Archive for April, 2009
Sell your soul to the wine critic – pick your fruit late and please Parker & Co.
The release of the Penfolds Grange has brought up the question about whether Australian wineries still go for big, flavoursome and super alcoholic wines to please the critics such as Robert Parker jr. or whether there is a new Australian style out there.
I found this video produced by Tina Caputa, who made this video for a presentation she gave at the American Wine Society conference. What applies to the US wine scene is also valid here Down Under? See for yourself:
Robert Parker’s Bitch from Josh Hermsmeyer on Vimeo.
Michael Brecht
Penfolds Grange: the Australian wine icon celebrates the release of its 2004 vintage
Australia’s ‘most famous wine’ will see its annual release date coming up on the 1st of May. There couldn’t be a more contrasting wine release happening on what is celebrated in many parts of the world the ‘Day of Work’. Workers and unions in many European countries use this day to remind us of the workman’s rights and roles in our society.
Here in Australia the wine trade celebrates the release of its icon – Penfolds Grange – the main two questions always being, whether the new vintage can hold up to the sensational 1996 release and whether the price per bottle has gone up again.
Penfolds Grange - new release
If you ask the international wine community about the best known wine from Down Under, almost everyone will mention Penfolds Grange. Hence I started reading ‘The Rewards of Patience’ from Andrew Caillard a few days ago to get a better insight into how Grange Hermitage reached its cult status. The book is an excellent read of the story of the house of Penfolds and its wines.
Herein the story of Grange is written by Max Schubert himself, the father of Penfolds Grange. Schubert starts by saying that ‘his’ wine has “always been a controversial and individual wine” since he started in the 1950s. Controversial – oh yes: Schubert received comments such as this one when the first Grange came to market: “.. I congratulate you. A very good, dry port, which no one in their right mind will buy – let alone drink.”
But Schubert continued to experiment and ignored the harsh criticism that he received from friends and colleagues. He even ignored his employer’s request to stop producing this wine; but with the support of Jeffrey Penfold Hyland he secretly continued to make Grange in small quantities.
The subsequent years have told us, that Max Schubert was right in both his mind and in judging that this wine would become an icon for his employer. Penfolds today is owned by Australia’s largest liquor group Foster’s and when the newest release hits the shelves of Australia’s retailers this Friday, we will have to come up with $600 per bottle.
600 Australian Dollars – that is a lot of money for a bottle of red and not surprisingly not only the wine media here Down Under asks whether a bottle of Penfolds Grange is really worth that much money? As much as the Penfolds parent company Foster’s Group enjoys a profitable wine brand within their rather difficult wine portfolio, there are a few signs which will question the continuing market success of it: nobody can ignore the reality of a recession as well as the changes in wine taste in Australia and abroad.
For me Grange represents Australia’s wine style of the 20th century, a great wine blowing you away with its opulence and flavours. But at the same time wine from Australia has moved on. Australian winemakers today bring us excellent wines from single vineyards (instead of Grange’s collection of flavoursome shiraz grapes from various vineyards). So many interesting cool climate varieties and the use of French oak instead of barrel-fermenting in new American oak – Australian wine is about diversity these days. And even Penfolds has realised the signs of times, they have broadened their portfolio with the Bin 311 Chardonnay, the more subdued RWT Shiraz or even its Pinot Noir with grapes from cool climate Adelaide Hills.
Will this stop me from tasting a 2004 Grange? Certainly not and I congratulate Penfolds for their Grange success, both here in Australia and on a global scale. At the end of the day, international recognition of an Australian wine icon helps all other (smaller) wineries on their challenging way to capture a following in overseas markets.
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Alljaehrlich feiern wir hier Down Under am 1. Mai den Release des neusten Jahrgangs des Penfolds Grange. Der 2004er Jahrgang verspricht nach ersten Tests besser zu sein, als sein erfolgreichster Vorgaenger aus juengster Vergangenheit – der Grange aus dem Jahr 1996. Trotz des strammen und erhoehten Preises von 600 Australischen Dollars werde ich am kommenden Freitag eine Flasche erwerben und dann davon berichten.
Ihr Michael Brecht
The quotes about the story of Penfolds were taken from: The Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard, sixth edition, Allen & Unwin – a great read for the wine enthusiast downunder.
Downunderwines has new Editor to bring you the news on Australian wineries, vineyards and more
I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new team member Anabel. She has joined downunderwines as our Editor and will assist me in bringing you news on wines from Australia. Anabel has already successfully taken over our twitter account and is currently researching a few new stories for us. Great to have you on board Anabel.
