Archive for January, 2009
Climate change puts Australian wine growers to the test
Winemaker’s in the McLaren Vale have started becoming green a few years ago, as global warming and climate change are an immediate challenge for wine producers. If we look at the last three years in the McLaren Vale, the 2006 vintage was one of the earliest and shortest on record and the 2007 vintage happened within the worst drought in South Australia. Earlier 2008 the area experienced a record heat wave, so it is no doubt, that the temperatures are rising without any rain in sight.
Climate change and the drought effects on wineries
I have learnt in the past days here in the Vale, that about 80 wineries in the area are using irrigated water from the Willunga Basin Water Company to water their vineyards. Norm Doole, one of the owners of Dowie Doole Winemakers is a co-founder of the Water Company. The plant treats an equivalent to 10,000 Olympic swimming pools of waste-water per year. About one third of that is being used for irrigation. The remaining treated waste-water is pumped out to sea. And the wineries are really happy with the water as the scheme has helped drought proofing viticulture in the McLaren Vale.
Additionally the winemakers are working on new techniques to water their vines. The commonly used trickle irrigation over longer periods has been substituted by shorter spells of more intense watering in Dowie Doole’s vineyards for example, thus the vines developing deeper and stronger root systems and being less vulnerable in droughts.
Small steps to confront climate change – big steps if adopted by many – and so the McLaren Vale is a successful showcase for a growing number of climate conscious winemakers here downunder.
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Die globale Erwaermung stellt fuer die Winzer im McLaren Vale eine echte Herausforderung dar, die letzten drei Ernten fanden inmitten der schlimmsten Duerreperiode statt, die South Australia je gesehen hat. Die Dowie Doole winery ist einer der Vorreiter in Sachen Wasser-management, denn einer der Partner Norm Doole ist Mit-initiator der Willunga Basin Water Company, welche inzwischen ca. 10,000 Megaliter Wasser aufbereitet. Mit einem Drittel dieser Menge werden inzwischen mehr als 80 Wineries bewaessert, eine sehr wirksame Methode gegen die weiterhin bestehende Duerre.
Zusaetzlich sind die Winzer sehr kreativ in dem Umgang mit dem (nach wie vor wenigen) Wasser, die juengste Tendenz ist es, den Reben Wasser in kuerzeren Abstaenden aber mit groesserem Druck zu geben, denn das foerdert die Tiefe und Robustheit der Rebstoecke und fuehrt letztlich zu einer groesseren Resistenz gegen die Duerre.
Einen schoenen Gruss
Ihr Michael Brecht
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a region which reminds me of Sicily or Spain
Having been in the McLaren Vale for a few days now and feeling consistently a little drunk after tastings in an average of 6-8 wineries per day, I cannot help and quickly leave this impression here on downunderwines. The Fleurieu Peninsula with McVale as a central part of it really reminds me of Sicily or Spain.
Vines in the McLaren Vale
There are these dry mountain edges, the gorges with a brown colour that I have so far only seen in these two other European regions, the temperatures around the mid 30s (actually they forecast 41 degrees for tomorrow) and the provincial experience that this region offers. I really appreciate this climate and very special feeling the Peninsula provides us with and I enjoy being part of this quite different microcosm to many other wine regions in Australia.
And there are these wonderful wineries inspiring you to taste and experience their wines full of high percentages of alcohol – with Shiraz having been the major variety helping to put McLaren Vale on the wine-map. The young winemakers are now experimenting for a few years with Tempranillo vines, they work with Grenache vines that are more than 50 years old and their grapes and the surrounding growers are exceptional.
Well done winemakers here in McLaren Vale, I am having a great time.
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Die Fleurieu Peninsula mit seinem Zentrum, dem McLaren Vale, erinnert mich sehr an Sizilien oder Spanien. Die braunen Berghaenge, die Sommertemperaturen von Mitte 30 Grad (fuer morgen sind sogar ueber 40 Grad angesagt) und die Freundlichkeit bei dem Testen und Experimentieren mit teils neuen Weinsorten ist suedeuropaeisch, keine Frage ich fuehle mich hier sehr sehr wohl.
