It is interesting to note that
the Australian Wine Industry is becoming more diverse. There was a time when many thought that
a few large companies would end up owning all the wineries in Australia, but it
hasn’t happened and doesn’t look like happening in the near future. There are many independent wineries
that have sprung up and are determinedly going about their business in their
own way, and, of course, there is “The First Families of Wine Group” that
includes some of the great names of wine in Australia, Brown Brothers, Tahbilk,
McWilliams, Henschke, Yalumba, Tyrrells, etc. These companies seem determined to stay independent, and
long may they do so.
Some wineries are excluded from
this group because they lack an iconic wine or have not been going for long
enough. Two such wineries are 919
in Berri SA and Angoves, nearby in Renmark SA. Angoves don’t have an iconic wine but they have some of the
best value wines on the market, and an extensive range. They are working hard with their winery
in McLaren to tick the iconic wine box.
The cellar door in Renmark is always worth a visit and the staff are
very helpful. The unusually named
919 winery is just outside the pretty town of Berri on the Murray River and is
a small producer of Durif, and Petit Manseng amongst other more common
varieties. (Petit Manseng is the
new number 1 favourite of The Farmer’s Wife.) The name of the winery comes from the lot number on which
the winery sits. The owners
informed me that they had tried all the names they really wanted and found them
all spoken for, so they decided, after consuming copious amounts of their own
wine, that the lot number 919 would do.
We will be hearing a lot more from them in the future.
But returning to my original
statement, we are still seeing new and exciting grape varieties being
introduced into Australian wineries, and they are finding a good home in
certain areas. One that appeals to
me is the Italian variety Aglianico.
I was immediately taken with it when recently trying it in Italy, and
was then pleasantly surprised to see it is available in Australia. Chalmers make an excellent version of
Aglianico in their winery near Mildura, but there are others available cellar
door.