AceHighWine

After last year’s awesome Second Generation Winemakers (SGW) tasting, I was anxiously anticipating last Thursday’s tasting - and after shutting down my computer after a particularly shithouse day, the prospect of a glass of Picardy chardonnay or Kosovich liqueur muscat was more attractive than a five-day long weekend.

The Story So Far (in keeping with the finest traditions of the Phantom… though if the Ghost who walks crushed grapes rather than roughnecks’ heads, he’d probably be eligible for acceptance into the SGW fold): the SGW is a West Australian collective of wineries where siblings are following in the winemaking footsteps left by their parents. The magnificent seven showing wines at this tasting were Picardy, Edwards, John Kosovich, Frankland Estate, Lenton Brae, Paul Conti and Wignalls. Joining them were various gourmet food producers including Olio Bello, Cambray Sheep Cheeses, Holy Smoke and Perth’s King of Oysters, Jerry Fraser.

Try as I might, I couldn’t get around to everyone at the tasting so I can only offer some brief impressions of some of the wines tasted. As usual, the 2007 Lenton Brae SSB looked excellent, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the immense drinkability of the 2006 cab merlot: the addition of a small portion of 2007 shiraz to the final blend really helped at same richness to the palate. The cellar-door only 2007 No Way Rose also looked smart.

A brief pullover at the Wignalls stand was next on the itinerary to check out the ‘06 pinot from Albany. While this will be of little interest to Burg-hounds, the wine’s red berry fruit, suppleness and fine, grainy tannins made for a very tidy tipple from one of the Great Southern region’s pinot pioneers.

We then went south physically and geographically and moved to the downstairs tasting area, our first stop being Frankland Estate. While the hot, short and sharp vintage conditions of 2007 weren’t too favourable for riesling - a fact reflected in the lack of riesling trophies awarded at this year’s Mt Barker show - I’ve enjoyed a lot of the recent riesling releases, so was keen to have a look at Frankland Estate’s Isolation Ridge. Full of the region’s talcummy acid and citrus florals, the ‘07 was a delicious drink minus the booming acidity of previous releases. The current release of the winery’s flagship Olmo’s Reward 2004 was juicy and fine, but the real discovery was the release of a new red, the Smith Cullam 2005, Frankland Estate’s interpretation of the classic Aussie “claret” blend of shiraz cabernet: aromas of crushed blackberries and violets, powdery yet grippy tannins help deliver a mouthful of vibrant, punchy ripe fruit, but this is no haymaker - more like a controlled one-two jab-cross combo. Juicy, succulent, tightly structured, fine and long. A winner.

Next door to Frankland Estate (at the tasting, not in real life) were the Kosovichs of the Swan Valley who always seemed to have a crowd tasting their gear, but somehow managed to pin down Arch for a yarn and taste. An ‘06 pinot from the family’s southern holdings looked the goods and pleasantly varietal with even a hint of stalkiness with the restrained cherry fruit. Similarly, the ‘06 cabernet was also drinking awesome - being a warm region, the Valley didn’t suffer the same problems as the state’s more southerly producers during last year’s late vintage, as reflected in the deliciously gulpable mouthful of ripe blackcurrants and berries. Of course, being the weak soul that I am, I couldn’t not have a glass of the deliciously nutty and supple liqueur muscat and with that, the tasting was brought to an impromptu end - the fortified is such a ball of flavour that to try and taste table wine after a sip would have been taking the piss in a big way.

Sadly we didn’t get around to tasting the wares of Edwards, Paul Conti or Picardy (though we did get to their last tasting about a month earlier and its safe to say the Pannells are still on point like a needle), but such is life when you need to be elsewhere in an evening. Still, I guess that means they’ll be on top of the to-taste list next year - and we WILL be back in 08, and the year after, and then the year after that…

A good chunk of today was spent in the wonderful Swan Valley as part of a belated work “Spring in the Valley” do, thankfully minus the crowds and the debauchery when 80-odd-zillion people decide to spend two days pissing it up in their backyard wine region.

Obviously the expectations of a wine “tasting” trip like this are markedly differently to those I normally like to arrange when tasting, but after being on the receiving end of one of the most ghastly cellar door experiences my friends and I had the misfortune of being sober for, it was impossible to pass this off as anything but just shite. Pure shite.

