It couldn't happen again, could it? Could it? Maybe it could and it just possibly is. What I mean here is a re-run of the completely absurd 2010-11 growing season which was apparently the second-wettest on record (I think 1974 may have beaten it). As I recall, it started to rain in September and just kept going, all the way through until May. It was not biblical, even though there was plenty of flooding. We also had plenty of pestilence and that's what has prompted this blog. Weather conditions for this growing season are looking disturbingly similar to last year. We have had plenty of rain and humidity--lovely conditions for disease outbreaks in vineyards. The particular curse at the moment is Downy Mildew:
Here it is on a leaf. It also attacks bunches, stems and canes. With the right conditions, it can devastate a vineyard in a matter of days. The primary infection is likely to occur when we have the so-called 10-10-24 scenario--10 mm of rain with temperatures over 10 C over a 24-hour period. If it takes off and the secondary infection runs rampant, look out. We have noticed a few primary infections in the vineyard but only one a few water shoots which we have now pruned off and removed. We are guessing that there was such a large carry-over of spores from last season that the disease pressure right now is higher than it has ever been. We remain vigilant!
I have just returned from Turkey where I have been helping commission a large new winery for the leading Turkish wine company, Doluca. Lots of interesting things to report but I am particularly happy about the enthusiastic acceptance of the need for aeration of red fermentations. A quick comment to the very capable engineering crew and they quickly assembled the device you can see in the video. It allows for plenty of splashing of the red ferments as they get pumped over--the idea is to incorporate as much oxygen as we can so that's why we like the waterfall or fountain effect. Red wine quality looks great this season. We won't see these wines in Australia unfortunately but I can't recommend Turkey highly enough for a holiday and you can taste some wines while you are there.
Here's some serious concentration as we taste our way through the new Squitchy Lane releases. This tasting, which looks like becoming a regular event, took place last night in Mike Fitzpatrick's office in Collins St.
A small number of guests, some interesting wines ad some great cheeses to finish off an excellent evening. We showed the 2010 Squitchy Lane Fume Blanc with a 2010 Domaine de la Moussiere (Sancerre) as a counterpoint. Our Fume Blanc was a deliberate attempt to fashion a Yarra Valley version of Sancerre and I was keen to see how it had worked. The Sancerre was a close-knit, intense, charged wine of great vitality and class. Ours was more open with a well-defined fruit profile and a more relaxed feel about it. Despite the 100% barrel fermentation with wild yeasts at hot temperatures and the time on lees we hadn't managed to blast out all the fruit! It was a great pairing but we really needed a plate or two of oysters to finish the job. Next we had a pre-release showing of our 2010 Squitchy Lane Cabernet Sauvignon. I was a little nervous about this wine because it was only bottled last Tuesday so I wasn't sure how much bottle shock we would see. In the end, the wine asserted itself and showed up pretty well. There's no doubt that it will develop and improve but it had a lovely elegance and varietal purity with a silky structure. To conclude, we tasted the 2010 Squitchy Lane Pinot Noir with a 2006 Premier Cru Savigny-les-Beaune (Les Lavieres) from Chandon de Brialles. This was a fascinating contrast between styles. The Squitchy Lane was exuberant, aromatic, unctuous, long and smooth. The Burgundy was structured, dry, classic and "serious". Two very different faces of the Pinot Noir variety. From my point of view, the Squitchy Lane wines were received by those present exactly as I hoped they would be. While it is still early in the evolution of the Squitchy Lane style, some general characteristics are becoming clear--ripe fruit at low alcohol levels, silkiness and gentle tannin structures in the reds, great aromaticity in all wines but above all wines that are enjoyable and even refreshing to drink. Winemakers sometimes get too serious about their work and forget about the enjoyment factor. It may be difficult for me to let go of a lifetime of serious endeavour but I am determined to make enjoyment the Squitchy Lane hallmark. I hope you will come along for the ride.
It has been a cold, wet and very winter-like winter so far. Misty mornings, poor visibility until the sun breaks through around noon on the good days while the bad days are gloomy and continually overcast. This photo was taken near Yarra Glen this morning. The rather spooky graveyard feel seemed somehow appropriate for the chilly morning and the continuing bad news in the wine sector. Wineries and vineyards for sale, far too much cheap wine on the market and a decline in consumption in Australia mean a pretty dismal outlook. But over in Bordeaux, the 2010 en-primeur campaign look set to reach record price heights. $1200 a bottle? No problem, can't get enough of it. Meanwhile, Chateau Lascombes, a second growth property, has sold for 200 million euros. If we take the 50 million euros worth of stock out of the equation, that works out at about $A 1.7 million per hectare. I guess the chateau and grounds is worth a bit too so let's call it $1.5 million per hectare. Here in Australia, real estate agents will tell you that having a vineyard on land for sale actually reduces its value!
A few casual pours and this rather plain label started to look more interesting........ The wine itself was a rustic, purple-hued youngster that set the mood for Bastille Day and the peleton heading up the Col du Tourmalet. The cassoulet in the dish behind the bottle only added to the fun.
2011 Fume Blanc will be bottled next week. I am always excited by and about wine but it's not very often that I am genuinely thrilled, in the way that I am by this wine. It's the result of experimentation, hard work, experience and luck.
The experimental part was the fermenting of the entire batch in small oak barrels with one new French barrel included. We have done this before (2010 Fume Blanc) but not with the new oak.
70% of the barrels were not inoculated--they fermented with the natural indigenous yeast on the grapes. The remainder were fermented with a relatively neutral yeast chosen for its simplicity. We didn't want anything in the way of the fruit.
The hard work came with monitoring each individual barrel. Just about all Sauvignon Blancs are fermented in tank so you have one fermentation to look after, not a multitude. We also stirred the barrels, just as in Chardonnay production. The experience was knowing what outcome we wanted, from tasting other wines, tasting our grapes and knowing what was possible. The luck allowed us to harvest these grapes in very good condition in the difficult 2011 vintage (the second-wettest on record apparently). Disease was all around us but the Sauvignon Blanc survived. The wine itself is pure class--it has more style than Karl Lagerfeld and Coco Chanel combined. More detailed tasting notes will follow once we have it bottled and settled down.
It's widely believed that the first impression is most likely to be the correct one, especially when tasting wine. That may help to explain my spice metaphor in the photo here. I sat down to review this wine on Wednesday, not quite sure how I wanted to describe it for the blog. The first thing that struck me was the exotic spiciness, something I haven't seen so prominently before. In an instant, I was transported to the spice market on the shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul.
The more I tasted the wine, the more the spice became a fixed part of the profile--never quite as remarkable as on my first acquaintance but there nevertheless. Other features revealed themselves as the wine opened up--silkiness, the jube-like fruit characters of the MV6 clone, the smoky waft of new French barrels for example--but the spice remained. Go with the first impression is the message I have learned from too many embarrasing blind tasting experiences. Waiting and trying to analyse too deeply can get you into trouble. So spiciness is the word on this one. It's released now and available on the website. The really good news is that we have made a reasonable volume, thanks to the weather gods of 2010.
