McLaren Vale might not be known for delicate varieties like albarino or viognier but it's certainly giving them its best shot, and more besides.
Australian winemaker Mike Brown, from Gemtree in McLaren Vale, staged a press tasting in Dublin recently, to show the diversity of wines now being produced by himself and his neighbours in this famous region.
McLaren Vale can be a warm dry place, where water shortage is a real problem, but there are hill sites where cooler wine styles can be produced. Also, the region is not far from the sea and many vineyards benefit from moderating ocean breezes. To prove this point, Brown offered a crisp white made from albarino, an aromatic Spanish grape not noted for prospering in very hot situations.
“A bit experimental,” he explained, the grapes having been head grafted onto some poorly performing cabernet vines, but not bad. Not perhaps as robustly aromatic as a Spanish version but tasty, with a firm citrus kick. According to Brown, the wine is one of a range of new styles that we can expect from McLaren Vale over the next few years.
“We are known for shiraz and that won’t really change,” he said, “but we have a variety of microclimates and we can do a lot of different things, which is why we have started growing things like sangiovese and tempranillo and experimenting more with southern French varieties, including whites.”
Viognier is the most prized white variety of the French Rhone Valley but McLaren Vale’s D’Arenberg estate (Taserra) can give those pricey Condrieu wines a run for their money. Its Hermit Crab Viognier 2007 is a €15 bottling which has lush aromas of yellow flowers and fruit which carry onto the palate, where the ripe tropical fruit is nicely balanced by a fresh acidity. Another surprise was Mitolo Jester Sangiovese Rose 2008 (Liberty); zesty raspberry and strawberry fruit gave it some Italian style but at just over €17 it may just find the market for this category a little competitive. Well made stuff, though.
Despite the experiments, when it comes to McLaren, it’s hard to turn away from the rich, classic reds which are a byword for the region. However, tasting through the line of bottles, we quickly became aware that cooler, more elegant styles sit happily beside the brawnier shiraz bottlings. One of these was Wirra Wirra Church Block 2006 (Straffan), which had a noticeable green streak beneath its nicely integrated plum and blackcurrant fruits. A blend of cabernet with shiraz and merlot, this is very good value at €20.
A special treat is Geoff Merrill Reserve Shiraz 2002 (Comans) which is drinking beautifully now, with vanilla coated plummy aromas and a spicy, berry flavoured palate. Despite the spice, there’s good balancing acidity and though the wine is at peak now, it will hold for several years. Also with a bit of hold-ability is Gemtree Obsidian Shiraz 2005, with its lovely leathery elements appearing on nose and palate.
Both the Merrill and Gemtree shiraz are over €30 but if you want a simpler, good value bottling for a weekend dinner, you could do a lot worse than Hardys Oomoo Shiraz 2006; this clean, juicy wine, with its plum and berry flavours, would be perfect with Sunday roast or meat pies.
Don't forget to visit our website: www.bellevuebnb.com.au
Friday 12 June 2009
Wine: The Vale of plenty
The warm spicy wines of Austrailia's McLaren Vale are ideal with Mediterranean-style food
The important thing to fix in your mind about the wines from Australia’s McLaren Vale is their reputation for delivering the middle palate.
That’s not as wine geeky as it may sound; mid-palate is, as the terms suggests, that highly anticipated moment, after the initial taste sensation, when the wine hits the spot, or not. It comes after about 10 seconds, when a decent wine should be starting to show its wares.
If your lips spell satisfaction, the mid-palate is happy. That’s the way wine should be, you say. But remember the ones that are, as they say, “hollow,” when you are left wandering for a hit that doesn’t really land, or is thin, and you swallow in disappointment.
You may not always remember whether a wine had a long finish — although that is the sweetest thing of all — but you rarely forget that it made an impression at mid-palate. So, there is a certain reliability about McLaren Vale wines. Lying in South Australia, it is similar to the Mediterranean, a coast-hugging amphitheatre, producing warm and spicy wines, in the mode of the south of France, Italy and Spain.
