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More gems from the West
By David Maguire |
September 6, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed in wine tastings with almost perfect scores for its chardonnays and rieslings, the world's best wine critics dig deep to find superlatives to describe Leeuwin Estate's consistently excellent products.
Although small by international standards -- producing 0.05 percent of Australia's annual total wine output -- the iconic Margaret River vineyard's reputation is inversely proportionate to its physical dimensions.
"The greatest white wine Australia has ever produced," the Wine Spectator said of Leeuwin's 2001 Art Series chardonnay. Eminent observers such as Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson praise it as a benchmark estate and are "thrilled by the chardonnays."
The Art Series label was to the fore at a dinner in Shanghai this week jointly hosted by company owner and Chairman Denis Horgan and his China agent ASC Fine Wines.
Leeuwin's most opulent wines are in its Art Series range and the chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons are collectables that command lofty international auction prices. Designed to age, they are identified with paintings commissioned from leading Australian contemporary artists.
The company's secondary Prelude label is restricted to a chardonnay and cabernet merlot designed to drink well soon after release and the spritely Sibling label varieties are intended for fresh, early drinking.
Appropriately, the small, food-wine matching dinner was held at avant-garde chef Paul Pairet's ultra-stylish Mr and Mrs Bund restaurant at Bund 18.
Hors d'oeuvres of a duck fois gras terrine as wispy as a cirrus cloud, a succulent chargrilled cold chicken breast ailloli and sublime aragula mushroom truffle were served with the Art Series Sauvignon Blanc 2008.
Mouthwatering seared scallops in a lemon ginger mist accompanied the Art Series Reisling 2007.
The last of the whites -- Art Series Chardonnay 2005 -- graced the black cod fish simmered in a heat proof bag with Cantonese sauce, the wine complimenting the food texture and taste so well that it seemed both vigneron and chef had colluded in their creations for this single dish.
The long-short rib was the kitchen's piece de resistance, in both display -- meat on white rib-bone presented starkly in its glory on the circular glass servery -- and juicy taste sensation. It was perhaps better matched by the Art Series Shiraz 2005 than the series' cabernet sauvignon 2003.
Leeuwin Estate's wines come out of the same resource rich Western Australia that supplies China's natural gas and iron ore.
Horgan started visiting China in 1986 and introduced his wines to the market about 10 years ago since which "it's been our fastest growing market in the world." "We put a couple of thousand cases of wine a year into China which is not a huge number but when you think that our prices are about seven times the average for an Australian wine it adds up to a reasonable outlay for the consumer," he said.
"But in Shanghai our prices aren't significantly different to what we retail for in Australia because the taxes at home are about the same."
Eschewing anything to do with supermarket supply chains, "you can forget it, it's not our market," Horgan adamantly pushes the quality and longevity of his wines.
"We're in high-end restaurants like Mr and Mrs Bund, clubs, top-quality hotels and similar venues in Beijing and Hong Kong," he said.
"We're at the top end of the Australian market and recognized internationally for producing high-quality varietal wines.
"We've been in China enough years now that we're starting to become identified and it's paying dividends, with people making case orders of up to 150-200 at a time."
He said the trade relationship between China and Western Australia will have a continuing impact on both countries in terms of learning to understand each other and he sees the state's wine industry with its cultural add-ons playing a role.
"We're going to see more Chinese business people coming to Western Australia to have a look at what they're importing and our state's prosperity is hinged on what happens in China," he said.
"The Chinese are absolutely fantastic people and the development of the inter-trade relationship hopefully will bring more of them to see the cultural side of the West, such as Margaret River and our Leeuwin concert." He likened the difference between visiting the north-west region's mines and the south-west's Margaret River as "going from hell to heaven."
"We think we might be able to play a role in the development of Western Australia by showing the Chinese that the state is different," he said. In the meantime, he will push on through China as an ebullient ambassador for his fine products.
Although small by international standards -- producing 0.05 percent of Australia's annual total wine output -- the iconic Margaret River vineyard's reputation is inversely proportionate to its physical dimensions.
"The greatest white wine Australia has ever produced," the Wine Spectator said of Leeuwin's 2001 Art Series chardonnay. Eminent observers such as Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson praise it as a benchmark estate and are "thrilled by the chardonnays."
The Art Series label was to the fore at a dinner in Shanghai this week jointly hosted by company owner and Chairman Denis Horgan and his China agent ASC Fine Wines.
Leeuwin's most opulent wines are in its Art Series range and the chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons are collectables that command lofty international auction prices. Designed to age, they are identified with paintings commissioned from leading Australian contemporary artists.
The company's secondary Prelude label is restricted to a chardonnay and cabernet merlot designed to drink well soon after release and the spritely Sibling label varieties are intended for fresh, early drinking.
Appropriately, the small, food-wine matching dinner was held at avant-garde chef Paul Pairet's ultra-stylish Mr and Mrs Bund restaurant at Bund 18.
Hors d'oeuvres of a duck fois gras terrine as wispy as a cirrus cloud, a succulent chargrilled cold chicken breast ailloli and sublime aragula mushroom truffle were served with the Art Series Sauvignon Blanc 2008.
Mouthwatering seared scallops in a lemon ginger mist accompanied the Art Series Reisling 2007.
The last of the whites -- Art Series Chardonnay 2005 -- graced the black cod fish simmered in a heat proof bag with Cantonese sauce, the wine complimenting the food texture and taste so well that it seemed both vigneron and chef had colluded in their creations for this single dish.
The long-short rib was the kitchen's piece de resistance, in both display -- meat on white rib-bone presented starkly in its glory on the circular glass servery -- and juicy taste sensation. It was perhaps better matched by the Art Series Shiraz 2005 than the series' cabernet sauvignon 2003.
Leeuwin Estate's wines come out of the same resource rich Western Australia that supplies China's natural gas and iron ore.
Horgan started visiting China in 1986 and introduced his wines to the market about 10 years ago since which "it's been our fastest growing market in the world." "We put a couple of thousand cases of wine a year into China which is not a huge number but when you think that our prices are about seven times the average for an Australian wine it adds up to a reasonable outlay for the consumer," he said.
"But in Shanghai our prices aren't significantly different to what we retail for in Australia because the taxes at home are about the same."
Eschewing anything to do with supermarket supply chains, "you can forget it, it's not our market," Horgan adamantly pushes the quality and longevity of his wines.
"We're in high-end restaurants like Mr and Mrs Bund, clubs, top-quality hotels and similar venues in Beijing and Hong Kong," he said.
"We're at the top end of the Australian market and recognized internationally for producing high-quality varietal wines.
"We've been in China enough years now that we're starting to become identified and it's paying dividends, with people making case orders of up to 150-200 at a time."
He said the trade relationship between China and Western Australia will have a continuing impact on both countries in terms of learning to understand each other and he sees the state's wine industry with its cultural add-ons playing a role.
"We're going to see more Chinese business people coming to Western Australia to have a look at what they're importing and our state's prosperity is hinged on what happens in China," he said.
"The Chinese are absolutely fantastic people and the development of the inter-trade relationship hopefully will bring more of them to see the cultural side of the West, such as Margaret River and our Leeuwin concert." He likened the difference between visiting the north-west region's mines and the south-west's Margaret River as "going from hell to heaven."
"We think we might be able to play a role in the development of Western Australia by showing the Chinese that the state is different," he said. In the meantime, he will push on through China as an ebullient ambassador for his fine products.
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