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AS a local general practitioner and anaesthetist, McLaren Vale vigneron Matt Brown reckons he’s found the right medicine when it comes to winemaking – especially if it involves lesser-known varieties in Australia such as carignan, montepulciano and especially tannat, the grape that underpins and defines his The Good Doctor’s Tonic.
“It’s a beast to grow, extremely vigorous with big seeds and big bunches, and it’s a beast to make,” Brown says, a big wine with full throttle tannins and searing acidity.
Tannat is thought to have originated in the Basque region of northwest Spain – Basque migrants took it to Uruguay where it became the national red wine variety – but is more associated with Madiran in southwest France. It’s now planted in many Australian wine regions but remains little celebrated, possibly for the very reason Brown likes it so much.
“I wanted a wine not for now,” he says, which although he’s been including it in blends with cabernet sauvignon and shiraz since his first vintage in 2006, his current release is only the 2012 vintage, with the 2014 now ‘ready to go’.
“I’m a scientist at heart,” he says, “and every year I’m playing with different variables to evolve that wine. I’m growing in confidence with the tannat content, moving it more to the front. The first vintages were a third of each grape variety, but now I’m getting toward 60-70% tannat as I gain more knowledge and control.”
Brown put it all to the test recently when he invited a group of fellow winemakers, loyal customers and media to a 12-year vertical tasting of The Good Doctor’s Tonic from 2006 to 2018 at his 16ha vineyard at the base of the Willunga foothills, which he’s developed with noted viticulturist Richard Leask.
Big wines require big food flavours to go with them, and local chef Nigel Rich chose tannat-braised lamb shoulder with star anise and green cardamom, plus barbecue potatoes with onion butter as a match – though the perfect match for tannat wines is said to be chocolate brownies with maple bacon to go with the layers of chocolate and spiciness that arrive as the tannat mellows and ages.
“I’m in no hurry to release these wines any earlier,” Brown adds. “I’ve now worked out both the vineyard and the winemaking techniques we need, which is why these wines are growing in elegance and refinement. I have a sense of being on the cutting edge of the evolution of a new wine that will grow in its acceptance.”