Kritisch und ohne Schönrederei erfahren wir seine Meinung zu Fassweinexporten australischer Winzer und deren jüngste Fokussierung auf asiatische Märkte. Danke Eckhard für diese interessanten Eindrücke.

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We had the chance to interview one of Germany’s best known wine journalists at Prowein 2011 in Düsseldorf, Eckhard Supp from Hamburg. He tells us his view on image problems of Australian wines in Europe.

Michael Brecht

James Halliday Wine Companion

Hier entscheiden sich für rund 2,600 Winzer Australiens, wieviele Sterne die Winery selbst und welche Benotung die dazugehörigen Weine erhalten haben. Five Stars – das ist das Ziel und vielfach der Traum der Winzer.

Ich selbst habe letztes Jahr mit Halliday gesprochen, im Jahr davor hat er mir ein Interview für Downunder Wines gegeben. Er selbst ist ein sehr netter und eher zurückhaltender Kerl, ‘down to earth’ wie die Australier sagen und da kommen die Weine ja schließlich auch her.

Viel Spaß bei der Lektüre der einzelnen Resultate im Buch selbst, wir werden in den kommenden Wochen vom ein oder anderen Winzer und dessen Ergebnissen berichten.

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The results are in: James Halliday’s Wine Companion is out today and all the fears and hopes of the Australian wine industry for this year are now published. There is no way back, most of the ‘winners’ have already published their PR statements, Printhie Wines from Orange for example sent me their newsletter early this morning indicating, they were the first winery in the Orange region getting the red five stars sign from Halliday.

“The third consecutive 5 star rating for Printhie has elevated the rating to 5 Red Stars and places Printhie in the top 3.3% of Australia’s wine producers listed in James Halliday’s 2011 Wine Companion database of over 2600 winemakers. They are described as an “outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity.””

Good on them, well done and keep up the good work mates.

Ihr Michael Brecht

Pruning @ Galafrey Wines

Ich kenne Kim seit Jahren über die social media Szene Down Unders und so habe ich mich entschlossen, ihre Nachricht an uns Ihnen einmal komplett zu zeigen.

Hier sehen wir die Begeisterung über die erzielten Benotungen im Winestate Magazine gepaart mit der frischen Sprache der jungen Winzer.

Mir gefällt diese natürliche, junge Art der Ansprache, sicherlich auch Dank der facebooks, diggs und diversen blogs im www. Doch lesen Sie selbst:

Ok… so in case you didn’t know how fabulous we are….we just got news that our 2006 Reserve Shiraz and 2004 Reserve Shiraz just got 4 stars Winestate magazine…the 2004 Reserve Shiraz was top in it’s category….that means both Shiraz’s will be in the Winestate Magazine Annual and in the tasting for ‘Wine of the … Year’ in Australia and New Zealand…and just in case you haven’t been keeping tabs on us….that is now a total of 5 WINES with a 4 (or more) STAR RATING WINESTATE MAGAZINE….that’s 5 wines that are in the final tasting for WINE OF THE YEAR and the Winestate Annual…all from Galafrey…..OMG…we are seriously very busy winemakers!!!! cheers Kim

Da sagen wir herzlichen Glückwunsch und freuen uns, dass wir diese Exemplare in unserem Tasting in der kommenden Woche an Bord haben.

Ihr Michael Brecht

Foster's Group Headoffice in Melbourne

Foster’s Group claims that the agreements mark the first phase of a US Route-to-Market initiative launched upon the completion of the Wine Strategic Review in February last year. Downunder Wines brought a long post on this subject.

“We are aligning with distributors who share our growth vision,” said Foster’s Americas Managing Director Stephen Brauer.

“Charmer Sunbelt has the capabilities and commitment in these key markets to grow our core brands, build our luxury portfolio and partner with us in bringing new, innovative brands and ways of working to the market,” he added in a press statement yesterday.

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Die amerikanische Tochter der Foster’s Gruppe aus Melbourne hat in den USA einen langfristigen Distributionsdeal mit der US amerikanischen Charmer Sunbelt Gruppe geschlossen. Ein solcher Abschluss war im Rahmen des im letzten Jahr beschlossenen Strategiewechsels erwartet worden.

Charmer Sunbelt, die ursprünglich aus den beiden Unternehmen Charmer Industries and Sunbelt Beverage Corporation hervorgegangen ist, weist eine starke Präsenz im ‘Wine und Spirits’ Umfeld an der Ostküste auf.

Dementsprechend setzt Foster’s jetzt auf die Kooperation und hofft, dass seine australischen Marken jetzt mit Hochdruck an den amerikanischen Konsumenten gebracht werden. Wir sind gespannt.

