The Long Mile Blog
Will the real Australian wine please stand up?
It’s amazing that Australia has had so much success in such a small time in the global wine market. Going from zero exports to number one wine supplying nation to the UK and American markets in close on a decade.
But like an onion, the world has only just started to pull back the layers of what the individual regional winemaking areas in Australia have to offer the premium wine lover. Super premium regions like the Barossa, Mc Laren Vale, Clare, Coonawarra, Margaret River, Yarra Valley and the Hunter Valley just to name a few.
My Home, the Barossa boasts a history of making wine from the 1840s and is home to well known and historic wineries from the mid 1800s like Penfolds, Orlando Jacobs Creek, Henschke and Yalumba, and now the region boasts close on 180 premium wine producers. This simply reflects the quality of the wine produced in the region, which has inspired so many.
But it is hard for the wine loving community to really, truly understand what the regions above and the Barossa can offer. Wines with great depth and body that can only stimulate the senses today and if you’re lucky enough to have a cellar, what time will offer for the best of the season and the region.
I can only encourage people who love new wine experiences to look for a specific regional name from your Australian wine selection, and experience what the great regions of this unique wine growing land can offer.
Keep peeling back the layers, and you will have yourself a life changing wine experience from Australian regional wines. Take every opportunity to taste the cross section and you to will start to see and celebrate the differences that these regions provide. Just like France, or Italy etc, these regions have diverse profile of soils, climates, varieties and unique inspiring winemakers.
In time I know that these areas – and others – will have a truly a lasting effect on the wine lovers of the world as they take the time to taste and try them. But only a visit to Australian wine regions like the Barossa, were you can immerse yourself totally, will you truly see what you may be missing.
05/09/2011 at 7:46 PM
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Old Vines, what’s the big deal?
The rich tapestry of the Barossa is exemplified through a winemaking and grape growing culture of over 150 years. Along with this amazing legacy we’re fortunate enough to be custodians to some of the oldest vines on the planet!
So what makes these gnarly old vines so special? I decided to ask some of the Barossan maestros of old vine wines to share their thoughts.
Paul Linder – Winemaker, Langmeil Winery
Old vines planted 1843
‘Old vines have the ability to show tenacious, audacity for survival through many differing climatic vintage conditions. The fruit gives wine with masculine intensity, power and great structure as well as feminine perfume and finesse.’
Richard Langford – Winemaker, Elderton Wines
Old vines planted 1894
‘Although they may not always have to colour profile of some of the new clones the fruit intensity & weight that these wines create is superior to other blocks even when “on the same dirt”. This weight/mouthfeel makes the wines incredibly rich.’
Troy Kalleske – Winemaker, Kalleske Wines
Old Vines planted 1874
‘Old vines add an extra dimension that you just don’t get from younger vines. Wines from old vines are not necessarily ‘bigger’ but they have an extra ‘wow’ factor. I see a beautiful savoury element as well as a textural richness that you only get from old vines making them inherently complex and balanced.’
Reid Bosworth – Winemaker, Kaesler Wines
Old vines planted 1893
‘The Barossa has a lot of diverse soil types, both across the geography of the sub-regions and also down, deep through the soil profile. It’s their ability to get their toes deep into a lot of unique soil, that’s very specific to the Barossa and Australia that sets them apart. They reflect the true potential of a site, not just the superficial surface two metres. At 100 years plus and counting, no region can lay claim to such a deep and thorough expression of their soil and terroir as the Barossa. At depth there is a feast of minerals and trace elements that only exist in the Barossa, once metabolised by the vine they create signature in their tannin and fruit that only exists here.’
And as for the world wine media….
James Halliday – The Australian Magazine
“Old Vines produce grapes with an inherent physical and chemical balance, enabling these grapes to produce wines that speak eloquently of place, variety and time”
Jancis Robinson – Jancis Robinson.com - UK
“The world of wine has one irreplaceable resource; I refer to seriously old vines, which, in the right hands, can produce wines of incomparable concentration and complexity”
Matt Kramer – Wine Spectator – USA
“Yes, old vines can make a difference. Everyone knows that nothing is more important than what the Italians evocatively call la materia prima, the foundation ingredient. If you’ve got a good site and good winemaking—which are hardly incidental—then old vines can make a discernible impact. Does all this matter to you as a wine buyer? It does to me. All other things being equal (which they rarely are, I know), I’ll buy an old-vine wine every time. It’s a kind of insurance policy, wouldn’t you say?”
The world's oldest vineyards
Wine is something that has been made for over a millennium, but within that time there have been some ups and downs. One of the worst eras was in the late 1700s early 1800s when a devastating vine pest – Phylloxera invaded Europe and slowly decimated the wine industry killing off a large percentage of their vineyards. At its height the French government offered a massive reward of 300,000 gold francs to any one that could eradicate this pest – but to no avail.
Fortunately, Europe eventually discovered that some American native vines are resistant to this Phylloxera pest. They slowly began grafting their European clones onto these American vines, enabling Europe to replenish their wonderful vineyards and once again produce great wine.
In South Australia though, distance helped to ensure they were saved from Phylloxera during this period so no vineyards were destroyed, and South Australia is now believed to be home to some of the oldest and rarest vineyards in the world. In simple terms: vines that grow on their own roots.
The highly acclaimed wine region The Barossa boasts a few of these rare and Ancestral vineyards; Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard is 130+ years old, Marco Cirrillo Grenache planted some 150+ years ago and the Langmeil Freedom Shiraz vineyard which is 165+ years old.
These rare vineyards aside, the Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale still have one of the highest concentrations of old pre-Phylloxera vineyards in the world. It is also thought some of these vineyards are from clone material potentially lost to Europe during this period of Phylloxera.
I would not suggest that there is a quality difference between own roots and grafted root stock vines, but for those people who love to discover and taste history and rarity keep your eyes out for the odd bottle that manages to find its way overseas.
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