You don’t need a degree in rocket science to appreciate there are too many different wines at Southcorp. This point was hammered home to me the other day, sitting down to lunch with a bottle of Seppelt Mornington Peninsula Pinot Gris, a harmless wine which did little to enhance my perception of either Seppelt, the Mornington Peninsula or Pinot Gris. While it would hardly offend anyone, this wine would hardly inspire a new generation of pinot gris afficionados. It doesn’t taste particularly emphatically of anything, it’s not particularly refreshing or enticing. In fact, I still can’t see why anyone at all would want to drink it. More importantly, why would anyone want to make it, and what’s it doing buried away under an obscure Seppelt label? In case you think I’m being picky, how about wines like Queen Adelaide Grenache Pinot Noir, Leo Buring Clare Valley Chardonnay, Rouge Homme Unoaked Chardonnay, Seppelt Sheoak Spring Riesling, Tollana Chardonnay, Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba Chardonnay, Seppelt Partalunga Chardonnay? Who drinks these wines? Would anyone miss them if they ceased to be? It rather begs the question of how much of Southcorp’s present folio might be lining up for the chop over the next few months. Southcorp’s present range is excessively cluttered by wines that entirely owe their existence to the fact that they occupy a space on a catalogue or a niche in a pricing matrix. Many exist only as commodities because of a perceived need to list a wine from a certain region and a particular variety at a chosen price. Looking for a chardonnay from South Australia’s southeast? How about Lindemans Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2000 for about $10, Lindemans Padthaway Chardonnay 2000 for $15, Rouge Homme Chardonnay for $14, Rouge Homme Unoaked Chardonnay for $13, Wynns Chardonnay 2000 for $15, Lindemans Classic Release Padthaway Chardonnay 1992 for $30, or Lindemans Padthaway Winemakers Reserve Chardonnay 1998 for $30? Get the idea? Too many wines you could do without as well? With the Rosemount merger now working its way through the Southcorp system, it’s reasonable to expect every present Southcorp brand to be under review. Here’s my report card on how each of them is performing. Five Stars: Penfolds. On its own. The definitive Australian brand of consistent high-quality red. Several wines are still under-priced, especially Bins 28 and 389. Although the Yattarna project has revitalised Penfolds’ white wines, of what relevance to an identifiably red wine portfolio are wines like the Barossa Valley Semillon Chardonnay, The Valleys Chardonnay, the Trial Series Semillon and Chardonnay labels, The Eden Valley Reserve Riesling and the Clare Valley Reserve Aged Riesling? Wouldn’t they be better off with their own home? Four Stars: Devil’s Lair. Just shows what can happen if the marketing boffins leave a brand alone for long enough. With some excellent current releases and a fine vineyard, it should be on the verge of breaking through. Lindemans Coonawarra. Finally given the chance of late to fulfil its potential, this label should be an Australian benchmark. It might yet get there. Queen Adelaide. Anyone out there hasn’t heard of me? Wynns Coonawarra. Erratic performance at the top end, with mainstream wines known for value rather than quality. With the premium Michael and John Riddoch labels around $80-plus, it’s odd that the Black Label cabernet still sells for around $20. There’s a job needed here. Three Stars: Lindemans Padthaway. Under-achieving, especially since Padthaway was initially touted as a genuine premium wine region. Reliable and sound, but essentially soulless wines. Matthew Lang. You gets what you pays for. Tollana. Consistently under-sold wines of excellent quality and value. The reds sell out in weeks, so why are they so cheap? Two Stars: Coldstream Hills. Too many wines spread its identity far too thin. The big plans have yet to sell big volumes. Hungerford Hill. After more spiritual moves than the Dalai Llama, it now hosts a collection cobbled together from the non-Hunter inland NSW regions. How that equates to its very bizarre packaging, I just don’t know. Killawarra. As unpretentious as ever before. Leo Buring. An old survivor hanging in without a home or an identity. Some product manager, no doubt, has tried to convert it to a regional Clare Valley brand, which must really scare the likes of Knappstein and Leasingham! Keep the rieslings, dump the rest. Lindemans Hunter River. A tragedy. One of the Hunter’s cornerstone wineries had been let go in all departments. New, better wines are emerging from the refurbished Ben Ean winery, but the brand has long lost its clout. Seppelt. Talk about an identity crisis! Seppelt is still the home brand for some of Australia’s best mature fortified wines, some of its most basic sparkling wines, some strangely chosen matches between cool climates and grape varieties, a tokenistic Victorian collection and Australia’s finest sparkling red. It’s also been home to such household classics as Viva! Fortified Shiraz and Fortified Chardonnay. One Star: Edwards & Chaffey. E&C? The heart and soul of Seaview’s emergent table wine folio has been ripped out and given a trendy new name and a label in the shape of a rottweiler turd. Rouge Homme. Just one of several big company labels for under-achieving Coonawarra table wine. Seaview. Now a bargain basement label for still and sparkling table wines of appropriate quality. Tulloch. Has been forced to walk a wavering line between the contemporary and the traditional and has failed dismally.
