Brad Hickey's Wine Odyssey

Vale Cru on the Road to Adelaide; Sydney

McLaren Vale's rollicking collective of indie wine labels, Vale Cru, is on the road this June. On June 8 from 430pm a small contingency of the "Cru", including Brash Higgins, will be showcasing their wines and speaking at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide. Following this event the mob, w/ Brash along for the ride, as well, will be in Sydney, Wednesday, June 20 at the East Village Hotel for a blowout of unusual proportions; 3pm-5 trade, 5pm onward for all thirsty consumers. BH

Making of the Brash Higgins "Amphora Project" NDV

In 2009 Brash Higgins obtained some of the first cuttings of the Sicilian red wine grape, Nero d’Avola, available in Australia. Nero is drought and heat tolerant, ripens late and thrives in its native Mediterranean climate, so it seemed like a good fit for coastal McLaren Vale and our ever mounting heat and water issues.  We dedicated a research block on our Omensetter Vineyard to the variety and grafted it to shiraz rootstock in October 2009.  It took off like gangbusters. We were heading in the right direction, but how would we vinify it? It would take 2 years before the vines were old enough to harvest.

 

A little background: for a few years now I've been drinking Italian wines from Sicily and Friuli fermented and aged in clay amphora vessels, and I've found them diabolical, challenging, sometimes ethereal/scary, yet always thought-provoking wines.  Frank Cornelissen and COS winery in Sicily, in particular, ferment  and age their  wines using this method of burying the amphora up to the rim in a cool cellar, a method which they in turn learnt from Josko Gravner in Northern Italy and he from the pre Romans.  It was then that my curiosity got the best of me: how can I get my hands on these amphora?  If we handle this new grape variety to Australia, nero d’Avola, in a unique and gentle way, eschewing oak and steel, then, perhaps, we can get something totally new and distinct.

   Amphora seemed like a good way to not only introduce Nero d’Avola, a high acid and transparent varietal, but to make a statement, as well.  We were just as ready as the Italians to step deep into the past to make a leap forward.

 

2011 was cool and wet, most rain since 1973, and not ideal for growing any grapes, let alone Mediterranean sun-loving types. But diligent work in the vines early, an excellent site open to mildew defeating breezes and a miraculous dry, warm week in late April helped get our first nero harvest across the line. It was a nail biter, riding up and down the rows on a ATV at dawn and dusk chasing the starlings off the latest ripening patch in the district, an esky full of Pale rattling behind me. The baume crossed 13.5.

 

We got the fruit there, healthy and ripe, and now all we needed was our amphora. I was distrustful of importing clay pots from abroad, especially from far way places like Georgia or Tuscany.  Would they even send them or just keep my money; what if they were poorly made?  And foreign amphora is even more expensive than new French oak, which had my accountant in a tizzy.  So I started asking local potters if they were up to it, and they all said, “No! too hard to do, too big.” Until one of them told me to contact a family pottery in Adelaide.   I had a meeting with the potter, John Bennett, and he was game to give it a shot. Even though his biggest pot to date was only  a 100L Tandoori oven, Bennett’s Magill Pottery had the largest kilns in Adelaide and the most experience, so I trusted him. We wanted to use the same red clay from our vineyard for the pots, making a ‘terroir incubator” of sorts, and were happy that the red clay John used was from our local soils, nearly identical to our vineyard.

 

The last issue was how to line the insides of the pots, as terracotta is porous, and we weren’t ready to submerge the pots in the earth just yet. We decided on McLaren Vale bees-wax as a logical seal, and decided to apply it just after the warm pots came out of the kiln to get deep penetration into the clay. Although dried bees-wax is inert and flavourless, the pottery smelled like the inside of Winnie the Pooh’s locker.  It kept the wine from evaporating, as well as keeping oxygen out post ferment. Plus, it makes the pots more hygienic for the long haul, easier to keep clean, and keeping microbial activity at a minimum.

 

Our research block of nero d'Avola fruit was handpicked May 1, 2011, a trim one and a half tons, then  destemmed and gently crushed into each of the five amphora.  A wild ferment ensued, as we left the pots open, hand plunging the skins once or twice a day. After 14 or so days the ferments went dry, the skins sank and we sealed up the amphora, skins and all, with custom made 1/4 inch thick stainless lids for 7 months.  We basket pressed the fruit in late November, let it settle naturally, and bottled 112 cases unfined and unfiltered before Xmas 2011.

