It’s amazing to think just how young Australia is. As far as winemaking goes, the country’s oldest winery was only established in 1849. It was around about this time that the Barossa Valley started to become somewhat of melting pot. British gentry and Lutheran emigrants from Prussia were the main imports, hence why we’ve got all these German surnames on Barossa wines.

A young region in winemaking terms it may be, but Barossa is known for its old vines. Penfolds, followed closely by Langmeil, have the oldest surviving vines in the world, and to this day those vines are producing astonishing wines. Langmeil’s 1843 Freedom Shiraz will attest to that.

Barossa Valley now has sixth-generation winegrowing families. It has gone through some torrid times. From 1860 to 1880, over-production was a big problem, and in fact even today is an issue many producers are really struggling with. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit the worldwide economy, but the toughest times were probably the 1970s. Consumer tastes started to lean towards red and white table wines and the fortified market had been dwindling since the 50s. Some family-owned businesses sold up to multinationals and the government helped fund the Vine Pull Scheme to remove old, low-yielding vines. Those that have survived are now priceless.

Today, Barossa Valley is stronger than ever. More than 75% of area planted is under red grape vines, and this is rising. Those gnarly old Grenache and Mourvedre (Mataro/Monastrell) vines, originally used solely for fortified’s, are now being harvested for top-end reds of amazing complexity, and although the fortified production is small, the quality is exceptional. The region is now rightly asserting not only its importance to the Australian wine industry but the inestimable value of its storehouse of century-old vines and historic wineries.

This video shows Langmeil’s James Lindner keeping in touch with his German roots.

Pictured: Historic photo from the Barossa circa 1880s, copyright Langmeil Winery.

If you love Australian wine, July’s contest is for you.

This month, we’ve the stunning latest edition of James Halliday’s Wine Atlas of Australia to give away, the award-winning and definitive book on Australian wine, with information on more than 550 wineries from over 70 regions. Each section is sumptuously illustrated, with analysis on each region, the grapes grown, the soil, the climate and the winegrowing history, and an introduction to the most respected Australian wineries and their signature labels.

Include two of our favourites from one of James Halliday’s 5 star wineries Langmeil – the 2009 Three Gardens and the brand new 2010 Eden Valley Chardonnay – plus a topographic map of the Barossa Valley, and you’ve July’s prize pack.

To win, you must be subscribed to the Curious Wines newsletter. We’ll be including a not-too-difficult question and instructions on how to enter in our July newsletter going out soon.

Just missed it? Sign-up here and you’ll automatically get it sent to you.

Good luck!

We’re delighted to announce we have three exciting new additions to our line-up from Some Young Punks, Australia’s hottest young winemaking team. Monsters Attack Riesling from the T’N'T range, and Fierce Allure and Lust Collides from the Live and Rare range. Anyone getting a little hot under the collar yet?

Monster, Monsters Attack Riesling (T’N'T)

A full 750ml of Monster Mayhem, bottled up for far too long, breaks and takes over the unsuspecting city. Trixie and Tessa’s middle names are Danger and Adventure but is the maelstrom released by the raging beast too fierce to be calmed by their charms? – will they arrive in time or will a deadly rage be realised?

Fierce Allure Cabernet Sauvignon (Live & Rare)

Biodynamic, single vineyard McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon. Fourteen months in French oak barriques and only 482 cases produced. Classic, herbaceous cabernet, supported with dark red fruit and brooding tannins.

Lust Collides Mataro (Live & Rare)

Biodynamic, single vineyard McLaren Vale Mataro. Fourteen months in French oak barriques and only 524 cases produced. Dark, savoury and seductive, Mataro is the Catalan name for the French Mourvèdre. Wonderfully textured, layered with dark fruits, a spark in the mid-palate and a smooth, soft finish.

“In a well made wine disparate elements co-mingle to create a beautiful and unified impression. Forces fused through allure and collision; Force and beauty as two sides of the same coin.”

Live & Rare

Col McBryde (Australia’s Young Gun Winemaker of the Year), Jen Gardner (self-confessed nerdy yeast expert) and Nic Bourke (self-confessed insidious miscreant) have released some beasts in the past, but this is just taking the biscuit. Enjoy!

Thankfully President Obama decided not to visit Croke Park on Monday, the venue for the annual A+ Australian Wine tasting. Had the American president wanted to poop the party, there would have been a lot of unhappy wine people ushered out the back door.

