Another region that is one of the best experiences that I have in Victoria as a region that produces some very excellent wines. It is very rare that you come across a region where all the wineries you hit makes some fantastic stuff that is unseen in the Asian market. Beechworth is not the place you want to go if you are here to drink as many wines as you can and get drunk. This is a place of sophistication and can only be entered with a purpose - to understand how fine wines are made and the philosophy of the vignerons in this region. It is an exciting place and I think it always has been if people paid more attention to it. I do admit that the wineries are not readily accessible and most of them require appointments. However, if you are able to get one, don't waste your bloody time going there to drink. Use it to ask lots of questions and make sure they are smart ones too otherwise I can assure you, your host will keep looking at his watch. I wish I had the chance to go to see Barry at Sorrenberg and also Savatarre but I suppose there is always a reason to come back.
Castagna*
Think about coming here for a drink? Forget it. Julian, the owner and winemaker, is a winemaker with lots of heart when it comes to winemaking. Passion is not something that is hard to come by with this former film maker. Although he has no winemaking degree, his wines are beautiful and nothing interest Julian more than to make wines that are pure and reflects terrior. He believes Bio-dynamic farming brings out the purest in his wines of the land. Julian sees himself as a helper of the vineyard rather than a winemaker.
His vineyard is very closely planted (1.5m x 0.75m) on granitic loam. The vineyard is on N-S orientation, with fruit from 12 acres (9 acres are owned). The elevation on his site is 500m above sea level and the rainfall is 700mm. 90% of the rainfall happens in winter. However, 3 years ago, it only rained 50mm for the whole year. Julian is one of the first to believe that the region does a good Shiraz and also started planting sangiovese. He also uses something which he calls tree paste (made from Diatomaceous earth, 500 and lime) to clean up the old wood on the vines. Julian cuts off any bunches which he thinks are loose. Temperatures in Beechworth during the summer are around mid 30s and there was once a week of 40. He thinks that 2011 is an unusual year just like 1989. 2002 was a classic year. In 2000, 2003 and 2007, he made no crus at all. 2009 was his 10th vintage.
The more I talked to Julian, the more I found his views very enlightening. Although opinionated, he has what I would consider rational reasons to back it up. We tasted some of the wines that he had in the tank and both the 2009 Genesis Syrah (retails at $75) and Segretto Sangiovese/Syrah ($75) were coming along very well, considering the product is not finished yet. His Genesis was exceptionally floral and complex, with a very long length. Delicious as well was his Adam's rid Nebiolo/Syrah 2009 (still in tank) which was full of roses and floral fruit. It's palate was rich, with a long and beautiful back palate which was delicate.
Julian was generous to open a bottle of 2008 La Chiave Sangiovese ($75) which was fermented wild at 30 degrees and aged in new Bossuet barrels. The clones used at the Brunello clones. It is probably the best Sangiovese which I have tasted in Australia, with medium ruby red colours and floral aromas of roses and beetroot. It was a gorgeous nose. The wine was beautifully balanced with silky tannins and a very long finish. It really had an european taste to it.
Julian believes that we must be open to what a wine taste like and not what science dictates; that we should focus on the good qualities of a wine and not find faults all the time. Julian is a winemaker who relies on his guts and instince and imagination to make things work. In making judgement on the quality of his wines, he thinks of the emotional reaction that he gets when the wine goes into his mouth. He isn't technical or scientific but he relies little on science to make his decisions. He does no tests on his wines except for pH. Julian feels that he can't make wine in a big winery as he doesn't have scientific experience and he is doing things that a re contradictory to what is being taught in wine schools, however, that does not stop him from making brilliant wines. After tasting his wines, I cannot disagree with him on his wines being of very good quality.
Giaconda*
What can I say about Giaconda except that Rick Kinzbrunner is a humble but yet, creative genius as a winemaker. I have never seen anyone plant their vineyard in such a manner before. When I asked him why he planted them as a semi circle, his response was because it was good to look at. The vine spacing is 1 x 3m but if he could do it all over again, he would have done 0.7-0.9 x 2.5 m spacings. It is interesting to see his Shiraz vineyard being only 8 years old cropping at 2.5 tonnes/acre and on decomposed granite, making some really fine wine. As shown to me, The top layer is granite which is up to 1m and the subsoil is clay. Rick has a liking for using wood for all his ferments since 1989 and dislikes any use of metal. In terms of preference, it is wood, concrete than steel for fermentation vessels. The ferments are wild with no MLF bacteria added. All wines are bottled by gravity and no filtration. While fining happens for the whites, bentonite is used but nothing such as heat or cold stability is used. This is one of those vineyards that I do not notice any downy at all.
We went done to the wine cave which is 60m deep and believe me, it was a sight to see.
It was the first time I seen a winery that uses lees stirring done by rotation of the barrel. We tasted the 2010 Chardonnay from the barrel and it was simply divine. It had a sort of lemon myrtle and honey aromas that was distinct from other Chardonnays and on its palate, it was rich, buttery, with lots of MLF character(it has gone through full MLF). Rick uses a special custom made barrel called Chardonnay Cuvee from Sirugue. It is different in that it uses a progressive toast (meaning toasting from one end of the staves to the other from light to heavy. The heads are not toasted and Allier and Vosges are used to make the barrels. The 2010 Pinot Noir was also very fragrant, with aromas of roses and burgundian style, seamless connecting with the flavours in the palate. The stricture of the PN was firm and clean. Rick took half of the PN fruit from the yarra which contributes the clean berry flavours and the other half from beechworth which was bigger and earthier. We tasted some Shiraz from the barrels that are being made in collaboration with Chapoutier and one from a med plus toast Troncias barrel. The 2010 Shiraz from that barrel was dominated with coffee and black tea aromas and on the palate, it was roasted nuts, charry but with a robust structure.
