How natural is Australian wine?

Australians' concept of natural wine - a term they don't actually tend to use - is very different from ours. Pretty well everyone uses some sulphur for example and even the more radical wines don't taste as alternative as they do in Europe. To many of course that's a decided plus but I missed some of the more off-the-wall flavours to which I've become accustomed over the last year or so. ('Faulty wines' in many Aussies' point of view.)

There are reasons for that. A producer can't currently get a permit to export a wine unless it passes a tasting panel and conforms to certain technical parameters which means that wines on the funkier frontier such as Jamsheed's Mon Petite Francine (sic), a vibrant and delicious Cabernet Franc get turned down. Ironically echoing the sort of things that go on in what Australia considers to be over-regulated France. And transport is a real problem. Australians have to ship their wines over the equator during the course of which temperatures can fluctuate wildly.

Biodynamics is being embraced - but in an odd way. The phrase 'we use some biodynamic treatments' is widely used but that seems rather to defeat the point of the exercise. Either you buy into the idea or you don't. There's much less use of herbicides and other sprays - everyone these days likes to say they're sustainable - and less acid adjustment though that depends on the region. Australia has extreme weather patterns. In 2009, the year of the dreadful fires in the Yarra Valley, temperatures in a 'cool climate' region soared to 45°C. Droughts are common and irrigation in many areas essential, particularly where young vines are involved.

Indigenous yeasts are increasingly popular, especially for chardonnay, lack of fining and filtration much more widespread than would once have been the case.

Even so many Australian wines would probably not qualify for inclusion in events like this summer's Natural Wine Fair but there are some brilliantly individual wines you wouldn't have tasted there five years ago. And wines that always were distinctive like Yarra Yering's no 1 red you are reminded, on re-tasting, are very traditionally made. 2004 is the current vintage!

The issue raises a lot of heat though. There are senior figures in the industry who get positively apoplectic when you discuss it - "you journalists are all obsessed by it", "so you want to drink faulty wines" .... etc, etc. But given the poverty of many of Australia's soils, biodynamics makes a lot of sense.

Anyway over the next few weeks I'll be reporting back on some of my most interesting visits and meetings with producers such as Domaine Lucci, Ngeringa, Paxton, Battle of Bosworth, Kooyong and Castagna, all of whose wines I'm happy to say are available in the UK. And a few natural wine bars - though again that's not how they tend to describe themselves. The N word is not a big sell Down Under . . .

Vanya Cullen: Margaret River's biodynamic pioneer

I last visited Cullen in the Margaret River region of Western Australia about 15 years ago, hard though that seems to believe. I loved their wines, even more their vineyards and winery. It was - and is - a very special place.

In the meantime they've gone organic and, more recently biodynamic, a step that has changed the wines less than you might imagine. I think they were probably pretty well organic then.

Many people in the natural wine fraternity I suspect would hesitate to label their wines natural. They use sulphur (as I'm sure I'd be tempted to do if I made wine in Australia and needed to export it), and oak - slightly too much so for my taste in the case of their top of the range Diana Madeline Cabernet though as a 2009 it was far too early to tell. On the other hand it was Cullen's wines that convinced me of the effect of the biodynamic calendar. I tasted their Sauvignon Semillon earlier this year on a leaf day and it was totally out of kilter. Happily yesterday (a fruit day) it was tasting fresh, crisp and delicious as was the 2009 Kevin John Chardonnay, my favourite wine of the tasting.


Vanya Cullen says that she went down the biodynamic route because their soils were so depleted. She says they'd tried everything else but biodynamic treatments were the only thing that reinvigorated the soil. "The minerality in the wines has increased as has the sense of tasting the land in the wine."

This sense of connection with the property also brought her personal solace when her mother Diana died back in 2003. "It helped to take the emptiness away" she says simply.

Although some other Margaret River producers such as Cape Mentelle and McHenry Hohnen are experimenting with biodynamic treatments none is approaching it with such rigour or conviction as Vanya. "It's such a joyful way to farm and the best way to be a custodian of the land for future generations".


Cullen's stash of cows' horns. Apparently 6 will treat the whole property. I have to say I find this the hardest aspect of biodynamics to get my head round but for an explanation of how it works in relation to wine see this YouTube video from Mark Beaman of Paul Dolan vineyards.

Castagna Genesis Syrah 2004 - a thrilling Australian red

I've been waiting for the right occasion to try this wine, which is part of the prestigious Langton's classification and last night we found it: we took it with us to dinner with a couple of friends who are really into natural wine*.

We weren't disappointed. It was simply sensational taking me back to the early days when I first tasted Aussie Shiraz and was just blown away by the intensity of flavour.

It's not called shiraz, mind you, but syrah by winemaker Julian Castagna of Beechworth in Victoria who farms his estate biodynamically. It apparently contains a proportion of viognier which suggests a desire to pay homage to Côte Rôtie.

It certainly has some of Côte Rôtie's exotic character - wild red fruits and violets - but then there were some unmistakably Australian notes in the liquorice, pepper and even a touch of tar. The freshness and acidity were surprising though and it wore its 14% alcohol very lightly. I would describe it as juicy if that hadn't become so debased as a tasting term. The fruit just went on and on.

It went very well with a braised leg of mutton but would have been great with pretty well any red meat.

The downside? It isn't cheap: £40 a bottle from The Wine Society. But if you think you could pay that on a wine of half the quality in a restaurant it doesn't seem quite so stiff.

Castagna btw is one of four Australian producers who are taking part in the Return to Terroir tasting at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival next month.

* Out of interest the wine was drunk on a Flower Day.

Paxton Shiraz Rosé

The trouble with writing a book is that you have to put the rest of your life on hold - family, friends and, these days, blogging. So I've actually been tasting some good wines and meeting some interesting organic and biodynamic winemakers without having a chance to write about them.

Anyway, a quick one about this Paxton Shiraz Rosé 2009 which is currently on offer at Oddbins* for £8.39 instead of £11.99 but probably won't be for much longer. It's made in McLaren Vale by the biodynamic producer Paxton Wines and is quite a curiosity - dark coloured with vivid cherry and raspberry flavours but surprisingly low in alcohol at 11.5%. What might throw you is that it has 12g of residual sugar but I reckon if you drank it with something hot, spicy and sweet (Sichuan Chinese, for example, or maybe a prawn curry) it would be perfect.

I got the chance to taste some of their other wines at the Australian Wine annual trade tasting on Wednesday and particularly liked the 2009 Quandong Shiraz which comes from the first vineyard they converted to biodynamic viticulture. It's made in open top fermenters and put mainly into old oak barrels - no fining or filtering - and it's lovely. Not jammy or over-extracted, just really well balanced. However it's the 2008, which I haven't tasted, that seems to be the current vintage in the UK. You can buy it from Wine Etcetera (£16.45), Barrels and Bottles £18.17 and Noel Young Wines (£18.49) among others.

Paxton is also a member of 1% For the Planet, a group of companies that donates one per cent of their profits to environmental organisations

* I've just learnt that Reserve Wines of West Didsbury near Manchester have it for £11.50. They also carry some of the other Paxton wines.