Global Warming
‘In the Italian Alps, ski stations have had to resort to artificial snow,’ reports phys.org, ‘ cherry blossoms have been spotted in Dresden in Germany, and daffodils are flowering in England.’ Last week, the Royal Dornoch golf range in Scotland reported that the mowers were back out to cut greens in mid December. It was a mild Christmas from Helsinki to Moscow.
London, Christmas 2015
The 2015 harvest in Rioja was one of the hottest ever, reports Huon Hooke. Excess heat produced wines high in alcohol and low in acidity with high pHs. Some wineries will not produce a 2015 Reserva as a result.
Down Under, the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA) is contemplating making it legal to us the ‘black snake’ (the water hose) more liberally to keep alcohol levels on the right side of sanity. Philip White writes that the pre-Christmas heatwave in South Australia saw some wineries start the 2016 harvest before the end of 2015. As I write this, the Hunter Valley has been hit with flooding rain for days. Who’d want to own a winery down under?
Verbal Flooding
While James Halliday sides with those who think global warming is a concoction of the Chardonnay Socialist set, Philip White takes aim at ‘those who write about wine and its manufacturers.’ He says: ‘As their space continues to diminish, the wine recommenders in the food and wine pages become more and more slavish to the wine producers, and less likely to ever publish anything that gets close to honest criticism.’
Whitey adds that ‘the fractal chaos of the blogosphere is not much better. Waves of would-be could-bees quickly subside into forgotten coulda-beens as they realise there’s no money in it unless they get into financial bed with those they hope will keep them supplied with free booze forever.’
Free booze forever is an appealing thought but the samples that mounted up in my storage room in the months before Christmas began to look more like a big chore. It’s something you have to do, just like the weekly newsletter, and I take time with my reviews so I was beginning to dread doing my duty. A blog is an easier gig because you can write whenever the mood grabs you, about whatever you fancy.
Wineries Not Doing It Tough: Langhorne Creek
Probably the strangest experience I’ve had this year was the response from the three top Langhorne Creek wineries to my request for samples. This followed a post I wrote about the area headed The Mystery of Langhorne Creek, a very complimentary piece that showcased the area and some of the brilliant reds it’s produced since Wolf Blass stated his run of winners back in the sixties.
The three wineries I turned to are Lake Breeze, Bremerton and Bleasdale. Over a period of seven months, they sent me 2, 3 and zero bottles respectively. That’s despite several reminders and several promises from these wineries to send more samples once they had a moment to do so. All I can assume is that they sell all the wine they make without effort, and don’t need any more publicity. I guess they’ll find their way onto the BWU$20 Wall of Shame.
Real Reviews
For some time now I’ve accused the Halliday / Wine Companion camp of distorting wine reviews with their inflated scores, so I was surprised when Huon Hooke and Bob Campbell came out late last year with their #RealReviews Alliance, protesting inflated scores from reviewers, advertorials masking as independent opinion, kickbacks, revenue share arrangements and Cash for Comment.
‘We are making a stand for even-handed, transparent, ethical and independent reviewing,’ they say. More Here: #realreviews initiative. That this unprecedented initiative from 2 respected wine judges has drawn virtually no comment from our press underscores how badly the playing field is tilted. There was a note in Daily Wine News – only read by people in the industry – but no comment; a short post on Facebook at the Wine & Viticulture Journal, and a Facebook post from the Wine Wankers which expresses some support.
Drinking Wines you Know and Love
The Christmas break is a chance to drink more of your own wine than usual. That means drinking wines I recommended, because I bought quantities of the best of these. I’ve said some pretty awful things about Dan Murphy’s but I have been a big fan of their cellar release program until recently. They store wines and release them at 5 to 6 years of age.
In the last 12 months, the offering has diminished in range and quality, with most of the old Rieslings gone. A few years ago, the cellar releases included old Pewsey Vales and Heggies and Mitchells and Richmond Groves and Leo Burings. Right now, there’s an Annies Lane and a St Helga. That’s it. Peter Nixon, please bring back the glory days.
I opened a Pewsey Vale 2006 a few days ago and it’s one of the best mature Aussie Rieslings I’ve tasted. Hits all the right notes of lanolin and buttered toast and honey and adds hints of kerosene; it’s grown richer and softer and bigger over the years without losing the fine acid backbone that makes a great Riesling and will keep the wine fresh in the years to come. I bought a dozen for close just over $20 a bottle 3 years ago, and I wish I’d bought 3 cases.
One of the best reds I’ve had last year was another 2006, and another Dan Murphy’s cellar release from a few years ago: Wynns Black Label Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. At the time I bought it, the wine was the typical Wynns black label with loads of ripe cassis fruit in a medium bodied envelope. I learnt long ago that these Wynns Cabernets can be Peter Pans in the first 7-8 years, and then grow more complex as they mature. So it was here. Gorgeous red.
The Law of diminishing Returns
The Christmas break is also a time when friends and family give you specials bottles, and some of these proved once again that law of diminishing returns cuts tall poppies down without a second thought. A Giant Steps Tarraford Chardonnay 2014 left us unconvinced despite its $40 price tag, and we preferred the Woodlands Chardonnay 2015. We found the Juniper Estate Cabernet a bit simple as well (also $40), and preferred the $19 Crossing Cabernet from the same winery.
I do hope my favourite wine writer isn’t diminishing, but he hasn’t had a good year by the sound of it. ‘My hermit life became very challenging after braining myself on a low veranda whilst moving house last Christmas,’ writes Philip White, ‘an injury which rekindled the damage of many other head wounds from my reckless past. So my written output has been a tad erratic. Some of you might say: so what’s new?
Whitey wraps up his tale of woes this way: ‘ … Now I look back on the[last] twelve months through the blurred and bent eye of a bloke living in fear of becoming a very shitty old prick.’ We do wish him well.
Kim