Woodstock Botrytis Semillon 2006

I seem to have a semi permanent shortage of dessert wines, an unhappy state of affairs, remediable only by forethought. A warm climate doesn't seem to bother the production of interesting botrytis semillon, as this wine from the warm McLaren Vale and the benchmark Noble One from De Bortoli from the hot Riverina attest. Fashioned by Scott Collett and Ben Glaetzer, an attractive aroma of honey is supplemented on the palate by notions of apricot, peach, honey and sweet nectarines. Medium length and sweet, this is a good value wine at $18. 87 points

Abv: 10.5%
Price: $18
Website: http://www.woodstockwine.com.au/
Tasted: August 2011

Plantagenet Shiraz 2007

From the coolish Great Southern region in Western Australia, Plantagenet has crafted this pleasant if unspectacular shiraz.  A bright ruby in colour.  A medium intensity aroma of spice, herbs, plums, graphite and anise.  And pepper.  A palate with medium-high acidity, medium length and a plummy flavour.  Its positive is that it is a perfectly pleasant shiraz.  Its negatives are that it is around $45 for a wine that has a resemblence to a typical commercial South Australian shiraz.  83 points

Abv: 14.9%

Price: $45 (current vintage)

Website: http://www.plantagenetwines.com

Tasted: October 2011

Castagna Sauvage Syrah 2007

Castagna is a very highly regarded producer from Beechworth in northern Victoria at an altitude of 500 metres and has garned praise from many in the know and is generally regarded as a rising star.  The vines are grown biodynamically, the vineyard hand pruned, the fruit hand-picked, the yields low.  All things that an ambitious winery might consider being done, are being done.  Now generally I would say a few more words here about how good the wine is, and you might read on for a bit and make up your own mind.  The story here though takes an unfortunate turn.  The wine had a certain unpleasant character that I could not initially put my finger on.  My thoughts "live":

An aroma of pepper, ooh a quite strong note of tinned green peppercorns and then, no wait, an acrid character.  Really?  Smoke?  No, perhaps it's earth - give it the benefit of the doubt.  Nope - smoke, and there it is again on the palate, though offset by some baked plummy fruit and supple medium length.  Why would Vue de Monde, one of Melbourne's finest restaurants, a candidate for the finest, serve it?  Why would Castagna, an up and coming producer, sell it?  I must be wrong, or at least have different tastes.

And then a colleague, sitting at a different table, quietly informed me of his same conclusion carrying an already replaced glass with a 2008 vintage in it (same producer, possibly a different label though).  And then another person.  So, be it smoke, or something else, something was not quite right on the night.  Now, I have searched in vain for further information about the 2007 vintage for Castagna, or a review of this wine.  The best I can do is this: Langtons describes 2007 thus for Beechworth pinot noir:

The earliest harvest on record finishing in late February. It was also a bloody difficult year with the Australian trifecta of frost, drought and fire. A heavy frost on the 25th September caused severe damage. A second frost followed on the 9th of October but caused little further grief. A third frost reduced the harvest even further. This was followed by drought conditions throughout late spring and summer. Mild to hot weather accelerated budburst and ripening, but yields are down. Bush fire smoke damage is a widespread problem, but this will be entirely vineyard specific. Worse, the Pinot crop was very small. Giaconda has brought in fruit from Bannockburn and the Yarra Valley. Savaterre fared better. Many wines were not made. 4/10

Disappointing.  75 points.

Price: $45 (current vintage)
Website: http://castagna.com.au/

Cirillo 1850s Old Vine Grenache 2007

Oh dear, this wine is extremely good, and Cirillo joins my list of must watch wineries.  Winemaker Marco Cirillo works with 3 hectares of grenache vines planted in the 1850s in the Barossa Valley.  The wine presents as a bright ruby-garnet in colour.  A clean nose with a medium to pronounced intensity fragrance of spices, pepper, attractive oak and fruit cake.  In a word, "attractive".  On the palate, medium acidity, medium to long length, medium tannins, plums, cherries, butter and high but balanced alcohol.  If you like grenache, this really is an outstanding wine to be sought out.  If you wouldn't normally buy grenache, give it a go: it's that good.  91 points.

Abv: 15.1%

Price: $48

Tasted: October 2011

Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2005

If you are looking for a good Rioja at a fair price, then this wine from Marqués de Murrieta merits your attention.  It is a blend of 84% tempranillo, 13% grenache and 3% mazuelo.  A bright ruby in colour, it has a medium to pronounced intensity aroma of oak (American - as is often typical in Rioja), plums, butter and spices, with a sprinkling of pepper.  On the palate, there are similar flavours, with medium acidity, medium to high alcohol and body, integrated tannins and towards long length.  The next day it drank equally well.  The sort of wine I'd buy.  88 points.

