New Entries From Down Under Are Latest Bargains
Wirra Wirra, Yarra Yering and Sally’s Paddock may not mean much to American wine lovers, but some day they may be viewed as the high-image items to compare with Heitz Martha’s Vineyard.
Australian wine is hitting U.S. shores with more of a vengeance than in the past and the result has been a flock of bargains that are opening the eyes of American vintners and keeping them fearful of price rises for their own wines.
Wine from Australia has become a hit in the British market in the last year partly because of low pricing and excellent quality and partly as a backlash against high prices for many French wines. But only in the last year has this wine created excitement in this country.
The Australians have been making guerrilla-like forays into the American wine market for some years now. Some of the promotions have been test-market oriented; others have been a shotgun approach (bring in a whole flock of wines, toss them against a wall and see if one sticks); others have been with wines made specifically for the American market.
Good But Usually Unexciting
Most such efforts have been short-lived. The wines were good but usually unexciting. Although prices were fair, the marketing campaigns seemed off-target.
Yet in the last year, sales of Australian wines in the United States have jumped, due in part to a favorable ratio of the U.S. dollar to the Australian dollar. The Australian dollar is now less than 75 cents in U.S. currency. This means that Australian wines can be sold here at prices lower than they sell for in Australia, even with shipping costs.
Since 1984, when just a few thousand cases of Australian wine were marketed here, shipments of Australian wine to the United States have risen. For the 12 months ended Feb. 29, shipments totaled 549,000 cases, and 55% of that total came from three producers, Lindemans, Rosemount, and Mark Swann.
Moreover, brands such as Brown Bros. and Wyndham Estate are making strong inroads into the market, as are a number of other, smaller producers, some of them being imported by small wholesalers, such as Grape Expectations of Emeryville, and direct marketers such as Winewright’s Register of Santa Rosa. (There are an estimated 500 wineries in Australia and more than 120 of them are shipping wine to these shores.)
The major controversy surrounding Australian wines is that some represent too great a value. For instance, Lindemans and Wyndham Estate, both large corporations in Australia, have created a wave of enmity among competitors for what is being called “dumping”--sales of a wide range of quality wines are priced very low, which irritates competitors.
Still, none of the competitors says the wines aren’t very good, just very good value, and all this has done is to create more and more interest in all Australian wines.
Wyndham, a public company in the Hunter Valley, offers about the broadest line of wines you’ll see, ranging from a Verdelho (an attractive dry white wine of little impact in this market) to a range of strikingly well-made red wines. The best of them are reds, notably a 1986 Bin 888 Cabernet-Merlot that has a strong fruit, cedar and spice aroma and a load of richness in the mouth. At $14, it may seem expensive, but it’s one of the best red wines I’ve had this year and worth the price.
Indeed, all Wyndham wines appear to be very well priced (too low, argue some competitors), and Wyndham’s best red wine buy is Bin 444 1985 Cabernet, similar to the Bin 888, but with more herbal notes, and a wine that may well age better than the previous wine. And at $6.50, it’s a steal.
Wyndham’s white wines also are impressive, especially the more recent vintages. Typical of the whites is the 1987 Hunter Valley Chardonnay ($6.75), which exhibits a tropical fruit aroma and toastiness, yet with good acidity to help it expand in the bottle.
Two New Labels Offered
Mark Swann wines were developed in 1983 just for the U.S. market, and after selling only 1,000 cases here in 1984, more than 70,000 cases were imported by Marine Trading Co. of Marin County in 1987. The wines are marketed under the Mark Swann label as well as two new labels also developed just for the U.S. market, Koala Ridge and Roo’s Leap.
(A grand sense of humor pervades Marine’s marketing and included a campaign two years ago featuring a slogan, “It’s what’s down under than counts,” and a newsletter, The Aussie Underground.)
