The Grapevine Newsletter of the Wine Gu i ld of SA (Inc)

www.wineguildsa.com

Volume 121 March 2011 Editor: Roger King

This edition of the Newsletter is the first using a

commercial printer. I’d like to place on record The

Guild’s sincere appreciation of the efforts of Pete

Rawlins who has printed the Newsletter at no cost to

Guild for a number of years. Ed

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

hat a great attendance of 45 members for our last function – a Theme Tasting focussed on some

specific sensory characteristics of wine led by Leigh Francis from the Australian Wine Research Institute. This shows clearly how serious we are in our desire to learn more about wine. There is no doubt it was a “great value” day!

We have received great positive feedback from members and there are a number of people to thank for the very successful day. Firstly, a big “Thank You” to Leigh and Melissa Francis. Leigh, in his characteristic informal yet informative style made sure no-one left without having learnt something on the day. In fact I think most, including myself, left having learnt at lot!! Also our thanks go to Melissa whose contribution was unobtrusive but essential to the smooth running of the day. Secondly to Cameron Best who put a tremendous effort into organising the day. Finally, thanks to Pete Rawlins who again provided a terrific centrally located venue. Once again Adelaide Hills Caterers provided a hearty meal. A full report is elsewhere in the Newsletter.

On the day it was indeed a pleasure to present badges to our latest members, Tom and Maureen Olthoff (left). We trust your membership will be long, informative and, most importantly, enjoyable!!

Our next function is a tasting of wines from the Pawn Wine Company led by Tom Keelan at the picturesque Glen Ewin Estate, Houghton. At $30 per person this represents great value. Please note we need RSVPs by 4pm on Friday 1st April. Also start time is 11:30am

NOT our usual 11:00am. Full details are elsewhere in the Newsletter. Looking forward to seeing you at Glen Ewin Estate.

Roger King

NEXT FUNCTION

ur next function will be a tasting of wines from a boutique winery, the Pawn Wine Company, at Glen

Ewin Estate, Houghton. Glen Ewin was one of the earliest vineyards in South Australia with the first vines of Frontignac, Black Hambro' and Roussillon planted in about 1845. However in 1891 winemaking ceased due to George McEwin's religious concerns regarding the morality of the enterprise and thereafter effort was concentrated on the product for which the property became best known - Glen Ewin jams.

In some regards Glen Ewin Estate has gone full circle as it now acts as the Cellar Door for a dozen or so Adelaide Hills wineries (see

http://www. Glenewinestate.com

.au/cellardoor.htm for more information). One of these is the Pawn Wine Company whose motto is “Small Company, Big Wines”. The Pawn team consists of Viticulturist and Winemaker, Tom Keelan, Vigneron, David Blows, Winemaker, Rebecca Willson and European trained Cordon Bleu, Vanessa Blows. Tom and Rebecca (one of Andrew Yap’s students) should be well known from their respective roles at the highly regarded Bremerton Wines at Langhorne Creek which our Guild visited a few years ago. To quote the Pawn Wine Company website (www. thepawn.com.au, which has won a number of awards): “The Pawn had its beginning in

2002 as a "once" off

experiment between viti-

culturist & winemaker Tom

Keelan and vigneron David

Blows. They had a craving to

make into wine a small parcel

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of Petit Verdot from their Springhill Vineyards in

Macclesfield. This wine was originally for their own

consumption as both were self proclaimed aficionados of

this variety. The pair had become perturbed and jaded

that certain grape varieties were being used as blending

tools by the bigger wine companies and that the

potential of alternative wine styles wasn't being allowed

to shine within the wine industry. The resultant first

vintage was a "cracker of a wine" and suggested to them

that an opportunity existed to develop a wine range

which rebelled against the corporate players of the wine

industry. Tom and David began to identify idyllic

viticultural sites

and hand selected

parcels of fruit

within the

Adelaide Hills and

Langhorne Creek

to produce wines

that were not only

a bit un-

conventional, but

enjoyable to drink, incredibly food friendly, and made in

a style that reflects their true origins – the ultimate in

hand crafted wine.

