Mudgee Matters . . .

I’ve just spent a couple of days with the missus in Mudgee and I’m excited about wine from this region.

It was the first time I’ve been there, and as well as being a lovely place to spend a weekend, it’s also a pretty wine region of largely small, family owned wineries, largely concentrated just to the north of the town of Mudgee.

The interesting thing is that it's well and truly off the radar. It doesn’t receive much press. Its wines don’t get reviewed as much as other NSW wine regions, and the wines are even hard to find in Sydney. If there was any city where you’d expect there to be a bit of a presence it would be in Australia’s biggest city, being only 3 and a half hours away, and yet I reckon you’d struggle to find a single bottle of Mudgee wine in plenty of Sydney bottle shops. The other issue with the region is that it’s not entirely clear which grape variety it does best. Most other wine regions are synonymous with particular varieties (Hunter = Shiraz & Semillon, Orange = Chardonnay etc.), but with Mudgee is it Shiraz, is it Cabernet, or is it an Italian variety?

Well, after a couple of days there, I have a much better appreciation for the wine of the region. While I don’t think the point should be laboured, Mudgee’s climate does have some similarities to Tuscany. It’s continental, with warm days and cool nights, in an undulating region, with vineyards generally at about 400-500 metres above sea level. The validity in the comparison comes because I think that the region’s two best varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese (with some decent Merlot as well). I think there is some complex, age worthy Cabernet being produced. Much of the Sangiovese I tried was varietal and of genuine quality. Finally a few of the Merlots I tried had tannin and structure and therefore were a step up from the average Aussie Merlot.

When drinking a Mudgee red you can expect some earthiness along with a hint of chocolate. The majority of the reds that I tried (regardless of the variety) had a very appealing earthiness on the nose. You might be thinking this sounds a bit similar to the Hunter, but it is discernibly different (though I would struggle to articulate exactly why Mudgee’s earthiness is different from the Hunter’s!). There also tends to be a lovely hint of chocolate with many Mudgee reds.

In terms of vintages, 2005 and 2006 were excellent and there are still plenty of 2006 reds available at the cellar doors or by mail order. 2007 and 2008 were tough, though depending on the variety and vineyard location and management, there were still plenty of successes. I tried some excellent wines from both vintages. 2009 is looking very good, though is perhaps too early to tell. 2010 was tough again, with rain coming at the wrong time. Happily, when talking to winemakers and people working at the cellar doors, they are more than open and honest about the difficulties of various vintages. This is refreshing when compared to other regions/wineries where you’ll get the spin about the “vintage of the century”, or the dud vintage that is talked up as being good.

The reason I’m excited about the region’s wines, is not only because I’ve found a new (for me) wine region whose wines I like, but because as with many wine regions around Australia I think the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come because the judicious use of oak is on the increase. The best is yet to come because better clones of certain varieties are now being used. The best is yet to come because increasingly the right varieties are being planted in the right locations. Finally, a lot of the vines, particularly with the Sangiovese, are still relatively young, so you can expect the quality to continue to improve as the vines age. If Mudgee can have some luck in terms of weather conditions in upcoming vintages I think there will be some wonderful wines produced.

With limited time I probably didn’t even get to half the wineries in Mudgee that I would have liked to, but the wineries I went to that I really enjoyed included Rosby, Lowe, Huntington, Di Lusso, and Robert Stein. I’ll be reviewing some of their wines in the coming weeks . . .


Red

The Beauty of Barolo - Part 3

Our third and last day in Barolo was to be a full day of tastings.

Our first visit was to Sandrone, one of the more famous Barolo wineries, having received high praise from wine critics over the years.

Barbara Sandrone met us at the winery and took us through one of the most complete tours of a winery I have had. She showed us the vineyard where their grapes comes from, Cannubi Boschis. She then took us through their entire wine making process, from where the grapes were brought in, through to the on-site bottling. It was an impressive, well thought out set-up, in which gravity was used to move the wine throughout virtually the entire process.

The 2005 Barolo itself was a classy wine, of great structure and length. One thing that was noticeable was some really nice French oak on the nose. The wine was matured in the smaller French barriques. The use of French oak is something that the younger, more modern Barolo wine makers typically use. This is in contrast for example to the traditional Bourgogno Francesco Barolo, where the big, slavonian oak barrels are used. I like both styles of wine, but if I had to state a preference it would be for the traditional, slavonian oak wines. French oak I guess is a somewhat familiar flavour/aroma, whereas Slavonian oak was unique to me. The fact the slavonian oak barrels are far bigger than the French oak barriques means that there is less of an oak influence on the wine as well.

