1
AFRGA1 L013 “bon Sol properties - Luxury holiday rental” The Esplanade Burleigh Heads email [email protected] www.bonsol.com.au AFR 22-24 September 2017 www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review L13 Life&Leisure The car proved nicely balanced on the twisty stuff, able to burst out of corners with verve. There were times, though, when there were clear roads, and some lovely twists and turns. The car proved nicely balanced on the twisty stuff, able to burst out of corners with verve and push deep into them. Yes, you feel the weight – even with the lighter engine this small roadster is 1545kg in barest form – but it’s not setting out to be a hard-edged sports car, more a luxurious and comfortably riding ‘‘sporty’’ car. There are tougher versions in the range for those who want something extreme, including the 320km/h V8-powered SVR. Because the sound is important, and it is nigh on impossible to make a four-cylinder turbo sound as sonorous and at times menacing as the V6 and V8 versions of this same model, the Jaguar engineers have, well, cheated. Under acceleration, some of the noise comes through the loudspeakers. Somewhere in the engine management system is a chip with a recording that adjusts to engine speed. Despite that, the sound is good when working hard, though with this slightly artificial top note. The thing about a convertible is that, even when cruising around slowly, it tends to be special. Particularly when you choose a locale like this, with endless shoreline, many bridges, switchback mountain passes and tunnels. Lots of tunnels. The facelifted model year 2018 F-Types bring various electronic driver aids including autonomous braking and lane- keeping assistance. Another advantage with the revised roadster is the boot has been reworked. It’s horribly irregular in shape but liberates every bit of space available. OK, it’s not much space, but more than before. For a bit more practicality and a bit less open air, the coupe is equally beautiful and has decent carrying capacity. For all the reasons at the start of this story, and heavy taxation in Norway, there were few sports cars around. One was a circa 2000 Porsche 911. I chatted to the driver, Tomas, as we parked side by side on a car ferry. He told us he’d imported his 911 second-hand from Japan because new ones are simply too dear. If you are caught going more than 26km/h above the speed limit, he said, you lose your licence. The minimum fines are 1500 krona ‘‘just for not signalling a turn’’ and 3000 krona for speeding. That’s about $240 and $480. ‘‘But it is income adjusted, and someone like me could pay 50,000 [$8000]. Also, in these parts it is snowy for eight months of the year.’’ One good, if bittersweet, change is afoot: Tomas says it is getting hotter every year, so he can use his Porsche and motorcycle for more months than in the past. L&L The writer attended the international launch as a guest of the manufacturer. Riesling meister Early lessons in terroir. Drinks Max Allen Above: Jeff Grosset, the hipster, in 1981. Below: the Clare Valley winemaker today. Jeff Grosset has brought along a slideshow to the wine tasting today. As we sit and sniff and sip through the newest releases and some back vintages of his two great single vineyard rieslings, Springvale and Polish Hill, he shows us some pictures to help tell his story. There are bucolic vineyard landscape shots. A map of the Clare Valley showing where the grapes for the two wines were grown. A photo of the striking difference in the size of the bunches of riesling grapes from each site. It’s all fascinating. Illuminating. And helps us appreciate and better understand the wines we’re tasting. But the picture that grabs my attention more than any other is a black and white photo from 1981 of Grosset aged 26, in beard and straggly hair and what look like velvet flares, standing in front of tanks holding the first four wines he produced that vintage under his own label. All 800 dozen bottles worth. Now, of course, 36 years later, Grosset is regarded as arguably the best maker of riesling in Australia, and a leading producer of almost every other grape variety he lays his hands on. He makes a bit more wine now, too: 11,000 dozen bottles this year, spread across nine wines. And