The Penfolds chief winemaker talks to Adam Lechmere about Grange, the Penfolds philosophy, and that old favourite for Aussie winemakers – terroir.
You became chief winemaker in 1986 – just in time for one of the greatest vintages...
Well, yes. But I let Don (Ditter – former chief winemaker) have all the credit for the '86.
It's brilliant now at the moment – how long is it going to last?
It's got 20-30 years togo. We did a vertical tasting a couple of months ago, with Huon Hooke from the Sydney Morning Herald. He gave the 1953 twenty out of twenty – that's a 100 point wine. The 86 is potentially in that class.
What about Robert Parker – what does he think of it?
The 53? He was actually at that tasting – it was part of that first trip he made to Australia back in June. I guess it'll be interesting to see what he says – he says he's going to put the article out in a month or so.
You've been described as the custodian of Grange – that's quite a responsibility.
Well, remember I started at Penfolds in 1974, twelve years before I took over as chief winemaker. It wasn't as if I had come in from another company. I'd worked with the wines and the Penfolds philosophy for some time so I guess I eased myself into the job. But by the same token I was well aware of the responsibility – even more so now that Australia is pretty much part of the international wine world.
And there are also many more rivals to the Penfolds crown…
I think that is a positive thing. There are some very good Shiraz from other parts of Australia – there is more depth in the premium wine areas of the country and I think that is very good for the reputation and quality image of Australia. But still the Grange stands unique.
Parker said of the 1996, 'While this remains one of Australia's finest wines, it has plenty of competition.' Which wines are the likely rivals to Grange?
Before I comment on that, I'd like to say it will be interesting to see what Parker thinks of the 1996 now. He said in a review that he has underestimated it, so it will be very interesting to see what he will have to say after the tasting he's just done. As for rivals, some years ago you would have talked about Hill of Grace and others, but now it very much depends on what style you want or talk about. It's not just wines from the Barossa – although they probably lead the pack – there are some very good wines coming from McLaren Vale, and then there's another style in Victoria. I think some of Seppelt's Great Western range are fantastic. But the Barossa seems to have more wines that are really getting it right.
The Penfolds philosophy is 'to select and blend quality grapes regardless of site, forsaking regionality in favour of a range of “house styles”…' Where does terroir come into that?
[Laughs] I was waiting for that. Normally you get the terroir question in the first two or three minutes, but you let it go for a bit longer. It's the standard question to ask an Aussie. Grange is not a single vineyard wine. A lot of it comes form the Kalimna vineyard and there are other sources such as the Koonunga Hill vineyard which is about four or five kilometres away, and other growers in various areas of the Barossa Valley. Sometimes we get parcels from McLaren Vale, 120 kilometres away, and we have sourced from Clare as well.
So as to terroir, the most important thing is that you're dealing with old vine material meaning lower yields, smaller berries and different skin to juice ratio. Using Koonunga as a model, it's on a rise so there's a little bit of soil variation within that vineyard. It's quite deep sand at the top and sand layered with yellow-brown clay with ironstone at the bottom. These soils react differently to different seasons, and we're learning to pick off different soil types which develop flavour and sugar at different rates.
There was obviously a lot of (Grange founder) Max Schubert's personality in the wine. How much of your personality goes into it now?
People used ask me, 'Now that you're in charge of Grange how are you going to change it?' You'd have to be a brave man to change it. I would refer to the job as a fine-tuning process rather than tinkering with the style. I tend to look at the elements that are responsible for ultimate quality, trying to understand what leads to quality and trying to source the best grapes that we can. I am working on, and fine-tuning the elements that are responsible for quality, rather than doing something like changing American oak to French oak.
Have you ever been tempted to change anything?
I haven't. You've got a world class wine with an incredible track record and we're celebrating the 50th year of it. In Old World terminology that's not a long time, but in the New World it's only in the last 50 or 60 years that table wine has been the mainstay, so to have a wine with 50 years of history is quite something. There are few wines that you can think of in the New World that have that - certainly none in Australia.
What's the oldest vineyard you have there?
We take Shiraz from vines up to 100 years old.
Australia is slowly taking over the world in terms of production and marketing. What do you think of the idea of the globalisation of wine?
Australia has three per cent of the world market. I don't think that can be seen as taking over the world.
You've only got 3% but you are overtaking France in UK sales for example. Australia generally is seen as the leader in its ability to market its wines abroad, and it's dominated by four or five major companies of which Southcorp is one. Do you think that there is any threat to Grange with that kind of centralisation?
I don't want get too involved in the marketing side. I'm more comfortable with the winemaking side. But I don't let the marketing people get away with everything! Grange has been fantastic for the Australian wine industry. When we started to sell Grange around the world we made Penfolds and Australia credible.
Is there ever a danger that the other Penfolds wines will get 'little sister' status, with all the attention lavished on Grange?
No, there is a winemaking philosophy. The best of the fruit goes to Grange but just as much detail, care and attention goes into all our wines. We really concentrate on the quality image and a complete approach to our wines across the range.
Which winemakers around the world do you most admire?
I try to keep up-to-date with all wine styles, certainly because now we sell more wine overseas that in Australia. We have competitive tastings to see what people are doing all round the world. In the Old World, I like the wines of Bordeaux - Latour is a favourite, and I do have the odd bottle. Wines from the Rhône I like. I knew Jaboulet very well and am very sad he is not with us any more. I respect what Guigal are doing in the Rhône. I also like some of the wines that are coming out of Italy – Ornellaia, the Antinoris, and the Gajas.
Do you have a greater affinity for the Rhône?
I guess so because we are dealing with the same variety. Interestingly, Max Schubert never visited the Rhône. He went to Bordeaux and was very excited seeing wines that were 45 or 50 years old, that still had life and vitality. But he never expected that in the Rhône. One of the reasons he chose Shiraz was that the fortified style was the main style for a number of years, and Shiraz was used for both that and table wines, whereas Cabernet was only used for table wines. So there would have been older Cabernet vines that were grubbed up, whereas the Shiraz survived.
Lastly, where would you be making wine if you weren't in Australia?
France would be interesting, and because I really like Shiraz/Syrah, it would be really nice to have a crack at the wines from the Rhône. I would enjoy that.
The Penfolds chief winemaker talks to Adam Lechmere about Grange, the Penfolds philosophy, and that old favourite for Aussie winemakers – terroir.
