Craggy Range Winery Dinner

August 1st saw The WineSellar & Brasserie in San Diego holding a New Zealand Winemaker Dinner hosted by Steve Smith, M.W. (Master of Wine), Wine & Viticulture Director of Craggy Range Winery. I was interested in attending this gathering for several reasons. First, we see very little in the way of New Zealand wine in the USA, unless its Sauvignon Blanc. Second, with a trip planned for December of this year I’ve been cramming on New Zealand wine knowledge and with Steve Smith, MW as the host the evening seemed like it might yield a few gems of knowledge about the kiwi wine scene.

The Craggy Range Winery makes some 30 different wines, with the duties being split between three winemakers. The wines are primarily single varietal, single vineyard bottlings made from grapes grown on the company's own vineyards in the winegrowing districts of Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. Craggy Range is an investment of the Peabody family, originally from North America but residents of Australia for many years. Steve Smith, MW is both shareholder and General Manager. Craggy Range Winery is a very recent addition to the burgeoning New Zealand wine industry. Land was first purchased in 1998, and the first wines were made in the 1999 vintage from small parcels of mature vineyards in Marlborough and Hawkes Bay regions.

Reception:Little Bites
2005 Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc, Te Muna Road Vineyard (13.1% alcohol)
Miranda and I arrived a little too late to take advantage of the nibbles served during the reception, but we did get a glass of the 2005 Te Muna Road Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc to sip as we wandered among the aisles of cases of wine that dominant the floor space of The WineSellar. The wine was making such a favorable impression as we were ushered upstairs to the Brasserie that we kept a tight grasp on our glasses, meaning that we had all the more to taste over our first course.

1st: Heirloom Tomato salad with Buffalo Mozzarella , creamy citrus vinaigrette
2005 Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc, Te Muna Road Vineyard (13.1% alcohol)
Part of the Varietals Collection, the Te Muna Vineyard is in the Martinborough region, at the southern end of the North Island. Straw gold in color, this is a very attractively scented Sauvignon Blanc with obvious notes of pineapple, guava, and citrus. The palate is dominated by excellent, bright, crisp acidity and impeccable balance that leads to a bone dry, lengthy finish. One of the best Sauvignon Blancs I’ve had. 2, 2, 4.1, 10.1 = 18.2/20, 91/100.

I’m not a big fan of acidic, dry wines with the acidity of tomatoes and the sharpness of vinaigrette, and this first course was no exception. Pity, this wine deserved something a little less overpowering.

2nd: (Lightly) Pepper crusted line caught Ahi, seared rare, veal reduction with crushed cherries, parsnip puree
2004 Craggy Range Pinot, Te Muna Road Vineyard (14% alcohol)
Another in the Varietals Collections, the 2004 Te Muna Road Vineyard Pinot Noir was fermented in 50% new French oak barriques using a 100% spontaneous natural ferment (i.e. indigenous yeast). Light cherry in color with a faint orange/brown tinge to its edge it boasts concentrated pure Pinot spicey richness. The palate has prominent juicy acidity, silky tannins and excellent carry of flavors; the acidity perhaps little too aggressive at present. Still, it’s a nice wine that could do with a few years in the cellar. 2, 2, 4.2, 9.6 = 17.8/20, 89/100.

The Ahi was a much better pairing with the Pinot. The rare, oily flesh was just what the acidity of this Pinot needs at this stage of its life.

3rd: New Zealand lamb rack, red wine reduction, lightly herbed, sweet garlic mashed, mushroom, glazed turnips and Swiss chard
2002 Sophia, Craggy Range, Gimblett Gravels (14% alcohol)
Part of the Prestige Collection the 2002 Sophia is a blend of 63% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc,
5% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is a dense cherry red with a red edge, and is rich and concentrated with earthy aromas backed up by flavors of smoke and tar that developed into fruitcake with some air. Even though the entry onto the palate is soft, this is not a shy wine, its full bodied and mouth filling, with prominent mouth drying tannins. The structural foundation is solid, so give it at least five years in a cool dark place and it should be a beauty. 2, 2, 4.1, 10.3 = 18.4/20, 92/100.

I’ll eat rack of lamb with anything, but I never eat it this rare. Still this was what the Sophia was made for, all that blood and iron! But it really is still too young to be truly food friendly.

Finale: Valrhona chocolate Dessert Duo of flourless chocolate cake and bittersweet chocolate terrine, blueberry coulis and a rumor of crème anglaise
2002 Le Sol, Craggy Range, Gimblett Gravels (15.4% alcohol)
The Le Sol is another member of the Prestige Collection. Its 100% Syrah that sees new and seasoned French oak barriques, without racking. Densely colored it is made from 50% dimpled (i.e. late harvest) fruit. And unfortunately this shows in the intensely flavored bitumen, medicinal, and stewed fruit notes that override a faint aroma of mint. The palate is equally aggressive in its flavor profile, although the feel of the wine is pleasing and nicely balanced with bright acidity and firm tannins. I was expecting much more from this wine. 2, 2, 4.0, 10.0 = 18.0/20, 90/100.

Pairing the Le Sol with dessert was not a great idea, and the suggestion of Steve Smith to sip a little of the wine with the lamb was a much better suggestion. But again the Le Sol needs time to overcome its aggressive youth.

During his discussion on the wines Steve Smith noted that the reason for the inclusion of late harvested grapes in the Le Sol was due to a difference of opinion between himself and a younger winemaker. Unfortunately the younger man has since passed away and, as he had argued for the inclusion of the dimpled fruit, the wine will continue to be made in this style in his memory. While one can understand the emotional ties that bonded these individuals as people as well as winemakers, one must ask whether it is really sound judgment to restrict the winemaking in this way when the history of the wine is so young – only two vintages have been released to my knowledge.

Its also the youth of Craggy Range wines that raises another question. As Miranda and I sat over our food and wines I wondered what the future would hold for Craggy Range. They seemed to be doing the right thing in terms of promotion, sending their top winemaker and GM to spread the word to the biggest market in the world for fine wines. But what chance do these wines have to compete? Part of the answer was down stairs in The WineSellar. People were certainly buying the wine, a case of the Pinot went out the door as we made our way downstairs, and there were only two bottles of the Sophia left in the box that had been full when we arrived. I picked one up, $52.99USD, the Le Sol was $60.99USD. At those prices there is not a lot of value in either of those wines, especially give the lack of a track record. I had picked up a bottle of the Pinot previously for $33.99USD, that’s reasonable for Pinot, but not this pinot. I’ve seen the Sauvignon Blanc for around $20USD, which is expensive for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

At present the USA is awash in wine that sells for much less than the Craggy Range wines. Bringing wines into this market from overseas is currently fraught with problems, especially at the higher end of the market. Ric Einstein of TORBWine.com has recently discussed the problems facing Australian wines. The situation with New Zealand is likely to be worse, given the lack of exposure in the USA market. In addition, Bordeaux blends are common from the Napa Valley and elsewhere, excellent quality Syrah can be found by the dozens for much less that $60, Pinot is everywhere for $30. Plus excellent New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc sell for less than $20; although that Te Muna SB was tasty! I’m hoping that when we visit New Zealand in December I’ll find that the other Craggy Range wines are of the same quality. Whether I’ll find wines that are better value is a different question.

Some Tastes

I’ve been trying to catch up on getting the tasting notes I have for a swath of wines into some semblance of order for my Tasting Notes eBlog. They are mostly Shiraz/Syrah or blends that contain Shiraz. So far I have been able to get the 2004 Aussie Shiraz down and they are listed below in descending order of preference with the score I gave them. But there is more detail if you link to Tasting Notes where the wines are listed in the order in which they have been consumed (usually over on evening or two).

However the pick of the wines that I have been able to post has not been Australian. It was the 2003 Lagier Meredith Syrah from the Mt Veeder region of California. You can find its tasting note here.

