AUS: New South Wales Flashcards
Wyndham Estate
Hunter Valley GI
* site of 1st commercial Shiraz cuttings - 1830
* Aus’ oldest continually running winery
Australia’s First Families of Wine
Winery association - 10 members
* goal is to direct the narrative of history, provenance, and quality of Aussie wine. Est. 2009
* Stephen Hanschke is the chair
Brown Brothers
Campbells
D’Arenberg
Henschke
Howard Park
Tyrrell’s
Taylor’s
Tahbilk
Yalumba
Hunter Valley Zone’s topography + important features
Rivers: (mainly) Hunter River;
Goulburn River is an important tributary and irrigates the Upper Hunter area
Topography features (mostly) rolling hills with modest gradient.
- Most prestigious vineyard area is located in the hills/southern valley of the Brokenback Range, itself part of the Great Dividing Range
- Upper Hunter is flatter, dominated by Hunter/Goulburn River systems
Hunter Valley Zone latitude/climate
32ºS
Hot subtropical - region 4
* Humid
* Rainy: avg 20in of growing season rain in Hunter Valley - 35 - 40in year overall
* Storms regularly threaten harvest, arriving in late January
New South Wales’ 2 most planted varieties overall?
Chardonnay
Shiraz
New South Wales’ 2 most important geographic features
- Pacific Ocean
- Great Dividing Range: runs the whole coast; blocks cool air and rain
Hunter Valley Zone’s GIs
Hunter Valley GI
- Upper Hunter Valley GI
- Broke Fordwich GI
- Pokolbin GI (home to the big names)
Lower Hunter Valley subregions
GI: Pokolbin, Broke Fordwich
Unofficial:
- Allandale
- Belford
- Dalwood
- Rothbury
Hunter Valley grapes
1 Semillon (likes white alluvial sands)
#2 Chardonnay
#3 Verdelho (thick skins get along with subtropical climate)
#4 Shiraz (red volcanic soils)
Hunter Valley soils
Diverse, including sandy alluvial soils, clay, and volcanic basalt.
- Shiraz favors friable red duplex and loam soils
- Semillon favors the sandy alluvial flats
The Upper Hunter features black loam soils, the Lower Hunter is sandier, and the Brokenback Range areas are volcanic basalt.
Australia’s 1st varietal Chardonnay?
1971 Tyrrell “Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay” Hunter Valley
Hunter Riesling
Semillon
* most planted Hunter Valley grape
* 10-12% ABV, pH around 2.9
* no oak, no lees stirring, bottled fresh and young
* premium editions like Tyrell’s Vat 1 and Brokenwood’s ILR Reserve see extended bottle age before release
Vat 1
Tyrrell’s top Hunter Valley Semillon
* Classic - no oak, no significant lees contact, bottled quickly and always bottle aged 5 years
* Langton’s 1st
edition # of current Langton’s classification? What changes were made with this classification?
8th
* all wines have been released at least 10 vintages and have a “strong presence on the secondary market”
* 100 “Classified” Wines, 19 of which are “1st Classified”
Inspired by BDX’s 1855
Tyrrell, Brokenwood, Mt. Pleasant - located in what Hunter Valley sub-GI?
Pokolbin
Lower Hunter vs Upper Hunter: which is more important?
Lower Hunter is home to all the big names. Pokolbin in particular.
Upper Hunter has a short history, not many producers. Pendfolds was the first to plant in 1960.
