Drier and warmer than the rest of Tasmania, the southerly Coal River Valley has form when it comes to  vinous surprises.

Who would have believed Zinfandel could be grown on this cool climate island, less still that Stoney Vineyard’s 1982 Zin (pictured below) would still be in the game.

In the 90s, Stoney Vineyard’s then new owners, Domaine A’s Peter & Ruth Althaus, went on to prove that their vineyard could also produce very distinguished Cabernet Sauvignon (Merlot too if the 98 I tasted earlier this week is anything to go by).

Most recently young gun Nick Glaetzer was described as having “lobbed a hand grenade into the wine industry” when his Tasmanian Shiraz - Glaetzer-Dixon Mon Père Shiraz 2010 - scooped last year’s Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.

First awarded in 1962 and then annually to the producer of the best one or two-year-old dry red wine in the Royal Melbourne Wine Show, it’s one of the most prestigious wine awards in Australia.

I caught up with Glaetzer this week to find out more about this incendiary cool climate Shiraz which, forget the wine industry, must have caused ructions at the family table!  Dad, after the whom the wine is named Mon Père, is renowned Barossa Shiraz winemaker Colin Glaetzer, while Nick’s brother is none other than Ben Glaetzer of Amon-Ra fame.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xehu_2TktMc

Here’s my tasting note on the soon to be released Trophy-winner.  It was made at Frogmore Creek where Glaetzer has been Senior Winemaker since putting down roots in Tasmania in 2006.

Glaetzer-Dixon Mon Père Shiraz 2010

This wine was a first on a number of levels.  My first Tassie Shiraz and my first ever Shiraz to have been co-fermented with Pinot Gris (around 3%).  Glaetzer told me that it performed best of trials he conducted in the Barossa co-fermenting Shiraz with Viognier and Semillon as well as Pinot Gris.  While it may sound new fangled, turn back the clock and, in days past, Shiraz was co-fermented with white grapes varieties including Muscadelle in the Barossa and Trebbiano in the Hunter Valley.

An enticing, perfumed nose and palate with lovely warp and weft to its firm but ripe tannins shows lifted white pepper and incense spice with juicy blood plum, sweet damson jam, black olive and charcuterie notes.  Mid-weight but intense, concentrated and with good acid and tannin structure, it’s a very attractive, digestible cool climate Shiraz.  A worthy winner and a shot across the bows for the mainland.

Here are my notes on the wines:

Clos Clare Watervale Riesling 2011 (Clare Valley) 

Two days in and Tasmania is already toying with my perceptions.  On Sunday, Hobart, the capital of this cool climate region hit 31 degrees. And so far, with the notable exception of Pressing Matters (who make four Rieslings ranging from bone dry to fully sweet, pictured), local Rieslings have been bone dry.  Most surprising of all, there’s no great love of Sauvignon Blanc here.  In fact one producer told me “it’s earmarked for the chainsaw!”

In tune with this week’s International Cool Climate Conference, a cooler, wetter spell of weather has set in.  It’s easier to understand that the mean daily temperature over the growing season is cooler than Reims and Dijon….  It’s also readily apparent in the terrific acid structure of the wines, especially some remarkably focused Chardonnays and Rieslings (bone dry and dessert wines).

Favourites Rieslings and Chardonnays so far?  Craigow Riesling 2008, Craigow Botrytis Riesling 2004, Derwent Estate Riesling 2004, Pooley Estate Riesling 2004 and Pressing Matters’ 2008 R69 and R139 Rieslings (where R is an approximation to the residual sugar).  At Moorilla Estate, sparkling wine nut Conor Van der Reest makes a marvellous sparkling Riesling (Moorilla Estate Vintage Riesling Brut 2011) of granita/sorbet-like freshness – the perfect palate cleanser.

For Chardonnay, neighbours Stefano Lubiana and Derwent Estate stood out, especially Lubiana’s 2004 and 2008 Chardonnay and flagship Collina 2008 and Derwent Estate’s 2010, the latter particularly intense (Derwent supply grapes for Penfolds Yattarna).

