Discover Australian Pinot Noir with Lydia Harrison MW

So welcome everybody to Discover australian pinot noir with Myself Lydia harrison and w i am a full-time Educator at the wset School in london where i teach all of Our qualifications from our level one Course through to Our diploma where i teach australia i Also teach bordeaux Fortified wines and tasting technique And various other Subject areas and i also organize our Program of events so Um over the last year or so everything Has gone virtual And we’ve been doing various webinars Veteran tastings And the webinars have all been recorded As i mentioned And you can watch those back on the wct Youtube channel under the wsct school London Playlist or via our website Okay so without further ado i’m Basically going to Uh get cracking um talking to you about Australian pinot noir so I have turned to the next slide i have Introduced myself obviously i’m an Educator at the wct and if you Want to contact me personally you can There’s my instagram handle there lydia Harrisonmw

And um i’m going to start talking about Pinot noir in australia so basically i Went to australia back in 2017 it was my First and only trip to australia And i really hope to go back once we can Travel again And this was part of my mw mastermind Stage two studies And we did a fabulous tour and i’ll Point out kind of the the areas that i Visited later but I visited some of the key regions for Pinot noir And that’s what i’m going to focus on This evening so we’re just going to Start with having a brief look At the history of pinot noir in Australia and a little bit about the Great variety and winemaking And then i’m going to take you through The three regions that i visited And then as well as tasmania which i Didn’t get to visit unfortunately but is Also A really premium region for pinot noir So we’re going to talk through the yarra Valley mornington peninsula Um adelaide hills and tasmania So just starting with a very brief sort Of history of pinot noir in australia Um it’s kind of really the last century The last hundred years That it’s really kind of starting to Take take off and doing really really

Well then kind of they’re forging this Reputation for premium well-crafted And really expressive pinot noirs and so There were vines planted back in the 1830s Um but then there was basically came to A little bit of a standstill there was The gold rush people were focusing on Fortified wines and other areas that Were kind of warmer and easier to Produce and ripen grapes Um were favored so it’s only more Recently in the kind of last 50 years That you start to see this exploration Of these kind of cooler areas in Australia These more premium regions and some of The you know names and regions that we Love today So and you started to see it in the 1920s but you can see then there’s quite A bit of a gap until the 1970s where Planting really starts to take off Um you know it starts on a commercial Scale And clone or selection starts to be Considered and this is something that’s Really interesting in australia today is People are really interested in the Different clones of pinot noir and you Will actually see the Clones often on bottles on the back Label you know producers will tell you What clones they’re using

Which you rarely see you know in french Wines or in eu ones so there’s quite a Sort of Geeky community of pinot noir lovers That will really kind of focus on the Different clones and and Which producers are using which clones Uh so in the 80s it started to expand And you see that and when we look at Some of the key regions like yara Mornington Peninsula this is where some of you know The kind of founding Families and viticultural pioneers Started to plant Serious quantities and commercial you Know quantities of these vines in the Region And so there was an explanation of the Kind of better sites and a better Understanding of them And then that continues into the 90s you Had influx of dijon clothes from From burgundy so that added to the Recipes added to the Resources that um viticulturalists had The different types of clones The different qualities that they had Different characteristics and Along with that obviously people got More familiar with Where they were planting the great Variety the soils more experience with The great variety

Uh to where we are today where everyone Is producing well Not unless they live on but there’s a Real great range of Quality styles really interesting wines Coming from australia and these regions And And i’ve i tasted some recently in a Morning temperature tasting and the Quality and diversity available was Spectacular So just a tiny little bit of information About The the grape variety itself okay so Pinot noir As you may be aware is a pretty fickle Grape i like to call it The diva of the wine world if you will You know it’s a little bit like the Mariah carey or Or whitney houston uh it’s pretty fussy Basically about where it grows it’s Quite demanding on soul types Um it’s thin skin that makes it more Susceptible to Disease and mildew and rot as does the Fact that it’s got tight bunches so That’s You know worse for air circulation it Means that if there is rot It will spread quicker um it’s early Buddy And early ripening so this is beneficial For cool climates you can ripen this

Grape But equally that can sometimes mean it’s Prone to frost because it Will bud early and as you’ve seen in Pull in the news recently that can be Very devastating and it’s prone to Mutation it’s one of the oldest great Varieties which means it’s genetically Quite kind of unstable and it mutates Very easily you You see we have peanut blanc pinot gris You know mernier all sort of variations Of the pinot noir family And that’s why there’s lots of different Uh clones of it as well and They will have different characteristics Different yields different figure Different sizes the bunches and berries And and so Most producers will use some that They’ve sort of tried and tested but Usually also Sometimes a mix so that you get Different characteristics Some might suit better um you know Warmer Vintages some might like suit cooler Vintages some are Perhaps better on certain sort types so A variety is Often very useful to have in the Vineyard as a blending tool And then it’s suited to cooler moderate Climates so when you think about

