Irregular Update
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008
Welcome to this week's very special Irregular Update. Why special? Because it's probably the longest Irregular Update produced, and has some special, and unique content.
On some occasions, after returning from a Tour Diary trip, although I
enjoyed the trip immensely, it's hard to get motivated to write the story, and
actually writing it seems like an inordinate amount of hard work. It's almost as
though writing the story is an anti-climax.
Normally, during the two hour drive home from the Canberra airport, my thoughts
range through every possible subject except wine. I want to clear my head. Not
this time. Whilst I was driving home I was not only thinking about the trip, I
was making notes on my recorder which will help me frame some of the segments of
the story. I was bloody excited about what I had to write about. The more I
thought about it, the more excited I became. It wasn't just the wines, although
they were mighty fine. It was the story about the people behind the wines that
were getting me enthusiastic. Two stories in particular, where I interviewed the
winemakers at length, will be very special. One of these winemakers is one of
Australia's most respected. It’s rare for him to be interviewed; its only taken
me about four years of asking to finally get the interview, but he answered all
my questions, even the difficult ones, honestly and frankly. The second is a
controversial character, and I believe the take I got on his story has never
been written. Just thinking about writing these guys’ stories is motivational.
And then there were the wines. I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to
try so many terrific wines, from three vintages that are well above average, in
a row. And the value. There are some wonderful bargains to be found.
In the past, I have traditionally kicked off my Tour Diary stories with a
detailed vintage report. However, I am going to break with tradition.
The vintage report will be exceptionally brief, because that’s all that’s
required. I have tasted my way through many of the South Australian wines coming
from 2004, 2005 and 2006. All three vintages were way above average and have
produced and inordinate number of terrific wines. There is a disproportionately
low number of mongrels coming from these three years. Although 2007 was a dog of
a vintage, with incredibly low production, most of the barrel samples we tried
indicated there will still be some good wines produced from this year too. 2008
was a very difficult vintage. The wineries that got their fruit off before the
heat wave conditions hit are over the moon with the quality of the wines.
However those that were late in picking will certainly show the effects. So 2008
will be a mixed year of very good and very ordinary wine.
You will have to wait for a week or two before we get into the Tour Diary
proper, but I am going to whet your appetite now with a special exclusive.
From August the 18th to the 27th the
Coonawarra Roadshow will hit
the capital cities of Australia, this time including Canberra for the first
time. Many of the wineries take this opportunity to launch their new releases.
During our two days in Coonawarra we tried a large number of wines which have
not been released yet, but will be rolled out between now and the commencement
of the Roadshow. As many of these wines are highly sought after, or very
popular, or both, I am providing the tasting notes for these unreleased wines before the rest of the Tour Diary, along with a few notes on Coonawarra wines
that have just been rolled out. Pre-release Coonawarra Tasting Notes can
be found here.
This week, there is also a short article. When Robert Parker first
started The Wine Advocate, one of the foundation stones he built his enterprise
upon, was being a consumer advocate. He was highly critical of the British wine
press in particular, for being too close to those in the wine business. The
story, “Cronyism” looks at a couple of situations which have come to my
attention and questions whether Robert Parker and his number one Australian
reviewer, Jay Miller are guilty of not practising what Robert Parker originally
preached. It can be found
here.
The News section has been about average lately. Recent stories of possible interest include:
-
France relaxes its old wine rules to fight off New World challenge
-
Daily Glass of Wine Cut Risk of Fatty Liver Disease
-
No change in Bordeaux prices leaves campaign moribund
-
Chinese appetite for premium wine exports
-
High-tech Wine Cap Design Wins $15,000
-
Wine grape production up despite drought
-
Robert Mondavi, the Godfather of Napa Valley wine, dies aged 94
-
Aussie value wines sell well in U.S., but future cloudy
-
Tough times may cut sales of high-end wines
Those stories and more can be found here.
This weeks wine quote. Head waiter: "A brandy quick!..... A lady has fainted!"
Waiter: "Yes, sir. Local or imported?" - from a Revised Guide to
Australian wines by Len Evans.
Until next time .... Cheers Ric
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