Meet the Brookfords

Brookford’s vineyard: French varietals growing Australian style.

When I was a student in London during the last century, Australian wine had a pretty dodgy reputation. In the 1960’s, you could buy flagon-shaped bottles labeled, to the chagrin of the French, “Australian Burgundy”. And rough old stuff it was too. However, in recent decades Australian wine has improved beyond all recognition. Australia is now a world leader in terms of both quantity and quality. Interestingly, some French wine-makers have started giving their wines distinctly Australian-sounding names. Now that, if you ask me, is richly ironic.

Brookford Colombard - Chardonnay 2010 (white) Australia. (Villa Bt. 349)

Both the wines this week are entry-level products from the respected Cranswick stable, known best for its excellent varietals. The Colombard grape hails from the Charente region of South Western France, where it’s usually distilled for Cognac. It’s also quite popular as a blender in California and South Africa and is now being grown in Texas, of all places. In Australia, Colombard (kaw-lawm-BAHR) ranks as Number Five in the white wine production stakes. It has a high natural acidity, so it’s a good choice for blends.

This is a light gold with a delicate aroma of apricots. I could also smell ripe peaches, with a faint hint of herbs. Maybe there’s a suggestion of boiled sweets too. Well, that’s what it says in my notes. There’s a lovely soft mouth-feel with a zesty, crisp tingle of bright acidity that makes you sit up and take notice. This is probably because 85% of the blend is Colombard. At 11% alcohol, it’s quite a light-bodied wine with fruit well up-front. The wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks which help to preserve the natural freshness and zing.

There’s a longish citrus finish too, making this a most attractive and well-balanced wine. It would make a jolly good ap้ritif, but the makers suggest that it would be a good partner for shellfish, Asian salads, roast chicken or creamy pasta dishes. “Up to you,” as they say in these parts.

Brookford Merlot - Petit Verdot 2010 (red) Australia. (Villa Bt. 349)

You’ve heard of Merlot of course, especially if you’ve sat through that irritating American movie called “Sideways”, in which most of the actors speak as though they have socks in their mouths. I had to switch on the subtitles before the movie began to make any kind of sense.

In Bordeaux, the comparatively soft and fleshy Merlot is traditionally used to tame down Cabernet Sauvignon, which is made of sterner stuff. Of course, these days Merlot (mehr-LOH) has become a major star in its own right.

In case you were wondering about Petit Verdot (puh-TEE vehr-DOH), it’s one of the lesser stars of the red Bordeaux constellation. It’s normally used for firming-up Cabernet Sauvignon blends. The blending of these two grapes is rather unusual, although it’s becoming popular in parts of the New World.

This wine has 85% Merlot in the blend and it’s a gorgeous deep purple-red with lots of thick legs forming as you swirl it around the glass. The aroma is very soft and fruity; an attractive smell that reminds me of plum jam, with overtones of red berries and herbs. There are hints of warm spices and oak on the aroma too, giving the impression that the wine is rather more expensive than it actually is.

The fruit is really up-front but the wine is quite dry and firm-bodied. There’s also a pleasing foundation of soft tannin and you also get a longish dry finish. Actually, the tannin gives the wine a rather French feel, so if you enjoy light French reds, you’ll probably like this too.

Although I’d be quite happy to enjoy this wine on its own, I’d class it as a food wine. At just 12.5%, it’s an attractive easy-drinker that would be great with red meat dishes, stews, pizza and pasta. And by the way, the word Merlot comes from the old French word which means “a young blackbird”. Not many people know that.