Nigel Tollerman

One question I’m asked all the time is “is wine good for you?” The simple answer is “yes”, with obvious caveats attached.

Wine and Health – Some Historical Background

Wine and its benefits have over 450 mentions in the Bible. Earlier references go as far back as Ancient Egypt and the Sumerians. Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) was one of its more interesting earlier advocates. He described it as “a thing marvelously suited to man if, in health as in sickness, it is administered in accordance with the individual constitution”. He recommended white wine as cure for edema, as well as claiming a beneficial effect on the stomach. Pliny in “Natural History” talks of the medicinal effects of the vine. “Wine in itself is a remedy ; it nourishes the blood of man”. He saw wine as an antidote to poison. This included snake bites and treating the after-effects of poisonous mushrooms. Cornelius Celsus documented Roman medicine in detail in the early first century AD, and recommended wine to complement diets drawn up to combat anaemia. The Roman physician Galen, over a century later, discovered more benefits. Wine appeared to be the most effective way of disinfecting the wounds of gladiators.

Now we can fast forward to the middle ages. Land-owning Burgundy monasteries such as Cluny and Citeaux produced wine to celebrate Mass. Vinestock symbolized resurrection through renewing its greenery each year. The wine itself equated to the blood of Christ. Inspired, they went on to develop winemaking techniques, and the wine developed commercial value. Saint Benedict of Aniane (his order owned Cluny) recommended wine drinking with meals. One “hemin” or ¼ litre was the suggested dose. The aim, roughly translated, was to keep the monks “in top form”.

We now move onto the renaissance period. The illustrious medical school of Salerno near Naples claimed it rejuvenated the aged. The renowned Dutch Humanist Erasmus drunk Beaune wine to shake up his digestion. Ambroise Paré, surgeon to the French court in the late 16th Century, applied red wine to wounds of soldiers. Médoc wines were already thought to have antibiotic properties. The Pharmacopoeia of 1677 recommended a mixture of oil and wine to clean wounds. Later publications recommended wholly wine based cures. These generally included maceration of medicinal plants corresponding to different ailments. Louis XIV’s physician advised him to replace Burgundy with Champagne to treat gout. At the end of his life, Louis, suffering from a gangrenous infection, was bathed in wine-based infusions. Unsurprisingly this didn’t save him and he soon passed away.

Come the 19th Century, Pasteur wrote a book “Etudes sur le Vin” in which he approved of wine’s cleansing properties. In 1959, the Bordeaux professor Masquelier confirmed the antibiotic properties of red wine and its effect on arteriosclerosis.

Wine, Digestion and Metabolism

In the Bible, Saint Paul gives this sage advice to one of his disciples. “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses”. His logic was sound. Swallowing 60 to 100 grams of wine results in the body secreting 100 to 120 grams of liquid containing around 1g of free hydrochloric acid. This state of acidity helps in the assimilation of proteins. Wine also supplies B-complex vitamins including riboflavin and pantothenic acid, which assist in metabolising proteins and carbohydrates. For sufferers of heartburn, wines chosen should be relatively low in acidity and rich in calcium. Anjou or Saumurois are suggestions of the Frenchman Dr. E. Maury in his 1989 publication “The Medicinal Benefits of Wine Drinking”. He says Medoc wines help give the stomach wall increased elasticity and aid digestion. This is through their richness in iron, phosphates and tannin. Sweet white wines can also assist in digestion through increasing the volume of bile secretion from the gall bladder.

Some of Maury’s findings are more debatable. He divides people into four temperamental categories. One can be Sanguine [air], Nervous [earth], Bilious [fire] or Lymphatic [water]. He recommends corresponding wines for each character type. He also recommends no more than one litre of wine (10% strength) a day for men, and half of that for women. He also dislikes tap water to an amusing degree. Drinking it with a meal is “an unfortunate error in taste and a grave dietary error, as it is one of the causes of dyspepsia. Relying on this tasteless beverage affects the elasticity of the stomach cavity and changes the catalytic value [the ability to break down foods] of the digestive juices, apart from its negative influence at a psychological level which, in the habitual water drinker, may encourage a tendency to pessimism and introspection”.