I arrived in Tasmania yesterday, my first visit since 2004.  Really looking forward to exploring this great natural beauty over the next week in and amongst sessions at the International Cool Climate Conference.

This week I’m based in Hobart (harbour pictured), so visiting southern producers, yesterday, Craigow, today Pressing Matters among others.   Jeffrey Grosset selected wines from both as Tasmanian benchmarks for his Landmark Seminar on Riesling (see my report here).

In anticipation of a bit of a Riesling-fest this week I sought, and found, some cracking Rieslings at last week’s Australia  Trade Tasting in London.  Here are my notes:

Jacobs Creek Steingarten Riesling 2002 (Barossa, South Australia)

I’m a huge fan of Steingarten, especially in cool vintages like 2002.  This wine kicked off the Old Vines & New Wines seminar – what a start!  Gold but still showing youthful green glints and, sure enough, a fabulously fresh, poised, tightly focused palate.  A ripe but mouthwatering, mineral sluiced palate shows great concentration and purity of fresh lime with subtle hints of lime oil and is underscored by a tight seam of slatey minerals and more expressive, perfumed  bath salts.  Very long and fine; an exquisite, powerful classic dry Aussie Riesling.

Shobbrook Wines Riesling 2011 (Eden Valley, South Australia)

Tom Shobbrock has been making waves with his low intervention wines and scooped the Gourmet Traveller Young Winemaker of the Year Award in 2010.  This wine is fermented with natural yeast in old 600l barrels.  In 2011, a cool, wet year, it displays whip sharp acidity on the attack – bracing, but utterly invigorating, with tase bud etching lemon pips/sherbert lemon and a balancing trace of sweet lemon puff.  Long, tight and lean on the finish.  Bring on the oysters!

Shobbrook Wines Riesling 2010 (Eden Valley, South Australia)

Much less linear, broader, textured and spicy with an attractive greenness for balance and and bite.  Lots of interest here; finishes long and limpid with a saline edge.

Larry Cherubino The Yard Ad Hoc Wallflower Riesling 2009 (Mount Barker, Western Australia)

Cherubino makes a number of different Rieslings and this, his off-dry entry level wine, is designed to tempt those who find the likes of his more classic tight, mineral Porongurups Riesling too austere.  It’s a total charmer, the nose nicely evolving with hints of honey, petrol and apple sauce which follow through on a juicy, long, precise finish, with minerals, honey and a lick of salt.

Clos Clare Watervale Riesling 2011 (Clare Valley)

When the Barry brothers (Jim Barry’s sons Peter, Mark and John) acquired the historic Florita vineyard (from whence came John Vickery’s famous Leo Buring Rieslings), they sold off a small 5 acre corner of it to help finance the purchase.  Jeffrey Grosset made the wines on behalf of owner Ian Sanders.  In 2007, Peter and Sue Barry reacquired it for their children, Sam, Tom and Olivia.  I reckon Jim Barry would be proud of his grandchildren’s wine.  With its brown flute bottle, it’s got a distinctly retro look and I could have sworn it had been made with a touch of lees and a bit of splashing, but apparently not.  At any rate, it has a really attractive talcy/soft mineral quality cut with a tight and bright squeeze of lime with sorbet-like clarity; taut acidity lends gravitas.  A cool customer – not as generous (fruit overt) as many a Watervale.  Very good.

It’s International Port Day today (click here for details).  Ironically, I’m in the throes of packing my bags for the International Cool Climate Conference in Tasmania!  But I didn’t want the day to pass without a word on Port, a unique wine style from one of the most exciting wine regions in the world, the Douro, Portugal.

Now just in case your eyebrows raised at the mention of exciting in the same sentence as Port, trust me, there are plenty of Port-related developments in the Douro.  From a viticultural and vinicultural perspective, Fladgate’s Head Winemaker/Technical Director David Guimaraens nails it when he says “the Douro is the New World of the Old World.”

Laser guided bulldozers, infra-red technology and robotic lagares are just a few of the gizmoes that are rocking this momentous, mountainous region.  The quality of today’s bright fruited, perfumed Ports has never been better.   Nor has it been so stylistically varied.

