A reminder of the power of wine to inspire

I just received in the mail Campbell Mattinson's new book, Why The French Hate Us, which is available for sale here.

Campbell has always been one of my most favorite wine journalists because he is not afraid to wear his beliefs proudly and has always been an unabashed supporter of Australian wine and the rightful positions of our "icon wines" alongside the best of Hermitage, Montrachet et al.

I will return to comment on this book because it focuses on issues with the Australian wine industry that has had me concerned, and as an aspiring wine maker, more inclined to pursue my dream in California.

But for now I wanted to share a anecdote from the opening chapter where Campbell recounts the moment that wine became more than just "booze" :-

...something changed in me forever, at the sip and the taste and the sensation of a particular wine. I was bitten by Dracula or a werewolf or, more appropriately, by a malaria-carrying mosquito. Something went funny in me. My heart got an erection. From that moment, I may have looked the same, but I was changed. I had become a mad wine hunter. I suddenly wanted to be on intimate, personal, intense terms with all of the most beautiful wines that I could afford - or could wangle to drink.

While being a "wine geek" for many years, it was that fateful 2003 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast that I ordered off a wine list in Scottsdale, Arizona that changed me forever. The exquisite beauty, the artistry, its ephemeral chameleon-ish morphing from one sensation to another broke me. In that moment I knew that I had found my life's calling - I had to craft a wine as outstanding as this and I would travel to the ends of the earth to apprentice with the greatest wine artisans to acquire the tools and inspiration to make it happen.

How does an aspiring winemaker earn money in the "off-season"?

Well this one is loading and unloading trucks (or lorries as Brits call them) full of fruit bound for UK supermarkets!

A day after registering at all the local temp agencies I have got a job from 3pm to 11pm driving a forklift for one of the largest importers of fresh fruit in the UK. Yesterday I shuttled pallets of Pineapples from Costa Rica, Peppers from Israel and Tomatoes from Egypt from the cold room to the packing area, where they were labeled with the barcodes and tags of the supermarket chain they were bound for, and then onto waiting lorries.

Not much money, it will take a bit over a month to earn what I used to in a week in advertising sales, but the squid should help keep me out of mischief. Unfortunately the pay also means that it takes me 8 hours to earn enough to afford a bottle of Saxum, Dehlinger or Copain!

In the UK, the Americans have conceded the Shiraz/Syrah war

Why fight it?

Fetzer, one of the biggest US brands on UK shelves (not that there are many here outside of Gallo, surprising since the dollar is so low is against the pound) has given in to the Australian juggernaut that is SHIRAZ!

I had a bit of a giggle myself so I had to buy the bottle. I suppose with people having to remember Côtes du Rhone and Shiraz, the marketing department at Fetzer must believe that there is not enough space for Syrah in the public consciousness and went "Bugger It! We lose to the Aussies enough in sport, might as well throw in the towel on varietal spelling as well!"

And Americans have the gall to call the French "cheese eating surrender monkeys"!

Central Otago: Otago, maybe. Central, hardly.

Readers of the blog may already know that in April I am off to Felton Road in New Zealand for the 2008 harvest. So I thought I might write a couple of posts about who Felton Road is and why I am so excited to be heading there to learn how to craft Pinot Noir.

Felton Road is located in Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand, which at latitude 45° is the most southerly wine growing region in the world.

Unlike the rest of New Zealand's viticultural regions, Central Otago has a continental climate, rather than a maritime one. Most of the New World's most promising Pinot Noir regions so far have been maritime ones -- Russian River Valley in California, Mornington Peninsula in Victoria for example, in which the delicate Pinot Noir grapes are cooled by morning fog and cool ocean breezes. Central Otago, on the other hand, is dry (less than 500mm of rain a year, often much lower), with very low humidity, and has a climate most similar to Burgundy of any of the New World's Pinot Noir regions. Central Otago is also 300m above sea level (again, similar to Côte de Beaune) with the same hot Summers and frigid Winters. The dry continental climate also means that the Summer nights (with no cloud cover) are cool with temperatures getting as low as 1° C at harvest time. This big variation in diurnal temperatures is perfect for Pinot Noir which excels in such conditions - the reason being that the hot days (and greater UV penetration at 300m above sea level) ensures proper sugar and flavor development while the sudden drop in temperature overnight keeps acid levels high - a key quality of top Pinot. As an aside, this is one of the reasons why I think the Macedon Ranges in Victoria will end up being Australia's great Pinot Noir region but that is another subject for another time.

Another reason why Central Otago holds great promise is the poor quality of the soils. All the great vineyards in the world have poor soils. Vines are essentially weeds and grow in pretty much any conditions. However when nutrients and water are too readily available, vines tend to put too much energy into vegetal growth as well as producing too many clusters of fruit. This leads to plump, flavorless grapes unsuitable for premium wine. Under "stressful" conditions (low nutrients, little water) the vine thinks to itself that it is in danger of dying and will instead put all of its available energy into passing its genes into the next generation - just what a vigneron wants! Low water also ensures that berries stay small which is especially important for Pinot Noir which needs a high skin to juice ratio to produce world-class wine. Central Otago is mainly sand on top of a gravel base, which allows water and nutrients to drain quickly and thus become unavailable to the vines.