Wine is a food in itself. It contains a mixture of around 600 components including sugar, amino-acids, mineral salts, and proteins. Seen as a food, wine can reduce the body’s need for carbohydrates, which brings into focus the role wine can play in type-2 diabetes. Studies suggest that reservatrol in wine can prevent insulin resistance in cases where a patient’s body reacts less than usual to insulin, thereby raising blood sugar levels to above a healthy norm. In healthy patients it can help prevent type-2 diabetes. Studies have also shown that reservatrol can affect the metabolism in a positive way in cases of obesity. This is through activating what is knows as a SIRT1 gene. It is worth noting that combined with the alcohol some of these effects will be partially toned down.

Wine and Circulation

Reservatrol is one of hundreds of types of phenolic compounds found in wine, and is particularly prevalent in red wine. It is thought to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease, and is also present in white wine, rose and champagne in lower quantities than with reds. It reduces heart inflammation through lowering the level inflammatory blood chemicals or cytokines. This lowers “bad” cholesterol, the type which creates artery-blocking plaques. At the same time it increases “good” cholesterol which helps remove them.

Wine can also prevent the formation of lethal blood clots through the anticoagulant effect of alcohol. Alcohol reduces the “stickiness” of platelets that would otherwise stick together, along with the amount of fibrous protein that helps bind them together. Recent research also connects reservatrol with slowing down the lung ageing process and helping to combat emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Polyphenols in wine have received plenty of press as regards beneficial effects on blood pressure. Studies suggest that they affect levels of nitric oxide in the blood. This helps blood vessels to relax thereby lowering pressure. The alcohol acts too as a blood thinner, which can help prevent strokes.

Wine and Other Ailments

Beyond polyphenols, recent studies suggest that the silicone content of wine (Côtes du Rhône is notably high in silicon salts) may help increase bone strength. This leads to potential use in treatment of osteoporosis and other bone-related conditions. As well as silicone, wine from certain regions (e.g. Ventoux) contains raised levels of calcium phosphate, iron oxides and manganese. These are elements necessary for the remineralising of bone tissue. Copper, manganese, selenium and zinc have antioxidant properties too. Some wines are high in magnesium salts. Through helping to transport phosphorus, they assist in the calcifying of bone tissue.

Conclusions

To conclude, wine in moderation is very likely to be good for you! I could talk more the dangers of excess and the reactions that histamines and sulphites in wines can cause, but that’s just not fun. So I won’t. Neither will I directly endorse Dr. Maury’s litre-a-day recommendation, that may truly be the result of imbibing to excess.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit Turkey, road-tripping around the Aegean and western Mediterranean regions, as well as visiting Istanbul. As regards Turkish wine, my experience had been limited to some none too memorable wines at the London wine fair many moons ago. They were made with classic European varieties and communicated no special message beyond vigorous oaking. Of late though, I’ve heard and read positive things. I was surprised to discover that Turkey is the world’s fifth largest grower of grapes (in terms of vineyard area), yet only 3% of these grapes are destined for wine. A similar quantity is destined for Raki, the local aniseed flavoured spirit which seems more popular in Turkey than local wines. This post isn’t going to dwell on Raki, but I found it indistinguishable from its Lebanese cousin Arak, and diluted with water it paired remarkably well with grilled meat. Surprisingly it didn’t have too much of an effect on my state of mind or body the next day.

The history of wine making in the region stretches back to distant antiquity.  The general consensus is that wine originated somewhere between eastern Turkey down through the Caucasus and down to the Zagros Mountains in North Western Iran, where in 1968 a team led by archaeologist Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania discovered traces of (grape) wine in clay jars, dating back to 5400 BC. More recently in 2017 a team of Georgian, European and North American researchers have discovered traces of wine in clay pottery at two sites in the Georgian Caucasus 30 miles south of Tbilisi, dating back to an astonishing 5980 BC. So I wouldn’t be surprised if similar-era relics are discovered in the future in eastern Turkey. The Hittites, whose empire encompassed most of modern day Turkey between the 16th and 12th centuries BC, protected wine making through their legal codes. Each vintage was celebrated with a holiday, emphasizing the importance of wine in local culture.

