Monday 29 February 2016

Drinking Aussie Wine in the US

More than any other country, Australian wine transformed the international wine scene with its clean, fruity, and affordable wines which became readily available in the 1980s. The immediacy of the wines, and the marketing that went with it, provided a challenge to traditional wine-producing countries, particularly France, which had previously held an unquestioned dominant position in the global wine industry. In the UK, Australia leads the market with appealingly fruity Shiraz and clean, easy Chardonnay. This has come with a downside, however, as the wines are often viewed as too simple and shallow; fine as an entry-level wine, but not fit for anything more.

It's been a similar story in the US, which is now Australia's biggest market by value (with exports of AU$443m). Australia's position in the US market was led by Yellow Tail ( or [yellow tail] as it's labelled), a high-volume wine designed solely for export. Launched in 2003, its success was instant and huge, but now the very simple and very cheap (around $5) wines are what many American drinkers associate Australian wine with. A further issue is that Australian wines are perceived to be a challenger to domestic wines: fruity, forward, and immediate. On the flip side, one could argue that California's difficulty in penetrating the UK market is down to Australia's more affordable, but similarly fruity, and very popular wines, which again adds to the idea that the US and Australia are inevitable competitors.  

All of this makes finding good Australian wine in the US difficult, a scarcity which makes it further harder to challenge the perception of those wines. The best Australian wines are very different from how they're mostly viewed: often sourced from cooler climates, these wines can have a surprisingly restrained, if still ripe, fruit quality; Shiraz, in particular, can be remarkably similar to its French Syrah counterpart, with an earthy, game, peppery character.

At a recent tasting in a San Francisco art gallery, I sampled a number of wines which emphasised the differences between Australian and Californian wine. It also demonstrated the determination of Australia to promote the very best of its wines and lead consumers away from the [yellow tail] trail. It's Shiraz, Australia's signature grape, rather than Cabernet which has the potential to do so. Cabernet is similarly ripe and fruity, whereas Shiraz expresses more the individuality, character, and history of its regions. 

Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 2 2010 ($90)

Yarra is a region which most immediately challenges perceptions of Australian wine. Just west of Melbourne, the temperatures are cooler than those of Bordeaux and it's become known as a great region for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Pinot Noirs especially are world class, but Yarra Yering also make this great Shiraz (blended unusually with a little bit of Mataro [Mourvèdre], Marsanne, and Viognier), which has a slightly stinky, mature nose, with restrained fruit and subtle spice notes. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

 

Kaesler Old Bastard Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 ($190)

Australian wine does two things very well: old-vine Shiraz and striking labels. Here's the perfect example: from vines planted in 1893, with a funny cartoon label, and its hard to avoid name - who else would call a $190 wine Old Bastard? Different from the Yering Dry Red because it's defiantly Australian, with ripe, juicy, yet very pure fruits, but it's again peppery (a quality more associated with cooler climate Shiraz) and has a firm tannic structure which holds the fruity nature of the wine together. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Yangarra Estate Ironheart Shiraz McLaren Vale 2013 ($100)

What I like about Australian Shiraz is how herbal the wines can be, and this is a good example with its mint and eucalyptus aromas. The fruits are as ripe as one would expect from Australia but with gripping tannins. And as with many of Australia's best regions, the acidity is high and lively enough to lift the wine. ✪✪✪✪✪


Shiraz, of course, is not the only quality aspect of Australian wine. The whites, particularly Chardonnay, are fragrant and fruity but with an acidity which lightens the wines (though I do suspect Australian whites are too often acidified); and Riesling can be stunning (Clare Valley's Grosset are a famous and reputable producer). The sweet wines, often called Stickies, are also some of the most individual wines in the world, and I'll be writing about them in another blog. But it's the high-quality Shiraz that will likely break Australian wine into the high-end US market, as it's familiarly fruity but with herbal earth aromas not often found in California's best wines. 

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Washington's Syrah

The last time I wrote about Washington, I concluded that it was best for the state's winemakers to focus on the many varied AVAs to promote their wines rather than seeking a signature grape variety. I still think that's true; from cool, wet Columbia Gorge, to small, warm, and extraordinarily high quality Red Mountain, to the geologically distinct Rocks District, Washington - and Oregon, which shares some of the AVAs - offer a diverse range of climates, soils, and geography to produce wines that reflect, often wonderfully, their location. Trying to focus solely on one variety as an expression of Washington takes away from that local sense of place.

