Behind the Scenes of the Tri Nations Wine Challenge 17/08/09 – 19/08/09

The Tri Nations Wine Challenge is a mega wine competition between three different wine-producing countries. The countries are Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – all new world wine producers. Unlike the Boutique Wine Awards, the wine producers taking part in this challenge are by invite only and the number of judges for this challenge is much smaller. Although there are only three judges, they are all big names in their respective country and some of the best palates in the world. The judges are Huon Hooke (Australia) , Bob Campbell MW (New Zealand) and Micheal Fridjhon (South Africa). Months before the challenge, each of these judges will select what they think are the best wines from their country to represent the different classes, based either from what they have tasted recently or by reputation. We are talking about the best of the best wines produced such as Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier representing Australia for the Shiraz class or Nautilus Pinot Noir representing New Zealand for the Pinot Class.

The classes are:

Class 1 - Sparkling Wines

Class 2 – Chadonnay

Class 3 – Aromatic Wines

Class 4 – Sauvignon Blanc

Class 5 – Other White Wines

Class 6 – Pinot Noir

Class 7 – Merlot

Class 8 – Shiraz

Class 9 – Cabernet Sauvignon

Class 10 – Bordeaux Blends

Class 11 – Red Blends

Class 12 – Other Red Varieties

Class 13 – Dessert Wines

If any is interested in the wines selected, download the file here.

This year's Tri Nations is being held at a lovely waterfront event room called Le Montage, which is at Lilyfield, NSW

The venue

Only a maximum of thirty wines will be in each class. Some classes have thirty-one because of late entries. The scoring is very different from other Australian wine shows. Unlike the Australian wine shows, there is only one winner in each class and a runner-up. There is also the top red wine of the show, top white wine of the show and the best wine of the challenge to be awarded. There are no gold, silver or bronze medals to be won for each individual wine even if a wine in that class is outstanding (they are all outstanding because only the top wines are selected). For more on the Australian grading system, go to my earlier post here on the Boutique Wine Awards (BWA).

How the scoring system works

The judges will score each wine based on a point system of zero to twenty-one. Zero being the least preferred and twenty-one best. Most of the wines are of excellent quality. However, this point system works through benchmarking. When the judges taste each wine, they will try to find a wine in that class that they can benchmark the other wines against. To that wine which they use as a yardstick, they would give 9 points to it. They compare each wine to that benchmark. If they consider a wine to be better than the benchmark, they will award points higher than the benchmark. The judges will not communicate with each other their scores from the start to the end of the tasting. Then, the three judges will get together and combine their individual points. The wine with the highest score wins. The scores of the wines are also calculated according to their country of origin so that the country that wins that class can be determined.

All wines are judged blind, meaning that the judges know the vintage and the varietal but not the country or the producer. The wines are poured in an order where the country of origin is randomized.

The interesting thing to note in this system is that the points are awards in odd numbers and this may be difficult to explain in writing unless you take part in a wine judging. Take for example, a wine that is considered better than the benchmark, will be awarded 11 points and maybe for another wine that is considered better than the benchmark, it will be 13 points. The reason that the points are awarded in such a way is that the judges want to have a difference of at least two points for each wine in the class. When the points of all three judges are calculated, the gap between the final score of each wine is wide enough to decide a winner. For the Australian wine judging system, when deciding the winner of that class, the difference between each wine can be at least half-a-point, and that is why the judges require the top wines of that class to be re-poured and tasted all over again. In this system, there is a larger gap between the scores of each wine, so the winner is quite clear.

Day One

Day one is all about setting up the room for the judging. Almost similar to the BWA, the significant difference would be that instead of 2 bottles of each wine, we are to make sure that there are six bottles each. Although the number of wines in this judging is significantly less than BWA, there is much accounting of each bottle to be done. All six bottles have to be the same wine. The reason for six bottles is that one is for tasting, the second is for re-pours in case the first bottle is defective, and the other four are to be sent to Hong Kong for a wine dinner and Four Seasons Hotel for the exhibition if it wins that class.