With the ever increasing centralisation of the wine

industry, we, like you, could be forgiven for thinking we

were all just pawns in the big wine company game. The

release of the Pawn is a manifestation of our resolve to

amend this situation by releasing wines hand crafted

from small parcels of premium fruit from our Langhorne

Creek and Adelaide Hills Vineyards."

With this philosophy as their goal the Pawn team have

embarked on producing hand crafted wines from

varieties such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Viognier, Petit

Verdot, Pinot Grigio, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc.” Returning to what we have in store for you, the day will begin with a tasting of a selection of Pawn Wine Company wines led by Tom Keelan on the Lower Deck overlooking The Lake. This will be followed by a relaxing casual lunch of dips, gourmet pizzas cheese platters and cake. What more could we ask for!!

Roger King

LAST FUNCTION REPORT

ur function for the wine education/tasting was

certainly well supported, with 45 in attendance. The School’s Activity Room again gave us flexibility to bring in Adelaide Hills Caterer whose food keeps impressing, as most agreed on the day.

We were privileged once more to have Leigh Francis (above right) from the AWRI (Australian Wine Research Institute) and his wife Melissa lead us through a selection of three White

Wines and three Red Wines. Leigh pointed out the AWRI is financially supported by Australian Wine Growers and Winemakers through their investment body the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, with matching funds from the Australian Government. The primary objective of this year’s Theme Tasting was to educate us about the keenest sense we have, the sense of “smell”. Now I know not everyone would know we have a gland across the bridge of our nose and running along the top of our mouth called the Olfactory Bulb but this little gem gives us the information to allow us to enjoy or turn our nose up (so to speak), depending on the volatile (smell) that is emitted from the wine. Leigh put together a great format for the day. Each of the six wines was selected to display a particular sensory characteristic on the nose, such as “kerosene”, “pepper”, “tropical fruit”, “eucalyptus” etc. Leigh brought solutions of various chemical substances that wine scientists such as Leigh know are predominantly responsible for a particular character. One-by-one Leigh applied these solutions to paper strips (similar to those used by

perfumers) and each member smelled the paper and tried to identify what the smell was. In some cases it seemed to be indentified by most, whereas for others there was a range of opinions.

Leigh then identified the predominant aromas such as kerosene as mentioned above. After the first series was complete we tasted the three white wines and Leigh described the predominant character each should display (for example kerosene for the 2004 Riesling – see below). In a similar fashion we worked through aromas typically associated with red wines, such as pepper, followed by a tasting of these wines. Leigh explained there are various sources of the aromas and the chemical substances responsible and these are summarised below:

Fermentation of the wine is one of the sources of

volatiles (smells) known as:-

• Esters - fruity aromas – banana, pineapple • Methoxypyrazines aromas - green aromas-beans,

capsicum, asparagus, earthy, potato • Fatty Acid aromas - sweat, rancid cheese, vomit,

pungent , vinegar

Yeast type and amount influence volatiles known as:-

• Fruity thiol aromas - passionfruit, cat pee, sweaty body

• Monoterpene aromas - floral, rose, lime • Lactone aromas - peach, caramel, spice, coconut,

curry

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There are also compounds (smells) derived from the

grape itself:-

• Norisoprenoids aroma - raspberry, violets, berry • Cineole - Eucalyptol - eucalyptus, mint, camphor • Rotundone aroma - pepper • Oak lactone aroma - coconut, vanilla • Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeast aroma - bandaids,

leather

Concentration of esters in wine is influenced by four

main factors

• Berry maturity • Climate • Fruit exposure • Skin contact during winemaking

White wines tasted

The first of our three white wines was a 2010 Catalina Sounds Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region in New Zealand. Influenced by fermentation derived Esters it had green bean /capsicum /tropical fruit aromas that dominate the New Zealand region. Leigh mentioned that laboratory analysis of Sauvignon

Blanc wines from around the world showed that, in general, NZ wines were particular high in the substances responsible for these aromas. The second white wine was a 2009 Deadmans Hill Delatite Gewürztraminer from Victoria. Influenced by yeast derived thiols it had Rose / Turkish Delight aromas that was a favourite with the ladies. The third white wine was a 2004 Peter Lehman Wigan Riesling; while pleasant on the palate, this wine had aromas of kerosene/cleaning fluid on the nose and did turn up few noses in the room.

