Hi Deb and others following this australian fortified thread,

Australia and the European Union have reached an agreement on wine terms that relate to GIs (geographical indicators, ie regions or appellations such as Burgundy) and TEs (words that refer to the production, quality of type of wine, eg tawny port).

Australian winemakers has agreed to phase out any remaining references to 11 significant
European GIs (Burgundy, Chablis, Champagne, Graves, Manzanilla, Marsala, Moselle, Port, Sauterne, Sherry and White Burgundy). This will begin on 1 Septermber 2011 with a three year transition to sell stock. Also Hungarian Tokaji will be protected which means Australia's fortified (rather than botrytis Tokaji) Tokay will be phased out. The transition for Tokay (and sherry) begins on 1 September 2010. The suggested AWBC replacement name for the Tokay is Topaque and sherry it is Apero. I was talking with David Morris (winemaker for Rutherglen's Morris, one of the country's leading fortified wine producers) and he isn't going to follow the AWBCs suggested names so the situation could end up quite confusing.

In terms of 'tawny port' the use of the term port will not be allowable so instead it will be called a fortified (insert variety, Shiraz/Durif, etc). However the TEs will be allowable so it will be permissable to use terms such as cream, ruby, tawny and vintage so long as agreement can be used to define what the terms mean for domestic and export markets.

Just to add further confusion these restrictions apply to wine sold to the EU. So it is possible that "tawny port" can keep turning up in the US market even if the same wine is called something else in the EU market.

Whatever is called there is much less fortified wine produced in Australia than a couple of decades ago although some of it is world class (Seppeltsfied 100 Year Old Vintage Port, Morris, Campbells, Chambers Rosewood, All Saints).

Hi Deb, good to see someone standing up for big Aussie reds after all the pounding they have been getting in the international wine press recently. A couple of reflections as someone who reviews hundreds of these big reds each year for my www.genxywines.com site. In 1990s the premium end of our wine market and the wine judges, particularly in Victoria, were trying too hard to copy the French style and came up with weedy, under-ripe wines at 13%. This was subsequently followed by a chase for Parker points, particularly in South Australia and the Heathcote with ultra-ripe high alcohol wines. The problem with some of these wines is that when those intense primary fruits began to fade with cellaring they unmasked a rather spirity finish. I have noticed that most premium Australian wine-makers since about 2005 have settled down to a middle position where they believe the best balance is for an alcohol level between 14.5% and 15%. Even in the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Heathcote the wines at 15.5 - 16% are now a diminishing minority. On my website I have an extensive listing of the best Shirazes/Syrah from Australia and New Zealand from what reviewed last year. Hopefully more than one of two might be available on your side of the Pacific.