Since the early days of winemaking in Oz, McLaren Vale wines have been used to beef up more dilute offerings, so the juice may feature in bottles with more generic labels such as South Australia.
When wine-making started down here in the 19th century, theMcLaren Vale wines had a reputation for being ferruginous or iron-rich, and it is said that doctors in England presecribed them as a tonic.
McLaren is a land of other rich flavours; it groans with almonds, and olive trees and is the sort of place where you can buy a cheese hamper and picnic your wayaround the local wineries, tasting as you go. It’s also the home of dukkah, a nut-and-spice mix into which you dunk olive-oil-dipped crusty bread and sit back and smack your lips. Its food sits perfectly with its wines, which are predominantly red.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are tops here, the sunny clime assuring a lush, ripe style of dark berry fruit. You may detect some luscious dark chocolate on the palate, although the nearby Barossa Valley is better known for that while McLaren Vale majors heavily on dark berry fruit flavours.
Other red grapes, such as Grenache and Mourvedre, also feature, and Grenache is doing some wonderful things here.The GSM you see on some Australian labels translates as Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, the mainstay of the red wines of southern France such as Côtes du Rhone.
There are whites, including Viognier and Chardonnay. Many of its wines, like D'Arenbeg, have been household fixtures for years. It is the origin of Rosemount and Hardys, which may also appear as the more generic South East Australia brand.
These are wines to savour with a barbecued steak in the evening — and perhaps best avoided outdoors in the midday sun because of their high alcohol content.
Pick up the Aussie wines’ mintiness with new season lamb or simply say G’day to a glass of McLaren Vale with any Medstyle cooking.
Don't forget to visit our website: www.bellevuebnb.com.au
The important thing to fix in your mind about the wines from Australia’s McLaren Vale is their reputation for delivering the middle palate.
That’s not as wine geeky as it may sound; mid-palate is, as the terms suggests, that highly anticipated moment, after the initial taste sensation, when the wine hits the spot, or not. It comes after about 10 seconds, when a decent wine should be starting to show its wares.
If your lips spell satisfaction, the mid-palate is happy. That’s the way wine should be, you say. But remember the ones that are, as they say, “hollow,” when you are left wandering for a hit that doesn’t really land, or is thin, and you swallow in disappointment.
You may not always remember whether a wine had a long finish — although that is the sweetest thing of all — but you rarely forget that it made an impression at mid-palate. So, there is a certain reliability about McLaren Vale wines. Lying in South Australia, it is similar to the Mediterranean, a coast-hugging amphitheatre, producing warm and spicy wines, in the mode of the south of France, Italy and Spain.
Since the early days of winemaking in Oz, McLaren Vale wines have been used to beef up more dilute offerings, so the juice may feature in bottles with more generic labels such as South Australia.
When wine-making started down here in the 19th century, theMcLaren Vale wines had a reputation for being ferruginous or iron-rich, and it is said that doctors in England presecribed them as a tonic.
McLaren is a land of other rich flavours; it groans with almonds, and olive trees and is the sort of place where you can buy a cheese hamper and picnic your wayaround the local wineries, tasting as you go. It’s also the home of dukkah, a nut-and-spice mix into which you dunk olive-oil-dipped crusty bread and sit back and smack your lips. Its food sits perfectly with its wines, which are predominantly red.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are tops here, the sunny clime assuring a lush, ripe style of dark berry fruit. You may detect some luscious dark chocolate on the palate, although the nearby Barossa Valley is better known for that while McLaren Vale majors heavily on dark berry fruit flavours.
Other red grapes, such as Grenache and Mourvedre, also feature, and Grenache is doing some wonderful things here.The GSM you see on some Australian labels translates as Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, the mainstay of the red wines of southern France such as Côtes du Rhone.
