Stephen Henschke became enamored with the technology when he presented a paper at a conference in Germany in 2004. He brought some of the glass closures back to Australia and tested some bottles of Hill of Grace with Vino-Lok in collaboration with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). Now with five years of testing and bottle age, Henschke is pleased with the evolution and will convert half of the 2008 production of Hill of Grace to Vino-Lok. The past few vintages have been entirely under screwcap.

“We have always viewed screwcap as a transitional closure, poised between cork and, well, we don’t know what,” Henschke told me in New York yesterday.

Vino-Lok, known (if at all) as Vino-Seal in the US, is a glass stopper that has an inner elastic ring that forms a seal with the bottle. Over on the Vino-Lok site, they say that it opens with a “click.” Henschke says they look “cool.” He’s so pleased with the closure that he has just installed the first Vino-Lok bottling line in Australia at his winery.

Vino-Lok touts its ability to age wines. And Henschke agrees that the evolution is slow, akin to magnums that are considered the ideal size for cellaring. “I call a [750 ml] bottle under Vino-Lok a half a magnum,” he says. “That’s how well it ages.”

Is the world of fine and collectible wine ready for a new closure? We will find out in the next year or so with the release of the 2008 Hill of Grace.

The Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 2010 has the fresh lime aromas of a young Aussie Riesling. But on the palate, the dry wine is tightly wound, wrapped in a crunchy, almost impenetrable shell of acidity. By contrast, the 2003 vintage of the same wine is much more accessible, with toasty almost honeyed notes, and a much rounder texture.

The Australians like their Rieslings young, fresh and dry. Wednesday, at a trade tasting in New York City, I tried six Aussie Rieslings from the 2010 vintage–yes, 2010, as in that year that just finished 28 days ago. But these weren’t first-release sort of wines as they included big guns such as the complex Grosset, “Polish Hill” bottling, widely acclaimed as the standard-bearer for the category. The wines had a gum-tingling acidity that that sometimes was crackling, electric fun (for me, the Frankland Estate Riesling) and sometimes too austere with subdued aromatics.

The question arose of whether Australian Rieslings need more bottle age. When asked his opinion, Paul Grieco, Riesling guru and partner of the Terroir wine bars, told the packed room that he probably would buy the Frankland Estate Riesling but found it “undrinkable” now and encouraged the producer to set aside production for five years and release it then.

It’s no secret that Riesling turns a corner at some point during bottle aging process. Just when that happens remains the subject of collector and producer debate. But Michael Hill Smith, a producer (though not of Riesling), suggested at the tasting that Aussie Riesling closes down after about a year and a half and then reopens after about five years–a process that’s slower under screw cap than it is under cork, he said.

But who will pay for that bottle age, producers or consumers? Only two producers in Australia currently pick up the tab, releasing wines with bottle age, Peter Lehmann “Wigan” and Pewsey Vale “The Countours.” I really liked the 2005 Contours and apparently the “Wigan” was such a medal hog on the wine competition circuit Down Under that it was all but disinvited. So you might think that producers would get the message: hold back some wines and do a separate bottling. The wine business is just that, a business, as one producer present pointed out, and cellaring the bottles would tie up capital and increase costs to the producers. But if the Semillon producers of Hunter Valley can do it, why can’t producers in Clare and Eden Valleys also do it?

A happy medium may be coming: off-dry Riesling. Even though leaving some residual sugar in the wine (by not converting the natural grape sugar to alcohol) can balance the high acidity of young Riesling, Australian producers have been reluctant to embrace the style. However, that may be changing as some younger producers are doing some halbtrocken style, as Hill Smith put it, “what’s old is new again.”

This fledgling group received validation when Jeffrey Grosset releasing his first off-dry Riesling in 2010. Because he wasn’t in NYC this week–and neither was the wine–I sent him an email to ask him why he had launched the new wine. Here’s a snippet from his reply:

It seems that consumers and trade (both in retail and restaurants) are looking for alternatives to the classic dry style. This could be a result of the subtle cultural shift with our move to greater Asian influence in our food, or in a more dynamic or less structured approach to wine or perhaps just a case of looking for something new or different, but there is certainly a lot of interest in high quality off-dry Riesling coming from those involved in the food and wine scene. This is potentially quite exciting because we have a younger generation that is not prejudiced by the old adage of sweet being cheap. The challenge as producers is to excite not disappoint, by creating balanced flavoursome wines irrespective of sweetness level. And, of equal importance to communicate clearly to the consumer what they should expect; how the combination of sweetness and acidity will taste. This need for clear concise labelling is a major challenge at the moment, and needs attention.

Australian Riesling as a category seems to be turning a corner, becoming more layered. Like a good bottle, it will be fun to check back on it in five years and see how it has changed.

In response, a [yellow tail] representative wrote to porkmag.com, “now we are specifically directing our $100,000 donation to HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team, which launch on-the-ground missions to rescue animals in peril…We may not always agree with 100 percent of what an organization represents, but rescuing animals displaced from natural disasters is a cause we support.”

SIPPED: place names
Chateau Montelena and other wineries in Calistoga will soon be able to put Calistoga on the label. After a protracted struggle over whether wineries with Calistoga in the name would have to use exclusively Calistoga fruit, federal authorities granted AVA status to the area in the north of Napa. Wineries with Calistoga in the name have three years to begin using grapes from Calistoga. [SF Chronicle]

SIPPED: lightening up
When you have a collection of 450,000 bottles, is it time to lighten up? If you’re the owners of the Tour d’Argent restaurant in Paris, the answer is yes to the tune of 18,000 bottles, including some 18th century cognac and Corton from 1895. The auction today and tomorrow is estimated fetch about $2 million, which will aid the restaurant’s bottom line as it feels the tourist slowdown. Apparently, during the occupation, the owners built a fake wall in the cellar to prevent the Nazis from finding some 20,000 bottles. NYT, Telegraph]

SIPPED: Craggy Range
I participated in a kiwi Pinot showdown over at Forbes.com Tower. Eric Arnold has the story.

