COLUMN: Aussie wines are on his comeback trail

Last week a wine distributor rep dropped by the store so that I could taste a few wines with her. But her “bag of goodies” contained nothing but Australian wines.

Bad news for her, I thought. I’d cut my Australian wine inventory in half over the past year. I told her that.

All she said was, “trust me.”

When you taste a good Australian wine, you have an expectation unlike any other wine region in the world. Before we get to that, let me give you a little back story.

Since the late 18th century — not long after the first Europeans settled there — vines have grown in Australia. The vines were European in origin and were part of a vine “colonization” experiment, whin which traders would plant vines in foreign areas just to see what would happen. Then subjects to the British Crown, Australians planted their vines and made wine, mostly sweet, which the sold back to the English, their obvious trading partner.

Fast-forward to the 20th century, where through trial and error (most notably in the 1960s), Australians discovered that they could produce a dry wine that was higher in alcohol and still retain sweeter, chewy tannins. A signature taste for Australia was created.

Most winemakers in Australia saw the developing trend and started crafting their wines into what we now loving refer to as “fruit bombs.” Fruit bombs is a term of affection. (The only reason I say this is because sometimes there are other impressions from the phrase. Most of Europe said the same thing about American wines, simply because the style was different from theirs. Now they are buying our wine). Fruit bombs are wines that are almost candy-like in their aroma. It was fun. It was different. I can’t speak for everyone, but I loved them. As a matter of fact, when I worked at the Gourmet Shop in Columbia, our staff (which we all lovingly refer to as the “Wine Team”) would get together whenever a particular winery we all loved (“Mollydooker”) released a new vintage for a “Dooker Party.” We would get together, taste the new wines as well as past vintages, take pictures and send them to the winemakers out of appreciation for their great product. We loved their wines.

And they just kept coming. Wines from Penfolds, Marquis-Philips, the Caesella Family (Yellow Tail) and others started bombarding the United States with amazingly different wines. Not only were they different, they weren’t expensive. Other Australian winemakers started following the market with this trend of cheap, tasty wine.

We didn’t think that there was an end in sight for Australia.

We were wrong.

About 3-4 years ago, however, the vine turned. First, a series of droughts and wildfires ravaged Australia’s most treasured wine regions. Wineries and valuable land were destroyed. Second, the value of Australia’s currency inflated the price of wines across the board. Third, because a lot of Australian winemakers sought the same types of tasting notes in their wines, they became boring, creating a market problem. “Why,” wine consumers began to ask, “should I pay $20 for a wine that tastes similar to a wine that costs $10?” Most importantly, the influence and sales of Yellow Tail forced other Australian wineries to make cheap wine. That watered down the market with wines that are simply not interesting. This may have been great for Yellow Tail, but the rest of Australia suffered greatly for it. But there was — and is — still hope.

Australia is now launching efforts to reintroduce their wines to foreign markets. Winemakers know that they can’t just manufacture the same style of wine every year. There is awareness of variety in the wine that is more reflective of what the earth gives them. In the industry, this is known as “terrior.”

Okay, back to last week and the “trust me” tasting.

I hadn’t tasted that many Australian wines in the recent past because they’d all been the same. I guess I became just as complacent and bored with the wines as the consumer. Consequently, at least week’s tasting I was floored by what I tasted.

I’ll mention some specific wines in just a minute, but let me begin by just describing the tastes. I tasted a Shiraz, a Shiraz/Viognier blend and a white blend. They were delicious. They still had that fruit bomb intensity, but without the over-the-top style that Australian wines were prone to in the past. The Shiraz was big and opulent, but with a lower alcohol content that balanced beautifully. The Shiraz/Viognier blend was elegant and more reminiscent of a Rhone Valley style. And the white blend? I would recommend it with any seafood dish.

I discussed thiswith Bryan Holt, the wine buyer and manager of our sister store on Pamplico Highway, and he was just as pleasantly surprised as I was, and for the same reason.

Safe to say, both of us have a new focus and appreciation for what Australia has been through, and, more importantly, what it can now deliver. I was so impressed I bought buy some Mollydooker to try again and wow: It was stunning.

Here are the wines I tasted last week: Vinaceous “Snake Charmer” Shiraz; West Cape Howe Shiraz/Viognier Blend; Pike’s “The White Mullet” White Blend.

Obviously, you’ll also want to try some Mollydooker’s. They never fail to satisfy.

Also consider giving the the wines of D’Arenberg and Torbreck 54y. They aren’t all expensive and they deliver beautiful fruit and intensity that is worthy of a second chance.

You won’t be disappointed.

--Cheers!

Joshua Mason is the Wine Buyer for Micky Finn's in Florence and has been in the wine industry for 12 years, previously with Total Wine and The Gourmet Shop in Columbia. He is from Forest, Va., but calls Florence home. Contact Joshua at joshm@mickyfinns.com.