Strangebird on the loose - Petit Verdot

Juliane from Granite Ridge Wines is here this week to tell us a little bit about Petit Verdot.

'Petit Verdot means 'the little green one' - it is a late ripening variety with intense colour and high tannins.  Its home is Bordeaux, France where it is used as a small component in the Bordeaux blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

We first became interested in planting the variety after tasting a straight Petit Verdot from Maclaren Vale in the late 1990s.  We planted ours in 1999 and have found it suits our climate and is relatively trouble free to grow.  It grows in a loose bunch and has small berries with thick skins, which means that it is fairly disease resistant and can cope with our summer rains.  Our vines crop vigorously and we thin the bunches to keep the yield down.

 We make a 100% Petit Verdot and also use it in our red blends. It produces a beautiful dense, dark wine with aromas of violets, spice and leather and some wonderful flavours of dark berries, plums and cherries.  Our current release is the 2009 Petit Verdot.'

 
The Stanthorpe State High School also introduced Petit Verdot to its vineyard some years ago and this fruit was the basis of the Banca Ridge 2013 Petit Verdot that won the first Gold medal received by QCWT and the SSHS.

Strangebird on the loose - Nero d'Avola

Nero d’Avola is native to Sicily, where it’s the region’s most planted variety. In recent years, plantings have spread to other parts of the world, including Australia, where the Chalmers family nursery imported the first Nero d’Avola vines in 1998 (although not released from quarantine for cultivation until 2001). Today, there are more than 55 Nero d’Avola vineyards in Australia.(Wine Companion Magazine, online @ @ http://www.winecompanion.com.au/news/wine-companion-magazine-articles/issue-21-nero-davola).

On the Granite Belt, Nero d'Avola is the province of Strangebird stalwart Golden Grove Estate. 600 vines were hand chip budded by owner Sam Costanzo and lovingly crafted into this elegant fruit driven wine by son Ray. The 2012 Nero D'Avola has a deep but vibrant cherry red appearance. The nose is rich with cherries, raspberries and red forest fruits with an underlying touch of sweet oak. The palate is soft and succulent with bursts of perfumed ripe fruit all in perfect harmony with the fine grain oak, plush tannins and crunchy acidity.The 2012 Vintage Grand Reserve Nero d'Avola has won serious applause with the following awards under its belt:

5 Stars (95/100): James Halliday
Silver: 2014 Aust. Small Winemakers Show
Silver: 2014 Cowra Wine Show
Bronze: 2013 Rutherglen Wine Show
Bronze: 2013 QLD Wine Awards

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Queensland's First Ever Ophicleide Recital

 Queensland's first ever Ophicleide Recital is happening in the concert hall at Robert Channon Wines at Stanthorpe in Queensland’s Granite Belt on Sunday October 4^th.

The concert features Nick Byrne, Australia’s leading player of the ophicleide and David Miller one of the country’s finest pianists. What is an ophicleide? Why is the Battle of Waterloo important? and why is this Queensland’s first recital?

The Ophicleide is a 19^th century brass instrument that looks a bit like a brass bassoon.

But for the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, it might never have been invented.

After the battle, the victorious troops marched to Paris, led by military bands. The Grand Duke Constantine of Russia is said to have been delighted by a particular bandsman from an English regiment, playing a keyed bugle. Constantine had a copy made (of the instrument not the bandsman) by instrument maker, Halary, who in 1817 went on to develop a family of three new keyed brass instruments. He called his soprano instrument a "clavitube", the alto a "quinti-clave" and the bass instrument an “ophicleide".

“Ophicleide” was a made up name from the Greek words meaning ‘serpent’ and ‘keys’. The serpent was the excitingly named but hapless wooden tubed instrument (coiled into a snake-like shape) that the ophicleide replaced in bands and orchestras. Unlike the serpent though, which had been in use for more than 250 years, the heyday of the Ophicleide was to be short. The newly invented tuba (with valves instead of keys) swept in as the instrument of choice from the 1870’s.

How do we know that this is Queensland’s first recital? Well, we don’t really, but according to a paper delivered by CG Austin in 1961 on the subject of Early Musical Performances in Queensland, the first professional orchestra to play in Brisbane was in 1872 – already towards the end of the ophicleide’s orchestral reign.