The crowd was made up of importers, retailers, restaurateurs, wine writers, and that band that groups pretty much all of us, ‘wine enthusiasts’. All were there to see the quality on show from the land down under, and as well as this we got a feel for the diversity, colour and character of the Australian wine community.

If you can imagine a large room with 29 or 30 tables (perhaps 6-10 wines per table) each showing a range of wines from different wineries and importers. The day began with the ‘silent zone’. The winemakers and importers had to leave the room and give the tasters some peace to work away themselves. It was also nice because it wasn’t too busy at that stage.

Stand no. 25 was a focused table, ‘The Pinot Pulpit’. Fifteen Pinot Noir’s from across Australia, all to be tasted blind as the bottles, and thus the labels, were concealed. There was a tasting route called ‘The Riesling Trail’, taking the taster through 17 different Rieslings. I thought the highlight was the tutored tasting. There were in fact three tutored tastings which took place in a separate room during the afternoon.

I went to the Chardonnay tutored tasting presented by Bernard Hickin, Chief Winemaker at Jacob’s Creek. ‘The Changing Face of Australian Chardonnay’ was the headline title for the session. A class of around 30 enthusiasts tasted nine Chardonnay’s over the space of 45 minutes, with Bernard discussing each one and tying it in with the above title. Aussie Chardonnay is moving away from super-rich, opulent, textured styles and is now offering more restraint and layered complexity using a more delicate balance of older oak.

I was gutted to miss the last tutored tasting – ‘Barossa Through the Ages’, which included a 1980 Eden Valley Cabernet Shiraz, a 2004 Semillon, and two we’re very familiar with here, Glaetzer’s 2005 Amon-Ra and Langmeil’s 2004 Freedom Shiraz. I had to catch a plane and was worried “the beast” might have been holding up traffic. In actual fact it got stuck here for most of the afternoon, so I was fine for time. You can check out Dermot Nolan’s Barossa beauties post on that one. *Damn*

And I must say, going back to Semillon, one of the highlights of the tasting for me was Peter Lehmann’s 2001 Semillon. Seriously, I mean seriously, brilliant.

The Australian wine industry is today very keen to have consumers buy in to their diversity. Wine Australia, the organisation representing Australian winemakers throughout the world, have put a lot of effort into marketing the regional aspect of their offering, but equally, the influence of the winemaker remains a hot topic.

Years ago many Australian winemakers, and indeed those of other New World countries, would have scoffed at the French term “terroir”. For the French this ‘sense of place’, essentially where the grapes are grown, is the biggest influence on the quality of the wine as each individual plot of land displays its own subtle characteristics in the final product. Nowadays I believe Australia and the rest of the New World are much more respectful of this concept and the best winemakers have wholeheartedly embraced it.

An article by Matthew Dukes in the latest issue of Decanter (May ’11), entitled “The Many faces of Australian Shiraz”, says much about this change in attitude and how it has affected the style of their signature grape variety.

“The modern Shiraz producer is looking to impress with regionality, not volume. We don’t produce a single Australian style but a multitude of regional styles”.

Rob Mann, Cape Mentelle

And it is a more elegant, savoury Shiraz where everyone is now heading according to Andrew Margan of Margan Wines, despite the US palate still yearning for the blockbusters. This is where the winemaker can really make his or her own personal stamp. By picking at a particular time and by using certain winemaking techniques, they can achieve that elegant, fruit-driven, multi-layered, sophisticated style with the good structure and finish to complement. There has also been a shift from American oak to French oak, the latter of which provides a touch more restraint whilst helping to soften tannins further.

Ben Glaetzer claims that Shiraz offers a wide spectrum of flavour because of its extraction potential. In other words, depending on the region and the winemaking technique, Shiraz can go from a light, spicy, drink-now proposition, to a full, rich, fruity blockbuster, and anything in between.

“rather than maximising extraction, as has historically been the intention, many winemakers have become – or are becoming – aware that cooler fermentation, less cap management*, and extended skin contact after fermentation all contribute to a more savoury style of Shiraz.”

Ben Glaetzer, Glaetzer Wines

Jammy, ripe and high in alcohol. That’s all we once knew about Australian Shiraz. Now it is time to formally welcome the new generation.

(*cap management involves pushing down the skins that float to the top of the wine)

Australia is one country I truly admire for their pro-active approach to engaging with consumers from around the world. We joke that the French must look on in bewilderment and fear that such a young wine producing nation is so far ahead of the game on the marketing scene. Whereas as the Old World has had time to let the quality of their wines establish their reputation, it’s the New World that has to start from scratch, offering something different and striking a different cord with consumers.

