Finding gold in dry Creek reds

It's a standing joke in Langhorne Creek that you have to have a double ''t''near the end of your name. Cleggett, Follett, Borrett and Potts are the names of the oldest families in this small, low-profile wine region.

The other joke is that there's no such thing as Langhorne Creek, at least no such watercourse. But there is a town of that name. And a wine region that is probably the least recognised in Australia.

The watercourses that define this region, with its 6000 hectares of vineyards, are the Bremer and Angas rivers. Both flow into Lake Alexandrina, near where the Murray River enters the sea.

These rivers are more like creeks, but when heavy rain falls at their sources in the Adelaide Hills, flooding of the town and vineyards along the Bremer is common, as the land is flat and barely above sea level.

Beside the Murray mouth is the soothingly beautiful, tranquil Coorong, a national park and internationally significant wetland, which consists of a system of brackish lakes separated from the sea by sand dunes.

This also is where most of Australia's clams are fished. Think about it next time you eat spaghetti alle vongole.

The Coorong depends on water from the Murray-Darling system and when Lake Alexandrina dried up during the drought of the mid-2000s, it was in crisis. Now, the lake is full, the water healthy and the birds and fish have returned - at least until the next sustained drought.

Wine people understand the cause and effect of the crisis as they depend on Murray-Darling water pumped from the lake to irrigate their vines. Because of the pumping, less than 20 per cent of the water that falls in the Murray River catchment reaches the sea.

The irony is that, in recent years, the irrigation of some vineyards has increased to boost yields, so the cost of grapes can be reduced to meet lower retail prices.

Part of the problem is that Langhorne Creek doesn't have a ''sexy'' image, so there's a limit to the prices of its wines.

Why doesn't it have a sexy image? Partly because the big wine companies, which truck most of Langhorne Creek's grapes to wineries in other regions, want to keep its profile low to minimise the price they have to pay for its grapes. Catch 22.

Much of the region's wine appears in bottles with no mention of Langhorne Creek on the label. I've even seen wines branded ''Adelaide'' in preference to Langhorne Creek.

''Adelaide'' is anything other than you might reasonably expect. It's a ludicrous super zone that extends from Clare in the north, through the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills all the way to McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek at its southern end.

Cabernet sauvignon is the great strength of the region. It's one of the top five or six cabernet regions in Australia, and for proof, look no further than Lake Breeze. This is the Follett family's vineyard, one of the oldest, close to the township and bordering the Bremer River. The property is old, but wine has only been made there since current winemaker Greg Follett came of age. The farm dates from 1880, the vineyard from the 1930s.

Lake Breeze's 2010 cabernet sauvignon, a $23 bottle, was voted top wine of the recent Langhorne Creek Showcase, which I helped judge. It's an elegant cabernet with fine blackberry and cedar aromas, a hint of mint and lovely balance. It won trophies for best cabernet sauvignon as well as best wine of show, an award Lake Breeze has won four times in the nine years the showcase has been judged. Other good cabernets this year were Bremerton Walter's 2009, Bremerton Coulthard 2010 and 2011, Kimbolton Fig Tree 2010, Cleggett Men of Kent 2010 and Heartland 2010.

Perhaps the most consistent class was red blends, and here Wolf Blass, which has been a stalwart of the region since its first wine in 1966, won the trophy. Its 2010 Grey Label Cabernet Shiraz ($43) is a lovely, fleshy, rich-as-plush wine in typical Blass style. It's a big wine, with lots of chocolate and mint flavours. Other fine blends were Lake Breeze Arthur's Reserve Cabernet Petit Verdot Malbec 2009 and 2008, Metala Shiraz Cabernet 2010, Temple Bruer Shiraz Malbec 2008, Dorrien Estate Stonyfell Black Label Shiraz Cabernet 2010, Bremerton Tamblyn 2010 and 2011, and Bleasdale The Broadside Shiraz Cabernet Malbec 2012.

Malbec is undoubtedly the region's specialty grape. It shines as a blender with shiraz or cabernet and, more strikingly, as a stand-alone. Few regions can make good pure-varietal malbec, but Langhorne Creek has been doing it for decades.

The star is the region's senior winery, Bleasdale (see separate item in Tastings). It exhibited seven malbecs that scooped one gold medal (2011 Premium Malbec), three silvers (2010 Double Take, 2010 and 2012 Premium Malbec) and three bronzes (2010 and 2011 Second Innings and 2012 Double Take). The prices are $18 for Second Innings, $24 for Premium and $80 for Double Take. The quality covers all levels and there's some great value for money.

Shiraz can also be excellent in this region, although the wines exhibited were somewhat inconsistent. That said, shiraz seemed to weather the hot, dry vintages of '08 and '09 better than most, while the generally very successful 2010 was more mixed than for other red varieties.

The standouts were Heartland Director's Cut 2010 ($32; trophy), Lake Breeze Section 54 2010 (gold) and silver medallists Metala Black Label 2010, Lake Breeze Winemaker's Selection 2010, Kimbolton Rifleman 2010 and 2009, Wyndham Estate Regional Selection 2009, Angas Plains PJ's Shiraz 2009 and Angas Plains Emily Cross Shiraz 2008.

Among the alternative varieties, some very good fiano, vermentino, tempranillo, durif and lagrein were tasted.

The best white was a 2012 verdelho from Bremerton ($17; trophy), a very intense dry white with generous tropical-fruit flavours.

Langhorne Creek has only seven cellar doors, which counts against its visitor numbers when compared with the Barossa or McLaren Vale, which are a similar distance from Adelaide. Three cellar doors offer food: Angas Plains, Bremerton and Rusticana, whose Newmans brand horseradish sauce is locally grown and is popular among shoppers.

Lake Breeze will soon add an eating space to its cellar door.

Langhorne Creek is worth a detour, especially if you're into red wine, horseradish and clams - perhaps not all together, though.

huon@huonhooke.com