What's wrong with 'All For One Wine'

Aside from the irony of an anti-import, 'Buy Australian' wine campaign being promoted with a slogan derived from a French novel, there is plenty wrong about 'All For One Wine'.

The campaign, launched by South Australian winemaker Stephen Pannell, asks Australians to stop buying imported wines from 1 January through until Australia Day on January 26. Instead, consumers who sign up on the allforonewine.com pledge site will drink only Australian wine for those 26 days. The campaign seems to be addressed to the wine trade (winemakers, wine show judges, retailers, reviewers) and to the general consumer (at home or out at a pub, cafe, bar or restaurant).

Stephen Pannell's open letter explains the reasons why the campaign has been launched (I wouldn't say 'developed' as that could imply a depth of research and thinking):

'Have a look at your local wine-bar or favourite restaurant: imported wines are everywhere.

I appreciate the importance of benchmarking with European wines, and admit I have been an enthusiastic consumer of imports over the years. But I think we have all gone too far. Just think about our wine shows, where foreign judges are plastered with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone every night. What does this say about how we regard our own wines?'

He goes on to describe as a 'cultural cringe' the drinking of imported wines with local foods. The answer is not a ban on imported wines, but asking 'ourselves' (the Australian wine industry) if 'we couldn't do a better job'? This better job would involve making more Australian wines that were more like imported wines, something that should not be too hard:

"Imagine if we couldn’t import any wines at all. If the wines we like to drink weren’t available, then we could easily make them. So why don’t we?"

So why do I think this is a bad idea?

First, I have 'skin in the game'. I help out in an Australian wine business in the Canberra District that grows grapes from mainstream (shiraz, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc) and 'alternative' varieties (such as savagnin, sangiovese, sagrantino and tempranillo). I also have a blog site that has a focus on Italian grapes and wines in Australia. Both of these are volunteer efforts that provide me with no income. I do them because I can and because the doing is challenging and worthwhile.

That aside, here are my top reasons for why 'All For One Wine' is a bad idea:

- The chief proponents come across as 'reformed sinners' regretting how their past consumption of imported wines has possibly been at the expense of Australian wine, and wish to perform their acts of contrition in public. As powerful a motivator as guilt can be, people feeling like they have created a problem does not neccessarily position them well to provide solutions.

- The proponents of the campaign do not seem to understand that there are many people active across Australian wine who have invested a lot of time and effort in understanding and promoting the regional and varietal diversity and distinctiveness of domestic wines, including those made along food friendly lines and from grapes suited to our climates. The guilt of the reformed sinners is not collective guilt, shared by all.

- There is very little evidence of evidence, or of research effort, behind the idea. Contrast this to the effort behind the First Families of Australian Wine initiative, where significant amounts of research and consultation happened before any public launch of the concept. It comes across more like an after-dinner idea, sparked off by a parade of Mo'vember 'taches.

- The idea that we can make domestic versions of any imported wine here easily, with similar quality and distinctiveness, directly contradicts the idea of terroir that many campaign advocates use to sell their wines. If we can make anything 'they' can make, just the same and just as good, then what is special about particular wines?

- The very exposure of Australian consumers to imported wines helps broaden wine knowledge and makes market opportunities for domestic producers making wine in different styles or from 'foreign' grape varieties. Competitive pressures work for good and ill.

- Australian wine history already includes many wines that are lighter, lower in alcohol and more food-friendly. This campaign ignores this history: of grenache, semillon, riesling and other wines. It is a history available as a starting point for consumer education and awareness.

- All For One Wine is anti-import before it is pro-Australian. The last thing the Australian wine industry needs is to seek refuge in the negative, to stigmatise imported wines as tastes for the cringing. The website did not come wrapped in a flag, but would be something Pauline Hansen would endorse at speed and without equivocation. Just that thought-experiment should have given pause.

- An export-dependant industry should not advocate a campaign in their domestic markets they would not wish to see happen in countries they export to. How would Victorian wine exporters to China feel about a buy-local campaign in that market?

- The time of the year chosen is spectacularly poor. If you wanted to promote to Australian consumers the idea of drinking exclusively Australian wine, much of it likely to be red, and shiraz, perhaps the height of summer is not the best time to choose? If you want to eat local and seasonal, the wine should not need air-conditioning. A whole bunch of 2008 South Australian shirazes, drunk at room temperature in mid-summer will do wonders for bringing consumers back to Australian wine.

So what might have been better?

