3 big men and their boats met us at the reception of our motel to take us out to sea. The men were Joch Bosworth, winemaker for Battle of Bosworth and his two friends – Ian and Carl. We 5 wine tourists were a little worse for wear. I had turned green.  The remedy was not my usual hot water, lemon and a lie down, but a ride on a speed boat, a can of Bundys (rum and coke) and a snickers. To catch a squid you simply throw a line weighted with a colourful looking plastic prawn into the sea, and wait for the squid to get involved. When it does, you pull it in, it shoots black ink at your face (quite rightly) and then one of the big men does something to it to make it less excitable and then it gets popped in the freezer bag next to the bundys.

I caught the first squid of the day. It would also be my last. Fortunately everyone else did very well and we returned home with over 30 squid. We would see the big men and the squid later. After washing the ink off my face, I joined the group on the mini bus, we were off to d’Arenberg for tasting a lunch.

We were shown around the vineyards and estate by fourth generation winemaker, Chester Osborn. D’Arenberg owns 500 acres, plants 30 varieties and makes 47 different wines (next year it will be 60). It is a big operation that feels small. The wines have personality, perhaps because in the vineyard they are allowed such freedom – Chester tells us he does nothing in the vineyard – no fertilising, no trimming, he just “prunes and picks”.
The winery is enormous – but everything is done on a small scale – ALL the grapes are foot trodden in open fermenters and basket pressed in one of the ten 160 yr old French basket presses. We sit down to taste through some of the d’Arenberg range. Before the wines are even poured things are getting colourful. The wines have names like “The Wild Pixie”, “Sticks and Stones” and “The Lucky Lizard” (named after the lizard that fell into the wine crusher, but fortunately escaped alive because the crush is so gentle). When asked how he comes up with the names for his wines Chester replied “never before 2 a.m”.  My notes again read as though I might be describing a red Bandol or a Ligurian white, what I was smelling and tasting were aromas, flavours and textures that I would not, before this trip, have ever associated with Australia.

Lunch followed and we were accompanied by the M.D – Chester’s dad, d’Arry. D’Arry joined the family business in 1943 at the age of 16, and in 2008 completed his 63rd consecutive vintage. Lunch was a spectacular affair, yes, another one. We sat on the verandah, looking out over the vale and ate deep fried olives stuffed with almonds and drank The Dry Dam Riesling 11, before moving on to three single vineyard Shirazes The Fruit Bat, Little Venice and The Eight Iron. Full on, full bodied reds as fresh as our morning at sea, with waves of fruit and spice that persisted forever on the palate and tannins that rolled over the tongue and up around the gums, simultaneously drying and refreshing.

There shouldn’t have been any space left in our bellies for the freshly fried and grilled squid that awaited us at Joch’s, home to the Battle of Bosworth vineyard and winery. But great wine always seems to liven the appetite, and we tucked into the squid we had caught that morning after tasting through Joch’s wines.

BOB’s wines are “organically grown and traditionally vinified”. The vineyards are so lush, there is something energizing about just walking through them. Vine leaves jut out like green jazz hands and shimmy in the air. This energy is present too in the wines. They are extremely drinkable, the 2011 Shiraz is the kind of wine I could drink everyday, violetty and sweet on the nose, crunchy cranberry and blackberry on the palate. The Cabernet ‘11’, smelt of fresh coffee and red fruit and tasted of black fruit and salted caramel. The palate was invigorating-as uplifting as the jazz the leaves seemed to be shimmying to.

The most interesting wine for me though was the Wild Boar 2009. It is a wine inspired by Italy’s Amarone. The wine is made from dried grapes – in this case, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, and instead of being picked when ripe and then laid on mats to dry, Joch cuts the canes of the vines to prevent further ripening and leaves the grapes to raisin on the vine. They are then hand picked before a long, slow fermentation.  The wine is intense and concentrated, but not overwhelmingly so, flavours, like it’s Italian inspiration are complex and layered, the finish is long.

On to Paxton. Paxton converted to biodynamic farming in 2005, the senior viticulturist Daniel Lavrencic tells us that this method of farming allows him to produce and showcase the region’s fruit quality, varietal expression and natural diversity. Winemaker Michael Paxton whispered that viniculture can sometimes be seen as the “dark side” by viticulturists – they see their carefully tended fruit disappear into this “black hole” (the winery) where there is the danger that the ego of the winemaker may overwhelm the character of the fruit. Michael, however appeared in such awe of his healthy vineyards and so respectful of Daniel’s work that I cannot imagine he lets his ego anywhere near the fruit.

