Many faces: Matt Burton isn't prepared to be one-dimensional

 

I’m never quite sure which hat Matt Burton will be wearing when I meet him. While his major role is as winemaker with the Hunter Valley’s Gundog Estate, he also partners Dylan McMahon from the Yarra Valley’s Seville Estate to make wines under the Burton McMahon label and makes wines under the Indomitus label that push the boundaries of what can be done with Semillon and shiraz.

Even under the more mainstream Gundog Estate label you will find more than the “conventional” Hunter Valley styles,

Matt Burton in his Hunter Valley vineyard

Sure, if you try the Estate shiraz ($40) or Hunter’s shiraz ($40) you will find reds that epitomise what the Hunter Valley shiraz style is all about. But try the Smoking Barrel Red and you will find a delicious younger-drinking blend of Hunter and Canberra district shirazes.

In the semillons, The Chase ($35) is the most typical Hunter, with citrus and straw notes and crisp acid on the finish, while the Hunter’s semillon ($30) is a more approachable style with bigger flavours and a more generous mouthfeel, although without compromising on regional or varietal character.

Then you get to the Wild Semillon ($35), which has parcels fermented in tank (some fermented to dryness, others not), some fermented cloudy in barrels, some 100 per cent on skins and part on skins with extended maturation. The whole is definitely more than just the sum of the parts, with generous flavours and balance

And the Off-Dry Semillon ($30) is another beast altogether. It is picked earlier to retain acid but not so early that herbal aromas and flavours intrude, then partly fermented to allow for some residual sugar, resulting in lower alcohol and a richer body without the sweetness being overwhelming. It’s a style that should go well with Asian cuisine.

Normally there would be a Canberra region riesling in the line-up but 2020 being the bushfire and smoke-tainted vintage that hit the area, Matt went further afield to source riesling from the De Bortoli team in the Yarra Valley. It’s a little different from the usual Canberra style but well worth a try.

The Burton McMahon wines (two chardonnays and two pinot noirs, all $40) are more in keeping with classic Yarra styles. 

The two chardonnays come from the George’s vineyard in Seville East and the D’Aloisio vineyard in the Seville township. Both are made in much the same fashion and it is only the different vineyards that contribute to their stylistic differences. The website lists the George’s as sold out but there may be some left in select bottle shops.

The pinots are also sourced from the George’s vineyard and the Syme on Yarra vineyard in the Upper Yarra Valley, again made identically so it is only the vineyard variations that make the wines different.

It’s the Indomitus range where things get seriously different. The Albus is predominantly Hunter semillon but there can be additions of gewurztraminer and riesling to add floral and spicy characters.  The Citrea is Canberra riesling but wild-fermented on solids and then matured in old oak barrels. The Rosa is made from nebbiolo from the Freeman vineyards in the Hilltops region near Young and is a refreshingly interesting rose style, while the Rutilus is made from shiraz from the Murrumbateman region near Canberra and is a deliciously spicy fruit-driven style (not matured in oak) that will be delicious in the short to medium term.

More information on all the wines can be found at www.gundogestate.com.au

Blend it: When 1+1= more than two.

 

In the 19^th century, many Bordeaux winemakers proudly stamped “hermitaged” across their wine labels, indicating they had added syrah (shiraz) from France’s Rhone Valley to their cabernet-based wines,

It was apparently done to add body and richness to their wines in cooler or rain-affected vintages and was tolerated although never fully authorised and eventually died out as a practice.

It was ironic that a multi-regional blend was frowned upon, given that Bordeaux generally is a multi-varietal blend based on cabernet sauvignon with varying amounts of merlot, malbec, cabernet franc and petit Verdot added to make a more complete wine.

And that, really, is what blending is all about – mixing two or more varieties to make a better wine than the individual components.

Perhaps the extreme examples occur in Champagne, where houses can blend more than 100 components to make their NV or non-vintage, wines, although some houses call their styles multi-vintage to give more of an idea of what they are about.

The other well-known example from France comes from the Rhone region of Cotes-du-Rhone, where wines are made from a combination of grenache, syrah (shiraz) and mourvedre (mataro), frequently referred to as GSM and produced in several regions of Australia, notably McLaren Vale and the Barossa.

