Comments on: G20, Bordeaux pricing, Cake wine, Australia – sipped and spit

By: The state of Australian wine - and Landmark Australia | Dr Vino's wine blog

The state of Australian wine - and Landmark Australia | Dr Vino's wine blog — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:56:54 +0000

[...] Landmark Australia, The Tutorial (see Jancis Robinson’s announcement from December and my previous mention). The group of participants is composed of sommeliers and wine writers from ten countries ranging [...]

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:13:01 +0000

@ Mark – it was either him or Nestor Kirchner.

@ Dylan – agreed.

@ Michael – agreed. But it is a pity how other stuff from Australia has been squeezed out. Cool climate cabernet for example? Riesling to a large extent?

@ Sophie – many thanks for that observation. If you have any links to that discussion, send them our way!

By: sophie

sophie — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:47:17 +0000

Hey new reader and an Australian.
I lived in New York for most of last year and have to say I was mortified at the quality of the Australian wine available and how it is perceived overseas. I have been doing some earnest reading-up on the way teh exports operate since.
Part of the issue is the perception of the American market – large winemakers make ‘added sugar’ wines like Yellowtail for the American market owing to the belief (true or not) that Americans like sugar-sweet wine.
The biggest issue, however, is the export tasting panel. Every wine has to be approved for export by a panel of ‘tasting experts’. However, this panel seems to be mostly made up of a narrow cross-section of tasters with a strong preference for exactly the kind of qualities which Australia finds itself so frequently criticised for overseas – over-oaking being a big one. They also have a strong preference for South Australian wines (and those that mimic them) leading to an almost total lack of representation in export from other regions. (I’m from the Hunter Valley, so I’m quite biased on that one!)
There is some strong displeasure being expressed here about the panel by a number of winemakers – many well-regarded, well-reviewed and awarded wines have been rejected for export, often without any reason being given.
Hopefully, the dissatisfaction will lead to some change soon!

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Bordeaux prices are just what we all have said, they are absurd and need to come way down. I feel like they kept ’07 prices ridiculously high so that ’08, a crap year, would look like they were Robin Hood.

Australia, also no surprise. Thought that Australia has been done for awhile. Who can stomach it? Those high-end Aussie fruit-liqueur wines were an intriguing taste for a moment, but not something to drink. I have never bought much, but what I have is only suitable to open in a huge crowd, so that everyone can have a small sip, as if it really were a liqueur. The real shame is what effect they all had on global fine wine, I think that there is little real doubt now (though fine wine denizens will still deny it vehemently) that this movement pushed ripeness and alcohol through the roof globally. As for the low end of Aussie wine, I suspect there will be a recovery, though drought and fire will probably make going rough for the giants for a couple of years, in the end they will still be able to offer relatively respectable plonk for the best price because of their ability to grow millions of barrels worth of fruit cheaply.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:42:09 +0000

I’m a big fan of Jamie Oliver for his work with the community. His efforts to impart proper eating in public schools are something I wish I saw more of in the US. If you want to stop obesity, set the example from the beginning.

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:33:17 +0000

Snaps for the Joachim Sauer reference!