We tried Paxton’s Single vineyard Chardonnays, the 04, 05, 09 and 10. They all had this Cashew aroma and subtle flavour that I now associate with great Aussie whites. I really enjoyed the 05 – it was broad and warm and sensual, the oak sensitively worked in, the palate had flavours of apples (wearing lemon skin), and a tantalizing salinity, a reminder of the sea and its influence out to the West.
Next, some single vineyard Shiraz “Quandong Farm”. I was getting in to it by this stage – my notes took a turn for the worst. The 07 QF was so flowery and leathery, one sniff and I was suddenly on the back of a bike, nose pressed into the back of a Hells Angel, his leather jacket warm and worn, on his head a helmet of fresh flowers. Unlikely I know, and unsafe too – a flower helmet offers no protection, but it was curious this wine. Fruity on the nose, earthy in the mouth, savoury and sweet, with a dry tannic finish.
The 09 was much more feminine, red fruits – cherries and blackberries, elegant and fresh. The 10 got all dark and brooding again, my nose was back in the bikers jacket.
The Jones Block Shiraz was pretty special, a tiny selection of grapes from the 100 year old vines. We tried the 02 and 05. The 02 is another wine to take to Space, it has all the astronaut needs – fruit and coffee on the nose, meaty and rich on the palate – fine tannins, dark, dusty cocoa on the finish – a meal in a bottle. The 05 felt lighter, leaner with notes of eucalypt, and liquorice, with that bloody lip iron’y character I rather enjoy. It didn’t have quite the intrigue of the 02, maybe it just needs time to itself in bottle.
So the Mclaren, wines that are big and broad, with real presence. Wines that stand in front of the sun and revel in its rays, but too enjoy, and depend upon, the shadows their great, beautifully balanced bodies cast. Wines thriving on the tension between light and dark…or if you prefer, Hells angels wearing violet helmets.

MCLAREN VALE

On land, with glass in hand, you might for a minute believe yourself to be in Southern France, or Spain rather than the Southern Hemisphere. There is something of the med about Mclaren Vale – the warmth, the sea breeze, the light. But when you are at sea, and looking to land you might mistake the rugged coastline for that of Northern Scotland, the cold, the sea breeze, again that brilliant light.

At a lunch at the Victory hotel we met with the winemakers from Gemtree, Cascabel, Noon, Rudderless and Battle of Bosworth.  Mike from Gemtree presented his Shiraz – big, inky reds that filled the mouth with bold berry fruit tempered by acid and firm tannins that carried thoughts of church to the back of the tongue. A cool stone, candle smoke and faded incense character that calmed all thoughts of flamboyant fruit. I particularly loved the “White Lees”, a refreshing Shiraz that is aged on Chardonnay lees, and that draws a white peach tea scent and flavour from those dead yeast cells.

Cascabel came next, Susana Fernandez and Duncan Ferguson make wines from predominantly Spanish varieties-Tempranillo, Graciano, Monastrell and Grenache, with plans to plant Albarino in the future. Their reds were fascinating, all glossy and bright, with attractive fruit and floral notes and the most intriguing black pudding savouriness that seemed to run through each wine.  A cold blooded meatiness that injected a bit of darkness and shadow to the lightness and brightness of the fruit.

Drew Noon makes wines from Shiraz and Graciano, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Like Cascabel his wines play on that tension between light and dark. Wines with weight and power–they are unashamedly big, but beautifully balanced.  Fleshy fruit wrapped with muscular tannins, pronounced veins of acid that had me visioning the arms of the Incredible Hulk (a purple coloured version). But That finish – the muscles lengthen, the weight lifts, the wine seems to float off up to the back of the throat leaving via the ears, puffs of purple that pull the mouth into a Jokers grin.

Rudderless wines are made by the proprietor of the Victory, Doug Govan. His wines  had dark centers too,  black cherries and plums, new leather, balsamic. Govan has recently planted some Malbec and we tried the 2011. It was blue and purple, super vivid and lively – the colour of the sea and the ink of the squid that I would see that next morning. I am so interested to see how this grape develops in the Mclaren, it could prove to be an exciting cross between the savouriness and burliness we are used to from Cahors, with the high spirits and generous fruit of Mendoza.

We left the Victory for the Beach. To refresh with a dip at Port Willunga and to play cricket at dusk. Dinner was at the Star of Greece, it must be one of the most beautiful restaurants in the world. With wet hair and sandy feet, we sat down to seafood and steaks. Our host was Zar Brooks and his winemaker “trophy” wife Elena (“she wins loads of medals for her wines”). Their Lion’s Tooth of Mclaren Vale Shiraz was pretty exciting – Shiraz is co-fermented with 5% Riesling which seems to streamline the Shiraz, heightening (as one would expect) the acidity and tarting up the fruit.

That night was boozy, I couldn’t recall the next morning wrestlers masks or our downing from bottle, Dandelion’s Pride of the Barossa – a 30 yr old Barossa PX. Such behaviour played havoc with our numbers. There were a lot of no-shows for squidding at 6 a.m.

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BY EMILY O’HARE

Our first taste of Mornington Peninsula wines was in the hotter Heathcote at Yabby Lake’s cellar door. Perhaps it was best this way – we could feel the drop in temperature and sense the sea breeze before we’d even arrived – in the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs we tasted.  The Yabby Lake wines had a freshness about them, the Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 seemed so immediate to me, so alive, that it felt like, beneath the berry fruit aromas and flavours, it breathed. Just days after we left, their Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2010, won three trophies at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show, including best Victorian table wine. I looked over my notes, and I did love that wine, but I loved their Block 6 Chard even more. Made from grapes born from heavier, clay soils, I liked the way it felt in the mouth, it had this hold, that wouldn’t let me go to scribble adjectives in my note pad. 

 

The Mornington Peninsula is surrounded on three sides by water. The climate, is unsurprisingly Maritime, but there is much diversity between sites – differences in aspect, elevation, soils and microclimates. Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Shiraz are the key varieties.  But, we were all asking as we drove to Ocean Eight on the bus, what would work best with Pizza??

