Articles
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008
Links to Past Articles - 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Current Articles 2006
The TORBWine Trophy Winner for Bureaucratic BS and Bad Customer Service (9 November)
Getting defective wine replaced in Australia is normally pretty simple and most large companies have procedures in place that look after their customers well. The smaller wineries are normally pretty easy too. Over the years I have had a number of less than impressive experiences with one particular large company but my latest experiences takes more than the cake. These guys deserve a Trophy for their unique handling of the replacement of defective wine. And the Trophy goes to....
“Natalie Decants” a bottle of plonk
(1 November)
Natalie MacLaine is a prolific Canadian journalist who, as an absolute master at self-promotion, sends out a professional looking newsletter fairly regularly. Her articles appear in the Australian press from time to time, and no doubt in newspapers all around the world. In her latest newsletter, she details the woes and plights faced by the Australian wine industry and in her own words, she states that she "expects the article to cause some controversy". There is nothing wrong with creating controversy, especially when it is designed to foster positive debate; unfortunately from my perspective, the article fails to achieve that objective, and the way I see it, uses "Oz bashing" to try and create the controversy. Read all about it here.
Rockford - An Embarrassing Rag (18 October)
The Rockford Winery Stonewall Members wait with baited breath for the annual (spring) Rockford Rag to hit their mail boxes. The newsletter contains the order form which allows them the privilege of ordering the hard to obtain Basket Press and Black Shiraz. The newsletter is written by Robert O'Callaghan and normally comes across as a "mate corresponding with another mate" about a mutual interest; it seems very "folksy and personal." All good stuff! It also contains a fair amount of serious content, including Robert's comments on the newly released wines. This year, Robert devoted his comments on the famous Black Shiraz to explain a bit about the background of the wine, but most of it was a justification on why they continue to use cork to seal the wine. This is despite the fact that the leakage rate in Black Shiraz is horrific and one could drive a Mac Truck though the holes in his comments; something I have done in this article.
The Big Picture - The 2006 SA Tour Diary (11October)
In September The Pie King, Red Bigot and I spent a week doing what we do best together; tasting (and drinking) lots of good wine and eating far to much good food (whilst I tried to avoid the pies.) Prior to posting the 2006 SA Tour Diaries, this introduction will provide a SA vintage comparison and latest update. It will also cover some of our major findings, both good and bad, as well as our overall impressions. Its a great way to set the scene and can be found here.
Is it Duck, Turkey or Chicken? (20 September)
Most reasonable people would assume that the majority of professional judges would see many similar attributes when they are judging a particular wine. In the case of wine shows, when a wine receives a medal, the three judges involved have awarded an aggregate score that merits the medal but the public has no idea about the attributes of the wine, however there is one wine competition where the skirts are lifted and consumers get to see what normally remains well hidden. The competition is the Sydney International Wine Show which not only awards medals, but posts the tasting notes made by the individual judges too. Choosing eight wines at random and comparing the tasting notes and judges throughs, shows how even professionals can see wines so differently; it's a real eye opener. The story can be found here.
The (Australian) Wine Emperor Is Dead - Long Live the Doctor
(6 September)Things are never stable for long in the today's wine world. Brands come and brands go; wine styles change, prices go up and down in less time than it takes for a politician to break an election promise, and much of the market is dictated by ever changing, fashion like trends. Robert Parker has been dubbed "The Emperor of Wine," and as the worlds most powerful wine critic, has had a tremendous influence on Australian wine sales in the all important US market place since the release of the 1998 vintage. But that influence is about to be no more. Two staff writers on the Wine Advocate staff are leaving and new guns have been hired to take their place, which has resulted in a change of responsibilities and areas of coverage. Read all about what this means for Australian wine here.