The picture above is a dusk-time snap I took of Lamont’s in the Swan Valley about a month back. There’s a reason we keep going there, and it’s not just because Digby the winemaker is sex warmed up. Lamont’s is a fantastic venue with great service approaching the quality of its food and wine. The Lamont sisters who opened and run the joint are still very much hands-on owners and get involved in the day-to-day running of the restaurant with Kate regularly finding time in her unfathomably busy schedule to cook in the restaurant that started it all. Even today, our group was fortunate enough to have Fiona Lamont take us through the range of wines being tasted. (And while it’s not important in the context of the story, the wines were bloody good).

Suffice to say, Lamont’s is one of those cellar doors one does their darnedest to try to squeeze into any Swan Valley itinerary.

Lamont’s is not - I stress, NOT - home of the crappy cellar door experience.

Now compare this to the first cellar door we visited as part of the day. I’m not going to name names (if anyone really wants to know, email me and I’ll tell you) but if you’re familiar with the Valley or have visited recently, you can probably guess where I’m talking about. Without doubt, the swish and very modern “Cellar Door X” is the public face of one of the state and region’s biggest producers and a regular for tour buses. Our 40-odd person group was met by a guide who obviously had plenty of experience with larger group sizes and did an excellent job explaining and pouring the six wines chosen for the tasting.

After finishing those, we decided to try some of the other stuff and inquired about the “premium” wine flights where for the price of a crisp tenner, you got four pours of “premium” wine that you chose off a list. We paid our money and then made our selections. Our host behind the counter proceeded to grab some nice stemware and arrange to pour the wines in order from light to heavy.

Now call me old-fashioned, but when you pay for a “premium” tasting, I think it’s fair to expect some “premium” service - which of course begs the question, what sort of premium service? Shoe buffing? An elephant ride around the estate in a jewel-encrusted howdah? Nine virgins in Nirvana? While all of these would indeed fall under the banner of “premium” (particularly the elephant ride), we would have been satisfied with something far more attainable: perhaps just having someone tell us about the wines.

But then again, I suppose someone opening a folder and pointing to A4 sheets slipped into plastic inserts and walking away could be considered a “premium” service… just like how getting a picture of a naked girl SMS’d to your phone for $5.95 is also a “premium” service.

Now before the #$@%head devil’s advocate brigade starts excitedly warming up its arguing fingers for its sure-to-be painstakingly tedious retorts, the prosecution will concede the following:

1) We arrived at “Cellar Door X” as part of a group, and I understand there is a certain stigma attached to those that come to a winery on a big bus. However, it was before 11am in the morning and we were not drunk, though I will concede - I do not look rich or like George Clooney and bright yellow Donkey Kong t-shirts probably do little for first impressions, however, I think most people would agree I looked semi-presentable.

2) Just because we want to fork out money to taste “premium” wines, it doesn’t mean we’re snobs and expect a fuss to be made about us. But it stands to reason that consumers actively inquiring about “premium” wine make for excellent sales prospects, so efforts should be made to engage them. When the “service” you get tasting these wines falls well below what the entire group received earlier, one wonders exactly where that money goes.

3) While many people approach wine tasting as a cheap way to get pissed and this is a constant headache for wineries, we tried to make it obvious we were there to taste wine with a view to purchasing good stuff.

4) Much of what is wrong with the world can be attributed to the PC Brigade.

5) Crap cellar door staff exist everywhere and this isn’t the first - nor will it be the last - time someone cops a raw deal trying to buy wine. But just because it’s not an isolated case doesn’t mean people should have to accept it because “that’s the way it is”.

As our credit card statements will attest to, we did end up buying wine at “Cellar Door X” and were pretty pleased with our purchase but just amazed at how shit the experience was. I suppose if we felt that strongly about it, we wouldn’t have bought any wine, but didn’t want to deny ourselves good aged fortified wine because of lack of staff training or empathy. Thankfully we also bought some wine from Lamont’s too and believe me, it was far more satisfying handing over our money at Lamont’s than it was earlier in the day.

