Cool wines that come from colder climates

Cool climates mean grapes ripen slowly, which improves the flavors of wines. This is part of the reason cool climate regions are attracting so much attention.

Tasmania, the island state off Australia's southern coast, is the continent's coolest region. It makes only 1 percent of Australia's wine, but produces 7 percent of the ultra-premium market.

Wine has been grown on Tasmania since 1848 but production didn't really flow until the 1950s, when people began to appreciate the similarities between Tasmania and regions on the same latitudes in Europe.

Tasmania has seven main regions - three above 42 degrees south latitude and four below. The three northern regions are identified as Northwest, Northeast and the Tamar Valley.

Tamar and the Northeast produce 70 percent of the island's wines.

Best known of the Tamar vineyards are Pirie, Elmslie and Josef Chromy. The last has made a sensational entry, with more than 12 trophies and 130 medals in its three-year history. I especially enjoyed their 2007 chardonnay, which was like enjoying a vinous version of lemon sherbet.

This week, we will concentrate on Jansz from the Northeast region, world-famous for their sparkling wines created using an approach called "methode Tasmanoise". The French champagne house Louis Roederer of Reims has been involved with Jansz since 1986, and the quality shows.

The 2005 cuvee made by Natalie Fryar is an exceptional wine, a blend of 51 percent Chardonnay and 49 percent pinot noir. It spent five years on yeast lees after the secondary fermentation. This gives an aroma of freshly baked bread. The wine explodes in your mouth, in the best possible sense, with flavors of honeysuckle and rose. And those flavors linger.

The 2006 rose, also by Natalie Fryar, is 100 percent pinot noir. It is pale pink and tastes like tangy Turkish delight. The high natural acidity would make both wines perfect for a range of Chinese food. The natural acidity gives the wine great structure and wonderful length, so it would keep for decades.

Fryar became the winemaker at Jansz in January 2001, having made sparkles for Seppelt's Great Western winery in Victoria. She said her passion was "turning great fruit into exceptional wine".

Jansz does not export to China, but wines can be purchased from the company's website.