Grape Gossip - Australia's Regional Revolution

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Australia has become well known for its big branded blockbusters and great marketing of consumer friendly wines. However, I can safely say that although they do all that very well there is a lot more to them than this. Australia is a by-word for big jammy styles but they can do elegance, they can do more refined, lower alcohol wines and they can do great foody wines…yes there’s so much more to Oz!.

When I was over last year I was fortunate to meet some of Australia’s best winemakers, some really interesting & inspirational people who are dedicated to making high quality wines. They all had slightly different opinions on winemaking techniques and philosophies but one common thread was that their wines should reflect the terroir (something we may associate more with the Old World than the New World)

Australia is a vast country with huge variation in regional conditions and all these factors (climate, soil, altitude of vineyards, how the vine is managed etc etc) will impact on the flavour and quality of the resulting wine. Different grape varieties will thrive in specific areas in exactly the same way that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay love Burgundy or Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon thrive in Bordeaux. So here are a few tips on what Australia’s specific regions do well.

Margaret River : What a region, here you can go surfing in the morning and be at your winery for nine am! The warm conditions here are moderated by the sea breezes and it may be argued that Cabernet is the king here –often blended with Merlot and aged in Fine French barrels, the wines are leafy and elegant and- somewhat reminiscent of Bordeaux. You could also try a Chardonnay which is capable of producing really serious wines -powerful and intense yet incredibly elegant…and let’s not forget the Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends that are well worth a punt.

Clare Valley: Riesling is the baby to watch out for here. The hot days and cool nights provide perfect conditions for this grape which in turn give wines that have good ripe flavours but retain their freshness and acidity. You may also want to think about Semillon too - a little more unusual but try Mount Horrocks Watervale Semillon with Chinese food and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed

Shiraz (we tried the Jim Barry, McCrae Wood Shiraz last week at our shop tasting – delish!) or Cabernet & Cabernet blends are the reds to watch for.

Eden Valley: Riesling too but they are quite different to the Clare Valley style. Much more austere and floral when young - with superb potential to age.

Coonawarra: Here it’s got to be Cabernet every time. I never made it to this region on my whistle stop tour so I didn’t actually got to the famous glowing red soils or ‘terra rossa’ - shiny red earth over limestone that produces Cabernets of intense concentration & elegance with dark brooding blackcurrants which in time become earthy, smoky and cedary.

Heathcote: A real continental climate prevails here which makes it perfect for producing ripe intense wines that keep their acidity and balance. The interesting thing about Heathcote is there are a lot of smaller producers making some really unique wines. Try Taltarni Heathcote Shiraz which is rich flavoured yet elegant and successfully balances ripe red and black fruits with earthy undertones and chalky tannins.

Hunter Valley: Many of you will know this region and may have visited it. It’s the perfect area to visit if you’re in Sydney and thus a very popular tourist destination. It’s very warm with wet, humid conditions yet great soils/aspect/wind etc etc make this region responsible for producing some of the country’s most distinctive wines. The young Semillons are crisp and zesty, with age they become rich, toasty wines with well balanced lemon acidity.

I always find that the Shiraz produced here is much more earthy, plummy and spicy than Shiraz from elsewhere in Australia…almost mushroomy. A completely different Shiraz experience.

Tasmania (Size isn’t everything!) Wow what a superb place, it’s Australia’s smallest wine producing state and you can travel from the islands most northerly vineyards around Pipers Brook down to the most southerly in about three hours. Andrew Pirie (fomerly the Pipers’s Brook) has been a real pioneer for this area - after scouring the globe for a spot that was similar to the highly celebrated regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy he chose a site not far from Launceston in the North of the Island, since when this industry has gone from strength to strength seeing some really dramatic growth.

The cooler climate of Tasmania is ideally suited to the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes producing fine, lemony Chardonnays and juicy, bright Pinot Noirs. Andrew Pirie now does his own thing - you may want to try his South Chardonnay or his Estate Pinot Noir. They are also making some really interesting fizz, again the cooler climate provides ideal conditions for grapes with the higher acidity that is so necessary to make good sparkling wines.

So there’s a whirlwind tour – just like mine! I have missed some regions out not because I don’t think they are worthy of a mention but because I simply cannot cover everything in this short article. But I hope that gives you some food for thought. Enjoy discovering Australia.