 

  "More of a ballerina than a boxer, the 2011 Brash Higgins NDV is a glowing, translucent ruby in colour. On the nose waves of fresh cut lavender, ginger bread, wet stone, nutmeg and orange zest aromas leap out of the glass.  Soft and delicate on the palate with an earthy warmth, there is a deep core of bright, sweet cherry fruit that belies the wine’s initial lightness.  Good acidity and clarity with firm fruit tannins from extended lees and skin contact, the finish lingers long after the first sip. A gentle-natured newcomer with great purity and potential, the wine is best decanted and served with a light chill. 112 cases. BH"

 

Reflections on 2011 and Ted Nugent

2011 has been a massive year for me. However, in many ways, each one of the years that preceeded it has led me to where I am right now, sitting at a desk in a hot office in McLaren Vale, South Australia enjoying one too many zooper dooper frozen ice treats. Brash Higgins Wine Co.
finally came into being this year after what seems like years of planning.  It's been a lifetime, actually. I've just bottled and labelled 2 new wines, which now brings us to 4 wines: a Grenache/Mataro co-ferment and my nero d'Avola fermented and aged in amphora.  Both wines look nice and I couldn't be happier with them. More on this in a bit, the Nuge is barely strapped in. 

A Nero d'Avola whirlwind in Sicily

I went to Sicily this Summer to explore the origins of the grape nero d'avola and how to best cultivate it.  As mentioned before, this red wine grape was harvested in May last year on our McLaren Vale vineyard and is poised to make a smart little wine. We went over in August, with my viticulturist and partner and surprise! it was really, really hot. Our warm and dry summer climate in South Australia is almost identical to breezy SE Sicily, which sits next to North Africa in the Mediterranean.  Also, another bonus, the nero at Azienda Agricola Cos Winery, our hosts in Sicily, thrives in both sandy and clay soils, just like those of our Omensetter Vineyard at Brash Higgins HQ in McLaren Vale. 

All good news for a neophyte nero grower.  Cos is also well known for fermenting its nero in clay amphora, an idea taken from ancient times, and recently rediscovered in Northern Italy thru the wines of Gravner.  It was great to see their operation and to ask questions, especially since Brash Higgins' nero has also spent 6 months on its skins in 200L clay pots. The difference is that our pots were made locally and from the same soil as our vineyards; Cos pots are Spanish and buried in a mixture of sand and gravel.  The pots themselves are not lined, so they keep the soil around the pots wet to minimize evaporation.

The grounds at Cos are beautiful and it is a haven amidst a poor part of Sicily.  There is a full time chef named Pino cranking out delicious Sicilian food, and a great outdoor area by the pool, surrounded by vines. This is a welcome respite from the drying scirocco winds. After a day out in the vines, it was a godsend.

The people of Sicily are a varied lot, since the place has been ransacked and occupied from many different nations over time.  The ongoing battle of the people reclaiming the country from the Mafia was a recurring theme, as well.  More in a bit. BH

Vintage 2011 and Getting the Nero Over the Line

The storm clouds they gathered and as a grape grower, it was white knuckle time again for Brash Higgins Wine Co. So much of the harvest is out of the grower's control; the weather, disease, insects and birds clearly have a mind of their own. On the heels of a healthy, dry 2010 harvest, disease pressure was the particular flavour of the vintage this time around, particularly in the form of downy mildew and then, later, botrytis (not the nice kind like in Sauternes). In some parts of South Australia, like the Riverland, Barossa, Adelaide Hills and the Vale, we've had a cool, and unusually wet vintage.  Fortunately, our Omensetter Vineyard in McLaren Vale is a great site; the benefactor of reliable ocean breezes and a sun loving eastern sloping aspect which helps keep things dry and clean in the vineyard, whereas lower lying and inland vineyards can sometimes suffer when humidity is heavy.  The Shiraz and Cabernet fruit we grow was dark and healthy this year, looking like glistening caviar in the bins, sugar levels were where they needed to be, and most importantly, they both tasted varietal and delicious.  Always a great relief to see the fruit off the vines looking and tasting so good.  As we assess the 2011 vintage now that it's over, those that were on their spray programs early and had good ventilation did well.  For Cabernet, it was in particular a stunning year district wide.

One other factor which reared its head this year was the plight of the grower that was positioned next to an untended or abandoned vineyard.  After the previous 3 drought vintages ran roughshod over some growers, those without resources or energy to spray their vineyards with sulphur the way they might normally like to created a dangerous scene for their neighbours.  If your land abutted an abandoned vineyard, chances of disease pressure in your plot increased merely by proximity. Whether or not the government steps in in the future to remedy this situation by removing abandoned sites or spraying them remains to be seen.  It's a tricky one.

