Why do australian wines perform so well at the London shows?

[Winefront Monthly]

Just put this article up on the winefront monthly site: see http://www.winefrontmonthly.com.au/newsevents.htm if you're interested.

Gist is that australian wines continue to shine at the london international wine shows - as they do most years. Bearing in mind that the french don't enter their top wines, the aussie wines still do seem to perform exceptionally well. Why? Any theories? Why has an aussie pinot noir taken out the pinot noir trophy two out of the past three years - when most (not me, but most others - personally I still place top aussie pinot ahead of new zealand) place australian pinot at least a few notches down the pinot tree?

Campbell.

[Guest]

ahhh, because they are nice wines?

[Larry]

I agree with guest. Australian wines are the nicest in the world. If they didn't scoop the pool, considering that they are the nicest, THEN I'd be asking questions. Guest has a very nice palate I believe.

Lance.

[markg]

Hmmm.. Perhaps the question to ask is "..what does a wine drinker expect from a pinot noir ?"

[Phil Shorten]

Just put this article up on the winefront monthly site: see http://www.winefrontmonthly.com.au/newsevents.htm if you're interested.

Gist is that australian wines continue to shine at the london international wine shows - as they do most years. Bearing in mind that the french don't enter their top wines, the aussie wines still do seem to perform exceptionally well. Why? Any theories? Why has an aussie pinot noir taken out the pinot noir trophy two out of the past three years - when most (not me, but most others - personally I still place top aussie pinot ahead of new zealand) place australian pinot at least a few notches down the pinot tree?

Campbell.

Campbell

I think you answered the question yourself - some Australian producers place a lot of kudos in the show system and therefore take it particularly seriously. There are many wines from Italy, France, Spain etc that are not entered into these shows. Accordingly, it is difficult to draw much from some of the shows/challenges etc.

As to the Kiwis, I do not know which producers entered their wines into the IWSC challenge so therefore it is difficult to draw a meaningful conclusion.

In terms of the views of some British commentators, I can see both sides of the story. For mine, the UK market's perception of Australian wine is about 10-15 years behind where the Australian wine industry is actually at. Partly, this is a creation of the big brands which have dominated the marketplace so much. Many still perceive Australian wine as "sunshine in a bottle" and not a great deal more - ripe, rich fruit married with a hefty dose of oak. We know that Australian wine is far more diverse than that.

That said, there are perhaps a relatively small number of Australian wines that one would consider to be "intellectual" wines. Perhaps this sounds a bit wanky, but I think there is a perception that, while Australia makes some very good wines, it doesn't produce many wines that offer genuine interest, at least by comparison to the various wine producing regions of Europe.

If I was intending to live in the UK long term, I admit that I would struggle to justify Australian wine being more than 5%-10% of my cellar. It's not because I ain't fond of the stuff, it's because there is so much choice of interesting quality wine in this market at a reasonable pricepoint (notwithstanding the hefty tax and duties we have to pay).

I hope this has answered your queries in a roundabout way!

Cheers
Phil

[GraemeG]

In terms of the views of some British commentators, I can see both sides of the story. For mine, the UK market's perception of Australian wine is about 10-15 years behind where the Australian wine industry is actually at. Partly, this is a creation of the big brands which have dominated the marketplace so much. Many still perceive Australian wine as "sunshine in a bottle" and not a great deal more - ripe, rich fruit married with a hefty dose of oak. We know that Australian wine is far more diverse than that.

Inevitably, though, this is the result of the usual split between wines that are cheap heavily promoted and easily available - Lindemans Bin 65 - vs those that are not - Dalwhinnie Shiraz. I can't help but feel that often commentators talk about the former, but we interpret their remarks as being about the latter, which is of course not the case. Plus, obviously, not everything available here in Oz gets to the UK, at least not in the quantities worth writing about.

That said, there are perhaps a relatively small number of Australian wines that one would consider to be "intellectual" wines. Perhaps this sounds a bit wanky, but I think there is a perception that, while Australia makes some very good wines, it doesn't produce many wines that offer genuine interest, at least by comparison to the various wine producing regions of Europe.

Yes, indeed. Australia's production is miniscule, or at least small, beside France and Italy. And our wines have a 'qualitative pyramid' as well - all of which means that there are very many fewer top Australian wines than Old World nations who draw on vast national vineyards. In another 200 years or so, thing might even up a bit.

If I was intending to live in the UK long term, I admit that I would struggle to justify Australian wine being more than 5%-10% of my cellar. It's not because I ain't fond of the stuff, it's because there is so much choice of interesting quality wine in this market at a reasonable pricepoint (notwithstanding the hefty tax and duties we have to pay).

Damn, we're in violent agreement here too! I see on Tom's site Jamie Goode mentioning the Musar sells for £13 in the UK. It's rarely less than A$70 here. If I looked around Ultimo wine cellars (to take a example with a large selection of top quality imported wines), divided all the foreign wine prices by 2.5, and doubled the price of everything Australian, then my spending patterns would undergo a pretty radical shift as well!

cheers,
Graeme

[Guest]

If I looked around Ultimo wine cellars (to take a example with a large selection of top quality imported wines), divided all the foreign wine prices by 2.5, and doubled the price of everything Australian, then my spending patterns would undergo a pretty radical shift as well!

I Second (Growth) that emotion! Rauzan Segla or maybe a Chateau Mostrose with pizza or a weekend meal, Trotanoy every few months. Yeah! Truth be told though, I still think Australian wines of equal caliber can be found, maybe even at a cheaper price. For example, great years of Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1, do rival the 'smaller' Margaux wines, ne pas?