SIPPED: Green certification
A national certification program on various environmental factors have been launched for Australian wine. Quotage from Stephen Strachan from the Winemakers Federation: “The retailers more and more are requiring the companies that are selling to them to be able to come to them with certain proof in terms of their environmental credentials.” [ABC, WFA]

SIPPED: American wine
The White House continues pouring only American wines, so far from four states at official events. The first state dinner is coming up next month–stay tuned for what the Obamas pick for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh! [Obamafoodarama]

SPIT: American wine; SIPPED: generosity
While dining in lower Manhattan last weekend, Chief Justice John Roberts and his wife Jane sipped a bottle of Villa Mangiacane, a Chianti. When they finished their meal, they offered the rest of the wine to a neighboring table, specifically, Gay Talese who blogged about it for City Room.

SIPPED: wine service tips
A budding restaurateur offers his first 50 service tips for his staff, including several wine related ones including “For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.” [You're the Boss, NYT]

SPIT: old vines; SIPPED: apartment complex
Philip White, a wine writer in Australia, has a scathing critique of Constellation, one of the world’s largest wine makers and marketers, and their apparent plans to scale back in Australia. Particularly irksome to him was the uprooting of John Reynell’s 161-year-old vines at Reynella; 41 “tiny apartments” will replace the vines. [INDAILY]

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan yesterday, alleges that the label for [Down Under] is substantially similar to and infringes on the trademarked label for [yellow tail].

“Bronco’s use of Casella’s iconic square brackets and its use of Australian-centric wording in connection with the sale of Australian wine are likely to confuse consumers,” the lawsuit said.

[Down Under] sells for about $3, or half the price of [yellow tail]. Both wines come in high-shouldered bottles and have duotone capsules as seen in the image after the jump.

If you were presenting evidence to the judge, what would you say in this case?

Lawsuit details: Casella Wines Pty. Ltd. v. Bronco Wine Company et al; Court: New York Southern District Court; Court Case Number: 1:09-cv-07127-RJH; Judge: Richard J. Holwell

SPIT: sales
The NYT summarizes the effect of the recession on the California wine industry: “Brutal.” It continues: “Cash may be trickling, but anxiety is gushing forth.”

SWISHED: retail change in NY
A proposal to reform New York’s retail and allow wine sales in supermarket failed earlier this year. One state Senator has introduced new legislation that would allow not only wine sales in supermarkets but also food sales in wine stores and a “medallion” system instead of licensing. Owners could operate more than one location in New York, also a change. Time will tell whether this initiative fares differently. [LoHud]

SIPPED: ultra low prices
An (unlabeled) Australian wine is selling for $1.99 at a store in Sydney, or “cheaper than water.” Meanwhile, John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter estimate that the value of juice in Fred Franzia’s new Down Under Chardonnay (retail: about $3) costs “about 35 U.S. cents or less.”

SIPPED: Schmoozing and blogging
Wine Business Monthly reports from the Wine Bloggers’ Conference; Jim Gordon of Wines & Vines has tips for bloggers.

SPIT: stems on Air France
Air France has introduced a new line of stemless wine glasses in Business and First (aka Affaires and La Première). Are the wines served any good? Hit the comments with your on-board experiences.

However, other fortified wines whose names conflicted with European place names have gotten new names. Heretofore, when ordering a glass of sherry style wine made Down Under, the proper term to use is Apera, which is a gentle riff on aperitif. And the wines formerly known as Tokay, a name that clashed with the sweet wine from Hungary, will now be known as Topaque. Eegad, that sounds like something from a medicine chest, not a liquor cabinet.

But if the Australian group for renaming fortified wines had listened to one suggestion they might have come up with something zippier. At a recent tasting, a non-Australian member of our group described these unctuous sweet wines as “lickoffable,” as in you want to drizzle them on your partner’s body and lick it off. Yikes! What a way to boost…sales!

James Godfrey (pictured right), winemaker for thirty years at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley, told me that he saw the new names as an opportunity. The term sherry has “a lot of baggage,” he said, elaborating that the new name will give them an opportunity to energize their new category of aperas, including dry, medium dry and medium sweet (which replace Fino, Amontillados and Oloroso), with younger consumers.

To find the names, a trade group generated about 200 names that could still be trademarked and then ran them by some producers, journalists, sommeliers and shop owners to come up with a list of 20 finalists. Then they surveyed 600 consumers to come up with the winners, apera, topaque, vintage and tawny. (If you want to see more on their strategy for developing the “New Era” names, check out their incredibly detailed report here as pdf.)

What do you think about the new names? A clean break or sour grapes? And what of “lickoffable”?

And stay tuned for part two of this exciting story to see what I call it when I actually taste a bottle of Topaque!

In the foreground, Dean Hewitson stands in the Old Garden vineyard, which was planted in 1853 and grows today without irrigation. As you can see, the bush vines lie in unruly rows since they aren’t trellised. I tried the 2002 Old Garden Mourvedre and it had gamey aromas characteristic of the grape, as well as dark fruits and smooth sweet tannins. (find this wine; I’ll have to stick it in a blind tasting of mourvedres if I do one of those again.)

In the photo, the lights visible on the hill beyond Dean are illuminating the vast Orlando (Jacob’s Creek) wine making facility. Consider it a study in contrast.

We visited the vineyard at dusk and on the way back to the car, I heard a kookaburra laugh echo across the vineyard. For all you birders out there, you can see/hear the kookaburra here.