2004 Australian Shiraz
Tuesner The Riebke Ebenezer Road, Barossa Valley Shiraz 2004 $17.99USD – 91/100
Henry’s Drive Dead Letter Office Shiraz 2004 (55% Padthway, 45% McLaren Vale) $28.99USD – 91/100
Marquis Philips Shiraz 9 McLaren Vale 2004 $35.99USD - 89/100
Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz Barossa Valley 2004 $34.99USD - 89/100
Olive Hill Winery Jimmy Section Shiraz McLaren Vale 2004 $34.99 (French Oak) (Screwcap) – 89/100
Mitolo Jester McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004 $17.99USD (Screwcap) – 88/100
Strathewen Hills Patterson Lakes Shiraz Port Phillip (Vicoria) 2004 $23.99USD (Screwcap) – 86/100
Fetish Wines The Watcher Barossa Valley Shiraz 2004 $16.99USD (Screwcap) – 86/100
Deakin Estate Shiraz (Victoria) 2004 $4.50USD – 86/100
Hewitson Ned and Henry’s Shiraz Barossa Valley Shiraz 2004 $15.99USD (Screwcap) – 83/100

The 50 Point Wine

Many who search out the pinnacle of wine perfection chase the myth in wines given a perfect score, 100 points! On the other end of the scale are the wines that never seem to be talked about, those that fall below the cutoff score that signifies a recommended wine, below 84-85 points for Robert Parker or 75 points for Wine Spectator. But the true bottom of the wine barrel is 50 points in the 100 points scoring system. A wine scores 50 points just for being liquid in a bottle.

Do 50 point wines exist? It is difficult to get any definitive numbers because non-recommended wines are rarely described in any detail by wine critics. Why? Well in the case of Robert Parker they make up some 65-75% of the wines he tastes. Recording the tasting notes, or even just the scores, for those wines would consume a significant amount of space in any publication, hardcopy or otherwise. This is a blessing for winemakers because the wine buying public never learns that certain wines have achieved non-recommended status. Of course it is possible that a wine does not receive a recommended score because it was not submitted for review, which leaves the wine buying public even further in the dark about the quality of a winery’s portfolio.

Enter the enthusiastic amateur wine critic or, as we are known these days, the wine blogger. Wine bloggers, it seems, will drink pretty much everything and then they will blog about it. Why? Well most of us are not occupied in the wine trade full-time. Wine is our passion, not our mistress; although there may be some to whom it is a passionate mistress. Wine bloggers are willing to experience the spectrum of wine and comment on the knowledge gleaned to the world of cyberspace. We are an information conduit to the masses yearning to gather bits and bytes of wine knowledge at the click of a Google enquiry.

And if you Google Graeme Miller Wines you will find a 50 point wine courtesy of a wine blogger. Cam Wheeler of Appellation Australia gave 50 points to the 2005 Graeme Miller Wines (Yarra Valley) Rosé. According to what is fast becoming legend Cam tasted the wine at the Victorian Winemaker Exhibition 2006. He commented at the tasting that he thought the wine had a problem but was told (by the winery owners) that the wine was sound; no additional bottles were opened to confirm the quality of the wine. Cam posted his, rather apologetic, tasting note on his blog; how else do you write a 50 point score? Several months later he received a short, terse email threatening legal action if the tasting note was not removed! Further emails have passed back and forth between Cam and the winery and their content can be found here. Needless to say Cam has not removed the tasting note.

What does all this say about wine bloggers and their critiques of wines? Should we be like the Parkers' and Wine Spectators' of this world and not describe those wines that fall below a certain score? Hardly. As Cam notes on his blog the wine in question was tasted by others and found wanting, severely wanting. The consensus seems to be that its not a wine that should be recommended. It will be interesting to see what the established critics make of this wine. If no recommended scores appear then Cam will have done us a service by putting a score out there for us to see. And that is one thing that wine bloggers should do, assume the role of the long abdicated consumer advocate, and talk about the wines that should not be recommended.

Still, I’m intrigued about this 50 pointer. I don’t know that I have ever had one. Well maybe some of the stuff from around the Great Lakes that is made from the native American grapes, or perhaps from Virginia. But no, some of those may be 60-70 pointers. Fifty points is in a class of its own. I have a feeling that sales of this wine might just increase with all the internet discussion. Will they export? 50 points, there is a real marketing gimmick there, especially if they can get Robert Parker to agree with Cam’s score.

Mudgee – How to blog a wine region

Most blogs start with little more than the support of the individual brave enough to take on the job of attempting to post regularly on a subject of their choosing. With luck the blog might garner some attention and like minded readers may post a few comments. Or you may never ever raise a ripple in the sea of cybercurrents that carry the majority of flotsam and jetsam of the blogosphere. Sound familiar? Then imagine the possibilities if your blog was linked with a major media outlet like The Sydney Morning Herald. Picture a grander vision of having such a blog talk about the wine region that is home to your winery.

Such is the luck of Mudgee, located on the Central Tablelands of NSW and part of the newly renamed "Central NSW" Region. Apparently their tourism campaign, targeting the patrons of art house cinemas, caught the attention of Rob Woodburn whose blog, Lost in Transit, featured the town and surrounding wine region in a post on June 28. A travel blog on the online site of a Sydney newspaper, how could it not draw attention? Fifty-six comments later and you have what seems to be the discovery of an Australian wine region, somewhat to the detriment of the better known nearby Hunter Valley.

In truth Mudgee has been in the wine business for quite a while but like its better known cousin, the Hunter Valley, it has lagged behind the growth of other wine regions of Australia. And there is good reason for this. The quality of wine is not really competitive; there are exceptions. But having visited the region several times over the last couple of decades I have not been impressed. Yes, there has been growth, and our visit in December 2003 revealed some surprises like Abercorn but I enjoyed Mudgee more as a weekend retreat than as a major wine region. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong in years to come but not in the near future. Still there must be something in the air or on the cyberwaves because another post just hit the surf, or is that the "Nest in the Hills".

French Lose the World Cup but Win the Wine Cup

We all know which country won the World Cup but according to Australian wine makers it seems that the French are still on top in the wine business. The Australian news media outlet The Age asked leading members of the Australian wine industry (winemaker Chester Osborn, of d'Arenberg Wines; marketer Rob Geddes of WineStream; wine company CEO Darren De Bortoli; and winery owner Bruce Tyrrell of Tyrrell's Wines) who stands in the way of Australia achieving world dominion. Their answers might surprise you; they knocked me off my feet!

The greatest threat was generally considered to be Spain, although Italy got a half vote. A surprise to me, I would have said the USA given the potential that the US has to compete with the Australian products.

The quiet achiever was all over the place with New Zealand, France, Italy and Germany getting nods. My bias would be a toss up between New Zealand and Germany but that may change after we visit NZ in December.

The most admired player? Again a big spread with France, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina getting gongs. My gong would be for France if I was a whole lot more affluent. Otherwise I’ll stick with Oz with a little bit of Germany thrown in for the necessary sweet white.

It was for the most innovative player that things got just plain strange. France two, Australia and New Zealand one each. You climb the ladder like Oz has, with innovation as one of your major players, only to lose out to the guy who has fallen in front of goal ten seconds before full time! Excuse me for confusing Europeans, but this is just too weird because these comments are coming from Australian wine experts.

But the clincher was the score for the most aggressive player. The French got two clear points, the South Africans one and the last point split by Australia and France.

By my count that makes France the clear winner with 6 and half points. One has to wonder if the Australian wine industry really has its eye on the ball. The South Americans might not have done all that much in World Cup but watch them when it comes to competing in wine.

We Love Shiraz

I think everyone who visits this site knows that, but I'm not talking about this site. Shiraz has competition? No not really. But I have found a new web site, based in the USA, that is "dedicated to everyone who enjoys Shiraz and the great wine from Australia". It is early days yet for WeLoveShiraz.com, but as one goal is "to catalog 100% of all Australian wine producers and get many of them to be contributing writers" expectations are high.

I guess I better add it to the links so we can keep an eye on it and its companion website!

Desperately Seeking Funding, The World Cup and a little Bordeaux

No I’m not seeking funding for my eBlogs. I’m just doing my impersonation of a scientist trying to convince his peers that his research is more worthy of receiving federal funds that some 80 percent of the other research grant applications that are reviewed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Well, at least that’s my excuse for not posting so frequently on wine these days. With funding levels being reduced for the first time in the history of the NIH there is a serious concern that medical research in the USA will begin to fall behind the rest of the world. The news may not be that bad, but its pretty obvious that while the current administration is not adverse to spending money to kill people, they are loathe to support the sciences in any meaningful way. And if they say they are, ask them to show you the NIH budget figures after they have been adjusted for inflation. And if they start talking about their AIDS initiatives, make sure they tell you just how much is going to faith based groups. Oh well, maybe I’ll just tell my lab staff to start praying before each experiment!

Speaking of going down on one’s knees, I wonder how much prayer is being offered up in the hope that Australia's Socceroos go through to the Group of 16 in the World Cup? Probably not as much as in Croatia! Unfortunately I’ll be working on my research application during the game tomorrow but I’ll be opening up a bottle of Aussie Shiraz to watch the replay later that evening. It will be a really good bottle if we go through.

