RedtoBrown News EXCLUSIVE - Broken Hill International Wine Show launched: “Set to revolutionise the Australian wine industry"

Last night the Broken Hill Chamber of Wine and Food Commerce, in conjunction with the Far West Alternative Wine Growers Collective announced that a new annual wine show would be held in the historic mining town, starting next year. The event, officially titled ‘The Broken Hill International Wine Show’, is scheduled to be held at the same time as the Sydney Royal Wine Show in February of each year.

The Broken Hill International Wine Show
 is set to boost tourism in 'The Silver City'

The concept is the brainchild of former wine marketer and freelance wine judge, Johan Trambly-Churchill. At the official launch, Trambly-Churchill was excited by the possibilities the wine show offered the town and Australian wine drinkers.  “This is a real win for Broken Hill. I commend the winemaking pioneers in this town for supporting me in pursuing my vision”. Trambly-Churchill outlined his plans for the event in an introductory 15 minute sound and light presentation. Included were a history of wine making in Broken Hill and interviews with the owner of the one wine bar in the town.  Trambly-Churchill also revealed that the Broken Hill International Wine Show would have 35 different classes of wine that receive a trophy. As an added extra, 25 special awards would be distributed amongst the trophy winners, for unique classes such as "best young semillon, not from the Hunter, paired with sautéed scallops" and "best single site, 100% whole bunch, cool-climate syrah".

Trambly-Churchill claimed the Broken Hill International Wine Show would also revolutionise the way wine shows are judged in Australia with a unique judging panel concept. “Organisers of this wine show realised that there are issues with wine shows when age-worthy wines of pedigree from a great vintage don't even win a bronze medal, while wines from the riper, cheaper, or "quaffer" category wines are awarded a trophy. To combat this tendency, we developed the ‘Galena Tasting Panel Method™’. It will really shake up the wine judging world”.

Such was the excitement following last night's presentation, several wine
 corporations had already submitted samples to be entered into next year's Wine Show (inset)

Trambly-Churchill elaborated slightly on the ‘Galena Tasting Panel Method’ in his presentation, noting that when assessing the entrants, each tasting panel would taste 140-150 wines a day, with a Chairman of Judges and an international judge brought in to adjudicate when there was a disagreement. In response to a question from the audience querying how this new method differed from the traditional show panel system, or how anyone could possibly taste that many wines in a day and be confident in their assessments and scores, Trambly-Churchill was quite vague, mumbling something inaudible that referred to ‘The Galena Stone’ making the final decision on all Trophies, before ending his response by stating that further details on the judging method would be released closer to   the date of the wine show.

The mysterious Galena Stone had yet to be identified when this article went to print,
though some wine exporters believe they may have found it (inset).

As the finale to the presentation, Trambly-Churchill announced an Australian Wine Show first – the introduction of a ‘Rhodium medal™’ for best wine in show. Following the presentation, Trambly-Churchill noted that the organising committee had toyed with the idea of a platinum medal for the best wine in show, but "platinum medals have already been awarded in the past”. Trambly-Churchill also highlighted the impact of the new medal. “The focus groups we surveyed liked the idea of a ‘Rhodium Medal™’ and we think it will make our wine show really stand out”.

When asked why the Broken Hill International Wine Show was occurring at the same time as the Royal Sydney Wine Show, and whether this would have an impact on the popularity of the event, Trambly-Churchill was bullish. “I am confident that this wine show will stand up to any held in Australia. February is a relatively quiet month for wine shows, but on every weekend in February we still had one or more clashes with a notable wine event. We had to make a call on which one to go up against in February, and the Royal Sydney Wine Show was our choice. We did not want to clash with the Cootamundra, Condobolin, Katherine or Mt Isa wine shows, and holding it one week later in March would then bring us into conflict with the Karratha and Derby wine shows – all of these events are highly influential, so we settled on the clash with Sydney”.

Those in the know believe the upcoming Karratha
Asia-Pacific Wine Show will unearth some real gems

Though the representatives from major wine corporations refused to comment at the launch, it is expected that the Broken Hill International Wine Show will receive thousands of entries from wineries eager to possibly have the new Rhodium medal placed on their bottles. One wine executive who asked not to be named was quoted as saying that the wine show would improve sales of wine in the troubled $5-15 bracket, and could also be used to shift some aged material. “We love these wine shows, despite them being a bit of a lottery. If the public keep buying wines based on the ‘bling’, we will keep submitting them to be tasted amidst 1000’s of other bottles – it is a lottery with nice dividends, money for jam. Literally”.

