TASTING AUSTRALIA 2010 – ADELAIDE DIARY

Day 6

Early doors breakfast at the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort before heading off with the Food Tour group to the farmers’ market. Lots of goodies including range of salumi and some amazing high-octane kabanossi, not for the faint-hearted. Also traced the source of the duck we’d eaten the night before. Quality of the fruit and veg is a given, as I’ve come to expect in South Australia, a treat for foodies’ eyes.

Then on to what was probably the most interesting tasting of the trip. Back in 2008 Barossa winemakers decided to explore the subject of ‘terroir’ in what they describe as a “unique, transparent, warts-and-all manner, hitherto not attempted anywhere else….”. A tad grandiose, you might think, until you remember that the Barossa is the repository of some of the oldest working vines in the world. At the same time there was no coherent data about landscapes, geology, micro climates, soil types and the impact of all those factors on the wines. Though the information does exist – chiefly in the heads of winemakers – it has never been collated and has never been made accessible like in regions elsewhere in the world of wine.  This realization sparked the desire – described as ‘a duty and obligation’ – to collate the data, define the terroirs and eventually publish the work. It’s an ongoing, long-term process.

The holding, in the Barossa, of the 3^rd International Shiraz Alliance in June 2008 proved a seminal moment. The wine media were invited to take a look at Barossa sub-regions. 52 wines were presented blind in 9 categories. Tasters were requested not to pick favourites but to proffer ideas on similarities and differences, both in and across categories. The tasting proved an important first step on the road in acknowledging publicly that differences and similarities could be due to location, as opposed to winemakers’ efforts.

A number of smaller tastings followed; culminating in early 2010 with the first tasting in what is to be a five year project, focusing on discovering and describing the various Barossa terroirs, rather than worrying about boundaries, although it’s acknowledged that the exercise may lead to the establishment of sub-regions.

Our tasting could probably be described as a potted version of the one above. Wines were presented in seven flights of two wines and our comments were listened to and duly noted and I imagine they will be absorbed into the overall process. I found the whole exercise fascinating. While there were similarities between the paired wines, the differences were often equally in evidence.

So, are further sub-divisions desirable? I suppose we’ll find out at the conclusion of the tests. At the moment the Barossa region is divided into Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. But you certainly can’t fault the Aussies for not putting in the hard graft and doing their utmost to achieve transparency.

Having worked hard during the morning we were then delivered to the gorgeous vale that holds Bethany Reserve where we enjoyed a superb barbecue, from ingredients assembled at the farmers’ market earlier in the day before boarding the bus back to Adelaide.

Into the Media Centre to clap away at the laptop – had to remind myself severely that I still need to earn a living. Then a glass of wine, a quick shower and spruce up and into the Ballroom for the Lifestyle Food Channel Australian Regional Culinary Competition Awards Dinner. Glanced at the table seating plan and found I was with Australian food writer Lyndey Milan.. oh dear! Not that I have anything against the lady but I just know she’s gonna grab me for the choir. Let me explain: the choir – a hotch-potch collection of food and wine writers and chefs, chiefly people who have had their arms twisted by the lovely Lyndey assemble to sing on the last night, party night. We normally manage one rehearsal. The first couple of times we sang, it worked out well. We were anchored by people like chef Gabriel Gaté who has a superb baritone voice. But on the last occasion, two years ago, with a number of rookie singers and sans any rehearsal, we went flat; very flat indeed, in fact like a three day old soufflé. Embarrassing or wha’?  Fortunately, Lyndey and I were separated at table by the engaging Ed Halmagi and, at the end of the evening I managed to escape without assenting. Phew! All part of the fun and frolics that is Tasting Australia.

For the record the competition was won by a young team from local restaurant The Manse. My own fanship lay with the team from Perth, three foraging skateboard aces from a funky greener than green restaurant, trained up for the event by my buddy Kate Parry. They finished runners-up. Check this out http://www.greenhouseperth.com only amazing.