Given all this excitement, far from being in decline, premium Port producers are on the rise.  New kids on the block include Pintas (Wine & Soul), Quinta da Gaivosa (Alves de Sousa), Quinta do Vallado, Quevedo, Duorum, Quinta de S.Jose (Joao Brito e Cunha), Conceito.  Below are my notes on some new new releases which impressed (new and established names).

Click here, here and here for previous notes on some terrific 2009 and 2008 vintage Ports from long established names (Symington, Fladgate, Niepoort, Noval), some of which, tasted again more recently, are reviewed once more below.

And with thanks to Roy Hersh of Fortheloveofport, who gave me the heads up, Port lovers take note of a new website BooksaboutPort which does what it says on the virtual tin.  More actually.  Dedicated to books about Port, founder Derek Turnbull whom I recently met at Niepoort has summarised the contents of his extensive (rare and aged) collection.  He’s also responsible for the reprieve of Port wine news website Infoportwine, a really useful resource on latest releases, tastings, awards, statistics, Douro tourism projects etc etc, which continues the good work of Elly and Herman Gerdingh.

Finally, if you’d like to engage in some Port banter, check out the International Port Day website here for news of events and tweet ups (#PortDay, @wineorigins).

Quinta do Passadouro Vintage Port 2009

A very muscular, concentrated and compact Port, its firm clasp of tannins thus far only moderately fleshed out by sweet milk chocolate laced raspberry, black berry and currant fruit.  But there’s real depth to be mined.  Very good indeed;, great balance too.

Wine & Soul Pintas Vintage Port 2009

This inky, pitch black wine really pulls you in with its densely concentrated but vivid, coal-edged, small black currant and berry fruit supported by very polished but present balancing tannins.  As it opens in the glass it shows hints of violets and an underlying minerality.  Imposing; old vine heft suggests it’ll be a keeper.

Ramos Pinto Single Quinta Vintage Ervamoira Port 2009

Deeply coloured, this is a densely layered wine, chiselled with schist ‘n slate minerals which, together with a firm if fine frame of tannins, keeps its velvety dark, chocolatey fruit in check.  Heady gingerbread spice follows through on a long, involving finish.  Very good.  A little more yielding than the Pintas, but still terrifically concentrated – very Douro Superior in its velvety dark, spiciness.  (Tasted at the same time, the 2007 is similarly mineral, with dark chocolate and fruit, but much more floral – a hallmark of the milder summer/early autumn).

Ramos Pinto 30 Year Old Tawny Port

This so floated my boat when I tasted it last November that I wrote it up the day afterwards.  I make no excuses for mentioning it again today given its International Port Day!  Sweet mirin and savoury liquorice on the nose tickle the taste buds.  In the mouth it’s long, fluid and harmonious with plenty of depth and layer to its nam pla and spice edged tamarind fruit.  A long, long nutty but fruity, fleshy finish resonates with spice – liquorice, carraway and aniseed.  Wonderful precision and layer.

Churchill Quinta da Gricha Vintage Port 2009

Tasted in late November, this looked a touch firmer and grippier than my first tasting in April.  It shows esteva as well as flourishes of parma violets to its sour plum and concentrated dark cherry fruit which cleave tightly to its firm backbone of tannins.  Concentrated and very flavoursome.

Quinta de la Rosa Vintage Port 2009

Very deeply coloured, with a tight schistous nose, this is a drier style with an (attractive) stalky edge to its tight knit blackcurrant fruit and ramrod straight tannins.  Long and firm, with hints of dried violets, spicy gingerbread and earth.  Elegantly concentrated, linear style; good freshness.

Niepoort Vintage Port 2009

Very deeply coloured but bright and sumptuous with sweet ripe red and black cherries, briar and raspberry, dark chocolate, violets and esteva hints.  Since I last tasted it in March and April, the velvet glove has slipped just a bit (as with others previously tasted – the Pintas and Churchills), revealing a touch more iron first, here in the form of a very long (stretch limo long), firm chassis of tannins which draws out the fruit over a super long finish.

