Diario di un vignaiolo: la diagnosi

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Ebbene, pare che il mistero sia stato svelato. Niente flavescenza, niente legno nero e/o altri giallumi e/o virosi. L’ingiallimento che ha colpito il mio filare pare banalmente essere dovuto ad una comune carenza minerale (ferro), denominata clorosi. L’ingiallimento ha colpito soprattutto le giovani piante di baco, che essendo un ibrido possiede il 50% di geni di vitis riparia, notoriamente sensibile al fenomeno. In più è a piede franco…
E’ stato interessante verificare che le piante più vecchie e con radici presumibilmente più profonde non sono interessate dalla clorosi, mentre il merlot, innestato su piedi selezionati, lo è solo moderatamente.
Il fenomeno è esploso con l’ondata di caldo dell’ultima settimana. Mi piacerebbe sapere se c’è un nesso reale tra l’andamento siccitoso e la clorosi, in modo da poter intervenire preventivamente.

Luk

Uno sfizio

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Ho bevuto la bottiglia qui rappresentata. Emanuele Trevia è uno di migliori interpreti del vermentino e questo vino, rigorosamente da tavola, penso che rifletta completamente il suo modo di sentire. La sua idea di vino, nel caso non risultasse chiara all’assaggio, è spiegata nella retroetichetta.

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Cheatin’ in the kitchen

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by Martin Field

Tomato juice as stock
Tomato juice is not just a handy breakfast juice, it’s also a great morning after pick-me-up – mixed with a splash of Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper, and, depending on your constitution, a shot of vodka.

But don’t forget tomato juice in the kitchen; it is an excellent substitute for stock when you need to thin gravies, curries and tomato-based sauces. Tip: to off-set the acidity you get sometimes in tomato-based dishes, add a teaspoon or two of sugar – works wonders.

I can’t believe it’s not better: spreadable butter from the fridge
It’s easy to make your own spreadable butter – spreadable straight from the fridge, that is. Take a block of good butter, cut it into smallish cubes, soften it gently but do not under any circumstances melt it. Whiz it in the food processor/blender and as it is whizzing pour in approximately half its weight in extra virgin olive oil. For example, if you use 500 grams of butter add 250mls of oil. When the mixture is well combined place it in an airtight container in the fridge. Use as you would butter – for spreads or cooking.

There is an added benefit here for those who worry about dietary fats. The blend, though buttery to taste, now contains less cholesterol and saturated fats than butter and has more beneficial monounsaturated fats.

Bali Booze

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by Bruno of Balmoral

Jest back from Bali. It was quiet out on the streets of Kuta, partly because of the soccer but mostly due to an observable lack of Aussie tourists, surfers and families. The resulting reduced number of flights meant that our planes coming and going were almost full but we noted that most fellow travellers were a bit on the grey side with only a smattering of younger surfers on board and the only child under 15 being a babe (in arms).

I used to joke a few years back that there was at least one shop for every tourist in Bali, now I’d have to adjust that to 50 to one, and naturally the competition is fierce and the desperation, very sadly, irritating. If it wasn’t for the expat business people there wouldn’t be any business.

We had dinner with a hotel owner one night and he said he had 10 guests at his large establishment, all older returnees, and that he’d been selling off bits of land he owned to maintain his (admittedly comfortable) lifestyle. Apparently the drop off in Bali tourism has also had a big impact in Java, where resort investors, furniture, clothing and handicraft manufacturers etc are being hit hard by the downturn.

Good value wine is still hard to find in Bali though we found a decent 2004 McWilliams Hanwood Shiraz at my favourite local restaurant, Warung Sobat at Kerobokan, for around A$20 and it went down rather well with a spicy Rendang Sapi (A$4).

Ann took me to a rather more upmarket establishment for my 61st. Lovely looking place called Warisan where we were seated on a broad patio overlooking the rice paddies with the usual superb sunset lending us a rosy, reflective glow. The wine list featured a 2002 Grange for around A$600 but we settled for a St Emilion Grand Cru Chateau Trimoulet ’99 for about A$90 which, while not ‘off’, served to remind me that I was past my prime and had spent far too many weeks cooking in the sun on Kuta Beach.

And I do quite like the local Hatten Rose which sells for about $10. It’s relatively low alcohol and has a crisp, dry, almost mouth puckering finish which perfectly suits a tropical setting and saves on mouthwash. Goes well with Gado Gado and Sate Ayam, cutting through the oily peanut sauce a treat. I usually knock over a bottle of this every night with dinner (in Bali) but have never yet had a hangover as a result. The same cannot be said for the Hanwood which, coincidentally, was served on both our Australian airline flights. Yellowtail used to be ubiquitous in cattle class but seems to have ‘tailed’ off a bit.

Spitbucket drinking

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by Martin Field

Stone’s Premium Ginger Beer. 4.8% alcohol. Six pack of 330ml bottles $15 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Pale, white and slightly cloudy. Appetising tangy fresh ginger nose. Faintly sweet in the mouth with pleasant root ginger zinginess.

Mountain Goat Surefoot Stout 5% alcohol. 330ml bottle – I paid $3.95 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Ruddy, unmilked black coffee hues. Malteser nose. Smooth and malty in the mouth with fine dark chocolate and an attractive bitterness at the finish.