Red wines tasted

The first of the three red wines was a 2007 Jacobs Creek St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon from the Coonawarra region. Influenced by grape-derived aroma compounds this wine had characters of berry/ raspberry/violets, very pleasant on the nose. The second red wine was a 2007 Craggy Range Syrah (Shiraz) Block 14 from New Zealand. The compounds here were also grape-derived, with mint /camphor/ eucalyptus dominating. The third red wine was a 2008 Grant Burge Filsell Old Vine Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. The principal aroma here was pepper, a grape-derived compound. Again very pleasant to taste and a favourite with the gentlemen. To sum up, all six wines were very enjoyable to drink, proving that “smell” doesn’t always indicate a good or bad

wine. As always, it’s the individual that decides if he or she enjoys what a wine has to offer on the nose and/or the palate. Again we were very privileged to have Leigh Francis take us through six remarkable wines while sharing their attributes “on the nose”. As some members commented on the day “this is an experience” to be a part of an event to help us understand not only the scientific basis of wine making, but allowing us to be “aware” of one of our senses when we sit back and enjoy our individual taste for wine. Finally a big thank you to Cameron Best for organising the day and our guests Leigh and Melissa Francis for educating our senses.

Philip Harris

2011 WEEKEND AWAY - THE

GRAMPIANS 4th-7th MARCH

riday 4th March, and after months of planning our Grampians

Wineries Tour was finally happening for 25 members!! As we left Adelaide the sky was cloudy, but by midday the sun was shining brightly. Saturday was a beautiful day and Sunday was even better, with a maximum of 28ºC!

The Grampians Wine Region is one of the most

significant, historical and acclaimed wine regions in the country. Vines were first planted at Bests and Seppelts in the mid 1860s

and as they prospered, others have joined them.

Late afternoon on Friday we began gathering in Roger and Joan’s unit for drinks and a chat before moving on to a casual BYO BBQ on one of the many nearby grassed

areas at the Parkgate. There was no shortage of wildlife to keep us company! Kookaburras feasted on the many locusts and kangaroos greeted us in the

morning, with some even boxing to amuse us.

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Saturday

ur visits on Saturday were to Seppelt, Grampians Estate and Bests all situated around the town of

Great Western, approximately 40km by road from Halls Gap.

fter a very dedicated ‘wine tasting and education session’ on Friday night we all gathered at ‘Chateau

Jo-Rog’ (Unit 7) at 10.00am.

Travelling independently a rendezvous was planned at the Seppelt Great Western in the ‘Shaft House’ for the “Drives Tour and Tasting”.

Our guide for the tour, Chandra, introduced herself and gave a brief history of Seppelt Great Western and the Winery.

The first plantings and the winery were established by Joseph and Henry Best, local butchers. Henry left to start Best’s Winery at Great Western in 1866. Joseph Best met a

premature end in 1887 as a result of a horse riding accident. (There are various versions of this incident).

In 1888 Hans Irvine purchased the winery and travelled to France to learn winemaking. Subsequently he met Benno Seppelt to whom the winery was sold in 1918. Southgate became the new owners in 2002.

The original tunnel was dug in 1855 by unemployed local gold miners, the Shaft House was the only entrance and there six ground level air vents. Originally the only entrance to the tunnels was via a pulley system. The tunnels are now ‘Heritage Listed’.

We went from the ‘Shaft House’ past the original wine maker’s residence, ‘Vine Lodge’ to the main winery building. The original winery area is now used as a Chapel for Weddings. In this area were a number of 5000 litre barrels made in 1918 and many more of 220 litre, all French oak.

We then moved to what is now known as the ‘1982 Cellar’ which still contains a large number of barrels and is currently used as a reception area.

Chandra, who is also a winemaker, explained that there are four methods used for making sparkling wine.