There are whites, including Viognier and Chardonnay. Many of its wines, like D'Arenbeg, have been household fixtures for years. It is the origin of Rosemount and Hardys, which may also appear as the more generic South East Australia brand.
These are wines to savour with a barbecued steak in the evening — and perhaps best avoided outdoors in the midday sun because of their high alcohol content.
Pick up the Aussie wines’ mintiness with new season lamb or simply say G’day to a glass of McLaren Vale with any Medstyle cooking.
Don't forget to visit our website: www.bellevuebnb.com.au
Wednesday 3 June 2009
South Australia's Oldest Vineyard May Be Bulldozed for Housing
Constellation sells McLaren Vale's Stony Hill, first planted in 1838; says it's too expensive to maintain.
South Australia's oldest commercial vineyard site has been sold to developers to be subdivided into a housing development. The Stony Hill vineyard at Old Reynella in McLaren Vale was first planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in 1838 by the district's first settler, John Reynell. The announcement of the plan to develop the historic site has angered locals and wine lovers across the country.
"We'd like to see it preserved as vineyards, as a tribute to our early history," said Kris Hanna, the local parliament member and chairman of the Reynell Business and Tourism Association. McLaren Vale is under increasing pressure from the sprawling southern suburbs of Adelaide, despite assurances from politicians that vineyard sites will not be rezoned to residential land.
Nonetheless, the vineyard was sold by Constellation Wines to Pioneer Homes, which has lodged a council application for 41 high-density homes to be built on the site.
Constellation Wines Australia public relations manager Sheralee Davies said that the vineyard, just 0.8 acres in size, was identified a number of years ago as unviable. "Water access is a challenge and the small vineyard has become increasingly expensive to maintain," she said. The site is currently planted to 19- and 25-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, which would be removed under Pioneer Homes' development plan.
Davies explained that the company is focusing its resources on its Hardy's Old Reynella headquarters and its public areas, located directly opposite the Stony Hill vineyard. "We have had to make some tough calls across the board and this is one of them," she said.
While acknowledging that the site has historical significance as the original location of John Reynell's vineyard, she said, "We're trying to run a business here and we need to be responsible in the way that we maintain it."
Some in the industry have suggested that the vineyard was the original source of the Reynella clone of Cabernet Sauvignon, which has since been planted across Australia. It's more likely that the clone originated from the nearby Reynella vineyard, planted by Reynell shortly after Stony Hill. Constellation has declared that it plans to continue to maintain the Reynella vineyard
Tyson Stelzer
South Australia's oldest commercial vineyard site has been sold to developers to be subdivided into a housing development. The Stony Hill vineyard at Old Reynella in McLaren Vale was first planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in 1838 by the district's first settler, John Reynell. The announcement of the plan to develop the historic site has angered locals and wine lovers across the country.
"We'd like to see it preserved as vineyards, as a tribute to our early history," said Kris Hanna, the local parliament member and chairman of the Reynell Business and Tourism Association. McLaren Vale is under increasing pressure from the sprawling southern suburbs of Adelaide, despite assurances from politicians that vineyard sites will not be rezoned to residential land.
Nonetheless, the vineyard was sold by Constellation Wines to Pioneer Homes, which has lodged a council application for 41 high-density homes to be built on the site.
Constellation Wines Australia public relations manager Sheralee Davies said that the vineyard, just 0.8 acres in size, was identified a number of years ago as unviable. "Water access is a challenge and the small vineyard has become increasingly expensive to maintain," she said. The site is currently planted to 19- and 25-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, which would be removed under Pioneer Homes' development plan.
Davies explained that the company is focusing its resources on its Hardy's Old Reynella headquarters and its public areas, located directly opposite the Stony Hill vineyard. "We have had to make some tough calls across the board and this is one of them," she said.
While acknowledging that the site has historical significance as the original location of John Reynell's vineyard, she said, "We're trying to run a business here and we need to be responsible in the way that we maintain it."