Thus Central Otago has all of the necessary ingredients to be the "Southern Burgundy". In fact in the mid 1890's the New Zealand government paid for Romeo Bragato, a Yugoslavian viticulturist to travel around the country and recommend the areas with the most potential for the development of a wine industry. In his "Report on the Prospects of Viticulture in New Zealand" he wrote:-

"There is no better country on the face of the earth for the production of Burgundy grapes than Central Otago."

Sadly, his report was ignored and instead it became sheep country and it wasn't until Felton Road was founded in 1991 that this began to change. Felton Road's 14.4 hectares of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling that were planted in 1992 represented over 20% of the vines in the whole of Central Otago at the time! Felton Road's incredible success since their inaugural vintage in 1997 has made the wine world take notice and now there are over 1,00 hectares under vine with the region well on the way to being considered alongside the Willamette Valley, the Russian River Valley, amongst others, as the future of New World Pinot Noir.

Central Otago is obviously still an incredibly young wine growing area - Felton Road's oldest vines are only fifteen years old and they were the regions pioneer's but it seems like Romeo vision of Pinot Noir heaven has finally arrived -- even if it is 110 years late!

1983 Château Margaux (Bordeaux, France)

Also enjoyed at Bennett and Linda's with a lovely rack of Australian Lamb.

Intense garnet in the glass - clarity has held up well with age. Cigar box, cedar, violets herby nose - this is Bordeaux. There was still enough fruit, predominately cassis, to pull all the other flavors together but this bottle was definitely in its prime. The vanilla from the oak highlighted the fruit and the silky smooth tannins were a delight with the lamb.

This was my first bottle of Château Margaux and I hope it will not be my last. An incredible food wine and a great match for the lamb.

Score: 93 Points
Price: $700 (Wine House)

2002 Sine Qua Non "Just For The Love Of It" Syrah (California, USA)

By golly, have I been on a roll. My FIFTH Sine Qua Non in a little over a month, this time courtesy of Bennett Traub and his wonderful wife Linda who hosted Emma and myself for a farewell dinner at their house before we jaunted off to our new home in England.

Now before I get into my tasting note, I wanted to get out in the open my thoughts on "100 Point" wines. This wine was my second Robert Parker 100 Pointer, the other being the 2003 Sine Qua Non "Poker Face". My opinion has always been that there is no such thing as a "100 Point" wine - I mean what happens if you come across a wine that is better? It's not like we live in Nigel Tufnel's world where we can go to eleven ("You're on ten on your guitar. Where do you go from there? Where? Nowhere. Exactly!"). As I pondered this conundrum for the umpteenth time Emma turned to me and said "Well if it's not 100 points, what is the fault [in the wine]?". Ummmmm...

The best thing about Sine Qua Non for me is that it has never (in my five bottles) not lived up to the hype. A dark, brilliant purple in the glass - a hint of what was to come. An exquisite, otherworldly nose that refused to be pinned down. Constantly evolving, first showing mouth-watering meatiness including bacon fat and beef blood, before pushing into more floral (violets) and peppery, coffee territory. In the mouth this was an extraordinarily well constructed wine - Manfred's talents as an artisan can not be exaggerated. The wine had linearity without being straight-forward, it was mouth coating without being unctuous, it hit on every spot on your palate and finished with a clear, ringing finish that I could still taste after the hour long car ride home. This wine had everything.

Still, I haven't got my head around the "100 Point" thing so let me do an artful dodge for now and give it a 99.999 which rounds up to 100. Ehh?!

Score: 99.999
Price: $630 (Saratoga Wine Exchange)

1998 Sine Qua Non "E-Raised" Syrah (California, USA)

Am I a lucky bugger recently or what? Getting to try my first four Sine Qua Nons in the period of a month.

Like the Sine Qua Non's before, this wine did not disappoint. For an aged wine, the color has stood up well. Dark and brooding, with no hint of brickishness even at the rim! Rich and ripe black fruits, bacon fat, and violets on the nose - a hedonistic delight of aromatics. Exquisitely well constructed wine on the palate - silky smooth, integrated tannins, with a long linear progression of flavor and an elegant finish that goes on and on like the Energizer bunny. Big and brooding yet still delicate and elegant - does wine get better than this?

I had this wine in a blind tasting of twenty Syrahs that scored 95 or more points from Robert Parker and I ranked it Number 1 overall. Damn shame that this wine is so expensive or I would be backing up the truck. I don't know how long I can wait to get on the mailing list... best guess - 2018, anyone?

Score: 98 points
Price: $395 (Blicker Pierce Wagner Wine Merchants)

Wrapped Up in Books

As I mentioned in the post before last I have been in the middle of exams. To make things more crazy and stressful, I am also packing for our impending move to London!

I know what you might be thinking - "there's no wine industry in England" (well there is some good sparkling being made in the South) however my wife and I will be using the UK as a "home base" as I will be traveling much of the year on my quest to work with the world's finest Pinot Noir artisans. In fact I will be traveling from April through July to New Zealand and Australia so if I end up doing a harvest in France or the US I will be gone for over half the year!

Because of all this craziness, instead of doing a wine post, I thought I might highlight some articles that have interested me lately:-

• Alder Yarrow's take on when wine tastes best
  
  
• Professor Warren Moran's research article on Pinot Noir and Terroir in New Zealand
  
  
• Clark Smith defends wine manipulation
  

I hope to be back to regular programming soon!