The premium method is ‘Méthode Champenoise’. The grapes are picked in late January at 10 Baumé, fermented for 7 days in barrels, yeast and sugar added and bottled with crown seals. The wine usually sits on ‘lees’ between six months and three years and the bottles ‘riddled’ period-

ically. At the end of the time on lees they are ‘disgorged’ and resealed. Prior to 1995 the process was done by traditional methods but changed to the ‘German Transfer’ method. Cheaper wines are produced by carbonation.

We then went down a long ramp to the cellar tunnels or “Drives”. The walls were covered in a very thick black mould. This was said to have been introduced from brandy barrels imported from France. The tunnels can hold 3 million bottles and there are 3000 metres of drives. Interestingly Hans Irvine was the first to produce a Sparkling Shiraz in Australia in 1890.

The final stop was back upstairs in the wine tasting area. We enjoyed a wide range of fine wines and I can certainly recommend a visit, and in particular the guided tour.

Neil Sullivan

rrangements had been made to have lunch and tastings at a

boutique winery, ‘Grampians Estate’ on Saturday. On arrival we were

very warmly greeted by our hosts Sarah and Tom Guthrie who had been very helpful in setting up the Wine Guild’s Grampians tour. This winery was established in 1989 and produces a range of red and white wines. They are especially proud of their

Shiraz, justifiably so, I might add.

Among wines we tasted were a pinot noir, several Shiraz and two fortified. One of their flagship wines is the ‘St. Ethel’s Shiraz’, the 2006 vintage winning Winestate Magazine’s Annual ‘Wine of the Year Award’ for top Victorian Shiraz.. We had a vertical tasting of the 2006 and the 2008, both very full bodied and exhibiting true Shiraz characteristics. We also tasted a ‘Streeton Reserve 2007 Shiraz’ again of very high quality with very strong fruit. Indeed a privilege was the 2003 ‘Streeton’. Unfortunately not available for sale.

After the Victorian ‘Black Sunday’ Bushfires, Grampians Estates, like many other wineries, suffered from a loss of harvest from their vineyards. Country people being what they are, fruit was donated by other growers to enable a vintage. The wine produced, ‘2006 Black Sunday Friends Reserve Shiraz’ was of a very high quality, and was given a very high 96 by Halliday. Among other wines available are Chardonnay’s, a Rosé and Sparklings.

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The lunch served, using all local produce was very well received and much appreciated by Guild members. After lunch, our hosts were presented with a bottle of the Wine Guild’s 18 year old port as a way of saying thanks to Sarah and Tom for their generous hospitality and the opportunity to try their high quality wine.

Neil Sullivan

aturday afternoon was spent in the company of Viv Thomson at Best’s

Great Western winery. The Thomson family have owned the Best’s winery since

1920 and are only the second family to do so. Viv (fourth generation Thomson - right) is in “semi-retirement” but that did not stop him giving up his time to present a fantastic potted history of the winery, tour of the cellars and extensive tasting of the family’s wines.

We started our tour in the Concongella Nursery block vineyard which contains about 40 red and white wine

grape varieties, some of which are unidentified. This collection of vines, planted as early as 1866, is believed to be the most extensive pre-phylloxera plantings in Australia and possibly the

world. Viv made the comment that it was a “financial disaster but a historical goldmine”!

We continued our tour into the Stables, an old red gum slab building, now serving as the cellar door outlet but which is sitting on top of the underground cellars, These were dug by hand and probably horse-drawn scoops soon after the vineyard was planted. It is believed that the

large casks situated downstairs were assembled in-situ. The cellar stores a lot of the aging wines which are now made at Best’s, but the accent at this winery is almost entirely on table wines, with no fortified

wines being made at Great Western. The decision has been made to reduce the amount of wines kept for long periods (20-30 years) as it is “too hard to market great old wines in Australia”,

We then moved on to the newer part of the winery with all the modern facilities including a bottling line. This equipment allows Best’s to keep production costs down by concentrating on local wines in order to compete on the low cost wines. Best’s and Seppelts were the only wineries in the Great Western region in the 1940’s and remained isolated until the 60’s when other wine makers recognised the potential of the area. Viv

mentioned that although the winery had modern facilities that they were moving back to a lot more “hands on” work such as hand-picking and plunging to impart their own style into the wines. As is the case with most wineries in the area, this year’s vintage is late, with pinot picking still about 2 weeks away from ready at the time of our visit, and shiraz 3-4 weeks.

