A year of grand consolidation
This year has been one of grand consolidation. I have decided that in the past we have had too many distractions and made too many wines. I now want to concentrate on what we do best. To this end, and I will speak in more detail below, we will no longer make Aeolia Roussanne and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 'Ergo Sum' partnership with M. Chapoutier has also been terminated.
Here at Giaconda we have planted new clones of Pinot Noir in the coolest location on the vineyard and some Nebbiolo on a wonderful new site on the other side of Beechworth at Red Hill. I have come to the conclusion that Nebbiolo probably does not best suit the granitic soils, as we have had such a good result growing it on red shale soils. The new Red Hill site offers a similar soil profile with more elevation. I hold great hopes for Nebbiolo from this site as the vines become established. We are currently aging three vintages of Nebbiolo in the cellar with the 2010 being due for release next year.
Regarding the Aeolia Roussanne, this special wine has never really been recognised by Australian wine writers but has always received spectacular reviews by some of the best International wine critics. With the export market now extremely difficult (due to the high Australian dollar) I have deceided this was the first candidate in our consolidation programme.
Another change has come about with the necessity to pull out a small block of vines from the oldest part of the vineyard, which used to be planted as Cabernet Sauvignon. This was suffering from poor drainage and the gradual ingress of Eutypa dieback. I decided ultimately it would be better to replant a small amount of Chardonnay and the balance of Pinot Noir on this part of the site. I have selected new root-stocks and clones of Pinot Noir that were missing from the previous mix. An increase in the quantity of Estate grown Pinot Noir will gradually allow me to reduce the component of Yarra Valley fruit in the current blend.
Regarding the Ergo Sum break up. We were informed last year by Michel Chapoutier that due to difficulties in Europe with the global financial crisis, his board of directors has ordered a substantial pull out of their Australian investments. Regarding the above mentioned consolidation I was not wholly displeased by this as it allows us to focus back on Giaconda. As a result, a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon from the warmer (top part) of the vineyard are being grafted over to Shiraz. This will enable a small increase in the production of the Estate Vineyard Shiraz. With increased vine age I feel that the Estate grown Shiraz (which includes a small percentage of Viognier) is now showing the most exciting potential going forward.
2012 continues to build on the success of recent vintages. We seem to be seeing a string of cooler vintages after a long period of drought. The 2012 Chardonnay will be a great follow on from the superb vintages of 2010/11. The 2012 Pinot Noir I feel will probably be the best Pinot that has been made here at Giaconda. This wine (even at this early stage) has great complexity and depth in true Burgundian style. I feel this will develop into a spectacular wine. To cap off a truly excellent all round vintage, both Estate and Warner Vineyard Shirazes are developing great complexity in barrel.
We are not offering any 2011 Warner Vineyard Shiraz in the upcoming November release. A strong En Primeur offer from last year combined with a small vintage and standing export orders mean we don't have any more to offer the mailing list. Note that the 2011 Estate Shiraz will still be made available as we do not export this wine at present.
As a final point to this newsletter I must emphasise the 2011 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay. As a product of a very cool year this wine is absolutely spectacular. In many ways I feel the 2010 is the best and may even surpass the 1996 vintage. However, the 2011 has potential to surpass both! My advice for those who appreciate funky, old world style Burgundies - don't miss out on this one in the up coming November release.
Last but not least, concerning these Chardonnays we are pleased to announce that the 2010 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay has been awarded Jeremy Oliver's 'Wine of the Year' in The Australian Wine Annual 2013.
Regards,
Rick Kinzbrunner
Cork or screwcap wine? Even age cannot settle this debate
30 March 2017Australian Financial Review
Life and Leisure Mar 30 2017
by Max Allen
There are two glasses of 2006 Giaconda chardonnay in front of me (lucky me...). One is very youthful, a pale straw colour, lean and powdery, with a hint of reductive, sulphidey struck-match scent, and a refreshing, lemony acidity. The other is a touch more golden, a little more developed and rounder in flavour, with slightly richer, toasty, spice and button mushroom aromas.
What's going on? Are these wines from different parts of the Giaconda vineyard? Made in different ways? Matured in different barrels?
Nope. They're both exactly the same wine, bottled at the same time, cellared in the same place (underground at Giaconda, in a tunnel dug into the stone of the hill). And yet these wines undeniably taste different. So what sets them apart?
The first comes from a bottle that was sealed with a screwcap, the second from a bottle under cork.
It's been almost two decades since the Australian wine industry started using screwcaps en masse. Today, almost all wines out there in bottle shop land are sealed this way. And yet there is still ongoing debate about the suitability of a screwcap for fine wines destined for long-term cellaring: yes, we know the seal works perfectly well at keeping the liquid in the bottle and keeping it fresh, but we just don't have enough experience comparing the same wine under cork and cap over many years to be sure we like how the wines age the new way.
Which is why, when Rick Kinzbrunner and his winemaker son Nathan, of legendary Beechworth, Victoria producer Giaconda, held a recent tasting comparing their chardonnay, pinot and shirazes from 2004 to 2010 bottled under both seals, I was keen to attend.
So many factors
The results? Inconclusive, I'm afraid. For a start, there are so many variables at play, it's almost impossible to be definitive. In the case of the 2005 chardonnay, for example, the screwcap unequivocally outshone the cork – but Rick told me all the corks he bought that year were far from perfect.
In some cases the peculiar nature of the vintage overrode any differences between the seals: both the 2008 Warner vineyard shirazes, for example, showed the softer tannins and globby fruit of the reds from that warm vintage more than they showed anything else.
And while I tended to prefer the cork-sealed chardonnays, particularly the 2006 mentioned above and the outstanding 2008 and 2010 wines, I tended to prefer the screwcapped reds (the 2006 Warner shiraz sealed this way was utterly entrancing, an intense and spicy shiraz at a lovely stage of its maturity). That said, the magnificent 2010 Estate shiraz, under cork, was my pick of the reds: the best shiraz Giaconda had produced up to that point.
This aspect – personal preference – is possibly the most important factor of all. Rick Kinzbrunner tended to prefer the screwcaps for his chardonnays. He liked the way the seal retains the youthful, reductive aspects of the wines; whereas I'd liked the way the corks led to the slightly rounder, more developed flavours I would traditionally associate with bottle-aged chardonnay. And he's not so much of a fan of screwcaps for reds. He doesn't like the way they mature. Indeed, he's decided to bottle his shiraz only under cork.
After the tasting comparison of Giaconda's chardonnay, pinot and shiraz, the Kinzbrunners also opened a magnum of their 2008 nebbiolo – under cork, of course. And it turned out to be my favourite wine of the day: deep wells of entrancing perfume for the nostrils to explore and beautiful poise on the palate, with skeins of brick-dusty tannin falling like a lattice across the tongue.
If you're a fan of this great Italian grape and the wines it produces, and you like the character of those wines after a few years in the cellar, you really need to put Giaconda high up on your nebbiolo shopping list.