To start with, use the evidence. Make fact-based cases that put real information in front of consumers about Australian wines, including export volumes, average prices of exports and what makes up the import story. People drink New Zealand sauvignon blanc for a whole host of reasons that make sense to them, which makes them 'good' reasons, not ignorant mistakes, or a lack of Australian sauvignon blanc.

Then pitch a pro-Australian initiative that is positive from the beginning, not predicated on stigmatising imports. If you want to influence the opinion-makers in Australian wine, then why not a campaign (pledge or otherwise) where Australian winemakers, wine show judges and the like drink widely across the diversity of Australian wine (including the diverse pricepoints) and tell the stories of their discoveries back to the industry and to consumers? Perhaps do it through the month of November (alongside Australian Music Month) and covering the National Wine Show? National Wine Show dinners with all-Australian wine lineups, perhaps?

Or skip the problem of picking a month in mid-Summer or elsewhere by having Australian wine show judges and other leading lights commit to 12 months of drinking only Australian wine, rather than 26 days of riesling and heat.

Or avoid choosing between Australian wine and imports completely. Try a pledge campaign where for a month people drink only wines that are not chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon, whichever country they come from. Or pledge to only drink wines from regions, varieties, blends and makers you do not normally try?

Instead of assuming that there are gaps in the market for food-friendly domestic wines and that new wines need to be produced once the market is better educated (educated by not drinking these wines from other places?), you could run a campaign that highlights wines already being made along these lines in Australia. Writers like Max Allen have spent years advocating and publicising these wines, grapes and producers. Efforts like those should be a recognised starting point for a new, pro-diversity campaign.

There are all kinds of options for encouraging positive investigations of the diversity of Australian wine without starting in guilt and pandering to protectionism. Australian wine, and the consumers of Australian wine, deserve campaigns more positive and less hypocritical than All For One Wine. 'We' can do better.

Duck and barbera - Chrismont La Zona Barbera 2009 (King Valley)

Italian grapes and wines work well beyond the edges of the Italian table. A case in point - many Italian grapes or wines sit comfortably with many dishes from Middle Eastern cuisines. I cook a fair bit of food that is loosely 'Middle Eastern', courtesy of prods from books like Claudia Roden's excellent New Book of Middle Eastern Food.

There is a Persian dish called fesenjan that is usually a stew of chicken with pomegranate juice and walnuts. Variants of this combination exist in other parts of the Middle East, but the balance of nuts, poultry and fruit-sharp acid are common. Crossing over to Italy, agrodolce sauces and stews, cooking down vinegar in the presence of sugar, courtesy of Arab influences through Sicily, have something in common with the balance of fesenjan type dishes, especially when pine nuts or almonds feature.

So barbera and a fast version of fesenjan-ish flavours makes some sense. The juicy fruit and acid of the barbera (this time a Chrismont La Zona barbera from 2009 and the King Valley) balance the fruit and acid aspects of the sauce, with the tannins playing off against the nuts and meat.

Take two duck breasts and fry them off, skin side down, in a moderately hot pan until fat renders and the skin is crisp. Drain the rendered duck fat, give the meat a touch of the pan on the flesh side, then off to a warm oven to finish and rest. Sprinkle sugar in the pan, let go to light caramel, then deglaze with the juice of a pomegranate, some sherry vinegar, and let the caramel dissolve. Finish with some toasted and chopped (rough or fine) hazelnuts, salt, pepper and a knob of butter. The sauce should be sharp, sweet, nutty and deep. Serve with the rested duck and some steamed vegetables (and barbera).

Vigna Cantina 2010 Trebbiano (Barossa Valley)

This Torzi Matthews trebbiano comes from vineyards dating back to 1905 at bookends of the Barossa (Altona in the south and Koonunga in the north). I like it a lot, and much more than the Vigna Cantina sangiovese recently tasted. Only 200 cases made, the wine has partial wild yeast ferment in seasoned French oak for three weeks, plus lees aging for three months. The intention is to build texture without oak character and they have succeeded.

It has some things in common with the 1919 vines dry trebbiano from Booths Taminick cellars, but is a more intriguing and accomplished wine. Where the Booths wine had a single pulse of waxy texture through the mid-palate, the structure of this wine has several curves along its line. The nose shows bright, citrus elements, with a hint of something floral. The palate is full of surprises: starting out fine and drying, then a curve of waxy texture with lemon rind, then more more acid, back to wax, then the drying acid length again. As you taste, there is almost a sleight of hand game going on between drying acid and what you realise are phenolic, lightly grippy characters. The integration of acid and phenolics is excellent, and in alternation with fruit characters makes for a whole wine of genuine interest.