Squirrels and Woodchips: Autotune and the Over-use of Oak in Wine

“This is anti-autotune, death of the ringtone

 This ain’t for Itunes, this ain’t for sing-along

I know we facin a recession

But the music yall makin gonna make it the great depression”

Jay Z – D.O.A (Death of Autotune)

I am more a fan of indie guitar music, but Jay Z has a point in D.O.A – the proliferation of songs filled with autotune is not a promising trend for music, especially any musician aiming for some form of artistic credibility.

Personally, I see the overuse of oak in wine as the oenological equivalent to over use of (or in my view, 'any' use of) autotune in the production of music: if the fruit was top quality, the wine would likely be just as good with the oak turned down a few notches. If the fruit was poor quality, no amount of oak will ever fully mask this fact. As with 99% of autotune-heavy music, neither style of wine will live long in the memory, and if it does, it is likely to be for the wrong reasons.

For those not familiar with autotune, it is the computer voice tuning/pitch assistance program that enables even the tone deaf to sound bearable when recorded, and can be tweaked to create a ‘unique’ vocal effect. Musical sadists like T Pain and the Black Eyed Peas have embraced the software, and music has not progressed artistically one iota as a result. Luckily, in the years since Jay Z downloaded on autotune not many artistically credible musicians (across multiple genres) have embraced autotune in the same way as T Pain.

There was consternation in the wine cellar when cult contract wine maker Brice Dickenson suggested their wine could have used a little more new American oak.

Ironically, unlike music with autotune, the wine industry seems more inclined to drown a wide range of different wines - excellent, underrated, average and ordinary - in a layer of oak. Perhaps the lower incidence of death by autotune vs death by oak at the above average to elite level is due to the added production options when making music compared to wine.

The tragedy with overuse of oak in wine is that many wineries inflict it upon their best grapes: their reserve crop. If I had a dollar for every time I tried an estate wine that was far superior to the more expensive liquified oak tree reserve, I would be a millionaire (ok, maybe if I had $150k for every time). Somehow I cannot see Paul McCartney in the studio wanting to add an electronic autotune robot voice to the verses in Yesterday (noting  Yesterday was his Beatles, not Wings era), or Kurt Cobain insisting he have his grungy growl in the chorus of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' soar like a chipmunk as in Cher's horrendous autotune defining song, ‘Believe’.

“Do you believe in wine without oak? I can taste some fruit in this glass,
but really can’t taste it strong enough”

I am not saying every winery does this –unless rudely oaked wine is their house style, the elite winemakers get it right more often than not depending on the fashion of the day. Furthermore, in some very lucky vineyards it is harder to make a bad wine than a good/great one. 

Unfortunately, I have had too many glasses of (relatively) expensive, cellared, over oaked wine; the fruit trying valiantly to peep through in its death-throes. In these situations, I cannot help but think that there are many similar wines out there that could have been timeless classics, were it not for too much tinkering with the oak meter.

For our non-Australian readers, the Australian wine industry has battled its oak (and acid) demons for some time now. You need only compare a late 1990's/early 00s (Parker Points aspiring) Hunter Valley Shiraz with their equivalents being made today to realise how much of a positive difference reducing the amount of new oak had made to the wines. The Region’s ‘voice’ is heard, unaccompanied and solo: infinitely more enjoyable and long lasting without the wine equivalent of autotune smothering it. This example is one I would love to see more often in some other regions.

The Black Eyed Peas inspect one of their many low-yielding, biodynamically grown Pinot and Riesling vineyards in between recording of their new autotune-lathed album.

At the lower end of the wine market, it is all out marketing and stylistic warfare. We have wine companies marketing non-vintage fruit and herb infused cooler as wine, low calorie fizzy alcoholic grape juice as wine, and the topic of this post, cheap, sweet, heavily oaked (chipped) reds and whites.

At this end of the wine and music market, the use of oak and autotune is not so much of a tragedy as a lazy lost opportunity. The $5-$15 wine segment is as much awash with sugary sweet wines as it is heavily oaked wines – most commonly in combination, though there are more than enough straight out sweet wines.

As with the lower end wine market, the music industry is overflowing with sugary sweet pop and RnB songs that chart one week and are forgotten the next. The music is generic, the style derivative, the attention span of the listener fleeting, and the cultural impact of the song, negligible.

