The Canberra district has a cool local weather due to the excessive altitude (700 meters above sea degree) and a cooling breeze from the close by ocean. It had been a wine rising area from the primary settlement of Australia within the late 1700s, however within the early 1900s it disappeared as a result of retaining sheep for wool was extra worthwhile. When within the Seventies wool declined as nicely, three males rebooted wine rising in Canberra: Ken Helm, John Kirk, and Edgar Riek. On this third day of our journey we visited two wineries established by them: Clonakilla by John Kirk, and Helm Wines by Ken Helm. Canberra is a small wine rising area, with solely 300 hectares of vines. The local weather may be very appropriate for wine rising, however there’s not sufficient water accessible to extend the manufacturing.
The primary vineyard we visited within the Canberra district is Clonakilla, named for the Irish heritage of the Kirk household. John Kirk was a analysis scientist with a PhD in biochemistry who began the Clonakilla vineyard as a pastime within the Seventies.
Within the Nineties his son Tim visited Guigal within the northern Rhône, and was captured by Syrah that was cofermented with a little bit of Viognier. Since he figured that the local weather and soils in Canberra had been fairly just like the northern Rhône (if not the slopes), he thought It will be a good suggestion to try to make the same wine in Canberra. Canberra has a big distinction in temperature between day and evening of about 20 levels Celsius (40 levels Fahrenheit), which is right for the fragrant improvement of the grapes. Because of the decrease common temperature, Shiraz from Canberra is lighter in fashion than from Barossa. The grape selection Syrah from France is named Shiraz in Australia. Clonakilla is a small household vineyard that solely has 16 hectares of grapes. They produce 200,000 bottles yearly, shopping for further grapes which can be used for non-premium wines.
At Clonakilla we had three rounds of tasting. The primary two rounds had been vertical tastings of the 2 fagship wines of the vineyard, the Shiraz Viognier and the Syrah. (A vertical tasting means tasting the identical wine from totally different vintages.)
The Shiraz Viognier is 96% Shiraz with 4% Viognier, with 20%-40% fermented as entire bunches. When the grapes are nonetheless connected to the bunch, some maceration carbonique happens to develop the fruity aromas of the wine. When the grapes are launched, a micro injection of sugary grape juice restarts the fermentation, and the stems add some tannins and aromas to the wine. The wine is aged in French barriques of which most a 3rd is new, for no less than 12 months. We tasted a number of vintages of the Shiraz Viognier:
- 2005: developed, elegant, considerably drying end, fruit pale away
- 2009: jammy fruit, balanced, developed, heat, ripe tannins
- 2015: herbaceous aromas from the stems, contemporary, current tannins
- 2018: wants extra time within the bottle
- 2019: darkish fruit, juicy, sticky tannins, increased acidity than among the different vintages (aged for 18 months in oak as an alternative of the same old 12)
- 2022: black pepper, contemporary, elegant, ripe mushy tannins
The following vertical tasting was for the Syrah, which is 100% shiraz that’s utterly destemmed (i.e. no entire bunches). It’s produced from solely 0.4 hectares, so the manufacturing may be very restricted. The vertical tasting of the Syrah included the next vintages:
- 2006: wow, what a wine! Lovely ripe fruit, contemporary, advanced, elegant, balanced, velvety tannins, very highly effective for its age.
- 2009: highly effective, contemporary, much less jammy fruit.
- 2013: herbaceous aromas.
- 2015: earthy, balanced, has potential.
- 2018: caramel, ripe tannins.
- 2021: herbaceous aromas.
It’s exceptional how a few of these wines resemble Syrah from the Northern Rhône, and the way a lot distinction there’s between the vintages when you think about that Australia has the status to supply ‘model title’ wines that style the identical yearly.
I used to be curious whether or not the Viognier varietal wine would resemble Condrieu from the Northern Rhône just like the Syrah/Shiraz and so I requested Tim about it. He stated one of the simplest ways to seek out out is to strive it, and so he obtained out a bottle of 2021 Viognier. This was fairly totally different from a Condrieu, way more crisp and never as wealthy in both physique or aroma.
The third and closing tasting was a blind tasting of 11 totally different Syrah/Shiraz from one of the best producers and rising areas world wide. The employees of Clonakilla additionally participated within the tasting, so it could be enjoyable to see if they may acknowledge their very own wines within the blind tasting.
Here’s what I considered the wines; bear in mind I tasted them blind and came upon solely afterwards what I had been tasting when the wines had been revealed:
- France, Domaine Corbis, Cornas La Sabarotte 2017: closed, heat, tight, robust however mature tannins
- France, Guigal Château d’Ampuis Côte Rôtie 2016: earthy, contemporary, drying end
- Chile, Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Las Pizarras Syrah 2017: acidic, ripe tannins
- South Africa, Eagle’s Nest Constantia Shiraz 2012: developed, ripe, excessive alcohol
- Chile, Valle de Elqui, Tococo de Alcohuaz 2015: juicy, good acidity, mushy however excessive tannins, drying end
- Australia, Geelong Farr Shiraz 2016: good fruity aromas, advanced, bitter cherries, ripe tannins
- Australia, Clonakilla Canberra Murrumbatum T&L Winery Block One 2016: contemporary, trace of herbaceousness
- Australia, Shaw + Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2021: eucalyptus, excessive tannins, herbaceous
- United States, Tensley California Santa Barbara Syrah 2022: sweet, caramel, heat, excessive however mature tannins
- Australia, Clonakilla Canberra Murrumbatum Syrah 2015: eucalyptus, balanced, contemporary, lovely fruit
- Australia, Michael Corridor Eden Valley Flaxman’s Valley Syrah 2020: eucalyptus, drying end, contemporary
The Clonakilla Syrah 2015 was my private favourite. Others within the group most popular the South African one, however I believed the alcohol was too outstanding in that one. The Clonakilla guys did pick the 2015 Syrah as their very own, however not the Block One.
