Vines Alsace

One highlight wasn’t the comparison between the two styles but the comparison between the King Valley samples and some European ones. The 2009 Del Zotto was compared to a 2008 from the Alto Adige region in the Tyrol and Libertine matched them with a soufflé. Initially I was disappointed as both wines were served too cold and you had to let them drop to room temperature before the real taste came through. Then there wasn’t much difference between the two. Both were steely and long on the palate. I was biased and preferred the Victorian variety.

The Prentice pinot gris was compared to one from Alsace. Both were from the 2009 vintage and the chef matched them with a chicken farci. I thought the food was a better match for them and the smoothness of the gris complemented the taste of the chicken. I couldn’t see much difference in these two wines either.

The two grape varieties are both splendid styles and ideally suited to the cool climate of the King Valley. Other examples I’ve tasted from warmer climes weren’t as pristine and the gris were rather overblown. I am a fan of the Del Zotto wines and would have voted for their wines if pressed. I also liked the modesty of Michael Del Zotto, the winemaker. His description of the grigio wasn’t complicated by wine speak.

Vines King Valley

By Michael Metcalfe

Further up the road is Lilliput Winery, about eight kilometres from Rutherglen. Typically it is a small winery in a small settlement. The German winemakers their claim their wines are biodiverse. I expected a reisling and a gewürztraminer but got neither… But they did do a shiraz and a cabernet that were very rich and fruity and I didn’t get a headache from either.

Even further up the road is Larks Hill. As with Lilliput, we chanced upon this winery located a few kilometers north of Bungerong on the road from Queanbeyan to Batman’s Bay. It is certified bio-dynamic and they stick to the gospel of Steiner with mulching, planting at the full moon, building stone monument, sacrificing virgins, the lot. The don’t do a gewürztraminer, but they do the first gruner viltliner in Australia. The story goes that importing the vines into Australia is prohibited, but a man from Tasmania had some and gave them to Larks Hill as he was getting on in years and wanted the vines to have a good home. The winemaker from Larks Hill flew to Tassie, got the seedlings and flew back with them first class. The wine is great going by the second vintage, the 2010. It is reisling like but not as austere and is quite fruit driven. Their pinot and shiraz were superb – rich and intense, long and savoury – real food wines. We had a bottle of the shiraz with steak and it was an excellent fit.

The cost of preservative free wines is minimal. As you get into the rarified and certified organic, the prices skyrocket. But it’s worth it and we willingly support the effort.

By Michael Metcalfe

A cellar door some fifteen minutes walk from the busy centre of Melbourne? Sounds very implausible, but it can only happen in North Melbourne and can only feature Keith Brien and his Silverwings wines.

You know the cellar door is open if the barrel is on the footpath. From the outside it looks just like any other three storey dwelling that has been architecturally designed from an old factory in the middle of an old industrial area.

Keith gave up flying with Ansett when they disbanded in the 19980s and set up a winery in Lancefield in the Macedon region. The wines were superb and the old mansion, Cleveland, was lovingly restored. I can still vividly remember tasting a chardonnay there before the ABC campaign began and it was mind blowingly French in style. It was a 1991 with intense butterscotch flavours, something I’ve been trying to find in chardonnays ever since with very limited success. Experts told me that’s what Chablis should taste like, not the overoaked varieties that scandalised winemaking in Australia for two decades.

As Lancefield is very prone to frost, Cabernet in particular was hard to ripen. Another stand out from the Cleveland days was the Minus 5, a cab-merlot blend, getting it’s name because it was usually picked at that temperature. Keith saved the last vintage, a 1998, as a reserve as he thought it the best he’d produced. You can buy this at $25 a bottle at cellar door but there’s a catch. When he started drinking some a few months ago, he discovered that there was one bottle in each dozen with cork taint. He can’t guarantee you will get twelve to the dozen that are potable.

But you can pick up stunning bargains from now until August. There are some sparkling wines. The Macedon vignerons decide to call their sparklings Macedon to ward off the French “Champagne nazis”. Keith has a Brut Rose for $27 and a 1993 vintage XO Brut with added cognac for $50. Unfortunately, the 1998 Brut sold out on the first day of his winter tasting when I bought the last case at $29 a bottle. The full list of wines to sell before the next pallets of wine come in are listed on the website www.silverwingswines.com.