Freuen Sie sich auf Berichte von erstklassigen, meist hoch-alkoholisierten (Rot)-Weinen, neben dem Klassiker Shiraz verstehen sich die hiesigen Winzer besonders auf Tempranillo und Grenache, zwei Rebsorten, die ich in den letzten Jahren weniger auf der Karte hatte.
Ihr Michael Brecht
The Cadenzia Ensemble – McLaren Vale’s Top Wineries define their local preference
A few years ago, some of the leading wineries in the McLaren Vale decided to start promoting the uniqueness, this Vale has in growing the largest amount of Grenache grapes in Australia. Similar to the Clare Valley in the northern part of South Australia marketing their Rieslings, the McLaren winemakers are up to promoting the Grenache grape as ‘theirs’.
Cadenzia von d'Arenberg 2006
The name Cadenzia has musical origins, Karl Haas wrote that ‘a Cadenza serves as a vehicle for a brief solo display of brilliance in the style of Improvisation’. The winemakers have been inspired of such opportunity, celebrating that many terms of music such as harmony, improvisation or excitement have been carried from the world of music to the world of winemaking.
The Cadenza Ensemble now includes such prestigious names as d’Arenberg, Gemtree, Yangarra, Tapestry and DogRidge. They all grow the Grenache and melt its results with Shiraz, Tempranillo, or Merlot. “There is a huge resource of mostly dry grown old bush vines of Grenache and the McLaren Vale produces a powerful fragrant wine built to age,” says Chester Osborne, winemaker and family member of the Osborne wine-clan, who own d’Arenberg wines.
I tried the d’Arenberg and the Tapestry Cadenzia’s and really liked them. Both wines showed an elegant spicyness with mid palate softness and a good length. I can taste cherries and red berries. Contrary to previous experiences I had with Grenache, I am surprised how inspiring this wine has become.
Minimal oak influence lets these wines stand out on their own, in my view they are an excellent marketing tool for the McLaren Vale, I am sure we will hear much more of it in the next years.
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Einige der fuehrenden Winzer des McLaren Vale haben sich zusammen getan und vermarkten ‘Cadenzia’ als eine Komposition, die ihren Ursprung in diesem Teil von South Australia hat. Gemtree, d’Arenberg, Tapestry und weitere Wineries folgen anderen Weingebieten und vermarkten eine bestimmte Traube als ‘ihre’ Errungenschaft, im Fall des McLaren Vale die Grenache Traube.
In Kombination mit Shiraz, Trempanillo oder Merlot ergeben sich sehr angenehme Rotweine, der Geschmack nach Kirsche und Waldbeeren sticht angenehm hervor. Keine Frage, diese neuere Vermarktungsidee der lokalen Winzer wird Erfolg bringen, das ohnehin schon stark frequentierte McLaren Vale ist um eine weitere Attraktion reicher.
Ihr Michael Brecht
McLaren Vale in South Australia – where the vines meet the sea
The McLaren Vale is home to fantastic wine and food, and today is the gateway to the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula, about an hour south of Adelaide. McLaren Vale as a region consistently produces fine wines from a number of varieties, most importantly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today it is Australia’s largest grower of Grenache. McLaren Vale applied for geographic indication in 1995 and was awarded its regional wine status two years after in 1997.
McLaren Vale - centre of the wine world downunder
The Vale was named after David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company who arrived in the colony in 1837. The first vines were planted shortly after in 1841 and the big names such as Seaview Winery, the Hardy wine-clan, Rosemount, Tyrrells and d’Arenberg quickly established their presences in the Vale. Many of the award-winning wines produced in the McLaren Vale region today come from 100-year old vines.
Today, the township of McLaren Vale marks the central point of this region, with Reynella and Clarendon to the North, Kangarilla in the East, Aldinga on the coastal edge to the West, and Mount Compass and Sellicks Hill on the Southern side. Many of the vineyards have also plantings in the adjacent Adelaide Hills thus complementing the heavier Reds of the Vale with some cool climate whites such as the Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay grapes.
