HOW DOES a country change the image of its wines? For the past few years, the French have been worried by the success of the New World producers in selling branded wines, and stressing the names of the grape varieties, whereas the French have relied on the regional names to promote their wines.
On the other hand, the Australians have suffered a cooling in the customer’s ardour for brands from south-eastern Australia. Now, the individual styles of the wine-producing vineyard areas of the country are being promoted, together with the grape varieties for which they are best suited. Thus, if our preference is for Semillon, we should first consider those from the Hunter Valley; if it is for Grenache, we should look at McLaren Vale.
The body that is responsible for promoting these wines is Wine Australia, and it has come up with the idea of a competition as a way of educating us. If you log on to www.wineaustralia.com/regionalheroes/, you are confronted with a rack of 20 wines.
You choose your wines, and are then given an assortment of adjectives to describe them. If you select the right ones, you are entered in a weekly draw for a case of wine.
I had mixed results, but I got ten out of ten for a wine named Barossa Valley GSM, a name that is a complete newcomer to me. Even now, I am not sure I would recognise it from the description I gave it.
Although I think this is a great initiative, is there not a danger that you might, for example, think that the Adelaide Hills are known solely for their Sauvignon Blanc? Yes, the micro-climates and the soils might be best suited to individual varieties, but the Barossa Valley and Margaret River, for example, are areas covering a range of terroirs and temperatures.
It is not clear whether the 20 “Regional Heroes” of the competition will be changed regularly. Will we have the opportunity in the future of virtually nosing and tasting a Marsanne from Goulburn Valley, or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Wrattonbully?
This desire for regional names appears to be working through to the High Street. Not long ago, more than 90 per cent of the Australian wines listed by Sainsbury’s were from south-eastern Australia. Now, its Taste the Difference range includes a Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 from Coonawarra (£7.99), produced by the Katnook winery, and a Barossa Shiraz 2006, from St Hallett.
Here are some other suggestions if you want a real, as distinct from a virtual, tasting of some “Heroes”: Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, Yering Frog 2006 (£6.49 a bottle, if you buy two, Majestic); Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir: Red Hill 2006 (£9.99, Oddbins); Clare Valley Riesling: Neagles Rock 2007 (Yapp Bros www.yapp.co.uk). Ask for their wine list: it is one of the best-written in Britain, and the latest has many amusing illustrations by Glen Baxter.
I would also like to recommend two unsung heroes: Thorn Clark Eden Valley Pinot Gris 2006 (Booths, £7.99), and Tahbilk Goulburn Valley Marsanne 2006 (Sainsbury’s, £9.99).
|
back to Pastimes
previous story
|
next story 
back to top