Part of me would love to see smarter, well-crafted throw-away pop songs being produced, or a higher percentage of intelligently conceived, quaffable wines released.

One is, stupid, cynical, sickly sweet, infantile and supposedly attractive to the 25- 35 year old female demographic. The other is David Beckham
      

However, in this segment of the music and wine markets, autotune and heavily oaked wine is merely one of a multitude of problems facing both industries and the topic of a much longer conversation (to be held with a glass of oaky Cabernet in hand and the dulcet, autotune-affected tones of the Black Eyed Peas playing in the background. Not.)

Face-Off: TarraWarra Estate 2004 and 2008 Reserve Chardonnay

The RedtoBrown Wine Review appreciates a nice bottle of Chardonnay. This noble grape is on the upswing, following the Kath and Kim ‘Cardonnay’ backlash and the seemingly irresistible rise of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc. Part of this renewed interest in Chardonnay is a result of some very nice leaner (some might say meaner) examples entering the market that have countered the sunshine in a bottle stereotype. Personally, I am just as enthusiastic and excited by what I would term the ‘evolved’ style of chardonnay in Australia that balances robust but controlled fruit flavours with intelligent use of oak (good quality, and a smaller percentage of it new).

In recent years, TarraWarra Estate under winemaker Clare Halloran has produced several examples of this relatively lighter, balanced style of chardonnay. The wines Red and I have tried in the past have been generous, though not overwhelming, flavoursome yet structured.
On 22 June this year we were lucky enough to try two of the TarraWarra Estate Reserve Chardonnays at the TarraWarra Cellar Club Dinner. Tasting notes, Face-Off style are below:

2004 Reserve Chardonnay (13.4% abv, $60 rrp)

Red: A lovely Chardonnay that is drinking at its peak now. It has a generous Chardonnay nose, with some nice nuttiness. Time has seen this wine develop a beautiful richness on the palate and it was perfect with a rich chicken dish. If I’m nitpicking I felt the spicy oak has never quite truly integrated with the fruit, but ultimately this doesn’t detract from the enjoyment that it delivers. 4 stars

Brown: The 2004 is drinking very nicely indeed. There is some evident oak on the finish, though it does not detract from the evolving fruit flavours and developed rich creamy texture. Having enjoyed a magnum of the 1998 Reserve a full 11 years after release, I would not be surprised if the 2004 is still drinking well in several years time. In saying that, it is near its peak (for my tastes), so personally, I would be drinking up.
91Pts/ 4 Stars

2008 Reserve Chardonnay (13.4% abv, $60 rrp)

Red: This is an impressive Chardonnay that I think will rival the great 05 given time. It’s still reasonably tight, but everything is there. Lovely grapefruit. Lovely spicy oak. Just enough creaminess to let you know where it’s going with time. Great structure and length. Everything in balance. It provides plenty of satisfaction right now, but give it a few more years and it will take things up another notch again. A beautiful Yarra Valley Chardonnay. 4 Stars ++

Brown: The 2008 Reserve is made in a familiar TarraWarra Estate style: a style as noted in the introduction that I am a fan of. It has youthful power, balancing grapefruit and lemon pith fruit flavours with cashew nut creaminess, French oak-driven spice and fresh acidity. It is easy to drop the ‘B’ word (balance) in relation to this wine. The wine is not flabby, rather fitting its suit snugly; it is a relatively youthful wine that is drinking well now, but will clearly develop further flavour, complexity and texture. In 2013/14 it will be crying out for some oven roasted chicken to accompany it. 93pts/4 stars

The Amateur Wine Blogging Community - The Big Karoake Bar in the Virtual Sky?

It is becoming quite common to find an internet post or twitter comment that is critical of the emergence of wine blogs. The increase in the number of wine blogs is analysed by critics and defenders alike. This analysis leads to sometimes repetitious, sometimes unique and original debates on the positives and negatives of this form of wine communication (noting many would disagree wine blogs represent such a thing).

Generally I am interested, and at times amused by the discourse, and I hope this has been conveyed to some extent in the non-wine review posts on RedtoBrown (by both Red and I). If you want to read a constructive, well-written article on this topic, particularly from the perspective of what I would term a 'professional-standard' wine blogger, I would strongly recommend "Should Blogging Get a Flogging" by Patrick Haddock (aka ‘WiningPom’ on Twitter). The post below is a slightly abstract ‘interpretation’ of the discourse mentioned above with an intentional focus on the amateur, or "amateur but hoping, wishing for professional status" wine blogs.



