A surprise

One more fact, of course, is that we tasted but a few dozen Hunter wines, but Halliday tastes hundreds of them for his well-known wine guide (http://winecompanion.com.au/), and he keeps constant tabs on everything that goes on in the Australian wine industry.
 
(Message previously occupying this space deleted by author. Because, for better or worse, the involved posters' histories suggest that it's never worth it.)

Thor, could you send the article in question to the winemakers you'd contacted? Only a few paragraphs need to be translated, I think.
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Yixin, that sounds like a splendid and worthy idea if I really wanted to adjudicate this matter. I think I've already made it clear that I don't, and am even sorrier than before that I ever said anything, because it has now been made clear to me that this has long ceased to be about Hunter semillon, and is instead about being right. But you're right: the paragraph quoting Halliday on acid additions is easy enough to find, and I'm sure would be easy enough to send along to all interested parties. Maybe one of our thousands of Australian readers would like to do it.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Nathan Vandergrift...But "100%" makes my antennae quiver, no matter what the context.
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See what you've done? You've put yourself on the death camp list when I take over.

Silly journalist.
 
originally posted by VLM:
Hunter ValleyCool climate. Interesting wines. I had a buddy who did a stage there.

If I owned some I would drink them more often.
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Someone lied to me about cool climate. Fuckers. I just assumed they were telling the truth because of the reasonable wines I've tasted from there (in my limited experience with such things). That'll teach me to accept the argument from authority (it would be cooler if I remembered the Latin for that).
 
originally posted by Thor:
this has long ceased to be about Hunter semillon, and is instead about being right.
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Interesting. I thought it was about getting Hunter smillon right.
 
This is a little hard to follow but as I understand it Halliday writes about wine in French, so that the Australians can't understand him. Besides singing and acting. And Thor is supposed to translate the articles for the Australian wine-makers who aren't entirely sure whether or not they are adding things to their wine.

Does that more or less sum it up?

F
 
In that case it's Hallyday with two y's. He started his career faking an American origin (his family is Belgian, which sells noticeably less both on the wine and the rock music markets), and he takes pride in his command of English. So even the Australians might understand him...
 
I've sent an inquiry to Tyrell's, which is the winery I'm most familiar with in terms of the number of wines tasted. I've even offered to translate the relevant paragraphs.

If the rest have suggestions for other wineries to contact, I'll be happy to do so. Incremental cost to me is pretty close to zero anyway.

Any other disputes to bring up?
 
originally posted by MLipton:
Got any advice for restarting meaningful dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians?
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Yes.

If Victor is right that Hunter Valleyians practice spoofulation, I must admit that then I am not always adamantly against spoofulation. I haven't tasted a large sample, just a few Semillons and Shirazes, but in those that I have had, the acid - and, indeed, everything else, too - has seemed perfectly natural. So when spoofulation is done with such a deft hand that it seems natural, I guess I won't complain.
 
originally posted by Otto Nieminen:If Victor is right that Hunter Valleyians practice spoofulation, I must admit that then I am not always adamantly against spoofulation. I haven't tasted a large sample, just a few Semillons and Shirazes, but in those that I have had, the acid - and, indeed, everything else, too - has seemed perfectly natural. So when spoofulation is done with such a deft hand that it seems natural, I guess I won't complain.
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I'd be less sure about the shirazes. Of course, things vary by vintage. 2008 was so wet that many wineries made no reds at all. But if they got the semillon in before the rains hit, then I imagine there would not have been a need to add acid.

I recall there's an old debate in "spoofulation = acidification but not chaptalization", but it's pointless to pursue; suffice to say such discussions make only heat not light, as they are conducted entirely in generalization.

I wouldn't say the Hunter still makes wines the way they did 30 years ago (there's marginally less brett around, for a start) but it does seem to be one region that simply doesn't let such a divergence from the 'tradition' take place such as has happened in the Barossa; traditional wines there (Barossa) were quite full-bodied but rarely blockbusters; that kind of thing was left to McLaren Vale, or more often Rutherglen over in Victoria. For whatever reason, the Hunter just doesn't seem to enable grapes to get into that specific, raisiny mode; they're long since washed out or otherwise unsuitable.
It may explain why the Hunter's gone from being seen as one of the country's premier sources of shiraz in the 60s & 70s to something of an anachronism by the late 90s.
To the extent that there is a backlash against high-alcohol, super-extracted, over-the-top gloopy wines, it's doing the Hunter plenty of good now, though.
cheers,
Graeme
 
Halliday explained to his colleague, surprised, "Semillon is the grand cru of the Hunter Valley and there's no wine like it, either in Australia or the rest of the world". He explained the unique origin of this type of wine: "When Semillon grows on flat, sandy land, and in a hot and humid climate, with summer rains, the grapes achieve the desired aromatic and textural complexity at 10 or 11 Baume. By that point, they have already lost their acidity and have an elevated pH. They must be acidified before fermentation. They are not subject to any maceration, or resting on the lees after fermentation at low temperature, in stainless steel. They require a minimum of five years, after which they change spectacularly. Screwcapped, the good Semillons can age for 20 years ... or more. "

Given my French, I would welcome any corrections. I've sent it off to Tyrell's, who said they would respond. Any other wineries I should contact?
 
from Andrew Spinaze, who's a senior winemaker at Tyrell's.

Verbatim: "As for the acid addition, one of the reasons why Semillon is so successful here is because of the age of the vineyards and because of its natural high acid (emphasis his). There are very, very few years where acid is required. In fact sometimes in years like 2000 we needed to de-acidify"

I hope that helps. FWIW, I liked the 2000!
 
...on James Halliday: "James knows this area very well and I can't actually see him saying this because it is simply untrue."

Okay, end of party?
 
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