Australia’s First Families of Wine, May 5, 2011 in Ottawa, Ontario

I attended this taste and buy event last week at the Château Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario.

Australia’s First Families of Wines was launched in 2009 and is a collective of multi-generational family owned wine producers. They represent 16 regions across four states and have more than 1200 years of winemaking experience. The oldest being Yalumba wines established in 1849. The 11 Families of Wine participating in this event;

Campbells (Victoria)

D’Arenberg (South Australia)

De Bortoli (New South Whales)        

Henschke (South Australia)

Howard Park (Western Australia)

Jim Barry (South Australia)

McWilliams (New South Whales)

Tahbilk (Victoria)

Tyrrell’s (New South Whales)

Wakefield (South Australia)

Yalumba (South Australia)

With 65 wines available for tasting (and to buy), I needed a plan of action. First I wanted to taste all six Chardonnay’s available at this tasting; De Bortoli Gulf Station Chardonnay 2010, Howard Park Chardonnay 2008, Madfish Gold Turtle Chardonnay 2007, Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2008, Wakefield St. Andrews Chardonnay 2008 and Wakefield Chardonnay 2009.

Not a Château Home Depot in sight, quite a transformation from big oaky Chardonnay’s of the 80’s and 90’s to a better and more restrained use of oak. My favourite was Howard Park Chardonnay 2008 located in Western Australia and here are my notes; very aromatic, white grapefruit, tree fruit, vanilla and some minerality, light to medium body, crisp acidity and complex mouth feel, long elegant and refreshing finish. I also enjoyed both of the Wakefield Chardonnay’s.

Now for the reds, I wanted to concentrate my time on premium reds. I tasted 15 wines, mostly Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, some Blends and one Grenache. Here are the highlights;

Henschke; This winery was established in 1868 and is located in Barossa Valley, South Australia. I tasted 4 of their 5 reds here; Keyneton Estate Euphonium Shiraz 2008, Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2007, Johann’s Garden GMS 2007 and Hill of Grace 2002 I feel privileged to have been able to taste the Hill of Grace 2002. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to taste such an iconic wine ($899.00). A fantastic wine to be sure, and with this price tag, it is out of reach for most of us. The Keyneton Estate Euphonium Shiraz 2008 at $49.95 and Johann’s Garden GMS 2007 at $54.95 represent much better value. All four wines here were very good.

Howard Park: Tasted The Scotsdale Shiraz 2008 blew me over, talk about different style of Shiraz from Barossa and Western Australia. A beautiful deep violet colour, fruity and spicy aromas, medium body, well structured with plums and white pepper on the finish. A wine with great finesse. Western Australia is not known for their Shiraz, they are traditionally known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, but after tasting such a fantastic Shiraz, I could easily be a fan. I will have the opportunity to revisit this wine, once my order arrives.

Jim Barry: This winery was establish in 1959 and is located in Claire Valley, South Australia. I tasted 3 of their 5 reds here. I must admit I have been a fan of their wines for some time now and have been following the last 5 or 6 vintage of The McRae Wood Shiraz



An opportunity to meet 
Winemaker Peter Barry.



The McRae Wood Shiraz 2006; I was very happy to try this new vintage since I have 2 bottles in my cellar dating back to November of 2010. On the nose mint, chocolate, blueberry and Asian spice, full bodied, rich mouth feel and muscular tannins, patience will be key here with this one opening in 4-5 years.

From there Museum Release, The McRae Wood Shiraz 1999; Now, not only were there some great wines to be tasted at this event but you can also see how well a full bodied Australian Red can develop when given time in the bottle. This 1999 vintage of the McRae Wood Shiraz is an absolute beauty. Full bodied, great mouth feel, tannins in a support role after 10 plus years in bottle and nice acidity which give it a nice kick on the finish. A smooth and elegant wine. I also tasted, the Armagh Shiraz 2006, a definite candidate for your cellar 8-10 years.



  

Wakefield:  This winery was establish in 1969 and is located in Claire Valley, South Australia. I tasted 2 of their 3 reds. I had never before, seen or tasted their St Andrew range of premium wines. With great anticipation, I tasted these two wines;

Wakefield St Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 2005; full body, complex aromatics, layered texture. The Cabernet still needs time in the cellar for all the elements to come together, but everything is here to get a great wine in 5-10 years.

Wakefield St Andrews Shiraz 2004; With complex aromatics; berry fruits, plums, spices and vanilla. This wine has rich and elegant mouth feel, balanced acidity, ripe tannins with flavours of blackberry, cedar and spices. The finish is long, warm and sensuous. Talking about my palate now, the clear winner is the Shiraz. Order two of these, it was truly great

Yalumba:  This winery was establish in 1849 and is located in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. My favourites from this winery are The Barossa Signature Cabernet/Shiraz (Not available to taste at this show) and the best wine I have enjoyed from them was The Octavius Old Vines Shiraz 2001. I was able to taste 3 of 4 reds here.

Hand Picked Single Site Habermenn Vineyard Grenache 2005; very interesting aromas of cherry, berries, red liquorice, good acidity, well integrated tannins and spicy finish (14.5% Alc.

The Reserve Cabernet/Shiraz 2004; a big muscular wine with great aromatics that needs 5 to 10 years in your cellar to be enjoyed at it’s best.

Hand Picked Single Site Swingbridge Vineyard Craneford Shiraz 2005; the aromatics didn’t do it for me here, with menthol and a bit medicinal. But the mouth feel was so rich and smooth, medium to full body with silky tannins, yummy. Again, I ordered this Shiraz.

I thought that my tasting was done, when I was handed a glass of desert wine as a night cap.  Rutherglen Muscat from Campbells is a vineyard in Rutherglen, Victoria, South Australia. To think that I had almost left without having this treat. It is a light dessert wine with such subtle aromatics; orange peel, Asian spice, tea and brown sugar, with great complexity and elegance. It’s always nice to have some interesting products in your cellar. This dessert wine is definitely one of those wines.

The perception in the market place is that Australia produces only cheap and jammy commercial wines, made by multinational corporations, such as Constellation Wines and Foster’s. I believe that Shiraz is still an Australian signature grape. They should embrace their strengths and rich history. Australia is a big country with several different micro climates with warmer and cooler climate vineyards. With the exception of the US market, the trend is for a Shiraz with more elegance, less alcohol, more savoury flavours less jammy fruit and fine grained tannins. This style is better suited to match with food. I have always enjoyed Shiraz from Claire Valley, but would like to see more from regions like Western Australia and Southern locations like, Yarra Valley, Heathcote and Langhorne Creek.

My top five wines from this show;

1-Jim Barry The McRae Wood Shiraz 1999

2-Howard Park Scotsdale Shiraz 2008

3-Wakefield St. Andrews Shiraz 2004

4-Henschke Johann’s Garden Grenache/Mourvedre/Shiraz 2007

5-Howard Park Chardonnay 2008

 

 My top three wines for your cellar;

1-Wakefield St. Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

2-Yalumba The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2004

3-Jim Barry The Armagh Shiraz 2006

Cheers

Paul YWG

P.S. The food at this event was a fantastic match for the wines.  The room could have been larger.