The Phrygians followed the Hittites, introducing wine in turn to the Greeks, with the local Muscat grape becoming one of the first to be commercially exported. Large-scale production continued throughout the Ottoman Empire (1285-1923).  Production was in the hands of non-Muslim minorities and suffered from only occasional prohibitions and clampdowns. In the late-1800’s, as the phylloxera epidemic ravaged European vineyards, Turkish exports increased. The secular reforms of Ataturk in the early 1920’s provided more for the wine industry to build upon, although the state continued to be the dominant producer right up through the late 1980’s. Ataturk himself founded the country’s first new winery for seven centuries in 1925 and was a notorious boozer, eventually succumbing to cirrhosis caused by a lifetime of Raki dominated excess.

Fast forward to this decade and more Turkish wine is being exported than ever before.  Unfortunately their Islamist President Erdogan is doing his best to put up obstacles, in the domestic market at least. In 2013 he banned the promotion of alcohol (including advertising and even wine tastings) along with imposing high local taxes. It’s impossible to import used barrels and complicated to import plant stock. More than ever before, Turkish wineries need to look abroad to have a chance of surviving and growing.

Luckily for its winemakers and brave entrepreneurs, Turkey has a diverse range of terroirs to grow vines, as well as a huge number of indigenous Vitis Vinifera varieties – around a thousand have been identified of which around fifty to sixty are grown commercially. Whilst formal areas of production haven’t been demarcated by the Turkish authorities, they can effectively be divided into three main areas.

The majority of production is from the Aegean region, with the modern, cosmopolitan city of Izmir as the main urban centre. This area accounts for around half of total production. The climate is mild, altitudes are generally low, and lots of European varieties are planted as well as Turkish varieties. About 30% of production originates in central Anatolia, mainly in the mid-eastern and mid-southern areas, with vineyards enduring severe winters and very high summer temperatures. Altitudes reach 1250 metres in some areas. Thrace and Marmara, stretching from the greater Istanbul area up towards the border with Greece, account for around 15% and are characterized by a warm coastal climate similar to North Eastern Greece and Southern Bulgaria. The Mediterranean makes a surprisingly small contribution of 0.2%.

My travelling adventure commenced in Istanbul. After a late arrival in Istanbul, I joined most of the locals and stuck to Raki, paired with an excellent dinner at Zübeyir Ocakbaşı, an old-school Turkish grill not far from Taksim Square, the focal point of modern, secular Istanbul (despite the ongoing construction of Erdogan’s mosque). The next evening we embarked upon a fruitless quest to buy a corkscrew, wondering if it’s joined the list of Erdogan-prohibited imports. Luckily this sommelier sniffed out a bottle of this easy-opening beauty at a Carrefour supermarket near to our apartment. Price around 7 US dollars.

Kavaklidere is one of the oldest wineries in Turkey, dating back to 1929, with headquarters (and vineyards) in Ankara but other operations in the Aegean and Cappadocia regions. The latter is a particularly interesting subregion of South-Central Anatolia, characterized by volcanic soils and altitudes as high as 1200 metres.  The facilities are modern, with stainless steel the norm for fermentation. The premium wines enjoy ageing in new French oak, and 20% of total production is exported. This wine is made from the Öküzgözü varietal, one of the most popular in Eastern Anatolia along with Boğazkere. It was medium-bodied on the palate without much tannin, plenty of cherry and redcurrant fruit on the nose and a light but pleasant finish. The nearest comparison I could make would be a lighter Barbera from Piedmont or Lombardy. Over dinner I enjoyed a glass of local wine, which the waiter knew nothing about apart from its being a) wine and b) red. It had spice on the nose in a Musar-ey oxidative style which I rather liked (not too dissimilar from an Argentinean Weinert either). The mystery wine could have been a Cabernet-Merlot-Grenache blend, though it could have been something more left-field.

