Looking at my CT, of 219 bottles, I only have 4 Australian wines and don’t really plan to add much. They are great QPRs but with so many options now from Chile, Argentina, Spain, etc., competition is tough. Do you still love Aussie wines? If not, why and what needs to change to get back your love?
Cheers
I like certain produces still, but over all, I’m not buying many Aussie wines. Ones I still do are John Duvals wines (the independent ones) and two hands. Those are my regulars with a few randoms purchased too
Still love and hold: Several years of Mitolo GAM, several years of Godolphin, Amon Ra, Riever, Grange, 06 and 07 Velvet Glove, 05 and 07 COL, some Killikanoon, some Astralis…I have not, however bought any Aussies this year. I still love em, just not all the time like I used to.
–B
I like Aussie. I don’t own much, don’t buy much. Seems like the price has crept up, for one. Bindi, Coach House, Leewin – all very nice wines.
For me, pinot noir has taken shiraz’s place in my cellar. I still have a few nice ones (Dead Arm, Amon Ra, Godolphin, Mitolo GAM, Ares),
but for the simple issue of cellar space, pinot is where I want the cellar (and the basement floor) to grow. I haven’t bought more than 4 bottles of shiraz in the past year.
I used to drink Aussie wine all the time - going back about 3-4 years. I haven’t bought any in almost a year and a half and have only opened 2 bottles so far this year. I still have a handful of Penfold’s (Bin 707, RWT, a long bottle of Grange) and some Clarendon Hills (which I should get rid of) but none of them particularly excite me any more.
I have exactly zero bottles in my cellar. I’ve never had the chance to try the higher end Aussies, but all of the Aussies I tried in the $5-35 range were wholly unimpressive to me, and not my style. I didn’t really give them a fair shot, probably, with perhaps 2-3 dozen bottles of various price points, but I didn’t find myself drawn back to any of them, so I don’t buy them anymore.
There have been a few Aussie reds I’ve enjoyed, the '91 Grange and '93 Henschke Mt. Edelstone amongst them. Undoubtedly well crafted wines that have aged gracefully, but, at their prices, I’d rather buy Bdx & Burg. All others I’ve tried (white and red of various cepages) have not been interesting enough to buy. They are just not my style.
They do, however, have some botrytised semillons that are, though somewhat simple, very immediately pleasing and are inexpensive to boot.
Australia has, in my opinion, gotten a bad rap in recent years because of A) a handful of over-the-top reds that were all flash and, little or, no substance and B) an orgy of inflated scores from a certain physician that proved to be bull.
I’m a fan of many Aussie whites. Recently picked up a case of Hunter Semillon for a very nice price. Western Australia makes some delicious Rieslings and Chardonnay (Leeuwin comes to mind). Also a fan of Aussie “stickies” (“ports”, tokays, muscats, etc.) but unfortunately don’t see the good ones around all that often.
I’ve tried a couple of Leeuwin chards and rieslings. The company of my friend and regular drinking buddy, the Stockbroker, is the philippine distributor of Leeuwin, if I’m not mistaken. Nice enough, but I’d rather drink chards (Burg) and rieslings (Alsace & Germany). Matter of personal preference, nothing against Aussie wines.
I say tomato and you say tomate and all…
Best,
N
My cellar is 43% French and 39% Italian and 15% Spanish. The remainder is US, Portugal, Austria and Germany (I love Riesling but I tend to buy a lot more Alsatian and only a little bit of German). 0 bottles from Australia, New Zealand or South America.
Ditto this sentiment for me, perhaps even more strongly. You say d’Arenberg and I say d’Angerville.
Still love them, still have a few. I’ve never had many in my collection because I tend to buy and drink. My only ager is a 2002 Torbreck Run Rig.
As my man Zach says above, certain producers still bring the thunder (can I actually say that?).
For me:
John Duval, Jasper Hill, Penfolds St Henri, Brokenwood, Cape Mentelle, Parker Estate, Yering Station Reserves, Tyrrell and in 2006 D’Arenberg Footbolt is a nutty good QPR.
Some times you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
The real hidden gems are some of the Rieslings.
I have less than two cases of Australian wine, consisting of Amon-Ra, Glaetzer Godolphin, Mitolo, and Torbreck Les Amis. I think I am going to leave most of them alone for a long time before consuming them to see how well they age. I haven’t bought any Australian wines in the last few years because I get more pleasure these days from lower alcohol, more food friendly syrah from California and the Rhone. Although I have tried and liked some Aussie whites, I still spend my white wine dollars mostly on the Germans and Alsatians.
I am not a fan of South Australia oozemonsters, but there are some very nice wines at fair prices coming from my favored regions of Western Australia and Tasmania, with some of the cooler Victorian appellations also factoring in at times. I can almost use scores as an inverse guide to buying Aussie wines; the high scorers are out of my zone, but high 80-low 90 wines might have a chance with me. That said, I usually just follow producers I’ve enjoyed in the past, or the advice of pros I trust.
I have 0 Aussies in my collection, but do enjoy the wines of John Duval. Also Turkey Flat Shiraz is a crowd-pleaser.
I’ve owned no more than 2 cases of Australian over all, mostly quaffers. I liked the d’Arenberg most in the “reasonable” price range.
I had the chance to try some of the higher cuvees (Run Rig, Astralis, HoG, Grange) and generally disliked them all except Grange that I liked a lot (tried the 86 and 97 - 86 was really great) but it would be stupid for me to pay the price for Grange when I see what I can get from France for half the price (given that I have access to some great wines at great prices). Therefore even though there are certainly a few that I would have liked, I never felt the urge to investigate too much because the price was such a big issue.
I still enjoy a bottle of Australian shiraz from time to time for a change, or some Rhone blend (e.g. d’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original).
Although I no longer have any, I do recall enjoying several bottles of the 2002 Turkey Flat in the last several years, probably because I found it be more restrained and balanced than some of the other critically acclaimed shiraz at its price point. Still a big wine, though.
For me, much of the best of Australian wine goes under the radar in overseas markets, as it either doesn’t fit with importer/export market style preferences, or the producers do little export.
The fortified wines from Seppeltsfield in the Barossa and the Rutherglen producers are world-class - with holdings of aged materials unmatched by most Spanish producers.
Hunter semillon is a completely distinct international wine style. As young, zippy wines they are great high-acid drinking, but then as older wines the layers of toast and butter start to come through - the Tyrrell’s aged releases of some of the top tier semillons are well worth seeking out if they make it to your markets.
Australian dry rieslings I also think of as distinctly different from German wines. Whether from Clare or Eden Valleys, or some cooler climate areas, they start out as acid-bright refreshing wines (which is mainly when I drink them) but can go on to develop serious complexity and intensity with age.
Tahbilk has the world’s oldest plantings of marsanne and make a style with low alcohol that takes on characteristic richness and honeysuckle perfume with age. Still one of the world’s great bargains in white wine for ageing, for me.
And there are lots of good producers turning out old vine red wines with sensible alcohols and balanced flavour profiles. Spinifex in the Barossa, or Tuesner are good starting points. The Hewitson Old Garden Mourvedre, from some of the oldest mataro/mourvedre plantings in the world, is also worth a look. And that’s not to yet touch at all on cool-climate shiraz, including the wines of Clonakilla from the Canberra District, where I am. Or the revolution of the past five years in the quality of pinot noir from our cooler regions, or the drive to get tempranillo going across the regions.
There are 62 wine regions in Australia, with around 103 defined geographical indications, some of the world’s oldest vineyards, diverse climates and a lot of cluey and passionate people - lot’s more to the story than the Parker phenomenon.