I think what I really look forward to is the bottling of the 2008 Nebbiolo which is Gianconda's first vintage. In my opinion, that is the best Nebbiolo I have smelt and tasted in Australia even though the product is still in the barrel. It's colour was brick red with an orange rim. On the nose was cedar, perfume, red fruit and roses. The tannins were high which is what you would expect from Nebbiolo but the flavours were just bursting in the mouth with lots of ripe fruits, spices, tar and a good long finish. Acid in there was just integrated.
Pennyweight*
Stephen Morris is the winemaker of this winery with family connections to the Morris family winery up in Rutherglen. He is bio-dynamic and is a very big fan of Sherry wines. If you want to know more about sherries and its production, I really recommend you guys to pay Stephen a visit who is really passionate in explaining more about sherries and the flor connection. I enjoyed smelling different barrels of sherry in his barrel room and looking at the tight layer of flor. Sherry is an acquired taste but once you taste a good one, especially when it's chilled, there is no going back. I love that acetaldehyde character as well as that slight funkiness that goes with it.
Golden Ball*
James McLaurin and his lovely wife, Janine runs Golden Ball. This is one of those wineries that I feel deserves more attention and I really recommend that people who are into wines with high density in concentration should go pay Golden Ball a visit. James intends to go biodynamic soon. He has also planted half an acre of Savignan in 2009 and half an acre of Petit Verdot in 2010. The soils on his vineyard are deep decomposed granite and light clay. No insecticides are used and only copper, sulphur, milk and oil are used as foliage sprays. James also handpicks his grapes and like to employ a 48 hour cold soak at 10 degrees before wild ferment and wild MLF. He usually likes to have 19 months of oak ageing and a minimum of five months in the bottle to rest.
I do enjoy his wines as they go very well with meaty food. His merlots are something I would like to follow closely as he crops prety low. It was a real pleasure tasting all his wines from the barrel and understanding more about his winemaking philosophy. I found all his wines from the barrel not only ripe and juicy, I also admire what he is doing in experimenting with each parcel that goes in different types of barrels. James was also using the same methods as Giaconda concerning the stirring of lees (The wheels are what James call Rim Rigs). The first plantings of 4.5 acres were in 1996 and the first vintage was in 2002. James uses Bossuet, Serugue and Meyrieux barrels for his Shiraz and Merlots. He also shoot thins to prevent the bunches from producing bigger berries and bunch thinning on veraison. He finds that when he drops 30-40% of the fruit, the fruit ripens better and builds the flavour. If the fruit is dropped too early, the fruit becomes too big as most of the nutrients will go into the berries to expand the size.
Below are some notes concerning the wines tasted from the barrels. I consider them to be more for my own personal reference and that nobody should use this to try and predict what the finish product would be.
1year old barrels 2010 Chardonnay, all med plus toast.
Sirugue, troncias: Nose of popcorn, butterscotch. Palate of lees, creamy, med acid, lots of caramel
Sirugue, Allier: Nose of light caramel, leesy, more fruit. Palate od med plus acid, light lees and more fruit in the back
Sirugue, Châtillon: Nose of butter, cedar, perfume. Palate of med plus acid, lees, longer cedary finish
François Frères, new oak and not 1 yr old: Nose of vanilla and Saffron, Palate of fruit, med acid, pencil lead, med plus length.
Merlot from the barrel, Bossuet for 9 months, 100% new
Med minus toast: light coffee and toast in the backpalate, full tannin structure
Med toast: less perceptible tannin for some strange reason being that the barrels are toasted more, dryer in the back palate
St Martin but picked 6 days later, Troncias: Sweet berry and oak nose and dry on the palate
Cab Sauv 2010
Bossuet 2nd use: very fragrant, blackberry, lots of power on the nose. The palate is delicate, light toast and lots of packed flavours
Bossuet 100% new: fragrant and lots of cedar with good ripeness on the nose. The palate is toasty and redcurrants
St Matin, older 2nd use: Nose if fruitier with backcurrant. Palate of ripe berry and good fruit structure.
James was very generous in allowing me to taste a few bottles of the finished product. My comments are below.
The Gallice, 55% Cab, 40% Merlot, 5% Malbec 2005 14% AUD65
This is their flagship wine. It is deep black in colour and the nose is earth, blackberry with light floral aromas and pencil shavings. On the palate, it is structured, with high tannins, vanilla from the oak and a long red berry finish.
Merlot 2008 14%, AUD55: deep purple fade to crimson in appearance. On the nose, light vanilla, slight mintiness, good ripe blackberry, complex cigar and smoke, dark choco, a dense nose. On the palate, fruit intensity on the initial palate balanced by smoke and cedary characters, heavyweight density for a merlot, unlike the softer style, med plus tannin, but powdery in texture, spicy edge to it, not green on the finish, more like a herbaceous edge as you would expect from merlot, very long length, herb and spearmint in the backpalate
Shiraz 2008, 14.4%: deep purple fade to purple in appearance. A barossa nose that is dense and cedary with cinnamon, sweet spice and coffee, chocolate. On the palate has flavours of coffee ground, with a light soy.
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