Talk continued on topics such as water being the make-or-break issue for most wineries in the Grampians, the state of Chardonnay as a white wine choice, and the problems arising from the very wet winter and late summer rains. But Viv had prepared a long table to which we were invited to try a selection of Best’s wines, starting with the 2009 Chardonnay. This wine had eight months in the barrel, prior to bottling in October, and was a long way from the over-wooded whites of a few years ago – a clean wine with a trace of fruit and pleasant mouth-feel. We then sampled the 2010 Riesling, which had been deliberately made with a touch of residual sugar (a little like the traditional German style Rieslings) and compared it to a 2000 Riesling (under cork) from the Best’s cellar. This was a stunner. As a lover of aged Riesling I was surprised at the freshness of this wine, just starting to show its age characteristics, but still with some life to live – a beauty! The other end of the table got a bottle that was showing some oxidation – bad luck down that end.

By now Viv was bringing out the reds and we first tried the 2010 Nursery Block Red, which is made from a blend of all the red wine grapes in the Nursery block plantings referred to earlier. This was

followed by 2010 Pinot Noir (this was fantastic – I bought some –and I don’t usually even like this variety!) and 2009 Cab Sav. We were then fortunate enough to taste two wines from the Best’s Icon range, the Great Western ‘98 and the 2008 Bin No.0 Shiraz. The ’98 was beautifully aged but still had some hints of floral/fruit overtones and this served to show us how the 2008 could develop. It was a wonderful fruit driven wine with the right balance of acid and tannin to age gracefully - a fabulous example of a Grampian Shiraz.

Two other comments made by Viv as we went through the day illustrated his approach to the business. He said, “the main reason we make pinot, is because I like to drink it”. He is obviously a person who has enough passion for his job that he is inclined to do what pleases him rather than to be solely driven by market forces. The second comment (which bodes well for us as a Guild, and anybody else who are truly interested in learning about wines and the industry) was that he regarded our visit and the tasting “not as a fundraising exercise but as an educational process”. As long as there are vignerons like Viv and

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others who are prepared to spend their time educating and enthusing us about their passion in life, then the future of wine making in Oz is bright.

Paul Rogers Sunday

unday saw us visit two wineries in the Ararat region about 50km from Halls Gap – Montara in

the morning and Mt Langi Ghiran in the afternoon. Lunch was at the Red Poppy Bistro, Ararat RSL.

The day commenced with a drive from Halls Gap through Pomonal, Moysten (and millions of locusts) to Montara Winery at Ararat. On

arrival we were met by Chief Winemaker Leigh Clarnette and four legged canine companion Maximus.

Montara Vineyard was established in 1970 by the McRae family on the eastern slopes of Mount Chalambar. In 2006 the Stapleton family purchased the vineyard and surrounding property and appointed Leigh Clarnette Chief Winemaker (above). The vineyard and winery have glorious views with rolling foothills in the foreground leading on to the distant Pyrenees mountain range. The total vineyard area under vine today is almost 19ha.

After admiring the breath-taking views from the cellar door, we walked through the vineyards to the winery where Leigh organized a

tasting of the following wines:

• 2010 Riesling (will not be labelled or released until 2009 vintage is sold out)

• 2009 Riesling not released yet • 2009 Chardonnay not released yet (Montara have

decided to discontinue this wine due to market effect of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc).

• 2008 Chardonnay • 2010 Pinot Noir not released yet • 2009 Pinot Noir • 2008 Pinot Noir • 2009 Shiraz not released yet • 2008 Shiraz 3 gold medals • 2007 Shiraz, blue gold in Sydney wine show, was in

top 5% of the top 5% • 2008 unnamed for China market - Pièce-de-

résistance

Everyone agreed we were privileged to taste such a uniformly impressive flight of wines.