And speaking of good bottles, I’ve finally put up some notes on a tasting of 2003 Bordeaux from this past April. I have still to catch up on the March Chardonnay tasting (I was unable to attend the Pinot Noir tasting in May). But I will attend the 2001 Brunello di Montalcino tasting tomorrow night. Its lucky that the soccer replay is not until 11pm! Watch for notes on the Brunellos, oh around November! Sad isn’t it?

But can you drink 5-8 glasses a day?

WATER into wine? Why bother when in Sydney next week you can buy a bottle of 2003 chardonnay or a 2002 shiraz-cabernet for less than many leading brands of bottled water.

That's the reality of the 900 million-litre wine glut sloshing across Australia, which has created a boom in the "cleanskin" market. MORE->

Grape grower 'plotted to bomb winery'

(From The Age, by Steve Butcher, June 14, 2006)
THE downturn in the grape market had a potentially disastrous outcome when a company director allegedly planned to bomb a winery over lost income.
Steve Bergamin, 23, is accused of planning to blame terrorists for his plot to bomb the Gapsted winery, between Myrtleford and Bright in north-east Victoria.
He allegedly told an associate he wanted the winery "levelled … lock, stock and barrel".
A detective told a bail hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday that Bergamin was angered by a cut in grape prices and said the winery "had to go".
"I want it to look like terrorists have done it," he allegedly said. MORE->

There are terroirists, and then there are terrorists, and then there are those who are just plain idiots!

Aussie wines take French to the cleaners

NEARLY a billion bottles of French and Italian wine are to be turned into disinfectant and bio-fuels because no one is prepared to buy and drink them. And the reason?

British drinkers would rather buy Australian. Says Annabel Crabb (London) in the June 11 edition of The Age.

And if you look at what has been happening in Ireland since 1990 you can see how the French and Italians have been suffering while Australia has risen to the top in case sales and market share in 2004.

The Irish Wine Buff

As expected the Guinness in Ireland was smooth and creamy, and came in pint glasses. The wine experience was a little different. I took four bottles of 2002 Australian Shiraz as well a 375 ml bottle of Seppelt’s DP 59 Rare Rutherglen Tokay to share among relatives and friends. The reception these wines received was interesting. Friends from England were quite willing to taste the wines and express an opinion. But my wife’s Irish cousins seemed more interested in the alcohol content than the taste of the wines. Initially I put this down to a lack of experience with wine, after all alcohol is not the only component that goes to make a balanced and structurally sound wine.

However! Toward the end of our week among the green hills and stone ruins of southwest Ireland I was asked to purchase wine for a birthday party. And this was not just any birthday party; it was the reason for being in Ireland. The wine selection would have to rise to the occasion but there was only one bottle of Aussie Shiraz left. Having seen what wines were being sold in the supermarkets I was keen to find a specialist wine store. But this is Ireland. The land of Guinness. Small villages with narrow streets. And peat-smoke filled pubs! Quality wine is it, ya say? Hmmm, let me tink now. Fortunately some of the other Americans who were visiting for the party, and were staying in GarryKennedy, had seen a wine shop, The Wine Buff, in nearby Nenagh.

A brief glance around the shelves of The Wine Buff and I knew that I wasn’t going to be buying any New World Wines. But the owner Alexis Kelly was very accommodating once she knew I liked Syrah. And she opened a couple of bottles of other wines for us to taste as well. In the end we came away with a six-pack of wines that turned out to be quite popular among the party goers. Maybe I’ll post on them in the future.

But what of the Irish and the alcohol content of wine? To try and learn more I chased down the web site for The Wine Buff because Alexis had said in passing that The Wine Buff was looking at Australia. And there it was, Update from Australia. And there it was again, the concern over high alcohol content. This time the comments were a little more informative. The alcohol level was clearly a concern but so was the heavy extraction and lack of freshness. With comments like “At this stage I have tasted about two hundred wines and there were only about six wines, maximum, that I felt like drinking” it looks like The Wine Buff won’t be a big importer of Australian wines .The price of the wines downunder also appeared to be a concern. I can understand this. The six wines we purchased from The Wine Buff were all under $20USD and only one was not good value.

And then there is Muck and Merlot! Published in 2004 this little book was written by Tom Doorley, reputedly “one of Ireland’s best-known commentators on food and wine”. My copy came from the Tall Stories book store in Kilkenny and as I leafed through a few chapters late at night in the Willowbrook B&B I began to realize that Mr Doorley was perhaps one of the reasons why the Irish look for the alcohol level before they taste. Muck and Merlot has a chapter entitled Wine Whine which covers the usual suspects but it also goes after “cult wines that are over-extracted and over-alcoholic”. Now there is nothing wrong with that notion, in fact it may well hold more than a grain of truth. Its just that the paragraph begins with quite a crippling comment on Penfold’s Grange. Red flag to an Australian! But the same paragraph also contains the comment “Whole swathes of the world’s wines are now too alcoholic for their own good, but do we hear serious objections? Not nearly enough of them.” Later in the same chapter are comments on the mafia and dead bodies in the irrigation channels of (Riverina) Australia. Well in truth there are a lot of Australians of Italian heritage there, so I suppose……

Back to some real facts about Ireland and those high alcohol Australian wines. Tom, my man, do you realize that Ireland is the sixth largest market for Australian wines? And that between the years 2002/3 and 2004/5 the volume of Australian wine sold increased by 46.5%? Someone in Ireland loves a little bit more alcohol in their wines!

Ginger Man Country

Not that it will disturb the status quo too much but service is about to be disrupted. We are off to Ireland for what I hope will be ten Guinness filled days. We may try to hunt down some wines as well, but when you are on the trail of The Ginger Man it is pubs that you need to frequent. We will be in Dublin for only a night or two and we’ll have to visit the bar where the Guinness is the best in Dublin. Of course a real Ginger Man does not go past McDaids, nor would he pass up a night in the Shelbourne Hotel. Unfortunately the latter is under rennovation. Then it will be off to Willowbrook, Garrykennedy and Lough Derg. Garrykennedy has ten buildings with two pubs, sounds about the right ratio. And there will be a few other excursions as well - at least that is what I am told!

For those few souls who don't know about The Ginger Man I recommend this site.

Campbell’s Latest

THE WINE FRONT The latest edition of Winefront (March-April) has been released in PDF format. This edition includes articles on Brokenwood Graveyard, Screwcaps, Best Value Reds, Penfolds Supers, Pinot Gris, By Farr, ILR Semillon, New Zealand pinot and more. There is also a stack of reviews plus the new Mucho Yummo Wino section. You need to be a subscriber so why not check out Winefront now.

Placing Wine Reviewing In Context

I was looking forward to a tasting of 2003 Bordeaux reds a few weeks ago. As usual the tasting was accompanied by tasting notes from several noted critics and as always happens some of the people in attendance placed great emphasis on the content of the notes and/or the scores for the individual wines. Because the tasting was done single blind the inevitable happens, people taste the wines and then try to identify them based on how their tasting notes compare with the provided tasting notes. It never works; at least I’ve never seen anyone successfully identify the wines using that approach.

One thing that does not happen at these tastings is complaints about the use of single blind as the method of assessing the wines. True, some individuals are clearly quite new to wine tasting and require an explanation of how the evening will progress but I’ve never heard any raised voices complaining that the identity of the wines is not laid out before them. This is in contrast to many professional critics, including Robert Parker, Jr and James Halliday, who taste many wines unblinded. The argument used is that a wine label should not influence the true professional, although I challenge them to prove that point, or at the very least to point to peer reviewed scientific literature that proves that visual clues do not influence decision making.

Another argument that is used in support of non-blinded wine reviewing is that its important to know the identity of the wine so that you can more easily place the wine in context. In other words by knowing the identity of the wine (e.g. variety, vintage, producer, region) you are better able to judge it. I always have a difficult time with this idea of drinking and/or reviewing wines "in context", particularly if you are blinded to the identity of the wines and then when you learn of the identity you reassess the wines to put them "in context", and especially if that reassessment means that wines are re-graded. Let's put this in perspective! What "in context" means to me is drinking/reviewing wine within your own field of reference/experience. The problem with this is that is exactly where bias comes in. I appreciate that it is difficult to avoid bias. Simply looking at a row of wine glasses and seeing that the wines are red as opposed to white has already begun a thought process that could include bias, and the influence of bias can increase as more information is gathered (e.g. smell, taste etc). But the serious bias comes in when notes and scores/grades/stars are added after a wine has been identified following a blind tasting. I believe serious basis is there from the beginning if the identity of the wine is known during the tasting (if you don't believe the latter I'd love to see the data that proves me wrong.)

To make this short just a couple of examples of why I believe "in context" creates problems.

