Beechworth: Sorrenberg, Giaconda, Savaterre and others come to town
The winemakers of Beechworth, northeast Victoria, tumbled into town recently pouring their new releases.
The winemakers of the Beechworth region in northeast Victoria tumbled into town recently pouring their new releases. Joining long-established producers such as Barry and Jan Morey from Sorrenberg, Julian Castagna and son Adam, the reserved Nathan Kinzbrunner from Giaconda and the boisterous Keppel Smith of Savaterre was a growing band of (relative) newcomers: people like Chris Catlow at Sentio Wines, vignerons Jeremy Schmolzer and Tessa Brown, Pete Graham at Domenica. It was a smorgasbord of top quality wines.
Beechworth is perhaps best known for its chardonnay, so it was no surprise to find this variety was on full diverse display, from the marvellous chalky finesse of the 2014 A Rodda Smiths Vineyard ($40) to the richer textural complexity of the 2015 Giaconda Nantua ($45).
I have long thought that white grapes originally from France’s Rhone Valley also do particularly well in Bechworth and may one day become the region’s white wine flag-bearers: the beautiful perfumed, gently creamy 2014 Oxenbury Vineyard Amphitheatre marsanne roussanne viognier ($26) and the extraordinary, multilayered and long 2015 Warner Vineyard Roussanne (due for release towards the end of the year) helped to bolster my theory.
And while I tasted some very good shiraz and pinot, the reds that really blew me away were not necessarily those you might normally associate with Beechworth.
I really liked the superb elegance and intensity of the 2012 Golden Ball Gallice ($50), a blend of cabernet, merlot and malbec, and I was very impressed by some Italian red varietal wines such as Castagna’s beautifully balanced, poised and precise 2013 La Chiave Sangiovese ($75), the seriously earthy sweep of the 2012 Virago Nebbiolo ($50) and the alluring perfume and powerful tannin in the 2013 Domenica Nebbiolo ($45). More here.
Cabernet franc
The cabernet franc grape is enjoying a burst of popularity in wine bars and restaurants at the moment thanks to its capacity to produce deliciously snappy, juicy, medium-bodied, food-friendly red wines.
Stuart Knox of Fix St James wine bar in Sydney’s CBD is a huge fan, and is launching a Winter of Franc campaign this weekend with a free tasting from 5pm of nearly 30 examples of the grape, half made by Australian producers such as Jamsheed in the Yarra Valley and half from European vineyards such as Roches Neuves in the Loire Valley. Next Tuesday, Knox is also hosting a Francophile dinner — four courses, seven wines, $105pp — and for the rest of the month he’ll be offering an ever-changing selection of at least five by the glass. When too much cabernet franc is never enough. More here.
Return to claret
Bowen Estate has long been one of Coonawarra’s top wineries: the Bowen family’s first wine — a 1975 shiraz cabernet blend simply labelled “Claret” — hit the market four decades ago. To celebrate, founders Doug and Joy Bowen and their winemaker daughter Emma last week opened a selection of reds from each of those decades for eager customers, trade and media.
That first wine is holding up really well — but I was more interested in the slightly more recent vintages.
I’m kicking myself I didn’t hold on to at least one of the few bottles of 1996 Bowen Estate cabernet I bought a while ago and promptly drank with gusto: for me, this was one of the highlights of the tasting — a gorgeously intense, ripe but superbly balanced blackcurranty red in the prime of its life after two decades in the cellar (the spicy and long ’96 shiraz was terrific, too).
If you like Coonawarra reds, you may one day be kicking yourself if you don’t buy some of the latest, 2014 Bowen Estate cabernet (a mere $27 per bottle direct from the winery; a very reasonable $30 to $35 in wine shops): beautiful and perfumed now, with firm but supple tannin, it’ll age gracefully every bit as well as that ’96. More here.