David Lawrason
When I first visited Australia in the mid-90s there was an ambitious export plan to make Australia the planet’s largest shipper of red wine. The world was in love with its rich, technically very good, approachable reds – led by shiraz – that offered bushels of berry fruit in a style that did not require food or ageing. But they oversold and saturated the market, and fatigued consumers with an ocean of wine differentiated only by the type of critter on the label. Price-quality ratios also slipped, and with the onset of global recession consumers shifted elsewhere to find something different and better value – malbec from Argentina for example, carmenere from Chile and countless appellation reds from southern France, Italy and Spain.
But the proud, resourceful and derring-do Aussies are on it. They are now focusing more on what makes wine interesting, and not just a beverage or a brand – looking for diversity, new grape varieties and creative blends, a sense of place, a sense of people and sense of history. These are not new concepts, but when applied to Australia – a massive, diverse and fascinating landscape – they are enough to infuse all kinds of new life and energy. That energy is percolating right now in Ontario led by a LCBO one-time infusion and May promotion of over 30 new labels from Australia, all at once. For its part Vintages has assembled a collection from Australia’s First Families of Wine, and has a public tasting events lined up in Ottawa May 4 and Toronto May 5. This particular positioning of Australian wine as historic and personal, is an integral part of the new messaging.
With all this in the works I was invited to travel to Australia in February. The invitation came from Treasury Estates (formerly Fosters Wine Estates), which owns several prominent wineries in the country – Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Rosemount – to name the largest. Normally I do not travel on the dime of individual companies, as it can restrict the diversity of wines and viewpoints encountered. But I did taste other wines, and the Treasury portfolio is so large and geographically widespread, and so key to the Australian wine scene, that it is almost meaningless to write about Australia without their story in the mix.
The Treasury strategy has been to buy up strong brands and historic wineries located in older facilities. They are now systematically upgrading of those wineries. They are delving into viticultural improvements, sustainable and/or organic farming, and the notion of regional and single vineyard expression. And they are gathering some of the top winemakers in the country. There’s is the story of Australia’s remake in a nutshell and I am sure that many other large corporate concerns are walking the same walk. Those who don’t will surely be left behind.
From here this article is organized by grape varieties, with an update on what is happening in terms of style and what regions are leading the way. I begin with the most important grapes in terms of how they define the changes under way. Each will be illustrated by a selection of wines reviewed on WineAlign, some at lower prices as found in the new LCBO selection, some from the First Families collection, and some from my travels.
Sections:
Chardonnay’s 180-Degree Flip
Pinot Noir: Precious or Precocious?
Riesling in Overdrive
Defusing Shiraz?
Alt Italian, Spanish & Blends
Pinot Gris/Grigio or Plain PG?
Cabernet Sauvignon Soldiers On
Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon Seek Direction
Chardonnay’s 180-Degree Flip
We begin with the most maligned but most improved grape in Australia. Just ask a Decanter Magazine panel (March 2011 edition) which after tasting 116 Aussie chards “was stunned by the vibrant, serious, terroir-driven wines, the best of which equal the top white Burgundies”. Indeed there are very few heavy-handed, bloated, overly-sweet and overly-oaked chardonnays left standing in Oz.
The single best chardonnay on my travels was the magnificent, almost ethereal Devils Lair 2009 Enchantress from Margaret River, a 200-case, single block masterpiece we will likely never see in Canada. But the “regular” Devils Lair 2009 is no slouch either, and it will show up in the months ahead. They represent a 180-degree change in style from the old, golden, power-mongers made at this estate, before winemaker Oliver Crawford was transferred from Penfolds specifically because of his experience developing Yattarna, one of the top chardonnays in Australia. He is out beat neighbour and rival Leeuwin, whose 2008 Artist Series is indeed also terrific.
Elsewhere, I was hugely impressed by the work of Andrew Fleming at Coldstream Hills and a super elegant, nifty new single-vineyard 2009 Deer Farm Chardonnay from the upper (cooler) Yarra Valley. Likewise with the nervy, mineral 2008 Reserve at a winery called Stonier in the Mornington Peninsula, and the more tropical but very elegant Wynn’s 2010 by Sue Hodder (the 2009 comes to Vintages May 14th).