Australia it’s not going to be planted Everywhere It very much is the most southerly areas Of australia And and what those that are tempered in Climate by Coastal influences or altitude so uh When we go on to i’ll show you some maps And where we’re going to explore you’ll Really see the impact of climate But just a little bit information about The clone so Um obviously as i already mentioned it’s There’s thousands of different clones it Can get a little bit confusing as well Because They have various names different Countries and sometimes they call Different things and they’re the same Clone or there’s a bit of confusion About which clone is which Um but as more understanding and You know comes into it and people are Researching these clones More and then people are starting to Understand More about their their differences their Similarities and their and their Heritage as well Um there’s there’s lots of different Ones the key ones in australia the ones I’m going to focus on and which came up Uh repeatedly when we visited different Producers

And are seen as being really good for Quality is mv6 and the dijon clones and There’s various dijon clones One one four and one five which i Mentioned there um From obviously coming from boeing d but There’s other ones as well like seven Seven seven and different numbers Um but mv6 is known for being quite Small bunches and berries so This is low cropping low yielding low Figure but obviously you’re going to get Good concentration within that bunch There’s more skin to juice ratio So it can sometimes have more structure It’s seen as reliable And some of the producers i visited said They used it because it gave that Classic kind of earthiness of pinot noir And a lovely kind of perfume Whereas four one one five ha the dijon Clones have larger berries and bunches Than mv sticks Uh it can sometimes give a lighter style Not in a negative way but a little bit What kind of more Juicy red fruit character and aromas All right and then obviously with what With pinot noir there’s lots of Different wine making techniques You can employ in australia like like Everywhere else is experimenting and Progressing and kind of changing their Wine styles as well and there’s lots of

Experimentation And innovation as you as you talk Through and Obviously viticulturalists and Winemakers can You know impart their own personalities And decisions And winemaking style onto to the variety So There’s no sort of benchmark or Or really sort of general stuff at pinot Noir in australia there’s lots of Different people doing different things But just as a kind of thought of some of The options that winemakers have Available is obviously Cold soaking this is basically uh where You will Leave the juice of your pinot noir Grapes in contact with the skins before Fermentation so at cold temperatures and That helps to extract Aroma and flavor from the grapes world Yeast fermentation Is often employed especially perhaps in Some of the more boutique smaller Wineries so it’s very much a natural Fermentation and while you’re waiting For that natural fermentation to start The cold soaking will naturally be Occurring so they can Interact um you’ve got things like whole Berry fermentation stem inclusion and Whole bunch fermentation so varying

Degrees Of having some of the stems or portion Of the stems In the fermentation which can add sort Of freshness and sort of stemi kind of Green characters to the wine Um equally if you have whole berries Or whole bunches the grapes can also do A proportion of Uh carbonic maceration as well which can Kind of accentuate fruit cactus in color So these are all techniques that you may Choose to employ or partially employ And then extended maceration so often Post fermentation as well you might want To Leave the grape the the wine on the Skins for a little bit longer This is to extract further tannin and Further color and as Pinot noirs the thin skin grape that Doesn’t extract Um doesn’t naturally give up too much Color and doesn’t have too much tannin This can help if you want a slightly Darker color slightly more structured Style A lot of wineries here are doing what we Call minimal interventions so Really kind of raining back what they do In the winery focusing on the quality of The grapes in the vineyards Are they ripe have they got lots of roma Have they got the structure

And then kind of really easing off with The wine making technique so Just sort of letting things happen Naturally often there’s kind of gravity Flow vineyards Using you know natural yeast um and and Just sort of not interfering A lot of the wines are unfined i’ll fit Unfiltered that sort of thing And there’s a trend generally for kind Of using Less new oak perhaps less toasted oat Less new oak And moving to larger format oak barrels As well so i thought this picture here Is quite fun this is actually From a visit to penfolds that i did but It shows you some of the weird and Wonderful names for the different sized Barrels Um we normally talk about berries being 225 liters but you’ve got hog’s head There which is 300 liters you’ve got Punches Which are bigger again at 475 liters and There’s a lot of producers that kind of Moving to Larger barrels perhaps a higher Proportion of older oak to Lessen the impact of the wood and really Let the kind of Fruit primary characteristic shine Through There’s also use of concrete a lot of