A climb back up the hill to Cellar Door, saw many purchases, and a group photo taken, before the journey into Ararat, and the Red Poppy Bistro for lunch.

Pauline & Brian Longford

t Langi Ghiran vineyards are located in a spectacular setting, at an elevation of 350 metres, situated at

the base of the 540 metre cliff face of Mount Langi Ghiran. In 1996 the winery purchased another property on the well protected northern slope of Mount Langi Ghiran which is known as the "Hollows Vineyard". Together with the original vineyards the total area under vine is 225 acres. The company takes pride it its shiraz and they have three

tiers – Billi Billi, Cliff Edge and Mount Langi Ghiran. .Prices ranged from the under $20 to $85 Our tasting here was casual, with members selecting what they wanted to taste from the range on offer. After such a comprehensive tasting at Montara in the morning, perhaps this was just as well!! We were privileged to be able to taste the 2006 and 2007 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz that are not usually available for tasting at the Cellar Door. The wines on offer were:

• 2008 Cliff Edge Pinot Gris • 2008 Cliff Edge Riesling • 2008 Bradach Pinot Noir (single vineyard) • 2006 Nut Tree Sangiovese • 2005 Nowhere Creek Shiraz (single vineyard) • 2006 Moyston Hills Shiraz (single vineyard) • 2005 Cliff Edge Shiraz • 2005 Langi Cabernet • 2006 Mount Ghiran Shiraz • 2007 Mount Ghiran Shiraz • NV Tawny Port

Tea on Sunday was at the Halls Gap Hotel, a short distance from the Parkgate. In fact some were keen enough to walk there and back! The hotel was modern and the service efficient. In

fact it was efficient enough that there was time for those who wanted to reconvene at the Parkgate for a final get-together under a clear starlit sky. Jonathan Carroll was even able to give us a lesson on the constellation Orion! As we dispersed to our various accommodations we all agreed it had been a great weekend and another weekend away should definitely be planned in the next 1-2 years.

Roger King

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WINE NEWS

his section of the newsletter contains snippets of recent news and other information relating to wine and the

wine industry. Should you require more information about any story and/or its source, please contact Andrew Yap at wineeducator@ozemail .com.au.

Australian Wine Production in 2009-2010 n our last newsletter I reported that Australia exported 789 million litres of wine in 2009-2010, worth $2.17

billion. In the same year, domestic consumption was 471 million litres, worth $2.1 billion. Here are some figures on grape and wine production for the same year. The total grape crush was 1.6 million tonnes, down by 7.5% on the previous year. There were 152,000 hectares of bearing vineyards with average yield of 10.1 tonnes per hectare. The crush produced 1.1 billion litres of beverage wine (56% reds). SA was the biggest producer (43% of the national wine crush), following by NSW, Victoria, WA, Qld, Tasmania, ACT and NT. The 13 largest wine companies crushed a total of 1.2 million tonnes of grapes (72% of the total crush), averaging about 89,000 tonnes each. The 95 smallest winemakers accounted for only 0.7% of all grapes crushed and averaged 120 tonnes each.

Wine production in USA and California in 2010 n contrast to Australia’s crush of 1.6 M tons, California (CA) crushed 3.58 million tons of wine grapes in 2010,

down 3% from the 2009 crush of 4.09 M tons. CA is the 4th largest wine producer in the world and makes about 90% of the entire American wine production. There were 6,223 wineries in the USA in November 2010, made up of 5,304 bonded wineries and 919 “virtual wineries”. California had 3,047 wineries (49%), followed in descending order by Washington with 564 wineries, Oregon 453, New York 229, Virginia 163, Texas 157, Pennsylvania 141, Ohio 120, Michigan 104 and North Carolina 101. While wineries have existed in all 50 states for some time, only the above states have over 100 wineries each. Canada has a total of 364 wineries, with British Columbia and Ontario home to the greatest number of wineries. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed in CA, at 2.04 M tons (note: larger than Australia’s entire crush). The 2010 white wine variety crush totalled 1.53 M tons. Roughly 20 percent (1 in 5 bottles) of CA wine is sold in other countries. E & J Gallo is the largest wine company (family-owned) in CA (and the world), crushing more than 500,000 tons of grapes alone at their largest winery in Central Valley. I have been privileged to spend some time carrying out trials at this winery and their other CA wineries.