Some in the industry have suggested that the vineyard was the original source of the Reynella clone of Cabernet Sauvignon, which has since been planted across Australia. It's more likely that the clone originated from the nearby Reynella vineyard, planted by Reynell shortly after Stony Hill. Constellation has declared that it plans to continue to maintain the Reynella vineyard
Tyson Stelzer
Cheers to Sea and Vines festival at McLaren Vale
AS the economic recession reaches our home soil, the BankSA Sea and Vines festival will help to buck the trend by celebrating local wine and produce from McLaren Vale.
Now an Adelaide institution, the annual event promotes wine, seafood and other local produce and encourages people to spend in their own backyard.
This long-weekend, June 7-8, the festival will celebrate 17 years by hosting cellar door tastings, lunches, live music and entertainment.
More than 25,000 people are expected to flood McLaren Vale armed with glasses and ready to drink up one of Australia's most renowned wine regions.
This year 23 wineries will offer special lunches from their restaurants or team up with local caterers and set up marquees on their properties to welcome visitors to match their wines to delicious seafood delights.
Sea and Vines committee member Luke Tyler says the event is a good excuse for people to check out South Australia's fine produce.
"For a lot of people it is hard to find the time to come out to the wineries and the BankSA Sea and Vines festival is a good opportunity to get round to few different places and enjoy a really fun and laid-back atmosphere," Mr Tyler said.
"There is such a huge array of really good food and a massive variety from wood fired pizzas to lobster medallions."
Originally starting as an oyster festival, the event has evolved to promote wines, world class restaurants and olive oil.
Mr Tyler said BankSA's support was the glue that held the event together.
"BankSA makes a significant financial contribution and it is the reason the event goes ahead.
"It's not a money making exercise – and they have been great in allowing the region to showcase its finest produce."
This year BankSA customers can pick up a complimentary tasting glass during the festival from Chalk Hill Wines, d'Arenberg, Maxwell Wines, Rosemount, Scarpantoni Estate, Wirra Wirra Vineyards and the Bocce Club.
All customers need to do is flash their ATM card at the cellar door for their free souvenir.
Those who have landed the role of designated driver can stop by the McLaren Vale Visitor Information Centre, to receive a wristband, which will allow them to receive free discounts and offers such as coffees and entrees at selected wineries.
There are a number of ticketed events such as cooking classes at Chapel Hill Winery with The Retreat executive chef Peter Hogg, who will demonstrate dishes made with sensationally fresh seafood matched with wines from the award winning winemaker, Michael Fragos.
D'Arenberg winery will feature food from d'Arry's Verandah Restaurant and spoil visitors with the talents of Adam Page and The Mood Brewers on the Monday.
The degustation menu is set to tantalise the tastebuds of every wine connoisseur, featuring freshly shucked Streaky Bay Oysters accompanied by a finger lime dressing crab tartlet with grapefruit and pomelo salad.
Visitors who head to The Bocce Club will have the chance to taste the wines of six boutique wineries who have joined forces for the weekend to share their produce with food by Deep Blue Café.
Red Poles will host Leconfield Wines and they are inviting visitors to book for a "long brekky," on a warm verandah with vines and bubbles.
Afternoon treats include seared scallop skewers on a sesame and lime noodle salad or locally made gourmet sausage in an organic crusty roll with Spanish onion jam and local rocket.
* Extract from a full BankSA page in Stock Journal, May 21 issue.
Don't forget to visit our website: www.bellevuebnb.com.au
Now an Adelaide institution, the annual event promotes wine, seafood and other local produce and encourages people to spend in their own backyard.
This long-weekend, June 7-8, the festival will celebrate 17 years by hosting cellar door tastings, lunches, live music and entertainment.
More than 25,000 people are expected to flood McLaren Vale armed with glasses and ready to drink up one of Australia's most renowned wine regions.