People feel like gives a little bit more Mid palette to the wines the The movement of the fermentation um If you ferment in concrete that that Movement of the wine Can give a little bit more kind of Texture and mid palette it’s felt rather Than Say stainless steel um and equally can Aging concrete or amphora You know as these trends you see around The world you see them globally and Obviously Um australia also incorporates some of These innovative Um wine making techniques into their Practices All right let’s focus on australia then So this as you can see Is a map of australia huge country And um obviously pnr therefore is Focused on these more southerly areas Here so you can see down in melbourne in The state of victoria this is where we Have yara and mornington peninsula which I’m going to talk about And i flew into melbourne on my trip so I landed in melbourne In a rather late time and we went Straight to Mornington peninsula the next day so it Was a pretty intense trip But you can see we’re pretty southerly Here and then if we go over to adelaide

Adelaide hills which is nearby adelaide Up in south australia But still very much coastal and then the Other region we’re going to focus on is Tasmania which is The most southerly gi of australia so We’re really focusing on these Cooler latitudes you know further away From the equator For pinot noir and we actually did a Drive From melbourne so through the vineyard Regions and all the way up to adelaide Through kunawara Um and not to adelaide hillsboroso etc So it was a it was a Fabulous tour of some of these parts of Australia and some of the the wine Regions So just zooming in a little bit more Detail here you can see we sort of Zoomed into that southern part of Australia this is the state of victoria And this is where i’m going to be Talking about yarra valley here So just outside melbourne and then Equally mornington peninsula here as Well not far from melbourne And then i’m going to go up here which Was the other end of our road trip Because i attended the seminar in Adelaide And we visited the adelaide hills which Again very close to the city

Um but up in the hills and tasmania Obviously is off the map down to To the surface all right i’m going to Start in yarra valley because this was Actually Our very first visit straight after i Landed in melbourne And this is a picture of hoddle’s creek Vineyard which is one of mack Ford’s uh vineyards in in the yarra Valley and You can kind of get an idea for the Picturesque scenes there it was Beautiful and sunny we had great weather I visited In november time so we were it was kind Of spring In australia and um you can see there The vines are just starting to grow And this i thought was quite a cool map That i took actually amaq forms a Picture of it was on the wall there and It just kind of shows you a little bit Of the topography here so You can see where melbourne is on the Coast it’s pretty flat here’s mornington Peninsula and yara is basically up from That And obviously therefore you can see it’s Starting to go into the foothills Of the great dividing range here and That provides some altitude so this is Why you have Um different altitudes if you see here

My text asl that means above sea level That’s my short hand so from everything From 30 meters up to 400 meters as you Go north what’s called the upper yarra And then obviously you’ve got the lower Yarra which is where it’s flatter and And further south towards the coast so There is a real range Of altitudes here and because pinot noir Is a cool climate grape moderate climate And doesn’t like it too hot You are starting to see people in the Our valley planting Higher up higher up in the era planting New vineyards further up than they ever Did before And you’re actually seeing some Producers sort of changing To different gray varieties there is a Lot of cabinet growing for example in Yarra in the lower yard that’s how warm It is so pinot noir Is very much more suited to some of These vineyards that have higher Altitude that Brings down the temperature it gives a Nice diurnal range as well and that’s Just better for your pinot noir great It’s called mediterranean here so Generally quite dry summers you do need To irrigate Um but you have got some coastal Influences some sea breezes and that can Help you know prevent it from getting

Too hot which is great Um really range of soils as you can kind Of see by this mountain range here you Know you’ve got really ancient souls Across Australia and there’s going to be Different as you know types depending on On the rock and where you are on the Mountain Um but you have a mix of sort of great Band saws and then also some clay Sub saws in certain areas and then sort Of volcanic soils on the southern side Of the valley as well And just to give you a range when i Visited in 2017 they were sort of giving Us a summary of the last few vintages And Just to showcase here that you know Vintage variation is still key in Australia it’s not always The same every year and you have some Years which are very dry and can give Very small yields like 2013 in the era 2014 they had a lot of frost and Obviously that was Very problematic for our early budding Pinot noir 2015 was seen as a great Vintage so if you see any 2015 yara Valleys Snap them up they’re really good uh 2016 Was a warm year some of them had you Know some of the vineyards had Hottest ever temperatures so they’re

