Melbourne residents need no reminding that last summer – such as its was – quickly became winter. Like the local wine industry, we kept waiting for the traditional Indian summer which never arrived. Despite that, the vineyards located just over the Divide experienced a 1996 season very likely to produce some of their best wines ever. The Pyrenees, especially, had a superb season for chardonnay, with excellent reports from Dalwhinnie and Blue Pyrenees Estate. Like most central Victorian reds, theirs ripened fully, despite the coolish summer, without indications of greenish under-ripe flavours. The unusually cool summer has helped Ruther-glen winemakers to make some of their best – but perhaps least regional – table wines for some years. Clearly more elegant than those to which their makers are accustomed, the early indications from makers like Campbells, All Saints and Stanton & Killeen are quite exciting. Within the circle of Melbourne wine regions, the news is not quite all doom and gloom. Some Mornington Peninsula vineyards have coped at least acceptably well with pinot noir, much to the evident surprise of winemaking consultant, Gary Baldwin. ‘I have been amazed at some which I haven’t seen for about two months – how well and how quickly they have developed’, he says. ‘After just three or four months in wood, some have beautiful colours plus attractive aromas and flavours. Of course, they’re still lighter styles.’ One would assume that the better Peninsula pinots will come from the earlier-harvesting vineyards (mainly at the northern end) and from the cellars which managed to find enough grape concentrate in time. A sample of 1996 pinot noir from Coldstream Hills tasted quite promising and I visited Tarra Warra while a very encouraging batch of pinot noir was being open-fermented. Although cabernet sauvignon is a virtual write-off from the Peninsula this year, some chardonnays may have emerged with unexpected qualities, although it is still difficult to gauge their quality until they are completely through their malolactics. Some growers reported fruit without botrytis and at full sugar levels, although this minority were from the warmer, northern vineyards and immaculately tended ones at that. Most of the later chardonnays came with high levels of botrytis infection. The Bonus… One of the unexpected advantages of a difficult season like this is the likely quality of its sparkling wines when they ultimately emerge. Once growers decide their crops will not ripen sufficiently to make quality table wine and place them on the market for the sparkling industry, makers of methode champenoise immediately have the opportunity to become especially selective in what they take. Again, its early to say, but 1996 could just be the best sparkling vintage we have ever seen from Victoria…