So how to experience this new chardonnay direction in Ontario right now, at affordable prices? Two new LCBO wines stand out: the lean pear and almond scented Next of Kin 2009 Chardonnay ($14.95) from the Margaret River, and the almost Chablis-esque Little Yering 2009 Chardonnay ($13.95) from the Yarra Valley. Tic Tok 2008 Chardonnay that blends from cool Pemberton in southwest Australia and from Mudgee in New South Wales is very much in the new idiom as well if mild and more simple. There were no noteworthy chardonnays in the First Families release April 30; I sense we will have to wait a bit for Vintages feels comfortable purchasing some of the new higher end, very fine examples.
Pinot Noir: Precious or Precocious?
The long view on pinot in Australia (at least from abroad) has been that Oz is just too hot to make good pinot noir – an early-ripener that thrives in cool climates. And for those of us raised on Burgundy, Ontario and other cool climate pinots, Aussie pinots can indeed seem too forward and loud and precocious with too much jammy, fruit, alcohol and oak that blurs the grape’s finer points. Some in that style can be delicious red wines, but they are usually created by marketing departments, not crafted by pinot enthusiasts.
Increasingly these men and women are congregating in Australia’s coolest nooks and crannies: Tasmania, the Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley of Victoria, the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, and the Pemberton and Mt. Barker regions of West Australia. And there are some very serious cool climate pinots being made. Among the top twenty highest scoring Australian reds among new releases in the Feb/Mar issue of Gourmet Traveller Wine, ten were pinot noirs.
The big companies like Penfolds and Wolf Blass are getting serious, and I was very impressed with the new Penfolds Bin 23 2010 Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills (first vintage 2009). Wolf Blass Gold Label Pinot from Adelaide Hills is very good as well, and I was to discover others in this gorgeous green region that is essentially an eastern suburb of Adelaide. Yet to be seen in Ontario is a fine range from high altitude Ashton Hills. But we do have Lenswood 2010 Pinot Noir, a slim, taut, juicy version just released at the LCBO.
The most well known and pioneering name for Aussie pinot however is specialist Coldstream Hills founded by wine writer James Halliday, and now in the Treasury portfolio. Coldstream 2008 Pinot Noir is one of the last we’ll see from the Yarra Valley for a while thanks to a bad fire season that smoke tainted the fruit in 2009. St. Hubert’s 2008 Pinot Noir from the lower in the valley is beefier, but dry and intriguing.
Elsewhere, the volcanic Red Hills of the Mornington Peninsula, a maritime region south of Melbourne hard by the Southern Ocean, has a huge concentration of pinot focused wineries. Here I discovered fine pinots from small wineries like Quealy, Dexter and Stonier (the latter does show up in Ontario). Tasmania may be the most exciting of all but it remains personally undiscovered except for the taut, savoury Josef Chromy 2009 Pinot Noir at Vintages. I would also love to visit Pemberton in Western Australia, especially when it can export such a tasty little cool climate pinot like Barwick 2009 Pinot Noir, now at the LCBO. Years ago I had a Picardy Pinot Noir from this region that remains embedded in my mind despite hundreds of pinots since.
Riesling in Overdrive
Riesling is well-entrenched in Australia being first planted by Germans in the 19th Century. Most settled in the Clare, Barossa and Eden Valleys north of Adelaide, where tepid summer temperatures and the resulting wine style couldn’t be farther from the Mosel or Rheingau. They are not so much wines of racy, lacy delicacy and charm, but wines of power, austerity and bone crushing petrol, lime and minerality. Wolf Blass winemaker Chris Hatcher says that overall riesling consumption is declining in Australia, but that it is only in the market segment under $15. The better wines are strong, and in this sphere, again and again I was shocked and impressed by Australian rieslings.