1) Placing a young wine in the context of previous vintages: Essentially vintage comparison and its done all the time. The most recent vintage of wine X is compared to some previous vintage with regard to some characteristic. To do this properly requires an extraordinary knowledge of the wine in question and previous vintages and all the relevant parameters involved in the making of those wines. I see vintage comparisons made all the time but I've yet to see a really rigorous affirmation that wines from different years are so similar as to be as identical as some of the predictions try to make them. It always sounds good, the wines from vintage X are so similar to vintage Y that you can be certain they will be (fill in whatever attribute you prefer). But over time the making of wine has not been a static process, and can be influenced by many variables from vintage to vintage. I’m not saying that its not impossible for an astute and highly talented wine critic to compare vintages, I simply think he/she should be honest when comparing vintages and state just how limited their comparison of the aspects of the vintages really are (e.g. if its just a comparison of tasting notes, then say so). Don’t make statements like “Reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 1982 and the 1975…..” because its just rubbish. How much of a blend? What percentages? And when did you actually make the blend?

2) Putting a wine from a new winery/vineyard "in context": There are different approaches taken here. One is to simply ignore placing the wine in any context, even though very similar wines with longer histories get reassessed (i.e. put in context). The only reason that context is used here is because one wine has a history, but should that be the only feature that distinguishes two wines? The other approach is to place some context on the wine that may or may not be relevant (e.g Kalleske's Johann Georg Shiraz from the Barossa Valley comes from a vineyard that once went to Penfold's for Grange. What this actually say's about the Kalleske wine or about Grange is not really clear; I'm guilty of this confusion myself).

3) Placing wines in context when you are completely unfamiliar with them: This for me is where the real problem with putting a wine in context comes in. This is something that I come up against on a regular basis because I try to taste across as broad a range of wines as I can. So its possible that I could be tasting a flight of wines that includes wines I've had before, wines I've heard of but not tasted before and wines I've never heard of before. Its simply not possible to put all those wines in complete context. OK, if they are all the same varietal, or from the same region or country then you can fudge it. But the "in context" should really be thrown out the window and the "learning experience" aspect of wine drinking should be brought into play.

And that is what happened with the 2003 Bordeaux, but that’s for another time.

Aussie Wine Critic Doesn’t Give a Toss about Grape Glut

Clear thinking Campbell Mattinson has posted an Editorial on his revamped and renamed The Wine Front web site about what he considers a questionable grape glut, wine lake, or industry crisis in Australian wine. He has some good reasons for his stance. Although I'd like to quibble with him about a few of the finer points. To read the full commentary you have to be, like me, a subscriber.

Or for the next few days you can make your way over to the Auswine forum and get access to The Wine Front for free. And then you can subscribe!

The American Wine Market

Analysis of sales in food and drug stores tracked by ACNielsen shows varietal wines priced under $6 are still the most popular. (It is important to note that many, if not most, food and drug stores do not sell wines costing $40, $50 or more a bottle). However, sales of wines $6 and above are seeing the strongest growth rates.

Between July 2003 and February 2006, overall wine sales rose 22.6 percent. The largest growth was in wines priced $15 and above, which gained 123 percent. However, those wines only account for about 2 percent of the market. By far the largest volume of wine sold in food stores is priced below $6 per 750 ml; a category that includes jug and 5-liter boxed wines. This category's market share is declining. Between July 2003 and July 2004, this category was responsible for 71 percent of the sales volume. Between February 2005 and February 2006, that market share fell 6 percent.

The overall average bottle price has risen from $4.73 to $5.48, but most of that increase came because the cheapest wines are getting slightly pricier.

Coming Soon, the Blog Book

Want to see those words in print? No not these pages, well not in foreseeable future; my real job has taught me the vagaries of getting published. But if you do have a wine blog or any blog, or you just want to get published Blurb Inc can help. Mind you a little book on Shiraz wouldn’t go astray, now would it?

They are only words…… and sometimes they are all we have

Drinking a great wine is a very sensory experience that can evoke a wide range of emotions and memories. But how can we convey the experience of that wine to others who have not tasted it? While facial expressions, and other gestures, may have certain connotations that might prove useful particularly if the wine has been unpleasant, the spoken and written word has proven our best mode of communication. As noted before on Shiraz one problem that affects the ability to communicate the experience of tasting a wine is being able to accurately describe or label the odors, aromas, or bouquet associated with the wine. Another is the art of writing. Within this second facet is the ability to correctly use words to describe the experience.

I’ve been thinking about the correct use of words lately because I’m not satisfied with having to use the term palate in tasting notes. The principal definition of palate is anatomical and refers to “the roof of the mouth, which separates it from the nasal cavity”. A minor definition is “Relish; taste; liking; - a sense originating in the mistaken notion that the palate is the organ of taste.” So imagine, if you will, the accuracy of describing the taste of a wine with the phrase “on the palate”. Apart from the fact that the palate is not a taste organ, you would have to be standing on your head to have the wine on your palate.

The problem is, of course, that the terminology is so widely used. A search of eRobertParker.com will reveal that Parker has used it in the tasting notes of 8,423 wines. (I use Robert Parker as an example simply because his site has such a great search facility.) A comment on Palate is found in Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, where it is noted as the “term used when describing tasting as a process and an ability.” Palate does not find its way into Wine, A Brief Encyclopedia by Walter James (Published 1960). Being a great fan of James I’m consoled by that. Perhaps in future I might try using simpler terms like mouth or tongue. Oral cavity seems just a little too clinical. Still I’m sure palate will creep back in at some point.

Another word that finds its way into tasting notes is one that is not found in any dictionary I have looked in. The word is minerality. You won’t find it in Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, or Walter James’s Wine, A Brief Encyclopedia. But Robert Parker likes it, to date he has used it 856 times. And it occurs elsewhere such as “The precision and minerality of quartz and slate following spring showers preface a nose of varietal purity…” tasting notes for Leo Buring 2005 Eden Valley Riesling.

A word that is similar to minerality is minerally. You will find it in Michael Schuster’s Essential Winetasting where it is defined as “Suggestions to both nose and palate of stones; slate granite, chalk, schist and so on. Especially in wines from the Loire, N. Rhone, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Douro, Mosel, Tokay, etc. Fanciful? Maybe, but real enough to many winetasters; see Terrior” Jancis Robinson in How To Taste defines minerally as “smell of assorted minerals and a common component of fine Cabernet and Riesling”. But does minerally really evoke the smell of “quartz and slate following spring showers”? Not to me because the vast majority of minerals have no smell. So if a wine evokes the remembrance of the smell of wet rocks then it must be something separate that is being washed off those wet rocks.

There is a word that describes just that. Petrichor, it means “the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell”. [From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Coined by Australian geologists I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas.] A more lengthy explanation comes from Michael Quinion at World Wide Words where he writes "the smell is an oily essence that comes from rocks or soil that are often (but not always) clay-based. The oil is a complicated set of at least fifty different compounds, rather like a perfume. It turned out that the oils are given off by vegetation during dry spells and are adsorbed on to the surface of rocks and soil particles, to be released into the air again by the next rains."

What an intriguing explanation. Its no wonder that minerality (minerally) has a connotation with terroir. More to the point its easy to see why Robin Garr became so enamored with a word that could have saved a paragraph in a tasting description. Petrichor, I can't wait to find a wine smelling of wet rocks just so I can use it. All I have to do is remember it. Petrichor, petrichor, petrichor.

Looking for more words to use in your next wine tasting note? Check out some of these.

A Winemakers’ House Call

When I contacted vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia I was very hopeful of tasting the wines of Yabby Lake Vineyard. Established in 1998, the first vintage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir had been produced in 2002 from the 40 hectare vineyard. Stephanie Duboudin, Marketing Manager for the BMK Family Vineyards that oversees Yabby Lake, informed me that although there are no visitor facilities she would travel to the Peninsula to meet with me while we were visiting with other vineyards. That seemed a bit extreme, especially as she was going to be coming from Melbourne and we were staying in Melbourne anyway. Why not just meet in Melbourne later in the week? And so it was arranged, or at least that is what I thought. As the day approached Stephanie called to say that Tod Dexter, Winemaker for Yabby Lake, would be doing the tasting. But there was a problem. The hotel where we were staying did not have a room suitable for the tasting. I offered a simple solution. Why not use our room? The only problem would be glassware, but if that was going to be the only problem we could get by.

