Yarra Valley Fires: A Year On
Monday 14 June
It’s more than a year since the Yarra Valley was hit by bush fires raging through the region, burning vineyards and anything that laid in its path.
The impact of the fires was confined to just 4% or 154ha of vines. Unfortunately sweltering temperatures had already reduced the potential crop before the blazes hit: yields were 25-30% below average due to January’s heatwave. Leaves and grapes were sunburned with some vineyards experiencing up to 80% crop loss.
Then came the fires and smoke damage. Willie Lunn, winemaker at Yering Station, says, “We lost two vineyards in Yarra Glen. There was about 400 ton of other fruit we didn’t pick because of smoke taint. Some wines became a bit smoky and they will never see the light of day.”
Many grapes harvested were discarded in the winery, as smoke taint only rears its ugly face once fermentation starts.
Tom Belford, assistant winemaker at Sticks, adds, “We ended up with about 50% of what we would normally make. We handpicked everything and whole bunch pressed it but a lot went down the drain.”
So, what are the knock-on effects? Has 2010 been affected by the last year’s fires and heatwave? It seems not: smoke taint infiltrates the stomata and heads to the berries not the vine wood, so this year there is no hangover. Just 4% of the vines in the region were burned, so production has not fallen significantly.
There is plenty of excitement surrounding the 2010 harvest. Belford says, “2010 was one of the best vintages we have had in a long time we didn’t have any extremes. Varieties ripened at the right time so we were able to deal with it properly.”
The major issue is continued supply, moving from the 2008’s onto the 2010’s. Will wineries be forced to release the 2010’s earlier than they would like to meet demand? The 2008 vintage was pretty big but for those without any 2009 reds, like Giant Steps, what will they do when the 08’s run out? Will there be a conflict between the marketers, who want to get the new vintage wines to market asap, and the winemakers, who don’t want to rush their wines? A gap in supply is highly likely.
Hands off our wine, say Yarra Valley producers
Thursday 10 June
Hang time, phenolic ripeness and overdelivering have been the buzzwords of winemakers and marketers for some time. After spending the past few days in the Yarra Valley, the new phrases appear to be ‘natural winemaking’ and ‘hands-off approach’. If only I had a dollar for every time someone had said that to me over the last 48 hours, I would be able to retire early
No longer is interventionist winemaking cool in this part of the New World. It is poo-poohed. Adding yeast to get the ferments going? No thanks, said more than 75% of the producers I met. Nice, new barrels? No thanks, says Steve Webber of De Bortoli: “We’re using the oldest grottiest casks for our Sauvignon Blanc”. Fining and filtering the wine? Don’t you dare. Webber believes “there is greater interest in wines that don’t have the soul fined or filtered out of them.”
Certainly there are interesting developments giving less fruit-forward, more textured wines in the Yarra. It seems that winemakers aren’t doing very much if they are to be believed. So what are they going to do with all that extra time on their hands? Drink beer? That’s my guess.
Buy wine; win flat-pack furniture
Tuesday 8 June
A press release dropped into my inbox today launching yet another Aussie wine. Nothing unusual about that but it attracted my attention: it offered the unusual bonus of winning vouchers for Swedish furniture store, Ikea. I’m not sure where the synergy is between the two: Ikea, Aussie wine; Aussie wine, Ikea. No, I just can’t get it. You?
I’d be happy to win $1000 at Ikea (if there were an Ikea in NZ). Amassing a load of cheap furniture for my boyfriend to put together then gorging on meatballs and ice cream at the Ikea cafe. It’s a great day out for all the family.
Anyway, back to the wine. This new wine, Sarantos soft press Moscato, is a deliciously low 5.5%. I’ve not tried it so can’t say whether the wine is delicious but would be prepared to give it a go if I had the chance of getting a new sofa out of it.
According to the latest statistics, Moscato is Australia’s fastest growing wine style with 33.2% growth by value and 37.2% by volume. However, these figures relate to the $10-$15 category – is this a category that Aussie wineries really want to focus on?
I suspect the growth of Moscato in Australia (outselling Riesling - what is the world coming to?) is linked to the rise in interest in lower alcohol wines. At 5.5% Moscato is underrated – many claim it’s too sweet for them but it’s perfect for drinking all afternoon without getting legless.
I’m off to Australia tomorrow for five days of business and pleasure. I shall see if I can find a bottle for Saturday afternoon drinking with friends, and cross my fingers my name gets picked out of the Ikea hat.
NZ needs to be realistic about US push
Thursday 3 June
The New Zealand government has finally approved funding for a New Zealand high-end initiative in the US, almost two months after I first broke the plans on decanter.com- that’s politics for you.
There was a lot of back slapping on twitter yesterday, with all the Kiwis congratulating each other on the initiative, particularly the 21 wineries involved. Indeed, government-funding of NZ$1.2 million is a welcome boost to the industry and not to be sniffed at. However, this thing isn’t even up and running and everyone’s already heralding it as the best thing since sliced bread.
The government’s target is to add NZ$50 million of additional sales in the US by 2015. Last year, New Zealand wine exports amounted to $214m, so it’s about a 20% increase in five years. That seems achievable.
However, I don’t think it’s time to get carried away. A fellow wine journalist in the US acknowledged that it was a good campaign, but every other country had a similar project – and France alone has a plethora of initiatives. Why is New Zealand’s going to be any different from the rest?
Steve Smith MW, chair of the initiative explained there was a rigorous process for getting into this ‘ultra-premium’ wine selection, of which half are Pinot Noir – not Sauvignon Blanc. “We are going to lead with Pinot Noir,” he said. “It’s a wine style that’s fashionable in the US and can compete with the best from Oregon and California.” In fact, there will only be a “few high-end Sauvignon Blancs” with the remainder coming from the aromatics, Bordeaux blends and Syrah.
The 21 wineries include Nautilus, Craggy Range, Seresin and Mt Difficulty. However, there are a number of wineries that didn’t wish to be part of the initiative, citing prohibitive costs – the wineries involved must raise $400,000 between them. Smith responded, “I would argue that for every dollar put in you get three dollars from the Government. It works out less than $5000 a wine a year so I would not say that was a valid argument.”
I hope this initiative works and it’s effective but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Study Facts or Fiction?
Wednesday 2 June
Master of Wine students will be sitting their exams this week. Thank God I’ve decided not to sit this year as I’ve got a stinking cold – I can’t taste or smell a thing. For those who are taking the four-day nightmare that is the MW exam, good luck to you and, I hope you haven’t got the lurgy. Speaking to a few fellow students, I know they just want it all to be over so they can get their lives back.
On twitter there’s now a hashtag for all the MW students called #MWStudyFacts. If you have a geeky fact, it’s the place to post it.
Following the recent Veuve Clicquot tasting I attended, a Study Fact I learned many moons ago has been upended.
My trusty old Wine and Spirit Eductation Trust Advanced book tells me that non-vintage Champagne must spend 15 months maturing on lees (dead yeast cells) after the second fermentation, giving the distinct biscuitty/yeasty note to the wine. Wikipedia (not exactly the most reliable source) also says 15 months on lees is required.
But Veuve Clicquot’s winemaker, Francois Hautekeur, says this is incorrect. “The laws say it is 15 months between bottling and selling, including a minimum of 12 months on lees and three months for the sugar from the dosage to integrate.” So, for the past five years, have I been misled? Seems so.
Of course, most Champagne houses worth their weight would leave the wine on lees for longer eg 24 months for non-vintage at Veuve but there are surely others who are less scrupulous.