What’s it All Mean? (30 August)
Almost everyday I receive emails from wine merchants offering all sorts of deals; you know the sort of thing.... Mount River Hill 2002 Premium Reserve Old Trellis Wombat Kangaroo Wallaby Shiraz Cabernet Grenache Viognier from a single vineyard and reduced from $102.79 to a members only price of $27.83; and its from the vintage of the decade, received 94 points from Fredrick J. Bloggs Esq. (the renowned Sommelier at the Greezy Spoon Epicure Diner in downtown Dry Gulch North Dakota) and has won a Platinum Trophy in class 4971at the Murmansk International Borsht and Sturgeon Agricultural Show which makes it the very bestest wine in the whole damn wide world. This article will explain in short, direct language what retailers claims actually mean - or don't as the case may be.
An Eminent US Journalist's View of Australia
(22 August)
Dan Berger, one of the US's most respected wine critics recently
addressed the NSW Wine Press Club. The comments on his topic, “The
quality or the critter? Australian wines and the American palate” were
dubbed as "provocative” by the Press Club, and whilst a little of what he said
(in my opinion) was flat out improbable or wrong, I must be controversial too,
as I agree with most of Dans comments. Possibly they were deemed provocative
because they went against the establishment's line, but that doesn't mean much
of what Dan said is not in the best interests of premium producers, even if it
causes the local press indigestion. This article examines the main points made
and my take on them.
Damned if You Do - Screwed if You Don't (16 August)
In the article which presented an overview of my visit to Plonk Oz 2006, I made mention of the number of red wines I found that had reductive characters. My email mate Murray in NZ, pointed me in the direction of an expert in the field, Alan Limmer of the Stonecroft Winery. Alan was kind enough to throw some brilliant light onto the subject, and his simple explanation and comments will be valuable to all wine lovers. It started off as being a small amount of feedback and due to Alan's continued input, it is now a fully blown article and a good one too (most of it is his content.) It explores why wine under screwcaps can be stinky and exposes a major myth about the whole process; one that all winemakers who are considering using screwcaps should know about. The article can be found here.
Desperado and Drugs of Addiction (2 August)
When Brian edited this story, he sent back an insightful comment about it, "Interesting and slightly depressing stuff." Now I know that people don't want to read depressing stuff, so there is a bit of humour thrown in too, but the message contained in this story is deadly serious. The story starts off with an Australian producers struggle to find a good US importer to handle his wine and then, thanks to a soul bearing confession from Mike Opdahl, a very well-respected US importer, it details chapter and verse why it is so hard to find one. More importantly, Mike provides a rare insiders perspective to the problems facing Australian wineries that want to crack the US market, and tells why some have been successful and why many will fail. Its powerful stuff and can be found here.
Trouble at the Top End – Consumer Perspective
(26 July)
When I wrote Trouble at the Top End it generated a large amount of feedback from within the retail industry, but there was another side to the story that needed to be explored. I wanted to get the US consumers' perspective and find out their feelings as to why Australian wines were no longer "flavour of the month," so I asked the good folk on the WCWN Forum. Their response was enlightening and has lead to this article, which can be found here.
Wine Australia 2006 - Overview (20 July)
Its over for another two years but this event was the most successful since Melbourne in 2000, if not the most successful ever. This overview will give you an idea of the magnitude of the event, what we got up and what's to follow in the full story. It can be found here.
Open Mouth and Extract Foot (19 July)
Imagine your surprise; you have a wine blog, write up some tasting notes months ago and then out of the blue, receive a one sentence email threatening unspecified legal action unless you remove them from your site. That's exactly what happened to Cam Wheeler from Appellation Australia, needless to say Cam was shocked and asked a number of people for advice. This article tells the whole story; it contains the content of an exchange of emails between Cam and the winery, it names the winery and naturally contains my no holds barred commentary. It can be found here.
An Industry Fractured (12 July)
In some ways the more things change the more they stay the same. The Australian wine industry has been through a number of boom, bust, boom cycles only this time, the industry is far bigger and affects many more people. Foster's now controls about 30% of the industry whilst the top dozen companies are producing about 85% of Australia's wine production. Over 50% of wine sold in Australia is bag-in-a-box, and 80% of all bottled wine sells for less than $15 a bottle; this has resulted in a industry that has been fractured into two groups with different requirements. The first group are the players chasing volume production in a global market place, whilst the second are trying to capture the limited number of premium buyers. Whilst
this article stands on its own, it will lead to a second article, although that will be some weeks away.