Usually quite fleshy quite round kind of Fuller bodied styles as well as a As a general rule all right i’m going to Focus on Obviously the producers i visited i’m Not going to pretend i know everything About the yarra valley or all the Producers I’m just going to give you my insight my Experience who i spoke to what some of The trends i came across And and one of them that i visited in The area was mac forbes And this is a really kind of small Boutique kind of artisan winery And they don’t necessarily own all their Own vineyards a lot of people in Australia will buy Grapes from long term contractors but They did obviously want to have a lot of Influence on what Happened in the vineyard because for Them you know quality was crucial so They really they did own some of their Own vineyards and their single vineyard Range Will always be sort of fruit from their Own sites or sites that they are very Much involved with I spoke to austin black who was the wire Maker at the time i believe he’s moved On now Um but yeah he was talking again as i Mentioned about some producers were

Switching Pulling up pinot noir and planting Cabernet sauvignon especially in the low Era because temperatures are rising it Is getting warmer here Uh but they are based in the upping Hours so they have you know altitude on Their side Um it’s interesting as well because um Some parts of australia are Locks are free but unfortunately the Yarra valley is not and parts of it Have been affected by philosophy they Lost a four acre vineyard To phylloxera and so you know Mac forbes and other vigneons are having To start to replant on rootstock To to get past this issue they would Also select rootstock for drought Resistance because as you can see all my Photos look very sunny very lovely and Dry So they do need to irrigate and so by at Least ensuring You’ve got you know drought resistant Rootstock and thinking about Um the soil where you plant your vines Will help you know sort of ensure that You can cope If you do have a dry vintage and they’re Actually looking at reverting to dry Farming So they will water the vines when they First plant them

But then kind of let them establish Without Supplementing the water so that Hopefully they can thrive Even in the dry conditions they were Also doing some experimentation with Cordon heights so This is sort of how high or low you Train your vine And they sort of felt that lower down Was better it meant the nutrients had Less fat to travel From the soil and was supposed to be Better for quality but equally some of The higher cordons and higher drain Lines allowed More shading of the fruits which is Important in this quite dry sunny area And then obviously got the Practicalities of what level the grapes Are to enable you to pick and if you’re Hand picking you don’t want to sort of Necessarily be stooping down really low And doing back breaking work so They were experimenting with different Cordon heights And they had a range of vineyards so Just to kind of show here some of the Difference of altitudes that you get Here In the era um cold stream vineyard was Much warmer this was only 80 meters Above sea level and therefore would kind Of give a riper style of pinot

The yama junction wine that they make Was from one of their coldest vineyards Right up In the upper yard at 220 meters above Sea level Uh and then the warrior vineyard which Is actually where my picture is taken Where i was standing after having been Disinfected I had to stand in bleach uh in in in Wellies and things so that we weren’t Possibly transferring fluxera around um It was it was kind of in between um so They obviously have different sites and They’ll pick different fruits at Different times and they’ll work all the Kind of vineyards individually And have you know perhaps you know three Four weeks of different picking times To make sure that each vineyard is kind Of at the best level Um they also just in terms of overall Style for mac forms is they very much Kind of like a leaner style so they pick The fruit early they want to retain the Acid They want to kind of lean a savory style They really want the acid to kind of be The main Talking point rather than lots of ripe You know fruit so they’re kind of this Leaner Style um and they don’t really Do cold soaking for color so sometimes

They’re their reds are very pale that’s Their stylist Stylistic choice they’re not really too Bothered about the color they just Will um just go straight into the Fermentation And in some years in the warm years they Will use a little proportion of whole Bunch as well so to give some of that Stemmy character to give some aromatics As well And all their reds are unfind unfiltered It’s very much hands off in the winery They Will be very hygienic and therefore they Say you know if you’ve done everything Right you don’t need to find or filter Your wines So that was just a little bit of an Insight Into mac forbes for you there Right let me move on It’s all taking me back i wish all these Pictures for paying this powerpoint and Really making me wish she could travel And i could go back to australia And this is my own photo this is Mornington peninsula so this is our next Stop on my travels And gosh doesn’t it make you want to Visit uh This is kind of from a viewpoint it’s Called arthur’s seat Down sort of more in the south of the

Peninsula which is where it’s Higher so as you go south as you sort of Get further away from mainland you’ve Actually got more altitude here And you can see it sort of looking back You’ve got beautiful beaches And this is prime time real estate here In mornington peninsula So uh as you can see it’s so 70 Kilometers southeast of melbourne so Really is on the doorstep so they’ve Obviously got a great market for their Wines locally there’s a lot of tourism And People come for weekends and holiday Homes here But the negative side of that in terms Of viticulture as it puts a huge Pressure on Land prices so it’s very expensive to Buy vineyards here If you haven’t you know uh weren’t Fortunate fortunate enough to have Got vinyls back in the 90s then it’s It’s it’s pretty expensive now and Obviously you’re fighting with Developers and people that want holiday Homes and all other sort of Tourism um and other activities But it’s a beautiful place to have on The doorstep You can get there very easily from from Melbourne And you’ve got everything you need