This year 23 wineries will offer special lunches from their restaurants or team up with local caterers and set up marquees on their properties to welcome visitors to match their wines to delicious seafood delights.
Sea and Vines committee member Luke Tyler says the event is a good excuse for people to check out South Australia's fine produce.
"For a lot of people it is hard to find the time to come out to the wineries and the BankSA Sea and Vines festival is a good opportunity to get round to few different places and enjoy a really fun and laid-back atmosphere," Mr Tyler said.
"There is such a huge array of really good food and a massive variety from wood fired pizzas to lobster medallions."
Originally starting as an oyster festival, the event has evolved to promote wines, world class restaurants and olive oil.
Mr Tyler said BankSA's support was the glue that held the event together.
"BankSA makes a significant financial contribution and it is the reason the event goes ahead.
"It's not a money making exercise – and they have been great in allowing the region to showcase its finest produce."
This year BankSA customers can pick up a complimentary tasting glass during the festival from Chalk Hill Wines, d'Arenberg, Maxwell Wines, Rosemount, Scarpantoni Estate, Wirra Wirra Vineyards and the Bocce Club.
All customers need to do is flash their ATM card at the cellar door for their free souvenir.
Those who have landed the role of designated driver can stop by the McLaren Vale Visitor Information Centre, to receive a wristband, which will allow them to receive free discounts and offers such as coffees and entrees at selected wineries.
There are a number of ticketed events such as cooking classes at Chapel Hill Winery with The Retreat executive chef Peter Hogg, who will demonstrate dishes made with sensationally fresh seafood matched with wines from the award winning winemaker, Michael Fragos.
D'Arenberg winery will feature food from d'Arry's Verandah Restaurant and spoil visitors with the talents of Adam Page and The Mood Brewers on the Monday.
The degustation menu is set to tantalise the tastebuds of every wine connoisseur, featuring freshly shucked Streaky Bay Oysters accompanied by a finger lime dressing crab tartlet with grapefruit and pomelo salad.
Visitors who head to The Bocce Club will have the chance to taste the wines of six boutique wineries who have joined forces for the weekend to share their produce with food by Deep Blue Café.
Red Poles will host Leconfield Wines and they are inviting visitors to book for a "long brekky," on a warm verandah with vines and bubbles.
Afternoon treats include seared scallop skewers on a sesame and lime noodle salad or locally made gourmet sausage in an organic crusty roll with Spanish onion jam and local rocket.
* Extract from a full BankSA page in Stock Journal, May 21 issue.
Don't forget to visit our website: www.bellevuebnb.com.au
McLaren Vale: The bold and the beautiful
Humble beginnings birth beautiful things. Obama. The Simpsons. Angelina Jolie. And McLaren Vale, a tiny town in South Australia with soft yet powerful wines.
Tireless pioneer Thomas Hardy planted grapes in McLaren Vale around 1840 and winemaking in the region thrived, until the turn of the century when exports dried up and the demand for bulk port swelled. Around the 1960s, wine tourism revived the area, stimulating renewed interest in table wines, especially the full-bodied, rich reds made from the Vale's 100-year-old shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon vines. Now, its comeback complete, McClaren's wines have burrowed into my spirit.
McLaren Vale's graceful, feminine wines are known for soft tannins, intense berry ripeness, and fruity, perfumey aromatics. According to Nick James Martin, assistant winemaker from d'Arenberg Winery in the heart of McClaren Vale, they achieve this finesse with good draining, sandy soils, cool nights and a consistent climate. In addition, most wineries farm the land sustainably, shunning fertilizers and tilling under, although they don't promote these practices on the label. "It just makes sense for the soil ... helping us make the best wines we can," says Martin. Yangarra Estate, in northern McLaren Vale, takes their land responsibility one step further by using biodynamic techniques, bringing a holistic viewpoint to the vineyards.