Foster's to Unload a Crown Jewel (5 July)
Many wine lovers outside of Australia may never have heard of "Seppeltsfield;" the winery is responsible for the biggest and best range of fortified wines in Australia and is steeped in over 150 years of rich history, and a cellar full of aged material that is even richer; indeed it is irreplaceable. By Fosters own admission, Seppeltsfield is not just the jewel in the Barossa's crown, it is possibly "the jewel in the Australian wine crown" so why do Foster's want to unload it and what is likely to happen to this iconic winery. To get the "good oil" I spoke to Matt Schmidt, Corporate Affairs Manager of Foster’s Wine Estates, to find out all about it. The story can be found here.
It Was Entirely Predictable
(28 June)
You didn't need to be a rocket scientists to see the grape glut coming; Australia has had a number of boom and bust vine cycles in the past and this one was undoubtedly the most predictable, so how did it happen; why have so many been caught out and more importantly, what will happen over the next few years to rectify the situation? These questions and more are answered in this article.
Opportunity Lost - The Mind Boggles
(21June)
My thanks to the readers who provided both the idea and background for this story. Everyone knows Australia has a huge wine excess to get rid of ,and any sane person could be excused for thinking that the Australian wine industry would do all they could to take advantage of every opportunity available to sell their product, but that is simply not the case. Last month, there was a huge trade show (Vinexpo) in Hong Kong which specifically caters to the Asian market. The fact that China and India are two markets that have the greatest long term potential growth for wine consumption clearly does not interest the myopic Australian wine industry. We had virtually no presence at the show despite the fact that a huge amount of business is successfully conducted there; the Australian attendees I spoke to were stunned at our lack of interest. Read all about it here.
A Heritage Wine Investor Tells His Story
(14 June)
Trouble at the Top End (25 May)
The existence and survival of the premium end of the Australian wine industry is dependant upon success in export markets, and the US market is now probably the most critical component in that equation. The bad news is that market is starting to under perform and based on current trends, it looks like it will only get worse, leaving many premium producers with a serious stock hangover. This article, which is one of the most important I have written for some time, explores the current situation and the background reasons. It can be found here and should not be missed.
Good for Consumers but.... (18 May)
not good for producers. For the small or boutique premium producers, distribution of Australian wine is becoming an increasingly more difficult task. Locally, the dominance of the two large grocery chains is making it harder and harder to get shelf space and this article examines the problems and what some wineries are doing to find solutions.
Valuable Wine Device, Party Trick or Snake Oil? (18 May)
Over the years, a number of wine devises have been released that promised all sorts of miraculous advantages, but to the best of my knowledge none of them have lived up to the promises. The last round of new miracle devices revolved around magnetism and its ability to instantly age wine but most wine lovers found the product wanting. The newest device, called Clef du Vin claims it "allows you to enjoy today the full potential of a lay down wine, which would have otherwise waited for years." In theory, this is achieved by the device by "gradually modifying amongst other things the balance in oxidation-reduction." The Australian importer was kind enough to lend me one to put through its paces, the results can be found here.
Reporting or Advertising? (a parody) (11 May)
Glossy magazines have one objective; make money ! There are only two ways to do that, sell advertising or sell copies, and the advertising
is far more profitable than subscriptions, so publications do everything in their power to make the advertising offer as attractive as possible. Ever pick up a magazine and wonder what is advertising and what is copy? Frequently the lines are blurred, and one can only wonder how much the copy is influenced by the advertising revenue. This story looks at these wavy lines.
Land of the free, home of the brave (4 May)
The crap that people have to go through to buy a bottle of wine in the US boggles the mind. It is beyond restrictive, it is plain stupid and does not make any sense at all, but when you get a combination of puritanical attitudes and vested corrupt political interests whose primary concern is to get themselves re-elected, expecting a reasonable and sensible attitude stands no chance. Want to buy a gun? No problem; want to buy wine, now that's hard! Read about it here.