The Swann wines are all excellent values, with one delightful find being the 1987 Roo’s Leap Fume Blanc at $6.50. The wine has a mild herbal-smoky aroma and a lovely full taste. Also attractive is the 1987 Koala Ridge Sauvignon Blanc ($6.50), with a melony aroma and crisp, delicate finish.
Two Chardonnays from Swann, the 1987 Roo’s Leap ($10) and ’86 Koala Ridge ($8) are opposites. The former is buttery, rich and oaky with loads of extract and oomph, and the latter is lean, delicate, floral and crisp. (I blended the two and made a delightful wine!)
Rosemount’s U.S. sales have been on the rise in the last few months (sales formally began in July 1987), and the 1985 Rosemount Cabernet ($8.50) shows the full, fleshy nature of these wines. It is quite soft and might not be an aging wine, but for restaurants it’s a good, approachable wine of good value.
Rosemount is noted for full-blown, concentrated white wines, and the prototype is the 1986 Chardonnay, Show Reserve ($14.50), a wine loaded with oak, toast, fruit (like pineapple and pear), and extract. Not for the faint of heart.
For Adventurous Tastes
Similar in style is the ’86 Semillon ($8), with power and fruit. And for fans of Shiraz, Rosemount’s 1985 is big, rich, and bold. At $8, it’s a good wine.
John Gay of San Rafael is Rosemount’s sales director here, and he also was the fellow who helped introduce a number of the smaller labels to California, notably the famed Redbank wines of Neil and Sally Robb. The Sally’s Paddock Cabernet, now a cult item among connoisseurs, sells out rapidly when the 250-case allotment hits the U.S. shore.
Winewright’s Register (which sells to consumers via a catalogue) has the Wirra Wirra and Yarra Yering wines, along with brands such as Henschke, Knights, Wilson’s, Mountadam, Mount Hurtle, Campbell’s, and Hegge’s.
One of the best wines in the Winewright’s import list is 1984 Cullens Cabernet-Merlot ($12.50), a wine from western Australia, near Perth. It has a chocolate, cedar and spice aroma that is a delight and a surprise, considering the area it’s from.
Australian wine is better than it has been. The whites still are not quite what Americans are used to (but they’re fun to drink) and the reds generally need a bit more acidity, but all in all they show how good wine from a new region can be. It’s a bit like where California wine producers were about 15 years ago, but with an eagerness to learn and improve.
California wine makers could well learn a lesson from these wines.
A sad note for wine lovers. Dave Bennion, 59, founder of Ridge Vineyards in the mountains above Cupertino, was killed March 28 in an automobile accident on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bennion was part of a group that purchased land on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1959 and founded Ridge Vineyards.
He also was the first wine maker for the winery, for vintages from 1962 through 1970, when Paul Draper, the present wine maker, was hired.
Bennion was one of the state’s pioneers with 100% Zinfandel, and his style of wine making helped define California’s potential in the early years.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate at Stanford University in electrical engineering, Bennion eventually won a fellowship to work in reactor technology at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and then received a National Science Foundation fellowship that helped him earn a masters degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering.
He subsequently worked at Stanford Research Institute, but by the 1960s began to devote most of his time to the winery.
Ridge was sold on Dec. 31, 1986, to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. of Japan, but Bennion remained on the company’s board of directors.
Bennion is survived by his wife, Frances, of Menlo Park; two daughters, Enid of Palo Alto and Krista Feeney of New York, and two sons, Karl of New Jersey and Eric of San Francisco.
Wine of the Week: 1985 Merlion Chevrier ($10)--This wine is 100% Semillon harvested from a very cool ranch in the Carneros region of the Napa Valley, and it offers one of the most delicate aromas I have ever seen in this (unfairly) little-regarded variety. A faint hint of straw and wet clay mingle with pear, earth and nut-like scents. The taste is round and full, yet the wine finishes dry and with a slight aftertaste of hazelnuts. This charming wine is a perfect accompaniment to delicate seafood in cream sauce or to richer, grilled seafoods, such as tuna or halibut.