Sterling Wine Auctions Australia

2007 in review

Along with the worlds most hunted man; Osama Bin Larden, …the man who would be John Howard; Kevin Rudd, … the man with the wine worlds best job; Peter Gago (the bloke who gets paid to make Grange for Penfolds / Fosters) …and Australia’s biggest Fine Wine Retailer Mike Tamburri …. This year was my 50th. Wow what a ride; Sad that good blokes like Steve Lumm weren’t here to share the celebrations.

Having celebrated the big half century, I should be able to offer wise and incisive observations and cutting commentary. Sadly the older I get the less I remember of what I once knew and the more complicated modern life appears when compared to the good old days.

The good old days!
The space age and race started in 1957 when a puny Soviet chrome bucket called Sputnik hurtled around the earth sending Morse code. The year that Fiat released the First 500 Bambino and the year that Chevlolet made its very best ever cars. Of course, along with Singapore and Malaysia gaining independence; 1957 saw the first published link between smoking and lung cancer.

Things seemed a lot simpler way back then when poor old Max Schubert had to secretly disobey Penfolds orders and make Grange on the quiet.

Lots of changes in 2007

Wine supply switcharoo
A few years ago every man and his dog was trying to pedal surplus bulk wine, we now have the opposite and a crisis. Too many markets, too much demand and not enough cheap commercial quality wine to go around. The drought and huge water shortages will rub salt into open wounds. Will 2008 see us better or worse off?

Smart mark hits wine world
For years wine marketing and brand development was in line with the promotion of sheep dip. Why bother spending money on advertising when you sold out every year and retailers and cellar door trade begged for more. With a few rare exceptions like Wendouree, Cullen and Mount Mary; old well entrenched producers who let the wine quality do the talking; smart marketing is now the order of the day.

Masters marketers like Torbreck have all the bases covered and delight the wine press with amazing quality and “in touch” styles.

The 2007 “Smart Mark” prize must go to Molly Dooker. Sparky and Sarah have the golden touch! From scratch, a brace of world beating wines, a 99, 96and 95 Parker score and US distribution all ramped by funky retro Aus flavored marketing. An action packed 12 months, even by Napoleonic standards.

The foreign legion settles in

As a country of foreigners (our indigenous brothers and sisters excepted) we have always looked OS for wine. Wine supply, styles, grape varieties etc.

The thriving Aus industry does have some enemy’s within. It’s pretty hard to believe the biggest selling white wine in Australia was /is a NZ Sauv Blanc … Take a bow Oyster Bay.

We expect flash imports to dominate the top end of wine town. Flash bubbles and grand old premier cru’s are the benchmark for the rich and the indulgent. The trendy end is slipping back to the good old days when Mateaus Rose was the big noise in trendy wine drinking. Many Joes and Jane’s have experience with and a taste for foreign wines. Just about every corner boozer now has a good supply of Chianti, Soave, Rhone Burgundy and Rijoha.

Flash bubbles are here to stay and moving further up the social pole each year. Just how many rare and special prestige curvees can you buy if you go looking? Old stagers like Moet Chandon Dom Perrignon and Krug are just not enough, Pol Roger Winston Churchill and Louis Roederer Crystal are now on the radar and in big demand.

More on the perils of Champagne dangers later.

The foreign legions offspring run amok

If it wasn’t enough for the foreign invasion to seduce and corrupt our best and finest, now they have taken root locally. The hot Aus wines right now are Pinot Gris and Temprenello. Goodness Sangiovise and Viognier are almost old hat now, and the blends, look at the Nepenthe Tryst is Cabernet Tempreneo and Zinfandell! There are plenty of big efforts to launch a whole raft of new varieties into the Aus market. Watch out for the Murray Darling collection and their secret weapons Vermentino Lagrein,Sagrantino, Malvasia Istriana ,Negro Amaro

Classic always in Fashion
The little black Chanel dress, a string of pearls, the Burberry Trench and well worn Levy’s are always in fashion. The Aus love affair with blending Shiraz and Cabernet lives on and strong.

Ultra retro chic is the Penfolds Bin 60a a 2004 re-creation of the world beating original 1962 Bin 60a.
The very best parcels of Cab and shiraz brought together with a big budget. For the record, the original 60a was listed as one of the top ten wines of the twentieth century and considered by many notables to be the best wine ever made in Aus.

The 2004 60a copy does not shy away from best of the best image. Popular acclaim, big scores and a kings ransom to own a six pack, this wine demands attention.

Funny old wines like the Penfolds Bin 389, Lindemans Limestone, Yalumba The Signature, Stonyfell Metala, and Chapel Hill Vicars fly the Cab Shiraz banner high. Watch out for more premium and super premium Cab Shiraz. The Majella Mallea might be leading the charge.

Morris Old Premium Tokay takes Sterling Trophy

Every year slides by quicker and some jobs just get easier. The Sterling Trophy for best fortified at the Perth Royal Ag Show forces me to look at the best rare and sticky things in the world! Tough work but someone has to do it.