At 90 Euros, this Barolo was beyond my budget, and I wasn’t sure that it was so much better than some of the 20-30 Euro Barolo we had tried, that it justified the price difference. In saying that it, it was a wine that was perfectly balanced and gave me the sense that it would age beautifully.

Our next stop was Sottimano, a producer of Barbaresco. Barbaresco is half an hour north of Barolo, and the regular refrain is that if Barolo is the King of Italian wines then Barbaresco is the Queen. Barbaresco follows a lot of the same guidelines as Barolo, but is aged for only 2 years, not 3 years like Barolo. It is generally considered less tannic and more approachable at a younger age than Barolo.

The thing that I took away from the tasting at Sottimano was a belief in the influence of terroir on wine. Not that I hadn’t accepted its influence previously, but Sottimano provides the clearest evidence of this influence that I had seen. Two of their Barbarescos are the Curra and Cotta. These are two major vineyards in the Barbaresco area that are pretty much next to one another. Andrea Sottimano produces his Cotta and Curra Barbarescos in exactly the same manner. The vineyard treatment is the same, the grapes are picked at the same time, and the winemaking process is exactly the same. And yet they are distinctly different wines. The Curra is a darker, more tannic Barbaresco, while the Cotta while also quite powerful has a freshness and minerality that the Curra doesn’t. Both are beautiful wines. The difference between the two wines is 500 metres. 500 metres and the slight differences that means in terms of soil, exposure to the sun etc. is the sole reason for the distinctive difference that these two wines display.

After lunch we drove over to Serralunga D’alba. This pretty hilltop town northeast of the town of Barolo, is renowned for having the most powerful, tannic Barolo. Given how tannic a normal young Barolo is, I was keen to see what Serralunga had to offer.

The first Serralunga winery we went to was Palladino. We were hosted by an older Italian guy (with his niece translating), who had visited Australia a few years previously. He had loved his time in Oz, and when he heard we were from Australia we instantly became best of friends! His Barolos were very tannic, though still enjoyable to drink in my opinion. The best thing about the visit there was that we got to taste barrel samples from 07 and 08 (06 was already in bottle). This was the first time I had done any barrel samples, and it was interesting being able to get a snapshot of upcoming vintages. Interestingly Palladino are experimenting with both French and Slavonian oak with their upcoming wines.

Our final winery for the day was Germano Ettore. This winery is another great place to see the influence of terroir. Their two top Barolos are the Prapo and Ceretta, which are two vineyards once again only a few hundred meters apart. Compared to other Barolos, both are very powerful and tannic, but when comparing the two side by side, it is obvious that the Prapo is the prettier more aromatic wine. The Ceretta was literally the most tannic wine I had the whole time I was in Barolo! Mouth covering tannins had you literally chewing for a minute after you’d swallowed the wine. In saying that, it still had a beautiful nose, and good structure and length. I bought a bottle and its going to be in my cellar for at least 10 years!

If you are wondering why we only managed 4 wineries in a full day of tasting, that started at 10am and finished at 5pm, it was because it was virtually impossible to complete a winery visit in under an hour. Our hosts were all so incredibly friendly and generous that I reckon each visit lasted at least an hour and a half. They pretty much all showed us their vineyards, took us through the winery, and when it came to the tastings would take us through every bottle of wine and be more than generous with the pours!

So that was it for our 3 days in Barolo. I want to go back. While I feel I got a great insight into Barolo, the place and the wine, in another sense I feel like I only scratched the surface. As most of the wineries are small, family owned businesses, there are hundreds of Barolo producers, while I only tried wines from 10-15 wineries. I didn’t even try a wine from Castiglione Falletto, one of the main Barolo sub regions. Barolo is both a place and a wine, and I love both!

Another thing I haven’t even mentioned are the Barberas and Dolcettos of the region, which I loved as well . . . as well as the cheese and the chocolate! This is something I will post on as well in future.

My main thoughts now are, when can I get back there, and when will I be able to regularly afford to purchase Barolo in Australia which is normally $100 per bottle and more!


Red

The Beauty of Barolo - Part 2

The morning of our 2nd day in Barolo, we drove around to a number of other hilltop towns in the area. It was great fun driving along the winding roads, up towards each little town. It was incredibly picturesque, and each town would have a panoramic view across the rolling hills of Piedmont across towards the Alps.

Of course, everywhere you drove there were vineyards, often located quite dramatically on steep hillsides. This just whetted my appetite for the tastings in the afternoon.

After lunch we went to a number of wineries, including Damilano and Francesco Rinaldi & Figli. However, the one that stood out was Borgogno Francesco.

We drove into the winery on a whim, seeing it as we drove along. We weren't really sure whether they did tastings so we approached the house a bit sheepishly. We were greeted by an elderly man with a big smile and firm handshake. In my non existant Italian, and his non existant English, we worked out that we wanted to try their wines and were invited into their house.