these days he looks more like an architect than a hipster. It makes me wonder how today’s bearded, straggly- haired young winemakers will evolve over the next three decades. How will their innovations, ideas and energy be viewed in the future? How will they maintain their focus, drive and commitment? Grosset was lucky, in a way. When he started out, the concept of terroir – the idea that wines taste of where they’re from thanks to differences in soil, aspect, vine age and a million other little things – was rarely discussed in Australia. When he decided to make two rieslings from different sub- regions in Clare, he says, he wasn’t setting out to deliberately explore or express this concept. But as soon as he fermented the wines the differences were so clear that he couldn’t help but use the reality of terroir to help tell the story of the wines. Everything he’s done since then has been driven by the desire to better capture these differences in the glass. That has meant planting his own vineyards rather than relying on bought-in fruit; converting to certified organic viticulture; planting a variety of different clones of riesling to see which is best suited to the differing sites. As a result, he says, the vines are producing better fruit now and are more resilient than ever. And they’ve needed to be resilient over the past few vintages, too, with picking dates swinging wildly from incredibly early in 2015 to very late this year. The proof, as ever, is in the glass, and I can safely say that the new vintage wines (reviewed here) are truly outstanding. Not that some of the older vintages Grosset has opened for us aren’t delicious: if you have any bottles of the 2011 Springvale or Polish Hill in your cellar you are a very lucky person: these are both classic Clare rieslings with incredible intensity and poise, destined for a long life of slow, languid flavour development. It’s just that the new, young wines, seem to have extra depth and vitality. And I feel confident in predicting that they’ll age better than their predecessors, too. It’s a long game, wine. It takes decades to gain the perspective, both as maker and drinker, to see the changes, to adapt to variable external influences, to tweak and tweak again until you get things right. Take the development of Grosset’s third riesling, the Alea, a subtly off-dry style that – unlike the dry Springvale and Polish Hill – has about 10 grams per litre of residual unfermented sugar. Grosset got the idea for this third wine when he was walking through his vineyard and tasting grapes in the lead-up to harvest in 2007. The fruit on one patch of riesling vines planted in soil sitting atop hard red rock tasted different – more like the aromatic grapey flavours he’d tasted in off- dry German rieslings. So he fermented experimental batches of the fruit from that block separately for three vintages to be sure his hunch was correct, then started bottling and selling it on its own – simply labelling it Off-Dry at first, then giving it the name Alea (after the Greek god Athena Alea), and finally, in 2017, producing a stunning wine that is a worthy companion to its revered riesling siblings. That’s a 10-year project from first inkling to fruition. But as Grosset points out, in the grand time scale of wine, it’s not that long at all. L&L The writer travelled to Sydney as a guest of Grosset Wines to attend this tasting. [email protected] Contemporary hat-trick 2017GrossetAleaRiesling (ClareValley) Ihaven’tbeenhugelyimpressed bypreviousvintagesofthiswine, butthelatestreleaseisagem, withmouth-wateringfreshness balancinghintsofround sweetness.Itstartswithawake- upcalloflip-puckeringlimejuice followedbyawhisperofspring blossomhoney. $35 2017GrossetSpringvale Riesling(ClareValley) Oh,thisissogood.There’sjustso muchflavourinhere–allthe classicyoungrieslingcharacters ofgreenappleandcitrusand hintsofmuskyperfume–butit’s notoverthetoporcloying,andit leavesthemouthcleanand refreshedandwantinganother taste. $45 2017GrossetPolishHillRiesling (ClareValley) WheretheSpringvaleisall instantgratificationand abandonmenttopleasure,the PolishHillisallfocusand precisionandreserve:ithasa scintillating,crystallinepurity andanincrediblelaser-lineof citrusalongthetonguethatlasts andlasts.Outstanding. $55 grosset.com.au