Okay, Halliday, the 71 year old former vintner and author of some fifty wine books, wasn’t really in the NBA finals. But a tasting last week in the Barossa Valley did showcase some of Australia’s most amazing wines of all time. By showcasing talent old and new, it was kind of like one of those sports questions about who would be better head-to-head, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs LeBron James or Hank Aaron vs A-Rod kind of thing. While the younger wines showed some flash, for me it was the seniors that stole the show.

Andrew Caillard of Langton’s, an auctioneer, told us that it took him nine months to arrange the tasting, adding that many of the bottles were among the last available. He presented a history of Australian wine making and how the wines we were tasting were landmark wines in one way or another.

While I knew that mature cabernet could be incredible, I wasn’t so sure about mature shiraz.

First up was the 1954 Seppelt Great Western Hermitage K72 Shiraz Great Western Grampians. Looking very mature in the glass, almost tawny in color, I thought it was going to be shot. Despite only muted aromas, the wine was actually holding together well and had a good balance and finish.

Next was the 1955 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange. Inspired by a trip to Bordeaux, Max Schubert of Penfold’s decided he wanted to make a grand vin a l’australien–or something like that. So he took the best shiraz and cabernet grapes he could, blending regions as well as grapes, and put them in open top fermenters and then finished the fermentation in small American oak barrels. The first vintage of the wine was 1951 but it wasn’t sold; 1952 was the first commercial vintage and is no longer good. The 1955 we had was a wine originally developed for the show circuit and was showing very well. Much more red than the Seppelt K72, it was also more youthful, richer, rounder with a hint of shiraz sweetness on the finish. A mature wine to be sure, but very rewarding. Incidentally, this bottle was recorked under the Penfold’s recorking program, which can provide a greater degree of certainty that a bottle will still be in good condition since it has been tasted by a member of the Penfold’s staff (with a wee dram of the current Grange added for topping up any ullage–love that word).

The 1955 Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Michael, shiraz followed. An excellent and interesting wine, with more meaty and savory aromas than the first two. Caillard described the wine as a “freak,” since there was no power shiraz produced in the Coonawarra and the wine was low alcohol.

But the wine of the day, and one of the best wines I have ever tasted, was the 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A, a blend of Coonawarra Cabernet and Barossa Shiraz. I had the good fortune of tasting this wine last fall in New York, and, sadly, the bottle I tried was off. This bottle, however, was on. Big time. It’s the wine tasting equivalent of a buzzer beater and a walk off grand slam all in one. Although it has that kind of excitement, an important difference is not the power of those moments but rather the delicacy and elegance of the wine, with aromas of cigar box and dried fruits, a fine tannic structure with a finish that lingers for the whole afternoon.

As if that wine alone wouldn’t have made the tasting, there were fifteen more. Next was another Penfold’s Grange, this time a 1971 vintage. As you may recall from a magazine article I once wrote about finding birth year wines, 1971 is always a vintage that I keep an eye out for. (The wine’s success in the auction market for a time made it a barometer of economic activity according to a leading think tank.) Max Schubert, the winemaker, apparently did not like to add acid and in this case picked the grapes early and the resulting wine was a deliciously refreshing 11.5% alcohol. Andrew Caillard said that they did add “heaps and heaps” of tannins, which are still present today although finely integrated. The wine is really in a good place today.

Next we had four wines from the eighties, an 82 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet, John Riddoch, a mature cabernet that was tasting great, the idiosyncratic 1985 Wendouree Shiraz Clare Valley with its odd hint of iodine, the 1986 Henschke Hill of Grace, probably Australia’s most famous single vineyard wine still with a toasty oak influence, and 1986 Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard shiraz Hunter Valley that still had quite lively acidity.

Up next was the 1990 Mount Mary Vineyard Lilydale Cabernets Quintets, a lighter but rewarding style of cabernet that showing very well with a secondary blackcurrant note, lovely delicacy and great precision with no greenness or herbaciousness. Apparently Robert Parker described this wine as a “cru bourgeois.” The 1995 Cullen Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Margaret River still had a lot of tannic vigor that Andrew Caillard amusingly described as “a hairy armpit, long hair style wine that is no shrinking violet.”

The 1996 Clarendon Hills Australis was included as emblematic of the cult wine scene, which Caillard admitted that even he hadn’t really seen coming. The 1994 Clarendon Hills sparked controversy since it didn’t do well on the Australian show circuit but Robert Parker bestowed it with a 96 point rating, sparking demand around the world. The wine was made from 75 year old vines and 100% new French oak barrique aging. In the glass today, the aromas had an odd blend of plummy red fruits and menthol while it tasted disjointed and tannic.

Of the remaining wines (see the full list here), I wanted to particularly highlight the 2001 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier. Hailing from vineyards around the national capital of Canberra (and some joked that it’s the best thing to ever come out of Canberra), the wine is a beautiful blend of Shiraz with a touch of viognier. In this case it was about seven percent Viognier cofermented with Shiraz but that has been declining in recent vintages. The hardest thing about adding Viognier, in my view, is to get Viognier that is as good as the shiraz since Viognier can be a pretty rough and tumble category. But in this case, the Viognier gives the wine tremendous aromatic lift and this particular wine was singing.

Image 1: Landmark Australia

Over the next few days and weeks, I’ll be posting on and off some of highlights of the conference/event, sharing my new found knowledge. Really, I could post about each and every session since they were all so interesting and informative. But I’m not turning this into an Australian wine blog (though I do wonder why there isn’t one of those focusing on the lesser-known wines; it could even be called “beyond the fruit bomb”). If you’d like to have a similar experience applications are apparently now open for the Tutorial in 2010.

After the jump, check out the above lineup in motion as I walked down the line with the video rolling. Also, check out a complete list of wines, broken down by session.

