It was a happening.

Three hundred wine lovers turned out to see an aboriginal art exhibit at an Arlington, Va., hotel; taste 18 wines from four wineries; sample great charcuterie and cheeses; meet winery personnel and get their gift bottles signed in gold ink.

The artwork on the walls was as colorful and as striking as the liquid art within the bottles. The show, which was up for one evening only at the Hotel Palomar, is now at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Va., courtesy of Gallery Sydney-East (www.sydney-east.com).

The paintings were visually stunning, boasting bold pigments and strong abstract designs that pulled you into the canvas in a swirl of energy and power. The wine lineup was a show in itself. Together, they made for a fantastic event, with both artists and winemakers having stories to tell.

The aboriginal artists express the pre-history of "Dreamtime" in their work, a time when their ancestors created and gave shape to the physical world.

The winemaker works in his or her own Dreamtime, crafting his or her own vision with each vintage.

"France is my inspiration," said Dan Pannell of Picardy Winery, in Pemberton, West Australia. "I tasted a 51-year old Clos Vougeot and said to myself, 'How do I do that?' "

He had a dream. Now he's living it.

His Picardy Pinot Noir ($31) is rich and earthy. It hints of bacon fat and seasoned leather. It is both savory and texturous without being over-extracted. Unlike many New World pinots, this is no one-dimensional fruit bomb. It is supple, balanced and complex. The wine is so heady and so aromatic that you just want to inhale it reverently ... with eyes closed.

"Most people start out drinking sweet whites," Pannell said. "They move to dry whites, then wooded whites, then jump right into the headache reds. Eventually, they evolve back through the softer, more elegant reds and discover pinot noir. Once they discover elegance, they will search for it in all wine categories, including the more firmly structured cabernets and syrahs."

To speak of elegance ... Longview Vineyards makes a fabulous "Red Bucket" Shiraz-Cabernet blend for $15.

The aroma is freshly ground black pepper and cocoa with an undercurrent of berries. Here, also, the winery has opted to eschew the "rock star" versions of Aussie wines hitting our shores with their over-the-top fruit, high alcohol levels and bodacious amounts of toasted oak. The wine is a dream come true for $15. And it is elegant.

"Acidity is the most important thing in wine," said Peter Saturno, sales manager for Longview Vineyards. "It's not the alcohol. It's not the fruit. I've learned this from drinking French and Italian wines ... and from a bottle of 1840 madeira that I tasted.

''The madeira was over 150 years old and the acids were still going strong. We've taken this knowledge and just put an Aussie spin on things so that our wines are more approachable earlier on. We don't have the patience in Australia to wait too long for a wine to come around. We want to drink it."

So do we!

"There is a disturbing trend in Australia to produce wines (for the U.S. market) that are all alcohol, fruit and wood," says Nick Stacy, marketing manager for West Cape Howe. ''This style of wine has little structure. It's all volume. It's like a house without any inside walls. It's one-dimensional. A wine needs tannin and acid for balance. That's what the French, Italians and Spanish have been doing for years."

"I don't understand how wines with 16 percent alcohol and over-ripe fruit win awards," Nick continues. "By this rationale, Coke should be awarded 90 points, Cherry Coke 94 points and Vanilla Coke 100 points."

His West Cape Howe Unwooded Chardonnay ($20) is a delightfully balanced, clean representation of pure unadulterated chardonnay fruit.

Rob Gibson, winemaker for Loose End Winery, in South Australia's Barossa Valley, pays keen attention to fruit ... and balance.

"I don't focus on wine making," Gibson says. "I focus on creating parcels of flavor."

"Flavor management begins in the vineyard," he says. "If you can maintain a controlled deficiency of nutrients and water, you will create good fruit. Minor stress shifts the vine from vegetative to reproductive mode. I learned this from a professor of mine who worked with tomatoes. If you stress backyard tomatoes, you'll get great flavor. This is why greenhouse versions aren't as good. I'm trying to create a 'wild grape' environment in the vineyard. That's where the flavor is."

It's also in his Loose End Grenache Rose ($17), a happy little pink quaff that tantalizes the taste buds. It's broad across the palate with delicate berry fruit. It's not overdone and there is no residual sugar. It finishes with such a tease of white flowers that it compels you to take another sip ... and another sip.

Dreamtime, mate!

user comments (0)