My Article: Thoughts on Barossa Valley

Just arrived in McLaren Vale after three days in Barossa Valley; I am happy that I survived. I tasted too many high octane, jammy wines. It was brutal to say the least.

I understand why many people are turned off by this style, even though some proponents, such as my fellow wine critic Robert Parker, are big supporters. These wines – particularly the ones that are caricatures of themselves – are difficult to drink. They are one glass wines…great for receiving big points from some or Gold Medals, but thoroughly undrinkable.

I continued to use as my main criteria while tasting in Oz whether I would drink a bottle with my fellow taster and blogger Ned Goodwin. If we ultimately said that we couldn’t finish a bottle then we couldn’t give the wine 90 points or more. This is why future tasting reports will include some low scores for what some may as perceive top Australian wines, but not Real Aussie Wine in our books.

#realaussiewine on Twitter has really gained momentum over the Internet. I have gained close to 1,000 followers on my Twitter account since coming here. Moreover, Australia is now my No. 2 viewing country on www.jamessuckling.com after the United States. We are getting about 7,000 unique visitors a week at the moment.

People are obviously interested in balanced and flavorful Australian wines with true character of where they are produced. It’s all about pedigree. It’s what #realaussiewine is about.

Some of my top choices from Barossa include the wines of Spinifex, Sons of Eden, Tomfoolery, The Standish Wine Company, The Willows, Burge Family Vineyards, John Duval, and Ruggabellus. These are wines with soul from Barossa that try to speak of their soils and climates in a non-exaggerated style. Of course, I was also a fan of the wines of Henschke. The Eden Valley is a wonderful subregion of Barossa, especially for Riesling.

The last winery visit of Barossa set the tone for me. We went to the historical Seppeltsfield winery. It’s been making wine – mostly fortified – since 1851 in the Barossa. It is an amazing complex. But the big news was its new 2010 table wines – three in fact. One is a blend of Shiraz Grenache Carignan. Another is Grenache Shiraz Touriga. And finally, there’s a pure Lagrien.

All were beautifully balanced reds with vibrant fruits, fine tannins, and bright acidities. They were wonderfully harmonious. They were wines that begged you to drink them. And it would be a pleasure. Alcohols were about 13 percent and they were full of flavor and character.

Perhaps Barossa has made the full circle now? The most historical winery in the region proved that #realaussiewine can be produced in this beautiful region.