Day One
Australia’s Regional Classics (1C)
2008 Grosset Wines Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley
2002 Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling, Eden Valley
1998 Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter
2005 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River
2006 Petaluma Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
2006 By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir, Geelong
2001 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Margaret River
2004 Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch, Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
1998 Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Hunter
2004 Mt Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, Grampians
2006 Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz, Eden Valley
2004 Penfolds RWT Shiraz, Barossa Valley
2006 Glaetzer Anaperenna Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley
2006 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon, Riverina

Australia’s Fine Wine
NV Pirie Sparkling Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Tasmania
1998 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling, Barossa
2005 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling, Barossa
2009 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling, Barossa
1998 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon, Hunter
2003 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon, Hunter
2007 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon, Hunter
1989 Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley
1997 Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley
1980 Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 2 Shiraz, Yarra Valley
1994 Yarra Yering Dry Red Number 2 Shiraz, Yarra Valley
2000 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon, Tasmania
2001 Dalwhinnie Eagle Series Shiraz, Pyrenees
2004 Dalwhinnie Eagle Series Shiraz, Pyrenees
All Saints Estate Museum Release Muscat, Rutherglen

Day Two
Riesling (2A)
2007 Kilikanoon Mort’s Reserve Riesling, Clare Valley
2005 Mount Horrocks Riesling, Clare Valley
1992 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling, Clare Valley
2002 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley
1973 Leo Buring DWC15 Riesling, Clare Valley
2002 Peter Lehmann Reserve Riesling, Eden Valley
1999 Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling, Eden Valley
1980 Pewsey Vale Rhine Riesling Riesling, Eden Valley
2007 Seppelt Drumborg Riesling, Henty
1996 Crawford River Riesling, Henty
2007 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Vineyard Riesling, Frankland River, Great Southern
2003 Craigow Riesling, Tasmania

Shiraz and Blends (2B)
1990 Craiglee Shiraz, Sunbury
1991 Plantagenet Shiraz, Mount Barker, Great Southern
1991 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz, Eden Valley
1991 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley
2006 Shaw + Smith Shiraz, Adelaide Hills
2006 De Bortoli Reserve Release Shiraz, Yarra Valley
2006 Giaconda Warner Vineyard Shiraz, Beechworth
2006 Mt Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, Grampians
2006 Seppelt Mt Ida Vineyard Shiraz, Heathcote
2006 Clarendon Hills Astralis Vineyard Shiraz (Syrah), McLaren Vale
2006 Charles Melton Grains of Paradise Shiraz, Barossa Valley
2006 Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier, Canberra District
2006 S.C. Pannell Shiraz/Grenache, McLaren Vale
2006 Spinifex Indigene Shiraz/Mataro, Barossa Valley
2006 Wendouree Shiraz/Malbec, Clare Valley
2004 Penfolds Grange Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Multi-region South Australia

An Historic Perspective (2C)
1954 Seppelt Great Western Hermitage K72 Shiraz, Great Western, Grampians
1955 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Multi-region South Australia
1955 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz, Coonawarra
1962 Penfolds Bin 60A Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Coonawarra / (Kalimna) Barossa Valley
1971 Penfolds Grange Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Multi-region South Australia
1982 Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
1985 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley
1986 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz, Eden Valley
1986 Brokenwood Hermitage Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Hunter
1990 Mount Mary Vineyard Lilydale Cabernets Quintet, Yarra Valley
1995 Cullen Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Margaret River
1996 Clarendon Hills Astralis Vineyard Shiraz (Syrah), McLaren Vale
1996 Penfolds Block 42 Kalimna Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley
1996 Best’s Wines Thomson Family Great Western Shiraz, Great Western, Grampians
1998 Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
1999 Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz Viognier, Barossa Valley
2001 Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir, South Gippsland
2001 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier, Canberra District
2002 Seppelt St Peters Great Western Shiraz, Great Western, Grampians
2004 Balnaves of Coonawarra The Tally Cabernet Sauvignon

Masters of Wine
2001 Yarrabank Late Disgorged Sparkling Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
1998 Tahbilk Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley
2004 Tahbilk Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley
2008 Tahbilk Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley
1996 d’Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings Grenache/Shiraz, McLaren Vale
2002 d’Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvèdre, McLaren Vale
2006 d’Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvèdre, McLaren Vale
2006 John Duval Wines Plexus Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvèdre, Barossa Valley
2005 John Duval Wines Eligo Shiraz, Barossa Valley
2006 John Duval Wines Entity Shiraz, Barossa Valley
1992 Yalumba The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa
1996 Yalumba The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa
2002 Yalumba The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Barossa
Disgorged 2008 Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz, Barossa Valley

Day Three
Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc (3A)
1998 Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter
1999 Brokenwood ILR Semillon, Hunter
2002 Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon, Barossa Valley
2003 Tempus Two Copper Zenith Semillon, Hunter
2005 Vasse Felix Semillon, Margaret River
2006 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon, Hunter
2008 Thomas Wines Braemore Individual Vineyard Semillon, Hunter
2009 Shaw + Smith Sauvignon Blanc, Adelaide Hills
2008 Angullong Sauvignon Blanc, Orange
2008 Logan Sauvignon Blanc, Mudgee
2008 Goundrey ‘G’ Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Mount Barker, Great Southern
2006 Cape Mentelle Walcliffe Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Margaret River
2008 Brookland Valley Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River
2007 Rosemount Show Reserve Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Western Australia
2007 Lenton Brae Wines Wilyabrup Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends (3B)
2005 Mount Mary Quintet Cabernets, Yarra Valley
2005 Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc, Great
Southern/Margaret River
2005 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River
2005 Woodlands ‘Colin’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River
2005 Sandalford Prendiville Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River
2005 Château Mouton Rothschild Cabernet/Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot, Pauillac
2005 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa First Growth, Cabernet/Merlot, Coonawarra
2005 Majella The Malleea Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Coonawarra
2005 Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet/Merlot, Eden Valley
2005 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec, Clare Valley
2005 Hardys Chateau Reynella Basket Press Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale
2005 Penfolds Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley

