GRAPES ‘N’ GRAINS

WORDS ROBERTA MUIR

McLaren Vale winemaker Michael Fragos from Chapel Hill Winery recently beat winemakers from more than 50 countries to win Winemaker of the Year at the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. Chapel Hill also picked up the trophy for Australian Wine Producer of the Year. We chat with Fragos about the Australian wine industry and his favourite tipples.

Why is Australian wine taking such a leading role internationally?
Australia has done an amazing job in demystifying wine for people who were previously intimidated by it. Our wine styles are also extremely generous in flavour and character, as well as being approachable and consistent.

What gave Chapel Hill the edge to become Australian Producer of the Year?
An uncompromising focus on quality by a fantastically committed team of people. Being located in beautiful McLaren Vale didn’t hurt either.

What wines are you enjoying at the moment?
‘Savoury’, food-friendly wine styles that are more about texture than sheer intensity, such as pinot grigio and sangiovese. Our 2005 il Vescovo Sangiovese is drinking particularly well at the moment.

What’s your favourite food-wine match?
Manzanilla Sherry with freshly shucked oysters – it doesn’t get much better than that.

And what’s your favourite beer?
I’m a minority in the wine industry as I don’t drink beer, but I’m currently unwinding with a Caipirinha, made with Pitú, a decadent Brazilian cachaça and I’m partial to a whisky or gin.

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Pale Ale, the signature beer of Fremantle craft brewer, Little Creatures, won the Champion Ale trophy in the 2007 Australian International Beer Awards, the second largest brewing event in the world, pitching Australia’s best against beers from 38 other countries. We asked head brewer Alex Troncoso why he’d rather drink a pint than a pinot.

Australia’s a beer-drinking nation but it’s quite an accomplishment to win against countries such as Britain, Belgium and Germany. What makes your Pale Ale so good?
We focus on using whole hop flowers, giving the beer a huge aroma and citrus character, and our ale has a secondary fermentation in the bottle (similar to champagne), producing a fine bubble.

How does ale differ from other types of beer?
Ale is a broad category of beer (including pale ales, brown ales, stouts and wheat beers) that uses a yeast which ‘top ferments’ at a warmer temperature giving a fruitier character than lager (the other broad category of beers, including pilsners), which is drier.

What beers are you enjoying at the moment?
I’m always on the lookout for new beers; I recently enjoyed some Jever Pilsener from northern Germany, which has travelled very well (imported beers have a long hot sea voyage to get here, which can age them prematurely); and I’m always partial to Belgian speciality beers such as La Chouffe and Westmalle Tripel.

What’s your favourite food-beer match?
I love spicy food and normally match it with either our Pale Ale or Pilsner to cool the mouth.

And what’s your favourite wine?
I’ve never been much of a wine drinker. I’ve always enjoyed the brewer’s challenge of making a consistent product year after year; whereas our winemaking friends celebrate the variations in one vintage to the next. When I do drink wine, it tends to be a good sparkling (such as Jansz) or champagne (Bollinger), where the producers work towards maintaining a consistent ‘house style’ across vintages. And I recently introduced a cider called Pipsqueak to our range – a great beer alternative, crisp and clean, with a touch of acidity.