By Peter Rogers, Winemaker, Oak Works Wines; Senior Winemaking Specialist, Department of Primary Industries, Irymple

First published in the May/June 2012 issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal

Petit Manseng has shone beyond growers’ expectations in dryer and hotter regions, such as the Riverland, in South Australia. Winemaker and owner of Oak Works Wines, Peter Rogers, who is also a senior winemaking specialist for the Victorian Department of Primary Industries at Mildura, has long been interested in alternative varieties. Here, Peter shares some insight to producing Petit Manseng.

Riverland-based Oak Works Wines started out in 2001 as a simple, yet well-structured, boutique winery and has grown to possess one of the largest alternative varietal portfolios from a single company. Its stable includes the white grape variety Petit Manseng, for which it was awarded a gold medal at the 2011 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show for the 2011 vintage.

Petit Manseng is primarily grown in the south-west regions of France (Languedoc). As the name suggests, it has small bunches and, yet, quite thick-skinned berries. In its original area of production, it has quite low yields. The variety is also left on the vine for some time to get the fruit ripe and to produce late harvest, dessert-style wine.

Typically, the wines are highly aromatic, showing peach, citrus, mango, passionfruit and pineapple; quite a fruit salad style.

Oak Works’ Petit Manseng is a refreshing table wine; clean and crisp in style, allowing the fruit to express itself, with a good acid backbone that gives excellent balance and mouthfeel.

The wine is one that gives the impression of sweetness, but it is fermented dry. The fruitiness of the grapes shows through, which customers have said is appealing.

In 2011, the Riverland had a difficult year with excess rain causing splitting and mould issues. Petit Manseng was sound throughout the season, protected by its thick skin, fairing well in comparison with many other varieties in the region. As Petit Manseng’s ripening period is very long, we continued vineyard inspections and tastings to ensure fruit ripeness for final wine flavour and aroma.

The vineyard, located at Barmera and owned by Bruce and Val Bassham, was meticulously maintained and the fruit was all hand selected and picked. The average rainfall for the region is approximately 225mL. Rows are on a north-facing gentle slope, and run east to west. The trellis used is a two-wire vertical system. The vineyard was hand pruned to two bud spurs, with the crop yielding was around 18 tonnes per hectare. The soil type is sandy loam with good drainage and drip irrigation. This resulted in medium vigour vines producing small bunches with tiny berries and good disease resistance. The vines handled the Riverland conditions well.

From the winemaking side, good attention to detail and being flexible in the approach is the key, making adjustments and processing variations as required for the final wellbeing of the product.

After hand-picking, the fruit was chilled overnight to 0°C prior to crushing. Then, it was crushed and destemmed, with 50ppm sulfur dioxide added at the crusher. The press free-run cut was 0.5 bar, based on the taste of phenolics. The pressings were separated into light and heavy cuts, with both being treated separately with potassium caseinate and PVPP.

Both light and heavy pressings were added back as per blending trials, with phenolics being the main area of focus. Tartaric acid was added as required and cold settled for three days at 0°C, then racked and allowed to warm to 15°C prior to inoculation with Maurivin PDM yeast. Cool ferment temperatures at 14°C were achieved, and no DAP was required at any stage of the ferment as no hydrogen sulfide was evident. At the completion of ferment, 60ppm SO2 was added and the wine was chilled for racking off gross lees within three days. Bentonite and fining trials were completed, as was cold stabilisation. Once racked, the wine was allowed to warm. The wine only required minor adjustments to fit within its bottling specifications.

The finished wine was filtered just prior to bottling through Z6 and then Z9 pads.

In summary, some people say that different is good’. I think that the wine must not only be different, but also must be well made and have something that stands alone, satisfying the most discerning buyer and showing true varietal character in the finished product. Made well, Petit Manseng has these characters. Conditions in the Riverland and Sunraysia regions suit the variety and bring out pronounced fruit characters, creating a palatable wine.

PETIT MANSENG

By Peter Dry, Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute

Background

Petit Manseng (peh-TEE  mah-SONG) is used for both dry and sweet wines in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south west of France. There is also a small area in the Languedoc. Globally there were 1327 ha in 2010 (up 116% from 2000), mainly in France. It is the main white variety of quality in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department with 25% of total vineyard area and is best known for the wines of Jurançon and Pacherenc du Vicbilh.  It is distinct from the variety Gros Manseng which has larger berries and is used more for dry wines—but they are often grown together. There has been increased planting of both Mansengs in recent times in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques at the expense of other white varieties. Petit Manseng has been grown in Uruguay for many years—it was taken there by Basque settlers along with Tannat. There are also new plantings in California and Virginia (USA). It has many synonyms including the following:  Escriberou, Ichiriota Zuria Tipia, Mansein, Mansein Blanc, Mansenc Blanc, Mansenc Grisroux, Manseng Blanc, Mausenc Blanc and Petit Mansenc. In Australia there are currently at least 16 wine producers, mainly in Vic. and SA.

Viticulture

Budburst is early (similar to Chardonnay) but maturity is late. Bunches are small and loose. The small berries are thick-skinned.  Petit Manseng is vigorous with semi-erect growth habit. Cordon training and spur pruning can be used but it is generally cane pruned in France. Yield is moderate at best. It is moderately susceptible to downy and powdery mildews but very tolerant of botrytis bunch rot. It is renowned for its ability to hang on the vine until late in the season (in France it may be picked as late as December) with good acid retention.

Wine

Wines can be made in sweet or dry styles. In France, sweet wines are produced by allowing fruit to hang on the vine—high sugar concentration can be achieved without the need for development of noble rot. In Australia it is more commonly used for dry aromatic wines with some similarity to Riesling and Gewürztraminer.  Wines have a firm acidity and good structure. Flavour descriptors include citrus, peach, pineapple, mango and cinnamon. Excellent wines have been produced in both cool and hot regions.