Tasted with a souffle of globe artichoke, parmesan and ricotta, which was a very good pairing.

Source: sample. Alcohol: 12.5%. Price: $22 rrp. Closure: Screwcap.

Winery website here.

Importer profile - Global Fine Wines

This is the second in a series of profiles of Italian wine importers. Today, we have Global Fine Wines, with answers supplied by Robert Zalums. You can find out more about them, including their Italian wine portfolio by going here. The photograph is Rob (l) talking and tasting Italian wines with Nicolas Belfrage (r) MW and author of excellent books on Italian wine, including Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy.

Q1 What is your business?
- We import and wholesale distribute premium wines from Italy and other regions (including Australia) to fine wine retailers, top restaurants and cafes.

Q2 How long have you been importing Italian wines into Australia?
- 5 Years.

Q3 How did your interest in Italian wines start?
- Before I got into importing and wholesale distribution of wine, I was in IT and mad keen about all things wine. First positive Italian experience was attending an Antanori tasting that John Osbeston organised a very long time ago. I bought a bunch of wine for my private cellar and quickly acquired a taste. Initially I only drank Tuscan red wine, until I discovered Gaja Barbaresco wines and realised there was much more to Italy than Tuscan (e.g. Chianti) reds. Then working in Europe for three years massively broadened my appreciation of the vast range of exciting Italian taste sensations. I was hooked! I loved the diversity and uniqueness of Italian wine. Especially when combined with food where magically the food would taste better and indeed the wine would taste better still.

Q4 What kind of Italian wines do you focus on in your portfolio and why?
- None especially, we enjoy the range and diversity. Having said that, all but one of our wines are from Central and Northern Italy.

Q5 What Italian wines sell well out of your portfolio at the moment?
- The Pinot Grigio wines are the hottest closely followed by the Soave.

Q6 What Italian wines do you find hardest to sell in Australia?
- The most expensive ones. This may be partly due to economic factors.

Q7 What do you think is the place of Italian wines in Australia, and is this changing?
- Italian wines, perhaps more than any other, broaden the minds of Australian wine enthusiasts. This is because they are so much different to Australian wines. If variety is the spice of life, then Italy delivers it in spades to Aussie wine drinkers. They are also helping Aussie’s learn about making (and enjoying) wines with more complexity, new grape varieties and enhance the enjoyment of food. All this without spending much more than on a local product. Is this changing? Not yet. But I think home grown Aussie wines will continue to become ever more enjoyable because of the importing of Italian wines to this country.

Q8 Recent years have seen significant increases in the number and diversity of Australian wines made from Italian grape varieties. What are your thoughts on Australian wines made from Italian varieties?

- Brilliant! The Australian climate is well suited to the Italian varieties and in the right vineyards will produce beautiful wines in years to come. They will naturally be different to the same varietals from Italy, but perhaps one day just as great and offer diversity from the traditional French varieties we have grown for over a century.

Q9 Greatest Italian wine moment?
- Drinking a 1990 Gaja Sori Tilden Barbaresco with my wife in a 2 Michelan Star restaurant in Tuscany. We were long lunching with our two young (non-drinking) sons and were the only people in the restaurant. The magnificent food and the marvellous wine had a multiplying effect on our enjoyment. Never forget it.

Q10 What Italian wines are you most likely to drink at home?
- Reds: Mostly wines from Piemonte. I love the Nebbiolo (including Barbaresco and Barolo), Barbera, and for everyday drinking a Dolcetto. Whites: Probably Soave – love the stuff.

Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico DOCG 2008

Just a quick look at at glass of this yesterday, with lunch at Il Bacaro in Melbourne. I usually enjoy Castellare's wines, including their vin santo. The distinctive labels featuring drawings of bird species local to their vineyard areas are attention-getting and help anchor their wines to place, for me. They have a website (you can find it here) that is packed with useful information about their history and the wines. On of the more useful Italian winery websites I have come across.

There are several tiers of sangiovese based wines, including Chianti, produced by Castellare. This wine is their entry level Chianti Classico, with the range also including a Riserva Chianti and the Il Poggiale Riserva. It is sangiovese with a little canaiolo (one of the traditional Chianti blending partners) added, but none of the 'international' varieties are used. The fruit comes off 20 year old vines grown on calcareous soils, spending seven months in old oak and six in bottle before sale.

The wine has good colour and a directness of sangivese varietal flavours, including cherry and red fruits, a little grilled nuts and dried herbs. Not trying too hard for intensity, impact or length, the wine is all the better for it, and went well with a dish of guinea fowl and vegetables. Was $16 a glass off the Il Bacaro list, but should be found at retail in Australia in the mid-$30s a bottle.