Michael Brecht

Silja ist gerade einmal 24 Jahre alt, hat ihre Hotelfach- und Sommelierausbildung in Deutschland und Frankreich absolviert und schwärmt von australischen Rotweinen.

Ein 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon aus dem South Australian Connawarra hat es ihr besonders angetan. Der John Riddoch von Wynns Connawarra Estate ist ein sensationeller Wein, er ist nur acht Jahre jünger als meine Gesprächspartnerin und wird von den Top 1% der Cabernet Sauvignon Trauben bei Wynns produziert.

Der tief dunkelrote Wein zeigt sofort seine kräftigen Aromen von Wildbeeren, Schokolade und Minze, um den Vergleich nach Frankreich zu führen, so hatte ich den Eindruck einen Cassis zu riechen. Der vollmundige Wein mit einem starken, langen sehr weichen Abgang war mit seinen 16 Jahren in einem erstklassigen Zustand.

Doch sehen Sie selbst, was unsere junge Sommlière dazu zu sagen hat:

Ich selbst hatte einen John Riddoch aus dem Jahr 1996 bereits in Australien probiert, hier der Bericht dazu.
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I had the pleasure of interviewing Silja Schmid, young sommeliere in South Bavaria, last week.

She raved about the 1994 John Riddoch Cab Sav from Wynns Connawarra Estate. They claim, that the John Riddoch is the definitive Cabernet Sauvignon of Wynns Coonawarra Estate – produced from the top 1% of available Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and then only in the years when grapes of extraordinarily high quality are available. A great wine, even after 16 years – we decantered the bottle and filtered it, as the cork completely broke when openening the bottle.

A very dark colour with a rich, ripe and complex bouquet present a voluptuous infusion of red berry, chocolate, mint, and cassis-like Cabernet aromas merging with lifted, spicy new oak. The wine came along as full-bodied with persistent and mouth-filling ripe berry flavour and excellent structure. I have to admit, that this Cab Sav was a real highlight for this evening.

Michael Brecht

Prowein Messe in Deutschland

Ende März findet in Düsseldorf die Prowein Messe statt, geöffnet nur für Fachbesucher und Medienvertreter. Mehr als 1.000 Journalisten berichten von der Prowein in diesem Jahr, ich bin gespannt, wieviele davon blogger und Vertreter der Neuen Medien sein werden.

Seit vielen Jahren bin ich in Australien von Winzern auf diese Messe angesprochen worden. Die Winzer Down Under werden in diesem Jahr wiederum auf einem grossen australischen Stand vertreten sein. Andere wiederum nutzen die Stände der lokalen Importeure für ihren Auftritt. Alle kämpfen um die Anerkennung ihrer Weine in diesem schwierigen deutschen Markt, bei all diesen Weinen in den Supermärkten ist es schwierig, die wahren australischen Tropfen zu präsentieren. Das Fachpublikum auf der Prowein ist ein erster Schritt hierzu.

Viel Beachtung in diesem Jahr findet die Vereinigung von fünf ‘Neue Welt’ Ländern, der sogenannten Down2Earth Initiative. Vorweg: Australien ist hier nicht dabei.

Argentinien, Kalifornien, Chile, Neuseeland und Südafrika habe diese Allianz gebildet, die diesen Ländern helfen soll, als Neue Welt Initiative den Weintrinkern der ‘Alten Welt’ näher zu kommen. Diese Initiative wird zum ersten Mal in Düsseldorf vorgestellt, wir werden auf diesem Blog ein Interview hierzu bringen.

Mehr zu Interviews und Hintergrundberichten auf der Prowein in wenigen Tagen hier bei downunderwines.
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Prowein is the world’s most important wine fair and allows our Australian wineries to present its products to Europe’s finest distribution channels.

While Australian wineries go their own way, five nations have joined forces to have their wines presented in a so called ‘Down to Earth joint marketing venture. Argentina, California, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa are jointly presenting Down To Earth at Prowein in 2010. This collaboration of New World countries is a world first and represents an innovative approach to marketing at one of the world’s most important international trade fairs.

We’ll bring an interview on the effectiveness of such joint marketing approach, Australian wineries will go their own way and we’ll ask them how this works out for them too.

