October 28th, 2023Wine notes …

with Clive Hartley

Field Blends
In the tiny Great Western sub-region of the Grampians, Best’s have their Nursery
Block within the Concongella vineyard which has grape vines first planted in 1866.
They have 39 different grape varieties planted in the tiny 1.2-hectare plot, with eight
varieties still unidentified. Some of the rarer red grape varieties include the obscure
and nearly extinct gueuche noir as well as fer and aubun. All three originated in
France. Whites include the likes of furmint from Hungary, dourado from Portugal
and troven from France. With so many grape varieties, Best’s make two wines from
the Nursery Block, an excellent field blend of the whites and one from the reds.
Field blends have gained more attention in recent years, and I like them. As the
old saying goes ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ and field blends seem
to make more interesting wines than single grape varieties. Often the white wines
are a blend of the more aromatic grape varieties. I like the expressive aromatics and
texture that these blends create. Australian examples have often been inspired by the
traditional gentil and edelzwicker wines from Alsace that blend together riesling,
muscat, pinot gris, and gewurztraminer. If you want to try a top field blend from
Alsace look no further than the wines of producer Jean-Michel Deiss.
Returning closer to home, Hanging Rock Winery in the Macedon Ranges does
a delicious field blend of riesling, gewurztraminer and pinot gris from its Jim Jim
vineyard, aptly named Jim Jim Three. Another cracking example is by Tasmanian
winemaker Samantha Connew with her Stargazer wines. She makes a complex, wild
fermented wine from pinot gris, pinot blanc, riesling and gewurztraminer called
Tupelo which is named after the honey produced from the Tupelo black gum tree.
Riesling and pinot gris/grigio are well-known white grapes. However, gewurztraminer is a bit unloved by Australians. It can be very pungent, lack acidity, has high alcohol and a phenolic mouthfeel which I guess might not be attractive to some people. It’s a maverick sort of wine, a loner, on its own, but partnered with riesling and co. it seems to settle down and plays an important part in the blend. If
you want to explore gewurztraminer on its own, Delatite winery in Mansfield does a
plethora of wines involving the grape including a gewurztraminer schnapps.

Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer, educator and consultant. His Australian Wine
Guide (7th ed) is at Paradise Books in Daylesford or visit www.australianwineguide.com.au