New Zealand’s tenth hosting of the International Chardonnay Competition (ICC) 2010 was a huge success for Aussie brands.

Several countries celebrate with chardonnay competitions-Chardonnay du Monde (887 entries in 2010), as well as the major UK wine competitions having chardonnay trophies from hundreds of entries. http://www.chardonnay-du-monde.com ; http://www.decanter.com/specials/85071.html

The ICC started with 100 entries but now has over 500, essentially from Australia and New Zealand though without restriction, and we occasionally see some Californians and South Amercians.

As well entries from France, Italy and South Africa (one bronze in 2010) appear.

The chardonnay grape is thoroughly deserving of this attention as a widely planted international variety able to adapt to vast climate ranges with ease. Unlike riesling and pinot gris.

In many countries chardonnay styles are undergoing huge palate retrofitting, and part of this charge is strongly led by the Australians.

This needs to happen to stay relevant at the top echelon of producers. However our friends in Chablis and Burgundy are closer to the core in this regard but these regions need to look closer at the closures used. Too many dud chardonnays are coming out of France from use of cork.

For the 2010 results at Gisbourne the judging panels (Kiwi dominant) would appear to be across this chardonnay style evolution awarding 14 gold medals to Aussie chardonnays. The remaining four went to New Zealand brands.

Whereas where the Aussies seek additional acidity from relatively warmer regions, the Kiwis tend to suffer for exuberant levels of acidity which cloud the tasting decisions. Kiwi chardonnay rides in a sea of malolactic flavour while most Aussies rarely do the conversion.

The
clear demonstration of Margaret River as top region of the show came with the five golds -Devil’s Lair 2008 and 2009-2, Killerby 2009, Laurence 2008, Peccavi 2009 and Xanadu. The latter Reserve 2009 also took best wine of this ICC: congratulations WA.

No Margaret River fluke of course-Cullen Kevin John 2007 took best Aussie chardonnay at last week’s Decanter World Wine Awards shadowing Voyager 2007.

The Queenslander Ridgemill Estate Pedigree 2009 took a silver. This show is a happy hunting ground for Ridgemill; the same small vineyard took bronze last year with their 2008 and gold in 2006 with their 2005.

Of the ICC results, the bronze medal to Fosters Wine Estates Heemskerk 2008 from Tasmania was noted after taking the chardonnay trophy at last year’s Royal Queensland Show. The style is ultra-modern with a core of streamlined acidity rivalling riesling, and is easily missed by judges due to its austerity.

http://www.internationalchardonnaychallenge.com

Semillon Blanc – heard of it? Well probably not but I hope you do quite soon.

To be quite direct this white wine from semillon has been with us for centuries – first in Bordeaux and more recently the hero white of the Hunter Valley.

What has changed though is a cleverer approach to marketing Australian semillon (always difficult) by the large listed wine company Australian Vintage (McGuigan and Tempus Two brands).

The brand new 2010 wine was recently unveiled at a London trade fair by its creator acting company CEO and chief winemaker Neil McGuigan.

It’s destined for the UK market at a price of around USD 10. McGuigan calls this wine his “Sauvignon Blanc killer” and I hope it does.

You see the prolific sauvignon blanc wines of New Zealand and elsewhere in cooler parts of Europe tend to be abbreviated and referred to as “sauvignon”.

It is axiomatic in a mature wine market that “blanc” is white anyway, so why mouth it if everyone understands.

This habit appears to be cleverly exploited by these Aussie marketers in amending the name of an old variety to gain better recognition. Best wishes from this writer.

What has McGuigan made? A modern semillon, pumped with all the aromatic nose characters to smell lovely.

Then he will have gone for texture and mouthfeel by using modern techniques; particularly ageing on the dead yeast after the ferments stop.

Lees ageing of course was first practised in making Champagne from the days of monk Dom Perignon.

The grapes come from the Murray Valley and the Riverina-engine room stuff where McGuigan located some relatively old vines (25 yo) at cost-effective prices.

The wine style is 11 per cent alcohol and easy drinking, unwooded. Though it has started in the UK market expect around by Christmas I say.

The Wine and Spirits Asia trade show staged its biggest ever wine competition in Singapore recently – Wine Challenge 2010.

As an observer with over 80 show judgings under the belt it is interesting to follow how our northern colleagues are taking ownership of wine judgings.

And I can report that WSA was once a twee kind of wine show – I was in attendance on the first year and requested to participate as a judge.