An Alternative View (3C)
2008 Henschke Littlehampton Innes Vineyard Pinot Gris, Adelaide Hills
2008 Delatite Pinot Gris Upper Goulburn
2008 Yalumba The Virgilius Viognier, Eden Valley
2006 Castagna Ingénue Viognier, Beechworth
2008 Giaconda Aeolia Roussanne, Beechworth
2008 Dal Zotto Arneis, King Valley
2008 Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Albariño, Mornington Peninsula
2008 Spinifex Lola Semillon/Marsanne/Viognier/Ugni Blanc/Grenache Blanc/Vermentino, Barossa Valley
2008 Quealy Senza Nome Tocai Friulano, Mornington Peninsula
2008 Coriole Fiano, McLaren Vale
2008 R Wines Mod Gamay, Geelong
2007 Greenstone Vineyard Sangiovese, Heathcote
2007 Gemtree Vineyards Bloodstone Tempranillo, McLaren Vale
2002 Hewitson Old Garden Mourvèdre, Barossa Valley
2006 Arrivo Lunga Macerazione Nebbiolo, Adelaide Hills
2007 Luke Lambert Wines Nebbiolo, Yarra Valley
1998 Pizzini Nebbiolo, King Valley
2005 Boireann Tannat, Granite Belt
2006 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein, Macedon Ranges
2007 First Drop Minchia Montepulciano, Adelaide Hills

Slow Food, Slow Wine
2005 Jansz Rosé Pinot Noir, Tasmania
Avonmore Organic Pale Ale
Pennyweight Woody’s Amontillado Palomino, Beechworth
2008 Sutton Grange Winery Fairbank Rosé Syrah/Cabernet/Merlot, Bendigo
2008 Lucy Margaux vineyards & Àuge Ristoranté Vino d’Àuge Saignée Sangiovese, Adelaide Hills
2008 Gemtree Vineyards Moonstone, McLaren Vale
2008 Moondarra Holly’s Garden Pinot Gris, Gippsland
2007 Ngeringa Viognier, Adelaide Hills
2007 Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir, South Gippsland
2002 Castagna Genesis Syrah, Beechworth
2006 Ngeringa Syrah, Adelaide Hills
2002 Castagna La Chiave Sangiovese, Beechworth
2005 Castagna Un Segreto Sangiovese/Shiraz, Beechworth
2007 Cullen Wines Mangan Merlot/Malbec/Petit Verdot, Margaret River
2008 KT and The Falcon Melva Riesling, Clare Valley
2008 Lethbridge Kabinett Riesling, Geelong
2004 JE Ngeringa Altus Pink Semillon, McLaren Vale
2007 Sutton Grange Winery Ratafianovese Fiano/Sangiovese, Bendigo

Day Four
Chardonnay (4A)
2006 Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 47 Chardonnay, Hunter Valley
2006 Cullen Wines Kevin John Chardonnay, Margaret River
2006 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River
2006 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River
2006 Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
2006 Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
2006 Giaconda Chardonnay, Beechworth
2006 Bindi Wine Growers Quartz Chardonnay, Macedon Ranges
2006 Stonier Wines KBS Vineyard Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula
2006 Oakridge 864 Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
2006 TarraWarra Estate MDB Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
2006 Freycinet Chardonnay, Tasmania
2006 Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay, Regional Blend
2006 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay, Regional Blend

Pinot (4B)
2007 Stoney Rise The Holyman Pinot Noir, Tasmania
2007 Bindi Wine Growers Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges
2007 Yabby Lake Vineyard Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
2006 Stefano Lubiana Estate Pinot Noir, Southern Tasmania
2006 Kooyong Single Vineyard Selection Ferrous Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
2006 TarraWarra Estate MDB Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
2007 Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, Cental Otago
2003 Ashton Hills Estate Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills
2003 Paringa Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
2002 Domaine de la Romanée Conti Romanée St Vivant Pinot Noir, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy
1999 Mount Mary Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
1997 Bass Phillip Premium Pinot Noir, South Gippsland
1997 Bannockburn Serré Pinot Noir, Geelong
1992 Coldstream Hills Reserve Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley

Blending the Rules (4C)
2005 Plantagenet Shiraz, Mount Barker, Great Southern
2006 Glaetzer Amon Ra Shiraz, Barossa Valley
2005 Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Hunter Valley
2004 Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz/Viognier, Barossa Valley
2002 Penfolds Grange Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Multi-region South Australia
2005 Hardys Eileen Hardy Shiraz, McLaren Vale
2004 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz, Eden Valley
2004 Clarendon Hills Astralis Vineyard Shiraz (Syrah), McLaren Vale
2007 Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier, Canberra District
2005 Clayfield Wines Shiraz, Grampians
2006 Two Hands Wines Bella’s Garden Shiraz, Barossa Valley
2005 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz, Multi-region South Australia
2005 Seppelts St Peters Shiraz, Grampians
2005 Majella Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
2005 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Margaret River
2006 Balnaves of Coonawarra The Tally Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
2006 Woodlands Reserve de la Cave Cabernet Franc, Margaret River
2004 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River
2005 Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
2002 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec, Clare Valley
Australian Fine Wine 2030
2006 Petaluma Croser Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
2005 Radford Wines Riesling, Eden Valley
2008 KT and The Falcon Peglidis Vineyard Riesling, Clare Valley
2006 Savaterre Chardonnay, Beechworth
2007 The Lane Beginning Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
2004 Main Ridge Estate Half Acre Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
2007 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Fleurieu Peninsula
2008 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Fleurieu Peninsula
2005 Mitchelton Crescent Shiraz/Mourvédre/Grenache, Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley
2006 Mitchelton Crescent Shiraz/Mourvédre/Grenache, Nagambie Lakes, Goulburn Valley
1998 Wirra Wirra The Angelus (Dead Ringer) Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale
2004 Wirra Wirra Dead Ringer Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale
2006 Wirra Wirra Dead Ringer Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale
2007 The Yard Riversdale Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Frankland River, Great Southern
2007 Cherubino Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River
2005 Stanton and Killeen Vintage, Rutherglen