Rules
(25 April)
The French are aghast and think we are vinous pariahs because we can and do add add tartaric acid to our wine. The other side of that coin is that many in Australia think that it is sacrilegious to add sugar to wine, yet the French think that is perfectly acceptable. So how do these winemaking rules come about and who is right and who is wrong? Find out all about it here.
A Dozen Soaks (25 April)
Recently a bunch of winos from Sydney and Canberra came up to Bowral in the Southern Highland for a get together. There were 12 of us all up and what a night it turned out to be; excellent food, great wine and convivial company. What more could a person ask for. All the details can be found here.
West Australian 2006 Tour Diary Summary (February)
With past Tour Diaries it has been tradition to post a Vintage Report (which puts things in perspective) prior to the posting of Chapter One. This one breaks with tradition; although the vintages are covered as part of a bigger story. That story could be almost described as The Bigot Brothers go Myth Busting in Margaret River. When I was telling one SA winemaker a little what I was going to write about, he jokingly suggested I should be careful of fully laden semi trailers with WA number plates.
The WA and Margaret River wine associations will not like the comments, but the better quality wines will no doubt agree with them. The story can be found here.
There Is Still One Born Every Minute (23February)
I can't believe it! After the failure of two wine investment funds and massive amounts of publicity, a third company is still at it and given that this company is still operating, there are still those foolish enough to be investing in them. I didn't just file this email in the round filing cabinet in the ether, a bit of research and investigation was called for to see what this was all about and the results are interesting. You can not only drive a truck through the logic in their sales pitch, you can drive a fleet of pantechnicons in horizontal line abreast through it and not touch the sides. P.T. Barnum was indeed correct, there must be one born every minute. Read all about it here.
‘Twas a Black Day (9February)
This story was prompted by having problems with two bottles of Rockford Black Shiraz in one week; both cork related. That got the brain cells ticking and I started doing some research. Why don't more wine companies use artificial closures for sparkling wines and are artificial closers as good as cork, better than cork or worse than cork?
The answer to that question depends on who you talk to, but now that I have talked with a number of industry players, I can provide a balanced opinion. My bet is that within five years, crown seals on Australian sparkling wines will have the same acceptance as Stelvins have on white wine today. The story can be found here.
If You Think Making Wine Is Tough in the Sahara, Try Siberia (2 February)
The recent press reports have been deluged with stories about the plight facing both growers and the industry as a whole. It is no coincidence that there have been so many articles about the plight of the growers and their fights with the likes of McGuigan who have been trying to walk away from contracts, but these stories do not even begin to scratch to depth of the issue. Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics published numbers that are truly frightening and these numbers backed up earlier industry estimates that had been kindly sent to me by one member winery.
Now if you think the growers in the Riverland are complaining and have it tough, they are in relatively good shape in comparison to the premium growing areas like Barossa, Margaret River and Heathcote. The size of the problem, as revealed by the numbers in this article are truly staggering an show the perilous position that the premium growers face. This story is a must read.
They All Taste The Same (26 January)
Whilst I was wading my way through 50 of the top Shiraz from 2002 at the The 2002 Great Shiraz Taste Off
something suddenly struck me. Those Yanks that are forever using vast generalisations, and have been complaining that all our Australian wines taste the same, to some extent may actually have a point. In this Shiraz line up two things stood out like dogs bollocks; firstly the oak treatment was very similar in many of the wines; far to many of them exhibited overt coffee fragrances from the toast level. Secondly, far to many of them were dominated by blackberry flavours; the winemakers are still pushing the ripeness envelope. What the heck has happened to plums and other flavours that are not in the black spectrum? The sameness was not a good look and our winemakers need to wake up to this problem. This article examines the causes and reasons behind this gradual movement to "sameness" - and its not a good look!
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2006