Boireann:, Granite, Belt, star, , exquisite, quality

There is always a lot of fun associated with a Boireann tasting: you know there is a gem of a wine to be discovered every year, and maybe not the same lineage as the previous year.

To new readers Boireann is the meticulous handicraft of Peter and Therese Stark who make their wine totally on their special site, a vineyard 5 km off the main highway Brisbane-Wallangarra at the Summit if travelling south to NSW. Their vineyard is almost four times the elevation of the Lower Hunter Valley.

That means rows of grapes each side of the small road into the property; a small tasting area to visit and buy, adjoining is controlled storage where all the bottles are hand laid out in bays before packing up for visiting buyers.

Behind the cellars is Peter's vintage area and a temperature-controlled barrel shed. It's all very simple because what you see is what you get: all grown under your eyes, spending time in barrel from April until February, then bottled under screw cap before the next vintage and rested until sale in the third quarter of the year. That means 2009 reds are now on offer.

Each side of the road way are multiple varieties: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, shiraz, barbera, nebbiolo, tannat, pinot noir, mourvedre, petit verdot, there was grenache but Peter chopped it off to replace with a brunello clone of sangiovese. And two rows of viognier to co-ferment with shiraz.

There is a first impression which will stay with you forever after tasting a Boireann. The wines are muscular, so Peter has that knack of extracting the last vestige of flavour and varietal intensity in each wine. The wines will be deeper flavoured and fruit concentrated, and therefore with greater backbone than their equivalents elsewhere around the area.

That really means you buy wine in its infancy, and really need to age some to watch the flowering process. Restaurant Two in Brisbane lists the 2002 Boireann Cabernet Sauvignon-that's from a marvellous and unforgettable Granite Belt vintage, still fresh and vibrant without any sign of softening tannins-it's still tense.

So Boireann has its own sense of place-The Summit, and a special vineyard which gives it the terroir that many in the know now respect. Wines simply sell out by late in the year, then no more for another year.

Pinot Noir 2009; 90, USD 26,14%, this has amazing colour, obviously the vineyard site is conducive to vine balance so that grape ripeness is rewarding; intensly pinot in the spice direction, palate is muscular, crunchy yet fruit flavourful, power in the mouth and needing some time to settle, when it does, what a reward, will never be a simply cherry juice style like the Yarra; made to stay, stern on alcohol.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2009; 94, USD 22.75, 14.5%, has good not exceptional colour, the impressive aspect is the ripeness, it is all there in the spice/cherry spectrum, and without leafiness in a testing growing year. Well done. The palate is a trifle herbal, not green with great tannin firmness that I expect of Boireann; without it there is little structure and less ageworthiness.

The Lurnea 2009; 95; USD 25.50, 13.5%, 30% cabernet, 30% merlot, 20% franc, 20% petit verdot; good/great colour, such an exciting nose from the franc perfume and verdot aromatics, this must taste good, mocha oak sweetness, medium bodied, nicely textured and rounded together as a flavour experience. Similar tannin weight to the cabernet but more complex and structured, backbone and a trifle more acid to settle in.

Merlot Petit Verdot 2009; 90, USD 20 , 13.2%, 70% merlot, 30% petit verdot; when merlot does not wish to stand alone, why do so, and in a testy ripening year like 2009 when grapes can stay leafy-flavoured, this wine leaps out from the verdot portion which is not insignificant.

Estate Shiraz 2009; 94, USD 41, 13.2%, what magnificant colour, deep wine, serious, nose of spice and cedar which is hard to lose, entry is sweet and soft, spice city, rich soft, and elegant as silk. The resounding acidity points to long aging. no viognier this year as the frost go it.

Mourvedre Shiraz 2009; 92, USD 27,13.5%, 50% mourvedre, 40% shiraz, 10% tannat; great colour, stains my glass, emphatic nose of black fruits, mourvedre on the prowl and consuming the flavours of the other two varieties; monster and so is the tannin from both the mourvedre and tannat; length and crunch, keep 10-20 years.