Decanter magazine readers urged to drink Australian Chardonnay wines

he March issue of Decanter magazine reported that Pierre Mansour, buyer of Australian wines for the UK

wine merchant, The Wine Society, had urged Decanter readers to look to Australia for Chardonnay wines, as ‘these wines are brilliant’ in comparison to France’s (white) Burgundy, ‘with the [premature oxidation] issues ….. in recent years’. The panel tasted 116 wines from the 2007, 08 and 09 vintages from the cool-climate regions of Eden Valley, Margaret River, Tumbarumba, Beechworth, Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula,

Geelong, Tasmania and Hunter Valley. The panel found fine Australian Chardonnay has never been in better form and praised the freshness and restraint of the wines, their structural complexity, their handling of oak and alcohol, and the winemakers’ ‘conscious reining-back to show the quality of the fruit and terroir.’ Three out of the five Award winners were from Margaret River, while Mornington Peninsula, Tasmania and Tumbarumba in New South Wales garnered high praise. The panel found some of the Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley wines rather too ‘lean and serious’ and lacking ‘flair’. The five Decanter Awards were:

Bird in Hand, Nest Egg, Adelaide Hills 2008. 'Lovely rich aromatics of smoky oak, nuts, praline…’

Giaconda, Beechworth, Victoria 2008. 'Fine-crafted aroma of nutty butterscotch...'

Killerby, Margaret River, WA 2009. 'Wow! Aromas of exotic fig, melon, nuts, beeswax...'

Evans & Tate, Margaret River WA 2009. 'Lovely, complex, refined aroma of honey, delicate wild flowers...'

Stella Bella, Margaret River WA 2008. 'A complex bouquet of honey, minerals, petits pois...'

Fake wines on the rise in Hong Kong and China ith its culture of liquor that has lasted for thousands of years, China is seeing more people in mainland

China and Hong Kong converting to drinking grape wine. The international wine industry is watching the rapidly growing Chinese market intently. It is now the world's seventh largest consumer of grape wine in terms of volume and likely to become the sixth largest by 2014. In 2009, the consumption of grape wine in China stood at nearly 1.16 billion bottles, up 104 percent from 2005. In the same year, China’s own production reached 864 million bottles; however the quality is inferior to imported wines. China’s wine production is growing rapidly and could overtake Australia in the next three years. China is Australia's fourth biggest wine export market. Sales have grown from $20.5 million in 2005 to $122 million in 2010 and are expected to increase by another 50 per cent to more than $200 million this year. Australia has landed 2.3 million bottles and 23.5 million litres of bulk wine in China. The excess of demand over supply in China for exceptional wines has fuelled the market in faked bottles of French, Australian, New Zealand, Californian and Canadian wines. Most wines are drunk at lavish private banquets where the fakes often go unnoticed or at least unremarked upon, as in Chinese culture it would be unthinkable to raise questions about the quality of the host's wine. The fakes have been promoted and sold as quality wines in shops and trade fairs throughout the country. Perhaps the highest-profile Australian casualty so far has been Penfolds, maker of Grange. Wines labelled "Benfolds" and claiming to be Australian were seen at a trade fair in China, where the stall and its promotional material looked highly "proprietorial". It even displayed pictures of Penfolds’ Grange winemaker, Peter Gago. One small Australian wine producer from the southern Flinders Ranges was one of the earliest victims of the Chinese counterfeiters. The China Wines Information website states that more than 50 percent of wines imported into Shanghai are fake, and 40 percent of Chinese wines sold there are also counterfeit. Simon Tam - a noted wine connoisseur and the founder of Hong Kong's Independent Wine Centre went public recently with his concerns about the growing threat fake wine has on the Chinese market (Simon is a Wine Marketing graduate of Roseworthy Agricultural College.)