 Our patch of Nero d'Avola planting is at 2.5 acres now, as I discussed in my last entry, and was grafted in 2 waves on to a block of our shiraz rootstock in 2009 and 2010. The first wave, the 2009 graft, was ready to produce fruit this year and was looking very good, yet still not getting the necessary steady heat to get itself over the ripeness line. There was also a bit of bird damage appearing on an outside row, so now we also had to consider netting the block.  Obviously, once you net it is very difficult to get back in to the vines, so we opted to wait it out and form a bird patrol in hopes we would get a warm Indian summer for a week to get the Nero ripe. 

  Myself, Bobo, and Dave B. took turns chasing birds off the vines, especially during sunrise and sunset.  Until now I've never paid that much attention to birds, but every species I spotted came under severe scrutiny; from starlings to sparrows, no bird was my friend.  Perched on my ATV with an esky of Coopers Pale Ale at hand, sans shotgun, pirate flag raised, I was not going to let my find feathered friends make a meal and get in the way of a glorious week of predicted dry, warm weather; I had come too far.  Roaring up and down rows with the determination of Mark Spitz, it must have been quite a sight for anybody happening to drive by the block that week.  
In the end we got it over the line, Baume levels (amount of sugar in a grape) bumped up from 12.5 to 13.5 during that week, and all signs of greenness transformed into lovely bright berry flavours with a slight savouriness: perfectly Nerolike.  We  got the picking crew together for an early Friday hand pick, all 7 of us, and managed to carefully snip 2 tons of healthy, ripe Nero d'Avola fruit.  The whole pick took a mere 2 hours. Next stop for the fruit was the five handmade local 200L amphora/terracotta pots it would call home for the next year.

 Seems more I work this site, it has become clear that great terroir is a combination of a good location and the people that work it.  You can have a special piece of land, for sure, but if the grower is slack, than you'll never get anything great from it.  The role of man in the concept of terroir has been forgotten, and now in particular it has never seemed more important to me. Without a good team, we'd never have gotten the excellent fruit we ended up with in 2011, no matter how great the Omensetter site is.  As James Agee famously lifted from the book of Ecclesiasticus, "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us".  Sounds a bit much perhaps, but right now it makes perfect sense.

The Nero d'Avola Chronicles

We've been preparing our vineyard to harvest our very first crop of the red wine grape Nero d'Avola.  It's a new variety to Australia and I'm going to put it under a new label I've been working on, which shall remain a secret for a little while longer. As a relative newcomer to this district, I'm proud to be hopefully making a variety that may one day become vital to this region.  Indigenous to Sicily, where it is well suited for a hot, dry climate like our own in McLaren Vale, we grafted the Nero vines over to a shiraz block in 2009.  I was close to getting cuttings in 2008, but the GFC led Macquarie Bank to take over the nursery we were dealing with and, strangely enough, the bank took all the cuttings for itself.  Nero is capable of producing tremendously complex wine in a number of different styles.  Similar to shiraz, but with dusty tannins and more savoury elements, the grape ripens much later which could lead to some interesting flavours.  Right now, our half acre block will probably be ready in May, a full 2 months after we harvest our shiraz.  It is also a prolific producer.  The current yield forecast is for 3 tons of fruit, which makes sense when you see just how big and open the bunches are, easily twice as long as the length of my hand.  One of the ways to affect the taste of the juice after we harvest will be the vessel in which the wine ferments and ages.  For many years now I've been a fan of the wines of Gravner from Friuli in Northeastern Italy and COS winery in SE Sicily, which use clay amphora in which to ferment and age on the skins a percentage of their grapes.  Gravner known for skin fermenting the white wine grape Ribolla, Cos for Nero and another variety potentially suited for Australia, Frappato.   This ancient technique of winemaking has it's roots in Caucasia, where winemaking may well have started in the Bronze Age, and is still alive and well in Georgia today. We held a tasting recently with other growers and winemakers looking at Southern Italian whites and reds, and Nero in particular.   The COS lineup was really strong, showing Nero alone and with Cabernet and Frappato, and of course the amphora aged Pithos, which was so unusually savoury and elegant. Look for these wines, they are something special. I wanted to experiment with some amphora, since I had tasted some thrilling examples and believe the vessel gives the wine an earthier texture than stainles steel or wood.  Furthermore, being the first to grow Nero in McLaren Vale, I also wanted to make it special, so I was on the hunt for a potter that was up to the challenge.