Therese Stark has cleverly corraled the Italian varietals into the La Cima (chima phonetically), meaning "pinnacle".

La Cima Barbera 2009; 90, USD 25.50, 14%; has great colour, liberal oak and more cedary than the Piedmontese, blackberry pip fruit flavours, nice violets and typical acid cut to soften the final flavours.

La Cima Nebbiolo 2008; 92, USD 27, 13.5%; in true nebbiolo style the colour is washed, some orange with the pinks, nose still rosey and fragrant, shows some sweet complexity, this wine aged an extra year over the other releases to gain nose power and tame the tannins more, it still has plenty but a very fine example of this variety meant to tease the palate of all comers.

This year for the first time, all wines were sealed under screw cap for better buyer guarantees. Of course the down side of a screw cap focussed country is that glass bottles that hold a cork finish become rare (imported) and therefore expensive. In today's carbon credit environment locally-made glass is a good result and less miles.

Peter Stark expresses his thoughts on the 2009 season: "2009 season started with spring frosts which took most of the viognier, tannat, barbera and nebbiolo. The growing season was cool, but pretty good weather. Vintage was cool, cloudy and a few showers. Bird damage was pretty extensive. Wines are medium-bodied with a good intensity. 7/10"

			Tognini, Qld, stars:, deli, , dine, , excel

Long-time deli owners Narelle and Mark (Marko) have recently revamped their Spring Hill (Brisbane) bistrocafedeli to seven-day trading, catering for all-day breakfast and long lunching.

This week's event was a Tuscan-influenced dinner seeking to draw on the special skills in Tognini's kitchen combined with Mark's obvious passion for his sourcing and ingredients use.

Starters were influenced with gorgonzola (as a tart), very minerally, and slow roast cherry tomato, which emphasised the texture of Vietti's Roero Arneis 2009, 88 (USD 49), unwooded, a trifle funky yet amically dry and cleansed with a nice nectarine bitterness balancing these food flavours.

The twist with the next plate was a baking of semolina-formed gnocci , cutely shaped with pinched ends and topped with buffalo parmesan, a Mark special. Plozner Pinot Grigio 2008 under screwcap, 86 (USD 27) kept it's pear flavour profile of the north eastern grigios of taut acidity.

No Tuscan fare comes without a ragu, this one local wild boar over pappadelle; and a supple but simple unwooded sangiovese from Fattoria Zerbina nearby in Romagna, Ceregio 2008, 87 (USD 23.50) pairing.

The Togninis have been chasing good flavoured free range pork with renewed veuve so a late-arriving large loin, bone-in was startingly good. It had fat, that's the flavour bit, but also moist, juicy/succulent and hard to not stop eating more.

A pair of Chiantis teased out the pork flavours; Poliziano 2008, unwooded, 88 (USD 24.75), an area Chianti owned by a Montepulciano-based maker, and Fonterutoli Classico 2007 from near Castellina, deeply rich in colour, probably from a touch of cabernet, oaked, rich in sour cherry to tease out the pork jus.

Mark added a Sicilian touch with a side of baked sardines over currants.

Togninis have run a cheese room for years, and become masters at "fromaggio" from Mark's home province of Lombardia and artisan makers close by.

What came as a surprise was the service detail; cheese by wine pairings, three Italian cheeses from Sicily and Piemonte; wines from Sicily, Piemonte and Romagna-where else!

Testun al Barolo, a semi-firm mix of sheep and goat milk, is aged four months in barrel over nebbiolo grape skins, which stain the surface, giving a fermented grape surface nuance over a crunchy, creamy palate. Paired was Zisola 2007, the Mazzei family's Sicily property making nero d'avola, this bottle very rural smelling and sun-ripe from it's jamminess, 88 (USD 39.75).

