THE WINE FRONT

Winemaker Interview by Adam Catford.

Name:
Iain Riggs – Brokenwood.

Age:
52

Where you currently make wine:
Brokenwood, Hunter Valley

Where you’ve made wine in the past:
Bleasdale, Langhorne Creek, Hazelmere estate (no longer exists) McLaren Vale.

Most significant wine you’ve ever drunk:
1865 Chateau Kirwan and 1865 double magnum Chateau Lafite. Equal.

How was it?
Extraordinary in their youthfulness and complexity .

When did you taste these wines?
Both at single bottle dinners, the Kirwan about 10 years ago and the Lafite at the dinner here in the HV in 2004. The double magnum bought in UK for approx $65,000.

Wine you’re most proud of having been associated with the making of?
1986 Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz . 1982 Hazelmere Chardonnay – one of if not the first multi-trophy winning chardonnay, plus made me the McLaren Vale Bushing King.

Is there any wine you’ve been associated with the making of that, if you had your time again, you’d treat/make differently?
There are many wines that over the last 30 odd years I’d change. We all make mistakes but the good thing is we learn from them and make better wine from it. It took a while but eventually stopped skin contact for the Hunter Semillon’s for an aging style.

In your opinion, which wine style/grape variety does Australia and New Zealand , respectively, do best?
Too broad a question. Australia has defined regions/varieties eg Hunter – Semillon, Clare – Riesling, Coonawarra – Cabernet. New Zealand just has Sauvignon Blanc.

Do you rate NZ Pinot?
They are getting there.

Other than the wineries you have worked with, which Australian/NZ winery is best represented in your personal cellar?
Cullen, any Riesling from Clare. Villa Maria from NZ.

Favourite wine region (Australia):
Beechworth

Favourite wine region (world-wide):
Burgundy

Favourite movie:
Godfather 1, The Wild Bunch

Favourite book (general):
Catch 22

Favourite wine-related book:
Broadbent’s Vintage wine.

Desert-island food-wine match:
A great red Burgundy and quail

How do you take your coffee?
Strong flat white.

Your opinion on the ‘high alcohol wines can’t be in balance’ view?
Don’t agree. Alcohol, fruit, oak and tannins can be in balance. It is a matter of whether the consumer likes the style. These wines may not age but then do they have to? They can provide a mouthful of flavour and richness. I don’t drink them but people do.

You don’t believe these wines will age – or are unsure? What is the reason for this belief?
I said they 'may' not age, as I don't think that any aged reds I ever tried going back to the mid 1800s, French through to 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s Australian has had 15 to 16% alcohol!!! So who would know? Some of the Lindeman HV reds on re-release (65 Bin 3110) list the alcohol at 14.5 and are great wines. But they don't carry big oak.

What do you most detest about the wine industry?
Pretentiousness. The best wines are usually made by gifted, humble souls.

And there are many wonderful, talented, humble winemakers, viticulturists and growers out there. Which winemaker(s) do you most respect?
Tim Knappstein, Vanya Cullen, John Wade, Peter Dawson and Ian Scarborough - slightly older brigade. and Caroline Dunn, Matt Harrop and Tim Kirk of the newer.

What do you most love about the wine industry?
The camaraderie and sharing a laugh plus the legacy of great wines left to us by the winemakers of the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Any comments you would like to add/make in relation to the state of the wine industry here or globally?
Australia needs to get behind its flagship wines at every opportunity. We make the best beverage wine in the world, so let’s build on that.

The sea of commercial wine seems to create an opportunity for the creative, quality small maker. The raft of these generic wines meets the vast majority of wine drinkers' needs (90%+) and the small proportion of oenophiles who want more out of their wine (2% +) is where the small quality outfits fill the space. It actually seems a good marriage, but the wine press are very critical of the big volume commercial wine companies. What are your thoughts?
If they, the press, are critical of the quality then I don’t think it is justified. See above. Having been involved in wine show judging for 30 years it is often the small guys needing help with quality. It is often the case that a new area is started by smaller operators and then large wineries move in to cash in the hype or quality aspects. Beechworth or Hilltops for example. The large winery has the advertising power to make a noise that the small guys, in this instance, benefits from.

The wine press actually gets it right. Quality wines whether from large or small get the front running.

Finally, the 2007 vintage is being described as a disaster. How did you fare?
The Hunter Valley had an outstanding vintage. No bushfires, in fact not even a whiff of smoke – a rare occurrence. No rain either, so crops down a bit. The first tasting of the region's semillons shows some great warm year wines. A few a touch higher in alcohol. The reds terrific.

Many thanks, Adam.