Remarkable vintage at Bay of Fires
Good concentration of flavour in this year’s grape harvest was the vintage highlight for Tasmania’s Bay of Fires winery.
Winemaker Francine Austin says it was a fortunate season in all Bay of Fires viticultural regions. The dry, warm, early season allowed for complete ripening of the grapes.
“We had healthy crops of very good fruit this year, so were pleased it was all able to reach perfect ripeness before any change in season,” Ms Austin said.
“Across the board we are making wines with ripe, concentrated flavours, good structures and lovely soft acids. In some years, the weather turns suddenly cold and we’ve not always been able to achieve these remarkable qualities in our wines.”
Bay of Fires’ vintage started a week earlier than normal on 4 March, with vines brought on by warm conditions through spring and the ripening period around Christmas. Cooler conditions in February provided a welcome lull in vintage and helped grapes ripened evenly, and despite a hot spell in mid-March, the vintage finished as normal on Anzac Day.
Ms Austin said that Chardonnay for sparkling wines is exceptional and has excellent acids, distinctive flavours and good ageing potential. Pinot Noir, especially from vineyards along the east coast of Tasmania where the weather was more moderate during the hot spells, is also very strong for sparkling wines.
“We are quite excited about our Pinot Noir reds this year because they show wonderful balance. Mostly sourced from the Derwent River region, they are emerging as soft, generous wines with ample structure, in that they have firm, ripe tannins that beautifully support the ripe dark berry fruit characters,” she said.
“Chardonnay from the Coal River Valley has lovely stone fruit and lemon characters and soft acids, while east coast-grown Chardonnay shows more restraint with flinty, mineral characters and incredible depth of flavour.
“Pinot Gris is quite outstanding because it is rich and full bodied with beautiful rich pear, marzipan and musk characters. This was a year for ripe, rich Gewürtztraminer, too, and we have made one with very concentrated musky flavours, plenty of spice, full, soft mouthfeel and good viscosity.
“Sauvignon Blanc was also pleasing, showing lively fresh flavours, lychee and dried herb characters, with some parcels displaying classic grassy notes. The best parcels of Riesling have very lifted, floral aromatics, good depth of flavour and lemony acidity.”
Clare riesling triumphs in Australasia wine awards
A Clare Valley riesling has been named Australasian Wine of the Year after a blind taste-off involving top-rating Australian and New Zealand wines.
The Penna Lane Wines 2004 Riesling is the first white wine to take out the major prize in the 11-year history of the Winestate awards.
It’s a fairy tale success for joint owners Ray and Lynette Klavins / Stephen and Stacy Stafford-Brookes who established their winery at an old derelict farm south of Clare in the mid 1990s.
More than 10,000 wines have been tasted by Winestate judges over the past 12 months in the largest competition of its kind involving Australian and New Zealand wines. Only those rated with 4.5 or five stars went into the final taste-off.
Winestate publisher Peter Simic said the 2004 Penna Lane riesling nudged out Kaesler’s The Bogan 2005 Shiraz for the top award.
“It’s no easy task nominating one wine above so many others, but the judges were unanimous in declaring this a superb example of a world class riesling,” Mr Simic said.
“Significantly, all five top rieslings came from the Clare Valley and nearby Eden Valley regions of South Australia.”
Regional strengths also shone through for several other varietals, with the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale dominating the shiraz category, the Hunter Valley semillon, while New Zealand was again the stand out for sauvignon blanc and pinot noir.
In the fortified category, Morris Wines of Rutherglen won all top five placings in an unprecedented performance that firmly stamps its position as Australia’s leading fortified producer. The Victorian winery has now won the title eight times in the past 10 years.
Chairman of judges, winemaker Stephen John, said the merlot category was the biggest disappointment with only two wines winning the qualifying 4.5 or five stars.
“Have we totally lost direction with this variety? It’s difficult to comment any further,” Mr John said.
Kevin Glastonbury, the senior red winemaker at Yalumba Wines in the Barossa Valley was named Australian Winemaker of the Year for his consistency in achieving the largest number of high ranking wines during the tasting period.
Yalumba Wines also took the title of Wine Company of the Year for best overall performance.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
Australasian Wine of the Year: Penna Lane Wines Clare Valley Riesling 2004 (SA)
Runner-up: Kaesler The Bogan 2005 (Barossa Valley, SA)
Australian Winemaker of the Year: Kevin Glastonbury, Yalumba Wines (Barossa Valley, SA)
New Zealand Winemaker of the Year: George Geris, Villa Maria
Australian Wine Company of the Year: Yalumba Wines (Barossa Valley, SA)
New Zealand Wine Company of the Year: Villa Maria
Australasian category winners
Sparkling: No 1 Family Estate No 1 Cuvee Blanc de Blancs NV (Marlborough, NZ)
Sauvignon Blanc: Eradus Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (NZ)
Riesling: Penna Lane Wines Clare Valley Riesling 2004 (SA)
Semillon: Pokolbin Estate Hunter Valley Semillon 2000 (NSW)
Chardonnay: Vasse Felix Heytesbury Margaret River Chardonnay 2005 (WA)
Pinot Noir: Olssens Slapjack Creek Central Otago Pinot Noir 2005 (NZ)
Merlot: Protero Gumeracha Merlot 2005 (Adelaide Hills, SA)
Cabernet Sauvignon: Fernando The First Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (SA)
Shiraz: Kaesler The Bogan 2005 (Barossa Valley, SA)
Sweet whites: McGuigan Wines Personal Reserve Botrytis Semillon 2005 (Hunter Valley, NSW)
Fortifieds: Morris of Rutherglen Cellar Release Muscat NV (Vic)
Contact: Peter Simic, Winestate
Tel. (08) 8357 9277
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