One of the best was served to kick off an elaborate lunch at the newly opened Rock Pool restaurant in Perth. It was Cherubimo 2010 Riesling from the Mt. Barker region of the deep southwest – a tight, mineral, lemon-lime and very concentrated wine that transported me back to Beamsville. In South Australia riesling thrives in the slightly higher Eden Valley, a sub-region of Barossa. Penfolds Bin 51 2010 Riesling from Eden is a powerful and searing experience. The Clare Valley to northwest of Adelaide may be the single most important region for riesling, and I was blown away by Annie’s Lane 2009 Coppertail, from the Carsfield vineyard planted back in 1935. This is serious heritage.
Aussie rieslings currently on shelf in Ontario are led, value-wise by Clare Hills 2009 Riesling ($14.95) which teeters on the brink of austerity, but drives to excellent length.Wolf Blass 2008 Riesling that blends Clare and Eden fruit is becoming a staple at Vintages, and a very good example in a leaner, dry, juicy style (I liked the pineapple, honey, and juniper notes in the upcoming 2010). If you prefer a slightly softer, richer style that still walks on the dry side look to Yalumba 2009 Y Series Riesling at a mere $12.95.
Defusing Shiraz?
The importance of shiraz to Australia’s past, and perhaps its future as well, cannot be understated. Consumers, myself included, love Aussie shiraz, but its alcohol heat and palate numbing richness can be over the top. So as I toured Australia’s premier shiraz regions – particularly Barossa and McLaren Vale – I was searching for signs of more elegance. And often finding it.
By the way, the rise in alcohol levels is directly ascribed to climate change, and Australia has been in drought for several years (until this summer’s rains). According to senior Rosemount viticulturalist Kym Ayliffe, “heat spikes and soil dehydration are the main culprits”. Planting in cooler regions and higher altitudes is an obvious response and well underway, but fine tuning the vineyards by adding subsoil compost, adjusting vine vigour and canopies is also an integral to the solution, says Ayliffe. Later when tasting Rosemount’s 2009 Diamond Label Shiraz (with a whopping production of 400,000 cases a year) I was impressed to note lovely floral, fruit notes, considerable elegance and very little alcohol.
It was deep in the Barossa that I tasted the best shiraz, where wineries like Penfolds have been making great shiraz for a very long time (the first vintage of Grange was 1951). As I tasted through the entire range of upcoming Penfolds 2008 reds, I was struck by their depth and elegance. In reviewing my notes not once did I write “hot”. Full notes will be on WineAlign when they are released here in the months ahead but I single out a new shiraz called Maranaga that comes entirely from the Waltons Vineyard in central Barossa. Drilling down to one site is a huge departure for Penfolds, that has always blended from several sites – and it is an increasingly important trend across Australia. Nearby at Wolf Blass winemaker Chris Hatcher is also looking to make “contemporary and elegant” wines in a massive, modern new winery with rows of open-top wood fermenters designed for gentle integration across the price range. His delicious 2007 Platinum Shiraz was sourced 80% in the slightly cooler Eden Valley.
Of wines currently available in the LCBO’s new Aussie release, the Kangarilla Road 2008 Shiraz, McLaren Vale ($18.95) is the most indicative of the new, very smooth genre. The Mitolo Junior 2008 Shiraz is also very good for the money (currently on sale at $13.90) and Next of Kin 2008 Shiraz ($14.95) offers the Margaret River perspective of cooler, spicier, more mentholated shiraz. From Vintages First Families Release check out the Yalumba 2008 Patchwork Shiraz from Barossa, with seamless, creamy texture and very bright fruit ($21.95), while Jim Barry 2008 The Lodge Hill Shiraz from the Clare Valley ($23.95) is also very stylish with giving up density and fruit depth.
Alt Italian, Spanish & Blends
The next big trend in Australia reds will likely be Italian varieties like sangiovese and nebbiolo, as well as Spain’s tempranillo – sometimes in blends with cabernet and/or shiraz. Every vineyard I visited seemed to have an experimental batch on the go. The reason? I sense that the winemakers feel Australia is desperately in need of red new varieties, and further they want those to be warm climate varieties with higher natural acidity. Tempranillo in particular would seem to fit the bill given its importance in Spain.