 

After weeks of following leads and making visits, I finally located someone with a big enough kiln to fire the amphora, and who also had the technical ability to get it done.  Two of the four we will use this year are at the top of this page. We are visiting Sicily this year to explore COS, whose "Pithos" is 100 percent amphora aged, and the other Sicilian wineries known for working with Nero, like Tasca d'Almerita and Planeta, for example. I'm sure it will be a huge experience. The COS winery, as well as Gravner, has buried the amphora in the earth to help maintain an even temperature and humidity.  This year we added another 2 acres of Nero material which should keep us busy, as it does seem to need reigning in.  It also seems to be disease resistant and shows no signs yet of any viruses, as it has on a few other sites outside our district.  We are also keen to keep the water off it and let it become dry grown, since it doesn't seem to need much at all. And for a country hampered by drought conditions like Australia, that's a good idea. 

 

 

An Epic Day of Cabernet

Cabernet Sauvignon was in the house last week as I put together a list of 25 wines from near and far at our home in McLaren Vale.  The ten invitees were a mixed bag of Australian/Expat winemakers, one merchant/educator, and one owner/grower.  Two months ago I had done a mataro tasting with 28 wines and 12 people, so this was the second in what will hopefully be a long series.  I learned from the previous tasting that 20 wines was the better number and I earnestly tried to keep it there this time around, but sure enough I added another five.  I couldn’t help myself.  The day before the tasting I exhumed roughly 15 cases securely stored down in a truck maintenance pit in the drill company's shed.  There were heavy metal lids that required a forklift to remove and a layer of plywood keeping the wines out of my reach on a regular basis.  Needless to say, it was time to get them out, as many wines were now over 10 years old.  In the pit were some gems that made it into the lineup:  2002 Lake’s Folly (I actually found a vertical from 1999) and a ’98 Wendouree Cab.  There is a lot of older port that I left behind for another day.
Our Omenstter Vineyard in McLaren Vale has 5 acres of very good quality cabernet on it, so I thought it would be a good way to not only size up the global competition, but to think long and hard about what regional style I prefer the most.  How well do the wines age? I double decanted the wines the morning of the tasting and used Spiegelau Bordeaux glasses.  The 25 wines selected were divided into 5 flights of 5.  The  saddest news was a corked 1989 Cos d’Estournel donated by Duncan “El Hefe” Wilcox and a 1994 Wynns “John Riddoch”.  Fortunately, I had acquired a magnum of the Wynns ’97 “JR”.  It figures the two wines I really wanted to look at were corked.  The 04 Serre  Nuove from Ornellaia wasn’t showing well either, tasting listless and flat.  I’d like to give this wine another shot one day.

 
 

Napa Valley and Bordeaux are regions renowned for their cabs, and they didn’t disappoint.  I had brought some California wines back from the States on a few different  occasions.  The ’06 Larkmead was full bodied, as Napa cabs usually are, and excellently crafted; perhaps my wine of the day.  The much anticipated ’98 Spottswoode Napa cab was off a bit (tasting of creamed corn!); fortunately, I have another bottle.  The 2006 St. Julien from Leoville Poyferre was on the mark with more roasted notes of coffee and new leather.  I loved that wine, and also the 05 Prieure-Lichine and Bahans Haut Brion were full of lovely roasted nuts and meats on the nose. What was identified by the winemakers as the wine fault "Brett" was something I enjoyed immensely in small doses and differentiates the French from the New World.

 

Being a warm climate here, not unlike Napa Valley, we tend to get very ripe cabernet fruit in McLaren Vale.  At times it’s hard to tell it apart from the shiraz.  The Waywood, Geddes, and Thorpe wines from the 04 and 06 vintages were all restrained, however. The '07 Wirra Wirra "Angelus" was not as profound as their '05 and '06; a bit one dimensional, but to their credit '07 was a very tricky vintage in the Vale. Drew Noon's 2006 Cab Reserve from Langhorne Creek opened nicely and had great focus and fruit and a touch of what one taster recognized as a "sandy quality typical of Langhorne".   Margaret River out in the Southwest corner of Oz is much cooler district and the cabs have a different profile; a definite herbal, gerkin-dillweed character.  This was the case in the ’92 Cullen, ’97 Moss Wood, ‘98 Cape Mentelle, and especially the 07 Cherubino.  At $70 the Cherubino was a shocking disappointment; the gerkin qualities in the wine were over the top. The 92 Cullen was fully mature and fading a bit now, but the 97 Moss Wood was still fresh with plenty of guts left.   Coonawarra was another area explored, in particular the “Terra Rossa” ridge which is a 2 x 15km continuous red clay over limestone terroir; the same geological profile as our Pelion vineyard. Where we get a lavender and iodine note, however, Coonawarra pulls bell pepper and mint characteristics.  The ’97 Wynns “John Riddoch” magnum was in great condition and the Parker Estate was still just a baby.  The 06 Bellwether was still a year away from revealing itself, but it had all the components of terrific wine:  great focus and balance, with nice tannins and fruit intensity, only the nose was a little shy.   The 98 Wendouree, the only Clare Valley representative, was full on eucalypt and sweet mint, as it has been every vintage I've ever tried.