From Istanbul I moved down the coast to Izmir, and first up was this potent blend of Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot from the Lucien Arkas Bağlari winery. Meaty in the extreme, oaky from 18 months in French and American barrels, and rather tannic, it had benefitted from some time in the bottle. The fruit was mature and dark with some leathery liquoricey spice and a long finish.

Later that evening I got to sample some Aegean Sauvignon Blanc with a wonderful seafood dinner on the Izmir waterfront, though I was far too busy enjoying the food and amazing Turkish hospitality to take pictures. The Sauvignon Blanc had some floral and citric aromas, relatively low acidity for the variety and no new-world gooseberry whatsoever (nor old-world cats-pee). It paired well with the assorted grilled seafood that was wheeled out until I felt like exploding – a common feeling in this most hospitable of countries.

The next day, I managed to source a wine from the Kayra winery. This winery was state-owned up until 2004. It’s a good case study in the turning around of a loss-making winery making large quantities of mediocre wine into a modern producer of export-quality wines, albeit in lower quantities. This happened with the help of US investors Texas Pacific, and more latterly its current owners Diageo, and has all been overseen by a winemaker hailing from Napa, Daniel O’Donnell. When O’Donnell arrived at the winery, he even threw out 16 million litres of wine and sent the rest (sickly sweet rubbish) to Russia. Now he makes excellent modern wines, with a focus on local varieties.

Buzbag is a well known local brand dating back to the 1940’s and this particular wine is a blend of Öküzgözü and Bogazkere. Bogazkere is another variety only found in Turkey, and it translates as “throat burner”. It’s highly tannic with thick skins and ageing potential. The Öküzgözü smooths it out considerably and adds fruit. I enjoyed the wine so much I bought another bottle the next day to drink at an Argentinean-style BBQ I was cooking, along with an unusual white which I was curious to taste.

The Suvla winery is one of Turkey’s better modern wineries, located on the Gallipoli peninsula in eastern Thrace, and their wines have a regular presence at most of the countries higher-end restaurants. This Kanali Yapincak was highly unusual in its characteristics – on taste and aroma I’ld equate it more with a Georgian orange wine (aged underground in large earthenware qvevri) than any conventional whites from elsewhere. I picked up nuttiness on the nose, almonds and hazlenuts, a hint of tropical banana fruit, ripe apple, and some herby spice on the palate. Very unusual and the bottle was finished off in no time at all. Later in the trip I got to taste the Suvla Bogazkere-Öküzgözu. I’ld categorize it similar to the Buzbag, but slightly more elegant with a smoother, longer finish (worth noting it’s sold at a slightly higher price point). I also tasted their Cabernet Sauvignon, well-balanced although probably not enough potency of fruit and spice to capture the interest of export markets.

As a big fan of Malbec, upon arriving in Pamukkale I was interested to discover this blend, originating in eastern Turkey near Diyarbakir, at the lower end of the cheapie-price spectrum at around 26 lira or less than 5 dollars.

For the price it wasn’t too bad. Almost Pinot-ey in its lightness with a fruit profile of raspberry, strawberry and some cherry. No oak (needless to say at that price) and in a blind test I’ld never have guessed that it contained Syrah.

For my final evening in Turkey back in Istanbul, we dined at the small and stylish restaurant Antochia. I was so saturated with food, wine and Turkish hospitality that I can’t even remember the wines. It was time to head home, lay off the red meat for a while and plan the next wine adventure.

Report Highlights: My recent trip to Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley and Eden Valley shattered many preconceptions about Australian Wine – share in my discoveries with a heady Rhone-esque blend of meaty Mataro, subtly spiced small-production Syrah and giveaway Grenache, plus adventures in new and exciting Australian Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, and some more leftfield exotica, and of course the obligatory Pinot Noir surprise.