Niepoort Vintage Port Bioma 2008

Aged in smaller wood, its bright blue and black berry and currant perfumed fruit is exceptionally polished, fluid and very focused.  Wondrous florality brings plenty of lift, though the fruit is well anchored by very firm, mouth cleaving tannins, more pronounced than I remember when I tasted it in March.  Like the first vintage (called Pisca, after the vineyard), it’s a very singular wine as befits a Single Quinta Port.

Quinta do Vallado Adelaide Vintage Port 2009

This is a maiden release and, so the press release goes, “for the very first time since the recorded founding of the winery in 1716, Quinta do Vallado has declared a Vintage Port”  (previously the estate’s fruit went into the Ferreira brand).” With 40% young Touriga Nacional estate fruit (from the slightly cooler, wetter Baixo Corgo sub-region) and old vine fruit from the Douro Superior, it’s an intense but relatively upfront, elegant style, with cool, peppery, lifted violet and damask notes as well as spicy liquorice to its dark berry and cherry fruit.

Quinta do Vallado Tawny Port 10 Year Old

A hint of mouthwatering nam pla to the nose adds a savoury dimension to its brown sugar sweet accents.  In the mouth, it’s delicately yet intensely nutty, with toasted and smoked almonds, barley sugar and spun sugar to its lingering finish.  Lovely.

Quinta do Vallado Tawny Port 20 Year Old

Much paler than the 10 year old and, as you’d expect, its patina of age is reflected in a drier/more savoury palate with walnuts, nam pla, liquorice and an aniseed spine to its barley sugar and demerera-edged dried fruits.  The finish is well balnaced, with fresh acidity.

Quinta do Crasto Finest Reserve

This maiden release is Crasto’s new entry level and very smooth, upfront and delicious it is too with its dark chocolate edged peppery round plum fruit, raisins and supple tannins.  The aim is more firmly to position Crasto as a Port brand and next month sees the release of Crasto’s first Colheita (1997)

Quinta do Crasto Vintage 2009

Dark, deep fruited and brooding with rich, glossy, chocolatey tannins supporting its svelte black and baked cherry and plum fruit, gingerbread and bergamot.  Hedonistic, very ripe style.

Quinta Vale D. Maria 2009 Vintage Port

Deep but bright in hue and tightly coiled with mouth-coating tannins, so seemingly quite fiery at the moment, with low slung black currant and cherry fruit yet to open up, though it has violet and lavender top notes aplenty.   Very concentrated; lots of potential.

Andresen Vintage 2009

Rich, bright fruit with a dark chocolate edge is firmly supported by a backbone of tannins; good acidity makes for a peristent if tight finish, a little lean just now, with violet lift. Showing a little spirit now.  Needs time to flesh out but promising.

Andresen Colheita 1998

Youthful reddish glints and a youthful, very well balanced, fruity palate, well, fruit and nut, with a delicious soft sugared almond quality.  Already appealing mellow.

Joao Brito e Cunha Quinta S. Jose Single Quinta Vintage Port 2009

This maiden vintage is  relatively medium-bodied, which makes it elegant, approachable drinking now (though it’s bound to close up in a year or two).  Leafy edged and linear with a dark chocolate undertone to its succulent blackcurrant and raspberry palate.

Quinta da Gaivosa Ruby Special Reserve Port

Really liked this poised and charming entry level Port.  Bouncy fruit but elegant in delivery – very smooth and well balanced – with baked cherry, plum and milk chocolate.

Quinta da Gaivosa Tawny Special Reserve

A very naughty but nice sweet and upfront entry level tawny with rich, supple palate of dried fruits, nuts, buttered popcorn, kid glove leather and soft demerara.   Moreish.

Quinta da Gaivosa Vintage Port 2008

This elegant, linear, slightly stalky (in a good way) Vintage Port has a real sense of the cooler Baixo Corgo about it.   Well-defined, animated blackcurrant fruit is juicy and succulent; tannins are ripe but present.  Neither big nor showy but well balanced, it’s for mid-term drinking.

Nick is a member of the Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants and a great example of what the independent trade do so well, selling otherwise hard to come by wines, including wines from a couple of my favourite Portuguese producers – Quinta dos Currais and Joao Brito e Cunha.

