The French and the Germans are fond of declaring top vintages in this manner, but we don’t really play that game down under. Still, 2012 in South Australia came pretty close, with Halliday writing: I cannot remember a vintage having received such hyperbolic praise right across the board, covering all regions and all varieties, as there is for 2012. Words that came up repeatedly were ‘fantastic’, ‘outstanding’, ‘sensational’, ‘best in my lifetime’, ‘perfect in every way’…
The ABC reported that ‘Australia winemakers cheered over prospect of best vintage in 20 years,’ and then quoted Halliday and Michael Hill-Smith who said: ‘Winemakers across South Australia, even in the warmer areas like McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley, are saying the quality they’ve got out of 2012 is exceptional.’
The weather gods bestowed far more mixed blessings on Victoria, NSW and Tasmania, but Western Australia had a good year as well despite the hottest January in 11 years.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing – 2012 in SA and WA
Now that we’re tasted our fair share of 2012 wines, we can draw some useful conclusions:
- The South Australian whites are good across the board, with Riesling easily the stand-out. The Clare and Eden Valleys made intense Rieslings with concentrated fruit but good length and balance.
- Most of the 2012 reds we’ve seen from SA are fruit bombs – very rich, ripe and soft. Haven’t seen many we’d want to stash away in the cellar for 7 years. That goes even for cooler regions like Coonawarra. Good for consumers who want drink-now reds, of course. I suspect many winemakers should’ve picked their fruit a little earlier, but these days they tend to go for max ripeness because the wines are easier to sell and win medals with.
- We’ve had similar experiences with the 2012 reds from Margaret River and the Great Southern. On the whole, they’re bigger than usual and some have been on the chunky and coarse side. Not what we look for in Cabernets or Cab Merlots from over west.
- The 2012 whites from the west are less chunky but also pretty big and forward, the Chardies showing a lot of ripe fruit, and even the Rieslings from the Great Southern follow suit.
Other regions and other years
This is not meant to be an exhaustive vintage report, just a handy reality check. The previous vintage, 2011, provided far too much rain and too little sunshine for South Australia, but it was a top vintage in the Hunter Valley and the West. Many Margaret River Cabernets, even those with modest price tags, show why this region makes us think of Bordeaux.
2013 was a very hot year in SA, with very little rain making things more difficult. Haven’t seen many reds yet from 2013, but the whites are good and full-flavoured. The Rieslings are again outstanding when picked early enough, but show less obvious ripe fruit than the 2012s.
Victoria fared better in most parts, and the Hunter had a hot, dry year, but some of the newer regions of NSW received much more rain than they’d asked for. Tasmania had a good year, drier and warmer than usual but producing the biggest crop since 2008. The Rieslings are stunning, and we should see some great Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from this year. 2013 in the west was hot and dry as well, and is said to be good on the whole.
Use with caution
Vintage reports are always broad sweeping generalisations, and are not a reliable guide. It’s better to trust your favourite wineries to do the right thing, either by declassifying their wines in poor years, or by tougher fruit selection and more careful winemaking. We were surprised when Penfolds didn’t do more of this with their 2011 bin reds – Read more in Penfolds Bin Reds Release 2014 – Quality Down, Prices Up
KIM