We were greeted by a pretty chaotic family scene where a young girl was chucking a tantrum. Ushered into the kitchen we met a woman who spoke really good english. She was the daughter of the elderly man, who she explained was in fact Francesco Borgogno, the owner and winemaker. We soon struck up a great conversation with plenty of translation going on between myself on Francesco. The winery and the vineyard (Brunate which sits between Barolo and La Morra) was initially run by Francesco's father, and now Francesco's son was doing most of the winemaking. Francesco pronounced that his was the best Barolo. Without context that would sound like a pretty arrogant statement, but the way in which he said it, it didn't seem arrogant at all, and you could see it was borne out of pride for what his family had produced over many years.

The Barolo we had was the 2005. The first thing I noticed was the price. 16 Euro. This was the cheapest Barolo we had seen to that point, with most being around the 25 Euro mark, and obviously a number being a lot more than that.

The nose was beautifully fragrant, with roses and licquorice noticeable. The wine is from the famous Brunate vineyard, which typically produces very aromatic Barolo and this was definitely the case. It is also aged in large salvonian oak barrels, so there is not much noticeable in the way of oak on the nose.

The palate was full bodied, rich, with good length, and once again had some beautiful tannins.

This was one of the most enjoyable Barolo's we had tried thus far, and it was far and away the cheapest. We nabbed a couple of bottles.

All through the tasting, the family were incredibly friendly, with all sorts of cheese and meats coming out and very generous tastings (we had to almost physically stop Francesco from pouring us another glass!). The young girl's tantrum continued throughout much of the tasting, but was all part of the big Italian family experience. They were incredibly generous, and almost seemed honoured that a couple had travelled all the way from Australia and were tasting their wines, which to me was ridiculous seeing I felt lucky to be drinking such quality wine for free.

A memorable Barolo to match a memorable experience!

Red

The Beauty of Barolo - Part 1

I am at home this morning, as a leak in our bathroom has caused a veritable flood in our bedroom, and having done what I can to salvage the situation I am now waiting on the plumber. The plumber said he'd arrive between 10 and 11, which frankly could mean he will saunter up a 3pm. As such, I believe its a good time to write about the trip my wife and I made to Barolo, in Piemonte, Italy in May this year.

We had an amazing 3 weeks in Europe which saw us in London, Paris, Turin, and of course Barolo. While all the other places were suitably wonderful, with great weather to match, the 3 days we stayed in Barolo were for me the highlight.

Barolo is the name of the town, which lends its name to arguably the premier red wine in Italy. Barolo is an hour and a half south of Turin, in the region of Piemonte. Its is an undulating area, dotted with lovely hilltop towns, full of vineyards on wonderfully steep slopes, with the Alps providing an amazing backdrop to it all. It is incredibly pretty, and is often described as "Tuscany without tourists". I agree.

I would go there even if there wasn't any wine of interest to me there. That there was just made this trip even more memorable.

Barolo is not a grape, but rather a designation of quality if you like, or Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG). To call your wine a Barolo it has to

- be 100% Nebbiolo
- come from a specified area which includes the area around the town of Barolo, as well as nearby hilltop towns like La Morra, Novello, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga D'alba, Verduno, Cherasco, Verduno, and Grinzane Cavour. Indeed around some of these towns it is only certain designated areas that can produce Barolo
- be aged for 3 years - 2 in the barrel and one in the bottle
- minimum alcohol of 13%
- maximum production of 8 tonnes per hectare


I'd read lots of great things about Barolo, that it was the "King of wines, and the wine of Kings" etc., but I'd never even tried a nebbiolo (a very rare varietal in Australia), let alone a Barolo. The other thing I'd consistently read was that Barolo was very tannic and often verged on the undrinkable in its youth, but then would age beautifully over 10-20 years. So while I was excited, I also was slightly concerned that in tasting young Barolo we wouldn't be doing the wine any justice.

Our first day in Barolo, we arrived around lunchtime. After having lunch and settling into our bed and breakfast, we set off in the mid-afternoon to wander around the town of Barolo. After wandering along some lovely little cobbled streets, the first place we stumbled upon was the Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, which essentially is the wine tourist centre for Barolo. This was a great place to start, as the people there were able to give us an excellent overview of Barolo wine in general. For a few Euro we were also able to taste a reasonable selection of wines. My first Barolo tasting.