Congratulations to David Morris and the Morris team at Rutherglen. The Old Premium Morris Liqueur Tokay won the 2007 Sterling Trophy hands down. What a wonderful wine. Power, balance, stunning structured layers, elegance and massive mouth filling intensity that finishes soft as an angels kiss. A gift from the gods sweetened by the strain, defiant dedication and love of five generation of Morris Winemakers who started their amazing journey in Rutherglen in 1859.

Do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of this pure liquid joy and share it with someone you love or want to love!

A love Supreme; The tastes that wont fade.

Pinot the real thing.

2007 has seen many personal milestones through wine and life. I came of age, now an official senior having hit fifty and strangely my coming of wine age arrived at the same time. There are many out there who dismiss wine speak not directed at pinots, particularly from Burgundy, as a waste of words.

Until this year I thought these lofty ideals were misguided snobbery.

A set of 20 vintage 1999 pinots, including some of the finest wines from around the world changed my mind. Well almost, many Aussie pinots were rubbish and most flash NZ efforts were hard to understand, certainly hard to see the stratospheric price points.

The top Frenchies were in a world of their own. A Grand Cru and a Premier cru of noble standing demonstrated almost unbelievable pure and uplifting complexity without the predictable knock out punch promised by so many Aus wines.

Not cheap, in fact these aristocrats cost about $250 a piece. Good Value? Who knows. Unforgettable? Absolutely.

Chardonnay the right way

“Doing the job” on Pinot pushed the envelope and begged fair treatment for Chardonnay.

The test was simple, same vintage 1999, the best Aussie seen as Giaconda against best Frog (Great idea until we sobered up and realized that each bottle of DRC Le Montrachet comes with a divorce kit. Hey $2,000 for a bottle of chardy is OK, were doing research…. Not likely) Well, we lowered the sights and landed an Corton Charlamnagne Grand Cru.

The Jury was not with me on this one! Wow The Corton blew me away. The cleanest, finest, purest, most exotic and beguiling nose on any white I have experienced.

The thoroughbred was outplayed below the belt. The Giaconda didn’t have the breeding but grabbed the crew by the short curlies and never let go! Not fair, not pretty, but the jury ended their deliberations flushed, breathless and smiling.

We will have to go for a re-match. The 2004 Giaconda Chard is the best ever according the Mr Parker. The Wine Advocate gave it a 96pt rating (highest ever for an Aus white)

Pavlovs dog and top Fizz.

OK let me confess. I am guilty of shameful excess and coveting another mans cellar. A dark and twisted path has led me to the verge of ruin. My ability to resist the delicate fizz and stunning Top drawer package is ZERO.

I have become a champagne lush! The greatest crime is that I have become accustomed to drinking beyond my means. Sadly my future as a Himbo or Giggalo is not bright and all my rich friends refuse my phone calls and drop ins. What to do?

Is that why God invented Credit Cards? You must try the Pol Roger Winston Churchill 1995 against the 1996. The 1990 against the 1988 Vintage Krug. Then the 1998 Dom Perrignon against the 1996.

Sadly someone must pay the piper a heavy purse. What price can you put on capturing sunshine dew and kisses on your tongue. Even if for but a fleeting moment.

Baby Grange Defies Middle Age

Some stories are best left short and sweet. Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is the red wine I would drink for the rest of my life, If I were forced to chose only one wine to take into exile. The 1971 Penfolds Bin 389 is just too good to describe. For me better than 1971 Penfolds Grange.

Bin 389 1976 is an unfinished chapter. Greatness lurking in the shadows? The bottle was good, pregnant with potential that stayed below restraining chiffon like layer that didn’t slip away. A re-match is the only way to see just how good this one can be.

White Magic Leonay and Mary on the same night!

No nonsence needed here. 1994 Leonay from Leo Buring and 1994 Mount Mary Chardonnay. For Me, Best Aussie Riesling ever! Best Aussie Chardonnay ever! And both together on my Birthday (funny thing; the Leonay was a reject sent back by a nervous Sterling buyer anxious about old whites.)

The drinking year has seen many highlights, many amazing moments, most predictable.

Yes I loved the magnum of 1983 Grange, the 1986 Hill of Grace the 1982 Cape Mentelle. The Rockford Basket Press The Rockford Black Shiraz sparkles. Well you would wouldn’t you!

Two wines stand out as stunning surprises.

Cheap cast offs consigned to the scrap heap. The Jane Brook Sparkling Shiraz 1997 from Perth’s good old, much maligned Swan Valley, blew me away. An equal to the illustrious Rockford Black and the Seppelts show. Where do you get it? Sadly there is none to be had.

A happier story is my love affair with Bruce Tyrrells Sem darlings.

Little devils, so many shapes and sizes all so good and all so cheap! My Damascus experience was with a 1993 Futures Semillon. I can still taste it.

Lets hope 2008 brings as peace and joy (and a way for me to drink all the flash bubbles I want)

November 2007