G'day Riverland

Hah!

Anyone who actually reads this will have been thinking "here we go, another blog that starts with a flourish and dies with a whimper" Well not this one bucko.

I have been voluntarily transplanted from the manicured, rustic, beautiful and holy terroirs of Burgundy in France to the machined, extensive and bushy vineyards of the Riverland, Australia. Quite a change, yes. But where better to learn technical winemaking than a place that produces megalitres of drinkable, clean and correct wine from tonnes of irrigated healthy fruit?  Not a hint of terroir, no charm or subtlety, just big harvesters, big crushers, big tanks and small character.

So I decided to set myself a challenge - amidst the storm of hand-wringing, fearful victim playing of the Australian industry (most of it quite justified) I have decided to try and find the soul of the Australian wine industry, right here in its soulless refinery centre. Wish me luck, I may need it. I have no preconceptions, I like it here, despite it's relative poverty and environmental stress it is a beautiful place that truly feels like the 'land of plenty'. But I have no love of the wines, this will be a journey of discovery (or not) for me too.

Au revoir la Bourgogne

That's it.  No work and the ensuing frustration have meant it's time to leave this place and give somewhere else a go.  It's been 3 months since the end of vintage and that is more than I can take in terms of job searching and not working (I lack a little patience).  So it's off for vintage in NZ (Marlborough) where I hope to see many beautiful grapes needing neither sugar nor acid to make lovely wine (we shall see!!).

But I am sad.  After all this is one of, if not the greatest wine region in the world.  So I gave myself a little leaving treat by riding to my favourite village, Pernand-Vergelesses just beneath the classic vineyards of Corton Charlemagne.  First I rode up the very steep hill to the lookout of Notre Dame de Bonne Esperance.  Having recovered from that exertion I returned to La Grappe de Pernand for a glass of white Pernand-Vergelesses Village (3.30 Euros - nice minerality as is the trademark of this village but acid a bit all over the shop) and a blanquette de veau (delicious with a touch of lemon rind added for pizzazz).

The blanquette was washed down with an '03 Dubreuil-Fontaine Pere et Fils Clos du Roi (Burgundy, Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru, 72 Euros).

I was a little worried about the vintage (ridiculously hot) and the nose was indeed very ripe but still in control and throwing out lovely ripe red fruits that were jammy but in a good way.  Like the jam your Mum/Gran made that actualy still smelled like the fresh fruits rather than some kind of miserable sugary concoction.  On the palate is was delicious, dead set delicious.  The tannins were a little rustic (vintage effect) but still fine grained and the fruit intensity was incredible, mouth-filling, well structured, juicy and with that touch of fruit sweetness that seems to be the go for good reds in the surrounding villages (Aloxe, Pernand, Savigny).  A thoroughly enjoyed and dare I say it, well deserved treat.

(Anything But) Chardonnay

It is the weekend of the Saint Vincent Tournante here.  Every year a village hosts the event and lots of people turn up, drink wine and have a nice time.  It's one of the bigger events here and this year it was hosted by Macon.  Not a village at all, more of a city but it's the first time it's been hosted outside the Cote d'Or and so it is centred on Macon with supporting roles from the villages Pierreclos and Chardonnay.  Yes, the village the grape is named after.

Not a very original photo perhaps but as a wine 'amateur' it's kind of cool to visit a place that gave its name to one of the most ubiquitous grape varieties in the world.  It's a pretty little village by the way, in rolling hills that are only about a third covered in vineyards, which is quite low around here.  Anyway, the tastings were limited to 11 special cuvees prepared by the committee to demonstrate the Maconnais terroir.  My favourites were the '07 Macon Villages white which had a lovely semi-tropical fruit nose and excellent palate weight, nice ripe fruit and a minerality that carried through the whole affair.  The other good white was the '07 Macon Verze, from the village Verze, quite ripe nose but a lovely tight palate despite the evident malo impact.

The reds were nice and fresh, Gamay is the grape of choice around here (around 80%) but there is approximately 8% Pinot so you never know your luck.  The favourite reds were the '06 Macon Aze which was light, red fruity and tight as a whip.  The '07 Macon Mancey was a cracker though, really quite a fine almost Pinot like nose of red fruits and subtle complexing pepper and mineral.  Palate was fairly acidic but crunchy red fruits, a little speculoos biscuit and quite a long cherry skin finish.

All in all a lovely day with the usual side shows of music, tractors, blacksmiths and food.  The most entertaining of which was the spot where you could try your hand at miniature dry stone construction, I was very proud of the bridge below entirely constructed by me (with a little help from my 4 year old daughter).

Vineyard Equipment

Burgundy is blessed with two types of wonderful vineyard equipment.  One is the Bobard tractor that is used to go up and down these very narrow vineyards.  They are extremely strange and have the sort of cute ugliness you can but love.  I hope to get a decent photo of one of these tractors to post here soon.

The other is the brazier wheelbarrows that are used to burn pruned canes all over the Cote d'Or (la brouette aménagée en brasero).  The photo was taken at the premier cru Puligny Montrachet vineyard 'Les Murgers des dents de chien' yesterday on a very cold and blustery post Sunday lunch walk.  The machines themsleves are very simple, the vigneron starts a fire in the drum and then adds the canes ('sarments') and wheels the thing along as he goes down the vines.  The thing that gets me is that there are at least one of these things in pretty much every vineyard around here, and every single one of them looks exactly like this, rusty, battered and not a little like an antique.

1978

What better way to bring in 2009 than with a wine from 1978?

Well, yes true, but anyway, that's what I did.  To be precise a 1978 Chateau de Madere (Bordeaux, Graves AC - pre-Euros) white bordeaux.  As I opened the bottle I thought the chateau name might end up being a little ironic but amazingly, this thing that has been around since I was a child and has seen everything from proper cellars to cupboards under the stairs, moving vans to floods, with only a swathe of tissue paper to protect it (a clear glass bottle no less) is alive and kicking.  Subdued nose but incredibly clean, slight toasted honey notes with a little lemon pith, palate is vibrant, multi-layered, slight minerality and citrus fruit with a roundness and length that is suprising.  Heaven only knows what this thing was like to drink 30 years ago but it is still as taught as a bow.

Christmas was fantastic, the lunch saw a magnum of 2005 Les Genets Cotes du Rhone Villages Chusclan (Rhone Valley, Cotes du Rhone Village Chusclan AC - 18 Euros) that was delightful - full, rich and ripe fruit but elegant and balanced in a way many New World GSMs don't even understand - a genuine delight.  After a couple of bottles of Savigny-les-Beaune were equally appreciated the attention focused quite rightly on presents and family and I didn't think about wine again for the rest of the day.  So the tasting notes are weak but the day was perfect and all is right with the world.