Australian wines rise to the top in competitive tastings

WHILE THE current woes of the Australian wine industry are too numerous to name, they include drought, a grape glut, a strong Australian dollar in a weak global economy and an invasion of 'apple looper' caterpillars in the Margaret River region.

But take heart. Much of this is good news for you. The prices are still competitive, and for those willing to explore the country's less familiar grapes and regions, the quality is superb.

Wine Australia, the marketing organization for the entire country, recently sponsored seminars designed to showcase the quality and diversity of Australian wines, and the evidence was compelling.

In blind flights of riesling, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon, the Australian wines showed distinctly different strengths from the European and American wines in the sampling. In a separate tasting of old vintages, single-vineyard and old-vine wines, there were some stunning surprises.

Sitting between wine writers Dan Berger and Harvey Steiman, both experts in these wines, I found myself barraged with exclamations of delight. As we sipped an exquisite, 10-year-old Clare Valley riesling, Steiman boasted that he'd squirreled away cases of these wines years ago, suspecting they would age beautifully, even under screw cap. And so they have.

Rieslings from the Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Tasmania and Western Australia are dramatic and bone dry with mouth-puckering acids. Marvelous with shellfish, they can age for decades. Recommended: the Jacob's Creek 2006 'Steingarten' from 45-year-old vines ($30) or the Kilikanoon 2008 'Mort's Block' ($20).

Chardonnay is the best-known Australian white, and there have been widespread, welcome changes in the way these wines are now being made. The fat, oaky styles of the 1990s have given way to unwooded, unoaked, steelier wines. The goal is to preserve freshness, avoid oxidation, and bring out the bright fruit flavors of peach and melon.

A new producer, Shaw & Smith, poured a riveting example of chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills called M3. Finished in older French oak barriques, it showed a lovely mix of grapefruit, Meyer lemon, lime, melon and apricot, layered with luscious butterscotch, and finished at just 13 percent alcohol. Later, I sampled a 2006 shiraz from the same producers, confirming this as a rising star.

Surprisingly, pinot noir is showing good results in cooler wine-growing regions. Winemaker PJ Charteris calls it "a fickle beast." His Brokenwood 2006 'Beechworth' is rich, soft and tannic ($22). Even better is the 2006 from Pirie ($20), a Tasmanian producer. Elegant and loaded with hints of rose petals, citrus, Asian spice and light chocolate, this seemed truly Burgundian in style.

For me, Australia really shines with its old-vine reds, especially grenache and shiraz. But there is old-vine semillon also, and Tyrrell's 2004 'HVD' Hunter Valley Sémillon ($25) — from vines planted in 1920 — was astonishing. Rich with fig, melon, golden raisin, straw, honey and lemon drop, this acidic wine seemed to be embarking on a long, pleasurable aging curve.

The tasting concluded with a Yalumba 2005 'Tri-Centenary Vineyard' Grenache, from vines planted in 1889 ($70) and an equally sublime Jacob's Creek 2004 'Centenary Hill' Shiraz ($35). Wines this good, from vines this old, must be considered among the best values in the world.

Whether or not you can track down these specific producers, I encourage you to explore the diversity of this nation's wines.

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Washington Wines & Wineries — the Essential Guide." Contact him at paulgwine@me.com.