I guess I’m in a question asking mood this morning. I have been told many times that the wines of Margaret River tend to be more elegant and less ripe because it is fairly cool there relative to, say, the Barossa Valley. I recently met a couple from Margaret River who looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned this idea. They told me that Margaret River is actually WARMER than the Barossa. They couldn’t really tell me why the stylistic differences (anecdotal, but I’ve had quite a few from each region and it seems to hold true) would seem to say the opposite. I thanked them for the clarification and went online to look up some statistics. I was surprised to see that the climates during the growing season in these two areas are very similar in regards to degree days and high temperatures. In fact, from what I read it seems that the Barossa has cooler nights at times and much cooler winters. Can anyone tell me why the wines I’ve had from Margaret River show more characteristics that I think of in terms of cooler climate wines (higher acidity [which of course can be easily altered], more elegance, less intensity, fresher fruit, more moderate alcohol) while most Barossa wines I’ve had scream warm climate (very ripe, jammy fruit, higher alcohol, less acidity, more intensity)? Have I been misinformed (seems likely) or are the figures I’m seeing deceiving for some reason? Is this largely due to decisions regarding growing and harvesting? I’ve seen a couple of references to people mentioning this issue as a common misconception (that of Margaret River being cooler). I’m not sure if the cellar rats forum would have made more sense, but I’m posting here hoping this question will get more exposure this way.
Well Eden Valley is in Barossa, and their Rieslings are a far from the Barossa wines you think scream warm climate, they are lean, very citrusy and have screaming acidity…but I also believe most of the more balanced wines from Margaret River come from vineyards closer to the coast so they get the maritime effect of cooler evenings that give grapes better acidity and balance.
I would say the comment is correct as Margaret River would be warmer throughout the year and would have a climate comparable to Southern France or parts of Italy and Greece. The Barossa has more distinctive seasons with a hotter summer, but a colder winter.
A comparison might be Eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley. It is much hotter in the summer in Wa, but the wv would be considered a warmer overall climate as they don’t get the brutal winters.
Clare Valley is in South Australia (as is Barossa), but my understanding is that it’s a separate region from Barossa. Can you show me a link saying that it’s in Barossa? I’m more concerned with the GIs than actual geography, but even in terms of the latter aren’t they two separate valleys?
Looking at average high temps during the growing season, I don’t see much difference between the regions I mentioned. The summer in Barossa really isn’t much hotter at all based on the numbers I’m seeing.
You’re right Doug, I was typing to fast and not reading what I wrote. My point was Eden Valley (edited above), part of Barossa, and the wines show higher acidity, better balance and less of that black and blue domoninat fruit characteristics and whites have great acidity.
I guess ultimately it comes down to man and when you decide to harvest and what you do in the cellar. I have found many of Penfolds Barossa wines to be very balanced, of course there are many on the other side of the scale too.
Eden Valley is close to Barossa but a separate GI, and I believe it is cooler. Back to the Barossa/ Margaret River comparison, though, I’m seeing average highs and lows that are not more than 2 degrees C apart, and often less. As they approach harvest temperatures look almost identical. Comparing Bordeaux and Napa Valley, I see differences of more like 4-5 degrees C (using the average between Napa and Calistoga – maybe this isn’t giving me an accurate representation?). I think those sets of regions show similarly significant stylistic differences that follow pretty closely the definitions I always see for cool climate vs. warm climate. I see degree days for Oct-Apr listed in Barossa as 1590 and in Margaret River as 1629! I now wonder if this piece of information that I just noticed might be the real deciding factor: sun hours. They’re listed between Oct and Apr in Barossa as 1832, while the listing for Marg Riv shows just 1685. Is sun exposure the important factor and not so much temperature? If so, why do we hear so much about how hot Barossa is and how cool Margaret River is?
Margaret River is strongly influenced by the maritime climate of the Indian ocean and thus shows less diurnal variation than the more continental Barossa Valley. For this reason Margaret River is best known for its Cabernet Sauvignons, due to the cooling influence of the ocean, as is found in the Medoc. Barossa on the other hand can have very hot summers with sustained periods over 100F not unlike the Rhone valley and thus favours the growing of Shiraz and Grenache.
Summers are quite hot in Margaret River as well, though, aren’t they? The average high temperatures are not much lower there than in Barossa. 28 degrees C in Feb as opposed to 30 degrees C in Barossa.
From this page:
http://www.wineaustralia.com/usa/Default.aspx?tabid=2667
The climate of the region has often been unfairly characterised as very warm but, in fact, in its lower parts it is only moderately so and at higher altitudes quite cool, as indicated by the Williamstown details given below. In fact, as John Gladstones has pointed out, its biologically effective temperature summation and ripening mean temperatures are almost identical with those of Margaret River. However, the region does have a wide diurnal temperature range, higher maxima, more sunshine and a much lower humidity and rainfall.
seems to be saying that the lack of moisture and high amount of sun play more of a part than warm temperatures
It’s also important to reinforce that there is marked difference between the climate of the higher points in the Eden valley and the Barossa valley Floor. Try a Riesling from both areas side by side and you will quickly undersrtand the difference.
I don’t have time to review the data for this assertion, but i think you wiill find that precipitation during the growing season is similar for MR and BV, it has more to with the relative humidity and evaporation rates that might account for the difference.
here’s the Climatology summary for Nuriootpa in the Barossa | Elders Weather" onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false;
and here’s Busseltons | Elders Weather” onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , whch is in the margaret River
A quick glance suggests less extreme weather during the growing season in MR. The critical months are jan to April.
From my understanding sunlight is important in breaking down pyrazines, so areas with less sunlight will tend to produce a bit greener fruit given the same heat summation. I think this is a big reason why in latitudes closer to the equator wines can be both high in alcohol and still green. The summer days are shorter than at larger latitudes (though the growing season is often longer). The result is grapes needing more time to mature to shed the pyrazines, and often adding more potential alcohol as they hang.
Humidity and rain are also an issue. Aside from transpiration between fruit, vine and air, during elevage in an arid climate water will evaporate more quickly than alcohol. In a humid climate alcohol will evaporate more quickly relative to water. Seems like a double whammy to me. Not only is the fruit arriving higher in sugar due to dry air, but then water keeps evaporating all through the process! I suspect this is an underrated effect in the new world-old world discussion. I’d love to see what would happen if CA wine were aged in a humid cellar (some are I suppose) and French wines were aged in a dry one!
This one kind of got away from me, but I appreciate the responses. I think we’ve probably hit some of the key points. The more I read about climate, the more it seems that these differences of a couple of degrees are more significant than they originally seemed to me in regard to growing grapes. Plus the sunlight and moisture differences seem relevant, assuming the difference in sunlight also has more impact than the numbers would seem (to me) to indicate. I was just so shocked to hear these people say it was that warm in MR when I’ve always read the oversimplified idea that they’ve got a cooler climate there than in many other regions of Australia and that’s why the wines are the way they are.