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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Strangebird on the loose - Mourvedre

This week we have a guest post from Sue and Warren at Pyramids Road, who are enthusiastic about their Strangebird variety Mourvedre, and took a wet day off from pruning to tell us all about it. Over to Sue and Warren:

Mourvedre has many names -the French call it Mourvedre, Monastrell in Spain and Mataro in Australia. It is debatable about its origin but it is widely planted in the south of France and near to the east coast of Spain behind Alicante. In Australia, it was planted and grown as bush vines in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. These plantings have considerable age where

some vines are 80-100 years old.

In our vineyard it stands straight and tall which means it is a pleasure to work with. It grows with gusto and proves difficult at pruning time as the canes grow very thick and strong. It loves the sunshine and warm days in our summer as the tannin in the skins needs this weather to ripen. 

We love this variety as it has the potential to be used in a blended wine or as a straight varietal wine. It classically has elements of spice, earthy, dark cherry flavours with a tannin structure that gives the wine great body and length. The wine is a dense purple colour that, while delicious in its own right, is best accompanied with food. It is not for the light hearted and accompanies any hearty meat dish on winter nights by the fire. It creates interest in the cellar door and most people are intrigued and willing to sample the wine. Since our first vintage in 2005 it has created quite a following and many repeat customers keen to see how each vintage changes.

Strangebird on the loose - Graciano

Graciano is a Spanish red wine grape that was developed initially in Rioja where it is considered a  ‘noble’ vine.Graciano is a challenging, low-yielding variety that is often made into a Gran Reserva because of its great lasting ability. This wine is characterised by its deep red colour and strong aroma and ability to age well. Graciano thrives in warm, arid climates. Locally, it is grown by Savina Lane.'Graciano was growing here when we bought the vineyard and we are thrilled with the spicy notes and and silky mouth feel with a medium body red', says Brad from Savina Lane.

 Savina Lane Reserve Graciano 2012 won Gold at the 2014 Australian Alternative Varieties Show in Mildura Victoria. Here's what the label says:


GRACIANO RESERVE 2012
Elegant spice notes with aromas of raspberry and plum. Intense mulberry, blackberry and vanilla flavours deliver a powerful finish backed with superfine grainy tannins.
From the Rioja region of Spain, Graciano thrives in our small vineyard at 850m on the cool border plateau of the Granite Belt. Perfect with all red meat dishes, especially venison and lamb. Serve around 18°C Alcohol: 14.2% Cellaring: 2024
 

Fringewine blog on-line @ http://fringewine.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/graciano-rioja-spain.html has this to say about the variety:

‘Graciano is thought to be native to Rioja, where it is used to provide color and aroma to blended Rioja red wines... Typically, it makes up less than 15% of the blend when it is used at all. It can also be found in neighboring Navarra. Graciano was once very widely grown in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France where it was known as Morrastel (which can be confusing, as Morrastel is a Spanish synonym for Mourvedre) but it was uprooted in the late 20th century in favor of hardier, more productive varietals, especially something called Morrastel Bouchet which was a cross between Graciano and Petit Bouschet developed by Henri Bouschet. There is some grown in Australia, where it is known as Morrastel (though some of this may be Mourvedre as well), and some grown in California, where it is known as Xeres. It is thought that Portugal's Tinta Miúda may actually be Graciano.’

Are you confused yet?

Graciano is good with red meat, in particular, venison and lamb, or other stronger tasting or gamey meats. Check out an award winner at Savina Lane.

Strangebird on the loose - Durif

 

Durif is a cross between Syrah and Peloursin. It was created at the university of Montpellier in the 1880sw by a Dr Durif who was interested in developing a grape variety resistant to downy mildew.It was introduced into Australia by Francois de Castella in 1908 and planted extensively in the Rutherglen area of Victoria. 

It was mistakenly identified in California for almost a century as Petit Syrah. It was only through DNA testing in the late 20th Century by Dr. Carole Meredith at the University of California at Davis that the mistake was discovered.

On the Granite Belt, Golden Grove produces this robust variety which is dying out in some other regions. Try it out this Christmas!

A visit to Twisted Gum- a blog from Amanda at Cooker and a Looker

Amanda from the blog 'Cooker and a Looker' wrapped  up her tour around Southern Queensland on the Granite Belt with a visit to Twisted Gum winery. Here's what she had to say about this local gem:

Michelle and Tim’s enthusiasm for wine is infectious.  During spring, Michelle hosts sunset walks through the three acre vineyard.  Gus the vineyard dog leads the tour, which winds through the vineyard and offers views over Girraween National Park. Parched from your walk?  Tim has you covered! Finish off your tour tasting Twisted Gum’s wines accompanied by artisan cheeses on the veranda as the sun sets – and they’re not joking about the sunset – stunning!

Twisted Gum are a dry land vineyard, so a highlight for me was tasting the difference in that dry and wet years made to the produce of the same vines.  Also, give the pink moscato a try: sweet wines aren’t my thing, but theirs is a horse of a different colour. 

Photo courtesy of Amanda

 Read more of Amanda's blog here.