 

Winemaker and co-founder of the Ocean Eight label, Mike Aylward had set the group a challenge. We were to put forward some recipes for a pizza topping to match his range of wines.  Before the competition commenced, we were poured a glass of traditionally made sparkling wine made from 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier, It did what all great sparklies do – lifted the palate, lifted the spirits and cleared the mind to enable us to think mozzarella. Only a small amount of this wine is made, and most of it is sold directly to the restaurants in Melbourne. Rather uniquely the wine is sold to these restaurants unfinished – it is up to the wine team within the restaurant to decide on the dosage, and then it is topped up to the recipe required and bottled and then labelled under the restaurants own name.

 

The Ocean Eight Pinot Gris 2010 was luscious and ripe – more Alsatian than Italian, with a long, sweet peach blossomy finish. We later found out that while Mike was waiting for the first crop of P.G, Chard and P.N, to be picked he travelled through Europe – to learn about styles and winemaking techniques in Champagne, Alsace and Burgundy. The Chardonnay ‘10’ was delicate and not over worked – “uncluttered” as Yabby Lake’s Tom Carson might put it. Yet despite its subtlety it matched beautifully with Jerusha’s lemon and chicken pizza. The people’s choice award went to Aigars and Senthil’s “Mornington Star” a piquant and juicy chorizo and calamari pizza matched with the Ocean Eight Aylward Reserve Pinot Noir 09.  It was an intense match, there was a lot going on in the wine and on top of the tomato based pizza. The sweet salty spicy chorizo picked up the sweet ripe raspberry fruit flavours of the wine, the calamari rings rang out the mineral notes of the red. The wine was supple and firm, as was the pizza base. (There was some talk of dirty tactics however, another contestants pizza was “accidentally” dropped en route to the oven. Ali and Jan – I pray there may one day be a re-match…in Sicily?)

 

Kooyong was our next visit. Kooyong lies South of Yabby Lake, and North of the Ocean Eight vineyards, pretty much bang in the middle of the peninsula.

The soils are mainly granite and basalt “we have our own stories to tell here” said winemaker Tessa Brown, “and they don’t originate in limestone”. I heard the term Mod Oz mentioned for the first time on the trip – Tessa tells us that modern Australian wine is not about chasing a style or imitating the old world. It is about working the vine – hand pruning, hand harvesting and not the wine – more wild fermentation, less new oak to produce a wine that is individual and original, that can speak for itself.

 

The 2 single site Chardonnnays from Kooyong, the Faultline and the Farrago 09 could certainly tell a story, with soundtrack.  Tessa asked us if we could pick up a potter’s clay note on the Faultline? The vineyard has predominantly clay soils. I picked up the glass and sniffed and tasted. The flavours were warm and ripe and fleshy, and suddenly there in my head was Patrick Swayze at the potter’s wheel, all taut biceps and warm flesh, in the background I could hear the Righteous Brothers. This is my kind of story…ive never gotten Patrick out of a Puligny.

 

The Farrago was more delicate, leaner, it seemed to have more noticeable acidity and citrus character. This site sits on more quartz than clay, and ripens earlier than the Faultline.

 

The reds were as fine as the whites. We compared the three single site Pinot Noirs, the Meres, Haven and Ferrous ‘09’, each under 3 hectares in size.

 

The ‘Meres’ is the most exposed to the N.W winds, and the earliest to ripen, Tessa tells us this wine usually has the most feminine expression of the three, and were she forced to compare it to Burgundy she would suggest Chambolle as its closest match.

It was the lightest in colour and certainly the most delicate, ‘Haven’ on loam/sandstone soils, surrounded by trees has a darker colour, and a blacker fruit profile, there is a mulchy, porcini note to this wine, it feels weightier than the Meres and more intense. The Ferrous, a single site on the meanest soil riddled with iron stones, is almost terrifying. It was a little dumb on the nose, but on the palate it had such depth of flavour, and such strength, it seemed to be biding its time, inherently powerful and perfectly able to overthrow any wine in its way when the time is right.

 

We left Mornington to head back up to Melbourne. Tonight was The Night. We were going out on the town, to eat in the city’s best spots and to down as many margaritas and martinis as humanely possible. Tomorrow we fly to Adelaide, if all of us make it back…

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BY EMILY O’HARE

 

From Yarra we headed North to the Nagambie Lakes. It was sunset when we reached Tahbilk. A river boat awaited us, plus a few bottles of their Viognier ‘11’ and Marsanne ‘05’. On a tour of the wetlands, we saw wallabies and storks, and sipped on the pale and perfumed Viognier before the light died. When the sun dipped behind the trees, we turned to the deeper, richer Marsanne (Tahbilk have the largest, single holding of Marsanne in the world, it was originally planted in the 1860’s – the Rhone varieties encouraged apparently by a series of Swiss French managers and vignerons.) The climate here is warm with low rainfall – hence the profusion of full bodied reds – mainly Shiraz and Cab Sauv, and those mediterranean whites.

