A Winemaker Gives His Perspective

©Andrew Sutherland-Smith Warrabilla Wines

Ric,

I see you put a link to Ben Canaider's article up on your site.

I left a message for him to put the other side of the coin to him.
I'm still waiting by the phone for it to ring. Perhaps winemakers egos aren't the only ones who dislike being challenged?.

Lets start by looking beyond the so called Parker factor but put Parker aside for the moment and look at the issue from a side on perspective.
 

Have big reds with lots of colour alcohol and tannin (which is what Ben and his ilk seem to really hate) been made in Australia before, or is this something new and evil?
Of course they were made previously (even as long ago as the 1860's if you bother to have a look). These are a traditional Aussie style, from places like McLaren Vale, Barossa, Rutherglen and even Bendigo. So much so that in the 1860's French wine judges accused Aussie winemakers of being shonky and adding alcohol to dry red wines to bump them up. It caused a bit a scandal, but eventually the French were satisfied.

Now to go back to basics.
Why would anyone in his right mind want to make intense, ripe ,black alcoholic wines?
The only way I know how is to have low yielding vines, on good dirt, in dry warm climates, risk sunburn, risk bad weather by leaving them late, risk stuck ferments and all the horrible stuff that goes with that... and generally make life pretty difficult, if not down right uneconomic for yourself.

Why would you do it?
Cos they taste good!

Red grapes go through 3 phases:
Green phase: herbaceous tones, capsicum, olive, even cabbage. Tannins are hard, green and metallic.
Red phase: red berries, red cherries , sweet perfumed characters. Tannins are softer but still pronounced.
Black Phase: dark berries (blackberry) dark cherries, chocolate, tar, liquorice etc. Tannins are very soft and rounded.

I'm heading to the dark side with a combination of red and black fruit characters.
I hate green tones. These days I'm even drinking my Sauvignon Blancs riper.

If you can't get past the alcohol thing you miss the point that there are a whole heap of flavours that you can only get by picking ripe fruit.

Are these flavours bad, or awful as Ben would suggest. Nope! Just different!

There's no question that Shiraz can dry out on the vine. Roughly speaking, the berry stem fails 100 days after flowering and from then on, it goes baggy, desiccates, concentrates, goes flaccid; call it what you will. You can lose freshness after that time; there is no question about that.

Can you get it pretty damned ripe prior to that? You betcha!
Can you retain freshness vibrancy etc with just a little shrivel? Absolutely!

Various consultants have made a small fortune suggesting cooler climate areas for their clients. The wine sales from some of these areas are not what they thought they would be; sad but true. It must be the fault of the market! Its all your fault!

This can made worse by overcropping (which is a site dependant thing anyway). Many winemakers think they can grow 10t/Ha and make great wines. You can, but only in the right spot!

If your struggling to get things ripe, carry less fruit; its that simple. It might be harder to do in higher rainfall areas; but that's life baby!

As far as adding water over summer; well if you have to do it there is nothing wrong with the practice in moderation.

I'd rather drink a Sauvignon Blanc if its too hot (or even a glass of water!) People don't have to to drink big reds all the time.

As the maker of what Ben would say are some of the country's most awful wines, I only have one final comment. The only thing worse than a green gutless wine is a green gutless wine writer!
 

Cheers
Smithy