Having said that, there is one grape variety which distinguishes Washington from other winemaking regions in the US and which may help concentrate drinkers' opinion of the wines. Syrah is grown in California, but it is not a grape that winemakers have taken to and nor have consumers. Cooler Sonoma Coast has the potential to produce peppery Syrah, but these are still hard to find. Even Paso Robles, which excels in Rhône blends, takes better to Grenache and Mourvèdre than it does to Syrah, which I find is often best as part of a blend (as in the southern Rhône, where on its own it can become too chocolatey). This lack of competition gives Washington an opportunity to stake its claim as the US's premium Syrah producer.


I just attended a tasting of Washington wine in San Francisco, which confirmed just how exciting and appealing the wines are overall. The Cabernet Sauvignons are lighter and less aggressive than Napa's; the Viogniers are attractive and maintain their acidity; but it was the Syrahs that really stood out, particularly from Walla Walla and its sub-AVA The Rocks District, but also from Red Mountain. What I particularly liked about the range of Syrahs I tried was the variety, from spicy to fruity to tannic, sometimes immediate and fresh, other times closed and demanding further time in the bottle. This in part depends on the ambitions of the winery, but it's also about location. The Rocks District produces complex, structured, individual wines, with restrained fruit and a herbal, spicy backdrop; the surrounding Walla Walla AVA wines are a little more forward; while Red Mountain's wines have wonderful concentration, with a floral, perfumed nose coming from the higher slopes.

standout wines

Betz Family Boushey Vineyard La Serenne Syrah 2013 ($55)

Grower Dick Boushey was one of the first to plant Syrah in Washington; Washington writer Paul Gregutt describes the Syrah wines from the Yakima vineyard as having "a compelling underlayer of game, toasted almond, herb and earth that is distinctive and unique." This Syrah is a perfect example of that description, with pepper, nuts, chocolate, red and black fruits, and slightly dusty tannins. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Buty Rockgarden Estate Redivivia of the Stones 2012 ($60)

An unusual wine, in that it's blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvèdre. There's also no new oak used to age the wine, showing that Syrah from The Rocks District is capable of expressing its own qualities without the addition of oak flavours. An attractive floral nose, with blackberries, and ripe tannins, and a dark, smoky intensity coming from the other two grapes in the blend. ✪✪✪✪✪

Force Majeure Syrah 2013 ($70)

This may be my favourite Washington producer at the moment: a gorgeous Viognier and a supple Cabernet come from their vineyards on Red Mountain, as well as their stunning Syrah. The vines are planted on steep slopes on the top of the mountain, retaining acidity and producing ripe but complex fruit. It's a vibrant, compelling wine that's only going to get better and better with time, as its drying tannins soften to reveal attractive, integrated black fruits.  ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Reynvaan In the Hills Syrah 2014 ($70)

Another young winery - founded in just 2008 - this wine was a revelation. Very herbal, with pronounced tarragon aromas, and peppery, with ripe black fruits. Extremely attractive right now at a young age, it has enough acidity, tannin, and fruit to develop over a long period. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

There are plenty of great wines being made from other varieties - Cabernet Franc (Andrew Will's Champoux Vineyard Bordeaux Blend 2011 is 64% and irresistible), Grenache (Brady Cellars' 2013 has characteristic liquorice, raspberry qualities), and Rhône blends (Avennia's Justine is spicy and gripping) - but Syrah perhaps demonstrates most consistently the best of what Washington has to offer: attractive but not overripe fruits, with firm, gripping, structured tannins, and an invigorating acidity, all representing the particular area the wine comes from. 

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Pommard

in Pommard last April
Pommard is a beautiful village, small with a church dominating the main square. Just south of the important wine town Beaune, Pommard finishes before it's even begun, the vineyards merging into Volnay's. Very much in Chardonnay territory, Pommard and Volnay are the two major villages of the Côte de Beaune that produce only red wine. Its reputation goes back hundreds of years, not least because, unlike other lighter, more delicate wines of Burgundy, its wines were able to survive the journey to England. Today, Pommard is still known for producing powerful, relatively tannic wines.

the terroir

Nowhere is more associated with terroir than Burgundy, the vineyards producing subtly different wines as they stretch from village to village. This is particularly true of Pommard, which, despite being so small (just 320ha of plantings), has 28 different climats leading, in the words of local winemaker Aubert Lefas of Domaine Lejeune, to 28 different wines. Vineyards' different aspects, altitude, and soils cause such a variety of terroir. The altitude of vineyards ranges from 250 to 330m; although most of the best Côte d'Or vineyards are halfway up the slope, some of Pommard's, such as Les Epenots in the northern part of the village, are lower down due to particularly shallow topsoils. These result in lighter expressions of Pommard, while vineyards in the southern part are higher up and are iron-rich, leading to deep coloured, more powerful wines.