 

Back at the winery we sat to dinner and with carrot soup enjoyed a vertical of Marsanne. As we moved down the vintages the colour and flavours changed from pale, lemon pithy and pear (‘11’) to golden and honey (‘08’) to amber, candied peel and smoke (‘97’).

 

With venison it was time to try the Shiraz. Phylloxera never hit Tahbilk, it cannot propogate effectively in the sandy soils here and so there are Shiraz vines dating back to the 1860’s and 1930’s and some Cabernet vines too from 1949.  Falling back desperately again on Old World comparisons, the Shiraz here feels more Southern Rhone in comparison to Luke Lambert’s Syrah that we tried in the Yarra, which seemed more Northern.  The Shiraz Reserve 99 looked dark and inky, with firm tannins and flavours of meat and leather. I LOVED the 81 Cabernet, it seemed to divide the group a little, to me it had this pheromone’y character, a warm, human skin scent that definitely had me gripped.

 

The winery as-well as the vineyards is pretty old. The ten fermentation vats used in 1862 are still in use today – walking around the cellars is a little creepy, like walking round a haunted house. They’re super dark, the air is heavy and damp, the scent of Shiraz past seeps from the bricks.

 

From one old world to another, Bests – out West in the Grampians also boasts cellars dating back to the 1860’s, and vineyards (planted in 1867) with some old vines that have so far defied identification. We were greeted at the winery on a very sunny morning with a glass of their Riesling 2011. As far as breakfast drinks go, it beats Tropicana by miles. Aromas and flavours of white grapefruit and jasmine tea helped to wake the senses before a tour of the vineyards. We were told that once the gold had run out after the rush, people looked for a more permanent means of a livelihood and so planted vines. Located on the fringes of the Great Dividing Range, vineyards here are at a slightly higher altitude and thus enjoy a slightly cooler climate than those further East – reds achieve full ripeness because of the long sunlight hours and moderate humidity.

 

Aswell as Shiraz and Cabernet, Best’s is renowned for it’s Pinot Meunier, or “Miller’s Burgundy” as it is known here (because the leaves of the P.M vine look like they’ve been dusted by the miller with flour). We visited the old vineyard, planted in 1868, it looked like something out of  Enid Blyton’s “The Enchanted Wood”, the vines had large gnarly trunks, their cordons shooting out like witches fingers. We tried the wine, and it was, as now expected, spell binding. It was voluptuous and black and red fruity, the black dress and red lips of Morticia Adams kept flashing up in my head as I swirled my glass. Again, despite thoroughly enjoying the Shiraz, I found myself drawn to the Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, intrigued by the hoppy floral note it had on the nose, and the guinness’y black, savoury and sweet creaminess it had in the mouth. At lunch we tried the ‘96’ Cab Sauv, there was that concentration and creamy texture again, and that hoppy freshness that was not limited to the nose.

 

Down in the cellars with 4^th generation owner/vigneron , Viv Thomson, we tried the different parcels of Shiraz from  the historic Concongella vineyard that will make up the Bin O blend – internationally acclaimed as one of Oz’s finest wines. It was a fascinating experience. Each wine came from a different plot within that vineyard, from different soils, some irrigated, some not, from vines of different ages. The differences were remarkable, I blushed when I recalled how I’d thought previous to this trip, about Australian wine . That it was all, stylistically, the same. Within this one vineyard came 4 wines made entirely the same and yet entirely different to each other.

 

Magical wines and enchanted vineyards were also present at Bindi, 50 km  N.W of Melbourne, in the Macedon Ranges. The magic continued for me particularly as we were greeted by a very tall Elvis (owner and vigneron Michael Dhillon). I am a huge fan of the King of rock and roll, and have often dreamt of walking around vineyards with him, so this was the next best thing. Beside the 6 hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, lives a family of 20 ‘roos. They enjoy the bush and grasslands Michael tells us, and importantly do NOT eat any of the vegetation or fruit. They bound in and bound out of the vineyard empty handed. There was a real serenity to the vineyards at Bindi. I think we all felt it, a sense of ease and tranquillity and peace. The practice is mainly organic, Michael says he wants to encourage “growth and health not death” in his vineyards – death by weed killer.

 

In the cellar we tried barrel samples of the Composition Chardonnay 2011 and Quartz 2010. Both wines are made in the same way – except the Quartz spends a few months longer in barrel, and the percentage of new oak is higher. The Quartz also comes from vines planted in the most quartz riddled section of this 1988 planted Chard vineyard.

 

Both wines showed such vigour, an energy that I felt in the vineyard. They had this purity of fruit and acid. As fine and strong as the silk of a spider. A web of blossom and spice, sesame seed and almond milk. The oak did not overwhelm, it was almost not there, maybe some disappearing oak trick,

 

The reds were equally refined, I loved the 2010 Composition Pinot Noir. To look at, to smell, it seemed so restrained. Pale ruby in colour, with light aromas of morello cherry and clove spice, and yet in the mouth it was so lively and invigorating, the fruit burst in the mouth like doves out of a magician’s hat.

 

After the doves I didn’t think things could possibly get any better and then Michael pulled out a 1994 sparkling Chardonnay that had spent 12 years on lees. It was, I assume because of all that time on lees, daisy fresh. Light lemon gold in colour – there was absolutely no give-away as to it’s age. It had the softest, creamiest mouthfeel and very light flavours of linseed and lemon meringue pie.  We sat, rather fittingly, beneath the stars and toasted to old vines and old wines.