 

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the day, besides how well reggae compliments cabernet,  was the ’91 Chateau Tahbilk from Victoria.  It was definitely at its peak with plenty of earthy complexity and musky sweet fruit and an absolute steal for $25 at auction.  “Odd Bins” auction has become a terrific source for older wines.  For some reason the older bottles don’t get drunk much in Oz,  which is a pity because a lot of that big fruit we get here can finally mellow out with a few years.  And for 25 bucks from an age worthy and well known producer, it’s worth a shot, and the wine was great.

 

The day finished with braised lamb shanks and couscous washed back with Epic Pale Ale from NZ.  I’m thinking more about blending our cabernet with some merlot and cab franc, as I really enjoyed the complexity of the Bordeaux model.   The Aussie wines that were straight cab seemed to be a little one dimensional, although I’ll probably catch some flack for saying that.  We’ll see how things go during vintage this year, but all in all, as Choco said,  it was a “cracker tasting”.

In order of tasting, each flight begins in bold:

• 1. 2004 Rockford “Rifle Range” Cabernet, Barossa. $55
• 2. 2007 Joel Gott “815” Cabernet, California. $30
• 3. 2005 Les Tourelles de Longueville, 2nd for Pichon-Baron, Pauillac, Bordeaux. $110
• 4. 2006 Waywood Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $30
• 5. 2003 Domaine A Cabernet, Coal River Valley, Tasmania. $65
• 6. 2005 Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion, 2nd for Haut-Brion,
• Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux. $135
• 7. 2004 Thorpe Reserve Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $45
• 8. 2006 Bellwether Cabernet, Coonawarra. $45
• 9. 2007 Cherubino Cabernet, Margaret River. $70
• 10. 2006 Noon Reserve Cabernet, Langhorne Creek. $100
• 11. 2005 Parker “Terra Rossa First Growth” Coonawarra. $75
• 12. 2006 Geddes Cabernet, McLaren Vale. $35
• 13. 2002 Lake’s Folly, Hunter Valley. $115
• 14. 2006 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet, Napa Valley. $60
• 15. 2005 Chateau Prieure-Lichine, 4th Growth, Margaux, Bordeaux. $102
• 16. 2007 Wirra Wirra “The Angelus”, McLaren Vale. $50
• 17. 2006 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, 2nd Growth, Saint Julien, Bordeaux. $150
• 18. 1998 Cape Mentelle Cabernet, Margaret River. $60
• 19. 1997 Moss Wood Cabernet, Margaret River. $90
• 20. 2004 Le Serre Nuove dell’ Ornellaia, Bolgheri, Italy. $67
• 21. 1998 Wendouree Cabernet, Clare Valley. $70
• 22. 1998 Spottswoode Cabernet, Napa Valley. $70
• 23. 1991 Chateau Tahbilk Cabernet, Victoria. $25!
• 24. 1997 Wynns “John Riddoch” Cabernet(Magnum), Coonawarra. $163
• 25. 1992 Cullen Reserve Cabernet/Merlot (Magnum), Margaret River. $238

  

Plumbing Arno Bay for Snapper

  I had the pleasure to spend a day out on the Spencer Gulf for the first time fishing for Pagrus auratus, or Australasian Red Snapper. Aussie Red Snapper is not related to the Red Snapper fished in the Gulf of Mexico (Lutjanus campechanus), but it is a highly prized fish for eating and for sportsman down under. We drove 8 hours to sleepy little Arno Bay on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula; a locale considered to be one of Australia's premier King George Whiting and Red Snapper habitats. This rekindled attention to Arno Bay is partially due to the work of an energetic and charismatic fishing captain named Fuzzell, or Fuzz, and partially from the media's recent spotlight on the region. The owners of Arno Bay Hotel are involved in Fuzzell's Fishing Adventures and the union seems to be a mutually beneficial one. Plus, how could a business motto like "Caught by the Fuzz" not work? It's also one of my favorite songs by Supergrass(click the last highlight).
Either way, I was there. After a lengthy night hobnobbing with the locals at the Arno Bay Hotel we learned that a). this was marginal farm country, and b). the slip of the waves off this coast was intermittent and herky-jerky and made seasickness the rule, rather than the exception. Hardened veterans of the fishing game passed along this advice in all earnestness after we bought them a couple of Greek ouzo and cokes. Kwell was the recommended pill to pop, whether you were hungover or not, and it was conveniently sold at the local deli.
So we popped our Kwells and headed out to sea. One hour or 34 km off the coast at 20 mph, with waves of lopsided swells rolling in against our craft as advertised, made one or two of us a little queasy, but we eventually made it to our first "fishing hole" without any visible incidence. Actually, I'm sure it was the fear of being ridiculed forever for lurching sick all over the side of the boat that kept all of us upright and cavalier. The fine sunny day helped.