Tod Dexter has only been with Yabby Lake since January 2004, but his experience with vineyards of the Mornington Peninsula is impressive. He took Stonier’s from a fledgling 250 to 30,000 cases during which time it became one of the most highly regarded wineries on the Peninsula. He was also winemaker at Elgee Park and established his own vineyard on Mornington Peninsula in 1987. Almost a winemaker by default his career started in 1979 at Cakebread Cellars when he found himself in the Napa Valley. After an education at Cakebread and at the University of California at Davis he returned to Australia to study at Roseworthy College before vintages at Brown Brothers. Winemakers always seem to have an international route to their destination.

Like any good wine man Tod came prepared with two bottles of each wine and we could do nothing less than provide cheeses and other nibbles and possibly the worst wine glasses known to oenology – generic bowls. The wines were going to have to be good to make an impression.

First up were the wines from the Yabby Lake Vineyards. The 2004 Chardonnay (French Oak, 30% new) was a light straw with a colorless edge. Nice peach, citrus, and floral aromas with a little anise were released with some swirling of the glass. Excellent oak treatment was revealed in a beautifully textured wine that was soft, round and full in the mouth. The oak is truly understated, allowing the juicy acidity to provide elegance to the lengthy finish. This is a classy wine that conventional wisdom would give 5-7 years of life. I’ll go out on a limb and say that you can easily double or triple that. We consumed the rest of the bottle later in the day with smoked salmon on toast which highlighted the floral aromas and the crisp, invigorating acidity of the wine. 2, 2, 4.3, 10.5 = 18.8/20, 94/100. 13.5% alcohol.

Next was the 2004 Pinot Noir (French Oak). Cherry red in color with a pink edge and loaded with dazzling Pinot character of spices, plum, bright cherry, and faint cinnamon. Medium bodied with wonderful mouthfeel. The supersoft tannins firm up on a lengthy finish that is supported by bright acidity. Simply excellent. It should be at its best in 3-5 years and could well live for two to three times longer. 2, 2, 4.5, 10.3, =18.8/20, 94/100. 14.5% alcohol.

The third wine was not from Mornington Peninsula but from another cool climate Victorian wine region, Heathcote. The Heathcote Estate 2003 Shiraz (French Oak) is not quite pure Shiraz as it has 6% Grenache. It’s surprising to realize that this is only the second vintage of this single vineyard Shiraz from this new estate. An intense chocolate aroma can be smelt as soon as the cork is pulled. The wine is densely colored, literally glass staining. It’s a big fruity wine loaded with blueberry and blackberry and a little nail polish (EA). This full bodied wine has wonderful mouthfeel and great balance. The big, firm tannins will need a few years to soften and by then it should be a beauty. It will live for at least 5-10 years and hopefully much longer. 2, 2, 4.5, 10.5 = 19/20, 95/100, 14.5% alcohol. Tasted December 7, 2005.

We spent two hours tasting the three wines and discussing wine in general, and that is really how wine tasting should go. No fuss, no rush, no bother. All you need is a friendly, down to earth, intelligent winemaker, who makes bloody good wine. There is no doubt about it the wines were excellent to outstanding, especially the Yabby Lake wines. The mouthfeel is almost a sensual experience. The best recommendation I can give these wines is that I have purchased a six-pack of the 2003 Heathcote Shiraz and a dozen of the Yabby Lake 2004 Pinot Noir. And if my wine merchant is true to his word he will have my order for the 2004 Yabby Lake Chardonnay in the distributors’ hands tomorrow.

Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate are part of the BMK Family Vineyards P/L. Other products in the group include Cooralook which is a second label for the former two vineyards. The other vineyard is Escarpment Vineyards which is in Martinborough, New Zealand. Escarpment is home to Larry McKenna, Consulting Winemaker and the guy who actually made the first two vintages at Yabby Lake. Guess where yours truly will be visiting this December?

Look, In Wine Cyberspace! Is it a Blog? Is it a...

Actually I’m not really sure what it is. But its being written by Campbell Mattinson of Winefront Monthly fame so you will definitely want to bookmark it. Campbell is a very clever wine writer. He was winnner of the 2004 Saltram Wine Communicator Award, the inaugural awarding of this prize, and one of three finalists for the 2005 award.

This new site, called Winefront, has the features of a blog but it also allows subscribers to Campbell’s Winefront Monthly website to login to access extras. But there are free features like the Guides to various wine regions of Australia, including the Barossa Valley in South Australia, Hunter Valley in New South Wales and Mornington Peninsula and Rutherglenregions of Victoria. If you want to learn about the variety that is the life and spice of Aussie wine you should read these regional vignettes.

Wal-Mart Wine

Wal-Mart announced that they will soon be offering customers a new discount item. Wal-Mart's own brand of wine. The world's largest retail chain is teaming up with E&G Jallo Winery of California, to produce the spirits at an affordable price, in the $1-3 range. Wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of Wal-Mart brand into their shopping carts, but "there is a market for cheap wine," said Kathy Micken, Professor of Marketing. She said: "But the right name is important."

Customer surveys were conducted to determine the most attractive name for the Wal-Mart brand.

The top surveyed names in order of popularity are:
10. Chateau Traileur Parc
9. White Trashfindel
8. Big Red Gulp
7. World Championship Riesling
6. NASCARbernet
5. Chef Boyardeaux
4. Pe anut Noir
3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!
2. Grape Expectations

And the number 1 name for Wal-Mart Wine:
1. Nasti Spumante

The beauty of Wal-Mart wine is that it can be served with either white meat (Possum) or red meat (Squirrel).

Off Your Tits On Screwed

I rarely buy wine from supermarkets. Miranda, my wife, would probably add that I rarely buy anything from supermarkets; she does it all. Even so I was the one pushing the shopping cart around Henry’s last weekend as she made her selections. Naturally I was drawn to the wine section, just on the off chance that there might be something interesting on the shelves. The first thing I noticed was that there weren’t any shelf-talkers extolling the virtues of some 90 point plus wine. There weren’t even any simple tasting notes or recommendations tacked up that might indicate a worthy choice. There was a magazine rack with Bon Appetite, Wine and Food, and Wine Spectator but no one was sneaking a quick look in hopes of finding a few pointers about what wines might be good value.

As I stood there leaning on the shopping cart it suddenly occurred to me that unless I knew what I was after how was I going to choose, assuming that I was going to buy wine? A lot of the wine labels didn’t even look familiar. OK, don’t panic. Let’s be sensible about this. You have walked into a store looking for a bottle of inexpensive wine. Find a bottle of wine. It can’t be that hard, after all you are supposed to know a little bit about the subject. A sign said Shiraz. I know what that is! Familiarity does breed contempt. They all seemed to be from places other than Australia. None looked familiar. Several were from California, some of which were even called Shiraz but most were labeled Syrah. Well I could be adventurous but I had seen the ubiquitous [yellowtail] Shiraz when we had come into the store so I knew there was Aussie wine here somewhere. Let’s go with what we know best. But where were they? Ahh huh, over there under the sign Australia.

Like most supermarkets Henry’s does not carry a large or expensive selection of wine in any category. Still inexpensive Aussie wine is the flavor of the month and so there were several dozen reds to pick from; I didn’t to an actual count. Keeping to the plan I checked out the Shiraz lineup. The usual suspects were there including [yellowtail], Rosemount and Jacobs Creek. There was also a Deakin Estate and something called Red Knot. Pretty label. Hmm, made by the Davey Family Wines from McLaren Vale. They make Shingleback Shiraz which is pretty good wine. But I’m supposed to be playing the part of an average consumer who knows that Australian Shiraz is good wine, not what Australian Shiraz wines are better than others. OK, what else is there. Alice White Shiraz! Sounds like something made by the girl next door, or maybe the old guy next door acting as though he’s a girl!

What’s this? Screwed Red Wine from McLaren Vale. Another Davey Family Wines product. At $8.99USD a bottle Screwed is a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo. Screwed is part of Precept Brands; which I’m presuming owns Davey Family Wines. The back label reads “Your alarm doesn’t go off and you wake up an hour late…you try to open a bottle of wine and the cork breaks…get to the airport and you realize that you forgot your passport…you’re totally screwed! Unscrew yourself by unscrewing a bottle of screwed red wine from Australia’s famed Mclaren Vale. This rich and vibrant red wine has blackberry aromas and flavors. With just a touch of vanilla oak for a smooth finish. And no corkscrews involved for the accident prone.”


This could be a bit of fun. The name is topical, fitting in with the new drive to screwcaps as well as the obvious sexual connotation. If it turns out to be swill we can still get a few laughs from the label, and who knows what else a few glasses might lead to?