However, it is the common practice of blending of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz in Australia that has led to it being named the Great Australian Blend. And there’s no doubt that some examples have lifted it to rarefied levels.

One of Australia’s greatest reds, Penfolds 1962 Bin 60A, was a blend of Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon and Barossa Valley shiraz that has deservedly received many accolades over the years. 

Indeed, Penfolds have been trying to recapture that magic with numerous blends of cabernet (usually Coonawarra) and shiraz (usually from their extensive and high-quality Barossa vineyards) such as 1967 Bin 7 and Bin 80A and 90A and a series of Bin 620s.

Many people don’t realise that Penfolds most famous wine, Grange, itself is a blend, usually made up of a large portion of fruit from their Kalimna and Koonunga Hill vineyards supplemented with high-class parcels from other Barossa growers, McLaren Vale, the Clare Valley and frequently a small portion of cabernet sauvignon. 

And Bin 389, one of Penfolds' most popular reds, is always a blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.

Mildara also made a series of multi-region and multi-varietal blends using Coonawarra shiraz and cabernet and Hunter Valley shiraz in the 1960s and 1970s under its Yellow Label range.

Coonawarra itself goes in for some multi-varietal blends, with Wynns releasing a V&A Lane cabernet shiraz in appropriate years and Lindemans frequently releasing its Limestone Ridge shiraz cabernet blend, which is one of my favourite wines. Its stablemate Pyrus was originally a cabernet merlot but now is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot  and malbec depending on the vintage.

Majella also puts out its well-priced The Musician cabernet shiraz that provides a great earlier drinking example of Coonawarra style that repays short to medium-term cellaring.

No mention of blends can go past the current trend to pair shiraz and pinot noir, with Yarra Yering and Giant Steps producing excellent examples from the Yarra Valley. It’s not a new idea, with the late Maurice O’Shea having made some wonderful wines in the 1940s and ‘50s from Hunter Valley fruit.

While multi-varietal blends are more common, Clare Valley based Taylors, through its Jaraman range, has put out a series of single varietal but multi-regional blends, thus you can find Jaraman cabernet sauvignon (Clare and Coonawarra), shiraz (Clare, McLaren Vale), grenache (McLaren Vale, Barossa), pinot noir (unusual in that it is all Yarra Valley fruit) and chardonnay (Margaret River and Clare Valley). The range has also included a riesling (Clare and Eden Valley fruit) but I am not sure if that is still made. The reds generally cost about $23-$30 and the chardonnay $22-$25.

It’s a well-made and tasty range that represents good value for money and gives you some insight to the varietal strengths of various Australian regions.

For more information, go to

www.giantstepswine.com.au

 www.wynns.com.au

www.majellawines.com.au

www.penfolds.com

www.lindemans.com

www.yarrayering.com

www.taylorswines.com.au

Healthy approach: A family-owned winery is expanding its range of organic wines

 

With increased interest in organic wines it’s good to see one major family-owned wine company is catering for consumers’ changing tastes.

Angove has recently released its Naturalis organic range that will be available in independent liquor outlets and on-premise venues.

Fruit for the range is sourced from Angove’s huge certified organic Nanya vineyard at Paringa in the South Australian Riverland across the Murray River from Renmark and from certified organic vineyards in McLaren Vale, notably Angove’s own Warboys vineyard.

The range consists of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio and a rose, with a sparkling cuvee set to be released this month.

All have a suggested retail price of $18 but you may well find them for less.

Angove has been working for a couple decades to convert its vineyards to organic status and has proudly been able to display the Australian Certified Organic Bud logo on its wines for almost 15 years. The company believes the adoption of organic practices has resulted in improved fruit quality from its vineyards, thus leading to even better wine quality and value for consumers.

“At no stage during the grape growing and winemaking of Naturalis Organic wines have we used any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers or inputs of any kind,” the company says.

The winery itself is certified for the production of organic wines and the use of preservatives is kept to a minimum.