Maurice O’Shea
Hunter Valley hero
* key figure for modern Aus wine
* studied at Montepellier, familiar with French wines, went back to Aus
* his family settled in the Hunter Valley, bought a vineyard. He renamed it Mt. Pleasant and made dry wines when stickies were the favored one
ILR Reserve
Brokenwood
Hunter Valley Semillon
Classic - no oak, no significant lees contact, no malo, bottled quickly and held back for 6 years
Lake’s Folly
Hunter GI
* planted the first 20th century vineyard in the Hunter Valley (1963
* “Australia’s first boutique winery”
Hunter GI vs Hunter Valley GI
- Hunter Valley = zone
- Hunter GI = region
Langton’s 1st wines from New South Wales? (3)
- Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz (Hunter Valley)
- Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon (Hunter Valley)
- Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon (Hunter Valley)
McWilliam’s in the Hunter Valley
Mt. Pleasant
* hired Maurice O’Shea as winemaker, acquired Mt. Pleasant vineyard
* Lovedale Semillon, Elisabeth Semillon
* company expanded in the 1970’s, but Mt. Pleasant remains core to portfolio
GI’s of the Central Ranges zone (3)
Cowra GI
Orange GI
Mudgee GI
(we’re in New South Wales)
Mudgee GI
New South Wales / Central Ranges Zone
* oldest GI in the zone
* Hunter Valley’s higher elevation, drier, sunnier, less humid neighbor
* #1 most planted = Chardonnay
* reputation is for rich reds though.. Cab, Shiraz, Merlot
Orange GI
New South Wales / Central Ranges Zone
* elevation is key: 600 to 1000M+. One of the highest GI’s in Australia
* 1st modern vineyard = Bloodroot, 1983
* Cab, Merlot, Shiraz are planted but PN, SB have most potential
Cowra GI
New South Wales / Central Ranges Zone
*warm; known for Chardonnay
Hastings River GI
Northern Rivers Zone, New South Wales
* HOT; region 5
* can kind of make Hunter style Semillon but meh
Shoalhaven Coast GI
South Coast Zone of New South Wales
41ha planted.. this is not important
* Chambourcin
Southern Highlands GI
New South Wales
* new but promising
* Tempranillo #1
* hills of the Great Dividing Range
Big Rivers Zone
- regions
- rivers
New South Wales’ #1 zone in production volume
* 2 big rivers: Murray, Murrumbidgee
* 16 wineries, 25% of Aussie wine made possible by Murrumbidgee Irrigation area
RIVERINA
Murray Darling (partial)
Swan Hills GI (partial)
Perricoota
Riverina GI most planted grapes
1 Chardonnay
#2 Shiraz
#3 Semillon
Riverina GI important wineries
- Casella Family Wines
- McWilliam’s (1st to plant here, 1913)
- De Bertoli
Riverina’s 2 important rivers?
Murrumbidgee River
Lachlan River
Riverina GI climate
Mediterranean: hot dry summer, mild wet winter
* 11 - 22in rain/year (7.9in in growing season)
* Drought and irrigation are key considerations - viticulture brought to us by the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area
Noble One
McWilliams’ historic Botrytis Semillon - 1st vintage in 1982, inspired by Sauternes
* the benchmark botrytised Aussie Semillon
RIVERINA
Canberra District GI
New South Wales (Southern NSW Zone)
* a Northern Rhone look-alike
* CLIMATE: mild continental
* modern rebirth in 1971 with planting of Clonakilla Vineyard, 1st vintage in 1976
* Shiraz, Cab, PN
* Riesling, Chard, SB
Clonakilla
Canberra District / New South Wales
* planted 1971, 1st commercial vintage in 1976
* Shiraz-Viognier, 1992. Pivotal role in cool climate Aussie Shiraz and N. Rhone style wines
* Riesling, Chard, Viognier
Hilltops GI
Southern New South Wales
*reds are 80% of production - Cab, Shiraz
[Canberra, Gundagai, Tumbarumba, Hilltops = 4 SNSW]
2 GI’s shared between New South Wales and Victoria?
Murray Darling
Swan Hill
What did James Busby do
Father of Australian AND New Zealand wine
- wrote: A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine, and the Art of Making Wine
- cataloged/collected European cuttings to build Sydney Botanical Garden
Areas within South Eastern Australia GI
Entire states of: Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania
Winegrowing sectors of: South Australia, Queensland
* response to EU law requiring a varietal wine to carry a place name
Label Integrity Program
1990 vintage on
* 85% rule for place, variety, vintage
* signed agreement to ditch Euro names in 1993; rolled out their own GIs in 1994
Last Aussie vintages for Euro names
Agreement inked in 2008 - effective for 2011 forward
* Tawny, Solera, Icewine are still ok
RDI
Regulated Deficit Irrigation
- creates water stress during key periods by lowering the total amount of applied irrigation water
PRD
Partial Rootzone Drying
- alternates irrigation by root zone, keeping one wet and one dry
Makes the most sense for quality and economically
Casella Family Wines - top brands
Peter Lehmann (Barossa)
Yellow Tail
Brand’s Laira (Coonawarra)
Bailey’s (Glenrowan)
