Aussie convinces again – Australian Wine Day 2019, Grand Hotel, Stockholm (15-12-2019 by Nenad Jelisic and Robert Jonasson)

 

The first major wine tasting of the autumn was the Australian Wine Day, which was organized by Wine Australia. It was noticed that desire to taste Australian wines was high as there were a lot of people at the tasting tables from the beginning. The Australian Wine Day has become an annual event and there were over 300 wines to taste from 58 producers at the tasting. There were wines to taste from 35 of Australia's total 65 wine regions. NJ Wines concentrated on the producers that are represented at the Swedish wine market. A total of 145 wines were tasted, of which 32 wines got more than 2,5 NJP, i.e. about 22%, which is a good result. Unfortunately, only a few wines got more than 3,0 NJP in ratings and only three wines got more than 3,5 NJP. Unfortunately, even during this tasting, the trend was that many of the best producers did not show their best wines. Despite this, this tasting increased the impression of the last year's tasting that the wines from Australia have got a big boost in the recent years. Jammy wines with eucalyptus scent, poor balance between the acidity and the sweetness and almost non-existent tannin structure were very few at this tasting. In general, most of the red wines were well balanced with good tannin structure and good fruitiness.

 

The following wines got more than 3,0 NJP (in alphabetical order): 1. First Creek Wines, Winemakers Reserve, Chardonnay, 2017, white dry wine, Hunter Valley, 3,5 NJP, 2. Kaesler, Old Bastard Shiraz, 2016, red dry wine, Barossa Valley, 3,5 NJP, 3. Penfolds, St Henri, Shiraz, 2015, red dry wine, Coonawarra, 4,0 NJP, 4. Ten Minutes by Tractor, Coolart Road, Pinot Noir, 2017, red dry wine, Mornington Peninsula, 3,5 NJP, 5. Ten Minutes by Tractor, McCutcheon, Chardonnay, 2017, white dry wine, Mornington Peninsula, 4,0 NJP, 6. Vasse Felix, Heytesbury, Chardonnay, 2017, white dry wine, Margaret River, 3,5 NJP, 7. Vasse Felix, Tom Cullity, 2015, red dry blend wine, Margaret River, 4,0 NJP and 8. Wynns Coonawarra Estate, John Riddoch, 2016, red dry wine, Coonawarra, 3,5 NJP.

 

The best producer at the tasting: Vasse Felix. There were two producers that really stood out; Vasse Felix and Ten Minutes by Tractor. Thanks to the fact that Vasse Felix-wines got a slightly higher average rating and that the best wine at the tasting came from the producer, Vasse Felix was chosen as the best producer at the tasting. Vasse Felix is ​​a well-known wine producer who is usually considered as one of the best producers from Margaret River. Vasse Felix was founded in 1967 by Dr. Tom Cullity. The estate was the first wine-growing estate in Margaret River. At Vasse Felix, wines are mainly made of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but also Shiraz and Semillon and blends between Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. All grapes are grown in Vasse Felix's four own vineyards in Margaret River. The vineyards are Home Vineyard, Watershed Vineyard, Karridale Vineyard and Adams Road Vineyard. Home Vineyard was planted by Tom Cullity as early as 1967. The other vineyards were planted between 1995 and 1998. The first vintage that was produced was 1971, but it was not but it was not particularly successful. However, the 1973 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon was, it won the gold medal at the Perth Royal Show. The same year, David Gregg was employed as a winemaker. In 1984, the Gregg family bought Vasse Felix from Tom Cullity. In 1987, the Gregg family sold the estate to the Holmes a Court family, who are still owners of Vasse Felix. Since 2006, Virginia Willcock has been the chief winemaker. The vine growing philosophy is that everything should be done as naturally as possible in the vineyards. This means that no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used.