Some of the wines made for the American market, a Riesling sourced from the Margaret river and a Grenache, Shiraz, Mouvedre blend are absolute steals. The Silverwings flagship wine is a Shiraz-Mouvedre from the Goulburn valley, made from the fruit from old vines planted in the 1950s. The 2008 will be released shortly and will be last of the blend as Keith moves on again to another winery on the slopes of Mount Macedon – not quite full circle.

Coming up soon, after a mandatory trip back to France, Keith will host a tasting where he will rerelease the 1999 Cleveland Pinot Noir pitted against some Burgundies. The 1999 was another wine with a story. I tasted a barrel sample at the winery and was literally blown away. It was huge. Not a timid watery Pinot but a monster with so much alcohol I had to sit down for an hour after the taste. It was a limited release in dozen lots to valued customers as there was precious little produced because of the drought conditions and bird strike. Keith says it is drinking beautifully now, so it might be time to take the cork out of one of the untouched dozen. I am a bit afraid it might still bite me although the label says 14% alcohol, I’m sure it is much bigger than that.

By Michael Metcalfe

What do you get when you add a Dane to Rhone varietals plus a dash of

The answer is Valhalla – some sort of Norse heaven.

On our many trips to the Rutherglen region in nothern Victoria, we’d passed by often enough but it was never open. One of those Rutherglen region boutique places open on weekends and by appointment. So, you can imagine our glee when we saw the flags waving and the open sign on the driveway. Another new Rutherglen winery to tick off – only three more to go unless you count the other by appointments.

The surprise doubled as we met a familiar ex-Cofields face and the warmth of the greeting was equal to the 14 degrees inside compared to the 8 degrees outside.

The wines were very well crafted for a winery in its fourth year. The Viognier was well, Viognier, but the Riesling was crisp and dry and rather moorish for a cold winter’s day. I was interested in the Marsanne as there is so much more being made in the district and people are realising it can thrive in the warmer Mediterranean climate of the Northeast. This one was a 2009, not overoaked and promising to be long lasting.

But, as one wise wine drinker once said, “Life is too short to drink white wine”, so we started on the GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre). Just the right balance with the Grenache rightfully dominating the front palate and a fine Mourvedre finish. I wasn’t sure of the name for the Durif-Shiraz blend, the Ranga, but was assured it was a nickname for redheads and as our new Prime Minister is a red head, we were patriotic and drank it. It must be the cheapest Durif in the world and the tasting notes suggested it is a drink now wine. This is unlike most of the Durif (known as Petite Syrah in the US) in the region. It is a recently released 2009 that would be interesting to taste in a couple of years time to see if the tasting notes were accurate.

The 2008 Durif was more like it and cost twice as much. It has many years left in the bottle. The difference a year makes. The 2008 vintage seems to have been great across the region while 2009 was difficult because of soaring temperatures.

We passed the Shiraz-Viognier just because too many people are doing them and I can’t think of one that justifies adding another $5 to the price for 5% of fruit that I don’t think adds much to a great wine. The 2008 Shiraz just proved me right again!

The green bit impressed me. Lots of water recycling and a quest to be sustainable. Hosting a green living fair in September is part of the package as are slow food Sundays. A welcome relief for the stressed diners we saw in other eateries in the area.

Well worth a visit to find out why a Danish person ever wanted to go to Rutherglen…

By – Michael Metcalfe

As part of the on-going celebration, United Cellars organised a tasting of some specially released Tahbilk wines at Libertine, a French restaurant in North Melbourne. The wines complemented the food perfectly. A Viognier was matched with hors d’oeuvres and then two Marsannes were tasted with a fish soup. The current release Marsanne is a 2009 and shows some intense fruit. The other was a 1999 vintage ‘1927’ vines from one of the oldest plantings of marsanne in the world. It is released as an aged wine and shows the benefits of years in the bottle. It hadn’t developed the golden honeysuckle taste that older marsannes do but it was splendid and could easily be left another eleven years. Our Tahbilk marketeer, John Irvine, told a story of two 1953 marsanne that were opened recently. They had been made as part of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. One was corked, the other drank beautifully.

Two Cabernet Sauvignons accompanied a venison dish and again these were a current release 2006 and a special release 2004 Eric Stevens Purbrick. The older wine this time only just beat its younger sibling. The 06 vintage was fabulous all over Victoria and South Australia, this cab sav retails for less than AUS$20, and its best years are still to come. We were advised that this one could last for 20 years easily.