Michael Brecht

Photography at a Wine Show

downunderwines: Nardia, thanks for your time, let us start with a question about when you started with photography?
Nardia: I have been taking photos since my husband bought a Canon 300D camera in 2002 for his birthday, just for fun. He has never had a chance to use the camera though. But I have taken some great shots for friends weddings, family portraits, landscapes and businesses. In 2009 I have completed my Diploma in Photography and decided to start NEG photography as a semi hobby and profession. I never realised it would take off so quickly. But I am loving every assignment and really enjoy meeting new and interesting people.

downunderwines: How did you come to making photos at wine shows?
Nardia: JAi Events, located in Kiama, gave me the opportunity to capture some images for the Kiama Regional Wine Show this year. It allowed me to start snapping photos straight away, in fact I think I took around 350 photos on the day.

downunderwines: Isn’t it boring to take photos of wine bottles?
Nardia: Photography is only what you make it, as is everything. Any subject can be made interesting, imagination is only limited by your mind not by the cost of film.

downunderwines: What is the most difficult when taking photos of wines?
Nardia: In photographing the Kiama Regional Wine show, the reflections were a little difficult to master and also keeping the shots modern and innovative.

Hunter Valley's Keith Tulloch

downunderwines: How do you cope with wine experts and their habits?
Nardia: I think their habits are to our advantage. As without their amazing palates and vivid descriptions of flavour, then as tasting novices we would have no idea what characteristics to look for. Everyone has their talent, which could be seen as habits for some.

downunderwines: So tell us, what is your favourite wine?
Nardia: At the moment Sauvignon Blanc.

downunderwines: If wine – red or white?
Nardia: Depending on what mood I am in. Party time – it’s white, relax and vege, its a red – normally Merlot.

downunderwines: What regions have you visited in Australia that produced wine?
Nardia: Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven, Barossa, Hunter Valley, Riverina, Coonawarra and Margaret River… is that too many?

downunderwines: Can you tell us of any anecdotes on wine people or wine drinkers?
Nardia: Well my husband, Brian and I love wine. Me more than him, I should say to be fair. On one of our adventures on the road (actually seeing the Solar Eclipse at Lyndhurst, SA, 2002) we visited the Coonawarra. After having drunk one too many with my sisters Marika and Sarsha, we all fell asleep, except for Brian who was the designated driver. Whilst driving Brian saw a wedged-tail eagle sitting right by the side of the road. Being my favourite bird, Brian did try to wake me (so he tells me). But due to the amount of tastings I had had, I didn’t wake up. When I did wake after 2.5 hours asleep, Brian told me about the magnificent eagle. My first response was…’Why didn’t you wake me?’ The look of dispare on his face was hilarious. Still to this day he tells this story. What can I say, just love wine …

downunderwines: So, how can people get in touch with you for their next shot?
Nardia: Either by emailing me on negphotography@bigpond.com or by visiting my website. I also have a facebook group, NEG photography, join up if you wish.

Nardia, thank you very much for your time and good luck with the next wine show.
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Nardia traf Michael auf der Kiama Wine Show und sprach mit ihm über die Schwierigkeiten Flaschen zu fotografieren, die Weinszene richtig ins Licht zu setzen und mit den diversen Eitelkeiten umzugehen. Gewinnen Sie einen originalen Einblick hinter die Kulissen der Weinszene hier in Australien.

We thought we have a look at one of the services, mainly provided in the bigger wine regions: so called limousine services. The idea came to us while tweeting with ‘babyyoucandrive‘ – or Sandy the other day. We loved the name of her twitter ID so much, that we initiated this interview. Sandy owns Driven Indulgence, a limousine service operating in the Victorian Yarra Valley though her real home is a few hours away in one of our preferred wine regions, in Beechworth.

downunderwines: Hi Sandy, thanks for your time today. My first question is about your location: you are based in Beechworth but work in the Yarra Valley, tell us how this works?
Sandy: Beechworth is where my home is, but I am currently staying with family in the Yarra Valley while I build my new tour business. I am working and living between the two gorgeous regions and will be offering tours in both areas. Sort of a cross pollination between the two. The wine industry created a strong link if you like between the two areas for me, working in and around the industry for 20 years or so in one capacity or another.

Girls night out

downunderwines: You have started a Limousine services business – let us start with my question of how you came up with the name for it?
Sandy: Driven Indulgence was arrived at after a session with pen and paper isolating what it is that the business does. I also love the idea of not having the word tour or Yarra Valley or wine, because it can be about so much more, which is my intention to make it a fun flexible alternative to taxis, bus tours and the like. A little bit of class, my guests love having ‘their own driver’.
Indulgence – indeed! The business has become a handy alternative to waiting for a taxi for locals when they have important functions or appointments at hospitals, functions, parties, a night out with the girls and the like.

