The history of Australian red wines is all about blends, while at the top level, the history of classic European wines is all about estates, domaines and individual vineyards. Australian wine drinkers are accustomed to the notion that our larger wineries have adopted an approach to their red wines that is more akin to the European approach towards spirits. That is, they are quite prepared to mix and match between regions and precise varietal content to assemble a wine that their buyers will consistently recognise and enjoy as a Black Label or a Bin 389. The move to smaller wineries and cooler climates has brought with it a renewed European-style interest in site and terroir, and the multi-regional blends are no longer as numerically prevalent as once they were. All of which leads to two separate trains of thought. While it seems okay for the bigger companies to blend from place to place, it’s not a path I’d encourage smaller wineries to follow. Small tends to mean focused, at least to the buying public, and people tend to want the smaller, higher profile brands to retain their sense of place, or terroir, or whatever you want to call it. High-profile small WA maker Howard Park typically sources around half to three-quarters of its not inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon from the Great Southern region, with supporting roles variously played by fruit from Margaret River and Pemberton. The very ordinary 2000 season in Mount Barker pretty well dictated to the company that its 2000 vintage release was 76% from Margaret River, which has significantly changed the character of the wine. The 2001 and 2002 wines return to the usual recipe, but the reaction to the 2000 wine will be interesting to watch. Its change in sourcing pattern was clearly motivated by quality, but do Howard Park buyers want such a different wine in their cellar, just to maintain a lineage of name? Only time will tell. Furthermore, word around the traps is that wine buyers in the US are becoming more preoccupied with the concept of origin and appellation. If true, this might result in some sort of backlash against premium-priced quality wines that are not able to be labelled with a single region of origin. Given the role that Australian wine producers expect the American to play in consuming large volumes of these wines, some of our largest companies might be forced to reconsider the marriage of these hitherto blended wines to specific geographical regions. Personally speaking, whether a wine maker is large or small, I support the idea of blending between regions provided it is genuinely quality-driven, if it is consistent from year to year and if it is clearly communicated to the customer.
