The reason a wine producing cooperative is so effective, is because rather than selling on the product they receive, they turn the grapes they receive into wine for resale. The farmers would not be able to produce wine in enough volume or quality to be profitable by themselves, but combining a lot of small growers gives the cooperative the chance to make the volume and quality of wine for their grapes to be profitable.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the 2004 Cinquentenario from Adega Cooperative de Palmela. This is the top type of still wine they produce from the best of the grapes brought to them from over 350 farms around the region. The grapes that go into it are Castelão, Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Nacional. This wine is not produced every year. In good years they are able to select the best grapes to make this wine. It is quite dark in the glass and has a stewed berry and toasty aroma. To drink it has lots of fruit, but is lighter than the nose suggests with some spiciness to finish. It goes very well with a light meat dish, or pasta.

I was taken through the process at the winery. Most of the process is pretty much the same as you would find anywhere. The interesting part, along with most cooperatives, is the receiving process. You can imagine how busy it is when over 350 different trucks and tractors turn up all wanting to off-load their grapes at harvest time. Each of the deliveries need to be weighed and checked for quality. The best quality grapes go into the production of the best wines, lower quality grapes, depending on the quality of the harvest, will go into lower quality table wine production. They will never turn away grapes, however they farmer does get less money if they grapes are not in top quality when they arrive, but the vast majority are in good condition. A receipt giving to the driver to confirm what they will get for payment and then it is on to the next receptacle full of grapes. The cooperative then goes about making their different still and fortified wines.

In the case of the Cinquentenario, which is aged for 2 to 3 years in oak and bottle before it goes on sale, the cooperative only covers its costs long after they have paid for the grapes. The cooperative does not exist to make a profit, it is there for the local farmers, so the money you pay for the wine as a consumer goes back to the community, which is a nice feeling. And the €15 you part with for this wine is fantastic value for the quality – and long may that continue!

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

The main reason behind not drinking red wine is not because I couldn’t have a glass or two with a bit of heat. It has more to do with taste buds not being in the mood for heavier food, which I tend to enjoy a glass or two of red wine with. As this is all about the experience of enjoying wine, there is no point in forcing anything because it will lessen the experience. Last week though, the weather cooled enough for something a bit meatier. I also had my eye on a wine I had wanted to try for a while.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the 2005 Esporão Trincadiera. The Esporão winery is a great place to visit. The impressive tower rising out of the vines is always a nice sight to see no matter how many times you have visited. We visit this winery on our trips out to the Alentejo and it is always leaves an impression. They also have archeological sites within the property, with finds dating back to pre-Roman times. They also support local artists. The labels on their Reserva and Private Collection wines are designed by artists from Portugal.

Back to the wine… Usually, as with many of Portugal’s native grapes and wine making traditions, Tricadeira is blended with other grapes for the end product. At Esporão for example, they use it in their Resverva wine, along with Aragonês , Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet. In combination with these grapes the end product is balance and it is always a lot of fun getting your nose and mouth around where the different grapes are adding to the wine. On its own though, Trincadeira make a wine with a deep color, with plum, spice and some vanilla aromas. With all that going on it gives you a bit of a fright about how big it will be. At 14.5% alcohol it has a fair punch to it. On tasting it however, it is a less scary with some berry flavor as well as the plum and some spice to it and some good dryness to finish.

This wine goes well with red meat, or duck with a heavy sauce. The roundness of the flavors come alive with food, making it even more enjoyable with the particular fruit and spice it has. It may be a new grape to many people, but I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think. It’s different to many of the French grape varieties that seem to dominate the shelves outside of Southern Europe, so if you come across this with, give it a try and see what you think!

They build castles on top of hills you know… Up there with a view to the very tempting Atlantic Ocean on one side and the plains of the Alentejo in the distance on the other, the sun was beating down on the sandstones making it like an oven. The wind was hot and dry too, so the oven was fan forced… Never the less with glass in hand I set about discovering the wines of a few new producers in this region. I saw some familiar faces, many familiar brands, but I was happy to find a few new producers I had not sampled before.

Even with the valiant attempts of the very friendly people representing their wineries, the red wines were just too warm to be enjoyed fully. The whites however were extremely refreshing! I have written a lot on the red wines from Portugal. They are so interesting and varied here that I will not get sick of them any time soon. However, in the heat of the day, I am rarely going to be looking at a big rich meal to go with a red wine. Fortunately, Portugal’s wine producers are tuned in to this need and are producing some very interesting and, as always, great value white wines too.

I tried a few from Cooperativa De Pegoes, Xavier Santana, Bacalhoa, Cooperativa de Palmela. Each using similar grapes, apart from Bacalhoa who were making a very interesting Semillon-Alvarinho . The main grape varieties for white wine production in this region are Arinto, which is usually used to blend with other white grapes to give the wine some extra lemony acid to the wines. Fernão Pires, which has a more floral character. The other white grape is Antão Vaz. This produces a finer, smoother and a subtler wine, so blending it with the other grapes makes sense, however it also makes a great single varietal wine.

This week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the Herdade da Comporta 2009 Antão Vaz. Herdade da Comporta is a part of the Setubal Peninsular region, although it is situated on the other side of the Sado River from Setubal… The old term for the region was Terras do Sado, which makes a lot more sense for this winery, but I am not sure if we need other region developed just for this winery. The wine itself has a very pale color with aromas of lemon peel and pineapple. Tasting the wine give you a delicate flavor of tropical fruit and lemon, but ends with some light acid and dryness, which is fantastic on a hot day. It goes well with seafood, fish or even a light salad. Alternatively, you could just sip it by the beach on its own. You need to be careful with it though, despite the light pallet, it does pack in 14% alcohol. At around €8 it is fabulous value for quite an elegant and very tasty wine.