Maybe the tender treatment of the soil and old-vine fruit is why McLaren Vale wines rock. Their shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are drinkable upon release, but are also capable of napping for 10 years. The grenache -- which D'Arenberg's Martin calls "the most interesting varietal to work with" -- drinks pretty tasty too. He and several other wineries participate in the "Cadenzia" project -- similar to the Meritage program in California, except using predominantly grenache and 100 percent McLaren Vale fruit. Each vintage, winemakers' efforts are blind-tasted by a professional panel, kinda like Italy and France do for their government wine certifications. A winery can label a bottle Cadenzia if the sample reflects the "typicity" of McLaren Vale grenache. D'Arenberg and Yangarra both make one, and gush vehemently about its potential. So far, I agree.
Perhaps another reason why McLaren Vale wines remain on my radar is their dogged use of screwcaps instead of cork. Some wineries, like D'Arenberg, were reluctant to import screwcapped wine into the United States due to our misinformed prejudice, but as of the 2007 vintage they are cork-free. And Kevin O'Brien, from family-owned Kangarilla Road Winery, uses screwcaps exclusively, no matter what the price point or grape variety. After numerous taste tests, he's convinced they help wines retain freshness and avoid the 10 percent failure rate of corks -- which results in that musty, wet dog taste. Eww.
With passionate stewards and forward-thinking practices like these, I doubt McClaren Vale will ever again descend into the horror of bulk-wine production.
By Taylor Eason
Tireless pioneer Thomas Hardy planted grapes in McLaren Vale around 1840 and winemaking in the region thrived, until the turn of the century when exports dried up and the demand for bulk port swelled. Around the 1960s, wine tourism revived the area, stimulating renewed interest in table wines, especially the full-bodied, rich reds made from the Vale's 100-year-old shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon vines. Now, its comeback complete, McClaren's wines have burrowed into my spirit.
McLaren Vale's graceful, feminine wines are known for soft tannins, intense berry ripeness, and fruity, perfumey aromatics. According to Nick James Martin, assistant winemaker from d'Arenberg Winery in the heart of McClaren Vale, they achieve this finesse with good draining, sandy soils, cool nights and a consistent climate. In addition, most wineries farm the land sustainably, shunning fertilizers and tilling under, although they don't promote these practices on the label. "It just makes sense for the soil ... helping us make the best wines we can," says Martin. Yangarra Estate, in northern McLaren Vale, takes their land responsibility one step further by using biodynamic techniques, bringing a holistic viewpoint to the vineyards.
Maybe the tender treatment of the soil and old-vine fruit is why McLaren Vale wines rock. Their shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are drinkable upon release, but are also capable of napping for 10 years. The grenache -- which D'Arenberg's Martin calls "the most interesting varietal to work with" -- drinks pretty tasty too. He and several other wineries participate in the "Cadenzia" project -- similar to the Meritage program in California, except using predominantly grenache and 100 percent McLaren Vale fruit. Each vintage, winemakers' efforts are blind-tasted by a professional panel, kinda like Italy and France do for their government wine certifications. A winery can label a bottle Cadenzia if the sample reflects the "typicity" of McLaren Vale grenache. D'Arenberg and Yangarra both make one, and gush vehemently about its potential. So far, I agree.
Perhaps another reason why McLaren Vale wines remain on my radar is their dogged use of screwcaps instead of cork. Some wineries, like D'Arenberg, were reluctant to import screwcapped wine into the United States due to our misinformed prejudice, but as of the 2007 vintage they are cork-free. And Kevin O'Brien, from family-owned Kangarilla Road Winery, uses screwcaps exclusively, no matter what the price point or grape variety. After numerous taste tests, he's convinced they help wines retain freshness and avoid the 10 percent failure rate of corks -- which results in that musty, wet dog taste. Eww.
With passionate stewards and forward-thinking practices like these, I doubt McClaren Vale will ever again descend into the horror of bulk-wine production.
By Taylor Eason
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