In recent times, Nick Byrne (also a Sydney Symphony Orchestra trombonist) played the ophicleide in Brisbane in a performance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra but he says that as far as he also is aware “this will be the first time an Ophicleide has performed in any solo capacity in Qld!”

What does it sound like? According to the Musical Instruments Museum “This instrument is particularly agile and endowed with a beautiful sound quality. But like all instruments, it requires a good ear to play it correctly.”

Why should you come to the concert? Two of Australia’s finest musicians are performing and, it may be another 150 years before you get your next chance to hear this noble old instrument being played.

Robert Channon said,  ”I have a small collection of old instruments including a serpent and an ophicleide. It will be a joy to hear the ophicleide being played properly at last. I always feel that I would be able to make a better fist of playing it if I had been born with three hands.”

The concert is in the Swigmore Hall at Robert Channon Wines on Sunday 4 October at 2.00. Tickets are $25 including a glass of wine at the interval, and they can be booked through the winery on 07 4683 3260.

Robert Channon Wines are at 32 Bradley Lane, Stanthorpe in Queensland’s Granite Belt where they are particularly known for their trophy and gold medal winning Verdelhos.

For further information contact Robert Channon on 07 4683 3260

Strangebird on the loose - Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. The wines are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. In some ways Nebbiolo wines resemble Pinot Noirs in the way that they age into wines with soft rich tannins. The wines have rich flavours with a nose most often described as 'tar and roses'. Some other flavours and aromas to look for are spicy, chocolate, leathery and earthy flavours. Think of a forest floor.
- See more at: http://www.vinodiversity.com/nebbiolo.html#sthash.jkclArCH.dpufNebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. The wines are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. In some ways Nebbiolo wines resemble Pinot Noirs in the way that they age into wines with soft rich tannins. TNebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. The wines are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. In some ways Nebbiolo wines resemble Pinot Noirs in the way that they age into wines with soft rich tannins. The wines have rich flavours with a nose most often described as 'tar and roses'. Nebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. The wines are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. In some ways Nebbiolo wines resemble Pinot Noirs in the way that they age into wines with soft rich tannins. The wines have rich flavours with a nose most often described as 'tar and roses'. Nebbiolo is notoriously difficult to grow well and for Australian red wine drinkers the first taste is often a bit unexpected, as the colour, aroma and mouthfeel are quite different from the Shiraz most of us were brought up drinking.

Nebbiolo takes its name from the fog (nebbia) that swirls around the Piedmontese hills at harvest time. All the literature suggests that not only is Nebbiolo difficult to grow well in Australia, but that it can be challenging for the palate of Australian wine-drinkers. We say 'Challenge away!'. The aroma of Nebbiolo is compared to ‘tar and roses’ and the variety 'typically produces rich and powerful wines with high levels of acidity, alcohol and tannins ... a distinct brown colour which is appropriately accompanied by flavours of earth, chocolate, leather and spice' says experimental wine website Different Drop.

 Multi-award winning winery Ballandean Estate produces Nebbiolo, and Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi has this to say about the temperamental variety:

'We planted our vines about 20 years ago and have had our ups an down with the variety. In saying that, we are planting a little more of this variety this year to top up our volume, so I guess you could say,we have faith in the variety

'The wine we produce at Ballandean Estate is usually quite tannic with the characteristic “orange” tinge of the meniscus and the flavour is bold and fruit driven.  It is not a wine to be taken lightly and definitely a ‘food friendly’ style.  Served with a flavoursome pasta dish and you would swear you were in Italy.

'With the success of the Strangebird wine trail, we are confident that our next release, 2014 Nebbiolo will delight the adventurous wine tasters of the region.'

We're looking forward to it, Leeanne! Other producers in the region include Boireann Estate and Symphony Hill. 

Some other flavours and aromas to look for are spicy, chocolate, leathery and earthy flavours. Think of a forest floor.
- See more at: http://www.vinodiversity.com/nebbiolo.html#sthash.jkclArCH.dpuf

Some other flavours and aromas to look for are spicy, chocolate, leathery and earthy flavours. Think of a forest floor.

- See more at: http://www.vinodiversity.com/nebbiolo.html#sthash.jkclArCH.dpufhe wines have rich flavours with a nose most often described as 'tar and roses'. 

Some other flavours and aromas to look for are spicy, chocolate, leathery and earthy flavours. Think of a forest floor.
- See more at: http://www.vinodiversity.com/nebbiolo.html#sthash.jkclArCH.dpuf