Cevrin is a small round goat cheese, 100 g with mountain herbs pressed in (smelt of thyme and oregano to me, but also containing purple flowers). It teamed up with a ripper wine, Vietti Nebbiolo Langhe, a regional bottling from 2006, 90 (USD 52), floral, almondy, gentle but persisting tannins over barley-sugar ripeness, it's acidity brings out the goatiness.

Life is to short to  miss a blue mould cheese. Piemonte's Toma blu, a semi-hard cows cheese, 8 kg round aged in barrels with herbs and spices giving this a piccante flavour with mild blue mould threads.

As it demanded a sweet or fortified wine to match the mould, Romagna-bound Fattoria Zerbina's passito style, rack dried table white albana wine, Arrocco was superb. The 1997, 94, (USD 65 fro 500 ml) has kept a lemon green-gold lustre, etheral apricot nose and delish sweetness which garners enjoyment for blue cheese eaters.

It's a matter of oak-aged sweet wine with a dry finish sweeping up the cheese fat, finishing in a piccante manner with savoury mould bitterness. www.togninis.com including recipes.

 

			Tasmania wine

This week the Tasmanian winemakers came to town: and they were really fab. I cannot go far past saying the memorable varieties were riesling and pinot noir, as well as the increased attention given to the so called high grams of sugar riesling (low alcohol, gritty acid, beautiful sweetness).

The big challenge with the latter is when to drink, and how to drink when the German and other northern hemisphere regions growing riesling have long been branded as only "sweet winemakers" decried by palates loving dry.

But there must be a marketplace for these styles if the number of brands making them increases; and consequently if they gradually decline, then we have the true answer! Sweet  wine selling is always a grind; even for Chateau D'Yquem.

Back on the dry riesling I was encouraged by the great diversity of Tassie styles; not just ripeness, intensity and prettiness, but more so on texture,layers, cleverly integrated acidity (tastes apparently lower), and additional palate length and shape.

Clearly many makers have their eye on food friendliness rather than just plain fruit purity yet that stays the basis of the wine. There were many rieslings with a backbone of support from acidity but not just lime sherbet fruit sweetness, there was more.

And that's why these Tassie dudes should come to Queensland more often; to show how cool and cold climate riesling is just so.... good.

I chose not to taste any sauvignon blancs as they are basically second rate citizens in this classy riesling state, but undoubtedly they sell well. Enough.

Julian Allport from Moores Hill vineyard, a small five hectare one, was very animated as his rieslings have recently been widely recognised as gold and trophy standard (2008; USD 40), and worth a good focus.

He presented his 2009 Riesling (USD 26.50) with great poise, a long backbone of acidity without hardness and good texture, acid steely but still soft to make salivation a simple pastime.

Moores Hill are on the West Tamar highway at Sidmouth.

Three kilometres south of Launceston at Relbia, fourth time vigneron Josef Chromy has built a winery at the foot of his sixty hectare vineyard. The Josef Chromy Riesling 2010 (USD 23) was fresh, spiced not limey, restrained not thin with lucrative acidity and a powerful finish-all with 11.5 percent alcohol.

Further south to the Derwent Valley near Hobart, an original Tasmanian brand, Moorilla established in 1958, has experienced a makeover. And what a revision of image and quality, reducing production back to six thousand cases.

Try the Muse Riesling 2008 (USD 25.50) which is refusing to show its age, just sits in the glass looking restrained, and pale colour, tasting savoury and soft on acidity, quite an achievement for drinkability. And its 13.8 percent alcohol.

Maker Conor van deer Reest leaves this on light yeast chasing textural modification, and he is also happy to leave a little skin extract in at the press, again a mouthfeel tactic.

Then Moorilla Praxis Series Riesling 2008 (USD 22) is still pale green but its nose says a faster advance in age than Muse, though not much. There is some more flavour pressure on the palate, this wine is squarer and richer, slightly contrasting its neighbour, at 13.5 percent alcohol.

So drink up Tasmanian riesling; slurpable, acid friendly, mild mannered and easy match with a plethora of food styles.