Importer profile - Mondo Imports

This is the first in a series of short profiles of Italian wine importers active in the Australian market. You can find the website for Mondo Imports here. Answers are provided by Anthony D'Anna.

Q1 What is your business?
- Importers of fine wines from Italy.

Q2 How long have you been importing Italian wines into Australia?
- Four years.

Q3 How did your interest in Italian wines start?
- Our family have been in the wine business since 1963 and I think over time your palate evolves. I love Australian wine but my passion for Italian wine has grown over the years. My parents were born in Italy and I travel there every year. We thought could improve the selection available in Australia by bringing is some quite unique producers and increasing the offering currently available in Oz. For example, we have a sparkling from Piero Benevelli in Piemonte called Freisa about to arrive. Over time, there has been only one importer who has imported this variety. These are the sort of wines I love to import.

Q4 What kind of Italian wines do you focus on in your portfolio and why? - We cover most of Italy but with never more than two producers from the same region. A strong focus for us is Southern Italy which offers unique indigenous varieties and fantastic price points.

Q5 What Italian wines sell well out of your portfolio at the moment?
- Most sell through really well. With Hoddles Creek Estate in the family, we have applied the same pricing philosophy so how we import wines. If you had to pick the big mover, it would be Gran Sasso from Abruzzo and Pipoli from Basilicata with sales of these two brands pushing 200,000 bottles imported into Oz a year.

Q6 What Italian wines do you find hardest to sell in Australia?
- Funnily enough, Chianti. Brunello is always hard and sometimes it is hard to see the value in it.

Q7 What do you think is the place of Italian wines in Australia, and is this changing?
- I think Italian wines are forging a fantastic niche market through the importation of indigenous varieties. Up until a couple of years ago, the likes of Chianti and Brunello were getting the airplay. But now it is the likes of Grillo, Nero Mascalese, Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, etc that is turning heads and that is where the interest is. It also pushes Italy out of the mainstream and makes people realise that Italy isn't as straightforward as it might seem.

Q8 Recent years have seen significant increases in the number and diversity of Australian wines made from Italian grape varieties. What are your thoughts on Australian wines made from Italian varieties?
- I think it is a great thing as it creates interest in Italian varietals. I don't think we can replicate the wines of Italy in Australia but we are contributing to the variety by showing the world 'our take' on their wines. Sangiovese in Australia will never be like Chianti but that is not to say that it doesn't have its place as a fantastic wine style in the Australian market.

Q9 Greatest Italian wine moment?
- Taking a bottle of 1958 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco that we brought along to La Libera in Alba last year.

Q10 What Italian wines are you most likely to drink at home?
- Chianti Riserva, Nero Mascalese, Barbaresco and Barolo.

Vigna Cantina 2009 Sangiovese (Barossa Valley)

Vigna Cantina is a label of Torzi Matthews out of the Eden Valley, although this 2009 sangiovese comes from Barossa Valley fruit. I first came across Torzi Matthews through their Frost Dodger shiraz, which draws on some of Domenic Torzi's Italian heritage in its use of amarone-style partial drying techniques for some of the shiraz bunches involved.

Sealed with a Diam cork, the wine contains parcels of fruit from the Gomersal, Moppa and Kalimna subregions of the Barossa. Both the information sheet for the wine and the website provides useful information on vine age (11-13 years), oak (16 months in 'seasoned' French oak), vineyard and winemaking choices (30% whole bunch, wild yeast, small open ferments, basket pressed, bottled unfiltered). Three clones are involved: Gomersal having the 'Brunello' clone; Moppa the 'Piccolo' clone; and a 'Grosso' clone at Koonunga Hill.

The wine itself starts out smelling of cherries and plums, with a touch of something herbal, vegetal and smoky trailing behind. The first taste is all about layered fruit sourness (in a good way), taking me by suprise after the implied richness of the nose. Over time, the fruit comes up a bit in the mix, but the palate mainly tells a story about acid. It's good acid, but in the absence of a solid tannin structure or better fruit weight, the wine looks like it needs better balance. Perhaps a more neutral oak treatment would have given the fruit more room to show through, or a touch more fruit intensity.

Try with roast meat, or something richly sauced but lowish acid, such as veal in marsala. Tasted with roast lamb rack, portobello mushrooms and braised globe artichoke hearts.

Source: sample. Alcohol: 13.5% (bottle), 13% (information sheet). Price: $20 rrp. Closure: Diam.

Winery website.