Sauvignon Blanc
Die australische Airline Qantas entscheidet sich für einen Sauvignon Blanc aus Orange
Einer meiner grossen Favoriten aus der Weinregion Orange, Belgravia Vineyards, wurde heute eine besonderen Auszeichnung zuteil: der 2009er Sauvignon Blanc wird ab sofort bei der australischen Airline Belgravia ausgeschenkt.
Belgravia on Qantas
Jeder, der weiss wie hart die Zugangskriterien bei Qantas sind, wird diese Nachricht schätzen. Das Qantas Tasting Panel ist sehr penibel wenn es um Qualitätsbeurteilung der Weine geht, insbesondere wenn, wie in diesem Fall, die internationalen Flüge damit bestückt werden.
Ich freue mich für die Mannschaft um Nick Butler, denn ich habe die Belgravia Weine schon seit meinem Besuch in Orange im Blick. Wir werden daher in den kommenden Wochen einige Testberichte zu Belgravia bringen, freuen Sie sich schon mal darauf.
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Belgravia Vineyards is extremely pleased to announce that the Belgravia 2009 Sauvignon Blanc has been selected by the Qantas Tasting Panel for their in-flight catering program. The wine will specifically be poured on International flights.
Belgravia Sales Manager Nick Butler says of the selection:
“This is a wonderful endorsement of Orange’s Hero Variety and a true testament to the efforts of wine brands and growers across the region. It is especially gratifying to think that our wine will have a captive audience. Qantas is a very powerful marketer of Australian wines and the wine’s presence on International Flights should help build the profile of Orange overseas. We hope that other local wineries see this as a mandate to get out there and explore export opportunities…..especially in markets serviced by Qantas’ International fleet”.
Belgravia sources its Sauvignon Blanc from growers in the high-altitude and cool climate environs of Orange in NSW. It is one of many local producers committed to making wines that reflect the unique conditions of Australia’s coldest grape growing region.
Michael Brecht
Orange winery Angullong releases its 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
I recently travelled the Orange wine region and came across Angullong wines, a small family owned winery which claimed dual trophies at the 2008 Sydney Royal Wine Show. This huge achievement made their wines a highly demanded good, even in the Orange region itself. The cellar door on a rainy day was a good place to start tasting these wines.
Sydney Royal Wine winner releases new Sav Blanc
Angullong Wines has recently released their much anticipated 2009 Angullong Sauvignon Blanc and 2008 Angullong Cabernet Merlot, both made from grapes grown on Angullong’s Orange vineyard.
The Crossing family, owners of the Angullong property since 1950, have paid particular attention to the vineyard, ensuring that the quality and consistency of their vines is reflected in the wines that they make.
“We have a range of soils types and aspects in our 220 hectare vineyard, giving us a broad range of flavour profiles and characteristics within the varieties,” commented Ben Crossing. “This has proven to be a useful advantage and, with the cool to cold climate of the Orange region, has given us great consistency of style with our wines.”
Orange is proving to be one of the top regions for cool climate Sav Blacs, offering riper tropical fruit flavours, with well balanced acidity, giving consumers a greater choice and experience from the New Zealand or French styles available.
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Der Gewinner der Sydney Royal Wine Show 2008 in der Kategorie Sauvignon Blanc war die Angullong Winery aus Orange, ich habe jene Gegend und deren Cellar Door kürzlich besucht.
In dieser Woche stellen die Angullong’s ihren neuen Sav Blanc vor, bei der grossen Nachfrage nach deren Weinen ein kurzes Vergnügen. Wohl bekomm’s.
Michael Brecht
‘My Drink Today’ features Riesling lover Shane from High Range in NSW
Nice temperatures on the weekend brought us a few stories in our series ‘My Drink Today’. Thank you Shane for sending us your entry, I have to admit the background view on your photo is spectacular.
Shane from High Range with her drink of the day
Shane enjoys a glass of Tertini Riesling from cool climate Southern Highlands.