Also cheers to the outstanding Bruny Island cheese provided by cheesemaker Nick Haddow; his Lewis goat, hard, natural rind will suit Tassie riesling down to the ground.

www.winetasmania.com.au

		5	De Bortoli Wines, Hunter Valley, wine

The Cowra Wine Show trophy recently for best Single Vineyard Wine went up. Sold to De Bortoli Hunter Valley for their 2004 Murphys Semillon, clearly a major achievement.

Normally the name in the winners' circle for Hunter semillon is Tyrrells or McWilliams or Brokenwood or Meerea Park, but now De Bortoli for this first time.

Ten days earlier De Bortoli winemaker Scott Harrington had made quite an incisive statement during a visit to Brisbane to show his new DBHV (De Bortoli Hunter Valley) retro label around.

"We were releasing semillon every year as it was made. Now we need to release some older examples such as 2004, 2005 and in December our 2006 (11.5% alcohol) will be out ," (USD 31.50) said Scott.

This wine is grown on the sandy soils of Lovedale which have a propensity to produce long aged semillon.

From 2003 De Bortoli had purchased this vineyard of eight hectares and expanded it to 20 hectares. The plantings included new varieties such as vermentino, viognier (white) and negro amaro (red).

The DBHV Field Blend 09 (USD 14) is a classic white under another name. It's simply a classy, crisp, dry, low alcohol competitor to the Kiwi stuff, but it has more attitude and innovation.

Scott says his 2010 blend is 50% semillon, 25% vermentino, 13% verdelho and 12% viognier, all contained below 11 % alcohol.

The 2009 I tasted is semillon, verdelho and vermentino so clearly there is some tidy experimentation going on to get both the impact and vineyard personality working.

The DBHV Vermentino 2008 (USD 14) is quite a smart wine; low alcohol, melony and delectable. In recent vintages it is included in the Field Blend.

The DBHV Nouveau Shiraz 09 (USD 14)  is clearly outstanding. It should not have had the word "Nouveau" attached as Scott admitted because we don't need such a French word attached to what is clearly an Aussie wine made very well.

De Bortoli has started to think outside the traditional square since arriving in the Hunter, and this shows ever so clearly with this wine. Scott says it was originally quite sappy when first made, using early-harvested fruit, lots of whole bunches, but now that the wine is ready for release it has purity, great softness and immediate drinkability.

The DBHV Wills Hill 2008 (USD 36) is a greater extension of the Nouveau wine but barrel aged in a more serious manner. Scott also explains what De Bortoli wish to achieve.

"We want medium bodied wine without the graphite and hard backbone, no hardness or drying out early in the life of the wine. We wish for perfume of the fruit not savouriness, we are happy picking early and then have the means to make wine with detail," he said.

The amazing aspect is this wine was made during the wet 2008 Hunter harvest; many companies ditched their reds due to dilution from the heavy rain during harvest. De Bortoli rescued 30 percent including this fabulous shiraz.

And they had no intention of ditching the crop. Their attitude is, "This is a natural expression of the vineyard and that's what it represents."

So let's look out for more detailed HV shiraz.

www.debortoli.com.au/hunter-valley

 

			Pinot, gris, grigio:, tell, how

Aussies are quite inventive when a vexing question comes up and confusion prevails.

This time the discussion is between what constitutes pinot gris and what is pinot grigio when they are in fact the same grape.

Winemakers and marketers use both labels with quite a lot of leeway such that there is little consumer understanding of what's really in the bottle.

Some drinkers work it out, some don't, some stay confused while others get cranky when the wine expected to be dry, turns out off-dry.

Well what a shambles. That was pre the new PinotG Style Spectrum just starting to be rolled out on back labels of Treasury Wine Estate ranges made from 2010.

Look for it first on the T'Gallant branded pinot gs. The company winemaker, and original pinot g crank, Kevin McCarthy approached the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) in 2007. The AWRI is this country's world class site of wine industry-led research.