None the less, we certainly won’t be singing the praises of the aforementioned Cellar Door X.

A lesson to wineries: it’s a sad truth that no matter how good your wine is, if your retail presence is bad, you’re likely to have a hard time moving cases. Cellar door forms a big part of any vigneron’s retail presence and brand awareness: why put a vintage’s worth of hard work and effort into the careless hands and bored gum-chewing maw of someone that doesn’t want to be there?

I can’t think of too many wine shows where plastic figures of Simpsons stalwarts Mr Burns and Comic Store Guy are perched conspicuously on the speaker’s mantle.

But just because the Swan Valley vignerons have a sense of humour, don’t think for a second that they don’t make serious wine - far from it. It’s just the region’s laidback and completely unpretentious spirit manifesting itself and ensuring that the Valley never wanders from its current place of residence which is close to my heart.

Just as in previous years, many of the same names were announced during official proceedings at the 2007 award dinner (though unlike previous years, the party has moved from The Vines to the excellent and almost-magical Caversham House where staff set new standards for function and event quality of service) but there were a couple of new additions to the winners list.

During his address to the dinner guests, chief judge and local legend Dorham Mann stressed many of the same points the valley vignerons had heard before, but packaged in a succinct and easily digestible format.

“We can all be proud of what’s coming out of this region,” he surmised at the end of his address and understandably so, says I. While the region’s strengths are still its shiraz (37 wines out of a total entry list of 270 were entered into the show’s shiraz class) and verdelho, I feel there’s a lot more diversity in the wine being made by the area’s vignerons. Those classic sunshine in a bottle characters are still there and while I love them dearly, it’s also nice to have some slightly softer and more understated wine styles being made in the Valley. There was not a bad wine among the line up tasted at the tasting before the dinner officially started and I was particularly impressed with the depth of the verdelho collection that had been assembled.

Touching on the winners list, congratulations to Laura and Derek at Upper Reach for their good showing. For a while, Upper Reach shiraz has enjoyed a somewhat cult-ish status for its amazing approachability and finally this year, the Pearse’s efforts had been recognised with their 2006 offering being named as best shiraz and best table wine made from Swan Valley fruit.

Reflecting the region’s down-to-earthness, an award was also presented for the best value for money which was won by Moondah Brook for its ‘07 chenin blanc - another grape that traditionally has always fared well in the Valley.

In what has boiled down to a good-natured two horse race between the Talijancich and Kosovich clans (with a field of some very fine runners mind you) over the last few shows, this year’s gong for best fortified was won by Talijancich for the Julian James Reserve Muscat NV. The wine was also named as wine of the show, further reinforcing the Valley’s belief in fortifieds as one of its real strengths.

The team at Sitella also had a good night, first with its ‘06 Margaret River cabernet getting up for a win while the company as a whole was named as best exhibitor of table wines and best overall exhibitor at the show.

The Swan Valley is my fave West Australian wine region, not least because of its close proximity to the city, but because it’s wines are great and it’s people even better. It’s a shame that the festivities of the annual Spring in the Valley are the only chance people get to experience the wonders of Perth’s “Valley of Taste”, but then again, it’s better to have people visiting the region than not.

Fingers crossed local vignerons get a few return visits from all those buses zipping up and down Reid and Great Eastern highways this October. www.swanvalley.com.au

Best Verdelho
Sponsored By SVRWA
Neilson Estate Wines Verdelho 2007

Best Dry White Table Wine (grown outside Greater Perth Zone)
Sponsored By Labelworld (WA) Pty Ltd
Sandalford Wines Estate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2007

Best Shiraz
Sponsored By SVRWA
Upper Reach Shiraz 2006

Best Dry Red Table Wine (grown outside Greater Perth Zone)
Sponsored By SVRWA
Sittella Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Best Swan Valley GI Table Wine
Sponsored by Midland Brick
Upper Reach Shiraz 2006

Best Value for Money Wine
Sponsored By Alcan Packaging Capsules of Australia
Houghton Wine Co Moondah Chenin Blanc 2007

Best Museum Wine
Sponsored by SVRWA
Houghton Wine Co Museum Release Verdelho 1998