There’s great restaurants wineries Beaches you know it was it was a Brilliant a couple of days here So it is a peninsula obviously okay so You’re surrounded by water on all three Sides you’ve got the bass straight the Porpo phillip bay i’ve got a map to show You in a second and the western port bay So no vineyard site here is more than Seven kilometers from the ocean Just to give you a little bit of a Perspective so the very much A you know maritime influence here it Does Rain it’s wetter in the southerly part Of the peninsula as you kind of Get further out into the sea as you Might expect Um and everywhere here is going to have Some winds okay Whether again it can be windy in the South but Whether you know you’ve got winds coming From different directions um And there’s a real range basically here Of different topographies so it can Depend Which way you’re facing whether it’s East west south you know north You’ve got different valleys different Ridges and whereabouts you are on the Peninsula And they don’t typically get frost Because of this obviously the body of

Water here kind of keeps the Temperatures a little bit warmer so it’s Really good For hopefully protecting your early Budding pinot noir and then you’ve Always got sort of mild salmon autumn Usually Um nice kind of temperate temperatures Because of the influence in the water so It doesn’t get too hot so again perfect For for pinot noir Chardonnay these grapes that that thrive Him But you can obviously have winds and if This comes at springtime this can be Particularly unsettling for the vines This is flowering and fruit sets Which can be an issue and obviously a Bit of rain and disease pressure um Can can sometimes be a problem pinot Noir really is the kind of key Great it’s almost half the annual crush So really is Thriving in this area and again Even within the peninsula you can get Bearing stars from different producers Depending on where they are And the locals call it up the hill and Down the hill So i was a bit confused when i attended A mornington peninsula webinar recently What do they mean up the hill down the Hill but down the hill is actually the Northern part

Of the peninsula okay so if you think You’re going down towards the mainland Where it’s flatter okay and you’ve got Deep fat or kind of sandy soils up here And then up the hill is in the south of The peninsula as you go south you get More altitude okay so they call it up The hill there’s more And this is where kind of the picture is Taken and me looking very cheesy and Very pleased with myself being in Warnington peninsula But there’s different stores you can Have some clay there’s some volcanic Basils here As well and one of the other things that They’re doing here is kind of a trend To high identity planting as well And then i’ve just talked a little bit There about and you have Some of the sort of first producers There um main ridge estate which i also Visited was one of their first people to Kind of plant pinot noir commercially in Mornington peninsula And there’s around 200 small-scale Vineyards so it’s very much kind of Boutique Small family-owned produces and they Have Um an association which is called Mornington peninsula wine But is uh that’s the training name of Mornington peninsula vineyards

Association And so they’re a very collaborative body As well To promote the wines of the region So this gives you a nice little map here It just shows you a little bit kind of More about the peninsula so you can Really see you’ve got port phillip bay Here The bass strait and then western port Bay Which is kind of on the east well Confusingly but you get an Idea so you really are surrounded by Water and you Highlighted here some of the estates That i tasted recently in the tasting And I went to 10 minutes by tractor which is Here um but you can get an idea of where The different estates Are and this is arthur’s seat this is Where my photo was taken earlier from This viewpoint And i’ve got another map here which Really shows you this was from 10 Minutes by tractor which shows you the Topography so you can see it’s much Flatter here in the north what they call Down the hill Whereas when you go further south down The peninsula you can see this Altitude here this is where you’re going To get some of your higher altitude

Vineyard sites but it can be A little bit wetter and you’re not so Protected Um and this can actually the vineyards Here And the altitude can actually protect Some of the vineyards in the more Northerly parts Of the peninsula so they can often Perhaps have less wind and rain Than those that are more southerly and This also shows the three vineyards so It’s called 10 minutes by tractor there’s originally Three vineyards the mccutchen vineyard Here Jad vineyard and wallace vineyard Because they were all You know 10 minutes from each other by Tractor so you can see their different Locations and circled in the southern Part here And this is what i’m going to talk about So this was 10 minutes by Tractor that i visited and um Wow it was a it was a brilliant really Really premium producer Very focused on quality with Loads of um you know meticulous work Going on In the vineyards um a real sort of not Trying to copy burgundy as such but a Real belief in You know the that they wanted to achieve