I am surprised to find some of the top names growing Riesling grapes in the Vale, the test results will be published soon. Enjoy.
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Das McLaren Vale ist eines der aeltesten und ohne Uebertreibung eines der Top Weingebiete Australiens. Seit 1841 werden hier Weinstoecke bearbeitet, die grossen Namen wie Tyrrells, Rosemount und d’Arenberg sind hier seit mehreren Generationen aktiv. Seit 1997 ist das McLaren Vale als eigenstaendige Weinregion in Australien anerkannt.
Meine diversen Tests haben sowohl die bekannten Shiraz und Cabernets dieser Gegend als auch die Grenache Weine, die in dieser Gegend besonders bekannt sind, beruecksichtigt. Die fuehrenden Winzer des McLaren Vale haben neben diesen vollen Rotweinen diverse Anpflanzungen in den nahe gelegenen Adelaide Hills und komplementieren somit mit cool-climate Weinen ihr Angebot. Fuer den Geniesser ein Paradies. Warten wir die Tests einmal ab.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Kangaroo Island – new vines and wonderful wines from the green Island
Kangaroo Isand is Australia”s third largest Island and since 2001 been declared as a wine region. The Island is one of Australia’s newest cool-climate wine areas. Most of KI’s population is concentrated on the East Coast, where you’ll find the majority of the winemakers, food producers and the cellar doors.
Currently there are 18 wine labels and six cellar doors in operation, and there is more to come. The most prestigious winery, The Islander Estate Vineyard operates a cellar door only by appointment, with most of the wines achieving top marks with the Australian wine critics. As they follow the taste of a more traditional french wine-making style, most of the wines do actually not meet the taste of the local Aussie wine folk.
The Islander Estate Vineyard Cellar Door
“We do not sell to many of these wines here on the Island as they are not really made for the average Australian wine taster”, explains the owner of the bottle shop in Penneshaw. This is quite a franc statement that explains well, why my tasting of a bottle of Rose of the wine label didn’t receive high marks at all the other night.
Dudley Wines claims to be the oldest winery on the Island and has recently shifted its cellar door from out east, close to the scenic but rather deserted Cape Willoughby Lighthouse to the centre of Penneshaw. Samples from nine wines are offered here nicely bundled with some fresh oysters or a seafood platter.
Dudley Wines at Cellar Door in Penneshaw
I have tried the Sauvignon Blanc 2008 which was planted at Grassy Flat, one of the three major estates that the winery gets their grapes harvested from. The wine shows a grassy aroma and offers a tropical fruit palate. It is unwooded and finishes with a fresh and very clean acidity, very nice for a summer quoffa with just 12.5% alcohol.
Six kilometers west we find a Sunset Tasting Experience at the Sunset Winery. Hosting lunches and sunset dinners throughout the summer months, the winery also offers the best of local produce, such as Island pure cheeses. The wines are lighter and aimed at the Sauvignon Blanc drinker, definitely reflecting the palates of customers after a summers day with 38 degree and lots of sunshine.
There are more tastings to be done.
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Kangaroo Island ist die drittgroesste Insel Australiens, liegt ca. 45 Minuten mit der Faehre suedlich vom Festland und ist seit 2001 eine eigenstaendige Weinregion, eine der neueren Cool Climate Regionen Australiens. Besonders auf der Ostseite der Insel finden wir die Wineries und die lokalen Cellar Doors.
Derzeit existieren 18 Weinlabels und es gibt sechs eigene Cellar Doors, viele der Weine erhalten heute bereits Topresultate bei Weinshows in South Australia. Neben The Island Estate Vineyards habe ich Dudley Wines und die Sunset Winery besucht, allesamt in der Lage gute Weissweine einer Cool Climate Weingegend zu produzieren.
