Our first State that we will be concentrating on is Western Australia.
Australia’s largest State spans the western third of the continent, although the winemaking regions are almost entirely concentrated in the south-western portion of the State. These regions include the Swan District, Perth Hills (near the states capital) further south, the regions of Peel, Geographe, Blackwood Valley, Pemberton, Manjimup, Great Southern and Margaret River. The 2 areas that we will be looking at this evening is Margaret River and Perth Hills. Located approximately three hours’ drive south of Perth, the vibrant Margaret River region enjoys a growing reputation as one of the most popular destinations in Australia thanks to its exceptional range of restaurants, accommodation and tourist activities. The Margaret River area includes the rolling hills of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, extending 90 km north-south between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, and is bounded to the west by the Indian Ocean. Margaret River’s climate is strongly maritime-influenced, as might be expected in a region surrounded by the ocean on three sides.
With a mean annual temperature range of only 7.6°C (45.68°F), it also has, for good measure, the most marked Mediterranean climate, and the area was compared to that of Bordeaux by Professor Harold Olmo’s research but, more importantly, that of Dr John Gladstones in 1965.The Perth Hills wine region extends along the Darling Scarp – just east of the state capital Perth, from Chittering in the North to Serpentine in the south. Most producers are reached in an hour or less from the Perth CBD. Viticulture has been practised intermittently in the picturesque Perth Hills amidst the Darling Ranges for over a century, but on a generally tiny scale. The first vineyard was planted in Darlington in the 1880s, followed by a second in Glen Forrest in 1896. As expected, the climate varies significantly with altitude, but also with the orientation of the maze of valleys that criss-cross the Perth Hills. The annual rainfall of 900 to 1200 mm (35 to 47 inches), depending on altitude. Rivulets and often dry creek beds, ridges, hills and valleys criss-cross the region in every direction, offering an almost unlimited choice of aspect and slope, but those cut off from the sea breeze influence tend to be warmer rather than cooler. The valley slopes have ironstone and gravel sandy loams as well as gravelly loams which overlay clay, similar in type to much of south-west Australia, The Perth Hills came of age in April 1999 when given official status as a gazetted wine growing region, though by this stage it had already gained a reputation in Western Australia as a producer of fine quality wines. Today it boasts a number of very successful wine producers who have won awards and trophies at Australian and international wine shows. Wines that we will be looking at this evening come from 2 Wineries, Clairault Estate from Margaret River and Millbrook Estate form Perth Hills.
The wines that we will be looking at include – SSB, Sauv Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Cab Merlot, c\Cab Sauv & Shiraz. The First we will look at is The Clairault SSB
Initially regarded as a producer of powerful yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, and blends thereof, the region has also forged a great reputation for its white wines, notably Chardonnay and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends. However, it is capable of producing all the classic varietal wines.
Established in 1976, Clairault is one of the pioneering vineyard-winery estates in Margaret River, Western Australia…a region of striking natural beauty that has become one of the world’s most renowned premium wine producing regions and tourism destinations.
The wine is meant to be consumed relatively young and typically loses its perfume as it ages.The 2008 season was near perfect with even and moderate temperatures and no summer rain. The Viognier (veeonyeh) displays full flavour development and phenolic ripeness. Viognier needs the warm to hot daytime temperatures with cooler evenings to maximise flavour evolution.
This wine displays intense apricot, white peach and ginger spice aromas with underlying white jasmine flower perfume. A richness of palate true to this variety is supported by evident acid and intense ripe stonefruit and gingerspice flavours with a lingering finish.
The fourth wine is the Clairault Varietal 2008 Chardonnay
Due to some very poor climatic conditions, including hail, during the growing and flowering stage of 2008,of which Chardonnay was the worst affected, yields were extremely low (1.6 tonnes/hectare or 0.6tonnes/acre). As a result of this, flavour ripeness was quite advanced and consequently the wine’s flavour profile sits more in the riper spectrum than is typical of this wine.
The aromas shows ripe fruit flavours of cumquat fig, and tropical fruits with secondary oak derived aromas of toast, roasted cashews and vanilla. The palate shows a sweet melon fruit surrounded by fine mesh of oak tannins. The palate is rounded with a soft acidity, good length of flavour and a clean finish.
The fifth wine Clairault Varietal 2006 Cab MerlotCabernet Sauvignon 70% – Merlot 30%
The 2006 vintage was a relatively cool one for Margaret River, but importantly it was also a late year, so the ripening occurred, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon, more in autumn conditions than summer conditions, meaning a truly long ripening period and the increased risk of the harvest being spoilt by rain.
Thankfully due to low yields and our more northerly position within the region, we managed to pick the last of our Cabernet Sauvignon with good flavour, ripeness and seed maturity before the season breaking rains set in.
This wine displays a vibrant and uplifted aroma. The characters are reminiscent of eucalyptus blossom and sage combined with choc mint and blueberry aromas. The palate is medium bodied, with soft ripe tannins.
Fresh blueberry flavours and a hint of vanilla on the finish. The wine shows a wonderful elegance and balance.
The sixth wine is 09 Millbrook Cabernet MalbecCabernet Sauvignon 90% Malbec 10%
Malbec under its name of Cot is one of the widely accepted varieties of the Bordeaux region. Malbec is the mainstay of the “black wines” of Cahors and also appears in several blended wines of the Loire. Outside France, this variety’s major stronghold is in Argentina where for many years it was the workhorse variety providing the material for everyday wines.
