For a while there was a tradition of shiny stainless steel wielding Aussies invading France. Then the trend changed. The French started to make wine in Australia.
What they brought were more subtle winemaking styles than are traditionally used in Australia – lower baum (sugar) levels in the grapes and colder fermentations. Some are even discarding mechanised agitation and wetsuits for their birthday suits.
It means that you don’t have to be punched in the face by the flavours when drinking Australian wines.
This brings me to Wine Blogging Wednesday #19, When in Rhone being held by Jathan over at Winexpression. And there is a little bit of the Rhone Valley in Australia in the form of the famous winemaker M Chapoutier.
From Mount Benson comes the Syrah (shiraz) a well-balanced wine with all those smoky ripe flavours from dark-skinned summer fruits without too much boof.
At the Tournon Estate, in the South Australia there currently are 34 acres (of 50) in production – Syrah, Marsanne, Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Cabernet Sauvignon wines are produced from low yielding vines – about 1.7 tonnes per acre. The vineyards are cultivated with organic cultivation methods.
It produces one of those classic South Australian cabernets with those black current minty flavours – but in a subtle way.
M Chapoutier has also invested is Jasper Hill, from Heathcote, one of the hottest wine regions in Australia right now. Although they don’t say it on their labels Jasper Hill wines are pretty much organic. Founder and winemaker Ron Laughton reckons the least he does to the wines – physically or chemically – the better.
He told me recently: “The most important determinant on the price of wine is the yield in the vineyard. How many tonnes per acre or hectolitres per hectare you obtain from that little patch of land. If you get less out, effectively it costs you more to grow them. That’s the prime determinant. Everything else is superfluous.”
Laughton’s wines have never been the cheapest. His Shiraz vineyards yield about half a tonne to the acre. It gives higher concentrations of colour and flavour.
“That means my grapes per tonne are expensive and at the top end of the price range and my wines then have to be expensive to match it.”
I think what he’s saying is that the terroir is doing the work. Check it out.
wine blogging wednesday, wbw#18, wbw, wine, Australian Wine, food and wine.
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The French didn’t always get it right, remember Dominique Portet’s first vintage at Taltarni, about 1976? He used techniques straight from Bordeaux and created a tannic monster. The Australian problem with wine is that we can’t seem to control the alcohol, too much sunshine is in the bottle. Jancis Robinson wrote about this, it leads to a loss of subtlety in the wine and Sth Australia is the principal offender. Nowadays when choosing a wine, I always check the alcohol, anything above about 13.5 % goes gently back on the shelf.
Good point on checking the alcohol. I was quaffing very cheap and verty large flagons of cider after school around the time Portet cocked-up.
The key for me is balance. If a wine is 15%, that isn’t a problem for me, the problem is if it upsets the balance of the wine. I had a wine a few weeks back and it was claimed 13.1% but it was overly spirity and alcoholic. Then I’ve had wines that are 15% and you wouldn’t be able to tell from tasting it.
On the same note you don’t want to go too far the other way, if you don’t let the grapes get ripe then you can end up with a thin, herbal, weedy mess.
Good point Cam. From what I’ve heard early attempts did produce those weedy messes. I just hope that more locals discover how to make these subtle wines as I quite like something to drink with food rather than for he sake of it.