Best Buy Wines (February/March 2012)
Imports $25 and over

2002 Charles Gardet Prestige Champagne, Champagne (France).
This was my pick of the entire Gardet range tasted recently, although it is fair to say that every wine impressed. A blend of 70 per cent chardonnay (grand and premier cru) with premier-cru pinot noir. It spent a lengthy eight years en tirage and received a dosage of eight grams per litre. It’s an elegant wine that achieves a good balance between the taut and toasty chardonnay influence and richer character from pinot noir. Surprisingly youthful, but with rather mellow texture. BC
Gourmet Traveller Wine

The world’s southern most wine region emerged in the late nineties and, like its postcards, made a conspicuous impression. Over the past decade, Central Otago Pinot Noir has been fetching some staggering scores from reputable judges, high enough to give the big Burgundians a deserved run for their money. The trail blazers like Felton Road, Gibbston Valley and Mt Difficulty have cashed in, matching their lofty acclaim with lofty price tags. Now, a prevailing challenge for the region’s ‘brand’ is to find a balance between maintaining high production quality and keeping prices realistic.

But while we all hope to be able to afford the luxury, Otagans don’t want to flood the market with middle ground juice that could be from anywhere. At this point there are some cheap charlatans appearing but generally the reputation for purity and class remains intact and the prices have become more reasonable.

The more pressing challenge for winemakers here is getting the wretched fruit to ripen. The summers are hot and sunny but short. And when the sun shuts up shop, the winter is bone-chilling, allowing the rich flavours and steely acid structure to be locked in a frosty blanket. It’s a patient business, fraught with anxiety and often the yields are low.

However, the riches are rewarding. Full blooded, rich and silky. And the vast potential of the region is no secret. In 1996 there were 11 wineries in the region, now there are more than 90. One of which we are proud to have on our list.

The Aurum vines were planted in the late nineties and the wines are indicative of the region’s allure. Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling all boast countless accolades and a grateful following.

Head wine maker Lucie Lawrence hails from Burgundy, the home of Pinot Noir, giving her the perfect skills and background to produce world class wines. The ’09 Reserve Mathilde Pinot Noir snared a silver at the International Wine Challenge in London and 5 stars in Winestate Magazine. A rare feat.

So, if the sun is generous and the winters merciful it would seem the only way is up for these arctic stars.

See an article by Nick Stock in Gourmet Traveller Wine that features the best of Central Otago Pinot Noir, including of course the Pinot’s from Aurum.
“Pinot Nirvana”, Gourmet Traveller Wine

Riesling just cant find a foothold here in Oz. Moselle in a box gave it its initial dodgy reputation. Sweet and insipid white hock with no lineage to the actual variety. My Nanny couldn’t get enough. God bless her soul.

More recently, celebrated Clare valley producers have nailed Riesling’s intensity and potential for longevity. The south of WA is yielding some crackers too. They’ve captured the variety’s zest and racy, mineral spine. Alas, still too few stock up on it as a staple. Often the steely, citric dryness is pushed discouragingly to the hilt.

Now, there are murmurings in funky wine bars of a new respect for a touch of the traditional. That being the German, Austrian and Alsatian design with a lick of residual sugar to soften the hard edges. It’s unfashionable to call anything sweet of course, but the ‘off dry’ styles from Europe seem to be less abrasive and more acceptable to a thirsty throng.

Alsace, they tell me, is a very pretty patch. It skirts the upper Rhine in the Northeast pocket of France. A bruising history of border disputes has failed to dampen the spirit of an industrious and artisanal hood.

Riesling flies the flag here, though Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Sylvaner and Muscat are all formidable rivals. Each takes advantage of a dry climate offering slow ripening and abundant aromatic character. As one scribe puts it, “Alsace makes Germanic wine in the French way”. Traditionally, Alsace winemakers produced bone dry styles and left toying with sugars to the Germans. Lately, though, both regions have changed tact and the wine of Alsace has enjoyed a reputation for mastering the subtlety of sweet. Somehow the wines aren’t sweet, they have fruit ripeness but finish dry. It’s a mouth-watering result when the balance is right.

Our little Alsatian, Edmond Rentz, is typical of the region. Different vineyards with different aspects and soils offer a diversity of styles across a broad spectrum. There’s richness, volume, subtlety and a reasonable dose of downright scrumptiousness. Without disregarding the achievements of our local Riesling and Gris producers, there’s a deft shade in the wines of Alsace that perhaps is beyond our reach.

Mount William’s 1999 Blanc de Blanc took out a gold medal and then went on to win a trophy for ‘Best Sparkling Wine of Show’. A fantastic result considering the high standard of competition.
It is widely accepted in Australia that the best bubbles are coming from the most southern parts of our country, (namely our friends in Tassie) or from higher altitides on the mainland, (Macedon Ranges, Alpine Valley, Adelaide Hills). Mount William vineyards are at a brisk 600 metres above sea level with snow often occurring in winter.

The 1999 is a very special wine that has now spent eleven years on lees. Only with such extended time maturing on yeast lees can a wine achieve the complexity and breadth of flavour that the Mt William has.

Congrats again to Murray Cousins of Mount William Winery. Sante!!

In recent years the 19,000 plus grape growers in Champagne have become more inclined to produce their own wine, rather than hawk their fruit to the names we all know.

More than a quarter of Champagne (the drink) is now produced by growers and the standard of juice is fast gaining a reputation for its individual edge and artisanal style. Yet, the market here in Oz is still saturated by the familiar faces.

There is increasing opinion that the distinctive nature of the region is best captured in the wines of producers who grow their own fruit. It makes sense. An affinity with the chalky soils that stain their own shirts must help winemakers to produce something unique and something reflective of where they are. Naturally, it’s much more difficult to bottle the essence of the earth when your fruit is being sourced from left, right and centre.

That’s not to say the gear from the big guns is no good. It’s often sublime. But we sort of know what to expect. And to trumpet ‘consistency’ as a compelling virtue of a brand no longer cuts the mustard with better educated drinkers. As (admittedly slightly biased and outspoken) US importer Terry Theisse puts it, “…the crucial difference between houses and estates is the difference between industrial and artisanal.”.

Unfortunately, not all grower champagnes are up to scratch. That would make life too easy. Which makes Merri River Wine Merchants all the more smug in declaring our little Grower Champagne a proven sparkling star. Champagne Gardet have tilled their own pocket of premier and grand cru vineyards since the late 1800s so their instinctive craftsmanship is well and truly ingrained.

There’s nothing quite like Champagne of any kind, the elixir of celebration and fun times. But keep an eye out for an RM (grower) on the label as the fizzfarmers begin to make their move.