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Seit der letzten Woche habe ich Unterstuetzung in Person von Anabel, die als Editor zu uns gestossen ist. Willkommen an Bord Anabel, ich verspreche bereits jetzt einige grossartige neue Reports in den kommenden Tagen.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Part II: how to store my wine at home
Welcome to part II of our series on wine storage, part I explained the general background on where to store the wine. Let us assume that you prefer to store the wines at home, this part is asking how to store the precious bottles the right way.
Private wine storage at home
Despite the fact that wine bottles are sealed tightly, keeping the temperature, humidity level, and amount of light under control is essential. In terms of all three of these conditions, the basement is always a popular choice for wine storage as well as purchasing a decorative, temperature-controlled wine cabinet that can be placed in your dining room.
The big question when it comes to storing the bottles is on how they are sealed. Screwcaps have the advantage of needing less attention than cork sealed bottles as they don’t mind whether the bottle is stored upside down or standing up. You might even leave the screwcap bottles in their original case, standing up, no worries as the screwcap sustains the pressure of more cases placed on top.
With cork sealed bottles you have to be a bit more careful: in order to ensure that the wine corks don’t crack, keep the humidity between 65-75% in the room and place each bottle on its side so that the cork may soak up some of the wine and remain moist.
In addition, the optimal temperature for storage is anything between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius as this will provide a cool atmosphere for your wine to age properly. The main requirement here is that the temperature needs to be consistent, wine doesn’t like the changes in these.
Once you have the proper conditions for your wine, you’ll want to look into a spacious wine rack that will hold a large amount of bottles for your collection. Racks range in a number of different sizes and are capable of holding anywhere from twenty to a few hundred bottles of wine depending on how extensive of a collection you choose to have in stock. Placing more expensive bottles of wine in the back rows is always a great idea in order to help maintain a cool, dark place for the wine to age and will allow your less expensive wines to be accessible to you at a moment’s notice. If you prefer to have your wine storage cabinet conveniently placed in your dining room, there are a number of different styles to choose from that will complement any room design from traditional to modern.
Our next part will explain the advantages of keeping your bottles with a wine storage house.
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Der zweite Teil unserer Serie ueber die optimale Weinlagerung beschaeftigt sich mit der Lagerung zu Hause. Wir geben Tipps zu Lagerung, Temperatur, Luftfeuchtigkeit und mehr. Vorteile bei der Lagerung haben die screwcaps ueber die verkorkten Weine, lesen Sie nach. Viel Spass.
Ihr Michael Brecht
The traveling wine drinker: tell us about your Australian wine experience
Australian wine is all about the experience. And the bouquet. And the taste. And the length. Well, I could go on, but with so many of our friends traveling this great country, I would like to share with you the feedback I get.
Bruny Island Pinot Noir
Many travelers discover wines from Down Under for the first time here. Let us start with Julia Orlowski from Germany telling us about her Aussie wine experience Down Under – on beautiful Bruny Island in Tasmania:
We bought this wine right here at the winery on Bruny Island, $28 for a Pinot Noir from Tasmania. Bruny Island Premium Wines are a small family owned and operated vineyard on picturesque South Bruny Island, approx 1.5 hours south of Hobart (including a 15 minute vehicular ferry trip).
The label states that this wine is proudly grown, made and bottled by hand on Wayaree Estate and is best drunk anytime, anywhere, with anything! In our view a perfect match to a cheese platter after a long day on the beach.
Not too fruity, a dry taste and a good length for an evening sun-downer.
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Wir sind derzeit auf Bruny Island im Sueden von Tasmanien. Heute abend haben wir einen lokalen Wein gekauft fuer 28 Aussie-Dollar. War ein sehr schoener, trockener Rotwein (Pinot Noir 2008 von Bruny Island Premium Wines Tasmania) und passte perfekt zu unserer Kaeseplatte 
Lieben Gruss aus Tassie von
Julia Orlowski als Gastbeitrag fuer downunderwines
Creating Your Own Wine Cellar – new series on Downunderwines
Whether you’re a wine enthusiast or just enjoy having a few friends over for a little entertainment, creating a wine collection of your own can truly benefit your home for years to come. The best part about having a personal space for wine is that it is convenient for upcoming parties and is very simple to create once you have established the proper storage conditions.
Wineracks to store your wine
Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying delicious bottles of wine from the customised wine racks stored in your basement or decorative cabinet for your next elegant soiree!
In the US, companies such as Justwineracks have a huge selection of cabinets, from the small corner under your kitchen sink to the individually designed wine cellar – these guys fit you out. I hear that they are on their way to expand to Australia and parts of Europe, this might be a good time to think about storing your wine professionally.