Tasted along with some salsa and corn chips the wine was quite attractive with aromas of cigar smoke over sweet oak, faint pepper, cola and dark fruits. Certainly confected and fruit forward. The palate was medium weight with bright acidity and soft tannins. The flavors carried well and provided nice length to the finish. However there was little depth or complexity to the wine. It scored a 16.1/20 or 81/100 from me.

How successful was I at selecting a wine? Well given that I went for something that I thought might be more fun than quality it turned out reasonably well. But I don’t envy the novice wine drinker the task of making a serious choice from the Henry’s wine selection. The lack of shelf talkers or even any staff recommendations makes wine selection difficult. The lack of information on their shelves is unfortunate given that their web site does make an attempt to introduce the consumer to wine. Dare I venture into any more supermarket wine aisles?

Oh, would I get off my tits on Screwed? That would depend on what you think getting off my tits means!

Pricey Grange

Mark Wickman of Wickman’s Fine Wine Auctions has sent out a press release questioning the asking price of the 2001 Penfolds Grange. How much do they want? A paltry $600AUD/bottle. Mark thinks that just a little too much, and I’m inclined to agree. While Grange is unique in terms of the iconic wines of Australia and there is a market for the wine locally it can be quite difficult to get access to bottles of Grange. This is due to allocation of the wine which is based on sales of quantities of other Penfolds wines. Thus a fine wine store selling St Henri, RWT and Magill etc may get a smaller allocation than a supermarket selling larger quantities of Koonunga Hill, Thomas Hyland and the Rawson’s Retreat range.

To read what other think about the price of Grange check out the Auswine forum thread.

The Wickman Press Release is copied below.


Auction expert questions pricing policy of the imminent Penfolds Grange release and urges collectors to consider recent performance before making any buying decisions.

Adelaide, Australia - March 21, 2006 -- Every year, the release of Penfolds Grange sparks excitement among wine drinkers who want to ensure they don’t miss out on their share of Australia’s most prestigious wine.

Penfolds has announced that this year’s release date will be May 1st and asking prices for the 2001 Grange are estimated to be as high as $600.

But according to Mark Wickman of Wickman’s Fine Auctions, paying that much for a bottle of 2001 Grange upon release makes little sense.

“I believe Grange is overpriced at that price and predict that while this new release will sell at a premium initially, it will then drop back below $400 within a year or so,” he says.

“The 2000 vintage was not doing well at auction last year, fetching around the $500 mark if it sold, but demand was poor and many lots around the country were left wanting.

“In fact, recent past vintages including the 1999 and the 1997 are selling below $300 per bottle ­ sometimes as low as $200 each ­ and even the renowned 1998 is selling for approximately $400 or less, so I question Penfolds decision to release it at $600 when buyers can expect better bargains at auction.”

Wickman says that he also expects plenty of Grange to be dumped on to the secondary market as a result of the Heritage collapse, further pushing down the value of this iconic wine.

“At a recent silent auction, a rare full set of Penfolds Grange valued at more than $170,000 failed to sell ­ I think that is as clear a sign you can get that Grange’s secondary market value is slipping,” he says.

“Considering the current state of the market and basic supply versus demand principles, I believe it would be best for buyers to buy their Grange at auction rather than on release.”

About Wickman Fine Wine Auctions;
Distinguished by innovation and driven by passion, Wickman’s Fine Wine Auctions has been a lively and profitable meeting ground for wine buyers and sellers since 2003. A family business based in South Australia, Wickman’s prides itself on its position as a reliable resource with a well-spring of extraordinary values and opportunities.

Being a good “neighbour” in a global community is an important part of Wickman’s corporate identity.

“Philanthropy is in our blood,” explained Wickman, referring to his family’s commitment to annual fundraising.

“In the last three years, Wickman’s has auctioned wine and wine-related services generously donated from wine companies from Australia and overseas and raised over $17,000 to benefit The Multiple Sclerosis society, The Asian Tsunami Appeal, a local South Australian charity; The Eyre Peninsula Fire appeal and the Adelaide Women and Children’s Hospital foundation.”

For additional information contact:

Mark Wickman
WICKMAN'S FINE WINE AUCTIONS
PO Box 1270
North Haven
South Australia, 5018
Australia

Website: http://wineauction.wickman.net.au/

Partners Argue Over Ends of the Roogle

(From the Wine Spectator) When U.S. importer Dan Philips teamed with Australian winemakers Sparky and Sarah Marquis to make Marquis Philips wines in 2000, they designed a symbol for the label that had the head of an American eagle on the body of a kangaroo. They called it a roogle. Looks like the roogle is a dead duck. The partnership is kaput, and in the aftermath the parties are suing each other in Australia. Philips has formed a new company that plans to continue the highly promising Marquis Philips brand and add other wines under a new chief winemaker--Chris Ringland, who also makes Rockford, RBJ and Greenock Creek wines. The Marquises also have a new brand, Mollydooker, which is set for release in the United States later this year.

FYI mollydooker is a left-handed person. Also mollydook, molly dook(er), molly-dook(er).

Of Wine, Books, and Reading for a Head Cold

It seems colder and wetter than normal in San Diego these days. And that always leads to the great nemesis of the wine drinker, the head cold. Mine seems to have come by way of a three year old. “Gracie just has allergies” said her mother as her sweet child coughed, open mouthed, at all and sundry. In fact, now that I remember, I had been nursing her on my hip only a day or two earlier when all this coughing had begun and I had said to Gracie then, “You aren’t going to cough on me are you?” To which the child replied “Yes” and promptly coughed in my face.

Fortunately I have a powerful weapon against this type of assault – Fisherman’s Friends. And they seemed to be working. Miranda predictably came down with a cold. But I was OK. A little sniffly. But OK for four or five days. It finally caught up with me. Probably on the day we visited Orange County. Strangely prophetic, perhaps!

So there I was at home, feeling miserable, and wondering when the weather would begin to warm and I would feel better. With wine never far from my mind, the chill in the room reminded me of J. P. Donealvy’s Leila: Further in the Life and Destines of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman and the sentence on page 16 that reads “Announcing in sepulchral tones the year of vintage as he poured the decanted premier grand cru Margaux with its bouquet shrinking back in the glass from the cold.”

I didn’t fancy rereading Leila, excellent thou it is. I could perhaps begin James Halliday’s Wine Odyssey, or the recently purchased Jamie Goode’s The Science of Wine. But did I want to start something new when the pile of books beside the bed had volumes like A Wine Journey along the Russian River by Steve Heimoff, and Appreciating Wine by Philip Hills that were yet to be finished? Besides I wanted to reread George Taber’s excellent Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine again, as well as Elin McCoy’s The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr. and the Reign of American Taste. They should be read in that order to get a solid grasp of the recent history of wine in America.

Also in the unfinished pile was Bob Woodward’s Plan of Attack. But I think I know how that one is going to end. Besides I didn’t really want to take up anything long because I wasn’t planning on spending a lot time lying around. There was Playboy. I can always find something in there that catches my eye. This time it was Michael Ruse on Faith and Reason in the April 2006 issue. I followed that with Michael Specter’s piece Political Science in the March 13, 2006 issue of the New Yorker. Two excellent pieces on the growing conflict between science and religion and the all too obvious battleground of red and blue politics. Yes, I think one can be justified by responding with an open mouthed blank stare after reading that the USA supports the vast majority of Nobel Prize winners and yet over 50% of the population does not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution. I know I stared at the ceiling for a long time after I digested that information. Of course it might have just been the cough medication taking hold.

To regain some composure I thought about flipping through my own recent contribution to the scientific literature. Autoantibodies and Autoimmunity: Molecular mechanisms in health and disease. As the editor I wrote in the Preface "This book would not have been possible without the outstanding contributions of a group of highly talented and internationally respected authors." On a cold day, when you have just read how science is threatened by people who have a literal belief in another book that contains numerous errors in translation, its comforting to know that you have intelligent friends in many countries of this world.

Of course we scientists aren’t without humor. Miranda suggested I add the following to the end of my book bio. "He and his wife Miranda, a veterinarian, share their lives with three Standard Poodles, and four cats named after famous Irishmen." I wonder if J. P. Donleavy would be amused by that. Not that he’s Irish, but the Irishness of it might warm him a bit. Perhaps stir a little flavor from the glass of life. I’ve a feeling a lot of people could use a little warmth to reassure them that there is something good beyond the cold and dark and unnerving.

Wine on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia

I could have sworn that I didn’t drink that much during our visit to four wineries (Stonier, Moorooduc, Port Phillip (and Kooyong), and Paringa) on Mornington Peninsula in December last year. But I’ve just looked back over the blog posts and found that I have not made clear that it all happened on Sunday December 4th, 2005. Something has to be killing off my brain cells. Its either all that Shiraz or maybe its just old age!

