Natalie McLean is a terrific and prolific wine writer from Toronto (check out http://www.nataliemaclean.com). When she called us up with the opportunity to attend the Australia’s First Families of Wine “Tour de Force” in Vancouver, we jumped at the chance.
Stephen Henschke
Australia’s First Families of Wine (“AFFW”) is a collection of twelve premium wineries with vineyards in 16 different Australian regions that have banded together to promote as a group their individual wines. The initiative came together in 2009 with a purpose to engage consumers, distributors, retailers and restaurants about the character of Australia’s finest wines. Qualification for joining the group rests in satisfying a number of criteria: being family controlled with two or more generations working in the business; possessing a library that offers 20 or more vintages of a brand; and a commitment to environmental best practices, among others. Each of the twelve founding members were in attendance and pouring at least two different wines:
- Brown Brothers
- Campbells
- D’Arenberg
- De Bortoli
- Henschke
- Howard Park
- Jim Barry
- McWilliam’s
- Tahbilk
- Tyrelll’s Wines
- Wakefield (known as Taylors in Australia, but uses the name Wakefield in the Northern Hemisphere due to copyright restrictions)
- Yalumba
Chester Osborn of d’Arenberg
What made this tasting extra special were the people pouring the wines: it was the owners themselves, not some local distributer, but the founders or direct descendants of the founders themselves. We doubt there are many Canadians who have met the owner of an iconic Australian winery, but there we were with twelve of the most important, tasting their wines and hearing their story directly from the people responsible for those wines.
The format for the tasting was along the lines of a speed dating event. We were split into 12 groups of 8 and sent to one of the 12 marked stations lining the perimeter of the Grand Ballroom at the Vancouver Club. At each station was one of the family members of the winery’s founder and a few assistants to help pour. The group then went to their assigned first station and the event began. We spent 5 minutes at each station, where we were treated to a background about the winery and presented with two of their wines to taste along with additional background about that specific wine. After 5 minutes you were informed time was up and we moved clock-wise to the next station. You would be surprised at how brief 5minutes is to catch the story and taste two wines!
Jeff Burch – Howard Park Wines
The speed-dating format works from a winery and from a trade perspective. It allows both sides to communicate a lot of information about, as well as tasting, 24 different wines in a two hour time space. It is just enough time to make a preliminary assessment of the wines and get a tiny bit of winery background. But it is also loud, often difficult to hear the speaker, and almost impossible to take notes. While I can see how it accomplishes an objective for the trade, it is far less successful for wine-writers who want to communicate something about the wine’s attributes and about the history of the winery and its people for context. At Advinetures, as our various articles have shown, we are very much about bringing that context to our readers, and about describing the wines with tasting notes and giving a thoughtful evaluation of the wines quality and its sensory attributes. Most of our articles are the result of one to two hour individual tastings with the winemaker or owner, which allows us to offer our readers that perspective. The rush, the noise and the distractions clearly was not going to permit that here. That is not a complaint about the event, but merely an observation about how the format worked for us.
We were able to come away from the event with several firm conclusions:
- Australia is producing some excellent wines, wines that are complex and offer a diversity of styles. Forget that old stereotype that Australia is all about hot-climate, alcoholic, port-like Shiraz. If anything, we were struck by the balance of the wines and how far off point that old stereo-type has become.
- Australia has a terrific diversity of wines. Yes, there was plenty of Shiraz to be tasted. But there was a wide range of styles offered, from big and bold to elegant and peppery and plenty in-between. But lots of other varietals are being produced: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon were also showcased.
- Australia continues to produce outstanding quality at a wide range of prices. The $700 Henschke Hill of Grace and the $175 Jim Barry Armagh were stunners, but at $25 the Brown Brothers Pinot Noir and the Wakefield Estate Shiraz were remarkable bargains.
- Australia is as much about white wines as it is reds. Riesling and Semillon were particularly successful.
Some other standout wines from the tasting, worthy of additional mention were:
Brown Brothers Tempranillo – a steal at $21 before tax, who knew Australia grew this varietal let alone did such a good job!
D’Arenberg The Money Spider – 100% Rousanne, a varietal rarely found outside of the Rhone Valley, this was a huge success and cheap at under $25.
De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon – the only “sticky” (Australian for dessert wine) at the tasting and it was gorgeous; like a fine Barsac.
Jim Barry Florita Riesling – at the same quality level and possessing the same fullness of a dry Grand Cru from Alsace.
Wakefield St. Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon – at $52 ex-tax, this compares to Napa Cabs costing 2 or 3 times that amount.
Overall, a fun and informative tasting that showed the quality and diversification of Australia’s First Families of Wine as well as confirming their continuing ability to be a leader in providing some great values at many different price points.
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