Storing wine not only is about keeping a fully stocked collection ready for your friends and family but it also provides a great opportunity for properly ageing fine wines for the special occasions and events that come up in life from time to time. Gone are the days when our grandparents saved a few bottles of red for a rainy day, only to discover decades later that the storage facility under the family bed was not the right place to help their wine age gracefully.
Looking at wine collections in Australia, we stumble across an anomaly: only a very small percentage of Australia houses host a cellar. Very different to the houses in the US or Europe, Australians simply have too much space and therefore no need to build houses above cellars. This is why wine storage here Down Under has generated business opportunities for alternative ways to store: wine fridges and storage facilities in kitchens, pantries are a much liked solution, wine storage centres are very popular in the metropoles here in Australia and most wine clubs help you store your bottles for you.
Our new series will investigate how each of these three ways, cellar, wine fridge or wine storage centre works for you and might be compared in an international context.
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In den seltensten Faellen sind australische Haeuser unterkellert, so dass der klassische Lagerort fuer Weine hier in Australien meist entfaellt. Darum haben sich jedoch in den vergangenen Jahren diverse Geschaeftsmodelle angesiedelt, die die Lagerung der feinen Weine anpreisen. Davon wird diese neue Serie hier auf Downunderwines berichten.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Forget the Summit 2020 – Australian wine research is all about 2030
Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd initiated Australia’s 2020 program and gathered the intellectual elite of the country around him in the Summit 2020 last year in Canberra. The year 2020 sounds pretty far away for us all, we have to correct our view on this timing as the Australian wine industry has seen the foundation of a Wine 2030 Research Network.
How does Australian Chardonnay taste like in 2030?
Initiated by the University of Adelaide, one of the two centers of excellence when it comes to Australian wine research, the Wine 2030 research program has been built to better inform about the vision for the Australian wine industry and help wine makers to succeed. Part of the program is the University’s AUD13.7m commitment to the Wine Innovation Cluster, which sees five leading grape and wine research agencies coming together.
This is some really serious commitment to getting things right here Down Under when it comes to helping Australian wine makers. With the appointment of well known UK wine and food writer and broadcaster Andrew Jefford for a year-long position at the University of Adelaide, another step has been taken for wineries to learn how to succeed in international sales. First comment from Andrew Jefford after arriving in South Australia: some Australian winemakers need to be “a bit braver in allowing regional characteristics to shape their wines”. I guess this comment was particularly aimed at the bigger players in the market.
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Gerade in diesen Wochen ist es enorm wichtig, den strategischen Blick zu schaerfen und vor lauter schlechten Nachrichten ueber Wirtschaftslage und Absatzprobleme die Vision zu verlieren. In Australien wurde hierfuer ein Research Projekt ins Leben gerufen, welches mit mehr als EUR7 Millionen ausgestattet an der University of Adelaide angesiedelt ist. Hier wird analysiert, wie Australischer Wein im Jahr 2030 weltweit positioniert sein soll. Wir werden ueber dessen Fortschritte berichten.
Ihr Michael Brecht
McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache – a combination made in heaven
My last visit in McLaren Vale has really changed my perception of some of the Australian red wines. I am still very much in favour of cool climate regions, but some of the winemakers in regions with the typical Australian hot weather are really changing their stance on dealing with Shiraz, Cabernet or Grenache grapes.
Paxton Shiraz Grenache on Easter Sunday
Latest example of a wine with a mix of ‘full on’ grape varieties is a 2007 McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache AAA from Paxton, with a bottle price of under $20 a real bargain for such quality. Winemaker Michael Paxton describes this wine as “an attractive fruit driven wine that is enjoyable on release as well as benefiting from spending time in your cellar”.
We don’t want to cellar it but try it out on Easter Sunday evening.
The bouquet offers some red berry fruit, its palate brings out spicy berry fruit filled with some fine tannins and a very nice and smooth back palate. This is exactly what this wine is and why it is so popular, the 75% Shiraz and 25% Grenache mix is the best selling wine from their Shiraz dominated range.
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Am Ostersonntag probierten wir einen 2007 McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache AAA aus dem Hause Paxton, einer kleinen aber feinen Winery am Rande des Vale. Die 75/25 Kombination von Shiraz und Grenache ist eine sehr gelungene Variante – fuer weniger als umgerechnet EUR10 ist diese Flasche ein echtes Schnaeppchen.
Die Cellar Door liegt auf der Landcross Farm, im alten Shearing Shed aus dem Jahre 1850 werden hier die Weine verkostet. Schauen Sie vorbei, wenn Sie in der Gegend sind.
Ihr Michael Brecht
