Australia News Letter

The last 6 weeks or so have been very strange for me for, as some of you may know John spent this time in Australia and New Zealand. The advantage for the shop and our customers is that he now has first hand knowledge of many of the wine regions of that part of the world. He has visited a number of producers in those countries and we expect to increase our range of wines from these two countries as a result.

He reports that in New Zealand the weather has been fabulous all summer. It is an “El Nino” year and all the wine regions expect to produce some wonderful wines – especially the reds. The Pinot Noir grapes in Otago in the South Island were especially healthy. The major problems though for wine makers in these two countries are birds which split the berries and cause the bunches to be attacked by rot. This is overcome by netting the vines prior to ripening and is a major cost factor.

In Australia the shortage of water over the last three years is concerning all wine makers. This has been exacerbated in the McLaren Vale (an hours drive south of Adelaide) where the temperature for 16 days to the 20th March was in excess of 35o C. The white and red grapes were ripe together and some of the reds had a potential alcohol of 18o. This is a real challenge for the wineries.

Our Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer has failed once again to realise that wine is not a drink that causes sensible people to run amok in streets; the chances are after a bottle of fine claret they will fall asleep in a comfy armchair. The duty increase plus the weakness in the pound is going to affect the retail price of all wine. In addition there have been increases from our suppliers as a result

of the shortage of grapes; increase costs in cartons, bottles, labels and shipping. It is my intention to ensure that we minimise these increases.

The first casualty, sadly, is our house wine that has gone up a fraction. We have not increased the price since 2005 but from the 25th March the new price is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot £4.70, Sauvignon Blanc £4.90 and Chardonnay and Syrah £5.40 per bottle. We will continue to offer our usual 10% Discount on 12 bottles and as an additional incentive of 12½% on 3 Cases all of which may be mixed.

We have reasonable stocks of many of our wines and the prices on these will be held “whilst stocks last”.

As for new wines that we have had in since the last newsletter, from New Zealand we have an excellent Pinot Noir from Seifried £11.25 and also a lovely soft spicy Gewürztraminer £8.25, This is ideal with Thai and Chinese food. Spain is represented by a Faustino Rivera Ylecia Reserva 2003 £8.40. This is a soft brambly red wine with a lingering almost chocolately finish.

I have recently found a delicious red Monthelie 2001 from Domaine Roblet-Monnet. £15.50. This vineyard is situated in the Côte de Beaune between Volnay and Meursault. It is soft medium light style with a lovely crisp finish. It could be served slightly chilled in summer. We also have a rich elegant Ardèche Chardonnay from Louis Latour £7.60.There is a 10% discount off six bottles until the end of April.

Finally we will be stocking our usual wide range of rosés for the summer – as and if it comes. We will list many of usual ones and will try and find some a little different. Please call in and have a chat and see what we have new.

('Neil Bingham',)