The Amateur Wine Blogging Community - The Big Karoake Bar in the Virtual Sky?

On many levels, writing about wine online is a bit like singing at a Karaoke bar. It is easier to sing the songs when everyone else is joining in on the action, but when you are forced to sing solo, some songbirds fly the coop. This is often the case if you are in a room of close friends or complete strangers. For one reason or another not everyone is prepared to sing at the top of their lungs in this situation out of embarrassment or a desire to avoid being ridiculed.

Like singing in the group karaoke song, commenting on a wine in the comments section of a wine website can reduce the embarrassment or focus on your opinions. One can comment on a wine and have their voice heard to a point, but the comments are in the context of a review and other people’s opinions and comments – not a solo statement that puts your opinion front and centre. Not every lover of wine feels the need to comment on wine online. Those that do tend to express themselves in the form of a personal wine blog.

"Islands in the stream, that is what we are"

For the karaoke singers and wine wine writers who are confident enough to belt out a solo rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ or post articles about wine in a blog like the one you are (hopefully) still reading, there is no guarantee the quality of both will even be of a tolerable standard. Alas, with both forms of expression (dare I call it ‘entertainment’) there are many who feel they are producing ‘art’ of a professional standard that should be shared far and wide (well -beyond the walls of the RSL or the confines of a sporadically visited wine blog).

Only the most deluded of both groups would maintain their output is first class every time– and if it is, they are in the minority. For many, many more people, wine blogs range from being a fleeting hobby to a  long term (if part-time) passion to which considerable spare moments are allocated.  At both extremes, only the most desperate or deluded are thinking they ‘coulda been contenders’ On the Waterfront style if they havent taken concrete steps to leap into the wine writing world in a serious way yet write as if they expect to receive the same kudos as wine writers (paid and unpaid) who have.

In many ways, the contestants on Masterchef mirror this point: if they were serious about cooking they would have undertaken an apprenticeship years ago instead of trying to break into the food industry soley off the back of Masterchef. The same applies to the wine blogger who makes no moves to work at vintage or gain wine qualifications yet still harbours the desire to break into the wine world.

"I coulda been a contender, I coulda been a paid wine writer.
I coulda produced wine promo vids like James Suckling.
Now I am a wine blogging nobody, a bum.
Do you have a dime? I need to pay my monthly internet bill"

Unlike Karaoke, wine writers and commentators are not forced to read an amateur wine blog. If you are stuck in the bistro of the local RSL or inner city pub and the Karaoke competition fires up, said punter can leave the venue or willingly endure the noise until you finish your chicken parmigiana. With a wine blog, if you are a wine connoisseur, a Master of Wine, a paid wine writer etc and accidently stumble on a poorly written example, you are one click away from safety. I cannot stress this point enough - it seems in many cases, the critics of wine blogs rarely read them (for clearly stated reasons based on the perceived quality of the content) yet also seemingly do not want them to exist in the first place either.

Kenny sings on Wine Blogging: "You gotta know when to hold'em,
know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, and know when to click that mouse and
switch to a paid wine website instead".

The motivations for this form of ‘wine writing consolidation advocacy’ are varied, but part of me cannot help but think it is due to the inexorable dilution of the paid wine writers craft – not the democratisation of wine writing per se, but the dilution and diversification of wine writing, wine communication and wine expression that is paradoxically both bad and good for the wine industry.

Just as a pitch-perfect rendition of ‘My heart will go on’ during a Karaoke night will not change the music world one iota (though it might make the night of the Newtown RSL Bingo crew), the writings of an amateur wine blogger will rarely affect the wine industry. The inference that people are starting up wine blogs to match the quality of printed wine publications, receive thousands of free wine samples, make money and make an impact seems to be an assumption made more by the critics than the advocates. A fraction of these outcomes would be ample reward for most wine bloggers who are doing what they do out of a personal passion, not an alterior commercial or narcissistic motive.

"Aww Hans Blix! How many times do I have to tell you:
My amateur wine blog will not eat into your Wine Spectator circulation figures!"

In conclusion, will wine blogs take over the wine writing world? Highly unlikely. Will they form an at-times interesting and engaging niche in the wine communication and wine appreciation discourse? They already have, and this is an upwards trend. Will they ever represent the wine equivalent of Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie Duets? If they do, I will not linger long on that wine blog!