“In Vino Veritas” – a bit about the Author

Nigel Tollerman is a sommelier and wine consultant currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although he has particular experience with Southern Cone Wines, having studied at the Escuela Argentina de Sommeliers in Buenos Aires and lived there for many years, he is now dedicated to travelling the farthest-flung corners of the wine world and hunting out exciting small-production wines, all with unique and fascinating stories to tell. Recent wine destinations he has particularly enjoyed include Montenegro, Lebanon and Georgia, as well as Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy. He’s a fan of “wines that taste of wine”, made by wine-lovers for wine-lovers as opposed to generic wines engineered by a marketing team to maximize sales volume, and is equally fascinated by both New World and Old World wines, terroirs and production methods.

In this post I’ll be focusing on Australia –

To most UK wine consumers of a certain age, Australian wine is budget-priced, in-your-face Shiraz with in-your-face labels of jumping kangaroos or other chintzy images of dubious taste. The Chardonnay can be perceived as buttery, oaky, or even slightly sweet – characteristics that often prompt Joe or Josephine Public to come out with the classic phrase “I don’t like Chardonnay” before a drop is sipped, when in reality their perceived like or dislike is more related to a style as opposed to the variety per se. However, the reality today, despite the existence of Jacob’s Creek, Yellowtail and other big brands, cannot be further from this misconception. Today a new style of whites is being produced across Australia, more savory, open to bottle-aging, fresher and more versatile. Partly this is due to an industry-wide effort to steer consumers away from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and partly due to more cooler-climate plantings using high-quality clones (such as Mendoza, Bernard, and Gin Gin) and the aging of vines contributing to more elegant, mineral wines.

The vast majority of wine sales from smaller Australian winemakers are sold in the domestic market (86% in 2016/7) but figures show exports in this sector are increasing year on year, and more quality small-production wines are likely to arrive in the UK over the coming year. The UK being the 6^th largest wine market in the world and Australia’s largest export market by volume is a key target. Although the supermarket offerings are likely to remain fairly consistent, independent retail and on-trade opportunities galore exist. In the case of boutique wine production, the pendulum of Shiraz production has also swung towards a leaner, lighter, fragrant style, with less overpowering new oak, planting of cooler vineyard sites and use of whole-bunch fermentation – even using some Pinot Noir specific techniques in the vinification process. Apart from the classic varieties, research has revealed growth in exports to the UK market for Viognier, Durif (Australian synonym for Petite Sirah), Verdelho, Montepulciano and Tempranillo, amongst others.

Quick Facts

• Australia has some of the oldest vines in the world – through strict quarantine rules South Australia managed to escape the Phylloxera plague that destroyed a large percentage of the world’s vines in the late 19^th century.

• There are an estimated 2468 wineries and 6251 grape growers across 65 wine regions, employing over 170,000 people. 90% of these wineries have only existed since 1970.

• As of 2016 Australia has been the world’s 5^th highest producer by volume and 4^th in the list of exporters by dollar value.

• Although the average Australian consumes almost 30 litres of wine annually, 60% of total production or 2 million bottles a day are exported to over 100 thirsty foreign markets

Introduction to the Adelaide Hills

My Australian wine journey started in the Adelaide Hills, a short 40 minute drive from Adelaide city, warm winter sun being replaced with a very distinct microclimate as I drove up the steep highway that links the city with the hills to the south-east – far more reminiscent of a temperate northern European winter than the lower-lying city on their doorstep. Although vines have been planted in the area since the 1870’s, by the 1960’s very few remained – it was not until the 1970’s that winemakers started to discover the potential of the cool climate and terroir to experiment with atypical cooler climate and early ripening varieties. Today there are over 100 producers in this young but cutting-edge region. Around 60% of production is white, including plenty of medium-weight Chardonnay that goes into sparkling wine production, and 40% red – including Merlot, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon on some of the valley’s more northerly west-facing slopes. The administrative centre of the region is the picturesque German-influenced town of Hahndorf, founded in 1839 by Prussian Lutherans fleeing religious persecution in their homeland, and still retaining a strong Germanic character.