22/09/2017 AFRGA1 L013 - bon Sol Luxury Apartments · 2017. 11. 30. · AFRGA1 L013 “bon Sol properties - Luxury holiday rental” The Esplanade Burleigh Heads email [email protected]

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    3

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • AFRGA1 L013

    “bon Sol properties - Luxury holiday rental” The Esplanade Burleigh Heads

    email [email protected] www.bonsol.com.au

    AFR 22-24 September 2017www.afr.com | The Australian Financial Review L13Life&Leisure

    The car proved nicelybalanced on the twistystuff, able to burst outof corners with verve.

    There were times, though, when therewere clear roads, and some lovely twists andturns. The car proved nicely balanced on thetwisty stuff, able to burst out of corners withverve and push deep into them. Yes, you feelthe weight – even with the lighter enginethis small roadster is 1545kg in barest form –but it’s not setting out to be a hard-edgedsports car, more a luxurious andcomfortably riding ‘‘sporty’’ car. There aretougher versions in the range for those whowant something extreme, including the320km/h V8-powered SVR.

    Because the sound is important, and it isnigh on impossible to make a four-cylinderturbo sound as sonorous and at timesmenacing as the V6 and V8 versions of thissame model, the Jaguar engineers have,well, cheated. Under acceleration, some ofthe noise comes through the loudspeakers.Somewhere in the engine managementsystem is a chip with a recording thatadjusts to engine speed. Despite that, thesound is good when working hard, thoughwith this slightly artificial top note.

    The thing about a convertible is that, evenwhen cruising around slowly, it tends to bespecial. Particularly when you choose alocale like this, with endless shoreline,many bridges, switchback mountain passesand tunnels. Lots of tunnels.

    The facelifted model year 2018 F-Typesbring various electronic driver aidsincluding autonomous braking and lane-keeping assistance. Another advantage withthe revised roadster is the boot has beenreworked. It’s horribly irregular in shapebut liberates every bit of space available. OK,it’s not much space, but more than before.

    For a bit more practicality and a bit lessopen air, the coupe is equally beautiful andhas decent carrying capacity.

    For all the reasons at the start of this story,and heavy taxation in Norway, there werefew sports cars around. One was a circa2000 Porsche 911. I chatted to the driver,Tomas, as we parked side by side on a carferry. He told us he’d imported his 911second-hand from Japan because new onesare simply too dear.

    If you are caught going more than26km/h above the speed limit, he said, youlose your licence. The minimum fines are1500 krona ‘‘just for not signalling a turn’’and 3000 krona for speeding. That’s about$240 and $480. ‘‘But it is income adjusted,and someone like me could pay 50,000[$8000]. Also, in these parts it is snowy foreight months of the year.’’

    One good, if bittersweet, change is afoot:Tomas says it is getting hotter every year, sohe can use his Porsche and motorcycle formore months than in the past. L&L

    ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

    The writer attended the international launchas a guest of the manufacturer.

    Riesling meisterEarly lessons in terroir.

    ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

    Drinks● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

    Max Allen

    Above: Jeff Grosset, the hipster, in 1981.Below: the Clare Valley winemaker today.

    Jeff Grosset has broughtalong a slideshow to thewine tasting today. Aswe sit and sniff and sipthrough the newest releases and some backvintages of his two great single vineyardrieslings, Springvale and Polish Hill, heshows us some pictures to help tell his story.

    There are bucolic vineyard landscapeshots. A map of the Clare Valley showingwhere the grapes for the two wines weregrown. A photo of the striking difference inthe size of the bunches of riesling grapesfrom each site.

    It’s all fascinating. Illuminating. Andhelps us appreciate and better understandthe wines we’re tasting.

    But the picture that grabs my attentionmore than any other is a black and whitephoto from 1981 of Grosset aged 26, in beardand straggly hair and what look like velvetflares, standing in front of tanks holdingthe first four wines he produced thatvintage under his own label. All 800 dozenbottles worth.

    Now, of course, 36 years later, Grosset isregarded as arguably the best maker ofriesling in Australia, and a leading producerof almost every other grape variety he layshis hands on.

    He makes a bit more wine now, too: 11,000dozen bottles this year, spread across ninewines. And these days he looks more like anarchitect than a hipster. It makes mewonder how today’s bearded, straggly-haired young winemakers will evolve overthe next three decades. How will theirinnovations, ideas and energy be viewed

    in the future? How will they maintaintheir focus, drive and commitment?

