For the next month or so, the LCBO is featuring Australian wines.
It's tempting to ask why Australian wines need any more promotion. After all, they represent a sizable chunk of wine sales in Ontario. Australian wines were top sellers, in dollar terms, in 2004-05 (they were outsold in terms of volume by France and Italy) and they occupy a big proportion of shelf-space in LCBO stores.
Still, no one can afford to be complacent in a volatile market like wine, and the folks Down Under clearly want to keep you focused on their products.
Beyond that, there are good reasons to have a closer look at Australian wines, whether or not you're a regular consumer of them. Many people may still think of Australian wine as nothing but fruit-bomb reds and over-oaked whites, but in fact they offer an excellent range of varieties and styles.
Among them, you'll find crisp, delicate Rieslings, lean (as well as buttery) Chardonnays, pungent Semillons, and spicy Viogniers. As for the reds, Shiraz is king and it comes in a range of styles from elegant and structured to big and jammy. Then there are the Cabernets and Merlots, the Pinot Noirs, the Petit Verdots ...
Add to the table wines some quite outstanding sparkling wines (including sparkling Shiraz, which is loved by some and detested by others) and luscious late-harvest dessert wines.
There's also a clutch of fortified wines in sherry and port styles that are reminders of the dominance of fortified wines in the Australian wine industry until recently.
But what Australian producers would like us to come to grips with is regionality. It's fine to think of Australian wine generically, and the "South Eastern Australia" designation is a familiar one on most Australian wines in the LCBO. (southeastern Australia covers most of the country's viticultural areas.)
Within that huge zone, and in other parts of Australia, there are specific appellations that are turning out to be particularly suitable for specific grape varieties. The next Vintages release (on Saturday) focuses on Australia and includes wines from regions like the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Rutherglen, Yarra Valley, Goulbourn Valley, Hunter Valley, Tasmania ... The list goes on.
These are not appellations in the French sense. There are no restrictions on which varieties can be grown within them. But a number of regions have developed reputations for certain varieties, so that Hunter Valley is known for its Semillon, Rutherglen for its "stickies" (dessert wines), Tasmania and Yarra Valley for their Pinot Noirs, and Coonawarra for its Cabernets.
It's worth looking for regions as much as varieties when you're choosing Australian wines. It might well be that most Australian wines on offer can be thought of as generically "Australian" in a way that you'd never think of generic "French" or "Italian" wine, but there are many regional wines from Australia that are as distinctive as their European counterparts.
Watch for Australian wines featured in this Saturday's Vintages release. For reviews of the best, check the website www.winecurrent.com.
Hans Christian Jost, of Nova Scotia's Jost Wines, will present a selection of wines at a "Nova Scotia Kitchen Party" at Lapointe's Restaurant, 194 Robertson Rd., Bells Corners, on Tuesday. The five-course dinner, each matched with a Nova Scotia wine, starts at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets at $85 plus tax can be ordered by calling 851-1785 or contact them by e-mail at events@thesavvygrapes.com.
I'll be signing copies of my new book, Ontario Wine Country, at the LCBO at Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue on Friday from 5 to 8 pm. Nicholas Hoare Books will be selling the book there, for $29.95, and Ontario's Henry of Pelham winery will be pouring samples of its wine.