Another Winery on the Mornington Peninsula - Paringa Estate

The wineries on the Mornington Peninsula close at 5 PM and as we paid for our non-wine purchase at Port Phillip Estate that witching hour was fast approaching. There was only one thing to be done, we would have to ask for directions to the next winery, Paringa Estate. This young winery was established by the McCall’s in 1985 with the first vintage made in 1988. Their wines are made from both Estate and Mornington Peninsula fruit by Lindsay McCall. Fortunately Paringa Estate, we were informed, was just down the road. “On the left. Just down the road.“ I made sure to ask twice. And he was right, well almost, we had two left turns to make but it was close enough that we pulled into an empty parking lot at five minutes to five. Still this was going to be close! No time to visit any restrooms.

We need not have worried. Although the tasting bar was vacant, the restaurant still had tables occupied with diners admiring the view and in a couple of cases each other. And even though all the staff were in cleanup mode no one seemed to be a hurry, especially the guy behind the wine bar. Even so we thought that maybe we shouldn’t overstay our welcome, so we’d just do the reds. But as I perused the line-up of bottles it was obvious that the Reserve level wines were no where to be seen. This was unfortunate because the 2003 Reserve Shiraz was only the second release of this special barrel selection of Shiraz, and I’d been looking forward to tasting it. I’d even ignored the fact that one email to Paringa had been bounced back and a second try had failed to raise a reply. The wine might just be worth being ignored. But I guess I was going to have to put Paringa Estate down as another winery that pretty much ignores the enthusiastic amateur. Still I could at least take my time getting notes on the reds that were on offer.

Writing tasting notes can have interesting effects on the people around you. In this case I didn’t even need to ask if it might be possible to taste the Reserve wines. As soon as I had finished jotting down notes on the Estate level wine and poured the rest of my glass into the spit bucket the guy behind the bar reached to his right and brought the hidden bottle into view, gave me a pour and then left the bottle so I could make notes from the label. OK, so some wineries only like to pour their best for folks they think are serious about wine. Problem is that one of the best ways to get serious about wine is to taste the best stuff you can get your hands on and one of the least expensive ways to do that is to taste at wineries.

Long story short I’m all for wineries that let you taste the expensive stuff, even if you have to pay a few dollars to do so. Torbreck Vintners in the Barossa in a classic example. If Paringa Estate wants to hide their best wines from all but the most serious then they don't make make my list of wine taster friendly wineries. Which is unfortunate because they make some nice wines like the 2004 Paringa Peninsula Pinot Noir (screw cap) ($25AUD). Light cherry red in color with aromas of ripe cherries and a little nail polish. Soft and supple in the mouth with excellent carry of flavors onto the palate. A very pleasant wine. 2, 2, 3.8, 10.0 = 17.8/20, 89/100. 14.5% alcohol. The 2003 Paringa Estate Pinot Noir ($55AUD) was cherry red and very closed giving up only faint spices. But the quality shows in the excellent mouth feel, impeccable balance, and finely boned structure. 2, 2, 3.6, 10.3 = 17.9/20, 90/100. 13.7% alcohol. Its expensive big brother, the 2004 Paringa Reserve Pinot Noir ($90AUD) also cherry red is another shy wine with soft floral and spicy notes over smoky oak. Very well structured with excellent balance and great varietal definition. 2, 2, 3.9, 10.3 = 18.2/20, 91/100. 14.9% alcohol.

The three Shiraz wines seemed much riper than any other Shiraz tasted during our day on the peninsula. The 2003 Paringa Peninsula Shiraz (screw cap) ($25AUD) was cherry red with pink edge in color and gave aromas of pepper and rich tomato paste. Medium to full bodied it was rich and ripe with blackberry and pepper on the palate. Nicely structured with firm tannins and pleasant length to the finish. Surely the best value. 2, 2, 4.0, 10.1 = 18.1/20, 90/100. 13.4% alcohol. Somewhat unusual for cool climate was the 2003 Paringa Estate Shiraz ($45AUD) (40% New Fench Troncais Oak). Also cherry red with pink edge it gave a hint of chocolate over ripe jammy flavors. Medium weight, with the juicy acidity just a touch overdone, it was not as structurally sound as the other wines. The finish was supported by firm tannins. 2, 2, 4.0, 9.8 = 17.8/20, 89/100. 13.7% alcohol. The 2003 Paringa Reserve Shiraz ($70AUD) (100% New French Troncais Oak) was cherry red with red edge. The aromas are of red and black fruits, and again light chocolate. Nicely balanced, with the flavors carrying well onto the palate and supported by firm tannins it finishes with a slight bitterness. 2, 2, 4.1, 9.9 = 18/20, 90/100. 13.7% alcohol.

Chocolate in cool climate Shiraz? I cannot tell a lie, that is what I smelt in the Estate and Reserve Shiraz wines. Well 2003 did have extremely warm and dry conditions that would have allowed Shiraz to achieve more ripeness and concentration. Before we left I snapped up a bottle of the Estate Shiraz to drink later just to make sure.

Something to Crow About?

Over the last couple of years I’ve noticed a group of crows that congregate along our street. They seem to show a great deal of interest in the large macadamia nut tree in the front yard. Today in the San Diego Union Tribune an article notes the boom in local crow numbers.

What has this got to do with wine? The article includes a photo by Don Kohlbauer of the Union Tribune which shows crows blanketing a vineyard northeast of Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, every night at sunset last fall. Almost every post in the vineyard has a crow happily perched upon it. Happy until I guess someone from Crow Busters turns up! The interesting thing about crows and vineyard posts, according to the Crow Buster forum, is that they use the posts to congregate. Judging from the Union tribune photo and the photo on the Crow Busters forum this looks like a common, if potentially suicidal, activity for crows. Whether the crows constitute a serious threat to a vineyard is unclear. Although their diet does include fruit, it is quite varied. Still if you are a vigneron who wakes up every morning to crows occupying all the posts in your vineyard I think you might have cause for concern. If that is the case! Who you gonna call?

Palate Uniformity

I’m not sure why I have so little confidence in the idea of palate calibration. It may have something to do with the variety of individual tasting abilities I have witnessed at numerous tastings over the last 30 or more years. Couple that experience with the increasing scientific knowledge on the complexity of taste and smell receptors and uniformity would appear to be the exception rather than the rule among wine tasters.

I was reminded again about just how different we can all be at a recent tasting of Italian wines; my notes on that tasting should appear some time soon. As usual the tasting was done single blind but during the tasting we were supplied with tasting notes from various critics on a number of the wines. At these events there are almost always a few people who will try during the tasting to pair the wines against the tasting notes, usually with quite poor results. I find it hard enough to record my own impression without seeing if I can match what someone else has written. Once we had tasted through the wines, rated them, voted for our best wines, and the wines’ identities were revealed, the discussion among a few of us turned to just how different our perceptions of the wines were compared to the supplied notes. The differences in the descriptors used were so great that jokes were made about how professional wine critics come up with their tasting note descriptions!

As with any tasting, the voting for the best wines among the 10 wines tasted varied considerably. While there were several clear favorites, and wines that were favored by none, the middle ground was a mixed bag. Even among the agreement that existed there was far from consensus. Such diversity of opinion usually, but not always, reflects upon the experiences of the tasters present.

Just how variable can a group of tasters be? The best examples I have found are those from the Palate Calibration Exercises (PCE) on Tom Cannavan’s Wine Pages. The idea behind the PCE was for forum members on Tom’s site to taste the same wine and then record their score and impressions so that other members can then gauge their palate against those impressions; information that might prove useful when reading tasting notes on other wines from the same individuals. Two wines have been subject to PCE so far. In 2001 the 2000 Rosemount Shiraz Cabernet was tasted by 36 people from all over the world. I won’t go into the details as they are readily available on Tom’s site. It is sufficient to note that the scores vary widely (perhaps wildly may also be correct) from 6-18/20. A similar situation was found with the 2004 PCE in which 54 people scored the 2003 Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages "Combe des Jacques". Again the scores covered a considerable range going from a low of 7 to a high of 18 out of 20.

It is very instructive to read the tasting notes that accompany the summaries provided with each of these two tasting exercises. Again I am not going to go into any detail here, mainly because there is a wealth of information there that would take considerable time to discuss. But it is quite easy to note that there is a range of experience among the tasters; some of the names may even be familiar. It is also obvious that some are not that experienced with scoring wines; this may have influenced the breadth of the scoring. What the PCE make clear, once again, is that palate variation is a reality. My palate is different from yours, Robert Parker’s, probably everyone’s. But does that really matter? If you and I are confident in our ability to identify the wines that we enjoy then where exactly is the problem? Why do we have to spend time trying to figure out whether we are calibrated to this or that critic?

