General Flashcards
(26 cards)
Phylloxera was first discovered in Australia in what year?
1877 – in Victoria
First plantings in Australia were where?
New South Wales, at the end of the 18th century. Vinifera cuttings brought from South African Cape of Good Hope – It was too hot and humid at the original site and the vines rotted so they moved inland and established the Hunter Valley
As opposed to site specific wines, Australia generally produces (especially on the lower end):
Wines made by the process of selecting and blending
Facts about Penfold’s Grange
Grapes grown at sites up to 600 miles (970km) apart, starting with enough in barrel and tank to make 40k cases they choose the best and end up with 7k cases of grange, then use the remainder on their lower tier wines
Climate
Generally sunny, stable and mediterranean – some parts however have quite cool nights
Harvest time:
Feb through to May
challenges
rot, frost and drought. Strong winds (salty, coastally). Kangaroos! (barbed wire keeps them out). Small population, therefore lack of harvest workers – hence the automation
main white grapes
Chardonnay, Muscadelle, Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Verdelho, Viognier
main red grapes
Cab Sauv, Grenache, Merlot, Mourvedre, Pinot Noir, Shiraz
Chardonnay
grown practically everywhere, 1st was Tyrells vat 47 in 1971
notable Chardonnays
Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series, Penfolds Yattarna, Vasse Felix, Rosemount Estate’s Roxbrough
Semillion
Young Aus semillion is edgy and acidic, notably from hunter valley where the style emegred because they needed to pick while barely ripe to avoid autumn rains. Young style is also made in Adelaide Hills and Margaret River, where it is blended with Sauv Blanc like a bordeaux style. At 5+ years it begins to taste like brioche, honey and roast cashew.
notable Semillons
Tyrell’s Vat 1 (lots of awards), Hart & Hunter, Vasse Felix, Rothbury Estate, Thomas Wines, Tim Adams
Cab Sauv
Aus might host the oldest living Cab vines in the world, planted in 1888 – Penfolds block 42 parcel in the kalimna vineyard in Barossa. Blackberry, black current, green tobacco, chapparal. Notable regions: Coonawarra and Margaret River. Often blended with shiraz.
notable Cab Sauvs
Cape Mentelle, Cullen, Greenock Creek, Hardys, Henschke, Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Noon, Penfolds, Vasse Felix, Wendouree, Yarra Yerling
Grenache
Brought to AUS by James Busby in the 1820s and 30s. There are still surviving 100 year old vineyards that might have been ripped out if there weren’t an integral ingredient in AUS’s fortified wines. FLAVOUR PROFILE: vibrant, spicy, kirschlike. Boysenberry and cherry – fuller than pinot, lighter than cab
notabe Grenache
d’Arenberg’s The Beautiful View, Kilikanoon’s The Duke, Yalumba’s Bush Vine
Shiraz
AUS’s leading grape. Used to be called hermitage there until that region of france pressed their copyright laws, so they started calling it shiraz instead (even though the grape is syrah). Grown practically everywhere. Sometimes blended with Grenache, sometimes with Cab Sauv. FLAVOUR PROFILE: dark plum, boysenberry, blueberry and mocha – hints of spice, violet, black pepper and sometimes gaminess and ferrous (iron/blood)
notable shirazes
Penfolds Grange – first bottled in 1951 by their winemaker at the time Max Schubert who wanted to emulate the intensity and structure of bordelais wines after a trip to france. Sometimes 100% shiraz, sometimes some cab is blended in
Name the States of Australia (wine bible order)
South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania
wine australia
established in 1981 as the Australia Wine and Brandy Corporation. Maintains oversight over the wine industry: label language, geographical boudaries of wine regions, moderates export and trade, promotes domestically and internationally
viticultultural tech that AUS has embraced
irrigation, canopy management, mechanical harvesting (so sites tend to be flat), cultured yeast, acidulation and micro-oxygenation – chaptalization is illegal
Regionality in Australia
Regions are defined as Gis (Geographical Indications). Purely geographical boundaries – they impose no restrictions on varieties, yields, etc
define regions:
single tracts of land, comprising at least five independently owned vineyards of at least five hectares apiece, with a minimum output of 500 tons of wine grapes annually. Regions are not necessarily contained within a single zone, nor are zones necessarily contained within a single state.