Abv: 14%
Price: $29.99
Website: http://www.marquesdemurrieta.com/
Tasted: October 2011

Pio Cesare Barbera D'Alba 2008

Here's a well priced wine that punches above its weight.  It is garnet in colour with tears evident.  A medium intensity aroma emerged from the glass.  Red fruits, plums, oak, herbs and cherries were all in attendance.  On the palate, expect red fruits, medium plus to high acidity and pleasingly ripe tannins.  Good length (15 seconds plus on my count) confirmed this to be an excellent wine.  For $30, it's a dead set winner.  Drink over the next couple of years.  89 points.

Abv: 13.5%
Price: $29.99
Website: http://www.piocesare.it/index.htm
Tasted: August 2011

Alain Graillot Syrocco Zenata Syrah 2009

Yes, that's right, Morocco.  The country in northern Africa.  I tasted the wine blind (a syrah), so I had no chance.  Zero.  Bright, ruby in colour with tears in the glass.  A medium intensity juby expression of jam, confectionary and apricots on the nose.  Rather like an entry level Crozes-Hermitage or even a Cotes du Rhone, perhaps no surprise given Alain Graillot is a producer from the Rhone Valley.  On the palate, medium to high acidity, red fruits, raspberries and dark cherries jostled for position.  There's certainly some novelty in this wine.  In a bracket that promised a wine from each country of the same variety, the inclusion of this wine was mostly evil.  Is there a reason we don't see too many wines from Morocco?  'fraid so on this wine.  No, actually, it's not that bad, it's just well, very very juby.  83 points.

Abv: 13%
Price: n/a
Website: n/a
Tasted: October 2011

Independent, small and family wineries: a few stray thoughts ...

It is no secret that many independent, smaller and family wineries in Australia (and there are a lot of them) are struggling.  The source of their struggle is perhaps a combination of lack of scale, over-production in parts of Australia reliant on irrigation, low prices for grapes due to excess supply, a high Australian dollar impeding those those lucky enough to export, a highly competitive domestic market (where much wine is sold for $15 or less), high costs of production, a powerful duopoly controlling a significant chunk of retail wine distribution in Australia demanding low prices and scale and, until the last two years, drought (and then last year of course, rain and disease).  Oh, and complicated wine taxes.

The result of this (or even independently of this - the point I'm about to make is the same) is that I don't get to see, let alone, taste a lot of these smaller producers' wines.  Yet, I would like to ... And I have more than a couple of friends who would like too ...  Hell, if you've read this far, you'd probably like to too.  The closest I often get is touring the various Australian wine regions, and following signs blindly down dirt tracks.  My definition of fun.  This state of affairs seems a great pity (not the fun bit), as I have a lot of sympathy for small business operators and the wine dream that many of these people are pursuing.  Many do, I suspect.  I would like nothing more than to taste great or regionally typical wines that have been overlooked.  I think many local wine reviewers would enjoy doing the same.  For example, I recently tried a Syrahmi syrah from Heathcote, that was smashing.  Yet Syrahmi, despite its small production, but perhaps because of the efforts of its winemaker and his careful growers, is well known in Australia and so has hardly been overlooked.  In fact, I'd say there has been so much looking, the label has a "vibe".  Jamsheed is another one.

And so perhaps there is an element of self-help available here to wineries.  There is a great deal of wine information available now on the internet, and wine reviewing is no longer the carefully cultivated turf of a few, even in Australia.  I routinely Google wines.  I know I'm not alone, because that's were much of the traffic to this website comes from.  One traditional means of promoting wine in Australia - entry into wine shows with the hope of adorning wines with a medal, seems open to debate as wine consumers ask more questions about how wine shows work.  I also read recently a note by well known local wine writer Jeremy Oliver to the effect that, I think, there are more wine shows in Australia than there are days in the year.  I am happy to be corrected if I've overstated this.  I've posted some thoughts on wine shows separately here.

Perhaps the challenge for such producers is to throw their hats into the wider ring of the internet aka the blogosphere and twitter.  There may be little to lose, even if opinion is perhaps more forthright and haphazard than being hidden in a maze of wines at a wine show, lost in encyclopedic tomes, or perhaps even overrated due to the apparent local "points inflation" (pointed out by an overseas writer), and anecdotally observed by a few others locally.  So, there is a potential negative side.  But I see that as a good thing: it's probably a bit closer to what consumers actually think; and frankly, knowing what they actually think could be kind of useful.  Hell, it might even help.