    Grosset was lucky, in a way. When hestarted out, the concept of terroir – the ideathat wines taste of where they’re fromthanks to differences in soil, aspect, vine ageand a million other little things – was rarelydiscussed in Australia. When he decided tomake two rieslings from different sub-regions in Clare, he says, he wasn’t settingout to deliberately explore or express thisconcept. But as soon as he fermented thewines the differences were so clear that hecouldn’t help but use the reality of terroir tohelp tell the story of the wines.

    Everything he’s done since then has beendriven by the desire to better capture thesedifferences in the glass. That has meantplanting his own vineyards rather thanrelying on bought-in fruit; converting tocertified organic viticulture; planting avariety of different clones of riesling to seewhich is best suited to the differing sites.

    As a result, he says, the vines areproducing better fruit now and are moreresilient than ever. And they’ve needed to beresilient over the past few vintages, too, withpicking dates swinging wildly fromincredibly early in 2015 to very late this year.

    The proof, as ever, is in the glass, and I cansafely say that the new vintage wines(reviewed here) are truly outstanding.

    Not that some of the older vintagesGrosset has opened for us aren’t delicious: ifyou have any bottles of the 2011 Springvaleor Polish Hill in your cellar you are a verylucky person: these are both classic Clarerieslings with incredible intensity and poise,destined for a long life of slow, languidflavour development. It’s just that the new,young wines, seem to have extra depth andvitality. And I feel confident in predictingthat they’ll age better than theirpredecessors, too.

    It’s a long game, wine. It takes decades togain the perspective, both as maker and

    drinker, to see the changes, to adapt tovariable external influences, to tweak andtweak again until you get things right.

    Take the development of Grosset’s thirdriesling, the Alea, a subtly off-dry style that –unlike the dry Springvale and Polish Hill –has about 10 grams per litre of residualunfermented sugar.

    Grosset got the idea for this third winewhen he was walking through his vineyardand tasting grapes in the lead-up to harvestin 2007. The fruit on one patch of rieslingvines planted in soil sitting atop hard redrock tasted different – more like thearomatic grapey flavours he’d tasted in off-dry German rieslings. So he fermentedexperimental batches of the fruit from thatblock separately for three vintages to besure his hunch was correct, then startedbottling and selling it on its own – simplylabelling it Off-Dry at first, then giving it thename Alea (after the Greek god AthenaAlea), and finally, in 2017, producing astunning wine that is a worthy companionto its revered riesling siblings.

    That’s a 10-year project from first inklingto fruition. But as Grosset points out, in thegrand time scale of wine, it’s not that longat all. L&L

    ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

    The writer travelled to Sydney as a guest ofGrosset Wines to attend this tasting.● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

    [email protected]

    Contemporary hat-trick2017GrossetAleaRiesling(ClareValley)Ihaven’tbeenhugelyimpressedbypreviousvintagesofthiswine,butthelatestreleaseisagem,withmouth-wateringfreshnessbalancinghintsofroundsweetness.Itstartswithawake-upcalloflip-puckeringlimejuicefollowedbyawhisperofspringblossomhoney.$35

    2017GrossetSpringvaleRiesling(ClareValley)Oh,thisissogood.There’sjustsomuchflavourinhere–alltheclassicyoungrieslingcharactersofgreenappleandcitrusandhintsofmuskyperfume–butit’snotoverthetoporcloying,anditleavesthemouthcleanandrefreshedandwantinganothertaste.$45

    2017GrossetPolishHillRiesling(ClareValley)WheretheSpringvaleisallinstantgratificationandabandonmenttopleasure,thePolishHillisallfocusandprecisionandreserve:ithasascintillating,crystallinepurityandanincrediblelaser-lineofcitrusalongthetonguethatlastsandlasts.Outstanding.$55grosset.com.au