This even extends to the wines – Gruner Veltliner, Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt being notable varieties, many pioneered in this part of the world by the Hahndorf Hill winery on the outskirts of town. The Gruner Veltliner is a particularly interesting grape, able to be refined into a number of different styles and with a great capacity to take on notes of its terroir – Hahndorf Hill, using six different Gruner clones imported from Austria in 2006 and 2009, make four different styles – an involving but not at all cloying late harvest, a “new world” fruit-driven, more modern style example, and two more classic examples that tasting blind I would be hard pressed to distinguish from numerous high-end Austrian counterparts – the combination of cool nights and warm days in the growing season helping to produce elegant wines with impressive depth and complexity. Another favourite of mine here was their Rose, made with Trollinger, Pinot Noir and Merlot, wonderfully dry on the palate with concentrated strawberry and cherry fruit on the nose, perfect by itself on a sunny day or with Asian food. More tasting highlights then came along courtesy of the small-batch, family run Mordrelle winery – one of the owners having an Argentine family connection, although to my disappointment no Malbec was yet being produced. The Merlot is well balanced, enjoying just the right balance of freshness and ripeness with a steely mineral-streak underlying its agreeably peppy acidity The Syrah was a revelation – quite the antithesis of the syrupy alcoholic fruit-bomb that’s so prevalent in the often-dismal UK supermarket offerings of Australian Shiraz.

Hahndorf Hills – Gruner Veltliner masterclass

Introduction to the Barossa Valley

Following my adventures in the Adelaide Hills, I moved on to the Barossa and Eden Valleys, basing myself in the charming settlements of Angaston and Seppeltsfield. Like most wine consumers back in the UK, my image of Barossa was lots of Shiraz, generally very powerful and in-your-face, nothing resembling a French Syrah which is genetically the same grape, and oaky, buttery, almost Californian-style Chardonnay.

The history of winemaking in the Barossa dates back to 1842 making it one of the most historic production regions of Australia, with old vines now tended in many cases by the 6^th generation of the original pioneering families. Located to the North East of Adelaide, it has a range of microclimates although broadly speaking it’s Mediterranean with lots of sun, a long growing season, hot days in summer, cool breezy evenings and low seasonal rainfall of around 160mm. Soils are varied. As with the Adelaide Hills there’s a strong Germanic influence, notably in the regional hub Tanunda, where I enjoyed the best Bratwurst of my trip and the sight of some pretty Lutheran churches to break the vineyard sightseeing. Until the 1970’s a large part of production was devoted to fortified wine styles made with a base of Shiraz or Mataro (the local name for Mourvedre), which largely supplied the local market. Fast-forward to the 1970’s and the style started to evolve  under the direction of a new generation of winemakers as tastes developed locally and internationally towards drier, more fruit-forward wines. Fast forward once more to the 1990’s and, encouraged by the international wine press, the focus moved towards more robust, powerful wines with Shiraz predominant. In more recent years the area has witnessed a new wave of creative evolution involving lots of experimentation with alternative largely Mediterranean grape varieties, organic and biodynamic production, and a retreat from this focus on the much-promoted Shiraz style.

80% of Barossa production is red and 20% white, with Riesling the most planted white, and Cabernet Sauvignon (more fruit-forward and less tannic than the much-famed Cabernet Sauvignon of Margaret River in Western Australia), Shiraz, and Mataro the principal red varieties.

