News and Views

Dry no more

With the 2008 vintage heading down the same dry road experienced in 2007 we are pleased to announce we have had a reprieve.

The heavens opened during november delivering 78mm of rain easing pressure on staff and vines. We measured far less than many across the region however our rich, clay soil overlaying limestone has responded well to the damp conditions with pastures and vines looking healthy and refreshed.

The end of the month has done nothing to slow the rain with good falls recorded well into December and reports of more to come over the christmas break.

Thanks Santa!

An outstanding review - Lester Jesberg - Winewise

As a nice christmas present we have just received a fantastic review from Lester Jesberg in his recent Winewise publication.

"The apparent acceptance of merlot in the market place amazes us. Poor clones, overcropping and planting in inappropriate places have spawned a sea of weak, minty, hard red wine.

Tasting of large numbers of Australian merlot's are seldom joyous experiences, but, before we turn you off merlot entirely, we showcase one in this tasting that is extraordinarily good."

2006 Printhie Merlot, Orange. Here we have a merlot that helps set a standard for the variety in Australia. It delivers everything merlot should, including, most importantly, ripe, rich fruit and soft but persistent tannins. It's a merlot that can genuinely be described as delicious. Available from the winery at a giveaway price. ($17.00) Excellent Value

"There was actually a gold medal in the cabernet class at Orange. From one of the warmest sites, the Printhie Cabernet Sauvignon, bowled us over with it's strong cassis aromas and flavours, and fine structure. If you think Printhie is rapidly becoming one of Australia's best small producers, you're right."

A new wine range for Printhie

Swift Family Heritage logo

We are pleased to introduce a new addition to our stable. The Mt. Canobolas Collection will fit between our popular Mountain Range wines and Swift Family Heritage icon wines.

The Mt. Canobolas Collection wines are hand crafted from specially selected parcels of fruit. These parcels of fruit are sourced from our estate vineyards as well as contracted vineyards in the Orange region ideally suited to the varietal characters required to make these wines. The MCC focuses on the partnership between food and wine, each wine made to highlight the vibrant, elegant, lifted fruit characters that define the Orange region.

The MCC currently includes a 2007 Riesling, 2006 Pinot Noir and 2006 Shiraz Viognier available through the cellar door for $235 / case. (Free delivery - Australian eastern states only)

The winemakers diary - December 2007

December started as a very busy month with a week of bottling. We bottle all our wines in our own winery using a local mobile contract bottling line that provides a very good level of technical service. We bottled the last remaining 2007 white wine – the Chardonnay – along with all the 2007 red wines. Now we can turn our attention to the 2008 vintage planning process and vintage always seems to sneak up on you at great speed – just like Christmas.

However, Christmas does not really provide a pleasant break. We are in the middle of the growing season and have to remain vigilant at all times. If we were to disappear to the beach for three weeks we may well arrive back to a crisis in the vineyard. You always have to have a presence in the vineyard keeping a check on pests and diseases and ensuring there are no ill effects from the weather. Especially in a year like this when we have had numerous thunderstorms on consecutive days and the disease threat is quite high. The humidity provides great potential for fungal diseases to take hold. However, the constant work of Ed and Dave in the vineyard has resulted in the vineyard having a clean bill of health. The vines are looking especially healthy with wonderful foliage. Just this morning I saw a photo of the vineyard at harvest last season and the foliage didn’t even reach the top of the trellis post. Looking out my window now at the Shiraz I can see some shoots that are almost a meter higher than the trellis posts! What a difference six months and a bit of rain can make. We are very pleased with the progression of the season thus far and remain optimistic about a successful vintage.

With the festive season ahead of us – you’ll have to think carefully about the wines you will celebrate with. If you are a traditionalist at Christmas with the roast pork, turkey and ham then the Printhie Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Shiraz Viognier would be great matches – and don’t be afraid to put the bottles of red in the fridge for half an hour to cool them down a bit. No wine is particularly nice at 30oC. If you are part of the new Aussie tradition and enjoy a seafood Christmas lunch then the Printhie Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc will work a treat. We can’t offer you any sparkling wine to pop on new years but for a more unorthodox choice, try the newly available Small Acres Sparkling Cider.

From all of us at the winery, have a merry christmas and a fabulous 2008 drinking Printhie wines.

Cheers
Drew Tuckwell
Winemaker

Where and why - Shiraz Viognier

Shiraz Viognier – where did that come from? And why blend a red grape and a white grape together? The blend originates in the northern Rhone Valley in France. The only red wine variety of any note in this region is Syrah (or Shiraz as we call it). Within that region there is a small appellation (sub-region) called Côte Rotie (the roasted slope). Immediately to the south of Côte Rotie is another even smaller appellation called Condrieu. This appellation is the home of Viognier – a variety that was almost extinct 20 years ago but is now well established in many wine regions around the Australia and other parts of the world.

The Côte Rotie is informally divided into the south-west oriented slope referred to as the Côte Blonde and the south-east oriented slope called the Côte Brune. The Côte Brune, as its name suggests, has darker brown soils with more clay content and tends to make richer, full bodied wines. The Côte Blonde has light coloured soils with more decomposed granite soils that produce lighter wines. It is the Côte Blonde that immediately adjoins Condrieu. At some stage in history, the local vignerons must have put a bucket load of Viognier in with their Syrah ferments and appreciated the difference. As the Côte Blonde wines tend to be lighter than the Côte Brune, the addition of Viognier, which is usually a bit riper than the Syrah at harvest, adds more glycerol, therefore more body and weight and a bit more aroma to the wine. It is relatively rare that a Côte Rotie made only from grapes grown the Côte Brune has Viognier added to it. A Côte Rotie that has been made with a combination of Côte Blonde and Côte Brune is likely to have Viognier in it and a wine made only from vines on the Cote Blonde is more likely than not to have Viognier. So like all things French and wine it can get complicated.

Traditionally, the Viognier is harvested with the Syrah and they are fermented together (co-fermentation). The chemical composition of the Viognier is believed to actually deepen the colour of the red wine rather than dilute it. Often in Côte Rotie, the vineyards are mixed plantings of both varieties with a certain percentage of Viognier plants according to individual vignerons preference. There may be as little as 3-4% Viognier or as much as 15%.

In Australia, many winemakers produce Shiraz-Viognier blends with co-fermentation techniques but some other producers may elect to blend the varieties together as wine. Again, the percentages differ according to individual practices and preferences but usually the Viognier percentage is in the 4-8% range. In fact, if there is less than 15% Viognier there is no legal requirement in Australia to label the wine as Shiraz Viognier – it could be labelled as just Shiraz. But many producers, such as Printhie, release a Shiraz and a Shiraz Viognier and labelling helps our customers differentiate between the two wines.

So what is the difference between a 100% Shiraz wine and a Shiraz Viognier. Well, in Australia, our Shiraz does not often lack for ripeness and glycerol content and are quite full-bodied. Adding Viognier increases the aromatic complexity by introducing floral and apricot/peach aromas to the wine – a little bit of Viognier goes a long way. To this end the 2006 Printhie Shiraz Viognier has about 5% Viognier. The two varieties were co-fermented in the traditional way. The wine is very generous both in aroma and flavour, aided undoubtly by the Viognier. If you taste our straight Shiraz and Shiraz Viognier side by side you will be able to appreciate the difference. One is not better than the other, they are just different and that is the joy of wine.

DECEMBER ARTICLES

News and Views

Dry no more

An outstanding review - Lester Jesberg - Winewise

A new wine range for Printhie

The winemakers diary - December 2007

Where and why - Shiraz Viognier