Vinodiversity – The Book by Darby Higgs
New grape varieties and wines in Australia
Robyn Lewis
Vinodiversity – The Book by Darby Higgs
There's an exclusive club of drinkers in the world, known as The Wine Century Club, whose members have tasted wines made from over a hundred different varieties (or ‘varietals’ of grapes. Small, but growing, they constantly seek new vinous conquests to add to their tallies.
If you didn't know that there are over a hundred grape varieties used in winemaking, you are not alone. Many of us struggle to choose from an estimated 20,000+ wine labels already on our wine store and cellar doors shelves made from mainstream grapes like cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, pinot noir and chardonnay.
However, times are changing: the climate, water supplies, our tastes and experiences, and fashion. Ten or twelve main grape varieties are no longer enough for a growing – and influential number of wine drinkers. Yes, fashion is alive and well in the world of wine.
Even if you only have a passing interest in these so-called alternative varieties, of which there are well over 100 main ones, you may well have drunk more than you realise: such as in 'co-pigmentation' (fermenting together) of shiraz and viognier – where a small percentage of the latter aromatic white grapes is mixed and fermented with the mainstream red grapes to brighten and lift the flavour or included in blends like GSM and many Bordeaux or Rhone reds.
We're also travelling more. That glass of local wine you enjoyed in Europe may well be made from tempranillo, nebbiolo or garganega, and as with new foods, wine lovers want to enjoy these new tastes back home.
Alternative varieties – once the hidden 'back block' grapes used in many immigrants' (especially Italians) house wines – are at the fore. Especially if they are grown organically or biodynamically. It's never been cooler to order a sangiovese or a GruV*.
Which is where Vinodiversity – The Book comes in. Its timing could not be better.
For there's a new wave of adventurous wine drinkers seeking something new and non-mainstream. Typically (but not always) Gen X or Y, choosing pinot gris over sav blanc, barbera over shiraz, and hanging out in funky new city restaurants with interesting wine lists, they are the friend of consultant sommeliers, whose taste for the quirky and exotic matches and indeed drives their own.
Wine PR man Pete Dillon notes that ‘alternative varietals are making a great splash in the non traditional market and bringing new people to wine’. So, they might not be commonplace just yet, but they are increasingly important, to the wine maker as well as the adventurous wine drinker.
Given the competitive nature of supermarket shelf space, you might be wondering where these wines are, as it’s not only difficult but also expensive for producers to rent that space at eyeball level (or even at your feet), and whatever they put there has to pay its way. Many can thus only be found at cellar door, or online. Or you can taste over 600 at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show held early each November in Mildura, Victoria, with public tastings, seminars and a long lunch running over several days.
Described by one winemaker, Glenn James of the Ducks in a Row wine label (based in McLaren Vale) as 'a religious experience and one of the most important wine events in Australia', you can see the fervour that alternative varieties are attracting. Max Allen, regular wine columnist for The Australian, is another huge fan.
OK, so you’re not ready to make a pilgrimage to Mildura in Melbourne Cup week. Then what to do? Get a copy of Vinodiversity – the Book, or at least visit Higgs’ website of the same name.
You’ll quickly learn that there are over 5000 (and possibly near 10000) grape varieties worldwide, of which around 180 are grown and made into wine in Australia.
Vinodiversity – The Book covers the top 130 of them. The first edition was published in 2005/06 as Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia and appeared to be a printout of Darby Higgs' database of vinodiversity.com. Useful to wine geeks seeking something new, a bit impenetrable to everyone else – and why not just look at the website? This new title/edition has not only been expanded and updated, but the format is far more approachable, and I can see it becoming an indispensable guide.
As Higgs explains: ‘A lot has happened since 2006. We have had a wine glut and then a wine scarcity and now we are back into a glut. But the number of wineries and the number of wine grape varieties used in Australia has continued to grow.
The number of wineries in my database of those using alternative varieties has risen by 60% in just five years. Pinot gris and sangiovese were definitely 'alternative' back then, but now they are arguably mainstream. Tempranillo is hot on their heels and in my humble opinion is well on the way to becoming a premium variety in Australia.
A whole host of Southern Italian varieties – aglianico, greco, grecanico, sagrantino, vermentino, nero d'Avola etc are now making their mark’.
So the book (and the database) has been thoroughly updated, and flicking through the pages you’ll find many big name wineries growing alternative varieties. The lists of pinot gris and verdelho producers are nearly three pages long. Barbera, an Italian red grape variety widely planted in the Piedmont, is now made by over ninety wineries in Australia; more than double are growing the Spanish red tempranillo.
Many are turning to alternative varieties due to concerns about climate change. As grape ripening has moved forward by over a month in some regions over the past twenty to thirty years, grapes that are accustomed to heat and drought, and which develop good flavours as well as high sugars in hot weather, are increasing sought after.
Then there are the really obscure: aligote, a white grape variety only grown by Hickinbotham of Dromana; aranel made by Beelgara Estate near Griffith in NSW; and 1893, named after the vineyard planted in that year, whose only known grower worldwide is Rimfire Vineyards in Queensland’s Darling Downs.
The book lists varieties by vineyard, and the reverse, so you can also look up your fave makers and see what varietals they are experimenting with. I find it easier to use than the website. One thing I don’t like about the book however is that the varieties are not clearly labeled up front as to whether they are red or white, surely an even more important characteristic than ‘maturity group’? Some you have to dig deep for, others don’t tell you at all (and the website doesn’t help – turn to Wikipedia instead).
But whether you aspire to membership of the Wine Century Club, want to look cool in trendy wine bars without making a fool of yourself, or are just keen to put something a bit different in your glass, Vinodiversity – The Book is a valuable guide to the new wines on the Australian wine scene, and perhaps a pointer to the future direction of grape growing in this country.
Vinodiversity – The Book: New Grape Varieties and Wines in Australia by Darby Higgs is published by Darby Higgs (Melbourne, 2010; sc 198 pp) and retails in Australia for A$25 at select bookstores in Melbourne, several wineries, and in New Zealand (online) for NZ$30.
It is also available on Kindle for US$5 from Amazon.com and as a pdf download for US$16 from GuideGecko.com.
* GruV (or GruVe, pronounced groovy) is an abbreviation for the white grape variety Grüner Veltliner, widely grow in Austria and the Czech Republic. Grown at altitude, it can produce some fine wines, and is overall noted for its food friendliness. Vinodiversity – The Book records one producer in Australia, Lark Hill Winery in the Canberra District.
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Winemaker Glenn James has described the annual Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show as 'a religious experience and one of the most important wine events in Australia' »
Rimfire is a state of the art boutique winery located in the Darling Downs of Queensland. Rimfire invites visitors to experience the fascinating world of wine. read more
Beelgara EstateBeelgara Estate Winery is located in the village of Beelbangera, just outside the town of Griffith in the heartland of the Riverina district in New South Wales. read more
Hickinbotham of Dromana (wine)
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This year's Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show has 566 entries made from an astounding 83 different grape varieties, all available to taste at the 2011 AAVWS Public Tasting »
Website counterpart to the book Vinodiversity - the Book (formerly Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia) by Darby Higgs, covering over 130 less known wine grape ... read more
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