I wouldn't say I was 100% hooked from the first tasting I did, but I was pretty close. The first thing you notice is the colour. Barolo, even young Barolo is always light red colour with an orange tinge. Coming from Australia where many of our wine are normally very dark red, and even dark purple and inky at times this was definitely something different. The next thing is the smell of the wine. In some way this is the highlight of Barolo. The first couple of Barolo's I tried, and pretty much every subsequent Barolo, smelt beautiful. Cherries, strawberries, and roses, were the smells I consistently got with the first couple of Barolo's I tried, and then depending on the wine there were other smells like licquorice, spice, plum, and vanilla. These were the most fragrant and interesting smelling wines I had ever stuck my nose into. In some ways similar to the nose you might get on Pinot Noir, but better (not that I've ever had a truly top Burgundy).

On the palette you'd typically get the same fruit you got on the nose, but what was really noticeable was the length, structure and . . . bloody hell . . . the tannins! If you swirled it around in your mouth a few times your mouth would just be covered in these amazing, long lasting, chewy tannins. You'd stand there just chewing the tannins long after the wine had disappeared down your gullet.

I could see what people had meant when they talked about how tannic young Barolo was. However, I disagreed with them on one thing. I loved it! Saying Barolo verges on the undrinkable in its youth is ridiculous. These people who spout this line need to take a drink of Harden up!

Admittedly, the tannins are so strong that you wouldn't want more than a couple of glasses at a time before your palette was destroyed, and also I wouldn't bother pairing a young Barolo with any food other than bread, as the tannins would overpower any flavours you had in the food. But as for simply having a glass of young Barolo on its own, I'm all for it. Obviously Barolo gets better with 10-15 years in the bottle, with the tannins softening and the secondary characteristics coming out, making it a more complex, savoury style of wine. However, please don't ever believe the line that young Barolo is somehow undrinkable in its youth.

The rest of the afternoon, we wandered along the main street in Barolo where there are a number of little wine shops where you can do tastings of various winemakers from around the immediate area. We got to talk to a number of winemakers, and gradually started to get a sense of different vintages (though we were largely drinking 2005), and the different subregions and vineyards of Barolo. Most importantly we got to try numerous Barolos. Every wine was different, though they basicaly all follow the same path of having a beautifully fragrant nose, while having great structure and incredible tannins on the palette. The best way I can describe it to people who have never had a Barolo, is to imagine a wine with the nose of a beautiful Pinot Noir, with the palette of a young, tannic Cabernet. To me it's almost perfection.

If i wasn't quite hooked after the first tasting, then I was 100% hooked on Barolo by the end of the afternoon, with the alcohol, and the romanticism of being in a beautiful hilltop town in Italy on sunset, undoubtedly playing their part. I was now looking forward to the next day, when we would get in the car and drive out to a number of the wineries where we had made appointments. I couldn't wait!!!

Red

Barossa 2009 Vintage Shaping up to be a Cracker

Red and I returned from the Barossa Valley last week, having visited several small wineries. The most interesting point that we took from the trip was how good the 2009 vintage is shaping. Though I tend to take positive talk of the next vintage with a grain of salt, the universal, unprompted consensus was that 2009 will be a cracker made me sit up and take notice. From our discussions with wine makers, 2009 will be great for a number of reasons:

Firstly, the heatwave that struck Adelaide and SA in Janurary was before veraison. With the multiple microclimates in the Barossa, vineyards carefully seected in prime areas were completely unaffected. Secondly, a few journalists had gone to the Mclarenvale (not established wine journos) and went door knocking to find a hard-luck story. Noting that the Mclarenvale did it tougher than the Barossa, one hard luck story was found, and the 2009 vintage was given a bad name as a result. Thirdly, the 2-3 months following the heatwave had moderate weather, perfect for even ripening of fruit. Add this to the fact the vintage was looking good pre-heatwave and the Barossa has reason to be excited. Whether the potential greatness of 2009 is firmly in the minds of wine writers and drinkers is debatable.

The barrel tastings we did last week confirmed all of the above. I do not think I have seen such a lovely glowing purple / garnet colour to the wines in glass for a long time - especially the wines from Sons of Eden. Aside from the brilliant, glowing colour, the fruit was not too sweet, no traces of dead fruit, and lots of juiciness married with taut acidity.When blended, and with more time in oak to mature, these wines appear to me to be able to challenge, or be on a par with the great 2004, 2002 and 1998 vintages in the Barossa. Time will tell.

One thing is for sure - the tastings of many 2007 and 2008 wines (two very difficult vintages for the Barossa and for most of the Southeast of Australia) revealed that even in suboptimal vintages, the right wine maker can fashion elegant, long living and lively wines. Imagine what they will do with the 2009 fruit.

Many thanks to Dan Standish, Susan and Michael Papps, Sabine Deisen, Simon Cowham, the Rohrlach family, Greg Hobbs, Kalleske and Kym Teusner.