In the spirit of comparing two wines, the eye fillet was presented with a 2006 estate Shiraz and another 2004 Eric Stevens Purbrick Shiraz. This time the later version was far superior. It was rich in colour and long on the palate. The steak was another perfect match for the wines.

The highlight of the night was the 1860 Vines Shiraz from 2004 that came with the cheese platter. These vines were planted at the start of the winery’s existence and still produce a single vineyard wine that is believed to be one of the oldest in the world. I questioned the choice and felt it would have been a better partner for the steak. However, it cut through some of the acidic imported French cheese with consummate ease. When we were offered another glass of our choice, I had another. Even without food, it is a stunning drink.

Tahbilk prides itself on the production of Rhone varietals. Its marsanne is a fabulous taste of quality Australian wine. They also make a Roussanne that is nowhere near as popular. Rumour has it that a Granache-Shiraz-Mouvedre could be on the market soon to extend the Rhone portfolio. Tahbilk also prides itself on sustainability. The winery has a wetlands area that is home to native flora and fauna. A very pleasant Wetland Café overlooks one of the billabongs that make up the wetlands area and serves as a tasting room for large groups.

If you see Tahbilk wines being promoted where you are, go along and have a taste of some of the great wines from the very old vines from the estate. I am sure you will enjoy them.

There are three labels to try. The Hundred Tree Hill wines are the export label and come from vineyards around the Pyrenees and are crafted at the winery. The range is only available via cellar door. Tasting these wines alongside the Sally’s Hill varieties showed why they are half the price.

The Sally’s Hill range is also estate grown and hand picked from the vineyards surrounding Hundred Tree Homestead on Sally’s Hill including the famous Sally’s Paddock vineyard. These exceptional varietal wines reflect the wonderful characters and flavours of Redbank grapes. Made in small batches, hand punched, wild yeast fermented and basket pressed, these wines truly express the potential of single varieties from our non-irrigated vines. The only white wine grown is Chardonnay, which I found ordinary. The Cab Franc was the standout here. The 2008 comes in at 14% alcohol and really packs a punch.

Well worth a visit and a meal at the self-styled “deli”. If you’re lucky, and we were, there may even be a musical performance. Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World”, Sally’s Paddock, local cheese, a sunny afternoon – what IS heaven like?

Kabminye Wines commenced in 2001 when Rick and Ingrid Glastonbury came back to the land in Krondorf in the Barossa Valley which Ingrid’s great great grandparents settled on in 1847. Their cellar door is set in an environmentally friendly building and includes a restaurant and contemporary art space. 
Krondorf was renamed Kabinye as a result of the anti German sentiment during the Second World War and renamed Krondorf at a later date. It is an aboriginal word meaning ‘Morning Star’.
The wine is unusual, reminding me of the Fetiaska we used to drink from St Leonards in the Rutherglen region. St Leonards dug the vines up because they couldn’t get a consistent taste. Like the Kerner the bouquet promised a sweet fruit driven white but surprised the palate with an extremely dry finish.
We were brave and drank the Kerner with tacos. It stood up to the chili and the guacamole incredibly well.

I only bought one when we visited the vineyard in 2008 and wondered why I hadn’t opened it until now. Now I wonder why I didn’t buy some more.

This week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the 2007 Cofield Sangiovese. It is the 6th harvest of the variety at Cofield winery, and the quality seems to get better every year. The 2007 has a deep inky colour. It nose is earthy with some cherry fruit. The taste is of fresh sour cherry to earthy richness, and then the pallet dries to leave you with a tongue slapping finish. The wine matches very well with pasta and red meat. They add a little Shiraz to the wine which gives it a little more fruitiness, and is aged in French oak for 4 years. The result is fantastic value at AUD $20 at the cellar door.

Although this is a pretty big red wine, it does make a change from the usual fair you find in the wine shop from Australia. The pallet of the Australian wine drinker is definitely moving on from the huge, alcoholic reds that Australia is still famous for. I hope this continues, and these wine makers trying new and innovative things are rewarded for producing new and interesting wines. It gives the consumer a different option when dining, even if, like me, you have many options at your local wine store from around the world.

So give it a try if you are lucky enough to see it at the shop. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how complex and interesting this wine is. For the price I am sure you will find it hard to get a better European red wine.