Fresh Perspective

There is one sure prediction for the wines we will enjoy in 2010: they will be produced with increased passion and dedication. They'll also likely carry more clearly defined regional appellations as wine lovers seek to connect with authentic expressions of a place.

    If they're buying Australian, Canadian, Chilean or South African wines, they'll want to know where it comes from and will look for it to showcase a point of difference from similar priced wines from other parts of the world.

    Regional expression and label integrity for wine — just as it is for produce and other foods — continues to be in vogue and in demand. That's a trend that's not likely to fade anytime soon.

    Winemakers are also narrowing their focus in other ways. In my recent travels through South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, I caught up with winemakers who were looking to express themselves. Instead of making, say, Shiraz because there was public demand for Shiraz, they were opting out to make Cabernet or Pinot Noir or, even, Tempranillo because they felt it was a better wine.

    The desire to be all things to all people is a thing of the past, said Steve Webber, chief winemaker for De Bortoli in Australia's Yarra Valley.

    "We used to make wine to please everybody," explained Webber. "We wanted to sell everybody in the world our wines. Now we don't give a [expletive] and make the wines that we want to make."

    Webber's statement maybe brash and bold, but his new crop of wines is anything but. He's making refined Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc as well as earthy Pinot Noir and Syrah (a conscious avoidance of the more accepted Shiraz to signal the change in style for his estate wine) for De Bortoli's Windy Peak, Gulf Station and estate labels. These are wines with "detail" — Webber's favourite descriptor, which I understand to mean finesse, elegance and focus.

    De Bortoli also makes an inexpensive range of wines from beyond the borders of Yarra Valley, but even here wines are becoming more focused and refined compared with the typically super-fruity, "sunshine in a bottle" wines produced in the recent past. You can bet that whichever philosophies winemakers employ at the top of the range trickles down.

    Certainly my ears prick up whenever I hear a winemaker explain they're on a mission to make great wine. Wouldn't you rather experience a bottle from a vintner who is showering his or her effort with all of the tender love and care they can muster as opposed to one who is halfheartedly cranking something out because the market expects it?

Wine of the Week:

Yellow Tail Bubbles Rosé
South Eastern Australia $13.95 (090399)
    It's hard to think of a more festive wine than pink bubbly - and Yellow Tail's Pink Bubbles is built to be the life of the party. Lots of candied red berry fruit here with a good dose of refreshing acidity to balance that fruit-forward sweetness. Chill and enjoy.