Before the setting up

Area where the judges did the tasting

The transformation begins

Things are starting to form

Julian is excited about his wines

What a mess

The number of glasses to prepare was also significantly less because there are only about thirty wines in each class and three judges.

Like the BWA, we

1. Prepared the judging tables. The tables were numbered.
   
2. Washed the glasses.
   
3. Placed the wines in their classes and checked them off against a list to see if their vintage, name and grape type were correct.
   
4. Numbered each wine in the order that they were to be tasted.
   
5. Spit buckets were filled with sawdust.
   
6. All the bottles were counted to make sure that they matched the number expected to be received.
   
7. Crackers, water, stationary and judging sheets were placed on the table.
   
   
   After a hard day's work
   

Judging tables are numbered

All tables are set up with glasses

Spit bucket is filled with sawdust

Glasses are washed and dried

Day Two

Tasting went as planned but I wasn't around to help for day two. Wines that were to be served were opened and poured. When the judges were done, the glasses were taken from their tables to be washed and dried. Wines for the next class were opened. After replacing the glasses on their tables with fresh ones, the wines for the next class had to be poured.

Micheal Fridjhon. One of the biggest names in the South African wine industry and an international judge of the International Wine Challenge held in UK.

The stewards enjoying themselves while the judges are busy

I wasn't there to see it but I was told that the table holding the bottles of merlot gave way to the weight. We knew the tables weren't sturdy on Day one when we saw it bending in the center, so we spread out the bottles to distribute the weight. We didn't do anything for the merlot table. Bottles came crashing but it wasn't a total wipe-out. Bottles were broken and the floor was soaked with red wine that looked like blood.

What a disaster!!

Pictures courtesy of Jeremy

Thank God most of the bottles were intact and the class went as scheduled. What a good thing that the wineries didn't take on that carbon plan of using on lighter bottles. I don't think most of the wines would have survived if they went along with that.

All the winning wines and runner-ups were set aside and repackaged for shipment to Hong Kong and the Four Seasons in Sydney.

All the wines were re-corked or re-capped after the class has been done.

Ready to be shipped to HK

Day Three

No different from day two. We made sure that the sparkling wines were refrigerated sufficiently to be served chilled at the right temperature.

At the end of the show, all the wines were packed up. Any remaining bottles of wine were sold to restaurants and bottle shops to cover the cost of the show. The glasses were packed and brought back to where they belong.

Clockwise: Huon Hooke, Judith Kennedy, Michael Fridjhon, Bob Campbell MW

The end of the Challenge

A job well done. From left to right: Tony Venn, Julian, Judith, James, me and Jeremy.

Many thanks to Judith Kennedy for giving us the opportunity to participate in this event as well as Tony Venn for showing us the ropes. Also, thanks to Tim Donelan for transporting those glasses. See you guys next year!

For more information on the Tri Nations, go to http://www.trinationswine.com/

Vale Creek Wines in Bathurst, NSW

Fifteen minute from Bathurst along a dusty road called Cow Flat Road is the location of an unassuming winery. Since its inception in 2001, Tony and Liz Hatch, owners of Vale Creek Wines, have made up their minds to grow and produce Australian wines made from Italian grapes. With the help of Dr Alberto Antonini, their consultant from Tuscany, the vines for the Italian grapes were sourced from the best vineyards in Italy and closely planted, following the tradition of Italian viticulture practices.

Entrance of Vale Creek Wines

The cellar door, where wines are served. On the first week of each month, there is music, food and Italian wine, providing the same hospitality and jovial setting of an Italian lunch. For more information on the event, go to http://www.valecreek.com.au/events.html

According to the latest statistics on winebiz.com, the area of Italian grape varietals in 2008 makes up about less than 7.8% of all the grapes planted. Since 2006, Italian varietals such as Pinot Gris, also know as Pinot Grigio to the Italians, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo had been steadily increasing in hectares grown, hinting a growing trend and fascination for Italian wines grown in Australia.

