The OnWine Experience 2002 – The Inaugural Event In 2000 Jeremy and Jennifer Oliver were guests at the Michael Fridjhon Wine Experience in Johannesburg, South Africa. Conducted by one of one of that country’s leading wine writers, this event successfully managed to combine several first-class dinners and tastings with a great deal of style and fun. Its theme was to put South African wine under the microscope, and to challenge it against established wine labels from wine’s Old World and New World, including Australia. On their flight back to Australia both Olivers agreed that this was a concept that could be imported to Australia. While there are a lot of wine events on the Australian calendar, there is nothing until now that takes the particular theme of benchmarking the best from this country against the best from the rest of the world. Australian wine has developed a solid international reputation for its value and consistency, but what will cement the industry’s long-term position is an international reputation for quality. That won’t happen if our best wines aren’t regularly compared to the international classics, where they will either sink or swim. It’s not the Olivers’ intention to suggest that Australian wines won’t cut the mustard against the finest competition. But it’s where the differences lie, in style and character, in technique and approach, that the lessons will be learned. The theme for the first OnWine Experience was pinot noir, as a dry red wine and as a sparkling base. While most of the imported wines for this year’s event either come from Burgundy or Champagne, the International Pinot Noir Tasting in Melbourne includes wines from New Zealand, Oregon and Carneros as well. This year’s OnWine Experience featured dinners in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, as well as a major weekend of events in Melbourne. Plans for the next event, to be held in 2003 or 2004 are already under way. To be based in Sydney, with dinners in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, the theme will be wines from the Bordeaux red varieties. Jeremy and Jennifer Oliver wish to pass on their thanks to their major sponsor, Vintage Cellars, and also to Qantas, for its very significant support. They also extend their thanks to their special guest, Pascal Marchand, Director of Wine for Domaine de la Vougeraie. Pascal Marchand A French Canadian, Pascal Marchand arrived to explore Burgundy in 1983 from his native Montreal, without ever having seen a vineyard or a cellar before. In June 1984 he went to work for Bruno Clair in Marsannay for eight months, returning to Burgundy in November the following year to take his place in a viticulture and oenology course in Beaune. Pascal arrived at Comte d’Armand in January 1985, when he was just starting his course. Before had completed his studies he was general manager of the domaine. During his time at the domaine he completely transformed its practices, elevating its ranking according to Remington Norman to become the greatest estate in Pommard. Pascal joined Domaine de la Vougeraie in 1999, making his first wines there that year. He has taken the same approach at Vougeraie that led to his success at Comte d’Armand, which involves a healthy respect and use of organic farming and biodynamics. He says he is achieving results at Domaine de la Vougeraie much faster than he expected to. While at Comte d’Armand, Pascal was president of the compost research arm of a substantial group of Burgundian domaines, including most of the larger ones, called the Groupement d’Etude et de Suivi des Terroirs. This group is committed to the study of the geology and nature of the different terroirs in Burgundy and the ways to maintain them. One of the things they do is to produce their own compost. ‘I was the President of Merde’ for a few years, says Pascal. Pascal has also introduced the practice of using horses to cultivate the vineyards at Domaine de la Vougeraie, and 12 ha are now farmed that way already. This practice is achieving excellent results with sites whose soils are sensitive to compaction, which frequently correspond to the best terroirs. The OnWine Briefing 2003 will see the inaugural OnWine Briefing, a business luncheon hosted by Jeremy Oliver. The event will feature a presentation of a report card on the state of health of the Australian wine industry by Jeremy Oliver. Topics covered will include: * The supply/demand scenario in Australian wine, * The opportunities and challenges faced by the country’s major wine producers, * Wine exports, * The quality-price relationship, and * Positive and negative trends in viticulture, winemaking and marketing. The 2003 OnWine Briefing will take place at a leading Melbourne restaurant, at a date and venue to be announced early in the year.
