Just how does Australian wine measure up against the best internationals, from France, Germany and Italy? Or against our so-called ‘New World’ competitors from the United States, New Zealand and Chile? Or even against such as-yet-to-be-sung wine producers like Zimbabwe, Morocco and Mexico? Eighty Australian wineries have been admitted to the world total of 1900 selected for a lively and thought-provoking tome entitled ‘The Slow Food Guide to the Wines of the World’, a title which requires some explanation. Based in the bountiful northern Italian district of Piedmonte, the Slow Food Society embraces a global brotherhood of unselfconsciously indulgent citizens of all ages and sexes. Their sacred mission is to counteract the indecent instant gratification of fast food by encouraging peoples everywhere to take plenty of time in their enjoyment of fine regional cuisine and wine. Hear, absolutely, hear! The Society’s latest project work offers the wine enthusiast access to hundreds of tasting notes and winery profiles of what specialist wine writers in each wine producing country consider to be their leading wineries and the best of their currently available wines. The countries are presented alphabetically, their wineries region by region. A basic three-point system ranks wine quality as judged by the contributors, while the notes that accompany the ratings are pithy and informative. Sydney-based scribe Huon Hooke is the Australian arbitrator. He enthuses over the book’s objectivity and honesty, saying it’s a rare thing for French wines, for instance, to be stacked against each other on merit alone, and not because they paid for space in a guidebook. Hooke allocated eight Australian wines the prestigious three-bunch insignia, denoting that according to Slow Food International, they take their place in its top 150 wines. These are: Craiglee Shiraz 1990, De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon 1987, Hardy Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 1989, Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 1988, Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay 1986, Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1986, Petaluma Riesling 1990 and Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1988. The book’s only obvious weakness is that the time taken to compile such a logistically demanding text has meant that many of the wines described have been replaced by subsequent vintages. However this dints its appeal only marginally, and the team are already working on the next issue, due in two years time. ‘The Slow Food Guide to the Wines of the World’ is an excellent reference and buying guide with well over 1,000 pages. It is distributed by Tower Books, ph (02) 975 5566, and at its recommended retail price of $45 is excellent value for those interested not only in Australian wine.