He also offers the widest range of Swiss wines in the UK.

I’m told that the date of closure depends on various factors but, meantime, wines are available at massive discounts.

Nick would appreciate any publicity you can offer to help clear stock, so please do spread the word.  There are some great wines to be had – click here to find out more and start shopping.

And all best wishes to Nick.

Filipa Pato is cut from the same cloth as her father, Luis Pato, Bairrada’s leading winemaker.  She’s a restless winemaking soul, all to our benefit, or so I thought until she told me she’d no longer be making Silex!

The 2008 vintage was a stand out wine of my selection of 50 Great Portuguese Wines and the 2006 made the cut for Jamie Goode’s 50 Great.  It’s no exaggeration to say I was gutted that she’s no longer making this beautiful Dão blend of Touriga Nacional and Alfrocheiro Preto, but Pato says, “after 10 years of experiments (ensaios), I dramatically changed my image…my focus is totally on Bairrada now.” 

Bairrada, whose vineyards she’s putting under the microscope, is her region of birth.  Like her father,  she’s clearly determined to keep it firmly on the map without sacrificing the best of tradition, notably, the Baga grape.  She and fellow “Baga Friends” are keen to put a halt to the grubbing up of old Baga vines and I can think of no more persuasive case than her maiden Nossa Calcario Red – as delicate and intense a Baga as I’ve tasted (see below).  And for contrast, she’s also reviving the region’s tradition for fortifieds with “Saga de Baga.”

Given that she also makes 3 sparkling wines, FP white and red and Nossa Calcario Bical, Pato will be moving out of the pocket-sized winery at her grandmother’s house (pictured during my visit last March).  She and her husband William have bought an old winery (pictured below) overlooking the aged vineyards of Ois do Bairro, from which her top flight Nossa wines hail.   Constructed almost a century ago, it’s built from the calcario stones from the surrounding vineyards and, she says, “looks so authentic and charming, it was like love on first sight, without any make-up!”

Here are my notes on her most recent releases – I’m looking forward to the follow on 2010 and 2011 Baga already – vintages which Pato pronounces “outstanding.”

Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Branco 2010 (Bairrada, Ois do Bairro)

Made from 100% Bical from Ois do Bairro’s stony clay over extremely chalky subsoil, which Pato says accounts for the smoky quality.  A creamy nose, with discernable structure - a ripple of muscle beneath – doesn’t give too much away.  In the mouth, it’s textured and creamy yet not creamy, muscular yet light with subtle, scented white peach, close to kernel rather than sweet and ripe, with almonds and a hint of smoke.  A beautifully balanced, very complete yet unworked wine, which kept drawing me back to the glass (and bottle!)  Long, layered, textural and complex it’s outstanding.  12.5% abv.

Filipa Pato Nossa Calcario Tinto 2009 (Bairrada, Ois do Bairro)

Nossa red is made from very old field blend vineyeard (Pato reckons around 80% Baga, with other traditional local grapes, like Bastardo, Marvão, Piriquita, Maria Gomes, Sercial, Bical).  It lends a wonderfully complex perfume to this wine – violet top notes and spicier, earthier coltsfoot/pine hints leap out of the glass and follow through on a lissome palate, bright with raspberry and morello cherry fruit of lovely purity.  That wisp of smoke infuses a long, fine, bright finish, all levity and perfume.  Like the soils, the tannins are fine and chalky, but not without firmness, which bodes well for ageing.  Pato tells me “we make a soft extraction in the oak lagares inspired in romain times.”

For stockists, I’m told Bottle Apostle are a good bet.

I’ve been on the look out for a freestanding, capacious wine cabinet for ages, especially after a puny pine rack collapsed, adding 1970s style swirl to the carpet!

There are plenty of temperature cooled cabinets, but they were too expensive given my budget, unnecessary for short-term storage and not wildy eco-friendly all things considered.

