A big state: Explore WA's wine regions from your home

Millbrook Estate in the Perth Hills. Picture: Frances Andrijich

 Western Australia is a wonderful place to visit (when you can). 

Whether it’s the stunning scenery around Broome and the Kimberleys, with the Bungle Bungles and Windjana Gorge high on the to-see list, the waters around Ningaloo Reef and its majestic whale sharks, the amazing Wave Rock near Hyden, the tall trees of the timber country around Pemberton, the caves and beaches of Margaret River, the coastal country around Esperance or the National Anzac Centre in Albany, there is something for just about everyone to enjoy.

And as for wine _ from the Swan Valley, WA’s oldest wine region, through Margaret River, Geographe, Perth Hills, Peel, Blackwood Valley, Southern Forests or the Great Southern _ it’s a taste sensation.

Now, thanks to Wines of Western Australia, Wine Australia and Tourism Western Australia, you can explore the state’s various wine regions without leaving home.

The Wine Adventurer is an online and interactive wine tourism guide designed to inspire and inform international and domestic visitors to help plan trips into WA’s incredible and diverse wine regions.  

Picardy Wines in the Southern Forest.
Picture: Frances Andrijich

Eight wine regions are featured in an easy-to-navigate e-brochure that includes each region’s unique wine tourism experiences and hero wine varieties. 

Swan Valley, Perth Hills, Peel, Geographe, Margaret River, Blackwood Valley, Southern Forest and Great Southern each has a section with beautiful photography along with practical information such as driving distances, climate, harvest times, soil type as well as tips on what to eat, where to stay, what to do and must-see attractions. 

The 60-page guide features more than just wine, there is a cross section of experiences including, authentic regional dining, art and museums and cosy vineyard stays.

 The Wine Adventure can be found  at WesternAustralia.com and at 

 winewa.asn.au 

Bella Italia: The Italian influence on Australia's wine industry is very strong

The Serafino vineyards in McLaren Vale

Australia’s wine industry may have very strong Anglo-Saxon and Celtic foundations but the Italians also have played a distinguished role, and not just in the post-war years.

Early days at the
De Bortoli winery

The De Bortoli family, for instance, settled in the Riverina region at Griffith in the 1920s and steadily built up a large business, extending later to the Yarra Valley and the Hunter Valley.

They’re not alone, the Casella and Miranda families have played a large part in the area’s prosperity and influence on the Australian industry.

The original Miranda operation might now be in the hands of the McGuigan family and its Australian Vintages operation but the Miranda name continues through Lou Miranda Estate in the Barossa Valley. Originally run by the Liebich family as the Rovalley winery it gave the Mirandas access to premium Barossa fruit, it is now run by Lou Miranda and his daughters Lisa, Angela and Victoria.

Not only did they gain some excellent Barossa vineyards, including several dating back more than a century, they received some lovely old fortified wine resources. 

Meanwhile, in Victoria one of the country’s newer wine regions has a distinctively Italian character. The King Valley originally was prime tobacco growing country but changing consumer tastes and laws prompted the long-established Pizzini family to turn successfully to grape growing. Their love of things Italian prompted them to extend this to growing a goodly range of Italian varieties and the King Valley is now one of Australia’s richest sources of prosecco, sangiovese, pinot grigio and more.

And no mention can be made to the Italian contribution to the Australian industry without reference to Queensland’s Granite Belt where families such as the Puglisis and Costanzas have made a lasting mark.

McLaren Vale has not escaped either, with Vincenzo Berlingieri helping to establish Settlement Wines in the 1970s.

A little earlier, Steve (Serafno) Maglieri had arrived in the district and with help from his father, Giovanni, planted the first of what has grown to about 140 hectares of vineyards. The Maglieri label was sold to Mildara Blass, now part of Treasury Wines, but the Maglieri family continues at Serafino, producing traditional McLaren Vale reds such as shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon under the Black Label range, Sharktooth Shiraz and Sharktooth Chardonnay, from an individual vineyard where the tooth of a giant prehistoric shark was found, several Italian varietals including sangiovese, fiano, vermentino, nebbiolo and primitivo under the Bellissimo label and some special releases of syrah under the Terremoto (Italian for earthquake, a nickname given to Steve Maglieri) label.