That the fish were biting didn't hurt things either. We had a boat limit of about 6 fish per head, and we quickly started catching them. The beauty of Red Snapper, besides their shimmering red/silver skin caused by the huge amount of shrimp they ingest, is their tenacity. With their big square blockhead, wide tail and strong fins, they fight like Jehu when you get one on the line. They're like the marine version of footballer Carlos Tevez.
Fuzz helped out where he could, most often helping to untangle the most complicated knots I'd ever seen. And of course, he took us where the fish were. Radar showed dense schools of fish, and at times we needed heavier sinkers to get the bait down faster to the bottom trolling adult communes before the adolescents could grab the hook first. According to the fisheries dept, anything smaller than 38cm went back into the drink. I could keep 5 between 38 and 60cm, called "ruggers", and 2 over 60 cm.
60 cm is a big ass Snapper. And at the last spot, we hit them hard and fast. Withing 10 minutes lines were crossing underneath the boat, big fish were pulling the tips of our pools into the blue waters. We got our boat limit then, and it was time to drink beer. Peter had one on that could have pulled the boat under. We lost that one, but we will always be curious: just how big was it?
It was another hour ride back to base, but I think we were all enjoying the ride a bit more this time. The stench of Kingfish bait and Snapper guts was in my skin and on my clothes deep. Cold beer flowing down my gullet. Victory!
I was deemed the "Alpha-Male" by Fuzz for catching the most fish and the biggest. This didn't sit too well with my Aussie friends, beaten and bedraggled as they were, but they will have to just accept what the Fuzzman said. After all, it was his boat.
We drank beer all the way back to shore, and much to our surprise we finished all 24 bottles. We cleaned our fish (or someone else did actually) and talked about the dozens of great recipes for cooking and eating them. In particular was a Thai recipe for cooking the whole fish on the bbq, smothering the flesh with chilies, lemongrass, limes, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar. Sounds strong, but the meatiness of the fish can handle it. Cold beer is the preferred drink.
To be reminded that there is an abundant world of life underwater, pulsing and hungry, is comforting to experience after hearing seemingly endless reports of worldwide overfishing. That night, lying in bed at the Arno Bay Motel, I closed my eyes and drifted way out to sea, deep into the arms of Morpheus, knowing that for one satisfying day, however short it was, I was the uncontested Alpha-Male of the surface dwellers. And the sleep was sound and fathomless.

2010 Global Mataro Conference avec Porchetta

I recently put together a tasting of wines in McLaren Vale featuring the grape known as Mataro, aka Mourvedre, or Monastrell depending on where it is grown and who's making it. Technically, Mataro is the Australian name for the grape, Mourvedre the French, and Monastrell the Spanish; however, it's common to see the name thrown around loosely these days, especially in Australia. Producers can by law use any name they please, so long as the wine contains the variety, and perhaps it's their way of saying something about themselves, as well. If the wine is listed as Mataro exclusively on the label, it must be at least 85% by wine law.
I invited 11 wine industry folks, some were winemakers/marketers that make the varietal, one retailer who sells it, and one man who grows it to sample 28 different wines I collected from Australia, Spain, and France. Mataro is notoriously wild, funky smelling and feral in character and usually needs a companion or 2, like grenache and shiraz, to help tame/soften it, but the wines I selected were, as much as possible, all Mataro-all day long.
Everyone chipped in $100 bucks to cover the wines, and afterwards we had a roast porchetta on the spit, apple/celery slaw, and potato gratin with White Rabbit dark ale and different small batch ciders. It was a nice way to spend Anzac day; enjoying the delicious freedoms that the veterans helped protect. Here's what we looked at in the order poured, blind, of course, in flights of 5 or 6 (flights sectioned off below beginning with number in bold). Prices are retail Australian, which is about one for one with the US$ as of today:

• 1. 2008 “Al” Muvedre ‘Joven’, Telmo Rodriguez, Alicante, Spain $25
• 2. 2004 Magpie Estate “The Black Sock” Mourvedre, Rolf Binder, Barossa,SA $20
• 3. 2008 Teusner “Dog Strangler” Mataro, Barossa,SA $25 www.teusner.com.au
• 4. 2006 d’Arenberg “the Twenty Eight Road” Mourvedre, McLaren Vale,SA $36 www.darenberg.com.au
• 5. 2005 “Hecula” Bodegas Castano Monastrell, Yecla, Spain $22
• 6. 2007 Springs Hill Mourvedre, Blewitt Springs,SA $25 www.springshill.com.au
• 7. 2008 Yangarra Mourvedre, McLAren Vale,SA $30 www.yangarra.com
• 8. 2008 Carchelo “C”, Mourv/Temp/CS Blend, Jumilla, Spain $25 www.carchelo.com
• 9. 2007 Muster “M”, Barossa,SA $22 www.musterwineco.com.au
• 10. 2007 Sieber Road Mataro, Barossa,Sa $25 www.sieberwines.com
• 11. 2005 Rudderless Mataro, McLaren Vale,SA $38 www.rudderlesswines.com.au
• 12.2007 Hewitson “Baby Bush” Mourvedre, Barossa,SA $28 www.hewitson.com.au
• 13. 2007 Hewitson “Old Garden” Mourvedre, Rowland Flat, Barossa $65 www.hewitson.com.au
• 14. 2005 Domaine du Gros’ Nore, Bandol, FR $65 www.gros-nore.com
• 15. 2007 Greenstone Vineyard Monastrell, Heathcote,VIC $31 www.greenstoneofheathcote.com
• 16. 2005 “Valcorso Ecologico” Monastrell, La Purisma, Yecla, Spain $23 www.calpyecla.com
• 17. 2002 R.B.J. “Theologicum” Mataro, Barossa,SA $25
• 18. 2006 Turkey Flat Mourvedre, Barossa,SA $39 www.turkeyflat.com.au
• 19. 2006 Deisen Mataro, Barossa,SA $35 www.deisen.com.au
• 20. 2008 Cascabel Monastrell, McLaren Vale,SA $42 www.cascabelwinery.com.au
• 21. 2006 “Trapio” LA Purisma Monastrell, Yecla, Spain $35 www.calpyecla.com
• 22. 2008 “Lust Collides” Mataro- Thomas Block, Some Young Punks, McLaren Vale,SA $34 www.someyoungpunks.com
• 23. 2004 Tardieu-Laurent, Bandol, FR $59
• 24. 2004 Torbreck “The Pict”, Barossa,SA $210 www.torbreck.com
• 25. 2004 “Classique” Domaine Tempier, Bandol, FR $65 www.domainetempier.com
• 26. 2000 Chateau de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, FR $165 www.beaucastel.com
• 27. 2006 Teusner “Astral Series, Moppa Mataro”, Barossa,SA $101.50 www.teusner.com.au
• 28. 2007 Clarendon Hills “Liandra” Mourvedre, Clarendon,SA $75 www.clarendonhills.com.au

The results were varied, and it was difficult to sense any singular theme. Lighter wines were borne from lighter vintages in Blewitt Springs, while burly wines were made at Rudderless and RBJ in hotter years tipping the 16% alc levels. Two of the Bandols, the French region near Marseilles, the Tardieu Laurent and Gros' Nore were bretty, but I thought the third, the old guard of mourvedre, the 2004 Domaine Tempier Bandol, was the wine of the day: rock solid tannins, pure, a bit coarse, and gamey in a good way. My favorite Aussie wines were the Turkey Flat and "Old Garden" from Hewitson, apparently the Earth's oldest mataro vineyard planted in the 1850's, and Torbreck's $200 "Pict".
Hewitson was bold, brash and wild while the pricey 2004 Torbreck tasted surprisingly Old World. I do feel mataro in Oz should be a full bodied red wine, since it can take the heat like the nose cone of a rocket re-entering the atmosphere and it needs heat to ripen. It is a late ripener due to the time needed to mature the grape's dense seed pack and thick skin. I later learned Torbreck tips their hat to Bandol's Tempier, much like Thorpe Wines tips its hat to Grange. Full tasting notes on each wine would be terribly boring, but it is safe to say the following: Bevan Wilson's dog, Bella, chewed thru many sticks and left a mess on Peter Bolte's verandah. The 2000 Beaucastel, predominately mourvedre, was soaring, and, unfortunately, it wasn't in a magnum, because there wasn't much to go around. I felt it was in a class by itself, even though the 30% mourvedre was cloned from Tempier. Whether we invite the dog back remains to be seen, but the wild quality of mataro was well represented by the masticating canine named Bella. The jury is still out, however, when it comes to blending this variety versus its ability/nobility to fly Han Solo as the reckless mercenary or as George Lucas puts it, as "a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good." I tend to think, due to its abrasive multiple personalities, that it plays better in blends, or as a talented bit player (think John Cazale as Fredo in "the Godfather") rather than the leading man. Next tasting is Cabernet Sauvignon on Sunday, July 25th at 1pm. Napa and Bordeaux will be in the house that day for sure.