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BY EMILY O’HARE

 

Thrilled by the whites and enchanted by the reds, we left the Hunter on a high. A short, domestic flight took us from Newcastle to Melbourne, and then it was an hour’s drive into the Yarra Valley. The climate in the Yarra is cool, frequently cooler than Bordeaux and Burgundy (although as James Halliday notes in his atlas of Oz, there is substantial variation in meso climate, due to variation in altitude, and the significance of aspect on the many hillside vineyards).The majority of  plantings are of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but there is much experimentation. Our first visit was was with the De Bortolis. The De Bortoli’s are, like Tyrrels, another successful family run operation. It is the third generation, Leanne de Bortoli and her husband Steve Webber who are currently in charge of operations. Hanging up in the winery at De Bortoli were three enormous Spanish hams. They were useful visual aids for our visit  – Steve told us that he makes wine to accessorize food, that wine should be like great jewellery, complementing, improving an outfit. We tried from tank, samples of Nebbiolo and Gamay, jewel like in colour, ruby reds with high acid that made me look longingly at the hams.

 

We moved on to try some Chardonnay from their single cask, from single vineyard “Amphi” to be released next year. It was fabulously pure, and direct, it’s fine lines fanning across the tongue then meeting at the back of the throat, not sitting there lazy, fat and complacent on the palate (Steve said if we described his Chardonnay as “peachy” he would decapitate us).  The Burgundy varieties do perform beautifully here in the Yarra. The next day we had a tasting with Timo Mayer, Mac Forbes and Luke Lambert at Mayer’s home on top of the “Bloody Hill”. We tried Chardonnays from both Forbes and Mayer and they too were, like Steve’s whites, fine and elegant, The alcohol levels on almost everything we tried in the Yarra rarely went over 13%. It is tempting to compare them to Chablis, but they are their own wines, with a vibrancy of fruit, a sensation in the mouth of pith and juice, a purity that is modern Australian wine. There seems to be a trend to pick early, not leave the grapes concentrating on the vine, and to use oak moderately, which may explain the lightness of colour, that vibrancy and fresh fruit sensation.

 

The Pinot Noirs from Forbes and Mayer were stunning too. The Pinot’s from Forbes get foot stomped – Having worked in Portugal, he says he likes the gentle extraction of tannin and flavour that this process achieves. His reds were supple and bright, they had a savouriness about them that I found really attractive. Mayer’s “Bloody Hill” Pinot (so called because that is what you are muttering by the time you reach the top of this vineyard), was funky, Mayer wild ferments his reds, also foot stomps, and does not fine or filter. His reds were robust, burly, all sweet ripe fruity and fresh meaty. Again, I found myself scribbling about Burgundy to make a very easy comparison.

 

The cool climate here does not just suit the Chards and Pinots. Luke Lambert is making Syrah here in the Yarra that is broad and muscular and graceful. As I swirled it around in my mouth, male ballet dancers swirled round in my head. Just as the Chardonnays from this region challenge the old fashioned notion that Aussie whites are deeply coloured and heavily oaked, so do the reds. Lambert’s Syrah is the anti-thesis of that style of Shiraz that is jammy, concentrated, overtly spicy.

 

However it was his Nebbiolo that I found the most exciting. He is a fan of Mascarello and Conterno, and says one day he would like to make only Nebbiolo. It was, without a doubt, the best Nebbiolo I have tried outside of Italy, and perhaps better than a few Ive tasted inside of Italy.

 

Our last stop within the Yarra was Giant Steps. We met Phil Sexton at his Innocent Bystander winery and tasted through his range of wines.  His top end wines excited me, because they helped to hit home how important the notion of terroir is in this valley – within this country. Although Phil seemed nervous to use the word, he had every right to, his Chardonnays not only expressed the Yarra character that I was becoming familiar with – that purity and linearity, but could also speak of their origins on an even more specific scale. To their individual site- the Tarraford Chardonnay, on clay loam, had more intense fruit character on the nose and palate compared to the Arthurs Creek, a Chard planted in deep alluvial soil, fine, lime rich silt. It seemed lighter, more lifted, with aromas and flavours of lemon grass and coconut.

 

Our next stop is up North, to Tahbilk for a River Cruise and some  marvellous Marsanne…and hopefully a few kangaroo will make an appearance.

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BY EMILY O’HARE

 

Out in Hunter Valley, 2 hours from Sydney – it is BAKING, we’re all in shorts and flip flops. So beautiful here – I think a bit Friuli’ish – gently sloping hills, lush and green, set off by the blue’y blacks of the mountains behind them – the Brokenback Range. Over the last 2 days we’ve visited 2 wineries, met 5 winemakers and tasted over 40 wines. The principal grapes here are Semillon, Chardonnay and Shiraz (pronounced “Shirar” …no, we cant get used to it either). There is some Cab Sauv, Merlot and Verdelho too, although the plantings of these grapes are much smaller. Apparently the Hunter is the oldest area in Oz for viticulture, vines were planted here in the 1820’s, from cuttings taken from France and Spain. We’re told Phylloxera has never hit the Hunter, so old vines are a common sight. Bruce Tyrrel has a 130 year old Shiraz vineyard, super gnarly, and he tells us it isnt so low yielding – that whole ‘older vines means lower yields’ thing is tosh, his ancient Shiraz crops 2 tonne per acre.