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He has been quoted in the local press as saying friends of his had been offered as much as HK$10,000 (€936) for an empty bottle of Chateau Lafite 1982. Apparently the bottles are then filled with ordinary wine and offered on the market for a knockdown HK$40,000 (€3,700) - down from the average price of HK$100,000 (€9,400 going for that vintage. Now waiters at fine wine tastings have been instructed to smash all bottles as they become empty. Hong Kong's most famous case of wine fakery happened in 2001 when 30 bottles of 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild - selling for HK$5,000 (€468) per bottle at the time - were found to contain wine that retailed for HK$160 (€15) a bottle. Canadian winemakers have been crying foul over large amounts of counterfeit Canadian ice wine for sale on Chinese store shelves. One importer estimates that 80 percent of ice wine sold in China is fake. The genuine product costs about $US180-200 and is regarded as a prestigious gift by the Chinese. Canadian ice wine (and German Eiswein) is a sweet wine made by picking grapes when they are frozen, which concentrates the sugars, and has grown very popular in China over the past decade. To make fake ice wine counterfeiters simply mix water, sugar and honey in a bottle. Slightly more sophisticated examples are made from white table wine with sugar added, while others are legitimate wines from late-harvest wines, but not frozen – such wines being much cheaper than genuine ice wines. Many forgers simply cut imported bulk ice wine with water and sugar, a practice which creates a potential health catastrophe if potentially hazardous chemicals are added. Several wineries have been shut down and bottles pulled from shelves in China after authorities found wines containing several chemical additives. Most fakes are not forgeries of existing labels, but made-up brands, indistinguishable to consumers from the names of famous brands.

Wine Tasting Presented by Tom Keelan

The Pawn Wine Company

at

Glen Ewin Estate Lower Hermitage Road

Houghton

Ref H9, Gregory’s Map 133

11:30 am Sunday 10 April 2011 No BYO please

Some wine to have with lunch will be supplied by Th e Guild

Additional wine will be available for purchase from the Cellar Door

Lunch Menu Selection of Dips served with oven-baked herbed pita triangles

Olives marinated in turmeric and lemon oil seasoned with mixed herbs

Selection of delicious Gourmet Pizzas (including vegetarian)

Cheese platters served with dried fruit, Willabrand Fig, Fennel & Chilli Chutney, marinated herbed olives, fresh slice pear, water crackers and lavosh

Selection of Cakes & Tarts

$30 members $35 non members

RSVP to Paul Rogers by 4pm Friday 1 April 2011

X Glen Ewin Estate

FUNCTIONS FOR 2010-11

Date Function

10 April 2011 Wine Tasting, Pawn Wine Company, Glen Ewin Estate

19 June 2011 Wine Tasting – Koppamurra Wines

14 August 2011 Annual General Meeting

16 October 2011 Winery Technical Tour – Region to be advised

ACCEPTANCE SLIP

Tasting of Pawn Wine Company Wines, Glen Ewin Estate, Houghton

First Name(s)……………………………………………………Surname(s)………………………………………………….

No. of Members attending @ $30 Amount $ _________

No. of Guests attending @ $35 Amount $ _________

Please forward to: Paul Rogers, PO Box 153 Summertown, 5141 by 4pm Friday 1 April 2011. Make cheques and

Money Orders payable to “Wine Guild of SA”. Details for EFT payments by non-CPS members are as follows:

Financial Institution: Community CPS Credit Union, BSB: 805-022, Account No: 22498522, Account Name:

Wine Guild of SA Inc. CPS Members should use Account Number 03317761. Please make sure to include your

name(s) with EFT payments. As transfer can take a few days please also email Paul when making payment so

we know you are attending by the RSVP date.

Phone and email registrations to Paul (progers52@yahoo.com.au; Ph: 8390 1526) are also accepted. Also

please advise Paul if you require a vegetarian or other special meal.

Grampians Memories