Bannockburn Chardonnay 2008

I really can't speak highly enough of the last couple of vintages of Bannockburn's chardonnay from outside of Geelong (click here for my review of the 2007 vintage).  Tasted blind, the 2008 vintage is bright with a golden colour.  On the nose, clean, with an aroma of citrus, herbs, minerals, oak (but not too much), some buttery malo (but not too much) and melon fruit with a pronounced intensity.  On the palate, long length, medium-high acidity, citrus, peaches and minerals.  Drink this European styled chardonnay over the next couple of years.  93 points.

Price: $50
Abv: 13.5%
Website: http://www.bannockburnvineyards.com/wines.php
Tasted: October 2011

Balnaves The Tally Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Sigh.  Another cabernet sauvignon with 15% alcohol.  I almost get tired looking at the bottle.  This is one of Australia's leading wines, and I think it is a very good wine - it's quite obvious really.  Taste it.  Dark in colour, an aroma of anise and licorice spring forth from the bottle.  Unmistakably Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon; resolutely not cabernet sauvignon from those other places.  Terroir most likely.  On the palate, long length, medium to high acidity and similar licorice and chocolate flavours.  The elevated alcohol poked through at times, flash heating the mouth.  With the exception of the immediately preceding sentence, these are generally good notes to be writing about a wine, at least when I have the pen.  But there is something ungiving about this wine.  A telephone conversation where the caller is on mute.  Needs time.  90 points

Abv: 15%
Price: $85
Website: http://www.balnaves.com.au/
Tasted: October 2011

Chateau La Rayre Rosé 2009

It's hard to go past rosé in summer.  It is of course not in fact summer, and indeed, Melbourne's spring to date currently resembles more closely late winter.  But anyway, I enjoyed drinking this rosé from Bergerac situated to the east of Bordeaux, a blend of two thirds cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon and one third merlot.  A deeper hue of salmon pink in colour, the aroma is of crisp and crunchy peaches.  The palate reveals spices, nectar and a savoury balance.  Good drinking and well priced.  85 points.

Abv: 13%
Price: $18
Source: sample
Tasted: October 2011
Website: http://www.chateau-la-rayre.com.  Importer's website (http://www.discovervin.com.au)

A natural wine dinner, naturally

I attended earlier this week a natural wines dinner hosted by well known Australian wine writer Max Allen at the genial Montague Hotel in South Melbourne.  The food and wines were good, and so worth mentioning, as well as the underlying premise of the evening - a practical debate on the merits of natural wines led by probably Australia's leading advocate of sustainable wine.

While various more formal definitions might be bandied around (of natural wine, not Max), the general idea seems to be that it is wine made with minimal intervention during all steps of the production process.  Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop MW cover the issues in detail in their newly released book, Authentic Wine: Toward Natural and Sustainable Winemaking (University of California Wine Press, 2011).  In their words:

"What is a natural wine in this context?  There is no strict definition, but there are common approaches that most growers who align themselves with the [natural wine movement] take.  The chief desire shared by all is to make wines with the fewest possible manipulations or additions.  Interestingly, the main emphasis among natural wine producers is on what happens in the winery; while many practice organic or biodynamic viticulture, some do work conventionally.  Most commonly, though, a natural approach in the winery is coupled with vineyard mangement that seeks to preserve the life and fertility of the soil, eschewing herbicides and widespread use of agrochemicals.  Natural wine production relies almost exclusively on yeasts present on the grape skins and in the winery environment to carry out fermentations.  Sulfur dioxide additions are kept to a bare minimum or done away with entirely."

I think the concept of natural wine does not seem objectionable.  In fact it seems rather friendly and furry.  I suspect that many people, given the choice, would probably prefer their wine without wood chips, excessive sulfur dioxide, non grape tannins, gobs of tartaric acid, bags of sugar and some of the other more obvious non "natural" additives.  This is probably because they wouldn't customarily, at least without phoning ahead, order these items separately on a restaurant menu.  But there is a catch.  At least in its drinkable format, wine seldomnly will appear (or survive) without human intervention, and chemically and hedonistically, many of these additions may help rather than hinder a wine.  Thus, questions of the naturalness of wine, or otherwise, are somewhat fraught, for wine is not particularly natural - assuming, of course, as these debates often do, that humans are unnatural.  Fortunately, this catch seems mostly well understood.