downunderwines: Please forgive me for asking this question: driving as a chauffeur and being a woman: how do your clients react when they see you turn up in their driveway?
Sandy: That is so funny, I must say, it is never a problem in my mind and I feel that my guests pick up on that. I have always had favourable comments re. my girl driving. It’s the fiance’s, wives and girlfriends that comment first; ‘you are lucky, I am not allowed to drive this’ then a little voice pipes up from the back seat usually, with some comment along the lines of ‘but she doesn’t … like you’.
I must admit, I used to be a natural blonde, so the hair had to go so as not to cop the good humour of my guests all day about being ‘a blonde women driver!’
No I think the focus is so much on showing my guests a good time and the very best the valley has to offer, that the female driver doesn’t seem to come into it much. Of course I love the humour and innuendo, it’s Aussie tradition! No offense taken.

downunderwines: OK, now give us a good story with some of your guests please:
Sandy: Last week we had a gorgeous young couple staying with Gracedale Accommodation, Amy and Alex, they wanted to see the background, the things going on behind the scenes, not just cellar doors however great they are. I took them to see Sticks Winery in Yarra Glen. They were blown away, Tom the winemaker showed them around and they enjoyed some of the intricate explanations of the wine making process while being shown the equipment and barrel room and of course tastings at cellar door. Yileena Park Winery opened up especially for them at around 6pm, Bob showed us all about his wines and a few pointers on opening up a red, sharing his genuine country hospitality and intimate wine knowledge. When we returned to Gracedale, Jenny was like a mother hen, ‘where have you been are you ok?’ We just got lost in our awesome day in the valley, relaxed, took some photos, shared stories and had a ball. Alex a confirmed spirits drinker was now a wine connoisseur, he amazed Amy and myself with his intense questions to the wine staff and I think we will be hearing from him soon with his spirit drinking friends on a conversion tour!
I had hired a Chrysler for the day to do a photo shoot in the morning to get a couple of shots for my marketing, so we did it in style, all that was missing was the cigars! They had the back seat – holding hands thing going on, it was great. Amy got a new man, Alex got a mature adult wine tasting side to his life and I got to see it all happen!

your dedicated driver

downunderwines: Sounds like fun, so did you drive any celebrities lately?
Sandy: All my guests are celebrities! None to report so far. Although I drove the local limo company Affinity Limo owners Andy and Tanya to a party last weekend in their extreme black Chrysler. That would be local identities yeh? We wore our sunglasses in the dark (no we didn’t)… and Tanya exited the party with her shoes on the end of her finger in the air, climbed into the warm cabin all happy ready for home, we hooked back to Yarra Glen gliding through the streets of Lilydale at 1 in the morning with the chatter full of anticipation for both of our businesses growing, arrrrr, nice, like a dream.

downunderwines: And while not behind the steering wheel, what is your favourite drop?
Sandy: I love wine, I love the random surprises you get, I love labels and packaging, but mostly a wine with good length and body, clean fruit driven and a little barrel age not so you are chewing through the tannins and oak though. Two of my favourite whites at the moment in the Yarra Valley are the Yileena Park 2006 Chardonnay and the 08 Sauvignon Blanc from Punt Road wines which is no longer available through cellar door, but I know Barrique Wine Store in Healesville has snaffled a few cases. Also the Pinot Gris from the Innocent Bystander, another easy drinking fav. of mine. I also discovered a Pinot at Wedgetail Winery in Cottles Bridge that is amazing. I love finding a wine that somehow I have had a part in developing at some stage, whether it was planting the vines back in the late 90′s early 2000′s or cellar hand or working on the pruning, harvest or other related facets of maintenance in the vineyard. One of my girlfriends and I have fizz nights in Eldorado near Wangaratta, that usually consists of an undisclosable number of bottles, hours of conversation and laughter followed by a gruelling “….I’m ok.” recovery day.

Well here we have a female chauffeur with a great depth of knowledge on the local wines in the Yarra Valley. Best of luck for your new business and we hope that you’ll keep us in the loop with some nice stories of what happens in the valley. Thanks Sandy.
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In vielen der hiesigen Weintaeler werden sog. Limousine Services angeboten, haeufig in stretched Limos, mit dunklen Scheiben und kraeftigen Fahrern, die Sonnenbrille tragen. Unser Interview haben wir mit Sandy gefuehrt, einer jungen Dame aus Beechworth, die diesen Limousinenservice vor wenigen Wochen begann. Sie wird uns hoffentlich in den naechsten Monaten mit weiteren Geschichten aus ihrer Limousine versorgen.

Michael Brecht

One of the latest social media platforms going mainstream is Twitter, a micro-blogging tool restricting your entries to 140 characters each. I have asked Dave Brookes from Teusner Wines in the Barossa Valley how they use Twitter and whether they consider it a useful tool.

