The next steps for Aussie pinot noir and chardonnay
On a visit to London earlier this month, Tom Carson, the winemaker at Yabby Lake in Australia’s Mornington Peninsula, hosted a tasting of Aussie chardonnay and pinot noir from some of the regions around Melbourne where these varieties are doing particularly well: Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong.
Helm Wines
Helm Wines, in the Canberra District, produces the tastiest Australian rieslings that I’ve come across.
Loess is more for grüner veltliner
In Lower Austria there is a divide between riesling and grüner veltliner which keeps riesling on primary rock and grüner veltliner on loess. Loess, it seems does remarkable things to grüner veltliner – the wines are creamier, fatter, richer, and more immediately fruity in youth.
Is Soave’s garganega gauche or great?
The mainstay of Soave is garganega and the purpose of the tasting was to look at this grape variety to judge whether it deserves the bad press, or if it’s an interesting or even more than interesting grape variety.
Bodegas Valdesil, Godello 2009, Valdeorras, Spain
This was the outstanding wine from Waitrose’s recent press tasting. It’s a real stunner, complex, sophisticated, layered with freshness running through its veins.
Douro grapes – lessons for climate change?
Portugal’s Douro valley is a complex, extreme, mountainous vineyard region; and it’s hot. Given the region’s long viticultural history, the vines tend to be well adapted to the extreme conditions. Vines are planted at river level, from around 100m above sea level, to above 500m up the slopes. Vineyard aspects cover the full 360°. In wine terms, these guys are at the vanguard of how to deal with a warming world.
A sextet of historic Rheingau rieslings
The Rheingau VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) rocked into London in early March to promote riesling in their small Rheingau region of Germany, and brought along an historic sextet of riesling to illustrate the point.
Ten minutes with … Bill Downie
Having lived and worked half the year in Burgundy for five years, Bill Downie set up by himself, in Victoria, in 2003, with his first Yarra Valley pinot noir, under the William Downie label.
Canberra District – shiraz shining
Shiraz from around Canberra is proving to be a little gem, alongside its other jewel, riesling. The region has long had its icon wine, Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier, Langton’s listed since 2005, coming from the oldest vineyard and winery in Canberra District, and others are aspiring to greater things.
New world pinot noir – a blind tasting tour
A blind tasting of pinot noirs from Australia, California, Chile, New Zealand and Oregon revealed less national identity than might have been hoped for.