Trevor Jones Reserve Riesling 2005 – $25 cellar door – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Barossa and Eden Valleys, South Australia. Pale with a greenish edge. Lime apple and minerally nose. Delicate and elegant on the palate with tangy lime zest and Granny Smith apple acidity.

Ten Minutes by Tractor Wallis Vineyard Chardonnay 2004 – $52 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Light straw appearance. Flowers and apricots on the nose. Peach and apricot flavours enhance the palate assisted by notes of vanillin oak and butterscotch. A crisp acid finish completes the wine.

Clonale by Kooyong Chardonnay 2005 – up to $25 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. A nose of spicy apples, melons and toast. The palate is smooth and luscious and reminded me of apricot conserve on buttered toast, The finish shows medium acidity.

M. Chapoutier La Ciboise 2004 – I paid $14.90 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Appellation Coteaux du Tricastin, Rhone, France. A blend of grenache, shiraz, carignan and mourvèdre. Mid to light rosy red colour. Savoury nose with ripe cherry notes. Mid-weighted dryish palate shows ripe berries, a hint of leather and a noticeably firm finish. Suit dishes like a substantial main course pasta.

Jean-Paul’s Shiraz 2004 – $20 cellar door- Rating: \_/\_/\_/\_/\_/*
Yea, Victoria. Certified organic production, low preservatives. Deep crimson to purple. Inviting fragrance of blackberry and mint. Beautifully constructed, youthful, berry-packed wine. Spicy fruit, oak, and integrated tannins interact harmoniously leaving an impression of a superb, artisan-crafted, modern era red. Truly delicious. Order by email, jeanpauls.vineyard@ycs.com.au.

Moondah Brook Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 – I paid $10.90 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/ *
Western Australia. Ruby to purple hued. Dusty blackcurrant nose. Redcurrant, blackcurrant and plummy flavours mix well on the palate to produce a likeable, ‘Let’s have another bottle of that.’ effect. The well-priced shiraz and cabernet marketed under this label are consistently enjoyable, year in, year out. We buy some annually for a few year’s rewarding cellaring.

Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Sparkling Shiraz NV up t to $14 – Rating: \_/\_/\_/
Ripe, almost porty nose. Mellow, sweetish style with stacks of blackberry conserve flavour.

The Spitbucket Rating System
Five spitbuckets: \_/\_/\_/\_/\_/ – brilliant
Four: \_/\_/\_/\_/ – classy
Three: \_/\_/\_/ – good drinking
Two: \_/\_/ everyday drinking
One: \_/ – spit it!
An asterisk * denotes excellent value for money

Note: Prices in Australian dollars

When the shiraz hit the fan

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by Martin Field

The good, the greedy, and the glut-tonous
Over a glass of good red we were talking a couple of weeks back about the Australian wine glut. Who in the wine industry wasn’t? The particular topic was news that wine industry lobbyists wanted taxpayers to fund a lazy $60 million bail out fund.

My drinking companion, a vigneron who has a small Victorian vineyard, makes his own wine and also sells grapes to big makers, was amazed. ‘Audacious!’ he said. ‘More bleeding snouts trying to get into the trough,’ I added. The government, in a rare stroke of wisdom, knocked back the bail out proposal, pointing out that nobody forced growers to plant their grapes in the first place.

Of course you have to feel sorry for growers forced to let their grapes rot after the suits at the big end of winetown tear up their contracts. And my winemaking friend told me that a well-known company he’d supplied did just that, wanting to take only part of a contracted vintage. He told them to stuff their deals up their de-stemmers and, luckily, found another, honourable, buyer.

The wine business is just a business, but unlike many others it’s seen as glamorous. That’s part of the problem. In the boom cycle it’s a magnet for cashed or borrowed up investors who see an industry offering an attractive lifestyle and a profitable business. Unfortunately they are often poorly advised and know little about winemaking.

And when the big profits do roll in these types swan around in luxury cars, get their buffed heads on TV infotainment shows and generally live the life of egotistical b-grade celebs. But you’ll never hear the wine high rollers say, ‘Thank you consumers for buying shiploads of our temporarily overpriced bottles. Here, take a few million bucks we’ve creamed off the top. Use it wisely to build new schools and hospitals for those less well off than us.’

In the inevitable bust cycle however, they immediately plunge into whinge mode and expect taxpayers to subsidise their losses, which often result from greed, bad planning, and even worse management.

The disastrous wine glut has been on the horizon for years, not least of all because companies, whose only business plan seemed to be chasing the easy dollar, planted grapes or encouraged contractors to plant grapes like there was no tomorrow. And given that situation you didn’t need to be an MBA, a clairvoyant, an economist or an industry analyst to know that the shiraz was going to hit the fan sooner or later.

Nearly six years ago, in September 2000, I wrote in a wine column, ‘My belief is that over the next few years we will see a glut of wine grapes with a consequent stabilisation, if not a fall, in wine prices. This can’t be good for winemakers but will undoubtedly please consumers. As for investing in a small vineyard to fund my retirement, I’d rather take up yachting. The latter pursuit has been likened to standing on one leg under a cold shower while tearing up $100 bills. It sounds like a far better investment than planting vines.’