A dozen New Zealand pinot noirs
The family of twelve New Zealand producers each showed a pinot noir at a recent London tasting, raising the subject once again of potential regionalisation of style in the country.
Sicily – a continent on one island
A steep gradient, literally and thermally, exists from the cool, high slopes of Mount Etna in the east of Sicily to the basking west of the island, both Palermo and the island of Pantelleria, which is nearer Africa than Europe. Combine this with a bevy of well-adapted local grape varieties, and Sicily has an enviable paradigm on the cool-hot spectrum.
English bubbles in English wine week
All the good news about English wine, and sparkling wine in particular, is fully deserved. Our producers are making world class bubblies that compete on their own merits on the international stage.
Tasmanian regions – the south
Tasmania’s capital city Hobart lays claim to be the second driest state capital in Australia, after Adelaide. There are fewer frosts in the south, and as is to be expected in a cool climate, especially one where there is nothing between the south of the island and the Antarctic, proximity to sea level is important for vineyards to capture as much warmth as possible.
Tasmanian regions – east coast
Tasmania’s east coast is the driest and one of the warmest parts of the state. It’s also home to the biggest single vineyard on the island.
Faugères
Faugères schist defines the appellation, where the days, and nights, are warm, and blended reds have a freshness that defies that warmth.
Tasmanian regions – the north
Tasmania is a relatively small island, some 250km north to south. The cool, moderate, maritime, climate location of the whole state means that small local variations in weather, soils and topography result in differing outcomes for wine styles.
Is Gippsland Australia’s new cool climate zone?
The Gippsland zone is vast, about a quarter of the total area of the state of Victoria. The scale of viticulture is miniscule, about 1% that of neighbouring Yarra Valley. But the region is right on-trend with its cool climate locale.
Introducing Tasmania
The island state of Tasmania has just 1,400 hectares of vineyard producing some 0.5% of Australia’s total crush. But its repute as the country’s leading producer of cool climate, high quality still and sparkling wines far exceeds its volumetric contribution.
Arras – the house that Ed built
House of Arras represents the pinnacle of Accolade Wines’ sparkling wine programme, a totally Tasmanian bubbly brand created and nurtured by Aussie sparkling wine maestro, Ed Carr, the group sparkling winemaker for Accolade Wines.