Their Black Label range includes McLaren Vale stalwarts shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, the 2019 vintages of which have just come on the market and are worth chasing up as very good representatives of these two varieties..

I don’t have the space to list all the wines Serafino produces, just go to the website www.serafinowines.com.au and check them out. If you can’t find something to your taste, you’re very picky.

Clare fair: It produces some of Australia's best rieslings but there's more to the Clare Valley than that variety

Vineyards at the Mitchell Clare Valley winery

South Australia’s Clare Valley is one of my favourite wine regions. Not only is it physically beautiful, it produces some of the country’s best wines, notably its rieslings.

Producers such as Jeffrey Grossett, Jim Barry, Pikes, O’Leary Walker, Tim Adams, Taylors, Petaluma, Kilkanoon, Kirrihill, Claymore, Mitchell and Knappstein are among many from the region making absolutely delicious rieslings. They generally are fresh and crisp when young, showing lovely floral, citrus and mineral characters in their youth, maturing gracefully to show toast and honey flavours, with refreshingly crisp finishes.

It’s no surprise that there are numerous older Clare rieslings in my cellar. As far as I am concerned, it is only challenged by rieslings from the Eden Valley and Western Australia’s Great Southern region, particularly Frankland River and the Porongurups, for the title of the country’s most consistent producer of the variety. An honourable mention must go to Tasmania, where an increasing number of wineries are turning out very tasty examples.

However, there’s more to the Clare than this aristocratic grape. It’s long been a great area for reds, particularly cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s red wine lovers were rightly wowed by the cabernet malbec blends coming from Leasingham under its Bin 56 label and the winery still produces very good examples of the style. Its Bin 49 cabernet sauvignon also raised eyebrows, with the Bin 61 shiraz showing the region was also very well suited to the variety. Wendouree also has been making a cabernet malbec  blend for many years among its stable of sought-after reds.

Tim Adams, who worked at Leasingham with the legendary Mick Knappstein, still rates the blend as one of his favourite Clare reds and makes a very useful example under his own label.

Mind you, when you get wonderful drops like the Jim Barry Armagh shiraz and Tim’s own Aberfeldy shiraz it’s hard to ignore the claims of this variety to be rated among the Clare’s best.

That’s notto say Clare relies solely on established varieties. Jim Barry’s assyrtiko is one of the best examples of this variety I have tasted outside of its Greek home, while tempranillo, sangiovese and fiano have shown great promise.

Individual vineyards have not had prominence in the Clare but that has changed in the past decade or so, with those shiraz patches and Jim Barry’s Florita riesling vineyard gaining recognition for their outstanding qualities. Florita was recognised over many years as the source of some of the best rieslings produced under the Leo Buring and Lindemans labels and it was a no-brainer for Jim Barry to snap it up when it came on the market.

Although much younger the wines coming from the Gaelic Cemetery vineyard established by the Pikes in 1996 are well worth seeking out, particularly the Premium Riesling and Premium Cabernet Malbec.

Tim Adams has not limited his individual vineyard wines to the Aberfeldy shiraz, a few years ago introducing the Skilly Ridge Riesling and Schaefer Shiraz. The latest vintages of both have just been released, the 2015 Schaefer Shiraz ($40) and 2019 Skilly Ridge Riesling ($30), and they represent some of the best Clare has to offer. Try independent fine wine outlets or the winery.

For more information go to

www.clarevalleywine.com.au

www.timadamswines.com.au

www.jimbarry.com

www.grosset.com.au

www.leasingham-wines.com.au

www.pikeswines.com.au

www.petaluma.com.au

www.olearywalkerwines.com

www.mitchellwines.com

www.taylorswines.com.au

www.kilikanoon.com.au

www.kirrihillwines.com.au

www.knappstein.com.au

www.claymorewines.com.au

No low blow: Being lower in alcohol no longer means lacking taste

 

In these health-conscious times, one segment of the wine market, low and no-alcohol drops, is increasing rapidly.

It’s not as though this is a new idea. I can remember back in the 1980s, Orlando (best known now under the Jacob’s Creek name) produced a range of lower-alcohol wines made by de-alcoholising wines using spinning-cone technology andadding various levels of alcohol back into the blend.