Day Five
Sparkling (5A)
2005 Domaine Chandon Z*D Vintage Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
2004 Yarra Burn Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
2004 Josef Chromy Wines Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Tasmania
2004 Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir/Chardonnay/Pinot Meunier, King Valley
2003 House of Arras, Arras ‘Grand Vintage’, Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Tasmania
2002 Domaine Chandon Vintage Brut Late Disgorged Chardonnay/ Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier, Yarra
Valley
2001 Jansz Late Disgorged Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Tasmania
2000 Hardys Sir James Tumbarumba Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Tumbarumba
1998 Petaluma Croser Proprietor’s Reserve Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills
1998 House of Arras, Arras Late Disgorged, Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, Tasmania
NV Hanging Rock Cuvee VIII Macedon Late Disgorged Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Macedon Ranges
MV Bay of Fires Rosé Pinot Noir/Chardonnay, Tasmania
2005 Domaine Chandon Brut Rosé, Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
1994 Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz, Grampians

Fortified (5B)
Morris Show Amontillado, Rutherglen
Seppeltsfield Museum Oloroso DP104, Rutherglen
Seppeltsfield 2005 Vintage, Barossa Valley
Seppeltsfield DP90 Rare Tawny, Barossa Valley
Grant Burge 30 year old Tawny, Barossa Valley
Penfolds Great Grandfather Series 1, Barossa Valley
Campbells Isabella Rare Topaque Muscadelle, Rutherglen
Seppeltsfield Paramount Rare Topaque Muscadelle, Rutherglen
Morris Old Premium Liqueur Topaque Muscadelle, Rutherglen
McWilliam’s Show Reserve Muscat, Hunter
Morris Old Premium Liqueur Muscat, Rutherglen
Campbells Merchant Prince Rare Muscat, Rutherglen
Chambers Rare Muscadelle, Rutherglen
1928 Morris Liqueuer Muscat, Rutherglen
Seppeltsfield 1909 100 year old Para, Barossa Valley

The youngest Riesling I’ve tasted was a tank sample of the 2009 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling. The Steingarten vineyard was originally about 1000 vines planted in the 1960s at the top of Trial Hill, a windy spot on the edge of the Eden Valley. At the outset, it was a single vineyard wine of tiny production. But now although most of the vines come from an altitude of 500 meters, it makes no claim to be site specific; the Steingarten name is a brand. The tank sample was brimming with citrus intensity but not yet really formed as a wine. The 2005, by contrast, was in a very nice spot, exhibiting more muted lime and floral character. The 1998 was oddly phenolic and, while quite solid, not as rewarding today as the 2005.

The Riesling of the trip for me was the 1984 Grosset Polish Hill. The fourth vintage of Polish Hill, it was bottled under cork (they switched to screwcap around 2000) and had mid-shoulder fill (if the bottle had shoulders, that is) and came directly from the cellar of Jeffrey Grosset (pictured right), one of only a few bottles remaining. The aromatics were muted but on the palate, the wine was terrific with a great weight and kind of oily character, great integration. The finish was spectacular and went on and on. (On a related note, his current release 2008 Polish Hill had excellent citrus character akin to the white of a pink grapefruit. The grapes were hand-picked, only free-run juice used, and the resulting wine has integrated acidity and minerality.)

Also of note was the 1973 Leo Buring DWC15 Riesling Clare Valley. Golden in color, it exhibited some of those toasty notes that mature Aussie Riesling is known to have on the aroma and still had layered complexity. It’s still in a good place now but reaching the end of maturity–good thing these were among the last bottles remaining.

The 2002 Peter Lehmann reserve Riesling Eden Valley had toasty, lightly honeyed nose with a strong attack, limey midpalate and expansive, rewarding, and lingering finish. The 1999 Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling Eden Valley, so called because the rows of vines follow the contours of the hillside, was originally released with five years of age on it. Today it showed more maturity but still had a freshness from good acidity. The 1980 Pewsey Vale Rhine Riesling Eden, golden in color, was interesting but definitely in the “drink now” part of its bottle evolution.

Finally, 1996 Crawford River Riesling Henty was picked late, in May, and has “essentially no botrytis” according to the producer. But to me it had a lovely honeyed note that perhaps had a hint of the noble rot. Quite delicious. I also enjoyed one of the current releases from this producer. But I’ll save that along with some other young, fresh Rieslings for a future post.

As a summary comment here, Australian Rieslings are worthwhile with age and can show bottle evolution even under screwcap. The hardest part is probably not drinking them while they are young. But tasting that magical transformation from lime-fresh minerality of youth to the gently honeyed, toasty quality of mature bottles can be worth the wait.

Search for these wines on wine-searcher.com

Related: “Philip Laffer of Jacob’s Creek on Riesling, petrol, and screwcaps“

In the 1980s, the Australian research institute CSIRO imported what they thought were Albariño vines from Spain. Eventually, market demand led to propagation of the vines; about 70 producers make it today.