That’s what Wine Australia (A+ Australian Wine) do. A collaboration of Australian wineries who pay into a pot every year to fund the promotion of their industry in foreign markets. Only last week, we had Ireland’s Wine Australia representative, John McDonnell, show the Bandon Wine Club how Australia is not just about cutesy Koala-labelled bottles of Chardonnay. As an independent tasting, John included wines available throughout Ireland from different retailers.

Pirie South Riesling 2006 (Tasmania) – We’re onto the ’07 in this range, but the ’06 was holding up brilliantly, with plenty of life left yet. Apple, citrus, a touch honeyed, this dry white was regarded highly for its soft, “broad” palate, accessible for those who would usually scorn at the thought of drinking Riesling.

Tahbilk Marsanne 2008 (Central Victoria) – Although not everyone’s favourite white of the night, this was my favourite, not only because it appealed to my curious side, but I liked the savoury element. It was honeyed and textured with a lick of spice. Highly recommended.

Little Yering Station Chardonnay 2009 (Yarra Valley, pictured) – This one encouraged discussion of a very current issue, as its one in a new wave of Chardonnays made without the use of oak. I thought it had fresh mango and papaya on the nose with soft citrus flavours on the palate and a very clean, crisp finish.

Langmeil Three Gardens GSM 2006 (Barossa Valley) – Red fruit, black cherry and mint nose, a touch vegetal with vanilla, blackcurrant and red fruit palate. This isn’t a Barossa blockbuster and Mike thought it was better for it. Impossible not to like, but particularly good if you’ve acquired a taste for more restraint in your wines.

Wakefield St Andrews Shiraz 2001 (Clare Valley) – This was the show-off wine of the night and one from John’s personal stash. As I understand this vintage is no longer available. Big pepper and Tandoori spice with gamey hints and a fruitiness covering the red, black and blue berry fruit spectrum. Soft yet evident tannins, very luxurious. Gorgeous all-round.

Majestic Ferngrove Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Franklin River) – The only wine tasted from Western Australia, this cool climate Cabernet was again showing the importance of regionality and ‘terroir’, something the Australian’s are really pushing at. Perfumed and floral aromas, dark fruit, aniseed and licorice flavours were held together by soft yet gripping tannins.

Woodstock Muscat (McLaren Vale) – The last wine to be tasted. Only we didn’t taste it because I forgot to grab it from the shop before I left work that day. Grrrr!! Pity, as it would have been an even better end to an excellent night.

Picture sourced from wineaustralia.com

We’ve just received a limited (and in all likelihood once only) allocation of the new 2009 vintage of one of Australia’s icon wines: Amon-Ra by Ben Glaetzer, with a score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate to suggest one of the best vintages yet!

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Singapore’s only Master of Wine and now Asian wine correspondent and reviewer for The Wine Advocate covering the wines of Australia and New Zealand, recently scored the 2006 Amon-Ra 95 points. Remember this the same exceptional vintage that Jay Miller, previous reviewer for the region for the Wine Advocate, scored a whopping 97-100 points three years ago. Could the 09 be even better?

“The 2009 Amon-Ra Shiraz displays a very deep purple-black color and floral notes of violets and wilted rose petals over mulberries, blueberries, star anise, mocha, fenugreek, cumin seeds, cloves and tree bark plus some toasty oak. Full-bodied and rich yet not overly so, it has refreshingly crisp acid and firm grainy tannins texturing the long spicy finish. 96+ points.” – Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate #192, Dec 2010.

This is a wine not to be rushed, with Perrotti-Brown suggesting “at least two years more in bottle” and drinking well through to 2024. So, worth the investment? Matt’s got his stashed away already.

The recent launch of apluswines.com is a very welcome addition to Wine Australia’s armoury, providing a much more approachable, consumer-friendly website, supported by a social media presence through Twitter and Facebook. I’ve already had a good look at the site and I’ll certainly be encouraging our wineries to submit a profile if they have not done so already. I noticed Bleasdale, Heartland, Langmeil (nice video, guys) and Glaetzer have already created profiles with contact details and links to their own sites.

To briefly explain, Wine Australia is the overseas promotional arm of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. Its role is the generic marketing of Australian wines on behalf of its member wineries. It is funded entirely by the Australian wine industry and select corporate sponsorship under the Australian Wine Export Partnership.