In Margaret River Devils Lair has a delicious tempranillo-shiraz blend called Dance with the Devil. Rosemount has a sangiovese in its Diamond Label series, but not yet in Ontario. At a small winery called Chain of Ponds in the Adelaide Hills an astoundingly authentic nebbiolo capped a range of Italian inspired reds. Another nifty Adelaide Hills nebbiolo from S.C. Panelli is found in area restaurants. In the Barossa Penfolds excellent 2007 Cellar Reserve Sangiovese is from vines planted in the early 80s, and they have two different bottlings of tempranillo. And although I did not get a chance on this trip to visit and taste through the high county of Victoria, this area is a hotbed of alt-varietals being grown by smaller wineries. The genre debuts in Ontario with the very good Hardys 2008 The Chronicles Butchers Gold Shiraz Sangiovese($14.95).
Pinot Gris/Grigio or Plain PG?
Pinot Gris is the newest white grape in Australia, its presence fuelled by the global surge in popularity for pinot grigio, a simple, fresh non-challenging, indistinct wine. The technical know-how of Australia makes it viable now, but given its roots in central Europe (Alsace, Germany, northeastern Italy) it was not a grape that sprung to mind when planting Australia 25 years ago. That may be changing, at least in the cooler regions of the country. I didn’t encounter much pinot gris in my travels, but when I did find it, I hit the motherlode, The winery is T’Gallant. It was founded by Kevin and Kathleen McCarthy in 1988, based on “the completely radical premise” that pinot gris was important. They had been influenced by a German named Max Loder from Baden. Their pursuit of pinot gris became an obsession in the years that followed, including trips to Europe. Not only did they make serious pinot gris, Kevin McCarthy undertook to re-define the sensorial appreciation of this most vague varietal, convincing scientists at the University of Adelaide to come up with a “PG style spectrum” that dispensed with the regional prejudices inherent in the terms pinot gris (French) and grigio (Italian). It could still take years before the wine world embraces this piece of work, but it was one of the most fascinating sidebars of my journey. And his range of excellent PGs, from light and racy to opulent proved that style is as much in the eye of the winemaker as the terroir.
There is a connection to a wine that joins the Aussie invasion in Ontario this month. Cooralook 2008 Pinot Gris is one of the great discoveries – if you like your PG rich and complex. It is made under the auspices of a winery called Yabby Lake, a Mornington Peninsula neighbour to T’Gallant. But if you just want to try a straightforward, squeaky clean and flavourful Aussie pinot grigio give Rosemount 2010 Pinot Grigio a try at $13.95.
Cabernet Sauvignon Soldiers On
Cabernet Sauvignon remains strong in Australia with two cooler regions clearly identified as prime locales – Coonawarra and Margaret River. But many wine drinkers and winemakers figure other regions make great cab too, and that cab, not shiraz, may be the Australia’s single best red grape. Personally I would reach for an Australian cabernet before those of any other country except perhaps Chile. Australia’s climate certainly provides the warmth to ripen this late ripening variety. And if you would doubt cab’s heritage in Australia consider that Penfolds Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard was planted in 1882, making it arguably the oldest still producing cab site it in the world, although reseved for great vintages.
Some consider Block 42 Australia’s greatest cabernet, or at least Penfold’s Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, which often receives fruit from Block 42. But I would put Wynn’s Coonawarra Cabernets in that league as well. I was very impressed by the elegance being sewn into not only the iconic Wynns 2006 John Riddoch, but also a new single-vineyard Block 91 Cabernet Sauvignon that has churned out 53 vintages to date. And don’t forget cab-shiraz blends which Australia does better than anyone else in the world (both Penfolds Bin 389 and Wynn’s 2008 V and A Lane are great wines).
