New Romantics Making Meaningful Australian Wines
Langton’s Buyer Justin Lane, a winemaker himself, looks at the state of natural wine and the evolution of the scene. From a decade of new wave wines from all corners of the winemaking world we experience wines that range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Giving up those childish things, a growing number of producers are focused on quality, care, and attention to detail in the vineyard and the winery combining tradition, sensibility and science in the pursuit of wine worth making. In house, we’ve been calling these producers New Romantics, and we’ve been falling for their charms.
The 2008 global financial crisis marked the beginning of the end for the Australian wine industry's “purple patch”. The big, bold and bombastic wines that had been held in favour by consumers and many influential wine critics had reached a crescendo. Traditional export markets faded, money slowed and the inevitable backlash to the success of Australian wine over the past decade and a half had begun.
The next few years were tough for many wine companies as it was for the image of Australian wine globally. The tall poppy cutters were out in force. Australian wineries had been accused of making boring wines to a formula for faceless corporations. Uk wine writer Tim Atkin said Australian wine has become “bland and unexciting”.
The next few years were tough for many wine companies as it was for the image of Australian wine globally. The tall poppy cutters were out in force. Australian wineries had been accused of making boring wines to a formula for faceless corporations. Uk wine writer Tim Atkin said Australian wine has become “bland and unexciting”.
Robert Parker Jr commented in his publication The Wine Advocate that “Australia has perfected industrial farming” There were hard truths to swallow. This period was like a necessary bushfire that cleared away the deadwood and allowed for new growth.
‘...‘new growth’ started to emerge.’
Circa 2012, ‘new growth’ started to emerge. Natural wine had sprouted in Basket Range, a tiny enclave of the Adelaide Hills. Four passionate winemakers inspired by the 'vin du naturel' wine movement in Beaujolais and the Loire Valley began disrupting the market with their lo-fi “nothing added, nothing taken away” approach to winemaking. Anton Von Klopper (Lucy Margaux), James Erskine (Juama), Tom Shodbrook (Shodbrook Wines) and retailer Sam Hughes founded a group called the Natural Selection Theory. They broke with convention to make wines that challenged the status quo with their minimal intervention ideology.
“Some of the hottest labels in Australian wine right now” - Max Allen
“The blockbusters are still there…as are the Australian classics from long-time producers. But today, Australia has a thriving natural wine culture, as well as a number of producers who are producing finesse and grace.” - Eric Asimov, The New York Times
“The blockbusters are still there…as are the Australian classics from long-time producers. But today, Australia has a thriving natural wine culture, as well as a number of producers who are producing finesse and grace.” - Eric Asimov, The New York Times
“The emergence of natty wine in Oz in the late 2000s, early 2010s pretty much coincides with the country’s wine community as a whole being on the bones of its arse,” says Max Allen, an Australian wine writer. “The energy and disruption of natural wine was a huge breath of fresh, reviving air.
It wasn’t long before “natural wines'' increased in numbers and started appearing on the shelves in bottle shops and on wine lists in trendy restaurants and bars around the country. The natural wine movement attracted a diverse, colourful crowd united in their quest to make wine without any chemical adulteration or oenological augmentation. They flocked to the natural wine movement like moths to a porch light.
The wine press shone a light on natural wine with copious amounts of coverage in magazines, newspapers and online articles. Most of the reviews on the subject of natural wine focused on romance and ideology. There was very little definition or clarity around what constitutes a natural wine. The natural wine genre hit a stumbling block as the results of the winemaking belief became an ever-increasing mixed bag of quality. US wine Importer and author Kermit Lynch best summed up this stage of the natural wine scene “At the moment, the natural wine movement is showing some self-destructive tendencies, and it is the fault of the true-believers who in their zeal leave their palates behind. It is a faith-based religion”
It wasn’t long before “natural wines'' increased in numbers and started appearing on the shelves in bottle shops and on wine lists in trendy restaurants and bars around the country. The natural wine movement attracted a diverse, colourful crowd united in their quest to make wine without any chemical adulteration or oenological augmentation. They flocked to the natural wine movement like moths to a porch light.
The wine press shone a light on natural wine with copious amounts of coverage in magazines, newspapers and online articles. Most of the reviews on the subject of natural wine focused on romance and ideology. There was very little definition or clarity around what constitutes a natural wine. The natural wine genre hit a stumbling block as the results of the winemaking belief became an ever-increasing mixed bag of quality. US wine Importer and author Kermit Lynch best summed up this stage of the natural wine scene “At the moment, the natural wine movement is showing some self-destructive tendencies, and it is the fault of the true-believers who in their zeal leave their palates behind. It is a faith-based religion”
Now for the third act of this wine opera. “But what I think has happened now—and this is sort of the third phase—is that a lot of people who have been drawn into the middle phase have been found out for what they are. [Their wines] can be still celebrated and enjoyed, but what it’s also done is focused people back to [the] vineyard…..there is now very high-quality wine coming out of this idiom” - Mike Bennie
‘This group of winemakers are quality focused and back up their ideology with a firm understanding of the science involved in making wine.’
There is a clear bunch of tour leaders emerging from the peloton. This group of winemakers are quality focused and back up their ideology with a firm understanding of the science involved in making wine. They do not identify themselves or their wines as “natural” in the same way that Jules Chauvet, Jacques Raynaud or Francois Raveneau do not categorise their wines as “natural wines”. They all share a common respect for the vineyard and have a firm understanding of the importance of high-quality produce. The attitudes towards viticulture and the belief in how to capture and express this best are not unlike those of the great winemakers in Burgundy or Barolo - An uncompromising pursuit to make single vineyard, terroir-driven wines of purity, personality and of the highest quality possible.