I think so and so does Captain Spurgle. He should know, for he is the principal reason we are talking so much about them today. Ian Loftus, Captain Spurgle’s alter ego once he kicks off his work shoes, sinks into his drinking slippers and uncorks a bottle of what he has registered as Australian Sparkling Red, is the world’s unofficial/official patron of the wine. Patron, unfortunately, since none of the major wine companies who now merrily make hay on the results of his marketing endeavours have actually put the Captain on their payroll. But that’s a story for another day. Since its birth in 1991 Ian Loftus’ Australian National Sparkling Red Day has constantly demonstrated to the wine press and public that sparkling red is very serious stuff indeed. Mind you, he prepared his case well. From day one the Captain’s hand was strengthened by a full house of deliciously prepared game meats and pies, handmade cheeses, saltbush lamb, savoury smallgoods and even, if the memory serves, a bucketful of shiraz sorbet. It’s no exaggeration at all to suggest that nobody who attended has ever viewed sparkling red wine quite the same way again. ‘Serious winemakers consider it an Australian winemaking icon’, says Captain Spurgle. Ian McKenzie, for years the man ultimately responsible for making the Seppelt sparking wines and today Southcorp’s chief white wine maker, certainly does. ‘The difficulty is that the knockers and others who make throwaway lines about it have never tried it’, he says. ‘Then they have a look and realise it’s not el cheapo bubbly, but a serious wine which can age.’ ‘Why have some of the best winemakers in Australia always pursued it or wanted to pursue it if it’s not a serious wine?’ poses Ian Loftus, who has every reason to claim that a number who weren’t allowed to still made it secretly over the years. One such secret and unauthorised experiment has even resulted in the forthcoming release of a new 15,000 case brand from a major winery. ‘The journalists and winemakers who put it down as a ‘great barbecue wine’ still profess to love the stuff’, he argues. ‘Others believe it has proved itself a great drinking style and a great food wine. It’s also one of the most adaptable wines of the world; it’s surprising what it can go with-all sorts of varieties and flavours, spices, odd things and eclectic things. It certainly matches traditional foods-there’s hardly anything it doesn’t go with.’ What, then, is serious sparkling red wine and what separates it from those less worthy of serious attention? It makes sense to begin with grapes. Although some very worthy and delicious sparkling reds are made from cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir, there’s no doubt that the classic Australian sparkling red is predominantly, if not entirely, shiraz. The benchmark remains the classic Show Reserve from Seppelt Great Western, whose current 1985 release has received much accolade despite being simpler and sweeter than most vintages and vastly inferior to the forthcoming 1986. The other leading shiraz-based wines include the Rockford Black Shiraz, Peter Rumball’s Sparkling Shiraz, the extraordinary (and very rare) Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red, the Anderson Sparkling Shiraz, Charles Melton Sparkling Red and The Wilson Vineyard Hippocrene, although this wine also includes cabernet sauvignon and malbec. Given its tendency to develop barnyard complexity and a supple palate structure, you would expect pinot noir to make the base of good sparkling red. The most widely available example is made by Mount Pleasant, while Cope-Williams (Macedon) creates a supple, fine-boned edition. Perhaps more growers in warmer areas with plantings of pinot noir might well give up on making stewy dry reds in favour of a rich, soft sparkling style. Ian Loftus also thinks that more growers might include some pinot with their shiraz bases, reminding us that legendary Hunter winemaker Maurice O’Shea used to find their qualities rather compatible. Oddly enough, Australia’s first sparkling reds were made from pinot noir, or possibly pinot meunier. The change to the predominant use of shiraz occurred after Seppelt’s purchase of the Great Western cellars in 1918. Cabernet sauvignon needs to be richer and rounder than usual for sparkling red, so warm area vineyards do it best. Yalumba’s Cuvee Two is a benchmark wine, slightly beefed up with shiraz, and given some pretty smart barrel fermentation and maturation prior to the champagne process. Ian McKenzie likes it, but disapproves of some of the thinner cabernet-based wines from the river regions. All Saints’ rich, chunky Rutherglen cabernet sauvignon will surely impress Yalumba devotees. The sheer quality of sparkling red wines from other varieties underpins the style’s diversity. Mick Morris’ wine is entirely Rutherglen durif, while the sumptuously textured, opulent and savoury Sparkling Grand Merlot by Jim Irvine from Eden Valley fruit ably substitutes for entree, main course and cheese platter. Valid, very worthwhile and very different, these wines enhance the spectrum of variety so important at the top end of any wine market. Once in the winery, there’s little doubt in the minds of Ian McKenzie and other top sparkling winemakers like Howard Anderson that time on lees is a crucial factor in the making of quality sparkling red. His contact with virtually all makers of Australian sparkling red leaves Ian Loftus in no doubt that at least two to three years on lees is essential to develop the exciting and unique taste components of earth, mushrooms, gaminess and creaminess, together with the fine bubbles and integrated oak complexity which enhance the mouthfeel and character of a premium wine. ‘Some wine shows require their entries to have only 18 months maturation on lees, but many winemakers would love to see the rules modified to meet the quality expectations they strive for’, he says. Although Seppelt’s premium show wines receive around a decade on lees, it is generally accepted that if older base wines are employed, a shorter exposure to lees is required. Ian McKenzie is aware that some sparkling reds are criticised for excessive sugar addition at dosage, a valid criticism indeed for many lesser wines. ‘Ours are usually 25-30g/l, which is sweeter than they actually taste’, he says, ‘but the wines’ fine tannins have a drying effect which balances out sugar’. In the ’40s and ’50s sparkling reds would regularly be sweetened to 35-42g/l. Whether or not to leave sparkling reds to develop on their corks remains an issue of disagreement, especially between winemakers and wine critics. Personally, there’s nothing to match a superbly matured sparkling red, with a softer, finer bubble and delicious evolution of earthy, autumnal flavours. Realistically however, it’s only the best of them you would ever leave for five years on cork or more. Howard Anderson, who learned the craft of sparkling red with Leo Hurley, one of the great unsung winemakers at Seppelt, is convinced that time on cork doesn’t improve the wine. ‘They just lose their attractive autolysis characters and become simple’, he says. Seppelt’s present incumbents agree, although had I a dollar for every time I’ve seen them enjoying their own cork-matured classics, I’d dine out very nicely, thank you.
