The Key Report - April 23, 2009

Young guns and old gems shine at Canadian club
While our academics swallow vast amounts of cash, feathering their nests on the pretence of researching theoretical clap-trap, Paul Henry and his team at Wine Australia are out on the front line, trying to convince trade, media and consumers around the world that not all Australian wine is bland-brand or sticky-critter.

It’s a job akin to pushing water uphill, not helped by shrinking budgets and many companies saying one thing and doing another. So is progress being made? A little here and there - it is a big job and, we imagine, often a thankless one.

The trick is to get the right format and that is not the format of the Australia Day tasting in London - thousands of wines, many superfluous to the greater good of Australian wine. These wines were presented by hundreds of well turned-out staff carrying a job title with more letters than they process brain cells, but hey! As a program member they have forked out money and that includes the right to be there. The result is a smart but often dull crowd of company reps who scamper around squawking like seagulls outside a chip shop.

Word has reached TKR of a tasting held recently in the Vancouver Playhouse, put together by Wine Australia staff Geoff MacFadzean (Manager Canada), Mark Davidson (West Coast Market Development Manager), James Gosper (North America Director) and Shelly Hamer-Jackson (Market Development Coordinator, Canada). Not only were the wines of exceptional quality but the gap of 10 years between vintages showed, without doubt, that fine Australian wines can age:

Tyrrell's Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales 2008 & 1998
Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling, South Australia 2008 & 1998
Yering Station Reserve Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, Victoria 2006 & 1997
d'Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings GSM, McLaren Vale, South Australia 2006 & 1996
Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, Grampians, Victoria 2005 & 1994
St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia 2002 & 1992
Jacob's Creek St. Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, South Australia 2004 & 1994
Majella Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra, South Australia 2006 & 1996
Yalumba ‘The Signature’ Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia 2003, 1993 & 1983
De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon, Riverina, New South Wales 2006 & 1996

As good as the wines were, it was the presenters that made this tasting successful: ‘interesting characters’ as they were described to us.

Brian (Prof) Lynn: the proprietor of Coonawarra based Majella said it was one of the best ‘themed’ tastings he had been involved with. ‘participating wineries were encouraged to have senior people present and in many cases the proprietor was there to present the wines’ says Lynn. Hunter Valley identity Bruce Tyrrell believes the combination of great wine and the Australian character is something that has worked for years. ‘In Vancouver I was sitting next to Rob Hill Smith and the Hunter vs Barossa rivalry did not stop all through the tasting, but it was all tongue in cheek. What this does for the attendees is put a bit of fun back in the tasting. I would hate our consumers to drink their wine in an atmosphere of stolid seriousness’ he says.

Robert Hill Smith found the audience also interested in closures as well as regional and varietal diversity. Of the three Signature wines on the tasting Hill-Smith says ‘one was average but that's the point, not all wine is great and in some warmer, difficult vintages, your wines just reflect that difficulty. The audience warmed to our manner and inter-personal banter. We are worldly, honest and not Zegna suits from HO. ‘Authenticity’ I think it’s now called.’

Orlando Wines is lucky to have Philip Laffer - he manages to put a personal face on the impersonal Jacobs Creek Brand. Laffer found the tasting (and others in a similar vein) ‘very effective, both in terms of cost and communication, in demonstrating the depth and breadth of Australian wine. They provide the opportunity to tell a largely (internationally) unknown story about Australian wine in an interesting, engaging and fun manner.

‘The concept worked particularly well because the wines, the presenters, the moderator (Mark Davidson) and the audience were all involved. It goes without saying that having performers including Prof Lynn, Bruce Tyrrell, Rob Hill Smith, Stuart Blackwell (St Hallett), Claire Scott (d’Arenberg), Gordon Gebbie (Yering Station & Mt Langi) and Darren Blood (De Bortoli) made a huge difference. For what it's worth, this ‘seminar’ won the consumer vote for the most effective, (and I imagine fun), event of the Playhouse week.

‘Great wines presented by the people who made them and/or cared for them’ said Lynn, adding: ‘It was great to work on a panel of good Aussie wine characters that knew their stuff and knew how to entertain a crowd. The people that make up a good part of the Australian wine industry are what give us an edge.’ Tyrrell points out the tasting ‘showed how the real quality wines of Australia can really live in the bottle and therefore are underpriced compared to many European and Californians which do not age as gracefully. The Vat 1 and Pewsey Vale Riesling had perhaps aged better than some of the reds of the overtly big style.’

Laffer: ‘The class-room style tastings provided enough formality to allow the moderator to manage the audience while preventing monopolisation. What makes this cost-attractive and simple to resource is that any three reasonably personable winemakers, who have done their homework, can conduct the seminar. Personal ownership of the wines is not critical to the success as it's about the wines. For my money an efficient and effective way of getting across the Directions story’ he says.