My first winery stops were Rockford and Charles Melton. The former, founded in 1984, makes award-winning wines with a focus on traditional winemaking techniques including use of an 1880’s vintage destemmer. I loved the unusual “Frugal Farmer” 2016 Red Blend – involving the skins of Alicante Bouchet grapes from their excellent dark pink medium-bodied Rose, which are co-fermented with early picked Grenache and Mataro. The end result is a spicy but light and full of life wine not dissimilar to a Beaujolais Cru like Brouilly or Regnie. Delicious by itself and very versatile with food. Other highlights included an opulent peppery Shiraz-Cabernet Blend, a crisp White Frontignac, and an earthy Grenache/Shiraz/Mataro blend.

Moving on to Charles Melton, the focus was more modern, but a wide range of sub-styles were represented – their Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro showed all the characteristics of a top-class southern Rhone blend on the nose and palate, and whilst the classical full-bodied Shiraz style was in evidence with their iconic Grains of Paradise 2015 Shiraz, their more economical Father In Law 2016 Shiraz still had the peppery spicy fruit but expressed with subtlety, minerality and elegance, far more old-world in style and substance. Likewise the Kirche 2016, which is the same wine with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon added which endow it with lovely Graves-esque cedarwood and tobacco notes.

After a number of other stops, I made it to Penfolds, the most iconic winery of the region and indeed Australia, and Hentley Farm (which is a whole future post in itself). The story of Penfolds dates back to the 1840’s when Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold planted the vine cuttings they had brought over from England to Australia and by 1907 it had become South Australia’s largest winery. In the 1950’s the iconic Grange wine was finally conceived, to this day one of the world’s greatest wines (the 2008 Grange has most recently been awarded 100 points by Wine Spectator). Whilst I wasn’t invited to taste Grange, I did greatly enjoy their deep and complex Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz – for those of you that don’t know, the “Bin” tradition dates to 1959 when a Barossa Shiraz of the winery was simply named after the numbered part of the cellar in which it was aged. The tradition simply continued and does to this day. Another particular revelation was their 2009 Cellar Reserve Sangiovese, very Chianti in style and had me instantly craving Italian Pizza, medium-bodied with plenty of earthy blueberry, plum and blackberry fruit. On the whites front, they produce some vastly contrasting Chardonnay – their Reserve Bin 16A has oodles of complexity on the nose featuring honey, toast, and almonds with grapefruit, peach and melon fruit and a hint of sweet citrics on the palate, but not excessively buttery. And the Bin 311, crisp, zesty and mineral with citric aromas to the fore and bracing acidity and freshness – once more quite the antithesis of the Barossa stereotype from the typical UK supermarket shelf, alhough it’s worth clarifying in the latter case that the grapes actually originate in Tumbarumba in New South Wales.

Introduction to Eden Valley

The cooler-climate Eden Valley lies directly to the east of the Barossa Valley at an altitude of 360-500 metres above sea level and characterized by an interesting variety of soil types, the most prevalent being gravel and small rocks atop a clay-dominant subsoil, well suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Germanic white varieties notably Riesling. I was lucky enough to visit the historic Henschke winery and sample some of the finest wines in South Australia. Whilst best known for its iconic Hill of Grace Shiraz that retails at a super-premium price point, I was most interested in their whites and their Pinot Noir, the winemaker being a fanatical Burgundy enthusiast. I wasn’t disappointed with the Pinot, an exquisite pale colour, scents of rosebush, briar spice, cherry and strawberry fruit on the nose with notable poise, balance and acidity with the cleanest finish imaginable. Amongst the other reds, the Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Mataro blend stood out for its poise and depth – plenty of tannin but well-integrated oak, lots of complexity on the nose, and at least 10 years aging potential. Likewise the whites were excellent, notably a 2006-vintage Innes vineyard Pinot Gris that was still alive and well, an Eleanor’s Cottage Sauvignon-Semillon blend that blind tasted could have been mistaken for a Pessac-Leognan or Graves Bordeaux, some obligatory Riesling in contrasting styles depending on terroir, and a fresh but honeyed Chardonnay, once more defying stereotypes and pleasantly surprising the nose and palate. As if any more proof was needed that Australia goes way beyond big brand, big body Shiraz and Chardonnay.

Henschke Pinot Noir of the Gods