Luciano Sandrone

One of the things I want to write in summarising my trip is to talk about some of the amazing people I met who imparted some of their wisdom and experience in wine and life. I am still in the process of looking back upon my blog archive which is taking me a lot longer than it should. But as it happens one of the people I intended to write about is making his first ever visit to Australia and I was lucky enough to be invited to a masterclass showing his wines here in Melbourne by the importer Bibendum Wines. This man is Luciano Sandrone, and after introducing him I will talk about why he had such an effect upon me.

Luciano Sandrone and myself when I visited in April 2012

Stained teeth and dehydration

Late August and September generally means budburst out in the vineyards of Australia, but in the wine trade it generally means one thing; Portfolio Days! The converging factors of slow periods in the winery allowing winemakers to head out on the road, and the beginning of the four month period leading into Christmas means this is the perfect time to invite trade supporters into one location to exhibit one's wares, whilst inviting principles along to spruik. With countless distributors showing hundreds of wines each, it is with great enthusiasm and trepidation that I headed into this period, particularly given I am about to head off on the grand tour in about three weeks. Here are the tastings I've been to in the last two weeks.

Spanish Acquisition 10 year Anniversary Portfolio Tasting
The fact I turned up an hour early because of a typo in the reminder email meant I got the opportunity to try a Bloody Mary for the first time, at 11:00am... I think I'll pass next time, I've never been a fan of tomato juice. 90% of Scott Wasley's Spanish and Portugese range were on show, starting with Cava, moving into whites, reds, fortifieds and finishing with a nice London Dry Gin. Tasting a lot of these wines makes me realise that generally I have yet to come to terms with these varieties and styles, further supporting my intention to spend 6 weeks in the region next year. Some of the highlights were some of Telmo Rodriguez's reds, most of the Portugese wines, and as always, the Romate sherries. Interestingly there were a few bottles of Pingus open (which I have to admit general ignorance of), which would sell for about $1500+ a bottle, but I couldn't quite see what made it so valuable a wine. Oh well...

Negociants and Samuel Smith & Son New Release Tasting
There is always excitement around the Negociants tastings as they have such a huge and diverse portfolio of domestic and imported wines, yet there is always something to disappoint about them. Whilst the wines on show are all great and are important to show in a commercial sense, it is a shame that a lot of the great European stuff isn't on show; Guigal, Hugel, and numerous others. I don't expect first growth Bordeaux or Vega Sicilia, but some interesting stuff would be nice, like some South American wine. They also don't seem particularly interested in holding masterclasses at these tastings, although they did have a few at the Pinot Noir tasting a few months ago which were great. There are however always some surprises, which in this case was the quality of the New Zealand wines in the portfolio (Dry River, Ata Rangi, Valli, Vinoptima, Greywacke, Fromm), Egon Muller being in attendance in a white suit showing his great wines, the quality of Oz producers like Seppeltsfield, Kooyong and Tarrawarra, and the table covered in various cheeses. A few cheeky Hoegardens with some former fellow students to finish with made for a lovely end to the evening.

Bibendum Trade Day
One of the most eclectic ranges of premium small producers, the wines of Bibendum have had a much larger presence in King & Godfree this year thanks to their quality, talkability and a great sales rep. The opportunity to further explore the range and catch up with the lovely people that work for the company are all the incentive I need. Having said that there were a number of wines that didn't really excite, which was a bit disappointing. The wines that did impress are mostly the ones we already stock, suggesting we know what we are doing or we have a really good rep. It was amazing to get the chance to sit in on an Oakridge and Bindi masterclass, especially when there are six vintages of Block Five Pinot to try. The grower champagnes lived up to the hype, my first taste of Tokaji dessert wines was pretty awesome, the Vissoux Beaujolais' were very interesting, the Spanish wines were generally great, and it was nice to finish with some Cognac considering I was brewing a cold up. A chat with some Bibendum folk and the vineyard manager from Mac Forbes finished the evening quite nicely.

These tastings were a nice way to finish up my time at King & Godfree as I prepare for my trip, and they also served to interest me in some of the places I'll be visiting soon.

Is this the most exciting winemaker in Australia?

I think it is only fitting that my first official wine post be about a producer in my spiritual wine home - the Yarra Valley - as I started my wine career working in the cellar door at Chandon before moving into the marketing department. Having worked in the region for over three years and driven over most of it, this was pretty interesting...

On the 15th of this month I was lucky enough to be invited to a day exploring the Mac Forbes stomping ground, including a harrowing micro-flight over the region to see each of the many vineyards he sources from. It's been a while since I suffered motion sickness - as a child I couldn't be in a car for more than 4 hours without throwing up - but this flight certainly brought something back up (pun intended, though not literally thank god!) Whilst it was extremely interesting to see the extent and diversity of this misunderstood region from such a height, I struggled with the turbulence and was pretty quiet for the second half of the flight, glad to be back on solid ground once we landed. The helicopter  flight above the McLaren Vale a few months ago was slightly more relaxing.

Quite a view from high above the valley

After a brief interlude at the Coldstream vineyard for some respite, it was on to the exquisite Bella Vedere for a tasting and lunch. The 2010 MF wines look fantastic, and it was a great excercise to see how each vineyard had a different influence on the pinot and chardonnay varieties. It was also a great exercise in showing how diverse the Valley is from North to South, with robust and dark cherry characters for pinot in Dixons Creek (plus some interesting pepper and clove), to bright tight and red cherry/raspberry character in Woori Yallock. The Woori Yallock vineyard is clearly producing some excellent fruit as the 2010 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were the highlights.

Some interesting discussion was enjoyed over the tasting, about the variety of styles exhibited in the range, and the nature of producing styles one is passionate about and enjoys drinking. Whilst I personally loved the Woori Yallock wines as they were reminiscent of some of my favourite Morgnington pinots, I noted that there were several wines that were more reflective of the broader Yarra Valley style that a lot of people would enjoy, particularly the Gruyere and Yarra Junction Pinots. Similarly there was a richer quality to the Hoddles Creek and Gruyere Chardonnays that I can appreciate, but prefer the austerity and minerality of the Woori Yallock Chardonnay.

Illustrious company indeed.

Back vintage Mac Forbes wines were lovingly imbibed over a delicious lunch prepared by Gary Cooper and team, accompanied by further discussion (some of which I had to edit out because it related to football). A couple of non-Mac Forbes wines were made available, including a 2010 SBS blend from one of the MF vineyards, and a delish white burgundy that Phillip RIch brings in. The magnums of Grand Cru Egly-Ouriet Rose open when we arrived were most definitely appreciated. I was interested to note Max Allen's passion for the Hugh Cabernet blend 2008, which is a personal fav and supports my assertion that YV Bordeaux blends should be done more in the YV. I was further interested to discover the 2007 vintage was even better for this wine, I'd love a chance to try that one, it'd go straight to the pool room.

A tasty morsel to kick lunch off.

Quite full and jolly I was kindly given a lift back into town, where I headed down to the docklands for the Nelson Trade Tasting. Highlights were undoubtedly the Leeuwin Estate wines (three vintage of Art Series Chardonnay, holy moly!), meeting the great Dan Buckle from Mount Langi Ghiran, and the 2007 Spinetta Barbaresco we enjoyed with a steak afterwards, although it was criminal to drink the wine so young and pay so much for it ($195, not happy Jan). All in all it was a great day, thanks to Mac and his team, and of course Rob and Stuart from Bibendum for including me.