Australia Day is the 26th January, but with so many people observing Dry January, we decided to hold our fundraising event in February. With a sold out crowd at the Eastcott Community Centre, we sampled six delicious Australian wines.
The geography lesson
Australia is huge, we all know that. Being able to fit the UK into the island thirty times over, and taking five hours to fly between the east and west coasts, gives you some indication of the diversity of topography, climate and range of wines. Most vineyards are sited south of the 30 degree line of latitude that spans the country from just north of Perth to the Gold Coast. Below this line is the golden area for vine growth, especially near water courses such as the oceans and rivers (Murray and Darling).
Aussie wines
The Australian wines are like the people; bold and straight forward. Unlike many European wines, the Aussie label will tell you the grape and where it's from. The wines are also grown to be drunk young, which makes them less expensive. It costs a lot of money to store wines in barrels and bottles whilst they age, so most of the Australian wine will be from recent vintages and best drunk as soon as possible.
The fires
The devastating bushfires that have plagued the country since November have had an impact on the wine industry. Whilst only 1% of the wine growing areas are in the fire zones, some areas have been badly hit. Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills have lost up to 30% of the vines, and fires continue to burn around the South east, between Melbourne and Sydney.
Wine One - Yalumba Organic Viognier, Waitrose, £9.99
Viognier is better known as a French grape that enjoys life in the Rhone Valley. It almost became extinct in the 1980s when there was only 80 acres identified the world. Thankfully it made a comeback, and can now be found growing in South Africa, California and parts of Australia.
Most loved for its perfumed aromas of peach, tangerine and honeysuckle, Viognier can also be oak-aged to add a rich creamy taste with hints of vanilla. It makes for a fruity alternative to chardonnay.
Jancis Robinson MW cites Yalumba as a great producer of viognier, and our tasters in Swindon agree. Yalumba (meaning "All the land around") is a family winery, founded in the 1800s, with vineyards in Barossa and Eden Valleys, as well as Coonawarra.
Their chief viticulturist visited the Rhone Valley in the 1970s and was captivated by Viognier, contributing to its success in Australia today.
This wine is suitable for vegans, and organic, meaning minimal intervention in the winemaking process.
Buy now from Waitrose
Wine Two - Clare Valley Riesling, Majestic Wine, £10.99
Our next wine comes from the Clare Valley, 100km north of Adelaide, where there is a "Riesling trail" through the valley, taking in the town of Watervale where the Clare wine company produce this wine, which can be found in Majestic Wine.
Riesling is a German grape that is commonly made in a sweet style, but the Clare Valley rieslings are fermented to a dry style, although this wine was a touch sweeter than the previous viognier.
A bronze winner in the International Wine Awards, this wine should have zingy lime and apple flavours, although many of the guests were put off by the petrol smell.
It divided opinion with some tasters less keen on this wine, whilst others were new to the riesling grape and pleasantly surprised.
For those enjoying Clare Valley rielslings, some good examples can be found at reasonable prices in Aldi and Lidl.
Buy this wine now from Majestic Wine.
Wine Three - Vasse Felix Chardonnay, Majestic Wine and Waitrose, £12.99
Our next wine takes us to Western Australia, where the area of Margaret River boasts a town known for boutique wine producers. Whilst the area is responsible for 3% of Australian wine, it produces 20% of the country's premium wines.
The area is on the coast, south of Perth where it enjoys a humid Mediterranean climate, cooled by fresh sea breezes that produce high quality fruit flavours in the grapes.
The Vasse Felix winery is Margaret River’s founding wine estate and was established in 1967. It acquired its name from a seaman called Thomas Vasse, who was believed to have drowned when swept overboard from his vessel in 1801. To bring luck to the winery, the word "Felix" was added, meaning "lucky". However, the grapes on the first vines planted were destroyed either by rot or got eaten by native birds, so a peregrine falcon was brought in to scare off the birds.
This also proved disastrous, as the peregrine flew off into the woods on its first release, never to return. The peregrine lives on as a depiction on the wine labels, and thankfully the winery is thriving in 2018.
This chardonnay is full bodied, having been fermented in french oak barriques (smaller than barrels to concentrate oak flavours better). The wine has been allowed to undergo its natural malolactic fermentation to produce buttery and toasty notes.
Opinion was divided. For those that love an oaked chardonnay, this was bliss, but there were others who were less impressed with it.
You can buy this from Majestic Wine or Waitrose.
Wine Four - Exquisite Pinot Noir, Aldi £5.99
And so to the red wines. The Yarra Valley enjoys a cooler climate as the Upper Yarra lies 400m above sea level, making it ideal for pinot noir.
The pinot noir grape is quite a fussy grape to grow, preferring cooler climates and long growing days. For that reason, we grow it successfully here in the UK for our amazing sparkling wines (and New Zealand produce some belters!). In the Yarra Valley, pinot noir accounts for 36% of the grapes grown, and 15% of it finds its way to the UK as the 2nd biggest consumer. The largest demand is from China, which imports 45% of the output, and demand continues to rise.
This wine was light bodied as you'd expect from a pinot noir, and whilst not particularly complex, the dark fruit flavours of blackberry and bramble were prominent. On the whole, the tasters were impressed with this example, and pleased at the reasonable price tag.
Some were eager to move on to a fuller bodied red, which we found in our next bottle...
Wine Five - The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon, Majestic £21.99
Our next wine was from Coonawarra, close to the border of New South Wales and South Australia. The Menzies vineyard is owned by our friends at Yalumba, where they concentrate on growing premium Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which thrive in Coonawarra's distinctive red sandy soils.
The area has a cool, long growing season and this grape accounts for over 60% of Coonawarra output.
The name "The Cigar" refers to the long, oblong shape of the Coonawarra vineyards.
The wine is full bodied, and deep red to crimson in colour. The tasters loved the aromas of ripe plum, licorice allsorts, and heady violets. There are complex smells and tastes of dark berries, both rich and showing great depth. The tannins were noticeable but not overbearing, and the wine was a real hit. "It's the best wine I've ever tasted!" exclaimed one guest.
It was the priciest wine of the night, but this didn't deter many of the guests who said they would buy this wine, especially as a special occasion wine.
Wine Six - Galway vintage Barossa Valley Shiraz, Waitrose, £12.49
Our final wine of the night was a shiraz, again from Yalumba. It was less full bodied than the previous Cabernet Sauvignon, but its flavours stood up to the demands of following such a great wine.
The grapes come from the Barossa Valley - a fertile valley floor where temperatures can be 2 degrees warmer than the surrounding Adelaide wine areas. This warmth is ideal for shiraz, which accounts for over 30% of the grapes grown in Barossa.
Yalumba has been making premium red wine under the Galway name since the 1940s. "Galway" was named in honour of L.T. Col. Sir Henry L. Galway, who was governor of South Australia from 1914 - 1920. He was a keen wine man with a good palate and a regular visitor to Yalumba in Angaston.
The success of the early Galway reds became the base on which all Yalumba reds were developed. Today, Galway is still made to a traditional style with rich colour, distinctive spicy fruit and perfectly integrated oak.
Buy now from Waitrose.