Part 2: Queensland and northern NSW Verdelho and Merlot tried and tested

摘要

Some 20 years ago, I came across a stash of Moondah Brook Verdelho in a London Bonded Warehouse. The vintages (I think) ran from 1973 to 1977; the wines were so amazing I was convinced Verdelho was the white grape variety that would make the world sit up and take note of Australian wine. "Why chase Chardonnay," I would tell visiting winemakers... "go for Verdelho." They, of course, (quite rightly) ignored me and Chardonnay went on to be the white star, even though at the time it was raw, young-vine material that was over-oaked.rnThroughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, I constantly sought out Verdelho; none reached the heights of the Moondah Brook, but then none had the age nor, when tasted, did it appear they were constructed for longer than a year or so shelf-life. Eventually, I turned from Verdelho, accepting that I had got it wrong and it was of little interest to growers, producers or consumers.