If you have not tried Portuguese white wines before, this varietal would be a good place to start. It is different to your traditional white varietals, but not so different it will distract you from the pleasure of experiencing it. Then if you like it, you may want to venture toward some other whites from Portugal!

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

Unusually, I selected a white wine for this occasion. Unusual because I usually prefer big red wines, but also because I do not often keep white wines for too long. The fresh zinginess you get from young white wines is often what you are after when you reach for one. Therefore, a lot of white wines do not lend themselves to being aged. There are many exceptions though. Before you go and cellar that Chardonnay that has been in the fridge for the last 2 weeks, there are some things you should do before laying down white wines:

• Always ask. If you are at the winery they will probably volunteer information about it being a “drink now” wine or if it will benefit from some time in a cellar. If it is at the wine shop, get their opinion. If it is for drinking right away they will tell you.
• Failing that, look on the internet. If a review suggests it could do with some more age, then go for it.
• Buy more than 1 bottle. This way you can open one of them after a couple of years, just to make sure it is getting better with age.
• If you are still not sure after all that, then try one of the bottles you have bought. If you think it could do with some added depth and richness, then go ahead and keep one for the future.

For this Wine Experience of the Week, I have the Hugel & Fils 2000 Traditional Riesling. I was lucky enough to be given the advice that it could be kept for a few years at the winery. The old vines in the Alsace region can lend themselves to making white wines that can age well. This vintage was only released by Hugel in 2007, so they took care of most of the aging. Despite the age, the wine was still fresh when tasting it at the winery; with floral, fruity and slight aniseed aromas and a great depth in the drinking.

Tasting the wine recently the aromas had developed to be sweeter, almost honey sweetness along with white flower, peach and aniseed that had been retained. The colour seemed to have deepened to be more golden. Tasting the wine you get a fruity start, with some slight nutty depth to it. To finish it is dry with some good acid. You can enjoy this wine with fish, light pork or even veal with a light sauce. I had it with chicken, with some delicate Thai flavors and it went down very well. At around €25 to €30, looking at prices on the internet, it is pretty good value for the quality you are getting. If you have not tried wines from Alsace before, this would be a great place to start.

The wine probably wouldn’t benefit from much more aging however, so if you have one sitting around, find a good reason to open it and enjoy! If you have had an experience with a white wine you have kept for aging, please share a comment. It is always nice to hear other experiences.

I have been asked by a few people what I would compare Touriga Nacional wines to. That is a tricky one. It is a native grape to Portugal, and with most of the natives here, it has its own character which make the wines from Portugal so interesting. It isn’t quite as big and heavy as a Shiraz/Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon; however it has more depth to it than a Tempranillo or Pinot Noir. As I said it is tricky comparing it to more widely planted grapes. My advice is to give one a try and find out for yourself. While you are at the wine shop, pick a blended Portuguese wine as well – this should give you a good taste of Portugal.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the 2006 Herdade das Servas Touriga Nacional. Traditionally most of the production of this grape is in the Douro and Dão regions of Portugal, however more and more of it is being planted in other regions, including the Alentejo where Herdade das Servas is near the town of Estremoz. This wine has a deep purple color and an aroma of violet flowers and intense red berries. Tasting the wine gives you darker berry flavors which lead to the dry but rounded tannins and some good spice. The finish is long with a bit of a chocolaty taste. It has spent at least 12 months in mainly French oak, however it doesn’t have an overpowering oaky flavor. It would go well with grilled pork or beef, but you need to have some herbs and spices with it to bring out some of the notes in the wine.

This wine will develop well with age, so in 5 to 10 years it will have even more complexity and be a lot smoother. As I said above you need to experience the wines made from this varietal for yourself to make your own mind up about it. On your next visit to the wine shop see if you can find a single varietal Touriga Nacional and give it a try. I am sure you will be impressed. Or even better, if you come to Portugal, get in contact with us and we can take you out to some of the vineyards and you can experience some of the best for yourself.

So this week’s Wine Experience of the Week is the Quinta de Alcube winery and their 2008 Alcubìssimo. This wine made from is mainly made from late picked Castelão grapes. It is a very different wine from Portugal, where they are famous for dessert wines such as Port, Madeira and Moscatel de Setúbal. This wine is not fortified; the late picked grapes are botrytis affected which, in combination with cooling the grapes before pressing, stop the fermentation and leaving the wine sweet. The aroma of the wine is also lighter than fortified wines, with red fruit and spice. The taste is fresh to start, with red fruit and a touch of citrus, and then it becomes spicy and finishes with rich molasses. It would go well with a caramel desert or with cheese and fruit to finish a meal.

The winery is quite small. A lot of their time goes into sheep cheese production as well as the winery. This was another great surprise, and I ended up with 2 cheeses which were fantastic too! They only produce around 250,000 bottles of wine here. As a family run farm, with just 4 people working there, they use machines to pick the majority of their grapes. This doesn’t detract from the quality though. They have a good range of wines and all are quite good. All the sales of their wine are from the cellar, but they seem to be selling though quite well. It may be difficult to find outside of Portugal, however if you do I recommend you give it a try. It is very different and it is refreshing to know interesting and innovative wines such as this are being made in an old world country.