Post intended for debate/pondering/instant closing of the Explorer Tab. Thoughts and comments welcome.

Fact or Fiction: More than 5 primary flavour descriptors in a wine review = wine bullshit?

As is the case with most topics on wine, there is a 3000 word treatise waiting for me to post on the topic of wine writing bullshit, and all the associated reasons behind why this term exists in the first place.
Irony being a wonderful thing, I am probably contributing to this topic at the moment (to add to the collective mass of wine writing bullshit, look out for a comparative analysis on wine wankers and wine snobs coming soon).

However, to focus on the second fact or fiction question (first one is here), it is a relatively narrow and qualified one: if you read a wine review that has more than 5 primary flavour descriptors do you tune out, become angry or condemn it as being wine bullshit?

If your answer is 'fiction'/5 descriptors is fine, would you draw the line at 10 descriptors? 15?  If your answer is 'fact'/5 descriptors is too much, to quote You Am I, how much is enough? 3? 2? a generic 'tastes like red/white wine'?

Interested to hear your  thoughts on this as there are many variables (Grange vs Yellowtail = considerably different number of flavour descriptors, etc), and I have not even mentioned how many descriptors should be used to define a wines nose/bouquet.......

James Suckling and R Kelly – Searching for (unintentional) satirical perfection

 

"I'm here with Red to Brown"

 

 If you have a passing interest in wine and how it is covered on the internet and social media, you may have noticed the promo videos put out by wine critic James Suckling for his new website.

For those not familiar with James Suckling, he is the former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator Magazine. Suckling recently gave up this dream role to strike out on his own and try to shake up the wine world, with a newly created subscription wine website the first step in that process. Unfortunately for James, the wine video ‘teasers’ released prior to the site going live have been panned by a few people on the internet, generating considerable comment and critique in the process.

The critiques range from the relatively civilised and considered to the rather crude and fully anonymous.  For a pretty broad overview of the new media critique on James, the following link is a useful backgrounder: (Link)

To momentarily get serious, this post is not a defence of James Suckling. However, I must say that he has probably been given a bad rap – the talk of him being evil, exploitative and a douche are going too far, and arguably highlights the wine snob tendencies of some critics. His promo clips are objectively pretty bad, and I will not subscribe to his website (for financial reasons and the fact I can get better wine advice from other subscription sites). Though he is a well respected wine critic and has every right to try and make money with his wine website and pitch it to a certain type of wine buyer if he wants to. If you don’t like his approach, try to create something positive to compete with it (free, subscription, whatever). A topic for another post, and not the primary focus of this post, though I feel it needed to be said.

What amuses me about the subjectively awful promo ‘teaser’ videos is that they are so bad they are actually good. Furthermore, they remind me of a legendary set of video clips/songs by an artist from a different genre: R Kelly and his HipHopra opus: Trapped in the Closet Episodes 1-12.

Of the several Suckling promo teasers, two stick out - the “Searching for Perfection” video (or ‘I’m XY points on that’) and the “Im Here with” teaser.
The by-line from the first video has already been appropriated as a favoured term/meme on various social media forums – eg: “mocking the James Suckling promo videos? – I’m 92 points on that”. As if this gem wasn’t enough, I would personally argue that his ‘I’m here with’ teaser takes it to another level with his subtle and mysterious “I’m here....” closing line. James – what are you here for? Some more wine reviews at an elite winery?, some subtle seduction? Where is here? Bordeaux?, Burgundy? Piedmont?, the Cessnock Pub?

Both clips in my wine nerd /wanker view are pieces of unintentional satirical comedic genius. That might be taking it a bit too far, but I must say that the clips grow on me over time and become more funny than they are pretentious or condescending.

I find the James Suckling promo videos amusing as wine satire to the point it is still hard to believe he produced these videos as serious vehicles to generate hype for his website. If Suckling came out tomorrow and said “it was all a viral ploy to generate a bit of hype for the website, but primarily to poke fun at wine critics from the inside out” I would applaud him. As of the time of writing, the joke has not been called, so we must assume the Suckling teaser videos are serous and sincere.

To add to my enjoyment of the suckling clips, the teaser videos remind me of R Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet series of songs/video clips. (If you are yet to be introduced to the best example of “so bad it is good’ pop culture, go here for a taste).



