The Australian wine industry has certainly been through its ups and downs over the years. From Monty Python days ‘this one is for laying down and avoiding’ back in the 70’s, to the 80’s when the UK market started to show some shoots of approval. Then came the boom of the 90’s and early 00’s, when Aussie wine briefly became the no.1 wine of UK consumer choice. After the peak in 2005, the noise around Aussie wines has been getting less and less, until this year. Boomerang style, they are coming back with knobs on, and they are quality!
In the 12 months ending June 2016 Aussie Wine exports grew by 11% in value; whereas volume grew by 0.5%. These exports are primarily being driven by bottled wine exports i.e. that is higher quality, higher value wines. Bottled wines grew by 15%, with a decline of 1% in bulk wine. The UK market is the single biggest market for their wines, with half of those imports being in the bulk, or lower quality form.
In the last 10 years the Aussie industry has re-structured; 10 years ago it had become an industry of big wineries whose sole function seemed to be about off-loading volume. Many of those have broken up into smaller more manageable pieces. There are currently 2,468 wineries in Australia according to The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory, 2016, 23% more than 10 years ago and 176% more than 20 years ago. There are nearly 7% more crushing less than 1,000 tonnes than 10 years ago and half the number of massive wineries, classed as crushing 20,000 tonnes or more. There are 511 wineries that export to the UK according to the same Directory.
What does this mean for the Hotel, pub, bar and restaurant sector?
What, if anything should I be doing with them on my wine list?
Australian wine has a quality place on any wine list. It may not be that the Antipodean wines find a way into the house or pouring positions anymore; leave those to Chile, Argentina and Italy perhaps. However Australian wineries are working hard on both quality and variety.
In white wines, look for varieties such as Fiano, a relative unknown from Italy, usually produced in a fresh style, no oak with a subtlety nutty character. Made well, as most are from Australia, then it is an excellent alternative to Sauvignon, less pungent, less direct, but perhaps more satisfying. Often there are only small volumes available, so be cautious on continuity.
I tasted recently with Charles Whish, Serafino’s winemaker, (high quality vineyards and winery from McLaren Vale just 20km south of Adelaide) their fantastic McLaren Vale Tempranillo, which retained the freshness of berry fruit that this variety has in its ‘natural’ state. Contrary to the Spanish tradition this example is not aged in oak and is made with the idea of keeping as much berry integrity in the taste of the wine. He explained that it comes back to the vineyard and how it is trained. In this case the vines are trained to expose the berries more on the east side of the vineyard, whereas on the west side the leaf canopy is left heavy to protect from over exposure, which would lead to more burnt flavours.
It is this level of technical quality that Australia can do almost better than any other country’s industry, because of the last 20 years roller coaster trading history. Through this it is able to learn nuances about consumer habits and feed them right back to the vineyard and then reflect these to enhance the drinking experience for the consumer.
Sure this all takes time and it requires more people more educated at the point at which they are talking to the consumer. That all plays to the vibe in the market; more consumers are drinking less, and better quality.
Bottom line is that despite the exchange rate challenges chucked up by BREXIT, take a closer look at authentic Australian producers, who are bottling at source and want to make smaller volumes for higher quality consumers. They will re-pay through quality and consumer spend.
However don’t ignore the global varieties especially Chardonnay. It still one of the most liked varieties in on-trade and some recent research showed that still 70% of venues don’t list an example by the glass. If you are one then you are missing a trick that pays in the till!
The smarter producers are making very subtly oaked styles. These wines often are carefully crafted to include earlier harvested grapes, for acidity and portion aged in new and older barrels to give softness and roundness. After all that is what made Burgundy famous back in the 60’s and 70’s – Chardonnay grapes with some oak ageing. There will usually be no issue with volumes on reasonably priced authentic quality Chardonnays.
In reds look out for more Tempranillos, Sangiovese, Barbera, Nero d’Avola and Montepulcianos, although they come with the same caveat as for Fiano, they will usually only be available in small quantities. These are interesting varieties when they are produced with thought.
Alistair Morrell
Hospitality & Catering News, Wine Content Executive