Ihr Michael Brecht
The Islander Estate Vineyard – secret wine address from the Island
Not a surprise to many experts travelling to the Kangaroo Island every year, The Islander Estate Vineyard has for the third time in a row been named a five star winery with James Halliday. Consequently their star labelling in Halliday’s wine guide has now reached top status being five stars in red colour.
A Rose of The Islander Estate Vineyard
To tell you the truth, I have not been aware of The Islander Estate Vineyard before and tried to find their premises on a map of Kangaroo Island. A mere 45 minutes on a ferry away from South Australia’s mainland, this Island proves to be worth a trip for many food and drinks connesseurs, the Island becoming more of a green and healthy food addict kind of place in the past years.
The Islander Estate Vineyard provides no cellar door for tasting or buying purposes, so you have to rely on locals pointing you to the right bottle shop. Finally I find their wines in the bottle shop in Kingscote, the Islands main but ugliest village. The bottle shop provides a wide range of beers and a few bottles of the local winemakers.
Asking for a bottle of the Islands treasure wine, I receive a secret look saying: yes they are great but we don’t really get a lot of their stock. So I leave happily with a bottle of their Rose, nicely chilled (remember: 90% of Australian White and Rose gets drunk within 60 minutes after purchase here downunder – so the bottles have to be in the fridges – of which there are not many) – and ready for a sun-downer on our beach, a mere 5 minutes away from our house.
My first impression: not really great, though Rose was most likely not the style, Halliday tried while making this winery a 5 star winery. The varieties include Grenache, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc, a little too sweet for my personal taste, but the owner Jacques Lurton stems from a prominent French winemaking family. The alcohol content of 13.5% is a little on the upside for a summer quoffa, the bottle comes with a screwcap which comes handy, when we open the bottle on the beach.
I will try more of their wines in the next days, to find out, where the 5 stars come from, no worries.
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Das Islander Estate ist der grosse shooting star der Winemaker Szene des Kangaroo Island, die Winery gehoert Jacques Lurton, welcher aus bekannter franzoesischer Weinfamilie stammt. James Halliday hat der Winery 5 Sterne verliehen, und das bereits zum dritten Mal hintereinander, so dass in seinem jaehrlichen Weinfuehrer die Sterne nun rot erleuchten.
Ich selbst hatte vor meinem diesjaehrigen Besuch vom The Islander Estate Vineyard noch nicht viel gehoert, und so machte ich mich neugierig auf die Suche nach einer der Flaschen. Leider hat das Estate keine Cellar Door und in den lokalen Bottle Shops musste ich letztlich in die groesste aber eben auch haesslichste Kleinstadt der Insel Kingscote fahren, um hier ein Exemplar zu erwerben.
Mein Eindruck ist durchwachsen: mit 13.5% ist der Rose relativ hoch alkoholisiert, die Mischung aus Grenache, Sangiovese und Cabernet Franc ist nicht gerade mein Lieblingsfall, aber der Wein ist sauber und ohne Fehler. Keine Frage: ich muss mehr Weine aus diesem Hause probieren, um mehr uber den wahren Charakter dieser Winery erfahren zu koennen.
Mit sommerlichen Gruessen
Ihr Michael Brecht
Australier verdreifachen ihren Alkoholkonsum in der Weihnachtswoche
Wir haben anstrengende Tage hinter uns hier in Australien – über die Weihnachtsfeiertage verdreifachen wir Aussies laut neuester Statistik der australischen Charity FebFast unseren Alkoholkonsum. Und das nicht nur, weil wir die Nähe unserer Verwandten ‘begiessen’ müssen.
Die Reste der Weihnachtswoche
Vergessen Sie Geburtstage oder den Drink am Samstagabend: so richtig zum Glas wird Down Under zwischen den Tagen gegriffen: beinahe alle Befragten konsumierten in der Weihnachtswoche mehr als drei Drinks (sonst ein Drink pro Woche), ein Drittel aller Australier trank mehr als zehn Drinks in diesem Zeitraum.
Und besonders heftig geht es anscheinend bei den 20 bis 29 Jährigen zur Sache: hier gibt beinahe jeder Zweite zu, dass er oder sie in dieser Zeit ‘binge drinking’ betrieben hat.