These debates, a bit like organics more generally, have a tendency to morph into a quasi political narrative, with good v evil cartoon like caricatures available for the key players (mass market homogenisation v artisinal anyone?)  Me?  I admit while I'm attracted to some of the fluffy sentiments that go with the territory of keeping products natural for the reasons just mentioned, ultimately, I am governed by the hegemony of taste.  My local organic retailer who seems to prefer to prominently display rotten bananas is perhaps a case in point.  Rotten bananas are rotten bananas, organic or not, expensive or not.  Yet my guess is that few, including me, are close minded to the idea of embracing, or at least letting exist, wines that are a bit different or out there (perhaps nee faulty).  So, I remain open minded, and yes, the splinters on the fence do hurt from time to time.

Being somewhat late, I quaffed an unnoted prosecco on arrival that was really quite good, and somehow managed to miss Adam Foster's (winemaker of Syrahmi) renowned salami, which was hidden in plain sight.  So, that is a highly useful start for the reader.  Dinner instead commenced for me with an unexpected entree of chicken wings, Thai fish cakes and, I think, a kind of meat dumpling, offset by three really rather interesting white wines.  The first wine was close to wine of the night, being a Domaine Meyer-Fonné Alsace Riesling 2009.  I wasn't entirely clear as to what made this wine "natural", though I see that it was vinified using natural yeasts.  Anyway, that didn't matter, because the wine was glorious.  A pure aroma of talc, citrus and honey was accompanied by long length, high acidity and a touch of petillance.  Simply an excellent riesling (12.5% abv, 90 points).

The second wine, the Thierry Puzelat Thésée Touraine 2009 (a sauvignon blanc) was a bit cloudy, and had, if I am to be frank, a terrible aroma.  In polite company, one might call it "flor yeast" like.  Another description is a blend of toothpaste and freshly cut grass.  I can still smell it now writing several days later.  It was certainly distinctive.  The palate was better with high acidity, medium length, menthol, but was too funky for me (13.5% abv, 79 points).  I understand from the importer's website that this wine was made "totally naturally without any chemical additions".

The third wine was the unusually named Dandy in the Clos, Birds ... No Boundaries 2011 from the Hunter Valley, a blend I recall (Google reveals little on this occasion) as being of chardonnay and verdelho and macerated on the skins of gewurtztraminer.  Somewhat tricky for a "natural wine", then.  It was also somewhat cloudy.  This wine kind of worked, if a touch simple in result.  An aroma of musk sticks (the candy ones), flowers and lychees.  On the palate, nice length and acidity.  A generally pleasant drink that doesn't overly excite (14% abv, 84 points).  I wonder if it is easy to sell wine with this name.

The reds were accompanied, in my case, by a classic steak frites.  Though I have never yet been to a restaurant before where I have been asked whether I would like my steak cooked "medium", "medium-well" or "well done".  Did the "rare" or "medium-rare" get off at the wrong stop?  Oddly enough then, I was surprised to see the steak arrive medium-rare.   Accompanied were two flights of three reds.  The first was the Pierre Gonon Les Iles Feray Vin de Pays de l'Ardeche 2009 (a syrah).  Now, one of the more unusual things I have done was to compete a few years ago in an annual bike ride/race call the "Ardechoise", which introduced me to the possibility that a hill could be so long that you could get cold descending it.  The Ardeche however despite its proximity to the Rhone, is not well known for its wine.  Adam Foster suggested that this wine was not eligible for the well known St Joseph appellation due to a technicality.  Anyway, the wine had an aroma of plums, spices and confectionary like red fruits, and didn't taste unlike a St Joseph.  The power of suggestion.  Its natural attributes were not discussed, though I understand from the importer's website that it is bottled without filtration.  On the palate, short of medium length, good acidity, plums and spice were there.  This was a lovely balanced wine but is not a vin de garde (12.5% abv, 84 points).

The second wine was the wine of the night, in my opinion.  The Syrahmi Heathcote Shiraz 2009.  A lovely aroma of plums intermingled with good French oak.  The palate was classy and understated, with plums and very good length (15 to 20 seconds) evident.  An excellent balanced wine (13.2%, 91 points).  Winemaker Adam Foster described his approach as non-interventionalist, if only on the grounds of (an unlikely story) laziness.

The third was the Foster e Rocco Heathcote Sangiovese 2010.  This wine had a typical aroma of sour cherries, with good length and firm tannins on the palate.  There was however some hardness to the tannins (13.5% abv, 85 points).

Undaunted, the third and final set of three wines arrived.  Clos du Tue Boeuf Cheverny 2010 led the charge.  For someone who follows French wine fairly closely, Cheverny was a new appellation for me.  It is in the Loire Valley, with the reds predominantly a gamay-pinot noir blend.  The light strawberry colour was perhaps the giveaway.  The aroma was of stalks, cut grass and a touch of that "flor yeast" character again.  Interestingly, Clos du Tue Boeuf is made by Jean-Marie and Thierry Puzelat (see above), so this appears a signature of sorts based on these two wines, be it terroir or the winemaking.  I thought it handled better though in this wine.  The palate had medium plus acidity, length, and cherry flavours (11.5% abv, 84 to 86 points).  The wine was made from grapes that are grown biologically and made naturally without any chemical additions.