“I have been a big fan of Sauvignon Blancs in the past years, both from New Zealand and Australia. But I am over them now – the usually high levels of acidity and lack of distinct palate are turning me off now. I’d rather prefer Rieslings these days, this one here shows more delicate fruit flavours and is simply more interesting.”
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In unserer Serie ‘My Drink Today’ berichtet uns Shane aus High Range in NSW über ihren Wein, einen 2005 Tertini Riesling aus den Southern Highlands. Shane war bis vor kurzem ein grosser Sauvignon Blanc Fan. Ihr Geschmack hat sich aber in den vergangenen Monaten davon weg entwickelt, hin zu interessanteren und eher komplexen Trauben wie etwa Riesling.
Michael Brecht
How to beat the Kiwi Sav Blancs – get the acidity right – weniger Säure macht Australiens Sav Blanc so richtig gut
I am a big fan of small family run vineyards, where the hard work of family members is alomst tasted in the bottled wines itself. One of these wineries is Galafrey Wines, which remains the oldest family owned winery in Mount Barker in Western Australia.
Sunset @ Galafrey Vineyards
The Vineyard is over 32 years old, the grapes are dry grown, giving intensity of fruit and lots of body to the wines.
One of my favourite wines from Galafrey is their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, a variety working hard to compete with the Kiwis Sav Blancs out there. I tried a bottle the other night – pale straw and green in appearance, the 2009 version is rich and fragrant on the nose with asparagus, guava, and freshly cut grass characters emanating.
The palate is medium bodied with a concentrated density of fruit, balanced by clean fresh mineral acidity. I particularly like the passion fruit, lychee and herbaceous notes, its finishing is fresh and crisp. And most importantly the acidity levels of this Sav Blanc are in line with my taste butts – not too much acidic taste as so often realised with the New Zealand Sav Blancs.
Well done Galafrey Wines – you clearly deserve a mentioning in WINESTATE’s 2009 Australia’s best Sauvignon Blancs this year.
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Ich bin ein grosser Fan der kleinen, familien-geführten Wineries hier Down Under – man schmeckt die harte Arbeit der Familienwinzer quasi noch mit den Weinen. Galafrey Wines ist eine solche erstklassige Winery in der Mount Barker Region in Western Australia – einer cool climate Region in der ansonsten sehr heissen Region im Westen Australiens.
Der Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Jahrgang der Galafrey Wines ist jüngst zu einem der Top Sauvignon Blancs des Landes gekürt worden – ein grosser Erfolg für eine weniger bekannte Region Down Under.
Meinen Glückwunsch an das Galafrey Team – ich selbst probierte den 2009 Sav Blanc und war begeistert.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Der 2006er Cool Climate Pinot Noir von Brangayne aus Orange
Brangayne of Orange is a winery which claims a highly famous prize within their trophies won over the past years: their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc won a Gold Medal of the New Zealand International Wine Show this year – a prize that is as difficult to achieve as a win for the Wallabies at the All Blacks in Rugby Union.
The Brangayne Driveway in Orange
I met Marianne Brown on a cold, rainy and windy spring day while visiting the cellar door, no one else around and while looking at the photos with snowy poplar trees on the walls of the shed, I was clearly reminded that this part of their winery lies above 1,000 metres in altitude.
Quickly I begin to understand that this boutique winery emphasises on the cool climate traditions – the wines include the regional ‘hero’ Sauvignon Blanc, an unwooded as well as a Reserve Chardonnay. Asked for her personal favourites Marianne tells me that due to the cold weather she really likes the reds at the moment, the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon recently won a Gold medal at the Australian Cool Climate Wine Show and the newly released 2006 Shiraz was outstanding when I tried it at the cellar door on the day.
The cool climate wine selection
I chose the 2006 Pinot Noir for the night – cherry red in colour – and though still young already displaying strong wild berry characteristics. The palate shows ripe plums with a well balanced acidity – a real highlight of a finely crafted cool climate Pinot Noir. I enjoy its long finish and finish the bottle on the same night in front of a warm fire – Orange in October can be a bit chilly.
