When he purchased the Bendigo property of Balgownie in 1964 and began planting later that decade, Stuart Anderson became one of the pioneers of the small winery phenomenon in Australia. After a string of marvellous wines from cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, chardonnay and even pinot noir, Anderson sold Balgownie to Mildara Wines in 1985, acting as consultant to them until 1989. An unashamed Francophile with extensive experience in Bordeaux and Burgundy, where he still journeys to work the vintage at Domaine Paul Chevrot in Santenay, Anderson has spent recent years as consultant winemaker to two of Victoria’s most exciting new developments, Bindi and Mount Gisborne in the Macedon region. Needless to say, neither of these two vineyards produce wines with anything in common to mainstream Australia. Anderson’s great concern today is the ‘industrialisation’ of Australian wine, creating such a level of homogeneity that the differences of light and shade between Australian wines is fast being replaced by predictability and monotony. But, he says, it’s also occurring in the world’s most famous wine regions. In his book Le Monde du Vin – Art ou Bluff?, Guy Renvoise has upset quite a few people, especially the Bordelais and Burgundians, with scathing remarks about some of the great names in France becoming little more than merchandising outfits and wine factories owned by insurance and finance companies, and I agree with him. In a lot of ways they’re losing their individuality and artisan approach. In both Burgundy and the Medoc some of the wealthier growers and negociants are soaking up small neighbouring plots which don’t produce up to the standard of their appellations. Renvoise mentions excessive use of chemical fertilizers and herbicides and the loss of micobiological condition in soils, many of which have virtually become sterile. But perhaps the industrialisation is just a fact of modern life. How do you find this expressed in the taste of wine? They’re getting closer and closer together. You see such similarities between wines of different regions, without clear statements of terroir, although with certain prestige lines some large companies are adopting a small maker approach. It all gets back to viticulture and handling of fruit, to the simplistic view that great wine is made in the vineyard. Is there insufficient passion in Australian winemaking? Yes. There aren’t many bad Australian wines, just too many which are one-dimensional and unexciting. This is the comment I hear outside this country about Australian wines: in many cases, just dead boring. I heard several years ago that our wines are clinical and contrived, infinitely drinkable and equally forgettable. I think this is a danger we face. Yet what surprises me is when I hear these comments about wines which are extraordinarily successful in the export market. Maybe it’s a reflection of a change in tastes. Perhaps it’s because 80-90% of the wine made here is drunk within 24 hours of purchase, for people don’t want to wait for wine anymore. I’m a bit old-fashioned and reactionary and believe that good wine or great wine is a time and patience thing, not only on the part of the consumer, but also on the part of the grower. A lot of our so-called premium wines are becoming grossly over-priced for what you get for your money. I know new barriques are very expensive, but a lot of oak is being over-done. In some ways we have gone down the road Californians went down 10-15 years ago, where the more you can cram into a wine, ipso facto it must be better. The penny has dropped over there, but it’s yet to drop here. It’s quite extraordinary to think that 15 years ago all the wine press and buyers were going away from our shiraz, which were big, fat wines made at 14-14.5 degrees plus. People wouldn’t buy them; they had too much of everything. Now they’ve come back. The bigger and fatter and more American oaked they are the better. I think most are grossly over-stated. Might this be a result of international coverage? I think Parker is having far too much influence on some growers. He likes big fat tannic wines and some growers won’t have him in the gate. Others are wetting themselves in anticipation of his assessment of their wines, using far too much new wood, over-ripe fruit, over-chapitalised pinot, etc etc, so their wine becomes atypical of the terroir. If they get Parker approval, they take off. Everyone wants them, so their price goes up and they become scarce. It’s all a nonsense. But these very big shiraz wines are getting a great market in the UK, so I suppose you go with it. You can’t be like King Canute or you become a dinosaur. I don’t mind looking at these wines in a tasting, but I don’t want them on the table. There is no reason why you can’t combine the small is beautiful concept with modern technology. I’m not suggesting we go back to the 19th century, but there is a position in the middle and that produces our best wine.