The kind of quality level and the Precision that they have in burgundy And so loads of really You know a lot of efforts in the Vineyards plot by plots And experimentation and working through Through the vines and meticulous wine Making as well So just a little history so in 2004 Martin’s been purchased um he used to be In finance He purchased the 10 minutes by tractor Estate so fortunately for him it had Already been planted in the 90s so you Had some age you already had vines That were over 20 years old which is Great for buying quality And i spoke to sando who is the Winemaker there And they are based up on main reach so There’s main ridge winery but there’s Also the area main ridge it’s a ridge And there it’s sort of higher it’s Coolants in that southern part Of mornington peninsula there’s three Vineyards um Only 10 minutes apart so we’ve got Wallace refinements And they say it’s refinement and vibrant City so they basically do single Vineyard bottlings And this is a warmer site with red Volcanic sole and it’s north facing so You’re getting most of that kind of more

Sunshine more ripeness in the in the Wines and that’s Uh solely planted with the mv6 chrome Which can be a little bit more powerful A little more structured Mccutchen uh vineyards they say has Elegance and power This is east facing so it’s kind of gets The nice gentle morning sun And it’s also at a higher altitude so They picked this one And a half weeks later than the wallace Vineyard so just showing That diversity within a really small Space Uh on the map and then judd’s and they Say has alluring aromatics and a fine Structure and this is Again one of your dijon clones 115. And when i was there they just planted a New vineyard So this is just kind of to show that They are focusing Perhaps now on on higher density Plantings here so they planted a new Vineyard at 12 100 vines a hectare there are others the Traditional ones are 3 000 Like a lot of um previous you know Australian vineyards have Bigger spacing to allow for for tractors And logistics But now they’re sort of starting to Focus on maybe having more vines that

Naturally Restricts the yield of the vine you can See there they get 400 grams of fruit Per vine rather than two three kilos as As the standard but they feel that that Gives better quality in terms of their Wine making style 10 minutes by tractor Tend to do 100 d Stem so they don’t do any stem inclusion They macerate for four to Six days and this happens naturally While they’re waiting for the wild yeast Fermentation to kick in They use concrete fermentation vessels And again this is what i was talking About earlier they feel it gives a Little bit more mid palette Depth the uh the movement of the wine During the fermentation Helps to give a little bit more texture And they use a mix of new and old french Bariques and they will You know vary the amount of new oak Depending on the vintage depending on The label of the wine And they’ve also over time reduced the Toast level so Again letting really the sort of fruit Character shine through in the oak being More Complementary secondary characteristic All right that’s it about 10 minutes by Tractor i can see There’s a ton of questions i’ve got 76

I’m not going to be able to answer all Those later so Perhaps just popping any questions that Are really really crucial Otherwise i will not be able to to Answer them all Uh right i’m going to move on this is Adelaide hills so We have changed state now we’ve gone up Uh we did a long drive as i said through Kunawara Um i actually went through the grampians As well And then up to adelaide where we visited Adelaide hills And it is hilly this picture does show That i was driving the car that day And there are some really sort of windy Roads you you do have to Go up and so altitude here is crucial Because you are At a slightly warmer latitude but you’re Very much therefore got the elevation And the coastal influence Still in the adelaide hills so just to Give you an idea here Uh we are in state of south australia There’s Quite a bit of german heritage um Adelaide hill is not that far From eden valley claire valley which are Famous for riesling so a lot of german Immigrants that brought obviously that Weasling

Great variety with them and you can see Here definitely Of the places we looked at so far it Goes up to the highest altitudes so Up to about 650 meters above sea level I think there’s even some vignettes now That perhaps even above that As they explore new areas but yeah i Definitely altitude here really really Important that’s going to give diurnal Range So it allows good ripening during the Day nice warm temperatures but that drop At night that really helps to preserve The acidity and the grapes here So really suitable for for pinot noir It’s moderate climates okay so it you Know it is Um more northerly so it’s not as cool as Say tasmania But it is maritime here so it will rain During the growing season And therefore that can give issues with Disease there is humidity And that can put pressure on the grapes And You know sometimes they just have rots Or acetic rot and that can be very Detrimental Um again mix of soils different things Going on different vineyards And pinot noir here’s one fifth of the Animal crush so not quite as big As some of the other areas there are

Other grapes growing here like Syrup sauvignon blanc chardonnay Um but pinot noir is still an important Part of that lineup And again more recently kind of Following that that history it’s been 1990s where you’ve really seen a boom in Plantings And the younger generation now really Focused on kind of viticulture in the Region And you know experimenting and really Refining The wine production here again it’s very Accessible from adelaide so you do have Pressure of You know land being wanting to use for Houses or Tourism and other things but um there’s Some really top quality vineyards here Too And one of those that i visited was Murdoch hill so a really Small scale producer um michael downer Was The the wine maker i spoke to who had Been voted young gun Uh wine maker of the year um fairly Recently to when i visited in 2017 Which is a it’s a very very uh Prestigious accolade And he really explains you know it gets Half Celsius degrees cooler every 100 meters

