From fast food to junk wine

Martin Field

From fast food to junk wine

Wines definitely ain't what they used to be. The styles we drink nowadays are profoundly different from those we enjoyed 20 to 30 years ago. Today's wines are undoubtedly cleaner and more technically sound, made typically by qualified winemakers using sophisticated, expensive technology. But there is one major problem: the modern trend is to manufacture wines that lack soul, to produce wines deficient in the guts department.

Back in the sixties and seventies Australian wines had a rawness of character. The reds were big and enjoyable, if a bit rough around the edges, while the mainly riesling, pre-chardonnay whites were forthright in bouquet and palate and assertively acidic.

Both styles lasted in the cellar and some still drink well. If in those darker ages you bought reds from say, Baileys in the north-east or Birks in Clare or rieslings from Leo Buring, you knew that 20 years down the track the matured wines would repay your patient cellaring.

Similarly, the better reds of Bordeaux from earlier eras were unapproachable in their youth, so tannic that unless you wanted the enamel stripped from your teeth you left them alone for a decade or so. In their teens however, these clarets would mellow into some of the finest wines ever tasted.

But these days, with some people even choosing to live in apartments constructed without kitchens, there is clearly no place for a wine cellar at all. Modern wine it seems is designed for the "I Want It Now!" generation. These I-WINs, raised on a diet of Macdonald's, Coke, and UDL pre-mixed drinks, are hardly going to consider laying down a few bottles of wine for future reference. Anecdotal evidence has it that over 90 per cent of bottled wine is consumed within 48 hours of purchase, so it's a large part of the wine consuming population who want their wine young and accessible, not just the I-WINs.

Which of course encourages those wine companies (most of them) that want an immediate return on investments. Accordingly, wines are increasingly designed by accountants and marketers rather than winemakers. And, consequently, winemakers are pressured into making soft, sweetish easy drinking styles. This in turn has led to a profusion of chardonnays that taste more of vanilla milk shake than wine, and to reds, reeking of American oak, that more than anything remind one of the chocolate, vanilla and coconut found in a Bounty Bar.

Down the track most of these accountants' wines will no doubt suffer the oenological equivalent of premature Alzheimer's Disease. This, hopefully, should be a convincing argument for the eventual introduction of mandatory use-by-date labelling.

Call me a cab!

"What's your favourite wine?" The question crops up regularly at wine gatherings and is perhaps the most often asked of wine pundits. If I do have a "favourite" wine it's the next good bottle opened, but my preferred varietal (winespeak for grape variety) is cabernet sauvignon, which roughly translated means "the wild cabernet".

Cabernet sauvignon is the predominant grape of the great clarets of the Medoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux and produces fine reds in such disparate areas as Tuscany, California, Coonawarra and Chile.

The varietal's small thick-skinned berries produce medium to full-bodied wines showing noticeable, consumer-unfriendly, tannic astringency when young. Blending cabernet with other varietals can soften hard tannins however, and this is the traditional approach in France, where cabernet is blended with one or more of the following grapes: merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, petit verdot.

Historically, shiraz has been much used in Australia to blend, bulk up and soften cabernet, but in recent times there has been considerable usage of the abovementioned Bordeaux varietals to produce wines commonly marketed as "cabernets". Young cabernet sauvignon exhibits deep red to purple hues and the typical descriptors (winespeak for descriptions) of bouquet and palate include: blackcurrant, mint, chocolate, berries, capsicum, liquorice, leafiness, cedar, cigar box, dustiness, pencil shavings. A few Australian cabernets will also develop a faint but pleasing fragrance of eucalypt.

Without question Australia's best cabernet sauvignon comes from Coonawarra, manifested in generous long-living wines, purple-black to the eye, inky and intense on the finish. If I had to name a runner-up it would be West Australia's Margaret River region.

Strangely, DNA testing on the genetic origins of cabernet sauvignon, performed by the University of California's Professor Noble, has shown that the world's noblest red grape is a hybrid of cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc.

Sadly, cabernet's white ancestor, sauvignon blanc, is my least preferred varietal. Of sauvignon blanc Len Evans is reported to have said, "My idea of hell is to be marooned on a desert island with only goats' cheese to eat and sauvignon blanc to drink!" I'm with Len - on both counts. You can stock my desert island with a container-load of Coonawarra cabernet and a mango tree.

Did somebody mention ze vine?

German wine, ranked among the great white wines of the world is worthy of greater recognition in the local marketplace but as yet is rarely seen on the tables of discerning drinkers. The absence of product can be explained by a number of factors, including lack of availability - due to low imports; high cost - due to a feeble exchange rate; and poor consumer knowledge - due to insufficient marketing.

Having sampled and enjoyed a few recent German imports let me pass on an all too brief insight into that country's wine. Germany's 13 vineyard areas are clustered around the Rhine River and its tributaries in the southwest. The climate there is so cold and the vineyard slopes so steep that in a typical cool growing season it is difficult to bring grapes to full ripeness, to the extent that in some cases grapes will freeze on the vine before vintage is complete. By world viticultural standards Germany's vine growing regions could easily be defined as only marginal.

Riesling is predominant as the premium grape varietal with nearly 90 per cent of German vineyards planted to white grapes. Cold climate grapes tend to be high in acid and low in grape sugar so much German wine can be noticeably acidic and comparatively low in alcohol, eight to nine per cent being common. Accordingly, chaptalisation, the addition of cane or beet sugar to the fermentation, is legal for certain appellations to enhance the body and increase the alcohol of wines made from just-ripe grapes.

