DEBATESeptember/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 45

WE’RE REASONABLY However, for many, the most important the project. Hotly anticipated results are question is whether organic/biodynamic due later this year - and rumour has it thatCONFIDENT THAT farming can actually be financially viable early indications weigh very favourably for and even profitable? In the US, a trial both organic and biodynamic production.WE CAN GET OUR founded by the Rodale Institute has been comparing organic farming against Gemtree Vineyards already useCOSTS DOWN EVEN conventional for more than 20 years and the biodynamic practices across all 134 results are encouraging. They have found hectares of the property. The main driver inFURTHER NOW that while initial costs to set up organic adopting biodynamics was to make better systems are higher than for conventional wines, improve the health of the vineyardsTHAT WE’RE 100 PER farming, energy use in the conventional and increase water-holding capacity of the system is much higher. Most importantly, soils. They did expect that managementCENT BIODYNAMIC, groundwater increases in organic systems, costs would rise under a biodynamic regime with 15-20 per cent higher volume of but this is proving not to be the case.PARTICULARLY percolating water and reduced run-off. “Financially, the move to biodynamicsWITH RESPECT TO Of even greater magnitude for our has been quite pleasing,” says Gemtree’s wine industry is the biggest organic trial Melissa Brown. “There hasn’t been muchHERBICIDE USE. ever undertaken in Australia, based on difference at all in running costs, even vines. Led by University of Adelaide PhD though we anticipated an increase. We’re It is easy to be sceptical about some student Luke Johnston in association reasonably confident that we can get ourof the seemingly pagan rituals, including with McLaren Vale producer Gemtree costs down even further now that we’repreparations assembled in cow horns and Vineyards, this study is researching how 100 per cent biodynamic, particularly withintestines, designed to increase energy in conventional, organic and biodynamic respect to herbicide use.”the soil. On face value this approach can vineyard management systems affect soilseem like it is based on ‘magic’ or even properties, vine physiology and wine grape As the vines get healthier under the newfarce, depending on your point of view. quality and is also comparing the running regime, they become more resistant to costs of each practice. Project manager of disease naturally. Already Gemtree has As the old saying goes, though, the the trial is Dr Cassandra Collins, lecturer reduced the number of sulphur applicationsproof is in the pudding - and the notion of in viticulture at the University of Adelaide. (organic spray) on the vineyards. Indelivering nutrients at the optimum times recent years four applications have beenwhen plants are responding to movements The trial has been set up in the largest necessary, in comparison with seven toof the sun and moon does seem to literally of three vineyards owned by Gemtree in eight per year in previous seasons.‘bear fruit’. In practice, this means sowing the McLaren Vale region and involvesand planting with the use of an astronomical 10 hectares of own-rooted cabernet Sometimes people perceive that organiccalendar and the application of fermented sauvignon. Each of the four treatments wines are good for you on a physicalherbal and mineral additive preparations being studied - low-input conventional, level, whereas the truth is much broader.as compost and field sprays. high-input conventional, organic and It is good for everyone and everything. biodynamic - are located adjacent to As it ultimately develops into the norm each other and, therefore, share the same again, the world will be a better place. influences of soil and climate. My intention is to promote organic agriculture, to practice it and to share it Since the vineyards have been previously within the wine world. In the inimitable managed conventionally, the researchers words of John Lennon, “You may say I’m can track the changes that happen in the a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…” soil following the adoption of organic or biodynamic viticulture for the duration of * David Stevens-Castro is a Chilean agricultural scientist and sommelier living in Australia.46 W I N E S TAT E September/October 2011

THE GREAT ORGANICBIODYNAMIC DEBATE

BIO VINO LINGOTHE WINES ARE EARTHY BUT THE LANGUAGE IS LUNAR

THE GREAT ORGANIC BIODYNAMIC DEBATEBiodynamics grafts astrology to oenology and involves rites, rituals, calendars,cow-pats and a founder who believed that eating potatoes caused journalism.BRIAN MILLER“BIODYNAMICS produces wines that It’s called Legionnaires’ disease and is as reality has not been buggered around with potentially lethal as it is entirely natural. too much either.make you think more clearly.” This thought-provoking media Biodynamics demands a further leap of Natural? Well, not quite. There is little that’s announcement was made recently faith. It grafts astrology to oenology and natural about a vineyard, be it biodynamic or by a winemaker. He continued: involves rites, rituals, calendars, cow-pats business-like. Grape vines in nature do not and a founder who believed that eating line up in regimented rows, nor trim their own“With biodynamic wine you are tasting all of potatoes caused journalism. True. Rudolf trunks. Their natural inclination is not to makethe cosmos distilled down into one spot.” Steiner was the cryptic mystic inventor hooch for humans. It’s to climb trees, seek of anthroposophy, which was easy for sunlight and make baby vines. We severely All of it? him to say. He never actually practised subvert that natural endeavour by annually In his novel, The Information, Martin Amis farming but that did not stop him from offing their offspring and drinking their blood.said of the cosmos: “It would seem that the authoritatively addressing agricultureuniverse is thirty billion light years across, and giving birth to biodynamics. He also There is even less that’s natural aboutand every inch of it would kill us if we went expressed some odious opinions about wine. Grapes in the wild do not changethere. This is the position of the universe spirituality and skin colour, and he wasn’t into Grange. They turn into new vines orwith regard to human life.” talking about grape skins. sour grapes. Wine is a much manipulated So decanting biodynamic wine is beverage and is no more ‘natural’ thanrecommended. The crust will be mostly One wine writer, who used to be raw-milk cheese, brown sugar or Braziliandark matter anyway. as funny as Woody Allen used to be, blondes. Neither is there anything natural Biodynamicists glow with good intentions underwent the consummate conversion about cramming cow poo into a cow’s horn.but, unchecked, their language can drift from and now advocates biodynamism with Left to their own devices, cattle tend not toearthbound common sense into esoteric the evangelical zeal of a Thermomix do that. The concept may be cosmic, but iteco-babble. Organics and biodynamics demonstrator on heat. He wrote: is far from intuitive and you wonder about thetend to blur, perhaps intendedly, but first person caught doing it behind the barn.there are distinctions. Organic agriculture “We carry within us an archetypal ideais entry-level ecology; it involves muck, of wine as a natural product of the earth It is true that Earth is a profound sourcemulch, manure and the lyrics to Big Yellow … we carry, too, a little deeper down, of natural power and elemental energy.Taxi. Composting is comforting. Celebrity a remnant awareness of wine’s ancient If once-living organic matter is buriedgardeners gambol in the stuff and it woos cultural and spiritual significance … we underground for a period of time, andworms. On the other hand, there is a reason like to believe that the wine we drink has the planet is allowed to exert its naturalwhy potting mix comes with a warning label not been buggered around with too much.” influence, free from human interference,urging you to don face mask and gloves. you end up with … petroleum. And coal. That’s fine, and finely written, as long as September/October 2011 W I N E S TAT E 49