Ziel dieser Aufklärungskampagne der FebFast Charity ist es, die Australier im Monat Februar zu vollständiger Alkoholabstinenz zu bewegen und statt dessen für sinnvolle Projekte Geld zu stiften.
Downunderwines steht hinter diesen Bemühungen, binge drinking in Australien in den Griff zu bekommen. Wir empfehlen allerdings nicht die vollständige Abstinenz einen ganzen Monat lang; wir empfehlen den Konsum von erstklassigen Weinen in vernünftigen Mengen – ein Glas Roter oder Weisser von Zeit zu Zeit schadet Ihnen nämlich keineswegs.
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In Australia, we triple alcohol consumption in the week between Christmas and new year – partly to cope with visiting relatives. Not good enough is the view of charity febfast – they want us to stop drinking any alcohol in February – read here more about their approach.
South Australia – a wine lover’s paradise downunder
We have decided to spend our summer holidays in South Australia. A few days in and around Australia’s food and culture capital Adelaide, a week or two on Kangaroo Island and a few days in one of Australia’s most favoured wine valleys will do the whole family good.
Adelaide seen from Mt Lofty
And I am particularly excited as there is the whole bandwidth of Australian wine making capacity available. Between the Northern Clare Valley (still in South Australia obviously) and the younger wineries on the Kangaroo Island in the South there are many wineries which represent the international reputation of Australia’s wine-making skills:
The vast size of Annie’s Lane in the Clare Valley, the exclusivity of Penfolds Wines right from Adelaide, the cool climate wineries from Adelaide Hills such as Shaw & Smith or Petaluma, the big producers of big volume reds of the Coonawarra and the Barossa Valley, the reputable winemakers in McLaren Vale such as D’Arenberg, Mr. Riggs or Wirra Wirra and the young producers of Kangaroo Island, such as The Islander Estate Vineyards – all their cellar doors are within one hours drive away from Adelaide: the paradise for the wine enthusiast.
How can I make this sheer volume of AAA producers fit within the family holiday scheme. Well, let’s see, there is always a good excuse to explore another winery or bring a new bottle of wine to one of the BBQs we are invited to.
Let us indulge in this paradise for the wine lover, happy reading.
National Wine Centre in Adelaide
Nun, das neue an downunderwines in diesem Jahr ist, dass ich mich entschieden habe, die Beitraege in englischer Sprache zu schreiben. Das liegt im wesentlichen daran, dass downunderwines viele Leser aus Australien, England und den USA hat, die nicht oder nur wenig der deutschen Sprache maechtig sind. Zusaetzlich sind die hiesigen australischen Wineries meist enttaeuscht, dass sie die Berichte ueber ihre Weine oder Interviews mit den Machern kaum lesen, geschweige denn verstehen koennen.
Ich habe mich daher nach einigem hin und her dazu entschieden, die Artikel zukuenftig in englischer Sprache zu schreiben und dann eine kurze Zusammenfassung in Deutsch anzufuegen. Lassen Sie mich bitte wissen, ob das so ok ist, ich denke dass die meisten unserer deutschen Weinfreunde die englische Sprache gut nachvollziehen koennen. Ihre Kommentare koennen Sie natuerlich nach wie vor gerne noch in deutscher (oder eben auch englischer) Sprache abgeben, wir freuen uns ueber jegliches feed back.
Also, derzeit weile ich mit meiner Familie in South Australia, dem Paradies fuer australische Weine. Hier finden wir all die alteingesessenen Namen wie Penfolds, D’Arenberg, Annie’s Lane, Petaluma oder Mr. Riggs und Wirra Wirra, und dann gibt es eine ganze Serie von kleineren, meist jungen Wineries, die heute die Top Weine Australiens produzieren. Lassen Sie sich ueberraschen, es wird eine ganze Menge an neuen Erfahrungsberichten geben, viel Spass dabei.
Ihr Michael Brecht