It’s a useful thing to have links to so many wineries in one place, but in addition the site acts as a learning centre, starting with the basics of wine making. Grape to Glass is an easy read bringing you through the wine making process and finishing with a case study from Stonier wines in Victoria. The Wine Guide is a useful introduction to the different types of wine and then the Wine Regions section introduces the reader to the regions and the importance regionality, an angle the industry focuses on a lot these days.

As mentioned before, the wine industry in the Old World can learn much from Wine Australia. New Zealand has done a great job making their offering accessible, and within the US, the Americans market themselves brilliantly, but there hasn’t been the same effort made by the French and Italians. A number of our producers don’t even have a dedicated website, and those that do could do with major improvement to their image, navigation and content. It’s all about creating awareness and educating the consumer, and Wine Australia seem to be the benchmark.

This month we’re celebrating over 160 years of unbroken winemaking history. Direct from Langhorne Creek, every Irish wine drinker now has access to one of the most exciting range of wines Australia has to offer. Our range from Bleasdale is on offer until the end of January.

Verdelho

Like Shiraz, Muscadelle and Frontignac, Verdelho comes from a fortified bloodline. The Portuguese varietal comes from the island of Madeira and is responsible for the wine of the same name. Planted at Bleasdale in the early 1920s it contributed to the company’s renowned white fortifieds through the 40s and 50s.

Planted on loam and sandy loam soils, Verdelho is harvested for table wine in early to mid February, generally with approximately 8-9 grams total acidity aiming for a finished wine with around 7 grams TA. Alcohol levels average between 12.5% – 13%.

Langhorne Creek Verdelho has citrus and tropical fruit characters often with a hint of snow pea. It is preferably consumed young but stills drinks well up to 2-3 years.

The 2009 Potts Catch Verdelho has lifted fruit salad, strong melon flavours and a clean zippy palate.

Malbec

A Bordeaux native (but increasingly the province of Cahors in South West France and New World Argentinian vineyards), Malbec was first planted at Bleasdale in 1961 and was the base for the first table wine produced under the Bleasdale label.

Malbec is traditionally difficult to grow as it often sets badly. Ripening is unpredictable and highly dependent on crop load and vine balance. However, when it has a full crop the quality tends to improve rather than weaken through vintage which means harvest can take place anytime between February and April.

At Bleasdale Malbec is generally harvested slightly over ripe rather than under ripe, which can lead to lightly herbal flavours, a factor of high variability within vine and bunch. Langhorne Creek Malbec has a rich plummy aroma and tends to show strong boysenberry fruit flavours and a full middle palate offset by slightly bitter tannins, which is intrinsic to the variety.

The 2009 Second Innings Malbec shows vibrant primary fruit flavours of plums, red berries and spices, finishing soft and round with velvety smooth tannins.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon in Langhorne Creek date back to the 1890s – it is considered to be one of the first regions in Australia to plant the Bordeaux variety.

Langhorne Creek Cabernet is grown on various soil types from floodplain silts and loams to clays and limestone. At Bleasdale it is generally harvested in late March to early April when the fruit is consistently ripe and showing good natural acidity.

In their youth Bleasdale Cabernets display a slight potpourri aroma but as they age they tend to lean towards the ripe herbal rather than green capsicum spectrum typical of cooler climates. Wines from excellent vintages should age gracefully for 20 years.

The 2006 Frank Potts is rich and full on the palate, the Cabernet (76%) showing big notes of chocolate and the Malbec (21%) giving ripe plummy fruit.

Shiraz

Bleasdale was the first winery to plant Shiraz in Langhorne Creek in the 1920s. The best Langhorne Creek Shiraz comes from vineyards planted on tight clay soils with a limestone influence.

Shiraz is generally harvested from late February through to March. Bleasdale seeks grapes with reasonable natural acidity and the results are aromatic wines with blackberry and spice on the nose and a rich full palate of ripe plums.

The 2008 Generations Shiraz has massive ripe fruit, rich black plum flavours and intense dark berry fruits. It takes a while to open up, but will easily travel to the end of the decade. Plenty of chewy tannin, but not bitter or excessively astringent, a big but balanced wine.

What the critics had to say

Bleasdale produces some of the most reliable as well as fairly priced wines – Robert Parker Jnr.

Good reds at very good prices. Bleasdale keeps on keeping on. – Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh

This is a serious bottle of red bubbles that romps over many at double its price – Tyson Stelzer reporting on the Sparkling Shiraz.