 

The wines have been so exciting, Ive felt overwhelmed by the character and the class of what we’ve tasted. We tried the most amazing Semillons from Keith Tulloch, Brokenwood, Andrew Thomas, Andrew Margan and Mount Pleasant. In their youth they look SO harmless, we were tasting the 2010 and 2011’s and they are waterwhite in colour, lightly lemon pithy and apple peely on the nose, but on the palate! They have the most thrilling acidity, I physically shuddered after a sip. Jet lag disappeared instantly. Fabulous. These Sem’s are as dry as Muscadet, as crisp as a Rheingau Riesling, around 10/11%  and yet they come from this hot, hot place. The older Semillons are even more fun, with age they begin to glow gold and they develop an amazing array of aromas and flavours. Pistachio, honey, candied peel, things get so exotic in those bottles,

 

The reds have been just as good. The Shiraz here is deeply coloured. The aromas are intense, but they’re not sickly sweet, they are fresh and fragrant, perfumed even. My notes are like those considering the nose and palate of a red Burgundy or something from Barbaresco. Best of all though, in the mouth these Shiraz are medium bodied and refreshing, the alcohol levels barely go over 13%.  We left Tyrrels hungry, despite having had lunch before the tasting. These wines demand food, so they can show off a little more, prove their worth against any great Euro red.

 

Post tasting we drank beer, ate prawns and watched rugby with the locals (they were supporting France) at The Aussie, a pub down the road from our motel. Tim insisted that we follow up the prawns with Chicken Parmigiani “Australia’s finest contribution to world cuisine” he said. Breadcrumbed chicken is fried and then served with tomato sauce and grilled mozzarella. I matched this dish with a couple of pints of Tooheys. Not bad. Anyway, enough about my classy adventures, Im off to the Yarra Valley, for more reds, more whites, and no doubt more surprises.

Today was the last day of the James Busby Travel 2011 Wine Roadtrip

We covered 4 states in 14 days and tasted 360 wines from 46 wine producers

So I asked our travellers, how was it for you?

“This trip has inspired me to be an ambassador for Australian wine in the US, to change my clients minds and perceptions” Chris Bagetta, Eleven Madison Park, New York (3 Michelin ***)

“The only way to see the real Australia, don’t even think about missing this. An absolute revelation” Alistair Cooper, La Cava Wines, Oxfordshire, UK

“Mind changing, such an incredible journey and a real education. There’s simply no better way to get your finger on the pulse of the Oz wine industry from top to bottom, inside and out” Colm Douglas, Corkscrew Wines, Dublin

“Great exposure to the best people and top wines – felt VIP!” Richard Hemming, JancisRobinson.com

“Everyday comes with either a tasting or theory breakthrough…and often both” Jerusha Frost, The Lion, New York

POSTCARD FROM AUSTRALIA #1

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON IMBIBE.COM

BY EMILY O’HARE

At check in, I was checking out the other passengers. Could any of the lone travellers in the queue be on The Trip. How do you spot a fellow wino?  Is there a look? A glint in the eye, a certain way of breathing through the nostrils – short, little sniffs?

I boarded the plane, scanning the seats. I was squeezed between an elderly couple and a smart, dark haired chap, with a serious air about him (Off to close a deal? meet up with family? Breathing seemed normal, No clues). I settled into 43 B, selected a film, chose chicken over beef and then slept for 9 hours.

Awaking somewhere high above Singapore, Smart, Dark Haired Chap brought out a book, the biography of Veuve Cliquot – A HA! I introduced myself “Im Emily, are you about to go tasting wines in Australia for 2 weeks, from Hunter Valley to Margaret River, and do a spot of squid fishing on Day 9”. He was. Aigars, from Latvia, was a Master of Wine student, and wine writer. As we exited our seats Sunthil,, Head Sommelier at the Oxo Tower restaurant (whom id met in May) appeared from row 41. On arrival in to the departure lounge in Singapore we met Jackie, and Richard, who’d just met Matthew.

It would be at Bills, in Sydney, at brunch the following morning, where we’d finally get a good look at each other. We were 14 strangers, nibbling sweetcorn fritters and trying to work out the motives of the person in the next seat. It felt like the start of a murder mystery weekend. Tim – trip co-ordinator/The Butler, talked us through our journey. Today we’d have free time to sightsee Sydney. Tomorrow the wine would flow, we were off to the Hunter Valley.

The wine began to flow at little earlier than planned. That evening, we met at House, a restaurant specialising in the streetfood of N.E Thailand. We were joined by James Gosper-the head of Wine Australia. James, had not come empty handed. He’d brought a Riesling from Tasmania, Nick Glaetzer-Dixon’s Uberblanc, 2011. It smelt of white grapefruit and ginger and tasted Pineapply and pebbley, it sang with it’s supper. To follow, a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from the Hilltops region in New South Wales – Freeman’s ‘Fortuna’. This white had more weight and texture than the previous wine, apparently the winemaker looks to Northern Italy, for inspiration. It suddenly made sense.  There was, in this Pinot Gris Plus, the purity of fruit and linear acidity so typical of the Alto Adige, and yet a richness and weight, even some fine tannin, reminiscent of the whites of Friuli. (Interestingly there is a splash of Aleatico added to the P.G  blend to “heighten the aromatic structure” and lend those tannins).

