SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Proud to be Strine
Auberon Waugh
For what I fear will be our penultimate Australian wine offer in the Year of Strine Wine, I tasted several producers and estates as well as the full Hardy's range available in this country. In the event, all those chosen when quality was balanced against price, came from Hardy's, which must be some sort of feather in the cap of the sun-kissed state of South Australia.
First the whites. Australian Rhine Ries- ling, as they call their version of the riesling grape, is often a little short on acid but makes up for it with a fulness and richness which you do not often find in its German or Alsatian cousins and certainly not at this Price. This 1986 example) at £3.95 is no sweeter than a Kabinett but it has a richness and immediate amiability which make it ideal for summer afternoon drink- ing. Nobody could possibly dislike it, although German wine snobs will be suspi- cious of its accessibility. The truth is that it is simply delicious, and its slight spritz makes the addition of soda or seltzer unnecessary for those long afternoons of playing croquet watching tennis. Not really for drinkin with meals, and certain- ly not for keeping, it will be instantly acceptable to people who are not by nature serious wine :drinkers, as well as to those who are trying to wean themselves from harder stuff.
Chardonnay always provides a star in any Australian offer, but my tasting notes on the Hardy Collection Chardonnay 1985(2) — 'excellent, utterly brilliant and delicious' 7-- are not, in retrospect, very useful in describing the wine. Like all the best Australian chardonnay, it has a huge taste of ripe fruit, with just enough acid and citrus side-tastes to give it serious class. The 1986, which will follow when supplies of the 1985 run out, is even fresher in the mouth but slightly lighter at this stage, as one would expect. Both are wonderful. The 1986 will definitely im- prove for another year or so, but I suspect that the 1985 is near its peak. Those who respond first will receive the 1985 unless they specify that they would prefer the 1986.
The Hardy Collection Fume Blanc, also from Padthaway, comes from a mixture of sauvignon blanc and semillon grapes; it was too rich for my dear wife, when I tried the 1984 vintage on her. I thought it an absolutely stunning wine, like a 17-year old Chateau Laville Haut-Brion. The 1986 vintage) is a trifle lighter, although not much. I have tried it on members of the Literary Review staff with great success. I think it is a seriously good wine, perhaps not quite dry enough for every taste, but with a long, clean, crisp finish for all its weight which makes it a perfect accom- paniment for anything except the lightest white fish. Like most dry semillon, it will
gather even greater profundity as it ages, but some may prefer it now.
Now for the reds. The Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 1983(4) from Keppoch at £3.95 is another wine which nobody could conceivably dislike, being full, bland and fruity, perfect for immediate drinking but with enough backbone to make it a stayer. Although one does not find much cabernet in Chateaneuf du Pape, it is more like an old Chateauneuf than anything else.
Hardy's Shiraz 1984 from Nottage is the only wine in the present offer about which I have doubts. I tasted the 1981 and raved to myself quietly — even the 1981 was a very Oz wine, with a bit of Parrish's Food thrown in for good measure — but this has now been replaced by the 1984, which definitely needs time. I think it will make a splendid Hermitage-style wine in
four or five years, althOugh it has none of the French young-syrah taste now, merely a suggestion of: rather closed old- Hermitage. It improves dramatically in the. glass, but even so £4.35 is quite a hefty price for future Australian delights when so much is readily available. On the other hand, not many of us can afford to buy good Hermitage for laying down nowa- days, at £12-£14 the bottle, so we may have to decide on the bizarre policy of laying down Australian shiraz. If I thought we might have a Labour government in a couple of week's time, I would probably buy 20 cases. But I don't, so I won't.
By contrast, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Keppoch(6) has all the qualities ex- pected of a really well-made middle-to- heavyweight bordeaux. The '82 is consider- ably more advanced than the '83 — Oz wines seem to put on three years' age for every one French year — but both are ready enough to drink now. At first tasting I thought I caught just a hint of the Strine golit-de-terroir,. but it disappeared im- mediately and I may have imagined it. It has a beautiful, deep colour and plenty of blackcurrant fruit — a clean, complete and thoroughly grown-up wine which will go on improving for years and would make one proud to be an Australian.
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