An outstanding winery capable of producing wines of the highest calibre – James Halliday.

The Potts’ in Langhorne Creek never did things by halves. The 120 year old, hand-sawn red gum lever press in the Bleasdale cellar weighs 3.5 tons, is 15 metres long and stands 7 metres high. Makes today’s modern winery machinery look like a Lego set.

This month we’re celebrating over 160 years of unbroken winemaking history. Direct from Langhorne Creek, every Irish wine drinker now has access to one of the most exciting range of wines Australia has to offer. Our range from Bleasdale is on offer until the end of January.

The region

Ironically, it was Frank Potts’ abilities as a sailor that led him to Langhorne Creek – and the life of a landlubber winemaker and vigneron.

He saw the potential of the region when he explored it in the 1850s, convinced that the stands of tall red gums promised fertile soils and reliable water.

Since Frank’s journey Langhorne Creek’s alluvial soils and surprisingly cool climate, nurtured by maritime breezes, has attracted many famous winemakers.

Langhorne Creek receives an average annual rainfall of just 380mm per year and flood events provide enough moisture in the rich deep soil profile of the flood plain to carry vines in these areas through the dry summer months. The majority of the vast vineyard plantings of the area use modern and efficient drip and sub-surface irrigation practices to maintain the water needs of the vines.

Access to water, coupled with cooling breezes from Lake Alexandrina that reduce evening temperatures and provide mild even growing seasons, help make Langhorne Creek an ideal wine growing region.

Despite this, much of the region’s fruit went into multi-regional blends and wasn’t acknowledged until the 1990s when a small group of long-term family growers – including Bleasdale – started promoting 100% Langhorne Creek wines.

Traditionally a red wine grape region best known for its full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon (and Cabernet blends) as well its elegant Shiraz, the region also produces exceptional white and fortified wines.

Langhorne Creek is now the centre of a vibrant grape growing and winemaking community which regularly wins national and international awards. Close to the boating, fishing and surfing attractions of South Australia’s south coast, it is a great place to visit and taste at cellar door.

A picture of how it all comes together

Watch for the cobwebs as you clamber down the old redgum ladder into the bowels of Bleasdale winery. Duck your head and enter the old domed cellar built in 1892 and gaze around the walls at French and American oak puncheons, hogsheads and barriques brim full of Cabernet and Shiraz.

They are all destined for Bleasdale’s super-premium Frank Potts and Generations releases but that’s years away.

For now each parcel of each variety is matured separately, with up to 200 different wines all expressing their own individuality based on micro-climate and soil type.

Wander on to the redgum tasting bench where in September every year you’ll find senior winemaker Paul Hotker and his winemaking team murmuring as they taste and spit red samples. This exhaustive three-day examination of every parcel of wine, aided by two independent judges, will create the script for each final blend to be assembled.

The outcome is not just about art and romance. Local growers wait anxiously for this time of the year when they know how their fruit will be graded and whether they receive a bonus for quality, rather than tonnes produced. It’s the way it should be, in the pursuit of quality

Vineyards

Being a nautical man, it’s not surprising that Frank Potts chose to plant a vineyard in a place that for a week or two occasionally becomes an inland sea. But how this natural bequest has been used by succeeding generations of the Potts family is more to do with ingenuity than miracles.

Bleasdale’s vineyards are situated on the fertile flood plains of the Bremer River, which runs parallel to Langhorne Creek. The region still experiences natural floods from the high rainfall that gushes out of the Adelaide Hills and heads towards the sea from time to time. It occurred to Frank that with the addition of floodgates across the river he could control the water for a short period and give his vines a deep soaking drink just before the parching Australian summer.

The other benefit is that the deep alluvial sandy loam soils have been built up by successive deposits of silt and nutrients which are left behind after each flood – a process which is about as close to Mother Earth’s seasonal rhythms as growing grass.

Langhorne Creek provides classic conditions for growing a range of quality red and white wine grapes.

Like the Barossa and McLaren Vale it has relatively modest natural rainfall and hot summers which limit crop vigour and yield and create a healthy environment where herbicides and fungicides only need to be used sparingly.

Similar to famous international maritime regions such as Bordeaux and Napa Valley, Langhorne Creek benefits from cool evening sea breezes which creates slow, steady grape ripening and intense flavour development.

The resultant red wines have fine tannin and acid structure for complexity and longevity while the white wines of the region have texture and length.

To be continued…

Click here to view our range from Bleasdale.