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Strange Bird Newletter

Strangebird granite belt alternative wine trail - Stanthorpe Queensland
Welcome to the very first Strangebird newsletter, your quarterly update on all the quirky Strangebird goings on in Queensland’s Granite Belt! Since the launch in November 2007 our alternative wine trail with its super cute mascot has attracted lots of media attention, and the wines have been enjoyed by many. Winemakers in Queensland’s premier wine region are proving to be adventurous souls, with new varieties being planted. Watch this space for all the exciting Strangebird news, along with competitions, special invitations to events and recipes from celebrity chefs.
ridgemillestate.comstrangebird a peek into the nest Ridgemill Estate at Severnlea just south of Stanthorpe have just picked their first crop of Saperavi (literally means: paint or dye due to its intense red colour) a grape from Georgia, a transcontinental country in a region between Europe & Asia. Ridgemill have planted 500 vines of Saperavi, and as the first vintage will be a small one, only a lucky few will get to try sample it. Just a handful of vineyards in Australia are growing this variety, but so far the results have been encouraging, with its stunning colour, intense flavour and aging potential expect to see more Saperavi appearing! www.ridgemillestate.com
Strangebird Newsletter
www.confit.com.au www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.auPerfect Match Our Strangebird Chef Announced! We are thrilled to introduce one of our Strangebird chefs - Jason Peppler, renowned former head chef of Isis and now proud owner of his own bistro Confit! As a highly creative chef who always uses fresh & interesting produce, Jason is the perfect match for our alternative range of wines. As we go to press Jason is opening Confit, and once the initial madness is over he will be creating a dish to pair with a Strangebird. Watch this space! www.confit.com.au New Birds Welcome to the new birds on the block - Heritage Estate with Durif & Viognier, Rumbalara Estate Wines with Tempranillo & Viognier & Felsberg Winery with Gewurtztraminer & Sylvaner. For more information on these new birds and the rest of our flock visit www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au
Competition EntryCompetition Win a pack of three fabulous new Strangebirds, simply by telling us who you would share the wines with and why. Entries close 1 September 2009 Click here to enter.
www.goldengroveestate.com.au www.boireannwinery.com.auStrangebird 101 - Barbera is an ancient variety originating from Italy where today it remains the second most widely planted red variety after Sangiovese. Italy’s Piedmont region has become famous for producing some of the highest quality Barbera in the world - Barbera d’Asti and Barbera D’Alba. These wines compete for the title of the best Italian wine made from this variety. Barbera vines are extremely vigorous and reliably productive in a wide variety of soils and climates. They are also highly resistant to fungal disease. The fruit produced is naturally high in acid even in warmer climates. This makes Barbera a useful blending component for other wines. The dark berries are high in anthocyanins (red pigment) but low in tannin content. Modern day Barbera wines can exhibit ripe aromas of red fruit, cherries or blackberries right through to spice. The high anthocyanin content makes these wines deep purplish to black when young but they tend to brown up and lighten early as they age if not stablilized through tannin addition or oak maturation. Due to their low tannin content many Australian producers are releasing easy drinking lighter style wines. While not necessarily compatible with cellaring for long periods these wines are extremely good fresh and food friendly wines. More robust Barbera wines, nurtured in the right oak and produced from the highest possible quality grapes, have the potential to cellar and mature for extended periods and may compete with the best of the Italian varietals. Ray Costanzo at Golden Grove produces award winning Barbera and Mediterranean Red (a blend of Barbera, Tempranillo and Durif) as does Peter Stark at Boireann. www.goldengroveestate.com.au www.boireannwinery.com.au
www.ridgemillestate.comstrangebird...but true - Close your eyes and imagine that you are in Southern France in a very remote valley where generations of local families have been harbouring an outlaw, no not like Ronald Biggs or the like, just a humble grapevine Jacquez which has been banned since 1935. There is even a gaggle of government bureaucrats that are required to enforce the law and hunt down Jacquez and uproot it. Jacquez is a natural hybrid, a cross with VITIS ASTEIVALIS and VITAS VINIFERA. It seems to have originated in Georgia or the Carolinas (USA) and now has a large following in Texas as a varietal wine. The case for the destruction of the American grape variety was on the grounds that it tasted like raspberries and was so offensive to the palate. Or was it that Jacquez was (according to the French) an American Hybrid! Ridegemill Estate’s Jacquez produces wines that have a very dense inky colour and not only is there raspberries on the palate but also on the nose, along with other brambly berry characters and mouth filling characteristics. In its country of origin, it can make a wine in nouveau style, full bodied dry reds or as a fortified wine. That’s a fine way to say thanks to a grapevine that saved you from the devastation of phylloxera! In Australia it has mostly been grown in the Murrumbidgee irrigation area and the Hunter Valley with a small selection surviving on the Grantie Belt in Queensland that is well over 40 years old. Strangebird but True. www.ridgemillestate.com.au
A Strange breed - An interview with the wine maker - Paola Andrea Cabezas-Rhymer - Summit Estate Wines * Growing up in Buenos Aires it was normal to drink water with a little bit of wine, so I’ve been developing my palate since childhood! * I’ve been winemaking for over 15 years, my first vintage was in Requena (Spain) in 1994, and since then I’ve finished a total of 19 vintages in Europe & Australia * If I hadn’t become a winemaker, I would have been a teacher, a mechanic or an artist * My most memorable wine region holiday was on Lanzarote (Island off Spain), where they grow Verdejo ( a white wine variety) in volcanic rock holes. Am planning a trip to Champagne (France) one day. * Strange foods for others are just normal for me! I have eaten tongue, snails, frogs and zarajos (spanish dish where pig intestines are roasted on a stick - delicious!) Interesting wines were a German sparkling with gold in the wine and a 5 puttonyos (puttonyos – a numerical measure of sweetness) Tokay from Hungary.
