BLOG — 2013
Sangiovese Comparo 2013
Here’s an except from our Autumn 2013 Newsletter the Tin Shed, from the early days of Sangiovese in the Canberra District:
Sangiovese is taking off in the district, and aficionados of the variety will be in for some real treats over the coming years, with some of the best known winemakers in the district really focusing on the variety. We were one of the first to plant the variety in the district (2001), and had the opportunity to put one of our best vintages (2008 – sorry – sold out) up against some other local, interstate and international examples at a recent tasting organised by Alex McKay of Collector Wines.
There were 24 fantastic wines from the best regions of Italy (Chianti, Montalcino) and Victoria as well as a good range of local wines. Quite a range of styles were in the tastings, from fresh and bright to deep and brooding. The best examples had mouth watering savouriness, complex but moderate fruit and truly epic persistence. We were very pleased with the response to our 2008, with comments like “ripe nose, fresh spice notes, warm mid-palate, ripe tannins, balanced fleshy finish – silver” from one of the best local palates in the business. Not bad among $250/bottle examples from Italy!
NM
Tannin Myth Busted
When I studied wine making it was taught that tannins started out as small molecules in the wine and as the wine aged they would join together (polymerise), becoming bigger and heavier and thus settle out of the wine, making it smoother and more mellow. Sounded logical and explained the ‘crust’ or sediment found in older wines.Now researchers don’t think that’s the case. Recent analysis of the same wine from 1954 to 2004 vintages showed tannin concentrations of similar levels. For instance wines from the 1950’s and 1990’s have the same level of tannin, while wines from around 1980 have slightly less.
Overall, however, the levels are only in a small range, showing that the amount of tannin in wine is not related to wine age. So, what is happening to the tannins? One promising theory is that the shape of the tannin changes. It might be that young wine tannins are long and thin with lots of receptors along it and these are what react and give the astringent, drying sensation in the mouth. As the tannins age in the wine they become more compact and rounded, so there are less receptors and thus less astringency. Again, sounds logical, but only more research well tell us if this is really the case, so don’t go quoting me just yet.
FW