"Don't make me pull out the wine equivalent of my Beretta"

 In terms of similarities, both were released in regular instalments (episodes 1-5 of Trapped...) over a number of weeks, presumably to let the suspense build. Self evidently, they are both so bad, that for me they are actually quite good. Thirdly, there is ambiguity regarding whether both sets of clips were intentionally or unintentionally funny, adding to the intrigue and enjoyment (unintentionally creating satire is a feat to be admired, even if the creator tries to defend or distance themselves from the end product).

R Kelly has argued that Trapped in the Closet 1-12 was intentionally tongue in cheek, and that his initial claims to have invented a new genre of music (hiphopra) were part of the gag. His less impressive (or less amusingly cringe worthy) follow-up ‘Trapped in the Closet 13-22 was arguably an attempt to further paint Trapped... as a joke and not a serious piece of art so poor it was assumed by most to actually be a joke.

Noting that Suckling does not look like coming out like R Kelly and admitting his clips are a joke, part of me would love to see Suckling go loco and really shake things up – eg: move into avant garde wine clip territory and release a teaser clip that is the wine equivalent of a Zaireeka era Flaming Lips song. Based on his ‘serious’ wine teasers, such a clip would make a 100pt Robert Parker Jr wine review or a Gary Vaynerchuck ‘sniffy sniff’ Wine Library TV review seem even more passé, smallfry and decidedly conventional (even if delivered from a helicopter).

Wine nerds/wankers like me can only dream of such an outcome in the wine entertainment world, but for now I will have to settle on James Suckling searching for perfection in one of the many locations of the world he is visiting and monitoring the at-times amusing backlash against the promotion for his website. Go easy on him:  it may turn out to be serious, or a joke, but it is entertaining regardles. For that, James Suckling should be sincerely commended.

Red's Off to the Yarra Valley

Well I’ve just watched Australia get carved up 4-0 by Germany in the World Cup, but I can console myself with the fact that the missus and I are off to Melbourne and the Yarra Valley for a few days at the end of this week. This will be my first trip to the Yarra and I’m really looking forward to it. While I’ve had a reasonable amount of Yarra Valley wine over the years, it’s not a wine region that I feel especially familiar or knowledgeable about, and at present, apart from some Hoddles Creek wine, it is not very well represented in my cellar.

With many Yarra wineries having released their 08 reds, it seems from most reviews that it’s actually looking like a better than expected vintage, so I’m looking forward to trying a lot of these wines. The 2010 vintage has also had very good early reports, so it will be interesting to get a sense of exactly how these wines are shaping up.

Can’t wait til I get down there!

Red

Eden Valley or Clare Valley Riesling?

I was reading an article by Tyson Stelzer in Decanter magazine recently about Clare Valley and Eden Valley Riesling. Of his top 15 picks from the 2009 vintage, 11 were from the Clare Valley. This preference for Clare Valley Rieslings over the Eden Valley is something I’ve noticed more generally amongst critics. Halliday’s best Riesling lists generally have about double the amount of Clare Valley. Jukes’ latest top 100 wines has 7 Clare as against 3 Eden, while Nick Stock’s Penguin Wine Guide has 40 odd Clare reviews compared to only 4 for the Eden.

The reason this broad trend has caught my attention is my preference for Eden Valley Rieslings. The lovely floral bouquets, and the minerality and acidity on the palate of the Eden generally does it for me just that bit more than the rounder, more citrus flavours of the Clare. Eden Rieslings from Pewsey Vale, Poonawatta, Torzi Matthews, and Peter Lehman have all tickled my fancy of late. Before I get into this further I want to say that I love Clare Rieslings. Recently I’ve had the 09 Grosset Polish Hill, as well as the 09 Petaluma Hanlin Hill, and both were absolutely stunning. However, in nominating a preference between these two wonderful Riesling regions, I fall on the Eden side of the ledger.

But I guess my question is what is the reason for the clear dominance of Clare Rieslings amongst wine critics? Is it people’s opinion that Clare Rieslings are definitively better than those of the Eden Valley? Is it possible that in the slightly more objective elements of wine like length, structure, and balance, that the Clare produces better wines.

Do people prefer the flavour profiles of Clare Riesling?

Is it the history of the Clare and the fact it there are possibly more historic wineries of real pedigree? Wineries like Knappstein and Grosset produce truly iconic Riesling, but are they given higher regard than a Pewsey Vale Contours or a Leo Buring Leonay?