"There are some good Shiraz, good Chardonnays and good Rieslings out there, but I like Italian varieties. There just aren't enough of them in Australia," said Tony, as we drove in his small truck up the craggy landscape leading to his vineyard. "If you go to a wine bar in London, there will be as many Italian varietals as there are French, and Spanish."

Tony proudly talked about the grapes being grown on the rocky and hilly landscape. The winery grows grapes such as Arneis, Vermentino, Dolcetto, Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese and Barbera on their own soil. The soil is rocky and sedimentary, composed of shale and loam on a clay based. He described to me the initial amount of labour that was needed to clear most of the rocks before planting the vines as we passed by a huge pile of rocks being dumped in a pile. According to him, the hills give good drainage to the vines and protection from frost problems. As a rocky vineyard, the rocks retain the heat from the sun during the night to give warmth to the vines.

Babera vines five to six years old

Pile of Rocks

Dolcetto vines Mat 1 on Paulsen 1103 rootstock. Tony told me sheeps have been chewing the labels off.

Dolcetto vines. Cane pruned.

Tony mentioned how happy their Italian consultant was with the terrior(For the definition of terrior, look at my blog post The A-Z of wines). They too have been equally pleased with the wines produces out of the land. The one major problem that they face with the land was birds that picked on the ripe grapes before the harvest. They have had to spend A$25000 on nets alone.

Shed containing the nets

Nets

As we walked along rows of vines, Tony talked about not over-irrigating of the vineyard. Water and sunlight are the two essential building blocks for grapes to produce sugar. An imbalance in one of these elements and the grapes will not have enough sugar to ferment into alcohol, leaving us with a wine that has little weight. Too much water produces grapes that are diluted and producing a wine that doesn't have much concentrated flavours. Most of the vines are on 1103 Paulsen rootstock which makes the vine resistant to drought. With this rootstock, the vines won't need as much water as vines planted on other rootstocks. Then, he showed me a nifty device called the Gypsum block, which measures the electro conductivity of the soil. The soil has sensors that give a measure of the moisture content. He usually goes to each block to download the data on his computer and takes the chance to exercise as well.

The Gypsum Blocks. A wire is connected into the connectors of the block to the laptop. For more info on how it works visit www.mea.com.au/reference-material/gypsum-blocks

"Australia is a young wine industry, about 150 years. Many of the early wine growers in Australia were Germans in the Barossa, and Italians. No reason why Italian varieties shouldn't be successful. I'm trying to correct the imbalance," he grinned.

We stopped at a block of Sangiovese vines, where two different clones of the grape were grown. It sounded clear to me that Tony has a fondness for Sangiovese as he talked to me about Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti, the wines in Italy which produces some of the best Sangiovese in the world. Although both wines are made from the same grape, the conditions in which the wines are produced are different. This ends up with a different product. Brunello is usually a rich, hearty wine with flavours of blackcurrant, tobacco and roses while Chianti is lively, fresh and characterized very much by cherries, herbs and high acid. The two clones are fermented in separate batches as they ripen at different times before being blended to form the final product.

Sangiovese vines- Matura 1 and Matura 7 (Brunello) clones

All the grapes in the vineyard are handpicked, preserving the quality of the fruit before the crushing.

"Bathurst is still a fair way from getting its own G.I (Geographic Indicator – wines with a G.I get to put the name of the area it is produced in, giving the wines a sense of identity). It won't make a difference to us but it would be nice one day," said Tony.

The production house

The resident's very own wine crusher, where the grapes after being picked first go into to have the berries split open by the machine, so that the juice comes out.

The red fermentation vessel, where all their red wines go into for fermentation. Each fermentation tank cost from A$8000 – A$10000 each. The reds are usually fermented up to a temperature of 28 degree Celsius.

The white fermentation vessel, where the Pinot Grigio and Vermentinos go into. Fermented at around 18 degree Celsius.

Picking bins where the grapes are transported in from the vineyard. This area is where they also do their bottling via a mobile bottling machine.

