Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes' Box of Australia's Finest
Decanter, December 2007

There is still a long way to go in fine tuning this country’s incredible wines – I have stopped writing my annual wine guide in the UK in favour of publishing my own book in Australia, where the thirst for top quality wine and knowledge is unblinkered and enthusiastic in equal measure. 

But how has this country achieved so much in such a relatively short space of time? The original brief for this piece was incendiary enough: ‘Argue that at £10-£20, Australia outperforms the rest of the New World; and also discuss why it’s time to stop being snotty about it and take Australia more seriously.’ As I set about noting down my own thoughts, I decided instead to ask a collection of opinion makers in Australia for their reactions. The response was overwhelming. Jeff Grosset (Grosset, Clare Valley) nails it in one fell swoop: ‘When I stand on the Grosset Polish Hill site explaining to a visitor the 600-million-year-old rock structure, I can’t help but smile at the term New World. It’s not as if the vineyards have been grafted on to the landscape. They belong here just as we do.’

‘And that price range …! We (Aussie producers) are at least in part responsible for this, using “value” incessantly in statements about our wine. I think it degrades what my life and those of my colleagues has been dedicated to … which is the making of world-class wine. If Australian’s stop referring to value and more drinkers open their minds and just taste, Australia may soon clear that last big hurdle. I live for the day when the word “Australia” no longer limits people’s perception of a wine’s greatness.’ Interesting that Huon Hooke, in The Sydney Morning Herald, gave the 2007 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 95 points, remarking that the wine is arguably Australia’s benchmark Riesling. 

So why does it sell for only $42 and not $142?