But a couple of years ago Jean-Michel Boursiquot, a expert vine identifier (who knew?) from the University of Montpellier, spotted the vine thought to be Albariño and suggested that it was, in fact, the savagnin blanc grape often found in the Jura region of France (who in Australia will be the first to make it in an oxidative, vin juane style?). The Australian authorities confirmed this earlier this year, after the harvest but before bottling. Thus the producers can no longer call it Albariño and there’s no consensus on whether they should adopt the Savagnin Blanc labeling or even try Traminer, it’s genetic twin. But time is ticking as bottling time approaches.

Any thoughts? Here were some suggestions that came up in our seminar this afternoon:
* Albari-not
* The grape formerly known as Albariño (actually a symbol)
* I can’t believe it’s not Albariño! (Credit goes to Max Allen)

Further reading: “Albariño and Savagnin, Mencía and Jaen” [Jancisrobinson.com]

This epic tale has received attention from other wine journalists recently including Jay Miller’s February article in the Wine Advocate (“Australia: Into the Abyss”), Jancis Robinson in the FT (“How Australia went down under“), and Mike Steinberger in Slate (whose memorable line was “Foster’s may be Australian for beer (mate); it appears that screwed is now Australian for wine.”).

While all three pieces acknowledged that Australian wines have suffered a sharp reversal of fortune over the past year, they varied somewhat in the cause of the collapse. Miller ascribed it to the rise of look-alike wines. Robinson saw they UK supermarket buyers playing the big Australian wine corporations off of one another turning it into a “duel by discount” and that “Australian wine became synonymous with cheap wine.” Steinberger noted some retailers having difficulties selling the expensive shiraz that is all too often high in alcohol, overoaked, from grapes harvested at the extremes of ripeness. He elaborated on the causality: “It is a rendering of shiraz that Robert Parker happens to adore, and the huge scores that his publication, the Wine Advocate, awarded many of the wines made them wildly popular, which encouraged producers to pump out more and more of these purple people-eaters (the ever-decorous Australians refer to them as “leg spreaders”) and retailers and importers to load up on them.”

The case of Australia offers a fascinating example for other countries that seek to enter the global market. If anything the country came to have too little diversity at the top, especially in the American market, and came to be known for the high alcohol, fruit bomb shiraz to the detriment of anything else (a cautionary tale for Argentina and Malbec and New Zealand with Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps). And since most of the fruit bombs deteriorate rather than improve with age, there’s no real claim to making a wine that can mature, generally a benchmark of an outstanding wine.

Do the non-fruit bomb wines age? Does Australia have a middle ground between the choose-your-critter supermarket wine and an emperor-has-no-clothes shiraz?

Yes, and apparently they are keeping them to themselves. Consider the experience of comedian Lewis Black. He recently related to wine writer Robert Simonson: “I actually went to Australia, and, you know what? They’re cheating! When I was in Australia, it was like “You guys are keeping the good stuff!” You try their wines down there and you say, “Really? THAT’S a Shiraz. Screw you! That is not what you’re selling us!” That was an eye-opener.”

If it was the best of times just a few years ago, it is now the worst of times. Through pop culture, we all know that Australians have to deal with such horrors as baby-eating dingos and man-wrestling crocodiles. But Australian winemakers have had to confront the serious calamities of drought and bush fires that have ravaged vineyard areas this year. In this light, Australia, a largely arid land to begin with, is also at the forefront of climate change.

I’m in Australia right now and hope to find some of those wines that aren’t making it to our shores and more about the story of the rise and recent pullback. Late last year, I was selected from 130 applicants to be one of the dozen participants in an educational conference called 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 from China to Finland to Germany; half the group is a Master of Wine or a Master Sommelier. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, a government organization, has organized (and paid for) the event. We will spend the next five days in the Barossa Valley tasting through three sessions a day with leading wine makers from throughout Australia including Jeffrey Grosset and Brian Croser among many others. You can see the whole list of seminar leaders here and the complete schedule here as a pdf.

It should be a fun week and I plan to learn a lot. Stay tuned.

photo: Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation

Such was the case with a thread last week concerning Mike Steinberger’s recent Slate column about the state of Australian wine. Mark Squires, who moderates the Parker board, accused Steinberger of selecting “biased” retailers for the story. One of the retailers shot back with a stinging rebuttal of the bias claim. Shortly thereafter, the thread was deleted in its totality.

Subsequently, Steinberger had an email exchange with Squires. Steinberger questioned the decision to delete the thread and said it had unfairly deprived him of a chance to respond to Squires’s assertions. Squires was unmoved, and a spirited discussion followed. With Steinberger’s permission, I am posting the exchange here. Sit back and pass the popcorn.

****
From: mhsteinberger
To: msquires
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2009 11:21:34 PM
Subject:

Mr. Squires,

You made an assertion today, in the thread about my Slate article, to which I wish to respond. However, it appears that the thread has now been deleted. I would ask you to restore the thread so that I might reply, and to leave it open so that others can read the comments and weigh in. It was a perfectly civil discussion, and there was no reason to remove it. There was nothing in my article that could be construed as an attack on Robert Parker or the Wine Advocate, and I am at a loss to understand why you felt the need to delete the entire thread.

Mike Steinberger

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:43:03 -0700
From: msquires
Subject: Re:
To: mhsteinberger
This decision has nothing to do with you or your article per se. Calling this a civil thread is simply astounding. It will not be restored, nor could it be as it has been deleted.

I’m still rather confused as to what you consider an unbiased source. I have a degree in journalism, summa cum laude, btw. But frankly I’m not really concerned enough about it to debate it.

From: mhsteinberger
To: msquires
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 1:48:14 PM
Subject: RE:

I have no interest in debating, either, but you made comments concerning my article and my journalism that require a response.

