A plea for patience from Rick Burge

It's not often you get a chance to talk to someone who comes from a multi-generational winemaking family from the Barossa Valley. Having an entirely normal, healthy and worthwhile obsession with Tassie wine we forget that some wine regions have been in this caper a tad longer than is the case in this fine state of ours.

We were reminded of the longevity of the Australian wine industry recently when we had the opportunity to talk with Rick Burge. If you are like us, and you almost certainly would be, you get a lot of emails from Tim Goddard (cough ... stammer ... cough - Ed) of Cool Wine. Fortunately we actually read this particular email which informed us that Rick would be conducting a wine tasting of his current range from Burge Family Wines and more importantly it would be free (our favourite four letter word starting with 'F' - Ed).

Since he is a drain on society and seems to have more free time than is humanly possible we sent PJ along to try a bit of Barossa gold. Despite arriving back a bit tired and emotional he did manage to recall what happened.

A wine lesson

Being a Tassie wine tragic I knew nothing about Rick or his family but a short time on that thing the kids call the Interwhatsit made me realise that a winetasting run by Rick wasn't something I wanted to miss.

As promised there was a wide range of wines for tasting and for the record the they were fantastic. Along with the quality shiraz and grenache that you would expect, Rick even makes a semillon we would actually buy! To my surprise I also got an incredible lesson in wine. During a conversation that spanned some two hours we talked about topics as diverse as selling wines in British Columbia, wine distributors and how the younger Australian winemakers are developing.

Along the way we spent time talking about wine journalists and commentators (Rick seemed to have the impression I was a professional and well regarded wine writer and I didn't see the need to correct him). Out of this came some very timely and sage advice.

"Slow down you move too fast"

Rick has a lot of experience of wine journalism both internationally and here in Australia. While he has a lot of respect for the majority of wine commentators there are a couple of things that irk him. 

He complained that some wine writers don't take the time to let the wine settle. To illustrate his point, he told me a story about how a wine writer whose review of a Burge wine appeared on the Net the same day that the wine sample would have arrived at the writer's address.

The writer mentioned that while the wines were good the taste was subdued which was no surprise since wine needs time to settle after having been transported the sorts of distances we deal with here in Australia. 

He also laments the fact that commentators often don't try the wine over several days. As he points out, a good wine should not only hold it's flavour but it should 'open up' over a couple of days. Rick argues that taking longer with the wine is more likely to result in a more complete and objective opinion and this has to be better for everyone concerned (send us a sample Rick we can be trusted to do the right thing ... er  ... from now on - Ed).

This is good advice and something we intend to follow in the future but it's also timely given the recent revelations about Matt Skinner. Matt, an Aussie who works in London with chef Jamie Oliver, recently released a book (Juice 2010) which contained reviews of wines that were not released at the time the book went to print.  This is ok apparently because by the time people read the book the wines were released. 

The fact that the reviews read like he had tried the wines or that Matt is on the public record as saying that a writer's integrity requires that he or she try a wine before they write about it aren't as important as getting a book out by a certain date.  Sounds like a faulty moral compass to me, but what would I know, I'm not a 'professional  writer' at the cutting edge of the wine world (but he's not bitter - Ed).

It's about the wine!

Aside from the rushing Rick has also noticed that writers have a go at the fact that he uses corks and criticise the level of alcohol in some of his wines. He suggests that the priority has to be the wine and then how it's sealed or how much alcohol it contains.  

Rick defends the continuing use of cork on the basis that, as a result of the move to stelvin seals, the price of cork has fallen and he is buying better quality corks. This, along with the move away from chlorine washing, has reduced the amount of cork related problems. 

I agree with his views on alcohol level and mentioned to him that we never include this in winepunter reviews. Why write something that the punter can read on a label? In any case, the level of alcohol is only important if it ruins or overpowers the taste of the wine. One of my favourite wines from Rutherglen sits around 15% and it tastes fantastic. I just make sure I don't do brain surgery or operate heavy equipment while I'm drinking it.

A window into another world

Rick certainly moves in circles that I will never experience. Listening to his description of the wine list at a recent 80th birthday party left me stunned. The list included several wines from 1929. It helps to know multi-millionaires apparently. Maybe there's room for a 'relationship' website or reality TV show that introduces the mega rich to deserving wine lovers so more of us can experience the high life. 

Hey, they do it for geeks, yuppies and airheads - why not for the more deserving? 

Despite his success, and the occasionally exotic lifestyle, Rick appears to be largely unaffected. I found him to be a humble and genuine person who treated someone he didn't know with interest and respect. Thanks Rick and thanks Tim for the opportunity.

The list

This is what Rick drank at an 80th birthday party he attended recently ....

No particular order, but the first wine set the mood for the night, a '29 Mouton - tired but hanging in there.
Then,
'29 La Chapelle which was mind-blowing, and a great wine to get us focussed!
Also had La Chapelle '59,'61,'99
DRC Richebourg '07, Vosne Rom. '99, Rom. St Vivant '76 and La Tache '59, '76,'82, '01, as Peter would say "all very tasty".
Dujac Clos de la Roche '80,'85,'01 - all fantastic.
Remoissenet Clos Vougeot '64 (mag), Richebourg '49, '61
Ch.Latour '29 (mag), '59 (mag), '61 (mag) - Frederic Engerer pronounced them all authentic!
Ch. Margaux '85, '97 (6 Litre)
Ch. Lafite '29, '98
Ch. Mouton '92,'94,'96,'01
Ch. Haut Brion '29,'95
Cheval Blanc '47 (mag), '97
Leoville Les Cases '45, Palmer '83, Ducru '61, La Mission H B '59
Ch. Petrus '61 (mag), '70,'97, Chapoutier La Sizerane '04, L'Ermite '04 (6 Litre) Fantastic wine, v. fresh.
Dom '76, '78 (mag), both fantastic, Taittinger Comtes '76 (mag) also.
Ramonet Batard Montrachet '92, Boillot Mersault ' 02 - both great.

But the wines of the night would have to have been the 1921 Ch. dYquem and a double-magnum of 1985 Yquem.
The '21 was golden brown but with some life left, and the '85 simply sensational.

Last wine poured was a 1827 Madeira, needed a 'slash' by this stage, put the glass down, and when I came back - you guessed it - it was gone. A staff member cleaning up at midnight had tipped it out! Had tasted it though - searing acidity.

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