That request was declined with a deafening silence. It was a matter of who you knew not what you know.

As with the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition last year, the majority of judges were Asian participants – a thoroughly presentable idea now.

The last position however on the team is the chief judge; a person with an enormous responsibility as overall results reflect on the leadership taken.

Both competitions have relied on non-Asian chief judges with high international respect, and far more experience than local judges at present.

In Singapore, US-born, German-domiciled Joel Payne presided, and in Hong Kong, Australian and Moet and Chandon roving expert Dr Tony Jordan were the top officials.

I guess the next transition is to mentor some leading Asian palates towards undertaking formal wine judging studies to build greater self-belief. It’s a matter of recognising a trophy-winning wine as opposed to a plain bronze medal on the tasting bench.

It’s also a bit more about understanding both statistics and the process of finalising the top results so that justice is seen to be done. It avoids the strange results like Singapore.

One recommended event is the Australian Wine Research Institute‘s bi-annual Advanced Wine Assessment Short Course – an independent training ground for Australian wineries and budding wine judges. Expressions of interest close June 7 for the 20 plus places.

The other event which is more international and classics-focussed is the Len Evans tutorial held annually in the Hunter Valley – immortalising the talent and high support ethic of the late Len Evans towards mentoring the younger generations into the role of future chief judges. Applications close August 7. The tutorial runs for five days and accepts 12 scholars annually.

An example of the talent outputs of the Len Evans Tutorial is Yarra Valley Gen Y winemaker Tom Carson, now chief judge of Canberra Wine Show this past two years.

The challenge is out there for our Asian friends. This next level of wine standards and the experience required might avoid less credible results.

I am referring to the Singapore best wine trophy going to a NZ Sauvignon Blanc (debatably a second rate variety) over the more internationally-respected varieties (Champagne blend), Cabernet and Merlot, and Shiraz.

So a Sauvignon outpointed a Bordeaux in a consumer environment more hell-bent on drinking red wine than herbal-green unwooded white. Or is this telling marketers something about east Asian future trends? I suggest not.

It’s a big occasion when six Australian brands make the Power 100 List of leading wine brands for 2010, compiled by Intangible Business (UK & USA).

But that said, there is little glitter left on the Brand Australia model which showed double digit export growth a few years ago.

Save for Yellowtail I am wondering if this recognition is the knock-on effect from these big company brands made of “refinery” wine that has now led to Australian wines coming back to the field.

Sitting in tank around the country there is more of it, equivalent to a year or more export supply, irrespective of the outcome of the 2010 harvest (1.53 million tonnes).

According to Power Drinks “The biggest wine climber in the Top 20 is Chilean wine brand Concha Y Toro, which climbs five places to number 17. Other big climbers in The Power 100 are the American wine brand Robert Mondavi, which jumps six places to number 31 on this year’s table and Australian wine brand Lindemans, which climbs eight places to number 55.

Established brands to drop out of The Power 100 include Banrock Station, Dom Perignon, Kumala, Lanson and Taittinger. Banrock of course comes from the same camp as Hardys, so is captured there anyway, although its owners would beg to differ.

Clearly the GFC has hosed down the popularity of Champagne but that will re-appear in future assessments, in particular Dom Perignon which is everywhere.

When pulling out the wine brands from the list of 100 which includes spirit brands (they dominate the Top 10) the list in order of wine brand rating goes 1. Gallo (US), 2. Concha Y Toro (Chile), 3. Robert Mondavi (US), 4. Yellowtail (Aust), 5. Hardys (Aust), 6. Beringer (US), 7. Jacob’s Creek (Aust), 8. Sutter Home (US), 9. Lindemans (Aust), 10. Blossom Hill (US).
By a country mile the largest US maker Gallo is number one, and has been five years running, and Yellowtail has correctly assumed the number one (Place 4) both as the big Australian brand and a reliable drink at the value level.

Of the Power 100, the New World prevailed – seven US and six Australian wine brands dominate the scene, and as reported Champagne dropped off. Of all the European table wine makers only the Spanish winemaker Torres made number 79.

Nearly 10,000 brands in the spirits and wine sectors were researched to derive a list of the 100 most powerful spirits and wine brands in the world. Power is defined by a brand’s ability to generate value for its owner. Value is classified by a series of measures. The population for the research is all current and potential users of alcoholic drinks.

For full details www.drinkspowerbrands.com