Perception killed Murray Basin wines – true or false and other wine mysteries.
My guess is you have negative views about wines from the Murray Basin, the irrigated food bowl which drives so much of our agriculture. The wines are labelled Southeast Australia or the regional names, Riverland, Riverina and Murray Darling etc.
I hear in the background, ‘I won’t be caught drinking rubbish, muddy stuff with so many real alternatives, proper wines, – no matter what you say’, which tells me you have progressed along the wine path. Now remember perception is all in the wine business, enough to mask the actual taste.
Consider this from the chrisshanahan.com site; ‘Chairman of judges, Ian McKenzie, produced a soft, quite delicious 1972 Berri-Renmano Rhine Riesling. Here, from the much-reviled Riverland, was a twenty-year-old white that probably sold for $1.50 in its day. Australian rhine riesling is vastly under-appreciated’. Lovely Old Gems Uncorked in Canberra 15th Nov 1992’.
The reason I recommend masked tastings is they remind us to be humble.
Here are two Glug wines where we have left the Barossa yet they do the job, P.B. Burgoyne Riverland Shiraz 2022 and Farmers & Growers ‘The Ploughman’ South Australia Shiraz Mataro 2022.
1975 to 2025 is 50 years and wine is back to where it was with the Brown Bros Spritz replacing Barossa Pearl. Reading the future is so hard, results are poor, yet off we go again. Forget the Murray Basin for wine and go for quality – whatever that means – is a common cry. I have doubts.
An odd thing with wine is the passion it generates. Alas this brings out prejudice and the certainty of knowing what others will enjoy. Soon enough we are foretelling the future forgetting how wrong we were 29 years ago with the Strategy 2025 vision of Australian wine.
It’s a sorry business looking back. The inventiveness and talent that created Barossa Pearl and the dozens of copies was lost by the 1980s as the wine business decided making them was below the dignity of their fine wine aspirations. With our youth now demanding new creations at the bar where is the next Wolf Blass with a refreshing Pineapple Pearl in a pineapple bottle wrapped in transparent, orange, crinkly paper.
Giving customers what they want is not in the nature of the wine business as globally the post war trend has been to imitate France with a dazzling array of expensive, small vineyard, high quality wines. Sure, I exaggerate but this was the view expressed by several in ‘A Lot of Pain’, Luke Slattery, Sydney Morning Herald, Good Weekend, 9th November, 2024.
The industry leader since the 1970s Brian Croser tells us;
‘At the same time, budget brands had become the main image of Australian wine overseas – that image was now dominated by the inland areas, hot-climate wine, sold in supermarkets, produced on an industrial scale.’ The suggestion that Australian wine was “industrial”, tricked-up, or fake had become an established trope in international wine appreciation. ‘The image of industrial winemaking overshadowed the fine-wine industry, making it harder for Australian fine wine to be recognised on its own terms.’… ‘But in one important respect, I’ve failed. Hundreds of speeches and I’ve not been able to guide us in the right direction: towards quality’.
I served customers over this period and offer the view that this passage is made up. And relax Brian as the quality is fabulous yet exports are sick, the locals love imports and we have a surplus of premium grapes.
Can I ask whether other causes have brought on our grief. Looking ahead 29 years makes me think writing off the Murray Basin is a bad idea while leaving it to the market is a good idea.
On cue, ‘Australian wine – A Snap Shot for 2025’, Julie Sheppard, Decanter U.K. 23rd January 2025, applauds Starrs Reach winery in the Riverland while the Slattery article, November, 2024 quotes the praises of two winemakers for the Ricca Terra winery, Riverland.
These are the only mentions I have noted in 50 years for boutique Murray Basin brands in ‘mainstream articles’ and surely from this I can project omens of the future.
Now try these new bottlings, Auld & Burton Barossa Valley Shiraz Mataro 2014 and Old Moppa Road Barossa Valley Primitivo 2023.
So, Drink Wisely and Drink Well,
David Farmer
David Farmer
Glug Wines
