Sláinte to Spain and Australia at wine awards

AFICIONADOS of wine from Australia and Spain have reason to raise a glass to the 2007 National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) Gold Star selection as those countries have made a clean sweep of two key categories.

In picking three Spanish reds, the NOffLA tasting panel has given a welcome starring role to oaked tempranillo grapes, one of the world’s great wine traditions.

While the Campo Viejo is a blend including other traditional Spanish grapes, all three showcase tempranillo’s attractive savoury richness and toffee-ish, slightly sweet notes.

It won’t be lost on wine-watchers that the budget Altozano comes from the upcoming Castilla y Leon region; the mid-priced Campo Viejo is made in Rioja — long synonymous with the best of Spain — but the premium-priced position is reserved for Portia, made in the “new” highly starred region of Ribera del Duero.

Long a poor relation, that region has been giving Rioja a run for its money in recent years, with top-class modern yet traditional wines from wineries such as Alejandro Fernández; Hermanos Pérez Pascuas; Cillar de Silos and the starry Vega Sicilia.

The Portia is just the second vintage made in the region by old Rioja hands Faustino.

Matching Spain’s domination of the old world reds is Australia’s clean sweep of new world whites. While JJ McWilliams’ brief is to make large quantities of inexpensive and affordable wines, the other two Australian whites may be an eye-opener to wine fans catching up with the country’s progress in premium white wines — particularly from the regions north and east of Adelaide.

While Peter Lehmann is as famous for his reds from the Barossa valley, the riesling-dominated Three from Knappstein in the neighbouring Clare valley is representative of the relatively new wave of top-class whites from Down Under.

It’s atypical in that it’s a blend that includes gewürztraminer and pinot gris but it may inspire Irish wine aficionados to pay more attention to Knappstein’s more upmarket Watervale riesling as well as the other beautiful rieslings of Clare and Eden.

The NOffLA gold star list gives the lie to the common perception that the new world is only about shiny innovation in wine and the old world is only about tradition.

Take for instance Masi’s splendid Masianco — this is an innovative white invented just a short few years ago when the Masi wine family began treating white grapes in a similar way to the uniquely Italian “ripasso” winemaking process akin to that of Amarone. In the white as in the red, the grapes are partially dried before fermentation, bequeathing an enormously attractive richness and complexity to the wine.

Meanwhile NOffLA, which represents 330 outlets, is calling for the introduction of mandatory training for staff selling alcohol.

Chairman Jim McCabe said yesterday the recent liberalisation of our licensing laws ran the risk of further escalating alcohol abuse in Ireland.

“Selling alcohol is a very serious business and carries special responsibilities.

“With alcohol now much more widely available, as a result of relaxation of licensing by the last government, there is a significant risk that staff in non-specialist outlets will not be fully aware of their responsibilities,” said Mr McCabe.