www.summitestate.com.au* The first alternative variety wine I ever tasted was a Torrentes, a white wine produced by Argentinian winemaker Etchart Privado for my father’s birthday in 1987. * At Summit Estate our first Strangebirds planted as trials were Zinfandel, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Everything worked beautifully in our climate except the Zinfandel and the Cabernet Franc. * This year our Strangebirds are Marsanne, Marsanne e Roussanne Viognier, Malbec, Tempranillo & Petit Verdot. Future Strangebirds are a Sangiovese and possibly a Monastrell the Spanish name for the grape variety known in France as Mourvedre. * The Strangebirds I hide in my personal cellar are Tempranillo, Albarino and Cava from Spain and Malbecs from Argentina. * For my Last Supper I would invite my parents, Janis Robinson the winewriter, Rigoberta Menchu Tum the nobel prize winner from Guatemala, Maria Julia Otero the Spanish journalist and of course my husband Dylan Rhymer (who would be doing the cooking!) Dinner would be snails made by Monica’s mum, a family recipe from Aragon of truffles & free range chicken, an Argentinian barbeque (Asado) finishing with Pavlova and cheesecake made by Mark Deegenaars. My winelist would be Champagne, ADC (Burgundy), Mouton Rothschild 1973, my first Malbec and a Chateau d’Yquem 1994. * My hope for the Granite Belt wine industry in the future is that we will be recognised for bringing alternative wine varieties into the mainstream. One day our Strangebirds won’t be so strange! www.summitestate.com.au
www.hiddencreek.com.au wineclub@hiddencreek.com.auA Strange Flight - Find us at one of these up and coming events – Evening of Tapas and Tempranillo Date: Thursday 27 August anytime between 5.30pm – 8pm Venue: Dowse Bar, underneath the Iceworks, corner Given Terrace and Dowse St, Paddington Bookings by pre-payment of $40 per person email: wineclub@hiddencreek.com.au or fax 07 33525113
www.visitsouthbank.com.au Primavera www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au www.visitsouthbank.com.auPrimavera (Spring) Pronounced pree-mah-vair-ah, Primavera is the Italian word meaning Spring, or Spring style. www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au South Bank Lifestyle Market Date: Sunday 20 September 9.00am until 5.00pm Venue: South Bank Parklands www.visitsouthbank.com.au
www.pyramidsroad.com www.pyramidsroad.com info@pyramidsroad.comPyramids Road Wine - Mad About Mourvedre Date: Saturday 3 October Venue: Pyramids Road Wines cellar door Contact Details: Sue and Warren Smith info@pyramidsroad.com (07) 4684 5151 www.pyramidsroad.com
stanwine@halenet.com.au www.summitestate.com.au www.summitestate.com.auSummit Estate - Primavera Spanish Twilight Tapas Date: Saturday 24th to Sunday 25th October Venue: Summit Estate Wines cellar door Contact Details:  (07) 4683 2011 or email Paola – stanwine@halenet.com.au www.summitestate.com.au Don't be an ugly duck! Look fine feathered in your own Strangebird t-shirt. T-shirts are available in adults sizes and can be purchased for the bargain price of $25 from: Stanthorpe Visitors Information Centre, Leslie Parade, Stanthorpe Ph: 1800 SO COOL or participating Strangebird cellar doors.
Mediterranean Red Challenge Show - Toowoomba’s Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland (RASQ) recently conducted its annual Wine Show and Mediterranean Challenge. The show is one of the few wine shows that highlights some of the alternative grape varieties emerging in the Australian wine industry. The show received entries from throughout Australia and some of the large companies such as Brown Brothers and Casella that have embraced these alternative varieties were represented. The Chief Judge, Dylan Rhymer, remarked “It is great to see the number of Granite Belt wineries that are producing wines from alternative varieties and they are doing it well”. Granite Belt Strangebirds were well represented and very successful. Golden Grove was awarded trophies for The Best Wine of the Show, The Best Mediterranean Red of the Show and The Best Queensland Mediterranean Red of the Show for its 2008 Mediterranean Red – a blend of Barbera, Durif and Tempranillo. The result is a great accolade to the winemaking talents of Ray Costanzo. Hidden Creek’s 2008 Viognier received the trophies for The Best Mediterranean White of the Show and The Best Queensland Mediterranean White of the Show. Other medal winning Strangebirds at the RASQ Wine Show and Mediterranean Challenge were: • Symphony Hill Wines 2007 Petit Verdot (Silver) • Symphony Hill Wines 2008 Pinot Grigio (Bronze) • Robert Channon Wines 2008 Pinot Grigio (Bronze) • Heritage Estate Wines 2006 Durif (Bronze) • Hidden Creek 2007 Tempranillo (Bronze)
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