Due to climatic adversity the German system of appellation is based on grape ripeness at vintage and the degree of ripeness is reflected in classifications shown on German wine labels. These, in my opinion, are far and away the most incomprehensible labels in the world.

Briefly, top-shelf German wines are labelled as "qualitatswein" (quality wine), and are produced in two categories, QbA and QmP. QbA wines, the lesser quality and therefore cheaper category, can legally be chaptalised.

Chaptalisation is forbidden though in the highest classification, QmP (Qualitatswein mit Pradikat), which translates as "quality wine with special distinction". The QmP classification contains six further grades denoting the level of quality in ascending order of ripeness. (I didn't say this was going to be easy!)

These QmP grades are: kabinett; spatlese (late-picked); auslese - selected bunches of very ripe grapes; beerenauslese or BA - selected over-ripe grapes; eiswein (ice wine) - made from BA grapes vintaged and crushed while frozen. Last, at the very top of the quality pyramid, is trockenbeerenauslese or TBA, made from selected individual grapes shrivelled almost to raisins and usually infected with edelfaule (noble rot).

To sample the better German wines look for bottles with QmP or any of the terms listed above on the label. BA, TBA and eiswein styles are rare and expensive - Fine Wines of Europe (orders@finewinesofeurope.com) lists a TBA at $375 the half bottle. Larger wine merchants stock kabinett and spatlese from under $10 and upwards.

Tastings

Duverne Brut

A sparkling white from France's Loire region, made from pineau de la Loire - aka chenin blanc. Yellow-gold. Fresh bouquet shows a hint of marzipan. Dry and medium-bodied with palatable if uncomplicated fruitiness, soft finish. Rating: bronze. Cellar: label recommends to 15 April 2001. Price: about $13.

Domaine Boyar Chardonnay 1997

This chardonnay hails from the Preslav region of central-eastern Bulgaria. Pale yellow. Restrained yet attractive ripe-peaches nose. Light, clean and dry on the palate with pleasing varietal character and crisp acidity. Rating: silver. Cellar: to 2003. Price: $3.95. Value for money: 5/5. Only at Dan Murphys.

Montana Reserve Barrique Fermented Chardonnay 1998

Light-yellow, greenish edge. From Gisborne in New Zealand, a white perfumed with grapefruit and smoky wood. Powerful to the point of extravagance in the mouth, shows well-ripened stone fruit on a sub-structure of toasted American oak, finishes with traces of citrus. Rating: gold. Cellar: to 2006. Price: about $17.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

Purple-tinged, deep crimson. Spicy nose of berries and old chest of drawers wood. Fine balanced palate of medium weight exhibits concentration of flavours at the back and a firm dry finish. Chewy tannins will soften over two or three years. Rating: gold. Cellar: to 2008. Price: about $20.

Kangarilla Road McLaren Vale Zinfandel 1998

Zinfandel, known as primitivo in southern Italy, is the workhorse grape of the Californian wine industry but is still virtually unknown in Australia. Lightish ruby in colour. The upfront nose is reminiscent of a youthful grenache with a hint of sappiness. The palate is medium to light in weight with ample fruit at the front and middle, falling off slightly at the finish. Rating: bronze. Cellar: to 2003. Price: about $22.

Citrus Jack

Citrus Jack is a pre-mixed blend of Jack Daniel's Old No.7 Whiskey and citrus-flavoured soda water, with an alcohol content of seven per cent. The nose is lemony, tinged with the unmistakable aroma of Tennessee whiskey. The palate is eminently quaffable, semi-sweet, mildly fizzy and faintly whiskey-flavoured. Price: RRP $4.95 the 340 ml bottle.

Peter Mertes Bernkasteler Kurfurstlay Spatlese 1998

Sourced from Germany's Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region. Bright and pale, eight per cent alcohol. Perfume of pie apples and faint citrus. Light and delicate in the mouth, medium dry, faint grape sweetness balanced with Granny Smith-like acidity on the finish. Rating: silver. Cellar: to 2005. Price: $6.95.

Finlandia Vodka

Of all spirits vodka is the one that is least intrusive, tastewise. Finlandia, imported from Finland, has a clean, neutral taste and a finish that is smooth and minerally. So, just for the occasion, I've invented a cocktail: the Mango Vodkalada, loosely based on a recipe for Pina Colada. It goes like this: two parts of coconut cream, two of Finlandia straight from the freezer, five of mango nectar (look in the supermarket juice section) and a squeeze of lime juice to taste. Blend all together with shaved ice or mix with ice in a cocktail shaker. Garnish with a slice of lime. Price: about $29.

Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale 1998

When first released in October 1998 this ale, it was claimed, would increase in complexity over 18 months - I kept a bottle to see how it would develop. Mid-red-gold. Rich and malty on the nose. Soft and creamy on the palate. Mellow, full flavours are permeated with subtle bitterness, a pleasant, long aftertaste. Delicious, wish I'd kept a slab.

Rosemount Hill of Gold Shiraz 1998

"Mudgee mud", it used to be the disparaging almost generic term used for Mudgee reds. Shiraz like this will consign the mud moniker to history. Opaque crimson, purple-edged. Forward spicy nose of ripe fruit, American oak and alcohol (14.5 per cent). Integrated tannins lead a full-weighted palate of blackberry-like fruit nicely structured over woody undertones. Rating: gold. Cellar: to 2007. Price: about $20.

Martin Field