Random thoughts of an old Aussie (former) wine maker

In a blog elsewhere I have been lamenting the passing of “commercial” reds made in the style that encouraged cellaring.

A reader asked if I thought there was “a more natural / organic style of winemaking now” and my answer is emphatically “yes”. Wine making techniques have changed so much since the days when I was working in wineries. Today it is all about capturing the fruit organoleptics at the point of picking and preserving them through the whole process from harvest to the glass. The saying, “Wine is made in the vineyard” was yet to emerge back in my day (although they instinctively knew it in Europe).

Style, as determined by the winemaker, regional and varietal characteristics are three different factors. Not something we had influence over in the early ’70s. At Hardy’s we just made red wines and once they were finished, we decided where in our portfolio of labels they would go, based on our tasting assessment.

While this sounds quite primitive, it produced red wines that had body and structure. Even our “commercial” wines had at least two years in oak (small & big) plus bottle age in our cellar before release.

I recommend reading Ian Hickinbotham’s book “Australian Plonky” An easy read, it describes the start of the revolution in Australian winemaking — in which Ian played a major part. I am proud to recall that I was his understudy during the 1973 Hunter Valley vintage, but I regret that I did not realise what a star he was at the time…

As I recall, the major trend towards “fruitier” dry reds, specifically made for drinking young, was initiated by Rosemount when they released their 1993 Shiraz Cabernet in the year of its making. I have not had a chance to discuss this wine with the maker, Phil Shaw or the then Rosemount MD, Chris Hancock, but I assume the decision was largely driven by the looming shortage of red grapes in Australia. (By 1995 we were seeing red wine from South America and South Africa in the big companies’ 4 Litre “winecasks”).

Of course, “the bean counters” would have loved it too — gone were the days when we would wait for January 2nd to release a commercial red that was “three years old…”. Just imagine the savings in inventory holding costs!

Now, I don’t know if Rosemount started a WORLDWIDE trend, but they were a very influential brand internationally at the time and from my observation, most winemaking countries these days sell the majority of their reds “young”. In this regard you could say that Beaujolais was ahead of the trend and in fact, the wines of that region do not appear to be as prominent in the market as they were twenty or more years ago — notwithstanding currency fluctuations.

To be honest, I have a “dinosaur palate” and I miss the reds of my youth. While I am dropping names, I was talking to Tim Knappstein recently. Tim was in the course before me at Roseworthy, so he has been around longer than me and I asked him if he missed the “old style” reds, hoping he would agree with me. He doesn’t!

I guess because he has continued wine making while my career drifted off on another path, he sees the attraction of the youthful fruit character in today’s modern reds…

…and because he runs his own business, he would also see the financial benefit of making reds that are ready to drink early!