The variety is certainly less common in Australia than it was a couple of decades ago, but there is some evidence that it may be making a comeback. Its role as blending material with Cabernet has been supplanted by Merlot, and while there has always been a few varietal Malbec wines around, the variety was fading away.
Malbec is rich, gamey and tannic. The underlying hints of Blackberries and violets compliment the characteristics of the Cabernet varietal.
The wine is bright and deep ruby coloured. Intense aromas of ripe blackberries with spicy oak undertones are prevalent from the maturation period spent on 30% new and 70% 1 year old French oak barrels.
The wine is full-bodied, tightly knit and possesses mid-palate richness which is the result of the Malbec component in the blend. The flavours of blackberries linger on the palate and are well supported by the French Oak.
Its rich terrior, Mediterranean climate, and close proximity to the cooling influences of the Indian and Great Southern oceans ensure consistent vintages and the creation of exceptional quality wines. Biological farming, a passion of Clairault’s Vineyard Manager, Brian Martin, is a mix of organic and conventional farming techniques that place a strong emphasis on soil biology.
These techniques result in high quality crops, while using significantly less herbicide, no insecticides and no synthetic fertilisers.
This, along with the outstanding winemaking skills of Will Shields, has helped create wines that are truly distinctive to Clairault’s vineyard.
2010 Clairault SSBBLEND – Semillon 53% Sauvignon Blanc 47%
The aroma shows a nice blend of Semillon characteristics, lemongrass, citrus, cut grass and the more pungent Sauvignon Blanc aromas such as gooseberry, rockmelon and fresh peas. The palate is appealing in its softness of acid without being broad. It has that classic Sauvignon gooseberry sweetness of tropical
fruits with an edge of tomato vegetal. Overall, a wine of great balance and poise.
The second that we will look at is the Millbrook 2009 Sauv Blanc
Millbrook is a boutique winery situated in the historic town of Jarrahdale in Western Australia, 50 minutes south-east of the capital city Perth. The winery is located at picturesque Chestnut Farm nestled among virgin jarrah forests, with stunning vistas of the rolling landscape.
In addition to the vines which line the steep slopes, the property still incorporates an active orchard, as well as an olive grove. The establishment of the vineyard at Chestnut Farm was very much a family affair with Peter and Lee Fogarty and their three children planting the first vines in 1996.
Millbrook is now one of the largest vineyards established in the recently recognised wine-growing region known as the Perth Hills.
Geologically, the Perth Hills area is quite distinct from other WA regions with soils of ancient gravel and clay over extensive granite. Like most of the south-west of WA, the climate is typically Mediterranean with cool to cold, wet winters and warm, dry summers.
To protect Millbrook’s pristine environment, we utilise modern viticultural practices including integrated pest management, organic mulching and minimal irrigation. Vines are planted on undulating slopes to optimise drainage and control growth, with the emphasis being on fruit quality, rather than yield. All pruning and picking is undertaken by hand.
Damian Hutton joined Millbrook for the 2003 vintage as the Assistant Winemaker having previously spent time making wine for two other prominent Western Australian producers. He was appointed Senior Winemaker in January 2007. Damien is considered to be one of the leaders of this varietal.
The 2009 vintage was a reasonably early vintage for the whites which resulted in fresh and elegant fruit characters in the resultant wine. The wine was 80% tank-fermented & 20% was barrel fermented in seasoned French oak and lees stirred for two months.The wine displays clean and very intense passionfruit and lime juice aromas. On the palate a dry, very well balanced wine that reveals crisp acid, intense and lingering fresh passionfruit fruit characters with an underlying lime-citrus note. A medium-bodied wine that has great textural qualities and super persistence.The thirds wine is the 2008 Millbrook Viognier (Veeon- yeh)
It is the only permitted grape for theViognier is presumed to be an ancient grape, and some have hypothesized that it may have originated in. French wine Condrieu in the Rhone valley Dalmatia and was brought to Rhône by the Romans.powdery mildew. It has low and unpredictable yields and should be picked only when fully ripe. When picked too early, the grape fails to develop the full extent of its aromas and tastes. When picked too late, the grape produces wine that is oily and lacks perfume.floral aromas, due to terpenes, which are also found in Muscat and Riesling wines. There are also many other powerful flower
and fruit aromas which can be perceived in these wines depending on where they were grown, the weather conditions and how old the vines were.
The seventh wine is 2008 Barking Owl Shiraz Viognier
The 2008 vintage was ideal across all regions of Western Australia. The red varieties achieved outstanding flavour ripeness, colour and tannin development.
The Shiraz and Viognier were cofermented and handplunged for two weeks in open fermenters to extract good colour and flavour. The wine has been aged in new (5%) and one andtwo year old oak for 18 months.
Rich and spicy with lifted red fruit of cherry and redcurrant supported by Viognier aromatics over vanillin
oak. On the Palate Dry, firm and chewy tannins with plum, blueberry and cherry flavours that are enhanced
with spicy supporting oak. A well balanced wine that over delivers in fruit weight and flavour.
Next Wine Tasting Event 13th April, 2011
POSTPONED EVENT