For much more affordable cabernet and blends now on shelf in Ontario I direct you to Saltram 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, ($24.95) a buxom, black and delicious cabernet from the Barossa Valley. For a more lean and elegant, juicy style try Stone Dwellers 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, $19.95. The label uses the Southeastern Australia appellation but it hails from the Plunkett Fowles winery in granitic Strathbogie Ranges of Victoria northeast of Melbourne. For an intense, greener, classic Margaret River editon from the First Families portfolio try Howard Park Leston 2008 Cabenet Sauvignon ($29.95), or for a more affordable, more mellow but nicely made blend from the same vintage and region, look up Devil’s Lair 2008 Fifth Leg Shiraz Cabernet Merlot.
Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon Seek Direction
In discussing Australian Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion and blends thereof, one needs a bit of context. New Zealand sauvignon blanc is hugely popular in Australia, and this is not sitting well with Aussie winemakers. Imagine Canadian chardonnay successfully invading the USA and you grasp the problem. So the Australians are out to make their sauvignons brighter, cleaner, more crisp and elegant.
Like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc does not have much of legacy in Australia. It was considered a cool climate thus foreign varietal. And who needed it with so much semillon to provide that green-tinged flavour profile? Well they did need it commercially because semillon remains such a tough sell internationally, despite the structure, richness and age-worthiness of top examples. So as with chardonnay, sauvignon blanc production is heading to the coolest coasts and highest elevations in search of verve and nerve.
I can’t say I was as enthused or surprised by the overall quality, as I was with chardonnay. The Margaret River region is best poised to make Sauv-Sem whites a central focus. Devils Lair is again worth mentioning in this regard, with Fifth Leg 2009 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc ($15.95) now on shelf at the LCBO. It is indeed a leaner, greener, nettled style with some mineral and flinty SO2 related tension. Next of Kin Sauvingnon Blanc/Semillion 2009 is also very good. Unfortunately Australia’s great classic semillon’s are few and far between in Ontario. (I had a wonderful Heritage 2008 Semillon by winemaker Steve Hoff in Barossa, perhaps the most authentic Aussie white of my trip). Now at Vintages, Tyrrell’s Lost Block Semillon 2010 from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales is a fairly priced and quite typical if mild example. One could only wish we would see more. Twenty years ago I was placing Aussie semillon atop many value white lists, but that has not been much help. Semillon seems on the decline.
Check out this this handy list of all the new Australian wines just released at the LCBO.Cheers and enjoy, David
- David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign
Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, Australia, David Lawrason, Lawrasons Take, LCBO, Vintages
2:30-4:30 was a sacred time, when everyone in the house, front or back, would pause for lunch. There were always at least 4-5 open bottles of local wine on the table to taste, brought over by the sommelier Laurence. And so I began a serious exploration of the wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon, then as now the largest officially designated wine-growing region in the world. It was also at about this time that the Languedoc started to gain a lot of international recognition for the quality and value of its wines, shedding the image of a vast, poor quality bulk wine region as it had been considered for at least the last century. Suddenly there were small, artisanal producers popping up in the most promising sub-regions and micro terroirs from the Pyrenees to the borders of the southern Rhône appellation making great wine from the local grapes and a few imports.
I spent my rare days off that summer driving around in a borrowed car and visiting many of these up and coming producers, guided by Laurence’s recommendation and my own research. I discovered a wealth of dedicated winemakers eager to explore and express the maximum potential of Grenache, syrah, mourvèdre and old vines carignan, mostly in blends, as well as more rare but fascinating whites from grapes like maccabeu, bourboulenc and clairette and the more familiar marsanne and roussanne. I was thrilled at the discovery of characterful and flavourful wines at more than reasonable prices, made by passionate young individuals. The new generation of quality-oriented producers were quickly joined by big name and big money outsiders eager to get a piece of this terroir while it was still relatively unknown and the prices attractive. Regions like Minervois, Corbières, St Chinian, Faugères and the Côteaux du Languedoc were virtually unknown outside of France, and probably to most Parisians as well. It was this experience in fact that led me to leave the kitchen and get into the wine business, at first working with Vinifera, an importer of French wines. My motivation was at first selfish – I simply wanted to be able to drink these wines back home in Toronto.
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