Wine Atlas

This is one of those good news, bad news stories. The good news is that the quality of Italian wine is improving at a palate-pleasing rate, but the bad news is that the prices are rising even faster than the quality is improving.

It is not unusual to find the great Barolos and Brunellos selling for more than $100, and when you see unknown, supposed "Super-Umbrians" heading north of $50, things are getting a little ridiculous.

It was, after all, only 30 years ago that Italian wine was seen as nothing more than cheap plonk, wine that came in straw-covered bottles, the ubiquitous fiasci of so many college dorm rooms, and was confined, in the U.S. at least, to Italian restaurants with red and white checkered tablecloths.

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Seasonal conditions have had an impact on the 2006 wine harvest with local vineyards reporting they are three weeks behind schedule.

Due to the colder spring yields, harvests are expected to be lower than previous years.

However general opinion is that 2006 will be a good year for whites with more elegant and intense flavours.

More fruit flavours are expected for reds, but it will be a difficult season making sure fruit comes in without disease and before the season breaks.

Xanadu Winery vineyard manager Aaron Paganoni said Margaret River's iconic whites should produce wines of excellent flavour.

"It is an excellent year for whites with more intense flavours in our chardonnay, sauvignon blancs and semillons," he said.

There is an expectation of high quality due to slow and well-ripened fruit.

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THE significant oversupply of wine in the Australian market could last for at least two years, McGuigan Simeon Wines Ltd said today. The winemaker's net profit tumbled 61 per cent to $6.19 million in the first half of the financial year on the back of continuing oversupply and increased competition in its markets.

McGuigan Simeon chairman David Clarke said the group expected another significant vintage this year, with an update to be provided in May.

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For more than 25 years, I have been following my passion for wine. This passion began with a trip to the Napa Valley in 1979 and has grown to an appreciation of wines and winemaking throughout the world, especially the West Coast of the United States. Here, on the West Coast, vineyard options are plentiful. We see wines made from a single vineyard alongside blends from various vineyards, both similar and diverse. I am often asked about the differences and about how winemakers make their choices.

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