Or is it nothing more complicated than the fact that there are more wineries in the Clare with more hectares of Riesling?

Whatever the case it’s an enjoyable conundrum. Both regions occupy a loving place in my cellar but for the minute the Eden has the edge for me . . .


Red

White wine . . . a slave to fashion

Brown's musings on the state of play with Riesling - http://redtobrownwinereview.blogspot.com/2009/12/heggies-eden-valley-riesling-2009.html - is just one example of how much the broad, commercial success of white wine is down to trend and fashion. Red wine, while far from being immune to this, seems slightly less affected.

Riesling

I agree with Brown's comments on Riesling. Apparently it was popular in the 1970s (I was born in 1979), and I remember my grandparents were fans of Riesling. Not sure if the grandparent's thing is a common experience, but if it is it would explain a lot of why Riesling is only slightly more popular than sherry!

Chardonnay

I've had two experiences this year which have confirmed to me that the relative decline of chardonnay is once again a thing largely of fashion.

A few months back I went to a WA wine tasting which had a lot of the smaller Western Australian wine producers. I went with a mate who loves his wine, but is not especially knowledgeable about the subject. He was the classic "I like sav blanc, and don't like chardonnay" type drinker. By the end of this tasting he had changed his tune. While certainly not walking away from his love for sav blanc, he'd discovered the joys of chardonnay.

I went to another WA wine tasting a few weeks back which I have written about in a previous post - http://redtobrownwinereview.blogspot.com/2009/12/margaret-river-tasting.html . As mentioned, when the people in the room doing the tasting were asked which chardonnay they liked, they preferred the buttery, oily Moss Wood Chardonnay over the leaner, cooler Voyager Chardonnay. Not only were these people expressing a like for chardonnay, but indeed for a heavily oaked and malolactic Chardonnay that is supposedly not what people want anymore!!!

Pinot Grigio/Gris

A variety that has become increasingly popular, but personally has yet to really appeal to me. I was talking to a guy who had recently opened up a wine bar in Sydney and he told me that his Pinot Grigio was the dominant wine on his wine list. Asked why this was, he said his target market for the bar was professional women. Having done extensive surveys, he discovered that the number one preference of all these women who were surveyed was Pinot Grigio. While not discounting the fact that some of the people surveyed genuinely like the varietal, I can't help but think that this preference is down to it being a trendy wine and even the fact that the name kind of sounds sexy.

Albarino/Savagnin

Can you feel sorry for a grape variety? If you can then I feel sorry for the fiasco that has befallen the artist previously known as Albarino (and obviously the growers of this variety). It was a variety that on the cusp of stardom, when it was struck down by a cruel quirk of fate (without going into detail the grape is apparently not Albarino and is in fact a variety known as Savagnin). Albarino is a great name, and it's one of those words you really want to roll the R on and give it your best Spanish accent. Combine the name with the fact that it is an aromatic wine that goes beautifully with seafood, I have no doubt that it would have eventually been very popular in Australia. Its new name could not possibly be more unattractive. Savagnin. Moreover, it sounds too similar to Sauvignon Blanc. Subsequently, I believe that regardless of the quality of Savignin that we end up producing in Australia it is consigned to being a secondary variety in terms of popularity.

Sav Blanc

The topic of Sav Blanc's rise has been the subject of hundreds of articles, reviews, posts and blogs. To be honest, while it's not my cup of tea, I can see why people who have little interest in wine and want something to quaff find sav blanc appealing. I think it's probably at its peak in terms of its popularity as a variety, and have no doubt that in 5-10 years time we will be talking about its relative decline.

Cellar worthy cheapies

One of the things I absolutely love is the number of incredibly cheap white varieties that are cellar worthy. Semillon is the most obvious example. As a wine that often only hits it straps after 10 years, it often represents amazing value. Marsanne from Tahbilk, along with Houghton's White Classic (a blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Verdelho) are two others that also need at least 5 years in the cellar. Once again none of these wines could be considered fashionable and as a result, at $10 a bottle, they offer incredible value for us wine tragics.

Personally I love my Chardonnay and Riesling, and these two varieties dominate my white wine drinking and cellaring. I'm still undecided what my ultimate preference is between the two varieties. Certainly if cost is taken into consideration then Riesling wins hands down, but even if it can be expensive, Chardonnay at its best is a wonderful wine. I look forward to having these two varieties tussle for supremacy on my palette in the coming years . . .

Red