My partner’s been very forgiving about boxes of wine samples cluttering up the house, but I’m not one to push my luck!  Last week, I took delivery of a wine cabinet for my study (pictured).  It fits the bill perfectly, sleekly accomodating 112 bottles (and wide enough to accomodate fizz).  In solid oak it’s…er…solid,  aesthetically pleasing too.

It’s made by wine rack specialist A & W Moore from whom you can buy direct.  Though I ended up buying one of their standard designs, they’re very flexible about number of racks, fitting drawers etc, so you can tailor your order if need be. Click here for details.

Wednesday’s New Douro tasting threw up some delightful surprises.

Though focused on the latest (red) releases from the 2009 vintage (which I’d already tasted in December), museum stocks had been generously raided, providing an opportunity to taste among the very first New Douro table wines.

And they were  thrilling, reinforcing what a very prodigious and precocious talent this traditional Port region and its producers has for table wines.

You’ll find my notes on the golden oldies below.

Once I’ve reviewed my notes from December’s and this Wednesday’s tasting, I’ll produce a detailed report on the 2009 reds and 2010 whites (but my preliminary December report here holds true for my thoughts on the vintage and click here for Jamie Goode’s highlights).

Casa Ferreirinha Quinta da Leda 1997

Making its debut in 1952, it was Barca Velha, Casa Ferreirinha’s flagship wine, that first revealed the Douro’s prodigious talent for making table wines, and not just Port.  Only made in outstanding years (the current release is the 2000 vintage) and released with several years’ bottle age, Barca Velha is only made in tiny quantities.  Buut the good news is, like Barca Velha, the fruit for this wine is sourced from the Douro Superior and made by the same team, lead by Luis Sottomayor. But, as its name suggests, Quinta da Leda differs from Barca Velha in that it’s a single vineyard wine.  It’s also released much earlier, so the focus is on the primary fruit.  The 97 is the maiden release and it’s terrific – powerful with a generous and expressive, deep, dark palate layered with tertiary notes of spice, earth and game.  A long, inky, mineral, iodine inflected finish is well melded with fine, ripe tannins. Holding together really well, there’s lots more life to this.

Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Reserva Red 1994 (magnum)

Port producer Ramos Pinto first started making table wines in 1990 –  the decade which saw the birth of the New Douro.  Table winemaking blossomed thanks to a change of regulations (which enabled Douro wine producers to export their products independently) and the funds which came onstream when Portugal joined the European Economic Community (as was).  Though older, the 94 (pictured, top, with winemaker Joao Nicolau de Almeida) is the more powerful wine.  Deeper in colour with a spicy core of ripe blackberry fruit and delicious savoury, ripe but present tannins.  Lovely balance.  Put me in mind of Cornas.

Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas Reserva Red 1997 (magnum)

Though younger, showing greater development, this vintage (or bottle) is a little funkier/more savoury - less animated – with oyster shell notes to the finish.  Attractive now, but starting to fade.  Drink up.

Niepoort Redoma 1991

This is the maiden release of Redoma, made in much less than perfect conditions back then and aged in Vila Nova de Gaia.  The first bottle did not show well (brett), but a fresh bottle showed great clarity and savoury length to its fading red fruits, with oyster shell minerality to a quietly intense finish.  On a plateau.  A high one!

Niepoort Redoma 1996 (magnum)

Five years younger and from magnum, the 96 is much more boisterous, with an expressive nose of ripe fruit and game and, in the mouth, a great charge of savoury, ripe, plush, cushiony red and black berry fruits with liquorice spice and a gamy undertow.  Louder, but with great vitality and freshness; love it.

Alves de Sousa Quinta da Gaivosa 2000

Looking super poised and polished, the Gaivosa shows great concentration and fluidity of black berry, cherry and currant fruit, teased out by long, fine tannins with just a hint of gaminess and subtle spice.  Youthfully gilded with fruit, it’s just coming into its own.  Lovely.

Quinta do Vale Meao 2004

The grapes for Barca Velha were originally sourced from this Douro Superior estate and this is an arrestingly powerful, youthful wine.  Very deep in colour with great depth and mineral layers to its heft of spicy black fruits, and the tannins to match.  Lots of oomph.  Stash it away for another 5 years.