All About Wine And Its Goodness!

Woodend and Kyneton, which are located an hour North-West of Melbourne, have a Northern European feel. Perhaps it is the crisp bite of a cool Spring day, the historical streetscapes or even the patches of greenery from recent Winter rains but this is a very unique and beautiful landscape; not just in geography but also the climate that envelops it.

Unsurprisingly within this cool environment, which encompasses a multitude of hills and valleys, are pockets of vineyards that are creating exquisite, modern styles of Australian wine. Despite the potential and some brilliant wines the Macedon remains surprisingly unknown to many.

There is a lack of any one strong brand driving the region’s fortunes. No big company would even consider large-scale plantings here – the challenges are just too large and the yields too low. But for those vignerons that identify the right site and then put their heart and soul into grafting a quality product, there are tremendous rewards. To date, the best known wines of the Macedon have been the local pinot noirs and chardonnays from the likes of Curly Flat and Bindi, with others such as Lanes End and Paramoor also showing promise. And there is still an Aladdin’s cave of potential sites yet to be explored; it seems more than likely that the quality of product in the Macedon is destined to go from strength to strength over the next decade or two.

Recently at the Macedon Show I was again reminded that, while pinot noir and chardonnay have driven the region’s fortunes to date, the region also has a knack of consistently turning out some of Australia’s greatest Sparkling wines. In the old days that may not have meant so much but from cool mainland regions, today lead by the Macedon, as well as Tasmania, more and more locally produced wines are really challenging the quality of fine French Champagne. The Macedon instils in its best wines a delicacy and purity of acidity that is remarkably reminiscent of fine French bubbly. It’s no surprise in that vineyards in both the Macedon and Champagne are some of the coolest. The resulting wines their much-praised elegance while keeping intact a rigid core of acidity.

At the 2009 Macedon show, two sparkling wines, stood out, and both from the same producer. The first was the Mount William Blanc de Blanc from 2001, a sparkling chardonnay that is still remarkably fresh and alive. And the second is the Mount William ‘Jorja Alexis’ Pinot Noir Rosé from 2003, a very pretty and subtle wine with multiple layers of red berry fruit with subtle earthy nuances in a supremely balanced and silky package.

There are few if any Australian wine regions that can quite match the majestic beauty and splendour of Western Australia’s Margaret River. The pristine white beaches that stretch up and down the coast. Behind the sand dunes lie rolling hills punctuated by the occasional outcrop of beautiful forest. This is a place that draws people from all over, the mix of natural beauty, attractions and the enviable lifestyle.

But the sailing in Margaret River has not always been so calm. In the mid 1960’s when the first ideas were floated of grapes being grown here, the area was in a serious slump. The once popular timber industry had almost disappeared and the locals were looking for something to help bring them out of the economic depression they had fallen in to. Then along came Dr John Gladstones, whom reckoned that Margaret River might be a special place to grow grapes. Soon plantings began and the area would be changed forever.

First Tom Cullity at Vasse Felix, then Di and Kevin Cullen at Cullen and finally Bill Pannell at Moss Wood put experimental vineyards in the ground, wines from which quickly showcased the areas potential. The Margaret River now has over 120 producers and is one of our greatest Australian fine wine areas. Local names such as Moss Wood, Cullen and Leeuwin Estate sit comfortably among the greatest Australian producers. Their wines are highly sought after both locally and internationally.

One of the region’s most enduring qualities is the vitality of the local people. There is a great belief in what Margaret River has to offer. The winemakers aspire to not only make wines that match up to the best from Australia but stand up as great wines of the world. You can see it in the eyes of producers. Keith Mugford from Moss Wood, Mike Peterkin of Pierro and Vanya Cullen of Cullen. There is a great self-assuredness that never stretches towards arrogance. And they back it up with brilliance in a bottle.

In terms of quality, while the old firm of Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix, Cullen, Cape Mentelle, Howard Park and Pierro still are generally responsible for the region’s greatest wines, underneath there is a growing band of producers knocking on the door. Woodlands and the revitalised Xanadu immediately come to mind as two wineries with great potential but probably the most exciting of such ventures, and one that is quickly rising to be among Margaret River’s best, is Voyager Estate.

