Posts Tagged Grosset

Taken from Forbes.com, Tyler Colman, one of the inaugural Landmark Australia Tutorial participants writes about how Australian wine is under appreciated: 

Underappreciated Australian Wines

Starting in the mid-1990s until last year, Australian wines enjoyed eye-popping growth as a menagerie of kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and penguins stormed the supermarket and wine-shop aisles. Australian shiraz became synonymous with the big, sweet, high-alcohol “fruit bombs.”

The growth of wine from Down Under was so rapid that in 1996 the Australian government’s wine authority drew up a 30-year sales target for the industry–and reached it 20 years early. Unfortunately, starting last year, consumers who previously scooped up the look-alike shirazes are now reaching for the wines of other countries–ignoring the great-tasting wines Australia makes.

Cheap or boozy shiraz, it turned out, wasn’t much of a stepping stone to the good stuff. While overall wine sales are flat in the U.S., worldwide exports of Australian wine declined 17% year over year from 2007 to 2008. Yet, amazingly, even when you throw in a 13-year drought, bush fires earlier this year, static domestic demand and a global financial crisis, Australian wine is still much more than a one-trick pony.

Shiraz and chardonnay, as ubiquitous as they may seem on the retail shelf, account for only half the vineyard acreage in Australia. In fact, there are over 60 distinct winegrowing regions and 2,300 producers there–making everything from zippy whites such as Brokenwood Semillon to lean reds like Giant Steps pinot noir–and even super-sweet dessert wines, such as Chambers muscadelle. And the wines either clock in at wallet-friendly prices or are just plain great examples of the grape.

European Grapes, Aussie Style
If you think of Riesling as a sugary-sweet wine from Germany, then Australian Riesling will change your mind in a hurry. Almost all the wines are dry and have lively, mouth-watering acidity, making them excellent and refreshing wines for summer. And for your picnic convenience, they are almost all bottled in screw cap. Try the excellent Grosset from Australia’s Clare Valley in South Australia or the value Rocky Gully from Margaret River in Western Australia.

Some of the white grapes from France’s Rhone Valley–such as marsanne and viognier–have also found a good home in Australia. These grapes can make big wines, low in acidity and often high in alcohol that can handle as well as an SUV. But in the right hands, they are like a Mustang, with a lot of horsepower and a relatively low price tag.

Yalumba viognier, for example, costs about a third of what the variety runs for when it comes from Condrieu, a small appellation in France’s Northern Rhone Valley, yet the Yalumba still delivers the lush apricot flavors the variety is known for when it’s at its best. And the Tahbilk marsanne from Central Victoria is only $10, but still has a rich texture.

Pinot noir has gotten off to a slow start in Australia, in part because of the country’s quarantine restrictions on new plant material–but the variety is gaining in production and popularity. Many of the country’s microclimates are cool, thanks to either higher altitude or the cooling effect of the Great Southern Ocean; cool temperature is widely believed to help pinot vines thrive.

Unfortunately, not very many of the small-production pinots are exported to the U.S., but the ones you’re likely to find on these shores come from the Yarra Valley, near Melbourne. Try the aforementioned Giant Steps, which is loaded with dark fruit flavors but isn’t overpowering.

Rich, Ripe Reds
Cabernet sauvignon, the signature grape of Bordeaux and Napa, has found a home in two particularly good growing areas in Australia: the Margaret River in Western Australia and Coonawarra in South Australia. Margaret River has a maritime influence and iron-rich soils that tend to give the wine a minerality and earthiness; Coonawarra cabernets tend to have more fruity character perhaps thanks to the terra rossa soils of red earth over limestone.

Australia can hold its own with red Rhone Valley varieties as well, such as mourvedre (pronounced more-VED). Even if you haven’t tried one from France, the Hewitson Old Garden mourvedre is one from Australia worth tracking down. The deep-rooted vines were planted in 1853, and the mourvedre variety loves the Australian heat; the end result is a powerful, dark purple wine with gamey aromas.

To paraphrase Dr. Strangelove, the Australians need to start worrying and learn not to love the (fruit) bomb that is all too often Aussie shiraz. Their world wine domination plan has presumably been significantly revised (since American palates soured on some styles of shiraz) and will hopefully involve bringing more of Australia’s diverse wine flavors to foreign shores. We can all raise a glass of Riesling or cabernet to that.