Well worth a Spanish inquisition

AUSTRALIA produces only 3 per cent of the world’s wine but technologically it has led the world into the 21st century. Within 15 years, Australian consumers quickly took the unique, appealing and pristine flavours of clean oak, hygienically handled fruit and the benefits of well thought out viticultural practices on wine for granted.  Spain and Italy were the last of the major wine producers to embrace change.

Perhaps once a year from the mid-1970s until the late ’90s, somebody would organise a tasting of the Spanish wines that were gaining wonderful reviews in the European wine press.

From their modern winemaking flavour vantage point, Australians would shake their heads at the flavour and textural impacts from dirty oak, mercaptans, oxidative levels and the like and the unfortunate impacts of hazardous practices in the vineyard.

Neither the quality of the fruit nor its flavours could be appraised as it was masked behind this impenetrable wall of offensive and unacceptable textures and flavours.  Since the mid-’90s many Spanish wineries have adopted modern winemaking practices, while others refuse to change traditional styles.  We can now taste the astonishingly good and clearly defined fruit quality and flavours of Spain’s finest reds in each style and price range.  As a result, the sales of Spanish red wines in the new world are reaching previously never dreamt of sales volumes.  The demand for these wines in Australia is such that there are now several specialist wine importers dealing solely with the wines of the Iberian Peninsula.

- Courtesy John Jens InMyCommunity