Bottled Sangiovese. Sitting there for more than a year. Resting in the bottle before the flavours start to develop.

A heat exchanger. Refrigerant is pumps through here so as to cool the fermenting vessels down to the desired temperature.

The lab where tests are carried out to monitor the development of the wines.

We made our way back to the cellar door where we looked at Tony's production house before we made our way into the "wine vault", where heaps of barrels were stacked up neatly, sitting there quietly as the oak barrels started to do its magic on the wines. As he poured me a glass of his 2009 Mat 7 (Brunello clone) Sangiovese from the French Allier oak barrel, I noticed a range of musical instruments at the corner. "You are quite a musician, aren't you?" Tony smiled and affirmed. "Interesting," I thought to myself, "A musician and a winemaker. Both bring music to my ears."

The cave where the "stash" is stored

The Mat 7 sangiovese wines that I tasted. Only two months in the barrel. The barrels are puncheons which are 500 litres each unlike the French barriques which are 225 l. These are the same as the Italians. Tony says that Italian varietals don't need much oak.Each barrel cost about A$2500 per barrel. French barriques cost about A$1200 to $1500 per barrel. Tony believes the puncheons are cheaper for him in the long run.

Tony, the wine maker and the musician.

I placed my nose into the glass. Immediately, I could detect cherries, damson, a slight meatiness and rich medicinal herb aromas. On the palate revealed soft tannins and spices. "It hasn't gone through malo yet," says Tony (For more on malo, read my blog post on the Basic of Lees). The wine was still in its infant stage and still quite raw but in months to come, the structure of the wine will start to take shape and become more extroverted.

After tasting some of Tony's released wines with his wife, Liz and buying some bottles from them, I strolled back to my car. As I was walking, I thought about what Tony mentioned to me earlier on.

"People look confused and suspicious. They go, 'What is this?' I ask them, 'Have you heard of Chianti.' They say, 'yea, we know. It's Sangiovese.' Thirty to forty years ago there were a lot of Chiantis available and it was rubbish. It was terrible stuff. That has given Italian varietals a bad name."

Things are much different today. If producers like Tony were to keep up with the type of stuff they produce, we will be seeing a lot of good things to come for the Italian grapes, for Chianti and for all of us wine drinkers out there.

Tasting notes

The wines tasted.

Vermentino 2008 14%

The wine has been pressed in an airbag and is 10% barrel fermented to give some complexity. Has not gone through mal.

Pale straw yellow with aromas of peach, honeyed nuts, stonefruit and vibrancy. On the palate, peachy, citrus, bananas, with a soft touch a acid. Medium bodied. The acid only starts to be more apparent when you leave it longer in your mouth. The finish is pleasant.

Great with light meats, cheese and seafood.

Sangiovese 2007 14%

Vertical basket pressed. 9 months in French oak and has gone through malo. 50% of the fruit is from Mudgee. The 2008 is 100% from their vineyard..

A wine which is transparent and medium cherry red, fading to white rims. The nose is fragrant, cherry-scented, raspberry with a hint of cedar. On the palate, it is medium bodied with a good bite. The acid comes through only in the middle palate. Flavours of cherries, raspberry, herbs, medium tannins which are soft. The finish is a light and gentle lolli flavour. An easy to drink wine.

Great with antipasto and tomato pasta.

Babera 2007 14%

A third of it has gone through new French oak. Fermented for 10 days with malo.

Bright, ruby red fading to cherry red rims. Fragrant aromas of violets, aromatic, bright sweet red fruits like raspberry and cherries with slight cedar and vanillan spice. On the palate, it is full bodies, spicy, savoury, supported by cherries and dark fruit. The tannins are bigger here and is meatier. Acid comes through in the mid palate, sustaining the flavours of plums and hints of vanilla. The finish is savoury and cherries.

Great with lamb and bbq meats.

For more info on Vale Creek wines, visit www.valecreek.com.au To make an appointment with them at their cellar door, call them at (02) 63372011 or fax them at (02) 63372012.