Tidings Magazine

Australia, a vibrant and innovative wine country, is constantly resetting the bar. This is as true for whites and dessert wines as it is for its celebrated reds. Besides Chardonnay, white plantings today embrace everything from Riesling and Gewürztraminer to Viognier, Marsanne and Muscat and many others besides.

Ask most people, though, what first comes to mind when they think of Australian wines a and the answer inevitably involves two varietals: Shiraz, of course, and the ever-present Chardonnay. This white grape has been widely planted throughout Australia (not to mention the rest of the world), and is especially dominant in the vast irrigated vineyards of the southeast.

From the earliest days of its viticulture, Shiraz has set the pace for Australian reds and never looked back. Chardonnay, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer. People seem to have mostly forgotten that the first great white to thrive in Australia was Sémillon (pronounced semilon down under). This Bordeaux variety almost completely fell off the radar until it was resurrected in the now ubiquitous Sémillon/Chardonnay blends. The wines that we typically see are attractive, inexpensive quaffers, but otherwise of no great distinction.

Before Chardonnay, there was Sémillon: the Hunter Valley

Sémillon’s relegation to the sidelines is something that really needs to be put right. At its best, Australian Sémillon can stand tall among the great white wines of the world. The finest examples come from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. These are wines that can age for immensely long periods and develop great complexity over time. Be prepared for a surprise the first time you taste one. Totally different in style from more familiar Aussie fruit bombs, Hunter Valley Sémillons tend to be picked early and often achieve only around 11 per cent alcohol. In youth, they are extremely crisp and sometimes forbiddingly austere. With time, however, fat, buttery and smoky qualities develop that you would swear have come from oak, although most of the wines never see so much as a splinter.

My benchmark for top Hunter Valley Sémillon is the venerable Tyrell’s Wines. The winery lies nestled in the shadow of the nearby Brokenback range; one of the legendary names of the valley, it is a must-visit if you ever go to the area. The firm continues to make sturdy and impressive wines, especially its traditional Hunter Sémillon and its Shiraz. Until recently, no irrigation was used in the main Hunter vineyard, resulting in smaller grapes but intense, concentrated flavours. The rich soil that overlays a bed of limestone adds mineral complexity.

Tyrell’s 2000 Lost Block Sémillon is grassy, with citrus, peach and mineral character that really expands on the palate. It has the zing of a good Riesling but is more food-friendly. In Canada, this lovely wine would be priced in the low-$20 range. Its 1997 Reserve Stevens Sémillon reveals how interestingly this grape can age. When tasted, it was deep gold in the glass, and the bouquet showed great complexity. Flavours were toasty and buttery, with a delectable honey–lemon character and a lingering subtle finish.

The 1999 Reserve Stevens Sémillon is smoky, with light buttery, lemon and citrus notes and still-very-high acidity. It tastes quite young and has many years to go before reaching its peak. The 1997 Vat 1 Hunter Semillon, a Tyrrell’s signature wine, showed more developed toasty and buttery citrus character than the Stevens, but it too has a long way to go. One would expect to pay $55+ for this extraordinary drop. Obviously, these are not inexpensive wines but real treasures for those with the patience to age them properly.

Keeping cool in the Granite Belt

The Granite Belt, which straddles the Queensland/New South Wales border, is still a very-well-kept secret. Part of the reason for the secret is that it is a cool-climate region — because it is in Queensland, most people simply assume that it must be hot and therefore suitable only for heavy dessert-style wines. In fact, the opposite is true. Despite its closer proximity to the tropics, the climate is cooler than many wine regions in South Australia. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29˚C and frost is common during the winter. The best wines show delicacy and finesse entirely derived from these cool conditions.

Ballandean Estate Wines, one of the largest wineries in the area, has really begun to establish its reputation. Robin Bradley’s respected Australian and New Zealand Wine Vintages, 2000 Edition gives four out of a possible five stars to two of its wines, the Estate Shiraz and the Estate Sylvaner Late Harvest. I tasted both of these and found them excellent. It is noteworthy that this obscure region is one of the few places in the world to have achieved some distinction with Sylvaner. The winery also makes fine Chardonnay and Sémillon.

The 14-acre Bungawarra Estate has real finesse. Their Unwooded Chardonnay 2000 had crisp minerally character with lively apple fruit. The Reserve Chardonnay from the same vintage, aged in French oak, displayed definite Burgundy style. Bungawarra’s 1998 Shiraz, aged in American oak, showed lovely soft raspberry with a piquant hint of peppery spice. At only 11.7 per cent alcohol, it appears delicate when compared with typical blockbuster Aussie Shiraz.

Since my visit to the region a few years ago, the number of wineries has more than doubled; it now stands at forty-three. Still, winemakers in the established Australian regions are not going to lose much sleep over competition from the Granite Belt any time soon. Nonetheless, the area is good evidence of Australia’s capacity to produce atypically delicate whites (as well as reds).