The original vines of what is now called Voyager Estate were first planted in 1978, under the name of Freycinet Estate. These vineyards, in 1991, were bought and significantly expanded on.. This was a masterstroke because the area has since become known as ‘Golden triangle of Chardonnay’.
When in Margaret River, it is impossible to miss Voyager Estate. South of the township and closely located to Leeuwin Estate, it is marked by a huge flagpole as well as the large Cape Dutch style building which sits amongst magnificent grounds. While the built environment is stylish, it is what’s in the local vineyards and winery that impresses most of all. What is patently clear here is that in all facets of the Voyager Estate operation everything is done to perfection. And no one better exemplifies this than winemaker Cliff Royle

I first met Cliff before a tasting of some barrels that would end up in his Cabernet Merlot blend from the highly acclaimed 2007 vintage, and he was a little nervous. Not because he didn’t believe in the wines rather it was more like a father for his child – he wasn’t quite ready to let his wines out into the big, wide world in case they didn’t put their best foot forward, as young wines often do. Well he needn’t have worried because they were absolutely superb. The 2007 vintage won’t be released for a few years.

The current releases from Voyager Estate include three absolute knockouts. The first is their renowned Chardonnay from the icy Margaret River vintage of 2006. While reds have been hard for some in 2006, the whites are superb with intense fruit and acidity. The Voyager Chardonnay 2006 ($35) has powerful white peach and citrus fruit on a taut and youthful palate with a little creamy leesy complexity and brilliant length. It is one of the greatest 2006 Margaret River Chardonnays. From the current lineup, my pick is the 2005 Shiraz ($35). The Margaret River, not normally known for producing standout Shiraz, but this is a wonderful example of dense cool climate Shiraz with clove and blackberry fruit lifted by hints of violets and licorice. In the mouth there is such a youthful feel and plenty of vitality that it will only get better over the next decade. Best known of the wines from Voyager Estate is their Cabernet Merlot ($60), with the 2004 release one of their best to date. This wine is built for the long term with gravelly cassis and blackberry fruit rounded out nicely with subtle notes of olive and oak. In the mouth there is a burst of fruit that is currently bound up in its significant structure. In ten to fifteen years it will be a wonderful drop too drink.

In the past you could expect to see people drinking wines at family dinners, special occasion, weddings and other types of events. Wine was seen as a privileged beverage, reserved for the well-off, who were imagined to be familiar with all the intricacies of wine tasting. This has now completely changed and these days in various places around the world you can see many people enjoying wine at wine bars.

Unlike the wine bars of yesteryear where the wine server (like a bartender) would look like his was the only opinion on wines that mattered, today it is the customers who make the choice of what they want to drink. There is still plenty of room for lower priced wines, but a growing number of people are ready and willing to pay more for better quality wine.

Wine bar patrons tend to be in their 20s to mid-30s. These people are now more informed about the various wines that you can drink and the way that these wines are supposed to taste. In addition these people are not afraid to drink new varieties of wine. This does not mean that they will just drink any type of wine. Wine presented to savvy wine bar patrons must not only be affordable, but must also look palatable.

These new wine connoisseurs have been educating themselves on how to taste a fine wine. They may not be experts, but they are far more knowledgeable than the average wine consumer used to be. This means that the patrons of wine bars will look to see if their wine is a good color and they will sniff the wine to get the first impression of the wine. Most wine bar patrons won’t claim to be experts, but most can tell a Chardonnay from a Riesling.

To cater for these discerning wine lovers wine bars have revamped their look and they now sport a good selection of wines from various countries that produce good quality wines. You will be able to find expensive wines alongside inexpensive but still good quality wines. There will be a selection of red wines and white wines, sparkling wines and sweet wines. In short you can expect to see many known and new varieties of wines at these wine bars.

A natural extension of the increase in popularity of wine bars has been that people want to take that experience home with them. This means that more or less average people are now beginning to collect and store wine in ways that used to be the exclusive purview of professional establishments or “connoisseurs” or professional collectors. It doesn’t take long to amass a few dozen to a hundred bottles or more. And this can lead to a difficulty: how do you store and display a collection of that size in the limited space available in most houses and apartments.

Fortunately, the Danby DWC166BLSRH, a 166-bottle dual zone executive wine cellar offers the perfect solution for the aficionado with a mid-sized collection of wines that need to be cared for. This unit features dual temperature zones, independently regulated, which is ideal if you need to store both red and white wines at their individual perfect temperatures. The cherry-wood stained shelving system glides out effortlessly, without distubing the wine, offering easy access to any bottle in the unit. The DWC166BLSRH features “Cool Blue” LED track lighting that illuminates the interior without generating the wine-damaging heat that standard bulbs put out. Both the shelves and the tinted tempered glass door (which can be locked) are trimmed in stainless steel, complementing any kitchen decor.

So while it looks like the trend toward increasing popularity of wine bars will not go away any time soon, those who enjoy wine bars now have options for taking the wine bar experience home with them with the Danby DWC166BLSRH.