Certainly, the results in the bottle speak well for the work, with all the wines showing clear varietal character and plenty of depth. They are unashamedly fruit-driven and none the lesser for that. My favourite is the shiraz, with lots of dark berry fruit, spice and plum. The wine was cold-soaked for two days, fermented and pressed before being transferred to oak barrels and allowed to undergo secondary malolactic fermentation. Enjoy over the next three to five years. I’d try it with some Greek-inspired lamb shoulder or Mediterranean beef dishes.

The company also releases organic wines under the Organic label ($13-$14) and Wild Olive label (from McLaren Vale fruit, $17-$18).

For more information go to www.angove.com.au

Great Southern: Underrated region offers top value

 It’s the biggest wine region in Australia and possibly one of the most under-rated. I’m talking about Western Australia’s Great Southern region, which stretches about 200km from east to west and about 100km from north to south.

The region is divided into five sub-regions, Albany, Denmark, Mount Barker, Frankland River and Porongurup, with rather different climates and favoured varietal styles.

For example, Frankland River produces some of Australia’s best rieslings, with Alkoomi, Frankland Estate and Ferngrove leading the way. However, the shiraz and cabernet sauvignon from here are also excellent, and it’s no mistake that Houghton’s flagship red, the Jack Mann, frequently comes from their extensive Frankland vineyards. And I always enjoy the straight malbec produced by Ferngrove.

It’s fair to say Frankland River is right up there with Eden Valley and Clare as one of Australia’s best regions for riesling. Just check out the individual vineyard wines from Frankland Estate or Ferngrove’s Cossack Riesling.

The tasting room at Alkoomi
Picture: Alkoomi Wines

Alkoomi’s top reds, Blackbutt (cabernet based) and Jarrah (shiraz) are worth seeking out, as is the Wandoo semillon and Melaleuca riesling, while the Black Label range (riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon) offer good-value medium-term cellaring. The White Label range (riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, semillon sauvignon blanc, cabernet merlot, shiraz, rose and late harvest – a blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc, verdelho, viognier, gewürztraminer and riesling) offer great value short to medium term drinking.

The oldest winery in the Mount Barker region, Plantagenet, is still producing top wines, with the
riesling, chardonnay, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon particularly attractive,

West Cape Howe vineyards at Mount Barker
Picture:West Cape Howe

West Cape Howe, also based in Mount Barker, has three ranges, the fruit-driven early drinking Cape to Cape range (semillon-sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, chardonnay, cabernet merlot and shiraz, all about $17), the Regional range (Mount Barker riesling, Mount Barker sauvignon blanc, Mount Barker pinot noir, Frankland River tempranillo, Hannah’s Hill cabernet merlot, Albany cabernet franc, Mount Barker sauvignon blanc, Mount Barker vermentino, Old School chardonnay and Windy Hill shiraz tempranillo, all about $22) and the top-end Single Vineyard range (Porongurup riesling, Book Ends Mount Barker cabernet sauvignon, Two Steps Mount Barker shiraz, Styx Gully Mount Barker chardonnay and Karri Oak Mount Barker pinot noir, all about $30). All represent great value at their respective price and quality points.

Gavin Berry of West Cape
Howe and Mount Trio

Gavin Berry, the boss and senior winemaker at West Cape Howe, also has the Mount Trio winery at Porongorup, where he is turning out some very tasty drops, as do Dukes and Castle Rock.

In the Albany region, wineries worth visiting include Wignalls (established in 1982, taste the pinot noirs and chardonnays in particular) and Oranje Tractor (an organic vineyard established in 2000).

Further west around Denmark, you will find about 20 wineries including the highly decorated Singlefile and Forest Hill, one of the oldest wineries in the Great Southern, dating back to the 1960s.

It’s a wonderful region to visit, not just because of the delightful array of wineries but also for the stunning scenery – the Valley of the Giants Tree Top walk outside of Denmark is not to be missed and the National Anzac Centre in Albany is a wonderfully evocative place to experience a slice of Australian history.

For more go to https://greatsouthernwine.org.au/

https://www.valleyofthegiants.com.au/

https://www.nationalanzaccentre.com.au/