The AWRI together with a commercial partner has built a machine which can identify fake wine. Or more precisely, without removing cork/screw cap, an operator can direct an x-ray beam of light through the bottle to take a fingerprint. Bottles from the same batch without that fingerprint are obviously fake.

Using this instrument AWRI staff took on board Kevin's request by testing hundreds of bottles of world-wide pinot grigio/gris. Afterwards the same wines were sent to a taste panel who profiled each wine; in particular determining the sweetness, texture, alcohol and cleverly separated the gris from the grigio without knowing the label identity.

AWRI mathematicians then calibrated the instrument so that any additional gris/grigio as with T'Gallant's 2010 wines which can be measured on texture type from crisp to luscious.

You see there is a trademarked scale included on the back label of wines adopting the PinotG Style Spectrum from this year.

The thin, acidic, lower alcohol, unwooded, razor-sharp types will be at the left of the scale (crisp) while the rich, high alcohol, oaked, heavy extract, oily styles will be at the right, termed luscious.

Sweetness for the crisp types is 0-2 g/l sugar up to 10 g/l for luscious. It does not include dessert style wines.

There is also an international sweetness scale appearing for riesling wines as a result of some inter-continental collaboration by riesling makers.

I spied one on Peter Lehmann Dry Riesling 2009 from Eden Valley.

So future drinking generations will have silent wine assistance from these scales.

		1	Langmeil:, ancient, Barossa, vines

Paul Lindner from Langmeil in Tanunda called through last week. He happened to have a string of Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz that he and his family had made back to 1997 since inception. And starting with the current 2008 (USD 17.50) wine.

The Langmeil winery had been purchased by the Lindner family et al (cousins Carl and Richard Lindner, and brother-in-law Chris Bitter) back in 1996. It had traded previously as Bernkastel and previously to that Paradale, built back in 1932 when wine was a rare commodity.

However the attraction to the Langmeil group was the two hectares of old vine shiraz (Freedom Block), found to have been planted in 1843 and therefore Australia's oldest producing shiraz. It was planted by Christian Auricht, what a pioneer.

Langmeil means "The Long Mile" in Barossan German and this small hamlet formed part of Tanunda town in past eras. It supported such quaint businesses as blacksmiths and cobblers.

A new housing estate named Langmeil there recently included several hundred century-old vines which were about to be grubbed for the development. Langmeil transplanted them to a site on their winery for posterity.

So Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz 2008-1997; shows how generous Barossa shiraz can be, and in this case the wines held their fruit stage (juicy flavours, black fruits, mocha etc) for 5-7 years before descending into the second phase of maturity (earth, beefy, prune, leather and similar flavours) which is aged shiraz.

Paul remarked that for his early days of their Barossa shiraz making, supply came from six local growers, but now that is 30 sites. American oak is a feature of this style, aged two years in barrel before bottling.

Langmeil have made it a particular interest to source grapes from very old vineyards; 50, 60, 80 and over 100 years-old. The range of wines offered is known as Old Vine Garden Wines, named very traditionally yet with simple intentions.

The Fifth Wave Grenache 2008 91 (USD 26) is sweet smelling but not of oak, just ripeness, picked before the summer heatwave, has chalky soft tannins and is very drinkable.

The Jackaman's Cabernet 2008 90 (USD 43.50) is rich and ultra-ripe, one of those chocolate styles where high ripeness and varietal flavour intermingle.

Orphan Bank 2008 90 (USD 43.50) is an old vine shiraz which includes the transplanted vines, very closed wine, quite elgant in its tannins and suggesting it will take time to show its full maturity.

The Freedom 1843 2008 94 (USD 87) is nicely forward on the nose, shows charriness from 60 percent new French oak use, then good shiraz silkiness and lots of red fruit flavour.

Langmeil has 25 hectares under their careful eye but are finely tuned to understand the vagaries of old vineyards, and class shows in the glass.