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Der Held der Region Orange ist die Sauvignon Blanc Traube – sie gewinnt sogar im Sav Blanc Heimatland Neuseeland Goldmedaillien – so geschehen dieses Jahr in Form des 2008er Sav Blanc von Brangayne.
Die Winery besetzt zwei verschiedene Hügel um Orange auf 1000 und 850 Meter Hoehe, hier wachsen die Trauben für vorzügliche cool climate Weine heran. Das Sortiment umfasst neben den Sav Blancs zwei Chardonnays, einen Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz und Pinot Noir.
Wir geniessen einen noch recht jungen und doch grossartigen Pinot Noir aus dem Jahrgang 2006 zum Dinner und bei offenem Feuer – draussen tobt der Regen bei gerade einmal 5 Grad Celsius – Orange im Frühling kann doch recht kalt sein.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Orange Wine Week – you’re only in it when you are based on 600m plus altitude
From the 16th to 25th of October 2009 Orange wine enthusiasts celebrate their wine week consisting of 10 days with close to 100 events showcasing the district. Whether wine, food, music, sport or arts, there is a lot to do in this time.
Wine week in Orange
Orange winemakers claim to make wine that people like to drink, this is at least the comment I get most when travelling through the region and visiting its many cellar doors.
Orange is considered cool climate with an altitude from 600m to about 1,000 metres and the night temperatures dropping to quite pleasant levels even in the sometimes extremely warm summer months.
Don’t even try to call your wines from ‘Orange’ if your grapes grow under 600m altitude. The ‘climbing’ and ‘rolling hills’ story of Cumulus wines confirms this story nicely, we’ll report on this in a separate post.
Rain closing in
But the local winemakers also claim that the soil plays a major role too: there is the volcanic basalt of the old volcano on Canobolas (the views frrom there are the more impressive when rain is in sight) or the red-brown clay in some other parts, the Orange region provides very rich and fertile grounds for the vines to thrive on.
Winemakers such as Philip Shaw with his Koomooloo Vineyard, the famous Printhie Wines with winemaker Drew Tuckwell or Stephen and Rhonda Doyle as two of the pioneers of the Orange wine region: they all came to produce outstanding wines and their highlights so far have been their whites: Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. The latter is claimed in Orange’s prospectus for the wine week as ‘the hero variety with international recognition’.
I will check out on this in the coming days, as our spring family holiday leads us to this wine region – so far pretty undiscovered by myself. I am also told to watch out for the cool climate stars Pinot Noir and Shiraz – well it will be a pleasure to start the discovery.
The time is ripe, as James Halliday’s guide descibes the 2009 vintage from Orange as ‘a memorable vintage for some, especially reds: whites good with volumes down 10%’. Let’s see what the next days bring.
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Ich befinde mich in Orange – einer Region im westlichen NSW – keine 5 Stunden von Sydney entfernt. Hier haben sich grosse Namen wie Philip Shaw, Drew Tuckwell oder das Doyle Ehepaar angesiedelt, um hier ihre Weine anzubauen. Sie werden ergaenzt um eine ganze Serie an kleineren Wineries, die zwischen 1,000 und 5,000 Dutzend im Jahr abfuellen und meist komplett vermarkten.
Ich freue mich auf diesen Besuch, denn die hiesigen cool climate Weissen und inzwischen auch Pinot Noirs und Shiraz gelten als Geheimtips Australiens in diesem Jahr. Begleiten Sie mich auf dieser Reise durch eine der jungen Weingegenden Australiens.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Five star Printhie’s Sauvignon Blanc wins Trophy for Best Small Vigneron in Canberra
A five star James Halliday rating in 2009 and 2010 promised to make Printhie Wines a pretty good winery to look at when I came across the results of the latest cool climate wine show in Canberra:
Printhie Wines in Orange NSW
The Sauvignon Blanc is a bit of a landmark for Printhie wines - 15 wines they serve in total at their cellar door close to Orange in NSW. While harvesting this year, the juice required little fining or acidification prior to fermentation. Winemaker Drew Tuckwell explains that "selected commercial yeasts were used for fermentation to highlight fruit purity and maintain a clean aromatic profile". He uses stainless steel tanks for fermentation exclusively to retain the aromatic intensity and complexity of the wine and filters the wine immediately after fermentation and bottles it early to capture it in its freshest state.
