Categories
Authors
Search
Framingham F Series - A White Riot
If truth be told, the very last thing I felt like doing on a wet, wild Sunday evening was to go traipsing off into the CBD to taste wine. But I decided to go because :
- I had spring cleaned all weekend in preparation for the arrival of our French exchange student and was fed up
- I like Framingham wines, Andrew Hedley and Anton the Viticulturist.
- My Mum is a stickler for good manners and we were brought up to know that if you accept an invite, you jolly well turn up.
Thankfully some bright spark had planted Framingham's General Manager Tom Trolove on Wellesley Street to direct traffic otherwise I am not sure I would ever have found Deus ex Machina. As the daughter of a motorbike fanatic, I'd like to think I can recognise the smell of a two stroke engine but I would have needed the nostrils of a bloodhound to find my way through the labyrinth corridors. I got there eventually and, as my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, I found myself in a semi-lit warehouse, all the motorbikes removed but in their place, some cove playing contemporary jazz.
My first thought was that Hedley had sold out. A man who once stated he would rather shoot himself than be talked into hosting a 'Wine and Jazz' event, I was worried that this was the first sign of madness and I had been invited to the launch of a range of critter labelled, squeaky clean wines aimed at the sub $10 market.
But as we were plunged into darkness, a grainy film was projected onto the wall and the Clash belted out "White Riot" I knew we were in for something different.
It turned out that the launch was in honour of Framingham's new F-Series. The film montage juxtaposed shots of winemaking with archive footage of the Clash, interspersed with quotes from Hedley and Douglas Wregg (Framingham's UK importer) .
The F-Series affords Hedley and the team (he is very keen to stress they are a team - Hedley, Anton the V and new arrival Andrew Brown, referred to as Brownie) an opportunity to experiment and make small batches of individually crafted wine. As the film proclaimed :
" we made them because we could ".
The line-up comprises the usual suspects, Viognier, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, but each has been made in a slightly off-piste style. The presentation is excellent and thankfully the dreadful black label has been replaced with a stylish simple one, designed with a definite nod to Austria. My notes are only brief and reflect the fact that I tasted quickly and in the dark.
2009 Viognier (500ml) hand picked and whole bunched pressed. Strong freshly baked gingerbread, biscuit and oatmeal. Quite a delicate style but with plenty of flavour and depth. Good length.
2009 Old Vine Riesling : Dry with great texture and terrific concentration. Some wild ferment characters adding complexity. I struggle with most rieslings as food wines but I think I would be very happy to drink this with a meal.
2008 Sauvignon Blanc : The only wine that wasn't 100% convincing. Lots of new-wave Marlborough sauvignon is aged in older oak and often the resulting wines have a wild, funky character that can be quite challenging. This F-Series wine had none of that funky edge but more emphasis on texture. The palate has a chalky, dry almost quartz-like quality. I just found the nose a bit off putting with a stalky, green edge. But with some time in bottle, who knows what may happen.
2008 Pinot Noir : An gatecrasher amongst the line up of whites, thankfully this pinot more than acquitted itself. Very perfumed with a wild raspberry and blueberry character and an intense core of fruit. Subtle; some cedar oak but very much in the background. A thread of minerality too.
2009 Riesling Auslese : A parcel of fruit that had become botrytis affected was picked early, mainly to stop the infection from travelling further through the vineyard. Having tasted the fruit, it was decided to make an auslese style wine and the result is tremendous. Ripe tropical fruit; papaya and ripe peach. Some acacia florals and fresh lime. Pure intense fruit that also has an interesting sage/thyme note too. Botrytis adds complexity but doesn't overwhelm the riesling characters and a thread of acidity keeps the balance between sweetness and texture on a knife edge. Great persistence.
2009 VT Gewurztraminer : After the Riesling, could things get any better? Well, yes they did. A half litre of loveliness in the shape of a late harvest gewurztraminer. Minimal botrytis influence means that the wine retains clearly defined varietal characters; delicate pure musk and turkish delight aromas. Only 8.5% alcohol so without that whoosh of alcohol that can often emphasise the phenolic character of the variety. I could happily have drunk the entire 500ml on my own.
It would have been great to spend longer talking to Hedley (we only just touched on the subjects of natural wine, the Buzzcocks and wines from the Alto Adige). But there was a crowd of Framingham groupies waiting to talk to him and for me, the airport arrivals hall beckoned and a rendezvous with our exchange student awaited.
As I drove away I couldn't help thinking what a contrast between the man and his wines. Punk rock is all about anarchy and anti establishment sentiment. And yet the F-Series wines, although made in a non-mainstream style, couldn't be more restrained or understated. These are outstanding wines that show just what Marlborough is capable of producing when talented and passionate winemakers are left to experiment.