Australia: Chardonnay shines(2)
The Chardonnay movement
Of course, making all these generalisations about a country the size of Australia can be futile – not to mention frustrating – for producers. Nevertheless, those with access to a helicopter view distinguish the shift occurring with Chardonnay from other key varieties in the country’s palette.
Following regular recent visits to various corners of Australia, Tim Wildman MW believes: “The whole modern Chardonnay phenomenon has coalesced into a recognisable movement, probably within the last five years. It’s much more like New Zealand: everyone in a region is doing the same thing and that has an international impact.” By contrast, he points to current developments with Shiraz, saying “the movement is so diverse, the market will take longer to catch up”.
Similarly impressed with the changes he has seen is Jason Busby, director of Bancroft Wines. “Gone are the days of orange Chardonnays and one-dimensional wines,” he confirms. After a recent trip which took in a number of regions, Busby sums up: “I am now seeing many more smaller wineries taken seriously in the market as they have better vineyard management and winemaking techniques and have come a long way from the heady cooperative days of the 1980’s.”
Above all, Wildman marks out the forward momentum coming from Australia right now as being driven by cooler climate regions. “Yarra is pulling away as the leader of the pack,” he comments, picking out names such as Giant Steps, De Bortoli and the Oakridge 864, a wine he notes is now “being described as the white Grange of Australia”.
However, Wildman also picks out Mornington Peninsula for particular praise, highlighting the sweeping victory of Yabby Lake’s 2010 Chardonnay at last year’s Royal Melbourne Wine Show, where it took home three major trophies. “People are talking about that as being the watershed moment for Australian Chardonnay,” remarks Wildman. “The movement is still very much within the trade, but a result like that can be a game changer on a domestic level.”
British reserve
For all the plaudits and profile building achieved by Australian Chardonnay on its home turf, however, the top examples are still struggling to find their way through to the UK. “The only wines you guys see are the ones grown in the river [area] because they’re the only ones you can afford,” challenges Webber as he bemoans the UK’s reluctance to look to Australia for higher quality wines.
Likewise, Jeff Burch, CEO of Howard Park, notes the historical situation whereby: “The heavily oaked styles were generally cheaper warm climate produced wine, which in Australia is commonly thought of as entry-level wine and produced mainly for export.”
Emphasising that, “There is such a big distinction between cool climate and warm climate wine styles and price points,” he observes, “Australia has a wonderful range of high quality, interesting Chardonnays, most of which is not exported as the pricing is too high for many export markets.”
It’s not simply a question of blaming the UK trade for its lack of interest, however. Kerrigan points out that many of the producers making these top wines have limited resources to make their voices heard above the industry giants. “What happens in Australia may take a decade to be noticed in the UK,” he predicts, “particularly as the shift in style was led by the smaller independent winemakers with either no or minimal presence in the UK, rather than the large conglomerate wine companies which so dominate the Australian offer in the UK.“
Nevertheless, Wilson does see outdated attitudes within the UK trade as a major barrier to the message Australia’s producers are trying to get across. “The biggest problem has been the trade; we’re not even getting these wines to the consumer,” he complains. “The problem has been that Australia has always done very well in the supermarkets, which is a turn-off for independents.”
In an effort to make De Bortoli’s top wines more accessible to the UK market, Wilson reports: “We have to have an almost artificially subsidised approach with our premium wines. If we sold them at the same price as in Melbourne, no one would touch them.”
Of course, few other producers making these vanguard wines have the financial clout or inclination to persevere for long in an unreceptive market, especially as demand grows closer to home.
Having played such a enthusiastic role in supporting Australian wines this far, it would be a shame for the UK to miss out as they really hit their stride.