I find the bouquet quite intense and full of grapefruit and lime, the palate offers generous fruit flavours supported by lively acidity. The wine has a great length and persistence with a dry finish, great with the fish and aspargus we are having tonight.
Winemaker Drew Tuckwell spent several years in Europe and after four years in Adelaide and vintage work with Wirra Wirra Vineyard in McLaren Vale, he settled in Mudgee NSW to start playing with Italian varieties like Sangiovese, Barbera and Pinot Grigio, as well as the more traditional varieties such as Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet.
Today this is a great combination: the cool climate Orange region with its arguably not very cool climate hot summer days, a family owned winery with enough capacity to try out things and a winemaker who has learned the trade at famous other places – Printhie Wines is a winery to watch out for and I really liked their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc – well deserved its win in Canberra a few days ago.
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Printhie Wines hat vor wenigen Tagen die Trophaee des besten Weines kleiner Produzenten in Canberra gewonnen. Der Sauvignon Blanc ist ein herrlich fruchtiger Vertreter seiner Zunft, erstaunlich hierbei dass zwischen Gewinn des Preises und der Ernte der Trauben gerade einmal 11 Wochen gelegen haben.
Ein wunderbarer Vertreter seiner australischen Sav Blanc Zunft – ich geniesse den Printhie Wein zu einem gegrillten Lachs auf Spargel an einem dieser ersten Fruehlingstage hier in Australien 2009. Einfach herrlich.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Kiwis win big time over Australian Whites in Munich’s Kaufhof – ein weisser Australier gegen 14 Neuseeländische Weine im Regal
There is nothing more exciting in Australia when we look into the competition with our friends from across the Tasman: the Kiwis. We lost the Rugby League World Cup, they beat us in the Bledisloe Cup in Union only a few weeks ago (again), and no other game (maybe apart from our Ashes series against the English) draws that much attention to the sporting mind of an Australian.
Weinregal im Kaufhof
Looking into the wine section of German retailer Kaufhof in Munich the other day I had to realise, that in the white wine section Australia had another terrible defeat against New Zealand. One mere Australian white (a Penfolds Chardonnay Koonunga Hill) was facing the overwhelming presence of 14 (yes fourteen) Kiwi whites. It was the usual Sauvignon Blanc dominance that made the Kiwis win this time.
Asking the wine manager at Kaufhof I had to learn, that Kiwis actually sell better in the price category of under EURO 10 (about AUD 17) – wake up Germany: there is more to white wine than these highly acidic ones from New Zealand.
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Australien gegen Neuseeland – das ist hier Down Under so wie die leidenschaftlich gepflegten Duelle des FC. St Pauli gegen den HSV im Fussball oder der Düsseldorfer EG gegen die Koelner Haie im Eishockey. Nachbarschaftliche Leidenschaft mit Emotion pur.
Den Kampf im Weinregal des Kaufhofs in München gewinnt ganz klar die kleine Nation der Kiwis, mit 14 weissenneuseeländischen Weinen und lediglich einem mageren Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay aus Australien ist dieser Wettbewerb klar entschieden. Hier im Segment der Weine fuer das kleine Budget dominieren die Neuseeländer, leider ist die Auswahl auf die Sauvignon Blancs beschränkt, es fehlen die innovativen und so viel interessanteren Pinot Gris , Rieslings oder Viogniers aus Australien. Mainstream nennt man diese Auswahl – da bleibt viel zu tun für das australische Weinmarketing.
Ihr Michael Brecht
