There are more than 20 synonyms for the wine grape we know in Tasmania as Pinot Gris. So many names; so little personality. But don't write off Pinot Gris just yet, says Apogee Tasmania's Dr Andrew Pirie. Sometimes the variety is just badly handled in the vineyard or in the winery, adds the wine industry pioneer.
Few grape varieties have more polarising effects on consumers than Sauvignon Blanc. Revered by some – and reviled by others – Bordeaux's renowned white grape rarely draws blank stares. Even those who grow and make wine can be quick to pass judgement on the vine's nobility.
The vexed issue of climate change has become standard fare on our nightly news during the winter months of recent years. Frequent images of wildfires and heatwaves in North America have provided Australians with plenty of distraction from their regular mid-year diet of AFL footy, minor local events and political intrigue.
It's been 10 years since US author, film maker and inveterate traveller Bernie Harberts left a handwritten note fixed to the wall of Cygnet's Red Velvet Lounge. Paul Lipscombe remembers it well. "'Sailor Seeks Horse,' it said in large letters.
The air is filled with rich aromas of dark chocolate and ripe berries – raspberries, cherries, blackberry and kirsch. They hang in the atmosphere and mingle with the spicy fragrance of sawn timber and dusty oak. Nothing can match the distinctive smells of a busy winery as vintage gets underway, says winemaker Max Marriott (pictured).
Three trophies and 5 gold medals, comprising 10 percent of all gold medal winners from Australia. That was Tasmania's recent giant-killing performance at the 2021 International Wine Challenge (IWC), judged in London. The competition's major awards were announced at a gala wine trade event held there on June 30th.
A simple fingerpost alongside the driveway greets visitors to Marion's Vineyard with thinly veiled facetiousness. 'Easy Street' it reads. Pointing matter-of-factly towards the property's cellar door and rows of ancient Cabernet Sauvignon, the sign has been there for as long as Cynthea Semmens can remember.
With harvest now completed and many of the new wines from vintage 2021 resting safe and sound in wineries across the State, you could be excused for thinking there's little of significance happening on the local wine scene at the moment.
Crash or crash through. They're the alternatives facing many small-scale wine producers in today's global wine sector. Thanks to COVID-19 and over-production during the past decade, the world is awash with surplus wine. Recent data released by Wine Australia indicates the situation isn't quite so dire on the local front.
Pinot Noir producers can say what they like about their particular clonal selections, vineyard management and winemaking regimes, when it comes to making decisions on picking their precious parcels of fruit, nature itself usually has the final word. And the word on everyone's lips during past two vintages in Tasmania has been 'rain.'