The Reds were equally exciting (crikey – James, that bag you brought in looked so small, and yet so many wines…is it a magic bag? A magic wine bag. How do I get one of those??!!) From Grove Estate, Hilltops region, a Shiraz Viognier, 2009. But there were no bubbles. I so often pan Aussie Shiraz for being too bubbly. Sweet black and blue fruit pops in the mouth and then disappears almost immediately, neither acid nor tannin leaving their mark.  This red and the one that followed from Tasmania, Glaetzer-Dixon’s ‘Mon Pere’, 2009, were so much more challenging, Firm tannins held on tightly to the bubbly black and redberry fruit flavours and didn’t let them disappear. Both had concentration without feeling too rich, and essentially, worked well with food.

The final wine was a red from Freeman again, and again, the winemaker, Brian Freeman, has looked to Northern Italy – to the great dried reds of the Veneto. Secco 2004 is a blend of the Valpolicella grapes, Rondinella and Corvina. A portion of the grapes are air dried on racks for 3 days in a neighbours’ solar powered prune dehydrator.  The grapes are then added to the fermentation tanks and subsequently aged in American and French oak for 12 months. This wine made me smile. I arrive in Australia and on Day 1, taste Italy. Those classic Italian aromas and flavours of red cherry and violets were there, bigger and brighter than I’d previously known them. In the mouth, the wine is intense, of course, those grapes were dried to create this sensation, but there too is that key acidity that prompted us all to try a mouthful with a forkful of deep fried snapper, and it worked.

The group split into two camps post dinner. One group headed into the night, to sample the Sydney night life, and break in some new shoes. The other group headed back to the hotel, and after a couple of pathetic attempts to break in to the rooftop pool, settled for some Marsanne 97 from Tahbilk and Mosswood Cabernet 98 on this blogger’s terrace. So much for the early night we had promised ourselves at brunch.

James Busby Travel – Bursary for Diploma students and graduates

UK based company James Busby Travel is offering a bursary for it’s next educational trip to Australia this October to WSET Diploma students or graduates working full time in the wine trade based anywhere in the world. The cost of the two week trip normally stands at £3000 inclusive of flights to and from the UK plus all travel and accommodation.

The successful applicant will receive a £1500 bursary towards this cost, bringing the total cost of the two week trip down to just £1500 inclusive of flights to and from the UK plus all travel and accommodation.

The trip will take place from 20.10.11 to 05.11.11. Flights depart and return to Heathrow, but can be arranged from other international airports subject to availability

Information regarding the trip and a map of the route can be found at

www.jamesbusbytravel.com

A copy of the itinerary can be found at

http://jamesbusbytravel.com/itinerary2011.pdf

James Busby Travel is working in association with some of Australia’s leading family owned and independent wineries and specialises in providing high quality, bespoke trips to Australia for wine trade professionals. Their two week educational trips take in not only Australia’s classic estates but also the best of it’s up-and-coming young winemakers.

The two week itinerary for October includes visits and tastings at Tyrrells, Henschke, Yalumba, De Bortoli, Tahbilk, Spinifex, Mac Forbes, Bests, Paxton, d’Arenberg, Howard Park and Cape Mentelle.

Director Tim Wildman MW says” Our small group trips of just twelve travellers offer a very personal experience; you get to meet the winemakers face to face, walk the vineyards and taste some incredible wines. We take our time when visiting each winery, and place a strong emphasis on tasting, education and getting to learn the terroir story. This trip is the ideal opportunity for Diploma students looking to build on their knowledge and gain real life experience and examples for their exams. For Diploma Graduates, it is another step in their education and personal development and is a great opportunity to develop their network”

To apply for the bursary place students are asked to submit an application essay of between 750 and 1000 words on the following title

“How important is regionality to the sales and marketing of Australian wine?”

Applicants must be working full time in the wine trade

Applications should be sent via email to Tim Wildman MW directly at tim@jamesbusbytravel.com on or before July 31st 2011. Please note that the trip itinerary and costs are based on travellers departing from and returning to London Heathrow

Applicants not based in Europe may choose to travel to Australia from their nearest international airport, subject to prior arrangement and flight cost and availability

Travellers have the option to extend their time in Australia by changing their flights up to 30 days either side of the trip dates at no extra cost, subject to availability

Bursary terms and conditions

Applications are restricted to one entry per person

The successful applicant must have a valid passport to travel to Australia and arrange their own Visa and travel insurance

The successful applicant will be contacted via email before 15.08.11

The Judges decision is final and no correspondance will be entered into

James Busby Travel is compliant with the data protection act. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent

You must be either a WSET Diploma graduate or currently a WSET Diploma student to qualify and be currently working full time in the wine trade

Applications must be accompanied by an email with name, contact phone number, career resume and contact details for two industry referees to tim@jamesbusbytravel.com

The successful applicant must comply with and sign the full terms and conditions of the trip before being accepted. These are available on request