You go up here so that is the importance Here Of altitude um you also had as i talked About that great diurnal shift That you know just helps um keep Freshness In the grapes and and gives you the Aromatics One of the the sub-regions here is Called piccadilly valley and this is a Much cooler gi so some of them higher Altitude sites and they sourced a lot of Fruit from there for this freshness and Aromatics They also had another vineyard called Ashton vineyard which was Um the 114 clones one of your burgundy Cones which is very low yielding they Sort of Gave thought it gave a delicate flawless Savory character So they did blend fruit from different Vineyard sites from different clones to Really kind of Give a kind of range of different wine Styles and To to their to their production Uh they all said some 115 they did some Whole bunch with that Um and they thought that contributed Some delicate red fruit foresty kind of Characters and red current floor notes As well so you can see the benefit Of blending the different uh clones that

You use Again a little bit like mac forms they Pick early so the alcohol Alcohol levels here were very moderate Kind of 12 and a half 13 They were very focused on gentle Extraction so they didn’t want too much Tannin And they maybe do a little bit more and Cooley is to get flavor from the skins But they didn’t want to produce a sort Of really heavy Uh pinot noir no finding or filtering Again so that minimal intervention and And small production five thousand six Thousand cases that’s it Um they did pinot noir but as i also Said um They also did chardonnay and syrup and For them the peanut oil was a bit of a Hard sell you know that for The amount of effort that went on in the Vineyard and the quality of the Grapes and the effort in the the winery And they found it harder to sell quinoa At the kind of price point that The effort that required um But nevertheless they were they were Continuing and they did a really Interesting range so You can see some of the lineup of the Wines i tasted here and you had a wine Called ridley which i brought home I bought her with me because i thought

It was fascinating this was a blend of Three pinots so it was pinot noir but Also Ten percent pinot gris and thirty Percent pina mernier in the mix so sixty Percent pinot noir which they thought Really gave it you know that lovely red Fruit And roundness um and some of that kind Of classic earthy you know foresty Character Pinot gris which they thought gave it Some texture and almost kind of turkish Delight character And then thirty percent pina money which Kind of gave it rhubarb and kind of Juicy fruit And it was a really interesting blend And they they Just make it to be a kind of really easy Kind of summer Bread um a little bit of time in old oak But then it’s released early ready to Drink So a really good summer rent then you Had the phaeton pinot noir so this was Kind of one of those More premium bottling bottlings from Their different vineyards And here they would do some whole bunch So forty percent whole bunch for the one I tasted fifteen percent you oak so not Too much in white but just a little bit To give some

Extra flavor there and then they also Did a wine called the sulky which Was a blend of syrup and pinot noir so Almost kind of harking back to uh Historically when people used to say They used to blend a bit of romaine into Burgundy Or perhaps thinking more about like kind Of roti where it’s syrup with Um violet this is cyril with pinot noir And they think that Pinot noir 15 just as it adds this Lovely kind of ferny Foresty kind of lift and aromatics too To the syrup so just showing there i Think some of the innovations some of The Different kind of wine styles that you You can get in In in adelaide hills All right and then finally i’m going to Talk about tasmania which unfortunately I did not get to visit As i said um we didn’t have time i went To australia for two weeks but a week of That was my nw course So we didn’t make it tasmania but i Would have loved to visit and I think this picture really shows just How incredible it is And but i can still tell you a little Bit about it i definitely made a point Of tasting some tasmanian wines while i Was there obviously

Because they were much more easily Available than in the uk Um and this is a great map from wine Australia just showing the different Areas within tasmania so You can see here um a lot of the Viticulture is more on the north Or south or east coast so this is where It’s not going to be quite as windy or Wet As the west coast so that’s why Viticulture tends to Kind of move over to the eastern side of The area and you can see the different Valleys here so Tamar valley which you might have heard Of irwin valley down here in the south Korean valley so again Different there was different sort types Different Aspects and exposures um but obviously Very much kind of by the coast the Vineyards here so You’re going to have definitely a Maritime influence it’s very cool we’re The furthest south this is the most Southerly Gi in australia so it’s perfect For pinot noir and and that is One of the the most planted grape it’s 43 of the grapes here is pinot noir Uh they also plant chardonnay that’s the Next biggest and therefore also You can make sparkling wine so more than