There have been various other attempts over the years to introduce lower-alcohol drops but it seems to have been only in the past few years that the market has taken the idea seriously.

Funnily enough, a couple of Australia’s greatest styles have always featured wines lower in alcohol than many counterparts, particularly red wines. I’m talking here about Hunter Valley semillon and South Australian rieslings, which frequently had (and many still do) alcohol levels of only 10 to 12 percent, against many reds (and several whites, particularly chardonnays) featuring alcohol levels of 14 percent and more.

Edenvale's low alcohol range

It wasn’t too long ago that to be called wine, an Australian drop had to have a minimum 8 percent alcohol. This was only changed because imported wines that followed all the rules of their country of origin could have far lower alcohol levels and still be called wine.

Now, a beverage can have almost no alcohol and be called wine. Indeed, the accepted definition of a low alcohol wine something with less than 1 percent alcohol, while drops with less than 10 percent are referred to as lower-alcohol wines.

There seem to be two approaches to low and lower-alcohol wines. One sees the grapes taken through to full ferment and that product then de-alcoholised. The other sees grapes picked earlier at lower potential alcohol levels and then fermented, making wines with lower alcohol levels than the equivalent picked a riper sugar levels.

Sadly, one of the problems is that alcohol does contribute body and richness to wines and taking that out can leave the resultant beverage tasting thinner and less satisfying. That’s why, for me anyway, white wines seem better suited to the no and lower-alcohol regime.

Riesling, pinot gris, vermentino and sauvignon blanc seem better suited to the process but with advancing technologies, the market is seeing more acceptable roses and red wines.

One way producers can get around that lack of body is by leaving more residual sugar in the wine, which somewhat negates the idea of reducing the alcohol level to cut the carbohydrates. The drier (or less sugar) the better a drop is if you are looking to cut the calories.

Australian labels in the very low alcohol segment include Edenvale, Soul Tracker, McGuigan Zero and Lindemans, who also have a foot in the lower-alcohol segment with their Early Harvest range, featuring wines as the name suggests picked earlier in the vintage to give lower alcohol and calories.

Several New Zealand producers also offer lower-alcohol wines, with one relative newcomer in State of Light having three wines, a Marlborough sauvignon blanc and a pinot gris and rose from Hawke’s Bay. They’re made using spinning cone technology to take out the alcohol while preserving the varietal and regional characters. All sit around the 7 percent alcohol mark and can be found at Dan Murphy’s, BWS and First Choice outlets.

Lovers of big, rich higher-alcohol reds and whites are not going to be breaking down the doors for them but advancing technology means these styles are becoming much more approachable and acceptable and are earning their place in many people’s fridges.

For more background information, go to 

www.edenvale.com.au

www.mcguiganwines.com.au

www.lindemans.com.au

www.stateoflight.com.au

Rare treat: Riverland durif may not have the reputation of its Rutherglen counterparts but it is worth a go

 

Durif from the Riverina has not exactly been recognised as a quality wine style. So it came as something of a shock some years ago when Calabria’s Three Bridges durif performed very well at the Brisbane wine show, knocking off quite a few more fancied wines in the process.

However, if you’ve had the chance to taste the wine over the years, you would recognise that it is a distinctive style well worth seeking out.

It may not have the trademark firm  tannins of its Rutherglen counterparts but it has all the rich, blackberry and plum fruit for which the variety is noted. The tannins are still there but not as obvious as in its Rutherglen counterparts.

The latest vintage, the 2019 ($25), can be drunk now alongside hearty red meat dishes such as beef cheeks with polenta or lamb shanks but it will be even better in a decade.

It’s part of an impressive line-up of Calabria’s flagship Three Bridges wines, with other reds coming from the family’s Barossa Valley vineyards. There’s a 2019 Mourvedre ($35) from 1914 plantings, 2019 Grenache ($35) from vines aged more than 50 years, 2019 Shiraz ($25), vine age about 50 years and a 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon ($25), vine age 25-50 years.

The whites in the range are a Riverina Semillon ($30), Tumbarumba Chardonnay ($25) and a Riverina Botrytis Semillon ($25 a 375ml bottle).