A Tale of Two Tastings

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…two very contrasting tastings took place in London last week
First there was the annual bun fight out at the docklands that is the London International Wine Fair

We all put on our best clobber, attach the fixed smile, press the flesh like crazy during the day, party like its 1999 at night, and pretend we all enjoy it. I often think stamina is the most underrated skill in the wine trade. Just ask Chester Osborn, when does that man sleep? As each year the numbers of attendees at the LIWF appears to get lower, the atmosphere becomes ever more shrill and mercenary. Its hard to have a conversation with someone when they are constantly looking over your shoulder in case they miss the next best networking opportunity. One of the tasting highlights for me this year was a stand funded by the Victoria State Government and run by Kate McIntyre MW (Moorooduc Estate). It was in a great location by one of the entrances and the wines were a real “best foot forward” showing from Victoria – Yarra Yering, Oakridge, Paringa, Wanderer, Ten X, Giant Steps, Kooyong to name but a few.

Wine Australia’s stand was the best in years, with a deconstructed platform, (as opposed to the tasting bar of previous years). There was a real buzz, and it was great to see both Andrew Cheesman and James Gosper on the stand. Yvonne May has made an impressive start, and is taking a realistic approach to her role. I heard she was in meetings at the fair with the Swedish monopoly buyer, a far greater use of her resources than trying to direct market to the North Yorkshire pigeon fanciers society, or whatever it was they’ve attempted in the past.

By total contrast there was a much more down-to-earth affair being held back in central London, the UK’s first Natural Wine Fair.
The venue was the magnificent open-air, Victorian arched surroundings of Borough Market, (see background of picture) which made for a relaxed and appropriate venue for this “growers” fair
The producers wore jeans and scruffy t shirts, as did most of the visitors, and remember this was a trade only event.

Natural wine is a growing movement, and they are often described as turbo-organic, ie, organic grapes treated with minimum intervention in the winery to produce something, well, that tastes good. Much of the talk surrounding Natural wine gets bogged down in the details of production, whereas in reality its more of a stylistic approach that unites the practitioners; the style of Natural wines could be described as a “push back’ against international styles and the bigger-is-better approach that has characterised much wine making in the last twenty years. Along with a rejection of overly interventionist winery manipulations. At their best they are fresh, unencumbered by oak, light on the palate, and made to be drunk; “vin de soif” as the French would say. The first Natural wine bars opened in Paris 25 years ago, and like a coin dropped in a pond, the ripples have spread out, first to Tokyo, then to London and New York and now are lapping at Australia’s shores. Andrew Gard imports a number into Sydney, and you can even buy Natural wine in McLaren Vale, from Gill Gordon-Smith at Fall from Grace.

Back to the fair. Ron and Elva Laughton from Jasper Hill were there flying the flag as the only new world producers amongst a hundred plus French and Italian growers. That’s part of the beauty of the Natural wine movement; its a broad church that knows no bounderies, or even regulations; its simply a value judgement based on whether a producer is working as “naturally” as possible; just like Ron and many like him in Australia have been doing for years. Its certainly an interesting – if niche – opportunity for Australian growers, as Natural wine is pretty much the hottest topic in the London Sommelier village right now. The Jasper Hill wines were tasting superb, Ron even showed me a Viognier I liked, a grape I’m normally allergic to. Other highlights included juicy Gamay from Beaujolais, mineral Grenache from Roussillon, fragrant and intriguing orange wines from Italy, silky Loire Chenins and a raft of unusual grape varieties from South West France – Ondenc, Braucol and Negrette anyone?

This is where the group of travellers from last years James Busby Travel trip decided upon for our first “alumni” re-union
www.jamesbusbytravel.com
See picture attached – left to right; Romain Auderie (Bistro du Vin), Daniela Shelton (Ehrmanns), Christope Richelet (Oxo Restaurant), Donald Edwards (New Generation Wines), John Lees (The Grape Store), Romy Thieme (Pollen Street Social), Tim Wildman (James Busby Travel) and Charlotte Jonasson (Winetec Ltd)

We decided to meet at the Natural wine fair partly to taste good wine, but mainly because the Rake pub at Borough Market – with hundreds of bottled beers, including Coopers – is a far more attractive spot for a post-tasting de-brief than The Fox at Excel with its soapy, warm euro-lager. This was the first opportunity for the James Busby Travel group from last year’s trip to Australia to meet up. The idea of creating a community of “alumni” travellers following each trip is central to the James Busby Travel business model. This way we keep the travellers in touch with each other and the wineries they visited. Already four of last years travellers have moved into more senior buying positions, while one, John Lees, has just launched The Grape Store featuring dozens of Australian wineries that he visited last year. Check out www.thegrapestore.com and especially his “Awesome Australian Selection” case; a resounding endorsement of the James Busby Travel programme, someone selling premium Australian wine with knowledge, enthusiasm and passion – because they’ve been there!

There will be another alumni re-union held in London in September, where travellers from last years trip will have the opportunity to meet up with travellers going on this years trip, which takes places in late October.
As a final note, we are extending an invitation for Australian based journalists to ride “shotgun’ for a day with the group on this years trip, so if you are an Aussie based scribe or blogger and this could be of interest, please let us know. The full itinerary for this years trip will be going up on our website next month. We may even bring over a few bottles of Ondenc for you to try