Best Dry White Table Wine
Sponsored By Australia Post
Western Range Julimar LR Chardonnay 2006

Best Dry Red Table Wine
Sponsored By Cospak O/I
Upper Reach Shiraz 2006

Best Fortified Wine
Sponsored by SWAT Winery & Vineyard Supplies
Talijancich Wines Julian James Reserve Muscat NV

Best Wine of Show
Sponsored by City of Swan
Talijancich Wines Julian James Reserve Muscat NV

Most Successful Exhibitor of Table Wines
Sponsored by Laffort Oenologie Australia
Sittella Wines

Most Successful Exhibitor
Sponsored by Midland Redevelopment Authority
Sittella Wines

While Spring in the Valley holds special memories (or perhaps a lack there of) for most West Australians, October isn’t the only time Perth’s Swan Valley comes alive in a celebration of food and wine. Indeed, gastronomy is a science and art that the Valley’s residents practice 365 days a year. And in the spirit of hospitality and graciousness that is refreshingly all-too-common in the Valley, the rest of Perth is invited to the Swan Valley Mid Summer Feast to experience the valley’s unique, charming way of life.

Between February 16 and 18, 22 Swan Valley venues will be celebrating everything great about summer in the Valley including the wine grape harvest. And to break up the gluttony of all that food and wine, there’ll be live theatre on offer to engage all the body’s senses, not just taste and smell!

But the food, oh the food: from the suckling pig feast hosted by the amicable Pearses of Upper Reach to a semillon and sauvignon blanc master class with the (seemingly) gastronomically omniscient Kate Lamont, the program of this year’s Swan Valley Mid Summer Feast provides the perfect opportunity to establish new friendships or reacquaint yourself with old ones.

And guys – should you do the unthinkable and forget Valentine’s – there are more than enough romantic alternatives on offer to have the love of your life swooning in your arms, enthralled in both you and your surrounds. But why should you sound surprised? This is Perth’s Swan Valley after all.

I’m a massive fan of the valley and think it’s borderline criminal that people will willingly travel three hours to Margaret River yet neglect all this goodness that is virtually on their doorstep. Here’s the deal though: download the program by clicking the link below and experience the gastronomical delights of the Swan Valley sans the crowds and busloads and all will be forgiven.

And to all the crew in Perth, drop us a line or give us a buzz if you’re going to the Valley for this and we can hook up somewhere.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 2007 SWAN VALLEY MID SUMMER FEAST PROGRAM

A bit of a secret among locals, the Swan Valley’s Upper Reach is a family-owned boutique winery that has built its reputation upon some outstanding shiraz and chardonnay releases. In the past, big fruit has been a hallmark of this wine both on the nose and in the mouth, but the ‘05 features a softer, more complex palate where overt flavour has been sacrificed for texture and mouthfeel. Biscuit and toast aromas on the nose morph into a tightly structured and elegant palate where apple, citrus and stone fruit flavours wash over one another as well as some subtle toasty oak. The finish is juicy, long and tip toes slowly across the palate before quietly fading away. In my mind, this is the finest wine that winemaker Derek Pearce has ever put his name to. www.upperreach.com.au

If your travels take you to the excting Swan Valley in Perth, Riverbank is one producer you need to check out. As well as producing some smart wine, Riverbank is also home to a great restaurant where head chef Louisa Iacoppeta is given space to stretch her legs and do something really special with the produce on offer. The Swan Valley winery is also a venue for the Wine Industry of WA’s winetasting eight-week primary wine tasting courses - if only all classrooms were this easy to show up to. Now, moving onto the wine, which is perhaps my favourite drop in the Riverbank portfolio. A testament to the virtues of DIY winemaking, the Riverbank Chardonnay Brut is made in the traditional methode champenoise by Robert Bond using estate-grown chardonnay and he riddles and disgorges all the wine himself. Phrenetic fizz and uber-bubbly bubbles make for a vibrant, refreshing sparkling driven by apple and yeast flavours. Perfect as an aperitif or accompaniment to Riverbank’s sumptuous tasting plate. Available only at cellar door and one of the many reasons why you should pay the property a visit. www.riverbankestate.com.au