They’re delicious wines that have always offered well above value for money and are worth trying.

You can find out more about the wines, the vineyards and the Calabria family at www.calabriawines.com.au

All together now: Australia's great wine co-ops may be a thing of the past but there's still a collective spirit in the industry

In the 1960s and 1970s grapegrower co-operatives played a major role in the Australian wine industry, notable in the Barossa and the Riverland. Kaiser Stuhl, founded in the 1930s, and the Berri and Renmano in the Riverland concentrated mainly on cheap and cheerful quaffing wines although both aspired to greater things, Kaiser Stuhl through its “Ribbon” wines, high-quality varietal wines from individual growers, and Renmano through its Chairman’s Selection series, chardonnay in particular doing extremely well on the Australian show circuit. Sadly, most have disappeared. Kaiser Stuhl was taken over by Penfolds and has all but disappeared from the scene, Berri Renmano joined Hardys to form BRL Hardy, which has been swallowed up in the Accolade Wines giant. However, all is not lost on the growers co-op scene with the appearance of a band called The Group, made up of more than 100 growers and their families from McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.

Partnering with renowned chef Matt Moran, the collective has released four core wines, 2017 The Murder McLaren Vale Shiraz, 2019 The Shadow Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir, 2019 The Quiver McLaren Vale Grenache and 2018 The Fever McLaren Vale Grower Blend. All are available from Liquorland and First Choice outlets for about $34. Appropriately, the labels feature drawings of the creatures whose collective names their bear _ crows on The Murder, jaguars on The Shadow, cobras on The Quiver and stingrays on The Fever. And on the limited edition 2019 The Siege McLaren Vale shiraz appear herons (or storks, depending on your fancy).

Fruit for The Murder came from the vineyards of Brian and Valerie Cameron, third-generation grapegrowers, that for The Shadow from Mike and Judy Press and their son James, The Quiver from Dave and Jen Wright’s Wylpena Vineyard, The Fever (merlot, mourvedre and cabernet sauvignon) from Rob and Julie Symonds and the Siege from David and Ang Paxton, long-time promoters of biodynamic grapegrowing. This is an impressive collection of wines that are great reflections of their origins and are worth seeking out. You can find out more about The Group and its wines at www.thegroupwines.com.au

Left field: An intriguing result when you take an uncommon grape variety and give it unconventional treatment

The northern Italian grape variety savagnin is not widely grown in Australia. Indeed, it’s something of an accident that it is here at all. Grapegrowers and wineries looking for the “next big thing” were keen to plant the attractive Portuguese variety albarino locally and began obtaining cuttings they thought were this species. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up somewhere, what they planted was actually savagnin. Apart from a name that is far too close to a French variety much loved in the New Zealand wine district of Marlborough, savagnin is a very attractive variety in its own right, thought to be closely related to traminer and sharing some if its spicy, floral characters.

However it happened, Soumah winery in the Yarra Valley has taken this uncommon variety and subjected it to some highly unconventional practices. For starters it is wild fermented in a mix of clay eggs and seasoned oak and then left on lees and solids for some time. Then, the winery has been blending differing vintages, including the 2015, 2019 and 2020 crops, in a solera system similar to that used in making fortified wines such as muscat and topaque (what used to be known as tokay). However, what is produced is not a fortified style but still very much a table wine, albeit with extra complexity and depth and, dare we say it, funky characters. It shows citrus and spice on the nose, with a rich, complex palate and crisp finish, belying its age and time in barrel, with some components going back to 2015. It’s a delicious drop now, with Soumah suggesting pairing it with an aged comte cheese or any French cow’s milk cheese, or with a dish of pasta ribbons with asparagus, parmigiana Reggiano and a touch of cream. It also can stand up to richer chicken or lighter pork dishes. At this stage it is only available for pre-order to Soumah wine club members through the Soumah website (www.soumah.com.au) for about $80 a bottle. However, Soumah has a range of more conventional wines including its Savarro (based on savagnin) and a range of delicious Yarra Valley chardonnays and pinot noirs, plus pinot grigio, viognier, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon and a sparkling and a sweet wine made from the possibly even rarer Italian variety brachetto.