AUSTRALIA IN THE 80’s & 90’s
Cool, Calm and Collected
Australia in the 80’s and 90’s, a country with glasses filled with big, bold, jammy shiraz and sensationally oaky yellow chardonnay. Radical at the time, catching attention from European and American markets putting Australian wine on the map.
A style that was so identifiable as “Australian” it screamed Barossa, Hunter and Margaret River, all now typically referred to as warmer climate regions. These big bold characteristics remained for years.
80S & 90S
As a new generation of winemakers are taking the reins on the cool-climate evolution and steering clear of anything saturated in oak or intensely fruit-driven, there is now a focus on expressing the character of the region and creating vibrancy and complexity to each style. This is also a natural occurring process for the character of the grape development. A cooler climate will prolong the ripening of the grape, which results is higher acidity and lower sugar levels, hence the wine expressing complex flavours.
For Pinot Noir cooler temperatures translate to flavours more in the blueberry/peppery-spice characters instead of the blackberry jam powerhouses from warmer regions such as the Barossa.
Regions like Canberra, Orange, Tumbarumba and the Yarra, are now starting to produce some serious wines that are gaining popularity amongst the consumer. Jason Brown head winemaker at Coppabella of Tumbarumba. Clearly states what drives him to create cool climate style wines.
“Cool climate wines are by nature quite open and transparent. The great wines are always well balanced showing the characteristics of great fruit, acid, structure and texture.
There’s nowhere to hide in a wine driven by elegance and finesse. If you get something wrong, crop too high, pick too late, or even just grow it on the wrong side of the hill you are going to compromise on quality. But when you get it all right something very special happens. The uniqueness of this cool climate terroir; the minerality of the soil; the shifting microclimates that cause each separate block to differ in very small, subtle ways.
These factors speak to you through the wine.
It’s the pursuit of nurturing these wines and allowing them to express their characteristics to their fullest potential that keeps me in Tumbarumba.”
Coppabella Single Vineyard Pinot Noir
Tumbarumba, NSW
Jason and his team pick the fruit early to capture the unique distinction between hot verses cool climate Pinot..
What Jason thinks...
The Coppabella Vineyard is located in Tumbarumba, the coldest viticultural region in mainland Australia. It has an array of soil types, aspects, and clones. Cold soaked with regular daily pump-overs to aerate the wine. Matured in French oak barriques. A youthful pinot with subtle complexities appearing on the long, silky finish.