On the finish of every go to, Cees inaugurates the wine makers into the Order of Slicers of Dutch Cheese, with a cheese slicer and wedge of 2-year previous Gouda cheese.
After a fast lunch within the middle of city we visited a second founding father of the Canberra wine district: Ken Helms. That is a fair smaller household enterprise, producing solely 80,000 bottles per yr. He doesn’t export and sells every thing regionally. Ken explains that he began planting the winery in 1973 with Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. Riesling grapes are prone to sunburn from an excessive amount of solar, which causes an unfavorable kerosine aroma. To stop this, Ken has planted the vines in east-west oriented rows so they may catch much less daylight on the hottest time of the day, and prunes the vines in such a manner that the grapes are shielded from the solar by the leaves (cover). The east-west orientation of the vines additionally helps to make higher use of the night sea breeze to chill off. No irrigation is used for the Cabernet Sauvignon (besides in a extreme draught), so the yield may be very low.
The Cab is aged for 12 months in new oak barrels after which for 12 to 24 further months in used oak. The wine will not be launched earlier than it is able to drink.
Because of the cool local weather, Canberra district does need to take care of frost points. The shootings on the left-hand facet are destroyed, however fortunately new ones are rising out.
We tasted the next wines:
- Riesling Basic Dry 2023: tropical fruit, gentle, juicy, mushy acids
- Premium Riesling 2023: balanced and highly effective, excessive acidity
- Tumbarumba Riesling 2023 (from the Snowy Mountains): inexperienced apple, crisp
- Half Dry Riesling 2023: doesn’t appear candy because of the steadiness between sugar and acidity. That is just like a Kabinett fashion Riesling from Germany.
- Riesling Rosé 2023 (made with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon): residual sugar to compensate for the tannins from the Cabernet
- Cabernet Sauvignon 2019: mushy tannins, cherry jam
- Cabernet Sauvignon 2021: gentle coloration, ripe berries, low tannins
- Premium Cabernet Sauvignon 2021: gentle coloration, bell pepper, mature fruit, mushy tannins
The ultimate vineyard we visited on the third day was Lerida Property, by Lake George. One other boutique vineyard that produces about 100,000 bottles per yr. The lake supplies a tempering impact on the local weather. It’s 2 levels Celcius (4 levels Fahrenheit) much less sizzling right here than at Murrumbateman, however however there are much less issues with frost. Our tasting session was led by winemaker Jacob, who has expertise in Germany, France, California, and different areas in Australia. Lerida has three ranges: Property, Cullerin, and Single Winery.
We tasted the next wines:
- Cullerin Riesling 2023: floral and lightweight with excessive acidity, balanced out by the residual sugar (Kabinett fashion); that is the primary classic from not too long ago planted Riesling.
- Murrumbateman Chardonnay 2021 (created from grapes from one other vineyard, as Lerida’s personal Chardonnay harvest of 2021 was misplaced to botrytis and used to make a candy wine): oak, citrus, crispy and clear.
- Pinot Noir Rosé 2023: gentle coloration, sweet cane, excessive acidity
- Cullerin Pinot Noir 2022: gentle coloration, herbaceous, spicy, gentle, excessive acidity
- Lake George Shiraz 2019: darkish fruit, crisp, mushy tannins, elegant, balanced, very good (from a extremely popular and dry classic)
- Cullerin Cabernet Franc 2022: bell pepper, gentle bodied, excessive acidity. It is a small manufacturing of solely 3 rows of vines, about 600 bottles.
The Property Pinot Noir 2023 had not been bottled but, so we tasted a tank pattern. First we tried an unfiltered pattern, which had the aroma of candycane. Then we tried a filtered pattern that was extra restrained.
The winemaker has his personal fashion that may be very clear with a singular mixture of excessive acidity and mushy ripe tannins. Often mushy ripe tannins go along with decrease acidity, as a result of which means the grapes are picked when they’re extra ripe.
After the tasting, the bus took us again to the lodge. We had dinner at Inka in Camberra, a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant.
We loved the tasting menu, which consisted of the next dishes:
- Edamame with chilli garlic miso
- Ahuaca-molli, plantain chips with gauacamole
- Sashimi of tuna, salmon, and kingfish
- Ceviche of kingfish in a spicy citrus marinade with crispy corn
- Tuna tostada with ponzu and chives
- Tori Muneniku, rooster breast with Yakitori glaze and Nikkei verde
- Ikon ensalada with bonito flakes
- White potato with Peruvian yellow pepper dressing
- Matcha cheese cake with lemon curd yuzu and mandarin sorbet
In fact there was Australian wine to be loved as nicely:
- Clonakilla Canberra Riesling 2023
- Ravensworth Canberra Riesling 2021
- Eden Highway Canberra Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2022
- Mount Macleod Gippsland Pinot Noir 2021
