Winestate Magazine

IT HAS BEEN A FASCINATING, BUT IN SOME CASES, DISTURBING YEAR. We are still experiencing the fallout of the past two covid years. Many have done well on the stock market and the high growth real estate market, and many have saved money from being locked down, or just hibernating, at home. These people are now spending, but with inflation rising I wonder for how long. Unfortunately, those in hospitality and the wine industry have generally not done so well. The former, in addition to suffering from the lockdowns and covid protocols, are now suffering from a lack of staff to build the critical mass of having enough staff to cater to enough seats to make a profit. A very strange situation that is unsustainable in the present form. Wineries…

SIMPLY CIDER THERE are plenty of non- and low-alcohol wines and beers in the marketplace - and now there is a new cider offering. Willie Smith's, the organic producers in the Huon Valley in the deep south of Tasmania, recently released their non-alcoholic cider - but are adamant it is not just apple juice. Retailing for $55 for a case of 16 cans, the Willie Smith's team says the new cider has been "years in the making but kept under wraps until now". They say is it is "refined, refreshing and crafted to be more than just sparkling apple juice". It is made from 100% Tasmanian apples using seasonal heirloom varieties plus Pink Lady, Fuji, and Royal Gala apples. It comes with no added sugar and is gluten free. See www.williesmiths.com.au. BEAUTIFUL BEAUNE’S NEWEST ADDITION BEAUNE, the…

ON the white wine front, France’s Bordeaux is renowned for its luscious, sweet sauternes wines; some refined, complex, often oak-aged, dry whites, notably from Graves and Pessac-Léognan, as well as some typically good value fresh and primary-fruited whites, often from sauvignon blanc, at the ‘everyday, early-drinking’ end of the market. In all, roughly 10% of Bordeaux is planted to white varieties, almost exclusively to semillon and sauvignon blanc. The solely-sweet, Sauternes appellation comprises nearly 2,000ha, shy of 2% of the total Bordeaux vineyard area. This is roughly the vineyard area of Eden Valley, in South Australia. Yes, sauternes can be a delicious, sweet treat. But this is part of its challenge – folk typically are no longer regularly drinking sweet wines. Consumer tastes evolve. Selling sauternes has become an increasingly tough…

DECIDING what wines to collect is ladened with a labyrinth of decisions and I often see rash choices made in what to purchase. One common error, in my opinion, is only purchasing wines you like! That might sound counter intuitive, but I make this statement on the assumption that wine is bought to be shared. You might shudder at the thought of purchasing an aromatic sauvignon blanc, but it is a popular wine for many people. I also believe wines in a cellar should be ‘on call’ to match an array of food types. If you are like me, and love exploring cuisines, then your choice of wines needs to be reasonably eclectic. When you stock the cellar with only a small number of grape varieties or styles then you…

SINGAPORE has re-bounded strongly as a tourist destination following the Covid-19 pandemic. By the end of 2022, between four and six million visitors were expected to take a break in the Lion City. Australia was one of the top five international markets, which account for 56 per cent of cross-border visitor arrivals. I always make straight for Raffles even when I am not staying there. Re-opened in 2019 after a multimillion renovation, the grande dame of Singapore hotels still provides a time warp back to the 19th century in a city as modern as it gets. No matter how many times you have visited the island state, quaffing a Singapore Sling in the iconic Long Bar is a rite of passage. I appreciate high tech attractions such as the ArtScience Museum, the…

ATTRIBUTING human characteristics to the forces of nature is sometimes irresistible, and to many winegrowers in south-eastern Australia, the latest manifestation of La Nina seemed at times to be capricious and, on occasion, downright vindictive. Following on the back of the bumper vintage of 2021, the growing season leading up to 2022 saw many wine regions subjected to buffeting winds, relentless rain and damaging hailstorms. Damage to vines at early stages of growth was frequently succeeded by waves of disease: poor fruit-set, loss of crops and consequent reductions in volumes were widespread, and in some cases drastic. Although down only a couple of per cent on the 10-year average, the total volume of the vintage at 1.73 million tonnes represented a fall of 13.5 per cent from last year’s record crush…