Teusner Wines on Twitter

downunderwines: Dave, thanks for your time – let us put one thing straight at the very beginning: we have ‘met’ on twitter, so for Teusner Wines and downunderwines, twitter has proven to be a successful connection tool. But tell me, for how long have you been using twitter?
Dave: We’ve been using twitter since the start of February.

downunderwines: How often do you use it?
Dave: We use it every day … 10-20 tweets a day usually. I’ll suss out whats going on in the winery for the day and mention it via twitter then check in via my blackberry during the day to update and answer questions.

downunderwines: 10-20 tweets (explanation for the non-twitter users: these are the messages sent on twitter) that seems to be a lot, so who accesses your twitter account?
Dave: (He smiles) Just me – I am the marketing person. We are a small winery and there are only three of us here so it’s up to me.

downunderwines: And Dave, tell us: are you using other social media tools too?
Dave: I am just starting to use facebook and about to start a blog – but it is basically just me who has to find the time to do these things.

downunderwines: So let’s hear the truth: what do you think about twitter and how do you use it?
Dave: Twitter is great for building a relationship with people that drink our wines and also raise awareness of the brand both in Australia and overseas markets. Keep people in touch with winery goings on, new releases, press reviews, events, dinners and general stuff. It also allows us to touch base with our distributors overseas, US and UK retailers and wine press.

downunderwines: OK, so this is a positive feed back, is there any special or funny story that you can tell us that happened on twitter?
Dave: No real funny stories but actually organising winery visits and tasting via twitter is cool, as is the feedback from people who have tried our wines in Europe & the US.

Dave, many thanks for your time and good luck with your twittering.
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Die Wineries hier Down Under beginnen so nach und nach, social media Dienste wie facebook, ZaaBiz oder auch twitter fuer sich zu nutzen. Ich habe nachgefragt bei Dave, Marketingchef von Teusner Wines aus dem Barossa Valley, wie er twitter selbst nutzt und ob das Gezwitscher eigentlich etwas bringt.

Ihr Michael Brecht

Fred Howard from DogRidge with Michael Brecht

downunderwines: Thanks Fred for your time. So tell us, how did the Grenache vine find its way here to South Australia?
Fred Howard (FH): Originally South Australia produced lots of fortified wines, which were sent back to England mainly for medical purposes. Grenache quickly became a favourite variety as it was growing so strong, it didn’t need a lot of work and you got lots of grapes out of the vines. Additionally the grapes contained very high sugar levels and were drought resistant, by nature.

DogRidge Cadenzia Grenache 2005

downunderwines: So these Grenache wines made it into the fortified wines helping doctors cure in the UK, but comes that it is today one of the finest variety here in the McLaren Vale?
FH: To tell you the truth: we have been working hard, to make our Grenache what it is today. The growth of the wines means that you have to prune heavily, it is almost as if you are manipulating the growth of the vines. The lack of water naturally helps as the growth slows down. Also we cut the tips so that the energy stops within the leaves, I guess all in all our crop thinning results in only getting 50% of the berries.

downunderwines: And these 50% are magic, almost comparable to the dead arm treatment, that D’Arenberg is so famous for?
FH: yes exactly. While thinning the crop to such an extent, we achieve results of berries that are simply wonderful to work with, once they are coming into the winery. Our Grenache vines have been planted in the 1940s, the character and complexity of its fruit is simply stunning.

I have then tried a few of DogRidge’s Grenache wines, now marketed under the Cadenzia label. Both the 2005 and 2006 are 100% Grenache, displaying a highly juicy sweet-fruit palate and the flavours were absolutely stunning. I preferred the 2005 as it had this extra year in the bottle which made it sensational. These wines a great for cellaring, give it a few years and drink it on a cold winter night, in front of a fire, sounds like heaven to me.

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Meine juengste Reise nach McLaren Vale brachte mich mit Fred Howard zusammen, der gemeinsam mit seinem Bruder David die DogRidge Winery sein eigen nennt. Hier werden seit vielen Jahrzehnten die klassischen Shiraz und Cab Savs angebaut, seit mehr als 65 Jahren wachsen zusaetzlich Grenache Trauben heran. Hiervon handelt mein Interview mt Fred, das McLaren Vale arbeitet derzeit sehr daran, diese Grenache Traube zu ‘ihrem’ Markenzeichen zu machen.

Gemeinsam mit Fred habe ich dann die Jahrgaenge 2005 und 2006 getestet, das Ergebnis: grossartig – ich bin ein Grenache Fan – allerdings nicht Fan der spanischen sondern ausschliesslich der australischen Variante.

Ihr Michael Brecht