New wineries listed in Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2009
Each year James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion includes a few hundred "new" wineries.
Over recent years the number has varied, and the criteria for inclusion in the Companion has changed. Prior to the 2008 edition most wineries in Australia were included, even though they had not submitted samples for tasting, or if the wines submitted were given comparitively low ratings. Since 2008 only wineries that had submitted wines above the level of 87 are included. This keeps the companion down to an almost manageable size, 5778 wines reviewed from 1661 wineries.
The following are the 39 alternative varieties used by the "new" wineries:
Halliday marks as new wineries that appear for the first time in each edition.
In the 2009 Companion 169 wineries are marked as new, compared to 218 the previous year.
These may not neccesarily be what you might call a new winery.
Perhaps there has been a name change.
Some wineries may have been operating on a small scale for some time and have only recently been noticed, maybe by snagging a gold medal somewhere.
Other wineries arise as joint ventures of existing winemakers for a particular purpose, for example "The Saviours" a group of winemakers and grapegrowers in the Eden Valley who have pooled their talents and resources to increase the reputation of their region by producing wine under the label of "Eden Valley Wines"
The 2009 edition also documents the rise of warehouse wineries. These operations differ greatly from what we old fogies used to imagine a winery should be.
We used to think that to make wine you first had to buy some land in a suitable area grow grapes, survive the onslaught of the elements, do a winemaking course, build a winery, buy barrels, beat off the bank manager and hope for the best. Today that has changed, at least for some of the flying winemakers who seem to manage to buy grapes, rent space and equipment, make their wine and market it before clearing out for the Northern Hemishere vintage. The 2009 Companion lists about two dozen wineries in this category.
What are the most popular new varieties?
I like to do a quick run through to check on any trends that may be showing up.
I just tote up the number of wineries who are using each of the varieties designated by vinodiversity as "alternative". The result for 2009 is shown in the box above.
I know this method is statistically invalid, but it does give some idea of what is happening. For example I first noticed the revival of malbec by looking at this data a few years ago.
Viognier is the most popular variety listed. I would guess that only 20% of wineries are using it to make a white wine. Most would be using it co-pigmented with shiraz. Is Shiraz-Viognier and alternative varietal? Probably not, but I have not sorted the data out.
Grenache and Mourvedre are most often used to make blends, such as the famous GSMs.
But I have a feeling that more varietal Grenaches (including roses) and Mourvedres are being used.
Pinot gris continues to grow in poularity, especially in South Australia.
Listed below are sixty-two wineries who use one or more alternative varieties and who have made their debut in the 2009 Wine Companion.
Alderley Creek Wines Estate Northern Rivers Chambourcin, Verdelho
Allies Wines Mornington Peninsula Viognier
Back Pocket Granite Belt Graciano, Tempranillo
Blackets Adelaide Hills Gewurztraminer
Bottin Wines McLaren Vale Barbera, Sangiovese
Brammar Estate Yarra Valley Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris, Verdelho, Viognier