To the extent that the thread became uncivil, it was your doing–you immediately posted a snide comment about the article, then quickly followed up with a dig at the retailers I cited and a dig at me. The retailers can defend themselves. I would only note that your broadside against Posner and Hayward was as nonsensical as it was unjustified. Yes, retailers are in the business of selling wine. But how exactly did it profit Posner and Hayward to tell me that they were having difficulty moving high-end Australian wines? Can you explain to me the conflict of interest in this case–how their businesses stood to gain from sharing that information? If you were suggesting that Posner and Hayward have axes to grind when it comes to Australian wines, that’s demonstrably false. Posner maintains a very large Australian portfolio, and Hayward, if I’m not mistaken, was championing Australian wines when Robert Parker’s seat at the Farm Credit Banks was still warm. Are you of the opinion that journalists should just never solicit the views of retailers?

Regarding your critique of my journalism, you claimed that I went fishing for quotes that would fit my argument. To begin with, I wasn’t making an argument, and for you to suggest as much indicates that you didn’t actually read my column. The article was a reported piece; the only commentary came at the end, when I said it was a pity so many people seem to have written off Australia entirely. But the bigger issue here is that you made a damning accusation concerning my work, yet offered no proof to substantiate it. As a journalism major–a summa cum laude graduate, no less–didn’t you feel obliged to offer some supporting evidence for your assertion? It is one of the cardinal rules of journalism–if you make a claim, you have to back it up. Can you back up what you said about my reporting? If not, then you owe me a public apology.

In case you are interested, I decided to pursue this story last fall, after coming across data showing a huge drop in sales of blue-chip Australian wines and hearing from both Jeff Zacharia and Peter Gago that high-end Australia was a moribund category (do they have axes to grind?) I called Chuck because The Jug Shop is renowned for its Australian inventory, and I called Daniel because hardly a week goes by in which I’m not receiving offers on Australian wines from his store. I gather, from your remarks, that you think this story–the crisis of the Australian wine industry–is a bogus one. If you can prove that, I’d certainly be impressed, because the statistical and anecdotal evidence is pretty overwhelming. I know you write for the Wine Advocate now, but do you read it? If so, you may have noticed that your colleague Jay Miller has an essay in the current issue about–yes–the crisis of the Australian wine industry, in which he makes many of the same points that I made in my article (Jancis Robinson even cited Jay’s essay in the piece she did for the Financial Times last week on this same topic). Unless you had something substantive to add to the discussion about my article, there was no reason for you to chime in; your only contribution was snark, and your decision to delete the thread smacks of a censoriousness that is truly dismaying coming from someone who graduated journalism school summa cum laude.

Regarding unbiased sources, I must confess that I’m a little confused, too, and maybe you can help me understand something. I couldn’t help but notice that while you were busy impugning my integrity and the integrity of the retailers I cited, there was an active thread about a visit to Bern’s involving Eric Solomon, Patrick Mata, Jose Pastor, and one Jay Miller. Was this the same, aforementioned Jay Miller who covers Spain for the Wine Advocate? From the picture that was posted, it would appear to be so, and I’m thus a bit perplexed. Eric, Patrick, and Jose are importers of Spanish wines. I’ve always taken Bob at his word that the Wine Advocate scrupulously avoids potential conflicts of interest. How does Jay’s Weekend at Bern’s square with that policy? You would surely agree that there is more to journalistic independence than not accepting advertising–that conflicts of interest can arise in other ways. Bob conceded as much after he caught flak for that dinner in Bordeaux with Alain Raynaud, Gerard Perse, and Michel Rolland, and Jay’s road trip with these importers strikes me as a far more egregious ethical lapse. Can consumers continue to regard Jay as an impartial judge when it comes to wines imported by Eric, Patrick, and Jose? Since you are clearly very attuned to issues of journalistic malfeasance, I’m curious to get your take on this matter. Thanks.

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:19:32 -0700
From: msquires
Subject: Re:
To: mhsteinberger

>>Can you back up what you said about my reporting? If not, then you owe me a public apology. <<

Your arguments here are as bad as your article, which was a regurgitated version of what has been circulating for the last couple of years. Like I said--I have no interest in debating this. Which you should consider a very good thing, as I'm both a pretty good debater and awfully knowledgeable about every aspect of the subject matter, in general and in specific.

But I have better things to do with my time.

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:22:13
From: msquires
Subject: Re:
To: mhsteinberger

>>Can consumers continue to regard Jay as an impartial judge when it comes to wines imported by Eric, Patrick, and Jose<<

By the way, one final note. If you think this reprehensible mud-slinging intended to divert attention from yourself does you a service, or makes me want to talk you, you have seriously misjudged the situation. You change the subject and attack someone. It’s an obvious and well scorned tactic. Good luck with that.

If you have a question about ethics in the WA, you talk to Bob. I have no interest in talking to you about anything at any time.

From: mhsteinberger
To: msquires
Subject: RE:
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:23:52 -0400

Yes, it probably is a good thing for me that you have neither the time nor the inclination to continue this discussion. If, by debating skills, you mean an aptitude for hitting the delete button in order to make opposing views disappear, you very clearly are a master of the form. And given that you are now an eminent wine critic, I wouldn’t think to challenge your knowledge. But I do have two questions for you. You now accuse me of regurgitating a story that has been “circulating for the last couple of years,” as you put it. The data, and all the anecdotal evidence, indicate that sales of high-end Australian wines in the United States have tanked in the last 12-18 months. Can you point me to an article from, say, 2005, that claimed that the market for these wines had completely dried up? And if I am guilty of regurgitating an old story, would you agree that your colleague Jay is guilty of the same thing? As I noted in my previous email, his article in the current issue of the Wine Advocate (“Australia 2009: Into The Abyss”) makes the same points I made in my Slate piece.

Lastly, if I did indeed recycle old news, you should immediately contact the Sydney Morning Herald to let them know; they emailed over the weekend to inquire about possibly reprinting my article.