Next, quite an interesting Cotes du Rhone, namely the Renaud Le Clos de Grillons La Pointue Cotes du Rhone 2010.  A typical juby, rasberry fruit aroma with a touch of deli meats.  On the palate, medium plus acidity was accompanied by spices, length, medium tannins and a touch of heat (15% abv, 87 points).  Despite its alcohol level, the wine proved quite popular.  And finally, and perhaps poetically, we ended with a disaster.


The Bobar Yarra Valley Syrah 2010 (not shiraz ...)  It had an aroma of Sicilian olives in brine.  Now, don't get me wrong, I like Sicilian olives.  I just don't like my wine to smell (and taste) like it.  The palate was the same, except that there was also evidence of re-fermentation in the bottle.  I understand that the wine is bottled without filtering or fining, made with natural yeasts, and sees minimal sulfur dioxide additions.  This bottle, in my opinion, was faulty, naturally made or not (12.5% abv, 50 points).

Overall, what an interesting set of wines!  I feel fortunate to have attended a dinner like this, where clearly quite some thought has gone into the wines.  Natural wine or not, the vast majority of these wines tasted extremely good.

Moulin des Dames Bergerac Sec 2009

This wine, a semillon sauvignon blanc blend from the Bergerac Sec appellation (situated to the east of Bordeaux), is really quite serious in intent.  Golden in colour, it opens to a rich aroma of honey, herbs, minerals, stones and peach.  On the palate, a viscous texture opens to reveal rich flavours of stone fruit kernels and spice, and a touch more than medium acidity.  The length is really very good.  Although it is a blend of 70% sauvignon blanc and 30% semillon, the semillon portion seems higher.  A very good wine that deserves to be taken seriously.  89 points.

Abv: 14.5%
Price: $40
Source: sample
Website: http://www.discovervin.com.au (importer's website)
Tasted: October 2011

Lark Hill Shiraz Viognier 2010

This wine is yet another good release from Lark Hill in Canberra.  Largely their entire range is very drinkable, and by largely, I mean all of their wines that I have tried so far.  Clonakilla's shiraz viognier has of course set the Australian benchmark for northern Rhone inspired savoury wines.  Lark Hill's shiraz viognier does not sit idly by, and asserts the potential of the region for this blend.   It enjoys a complex aroma of plums, pepper, red fruits, fresh fruit and fruit cake.  On the palate, that freshness is there again, with notes of pepper, apricot kernels, more than medium acidity and a general balance that makes for very good drinking.  87 points.

Abv: 13.5%
Price: $40
Source: sample
Tasted: August 2011
Website: http://www.larkhillwine.com.au/

Serrat Viognier 2008

Hot

Serrat is the sort of winery that ticks the right boxes. High density plantings of 8,800 vines per hectare on a north facing site on low fertility soil situated 3 kilometres north of Yarra Glen in the Yarra Valley. And it is also the family business of the highly regarded Tom Carson (former winemaker at Yering Station, now winemaker for Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate).

The 2008 vintage in the Yarra Valley is described thus in Langton's vintage guide:

"Adequate winter rainfall and warm dry spring conditions lead to an ideal start to the growing season with optimum flowering and fruit set.  Most of the frosted vineyards recovered well. Timely rainfall in December topped up soil moistures [sic] and freshened up vineyards. However dam levels remained low. Intermittent hot weather in January and February accelerated growth and ripening. Some vineyards experienced vine stress and sunburn. In spite of the heat wave of early March, the fruit quality was generally very good; a testament to contemporary vineyard management practices."

It therefore somewhat pains me to say that I didn't particularly like this wine. Bright in clarity, it is lemon-green in colour. On the nose, there is a slightly reductive fragrance that is youthful with stone fruits, seemingly some oak, with short of medium intensity aromatics. On the palate, the wine is dry with more than medium acidity, stone fruit flavours, medium length, and alcohol heat. The alcohol seemed out of balance with this wine, and perhaps given the tendency of viognier towards excessive alcohol levels, it was perhaps no coincidence to see heat issues noted in the 2008 vintage report for the Yarra Valley. It was also interesting to note the slightly higher acidity than expected given the apparent ripeness of the fruit. Drink up. 80 points.

Price: $35

Abv: 15.5%

Website: http://www.serrat.com.au

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