In the last week I have been party to a Facebook conversation about the waste of time these alternate varieties are and then another wine blog indicating some pros and cons about these varieties. Finally a couple of weeks ago I heard a McLaren Vale winemaker discussing their rational behind trying these varieties. Well I thought I could weigh in on the discussion.
As we know the colonisation of Australia was European and a fellow named James Busby planted the first vines. By this association the vines grown in Australia were initially European. Some of the first wines made in Australia were sent back to the “Mother Country” so to show off what the new colony could do. All of these would lead to a very European bent. Thus the Cabernet, Shiraz, Riesling, Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines were dominant. With fortified wine being popular (potentially due to the effect of the high alcohol) then varieties such as Grenache, Sultana and Mataro were very useful.
Blewitt Springs Grenache
If we use the examples of the French and German wine fraternity – they are smart people who have a set of rules for a reason. Over many centuries they have been able to work out what grapes work better in which regions and over these centuries this knowledge has transformed into law.
In Australia we pride ourselves on our forward thinking about wine however until recently we have really constrained by what we thought were the best varieties – but how do we know? Until relatively recently we would grow Pinot Noir and Riesling in McLaren Vale but now (apart from a couple of exceptions) we understand that these varieties are not really suitable here and other varieties have been planted.
If we look at the Riverland regions where it has historically taken many litres of water to make a litre of wine. Even in McLaren Vale, conventional viticulture for Chardonnay requires significant watering to ensure profitable cropping and even just to keep the vines alive. if we consider our climate temperatures to be increasing the amount of water it takes to produce such wines will only increase. I ask then if we could find wine grape varieties that can make good wine with less water then would this not make sense?
I believe the winemaker justifies their expertise partially comes from understanding the best time to pick the grapes. There is a 3 way struggle during vintage to get the right balance between the sugar level, acid level and the fruit flavor. Leave the grapes on the vine too long to achieve the ripe flavors will cause elevated sugar (which leads to high alcohol) and low acid. All 3 are interlinked. Different varieties have different rates of these changes – particularly the acid and sugar balance. Hotter climates should have grapes that for the same sugar level has higher acid levels. Also in hotter climates it would be advantageous to be able to produce economic levels of grape production with minimal watering. In relatively hot wine regions such as McLaren Vale and Barossa then grapes grown in say Spain and Italy could be better suited than the usual European grapes. Thus wineries are experimenting with grape varieties such as Fiano, Savagnin, Tempranillo and Sangiovese. Some wineries have been working with these varieties for longer than others – Coriole from McLaren Vale has just released their 21st consecutive vintage of Sangiovese, so for them it is a mainstream wine.
Anyway this is the view of one wine tragic and I welcome seeing your views…….