Les Croix Noires vineyard with Les Chaponnières on the other side of the road and Les Rugiens behind it

There are currently no Grand Cru vineyards in Pommard, due to disagreement among local winemakers when the appellation was created in 1936. Just over half of Pommard is Premier Cru (116ha); two of those vineyards, Les Epenots and Les Rugiens (which means red-coloured because of the iron in the soil), have applied for Grand Cru status which will take another ten to fifteen years to achieve.

the style

Described by Victor Hugo as a fight between night and day (C'est le combat du jour et de la nuit), it is hard to generalise about the taste of Pommard. Each vineyard has its own style, ranging from light and elegant to rich, tannic, and powerful - complicated further by the style of each producer. Due to the wines' tannins, Pommard is considered one of the most ageworthy of Burgundy's appellations. It's also 20-30% cheaper than Gevrey-Chambertin, one of Burgundy's most famous villages, and therefore well worth investing in.

the tasting


Domaine Maillard Père et Fils La Chanière 2012

This was the fruitiest and easiest drinking of the wines I tasted, with lots of ripe, fresh red berry aromas of raspberry and strawberry, as well as liquorice, vanilla, and paprika, with surprisingly ripe tannins on the palate. Its fruity, forward nature made it very popular with the Americans I was tasting it with. ✪✪✪✪

Domaine Parigot Les Riottes 2012

From the bottom of the slope rather than the top, this provided quite a contrast with the first wine. A deeper colour, with a meaty, smoky nose, firm tannins giving the wine stucture, and concentrated aromas of cherries and blackberries. ✪✪✪✪✪

Maison Louis Jadot Clos de la Commaraine Premier Cru 2011

The first two village wines were from the fruity, ripe vintage of 2012, while three of the Premier Cru wines were from the more difficult 2011 which produced tannic, less concentrated wines. This Premier Cru (one of Thomas Jefferson's favourites) from major producer Louis Jadot was a little disappointing, with blackcurrants and figs and rather drying tannins, but the next two wines demonstrated that 2011 is indeed capable of quality wines. ✪✪✪✪


Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot Les Jarolières Premier Cru 2011

Perhaps the highlight of the tasting, from Les Jarolières Premier Cru on the border with Volnay. From 65-year-old vines inherited from Boillot's grandparents, the wine had wonderfully pure, precise fruit aromas of raspberry, red plum, blackcurrant, and blackberry, with a bitter, smoky spiciness, and firm tannins. The wine was aged in 50% new French oak, which could have dominated, but Boillot does not practise pumping over or punching down during maceration in order not to extract too much tannin, resulting in a very balanced wine. ✪✪✪✪✪

Maison Joseph Drouhin Les Rugiens Premier Cru 2011

A wine which perhaps showcased the winemaker Véronique Drouhin's sensibilities as much as the highly-regarded, iron-rich vineyard. Véronique Drouhin is a winemaker who aims for finesse and elegance in her wines, and with just 20% new French oak this was a reserved, restrained wine. However, the aromas were extremely concentrated, with fine, ripe, integrated red fruit aromas, and dried roses and dried herbs such as tarrogon giving the wine a subtle depth. ✪✪✪✪✪

Domaine Lejeune Les Argillières Premier Cru 2008 

Also called En Largillière (referring to its clay soils), this is an example of how Pommard can age. Quite restrained on the nose with developing aromas of mushrooms, undergrowth, and dried herbs, it was on the palate that the expressive, subtly powerful aromas shone. The tannins were drying and structured, with refreshing acidity, and a long finish with raspberries and cherry stones. Fermented on whole clusters with no destemming, this was Pommard at its most individual yet characteristic: elegance and power combined. ✪✪✪✪✪