40 of the wines produced In tasmania are sparkling so you’ve got Pinot noir being used for both sparkling Here and for your Your red wines and it’s just so suitable For this because of the climate this Cool climate This is one of the kind of true cool Climate regions of australia Other places will say cool sometimes They sort of make more cool to moderate Or moderate with cooling influences Whereas tasmania is definitely cool You’re further south you’re surrounded By the ocean Most suddenly gi uh very maritime Influence so it is wet so you do have These issues of disease here Wind rain frost can be a problem because It’s cooler And equally you can then have droughts Which seems ironic but yeah the vintages Can really you know can really vary Uh and you can also have pests so it’s Quite a label of love here To you know keep keep your grapes uh Healthy And intact they have wind breaks to try And obviously Temper and and shelter the vineyards a Little bit particularly important at Flowering Drip irrigation if necessary to Supplement the rainfall if it doesn’t

Happen at the right times Netting to protect from birds um and Then leaf removal as well so this can be Beneficial To not have too much shading or kind of A damp moist canopy that can spread Disease so there’s some of the Techniques they’ll employ here you’ve Got a little bit of altitude here still But obviously some of it Um especially down the coast is near the Coast going to be so flatter The majority of vineyards are below 100 Meters above sea level And now i’ve just highlighted a couple Of the different valleys that we saw There on the map and Different soil types from sandstone and Shifts to gravely basil clay limestone Etc um and again very much kind of Small-scale vineyard ones so there’s About 230 individual vineyards And there’s still a lot of other things In in tasmania some sheep farming and Other Crops and but vineyards now really been Taken seriously because you’ve got a Brilliant climate for it Um for really quality wine sparkling for Really premium steel wines Um so there’s seven different um growing Areas And as i said you know in those easterly Southern or northerly parts

And and there’s a real kind of food and Wine scene here as well so very much Kind of tourism Gourmet you know food and wine Destination so i will definitely Hopefully visit Next time i get to go back to australia Okay and then before i have a an attempt To try to answer some of the many Questions that come through I just wanted to highlight some of the Producers that i thought were worth the Taste so this Is not endorsed by wct this is just some That i either visited or have Fortunately been able to taste fairly Recently in the case of mornington Peninsula Um but other tastings that i’ve been to And i just think give a really nice Range of styles I’ve had a look and tried to put where You can some Uk um stockists but equally you know Have a google of them And and seek them out if you you’re Located somewhere else And this is a picture of the list dylan Which i tasted from tasmania While i was in uh wilunga which is Outside adelaide at this beach At a restaurant and it was just look at That i mean it just makes me want to To go back so there’s lots of different

Ones a coat of barrel Sadly the the winemaker that we met when I was in adelaide hills passed away Recently made brilliant wines very kind Of minimalist Intervention really interesting You’ve got the producers i’ve talked About as well murray duck estate which Is run by A fellow mw and a friend of mine kate Mcintyre some Really interesting wines there so yeah There’s just some recommendations for You there from everything from quite Bigger producers like debauchery and Yara to really sort of niche Producers as well And some extra resources so and wine Australia.com has a whole host of Information some of which um i’ve used Their pictures and And some of their information so really Worth checking out you’ve got the Australian wine research Institute that is a wealth of knowledge And i visited them Um and very scientific research that They undertake And then also that mornington peninsula Wine association that i was talking About there As well brilliant Okay so that was a little whirlwind trip Through australia i’m going to

Try and have a look at some of these Questions but please apologies if i Don’t get to Answer all of them so Oh one of the principal changes for Aging pinot noir different size of Oak so yes there was quite a few Questions about oak And the different sizes um so Obviously the larger brows would just Have less impact you’ve got Less contact with the wood you’ve got More wine To wood ratios so it just gives a more Subtle influence Still allows oxygen in but just you know The flavors of the oak will not be as Dominant basically So and with peeling oil they’re just Tending to sort of ease off on the oak And just letting the kind of perfumes And The primary characters shine through so Hopefully that’s answered that one I refer to gi yes so and they just call It in the new world it’s a geographical Indication So yara valley is a gi that’s what you’d See on the label same thing as an Appellation In france okay All right um patrick mcguigan our mac Forbes Making wines to be h absolutely yes so

Um a lot of the wines here will age Really well um particularly pinot we Know it can age There’s mac forbes also do some great Riesling which is really age-worthy it’s Got Really high acidity which and loads of Flavor concentration so they can Definitely answer those wines answer Those wines Definitely age those wines and