Vintage 2010 and Sydney Deliver the Goods

We are settling into what looks to be a grand vintage in McLaren Vale. The Gods have cooperated and kept the extreme heat at bay. We have picked all the fruit off our vineyard and it looks healthy, fresh, and delicious: Praise Allah! An early unusual hail storm reduced our crop by maybe 20%, but it was probably for the best and actually acted as a nature's way of green harvesting. Some strong winds and heat spikes kept things interesting, but things never went too far. Some growers here are hurting, these are tough financial times, after all. Contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on, and calls are being made looking for producers to buy their fruit. Recently there was a tragedy up the hill involving the death of a local grower. One never knows the ins and outs of these grievous actions, but we all hope that it isn't to be a recurring theme. The district rallied to his family's aid by volunteering to harvest his fruit and see that it was processed. Farmers and their families are suffering nationwide due to the drought, as well, and the crisis has become a major national worry. I do live in a beautiful, albeit harsh, country.
We trod on, and sometimes try to celebrate the harvest. A harvest lunch at Alpha Box and Dice winery with wine educator Gill Gordon-Smith tasting Italian varietals helps distract us. This lunch/tasting was the first of three on offer this season; check with her bottle shop in the Vale, Fall From Grace, for more info. It's a great chance to try some fantastic European wines matched against their Australian counterparts. Her superb and relatively new wine shop on the Main Street in McLaren Vale focuses on European wines from thoughtful, small producers and is offering tastings and all sorts of educational activities. It has become a great reference point for local winemakers and winelovers alike. And for me it is like being back in NYC again, since many of the wines Gill sells are impossible to find in Oz and were stalwarts on the winelists in places where I once worked.
There is a nice rhythm to the vintage this year according to our viticulturist, Peter Bolte, unlike last years all at once harvest blitz due to the heatwave pounding on the fruit. Thorpe's winemaker, Tim Geddes, is wheeling and dealing high powered telephone calls attempting to juggle his life and “the vintage”. Sleep is sorted whenever you can get it, and the winemaker's partner/wife/husband at this time of year is known as a "wine widow". Geddes is crushing fruit now like nobody's business, as is par for the course, but fortunately the trucks and bins are coming in waves. This year has a steady calm to it, or so it appears since I'm not actually in the trenches. The subregions around the Vale are harvesting in a timely fashion, and at different times. As I get to know this terrain, it's interesting to watch how different districts perform and how their grapes taste. One thing for sure is that the harvesters and semis loaded with grapes are working thru the night now. We live on a busy corner surrounded by vines and you can see the flashing yellow lights on the harvesters at 4am, going up and down the roads and rows of vines followed by their loyal tractor teams. Transport specialists, like Sully pictured here, are kicking long hours to get the juice moved from point A to point B. Of course, he always has time for a quick ale after work when pressed.
A quick junket to Sydney took me to 3 of the cities best spots: Quai, Est, and The Bentley. I'm still wondering how I made it home in one piece. Great rooms, superb sommeliers, and impressive food. The Bentley is chef Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt's place and it just re-opened after a 6 week renovation. It is also home to 'wunderkind' Glen Goodwin, who keeps a low profile here. Glen ran the wine program at WD50 and worked on the all-star wine crew at Cru Restaurant in NYC for years before returning to Sydney to surf, readjust to a sense of normalcy, and marry his American sweetheart. As soon as I heard the intro of fluttering horns and the curling bassline of the legendary rendition of "It's Only a Paper Moon" by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers(click for a recording of this amazing version) over the hi-fi I knew I was in a good space. What was to be a rushed lunch before my flight out of Sydney became a more leisurely one that almost caused me to miss my flight. The kitchen here can cook. The Bentley is the kind of place you want to go to all the time. In fact, it is where the sommeliers from Quai and Est go on their nights off. Enough said. Sit at the bar, pick thru the genius international list, and be served.
Food culture in Sydney is advancing at a fast clip. For the first time I met real talent in the restaurants I ate in. Ironically, most sommeliers here dream of going to NYC and doing the hard yards in the "center of the universe". If only I could warn them; it doesn't get much better than balmy Sydney, guys. Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one. Granted, NYC is the greatest city in the world, so I can see where they are coming from.
“It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.” Patrick Henry, US Lawyer and Patriot (1736-1799)