Wine Notes

‘Man the barricades!’ and prepare to defend Australian shiraz. In the recently published National Vintage Report for 2024 white grapes increased to 51% of the national crush and was higher than red grapes for the first time in a decade. 

Italian feast - a wealth of opportunities to taste some wonderfully different wines. That is the joy of choosing Italian grape varieties and I’ve recently been able to see a good cross section of wines made in Australia.

Place of Changing Winds vineyard is located between Mt Macedon and Mt Bullengarook in the Macedon Ranges. Different clones of pinot noir and chardonnay vines were planted between 2012 and 2018.

The Canberra District is a wine region that often flies under the radar but is well worth visiting. Most of the vineyards are actually in NSW.

The Good Food and Wine Show will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from today May 31 to June 2.

It is not something I’d normally recommend, serving a white wine (chardonnay) with steak, but I had it the other night and it made a comparatively good match.

Winemaker Peter Fraser from Yangarra Estate in the McLaren Vale is passionate about some grape varieties you might not be too familiar with.

If you look closely at a label from the wine producer Sutton Grange its motto or byline is 'wines that stand alone’ and tasting through their line-up recently they lived up to their name.

Cool climate cabernet sauvignon can be a disaster. It is a late ripening grape variety, so to grow it successfully the vintage needs to be a long one with a warm sunny autumn.

In wine education circles we have a standardised acronym that covers the questions of determining quality in wine – it’s call BLIC and stands for balance, length, intensity and complexity.

Go out and visit a wine region. A leading wine CEO is pleading with Australians to buy local red wine in support of grape growers facing tough years ahead.

Apply within! There is a vacancy in Australian red wine styles at present. Shiraz has lost its Midas touch but there are plenty to choose from and one of them applying is grenache.

Sauvignon blanc can separate a room of drinkers. It is a grape that you either love or loathe. It is disliked, partially, because of the deluge (or savalanche) of wines from New Zealand where it makes up 63 per cent of total plantings and 85 per cent of all exports.

'Tis the season to be jolly. So here are some recommendations to enjoy the festive season that can be sourced locally.

Once people know I’m a wine educator and have published books and articles on wine I dread their next question, which invariably comes. What’s your favourite wine? My stock answer is “what today…or yesterday?

Glenhope Vineyard is both an old and new vineyard. It was planted in 1995 by Tom Lazar from Virgin Hills, so it is coming up to 30 years old and in its prime.

Since planting grapevines on an old potato farm in 1998, Passing Clouds has become a stalwart producer in the Macedon Ranges.

In the 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.

Aglianico and I go back a long way. In my 20s I was asked to ‘bring a bottle’ to parties and this was my ‘go-to’ wine. I took a double magnum. Well, no one said it couldn’t be a big bottle. I still remember the wine, it was D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture from Basilicata in Southern Italy.

Researching champagne provides an opportunity to explore a rich history, a fascinating production process and, of course, to drink a glass of stars.

We have finally turned the corner on winter, but as any resident of this region knows, we are far from over the cold weather. So, there is still an opportunity to sit in front of an open fire and sip a good red. These fireside wines need to be bold and beautiful with plenty of guts and layers of flavour.

On the world stage cabernet sauvignon easily outguns shiraz/syrah. It dominates the ‘left bank’ in Bordeaux, France and is famous in the Napa Valley in California. In Australia we have the Yarra Valley, Coonawarra and Margaret River as specialist regions for cabernet. Yet it runs a poor second to shiraz in Australia.

The fiano grape has truly established itself in Australia, with over 100 producers having planted it since Mark Lloyd from Coriole in the McLaren Vale planted this delicious white in 2001.

Pinot noir is a significant grape for the Macedon Ranges, along with chardonnay. Climatically, we are on the edge of being able to ripen the grape. However, that is not a bad thing as the grape responds well in a marginal climate.

With the 2023 vintage now put to bed Oliver Rapson from Lyons Will Estate had time to summarise the year. “In a nutshell, the start of this year was exceedingly wet, delaying budburst substantially, which in turn had a knock-on effect across every stage of the vine development, including flowering, veraison and ultimately ripening.”

A cool climate is not the growing conditions you imagine suiting a grape like shiraz. It is more at home in hot regions like the Barossa or Hunter Valley. Classic Australian wines are full bodied, rich, alcoholic with ripe jammy, dark black fruit aromas. However, when it is grown in chilly regions it develops more of a savoury medium bodied palate with distinctive pepper aromas. Ask winemaker Llew Knight from Granite Hills about pepper – he’s an expert.

The Gambero Rosso Top Italian Wines Roadshow rolled into Melbourne last month with over 50 producers represented from across Italy. It is a once-a-year opportunity to taste around 200 Italian wines.

All points of the compass: Living in the Central Highlands of Victoria is like being in the centre of the universe. Well, in wine terms that is. Because at every point of the compass you can drive to a different wine region that offers you a diverse and interesting day out experience.

Some of the first gamay vines were planted in Australia by Len Evans in 1976 at his aptly named home, Loggerheads. I remember driving past the vines on the way to see him and questioning his sanity. “You obviously don’t have vision,” was his tart reply.

John Burford is the owner/operator of Limestone Track Vineyard near Guildford.

Herbal Lore's Roger McLean is The Local's latest Legend of Lockdown.

HEPBURN Springs Distillery had its official opening on the Queen's Birthday weekend.

LOÏQUE Allain and Chris Dilworth were settling in for a quiet night in Hepburn while keeping an eye on the streaming of national wine awards

SAILORS Falls Estate, Villas and Vines, was established 20 years ago by Robert and Margaret McDonald.

Established in 2007, the Young Gun of Wine awards has been seeking and assembling a long list of 50 emerging vintners from across Australia.

ELEVEN agribusinesses in Hepburn and Macedon Ranges shires have received grants through the Small-Scale and Craft Program.