QUESTIONING TRADITIONS

There is a lot of pretence involved with the wine industry. From the French Appellation Controlle system of only allowing certain grapes to be grown on certain parcels of land, to the stereotypes about what are coincided the best wines. Being a person who entered the wine industry by accident, I stumbled into a world of new words, new wines and new w#%kers.

I had no preconceived ideas about what good wine was or which country made the best wine. But due to the fact that my wine education began in London, I was surrounded by people with big opinions about things that I now know they knew little about. I spent months being corrected on my pronunciation of Chablis and Semillon, and still have people correcting me because I don’t pronounce French words with an English accent.

This leads us to drinking wine. Too many people are afraid to say that they enjoy a wine, due to the fact that ‘the professionals’ have not given a wine a raving review. But what is the difference between a professionals taste buds and your? Most people will give a similar answer when asked what is the best wine in the world; Bordeaux, Burgundy, Primitivo. But has anyone ever stopped to wonder at the correlation between these favourite wines and the tastes of the affluent English.

Due to the influx of different varieties grown in new world locations we are experiencing new and exciting expressions of varietals that contradict the traditions. This coupled together with technology and the evolution of the wine drinker’s palate is changing the stigmas of traditional viticulture.

Some of the new and exciting varieties/locations that I feel deserve mention are:

Chenin Blanc from South Africa. This is by far the best expression of this variety. Intense tropical flavours and an off-dry finish. It is traditionally grown in the Loire Valley, France, where it is uninteresting and not a wine worth mentioning.

Chardonnay from Burgundy, France. This is the traditional home of this grape and still the best location for growing. The cold weather produces Chardonnay that is crisp, dry and completely unlike the Australian and American versions.

Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The intense green grass and asparagus flavour of New Zealand Sauvignon is now the benchmark for this varietal. Their background in the use of stainless steel in the dairy industry has changed wine making all over the world.

Semillon from the Hunter Valley Australia. This variety is traditionally grown in Bordeaux France where it is blended with Sauvignon Blanc to produce a dry, heavily oaked wine. But the best comes from the Hunter Valley where the grapes can ripen to full maturity and still retain good acidity. The wines can age well and develop a waxy, creamy palate with flavours of green fruit. An acquired taste, but worth trying.

Albarino from Rias Biaxis, Spain. This is one of my favourite wines and yet is almost completely unknown to the general public. It has an intense perfumed aroma and all the tropical fruit flavours that new world wine drinkers love. Can be a little expensive but if you see one buy it.

Torrontes from Argentina. This is another almost unknown variety and yet it is the most widely planted variety in Argentina. It has intense tropical fruit flavours and a lingering palate of lychees and pineapple. Good, cheap and interesting, you should try it when ever you see it you wont be disappointed.

Pinot Noir from Chile. This is a great expression of this traditional Burgundy grape. The Altitude of the Andes gives this difficult variety soft round flavour of strawberry and raspberry. In Chile the use oak is less obvious than in Burgundy but the wines are no less sophisticated.

Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, Australia. The cooling effect of the ocean helps Coonawarra to have a long slow ripening season. This produces Cabernet with delicious smokey flavours with hints of chocolate. Cabernet is originally from Bordeaux in France but has always relied on years of aging to make their under ripe wine enjoyable.

Shiraz from Barossa Valley, Australia. No where else on the planet can produce such rich ripe Shiraz as the Barossa Valley. There wines are full of plum and cigar smoke flavours once again due to ripe fruit. Shiraz or Syrah as the French call it is traditionally grown in the Rhone Valley, but the fruit usually fails to ripen completely and it is blended with Grenache and Mourvedre.

These are but a few of the new great wine producing areas of the world. It is by no means a comprehensive list, and in an industry which is as dynamic as this, it is bound to change again soon. As I mentioned in my previous article, climate change is likely to be the greatest factor involved with wine production. So make sure you remain an ‘Indiscriminant Drinker’ and enjoy every bottle on its merit and not its reputation.