Taster’s Choice

Before I get too many emails, cards and letters telling me how its what’s actually in a tasting note that counts and not the “score”, and that I should be “calibrating” my palate to some wine critic I thought I should perform a pre-emptive strike.

I’ve posted elsewhere on this idea of calibrating your palate to that of a wine critic. I’m not going to repeat that discussion here, but the dilemma is far from simple. Not only is it important to consider whether a wine critic’s description of a wine has meaning for you and whether you trust the critic to get his/her descriptors correct. But the biggest problem with this idea of calibrating your palate is that I have never seen any approach or description of the method that one would use to achieve it, beyond the glib advice to find a critic whose palate matches your own! How do you match palates? What aspects of the wine need to be compared? Are some aspects more important than others? How many of the individual aspects of a wine need to be identified by two tasters in order for a match to be achieved? How many wine critics should you try to compare with yourself?

I rarely see extensive comparisons of tasting notes from wine critics, so how do we even know that their palates are consistently different for accurate calibration to be attempted? Perhaps I shouldn’t be too adamant on this point. There seem to be endless comparisons between wine critic X with Robert Parker or vice versa.

Even so the idea that one wine critic may be more attuned to your tastes than any other can be tested in a rudimentary way by simply recording a tasting note and comparing it with said wine critics. In the interests of time and space I have selected a single wine in order to compare the description of four different wine critics to see what similarities, or differences, exist in the description of a wine. There is no reason why you can’t do this yourself with as many wines as you want.

The wine is Wayne Dutschke’s 2002 St Jakobi’s Shiraz (Barossa Valley).

My tasting note is from our visit to Dutschke Wines on December 13, 2004. I noted that the 2002 St Jakobi Shiraz was a dark cherry, and chocolate just exploded out of that glass! The wine had big rich blackberry flavors, but with a soft and elegant entry and wonderful balance. You didn’t have to wait around for the wine to hit your palate in bits and pieces; it was seamless, wonderfully integrated, with a lengthy finish (2, 2, 4.3, 10.5 = 18.8; 15% alcohol). For those who are counting an 18.8 out of 20 is a 94 on the 100 point sale.

The other tasting notes are:
Vibrant mix of black and red fruits, perfectly integrated vanillin oak and fine, ripe tannins. Elegant style. Rating 92. Drink 2012. James Halliday Wine Companion 2005.

…………..This wine is bang on the money: fruit expressive, laced with coffee oak but not excessively so, full of heart-felt blue and black and red berry fruit, and ripped with choc-mint flavour. If anything it’s a pass too heavy on both the mint and the alcohol-but its great drinking. Drink: 2004-2012. 91. Campbell Mattinson Winefront Monthly Collected Reviews 2002-20005.

…………….Layered and full-bodied, with notes of expresso roast, creosote, blackberries, currants, licorice, and pepper, this rich, full-throttle classic Barossa Shiraz can be consumed now and over the next 10-12 years. 92 points. Robert Parker, Jr.’s The Wine Advocate. Issue 155. (10-25-04).

Ripe and well shaped, with cherry, berry, plum, mineral and licorice that sail on. Just enough juicy acidity, with integrated oak and refined tannins. 94 Harvey Steiman. Wine Spectator October 15, 2005.

Now an initial run though these notes might see some saying that all reviewers find the wine to be excellent, so what is the problem? But this is not about the general assessment, or score, given to the wine this is about the description of the wine from aromas to taste. The description of aromas shows clear similarities and differences. The differences are Mattinson’s mint and alcohol, Parker’s currents, creosote, and pepper, and Steiman’s plum and mineral. Such differences in detection of aromas is not unusual among a group of tasters. Why such differences occur is not completely known. Some of the difference is physiological, that is, some people can smell better than others. But studies have shown that very few of us can smell more than a few aromas.

What about the other aspects of wine, its acidity and tannins? What about balance and integration of the components? Well again there are some similarities and differences. For me the wine is integrated as a whole, while Halliday and Steiman have integrated oak; oak is only a single component albeit an external one that does need to be integrated. In contrast I have an elegant entry, Halliday is more effusive calling the Dutschke an elegant style. These are very significant differences in the use of both integrated and elegant. Balance is only used once!

In truth all five assessments are quite different, although perhaps Steiman and Halliday are somewhat similar. But we come back to the real question. How do you choose one (or more) of these as a calibrator? For me I can only pick my own tasting note as the other four are too different from mine. The naysayers will argue that you can’t base the selection of a calibrator on just one wine. My question to these individuals is how many wines are enough? And what characteristics of the tasting note am I to base my selection on? I have a sneaking suspicion that if you rigorously compare tasting notes of multiple wine critics to your own for a number of wines you will continue to find differences and those differences will not be consistent.

You are What You Drink and Eat.

Unhealthy alcohol drinking patterns may go hand-in-hand with unhealthy eating habits, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Examining diet quality of individuals who drink any kind of alcoholic beverage, researchers found that people who drink the largest quantities of alcohol — even infrequently — have the poorest quality diets. Conversely, people who drink the least amount of alcohol — regardless of drinking frequency — have the best quality diets. A report of the findings appears in the February 15, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

More here.

Wine Scoring – Seems Simple Enough To Me

The February/March 2006 issue of Gourmet Traveller Wine landed in our mail box yesterday. In addition to the magazine was a pocket-sized Tasting Notebook produced in association with Penfolds. Its an interesting little booklet with an introduction by Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker and tasting notes on several of the Bin numbered Penfold wines. Gago comments that 2004 has a couple of firsts for Penfolds, one being “the first time that Penfolds has released a white wine in the Bin range”. I had to check that. According to my Rewards of Patience (4th Ed.) Reserve Bin whites were made in 1994 (Bin 94A Chardonnay, released 1997), 1995, (Bin 95A Chardonnay, released 1999), and 1998 (Bin 98A Chardonnay, unreleased as of May 2000). I guess what Peter means is 2004 is the first release of a white wine with a fixed Bin number.

But I digress. The notebook also includes a number of pages where the enthusiastic wine drinker can jot down tasting notes, which seems not unreasonable for a Tasting Notebook. You can record the identity of the Wine, Vintage, Price, Value for Money, Tasted Where, and then wax lyrical on the ethereal pleasures of the bottles’ contents. You can also make note of the food you might have eaten. And you can score the wine, and here is where considerable thought must have gone into this little booklet. Scoring requires a simple tick in one (or perhaps more) of the following four boxes – OUTSTANDING, EXTREMELY GOOD, VERY GOOD, or GOOD.

I’ve been known to sit and stare at various scoring systems and this one was no different. When I have been observed doing this its often been concluded that the visual concentration observed indicates deep, deep thought. But my mental state often depends upon the scoring system under review. Those closest to me know that the glazed expression can sometimes be closely akin to catatonia – I’m there, I’m just not responding.

I responded to the scoring system in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Tasting Notebook. Let’s not beat about the bush, or in this case vine. Wines are made to be scored, they need to be scored. If they could talk, they would tell you how important it is to them to be scored, to be scored by important people, to be scored often, and for the scores to be big, really, really big! Eighty-five is better than any thing less, ninety better still, ninety-five and you have really scored. But 100 is perfect. Still OUTSTANDING seems quite effusive, certainly better than GOOD. Well that is as long its accepted as the best descriptor available, and EXTREMELY GOOD accepted as the next level down. What about if you want to use stupendous, exceptional, incomparable, unrivaled, matchless, or any number of other descriptors. The limit is bounded by the extent of your vocabulary.

No, there are only four verbal descriptors in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Tasting Notebook scoring system, you can’t use more. Why not? That is the problem with verbal descriptors, or any non-numerical scoring system for that matter. Their greatest meaning is most often for the person using the system. And one of the problems with wine critics is that they need to be seen to be different, so there are a lot of unique scoring systems. True, numerical scoring systems are not perfect but there is no ambiguity in a numerical score. But hey, if you find less confusion between two puffs, recommended, three stars and extremely good, versus 18/20, 90/100, or 88/100 then more power to you.

Of course there are those who believe that wines should not be given numerical scores, or perhaps not even judged or compared at all. I find it an interesting thought as I stare, rather more blankly than usual, out my window into the canyon below.

Oh, and one last point. What happens when you taste a wine that is less than GOOD? I guess like most wine critics you don’t make a note of it in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Tasting Notebook.

Comments Vineyard Fairies?

For all the decanting fiends out there. Well?

I just couldn't resist.