By Sonya Logan
First published in the March/April 2014 issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal
It’s relatively easy to grow, copes well in the heat, has great colour and acid and a good tannin structure but don’t expect regular releases of Australian varietal Souzao any time soon.
Although currently appreciated by a handful of winemakers in the country for its ability to boost colour and add complexity in Spanish and Portuguese blends, local experience suggests it is only in the very best years that a varietal Souzao is worth producing.
d’Arenberg, in McLaren Vale, has been crushing Souzao for a couple of decades where for the last 10 years it has comprised up to 12% of its Sticks & Stones red blend of Tempranillo, Grenache, and Tinta Cao blend. After sourcing Souzao fruit from 50-year-old vines in McLaren Flat for some 10 years, the winery decided around 2003 to graft over some of its Petit Verdot in McLaren Vale to produce its own two-acre patch of the variety.
d’Areberg’s chief winemaker and viticulturist Chester Osborn said Souzao ripened slowly in the vineyard, was not vigorous nor a particularly big yielder due to its production of small clusters of grapes, and coped rather well in heat.
“Even in 2008, which was really knocked about by heat, it still made a really good wine,” he noted.
“The wine it produces is quite black despite being a red-flushed grape. It has quite a unique earthy and sooty character. It doesn’t have much weight even though the wine is so black, but has quite a fine, mineral tannin character. It has quite a bright, almost Riesling-like tannin in a way. And I think it ages quite gracefully, although we haven’t bottle any on its own of course.
“It’s quite a strange variety; a little confounding. I wouldn’t be rushing into producing a varietal wine from it but it adds an interesting length and complexity to our Sticks and Stones blend. Grenache can be quite fat in there and the Souzao helps to bring out the fragrance of the Grenache fruit.”
Someone who was keen to rush in and produce a varietal Souzao when he arrived at Stanton & Killeen, along with most of the other Port-style varieties the winery was working with, was winemaker Brendan Heath. However, he soon found they produced reasonably simple and
plain wines.
“Souzao seems to have great colour, some nice velvety tannins and great acid but if you’re looking for a fruit bomb this is not it,” Heath admits.
Stanton & Killeen has been sourcing Souzao from 30-40 year old vines since 2008 to blend into its Prince dry red – a blend of Souzao, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao of which Souzao makes up about a quarter.
But in 2012, it was decided that a straight Souzao would be made.
“It was probably one of the better years to make it as a single varietal,” Heath said. “Generally speaking, it’s best in a co-ferment.”
Stanton & Killeen currently has only a smattering of Souzao vines in its Rutherglen vineyard but plans to plant some more this year to bring the total number of vines to around 350.
“We’ll continue to use Souzao mainly in blends but in some years when it stands out and we have more of it we might do a straight varietal again,” Heath said.
He said Souzao ripened reasonably early, reaching flavour ripeness at around 12.5Be.
Stanton & Killeen’s vineyard manager, Ruston Prescott, added that it go up to 14-15Be if need be, but shut down beyond that.
“Souzao is quite an easy variety to work with,” Prescott said. “Personally, I don’t think it needs too much in the way of vineyard management. If you start hedging it too much it will very quickly throw the vines out of balance and this particular variety is very sensitive to that.
“I haven’t seen it be particularly susceptible to botrytis or downy mildew – it’s probably on a par with Zinfandel and Semillon in that regard in an average year – but like any variety, if you get a particularly wet year, it can be susceptible to anything.”
He added that a reasonable amount of sunlight to the fruiting area was required at flowering onwards. “If you haven’t got a decent amount of sunlight, you’ll get poor fruitset whether it’s a cool or hot spring,” Prescott said.
Over in the west, David Mazza, of Mazza Wines, agrees with Prescott’s assessment of Souzao being fairly easy to managebased on his experience with the 100 or so vines he grows in his 10-acre vineyard in Geographe.
“It doesn’t need fruit or foliage thinning or hedging; you just grow it. I’ve never seen powdery in it, but it gets some sulfur spray like everything else in the vineyard.”
Mazza also noted that Souzao seemingly repelled birds.
“In our vineyard, the Bastardo cops the bird damage first, quickly followed by Tinta Cao. But, they don’t bother the Souzao.
Perhaps it’s because the other vines are hitting 14Be while the Souzao is only at 12Be. Maybe the acidity is also too high.”
Mazza said in his experience, Souzao started raisining beyond 12Be, although it still remained somewhat acidic.
“Two years ago, we got 14Be before it started to raisin. So that year, we made a barrel full of straight Souzao. It was sensational. The acidity can be quite high in Souzao but it dropped away on this one. Unfortunately, given we only had the one barrel, we ended up blending it away in our Cinque – a blend of Sousao, Graciano, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao and Tempranillo – which is what we do with it every year.
I could see that in a good year we might make a straight wine with it, but it would have to be a very special year to get the berries to fully ripen without raisining.”
Souzao
By Peter Dry, Emeritus Fellow, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Background
Known as Souzao (soo-ZOW) in Australia, it should probably be called Vinhão—because that is what it is known as in the Minho region of north-west Portugal where it appears to have originated. Vinhão is the main variety for red wines in the Minho. It was introduced to the Douro (where it is known as Sousão) at the end of the 18th century and the area has recently increased. DNA research has confirmed that Vinhão and Sousão are one and the same. Globally there were 3160 ha in 2010 (down 47% from 2000), 80% in Portugal. In Spain it is grown almost exclusively in Galicia—particularly Rias Baixas, Ribeiro and Valdeorras—where it is mainly used in blends and occasionally as a varietal. Synonyms include Espadeiro Basto, Espadeiro da Tinta, Espadeiro Preto, Negrão, Pinhão, Sousão, Souson (Galicia, Spain), Tinta Nacional, Tinta Pais (Galicia, Spain)and Tinto de Parada. In Australia it has been grown since the 1960s: there are at least nine wine producers, mainly in WA, Vic. and SA who mostly use it for table wines, both varietal and blends. There are small areas in South Africa and USA (California, Washington) where it is mainly used for fortified wines.
Viticulture
Budburst and maturity are mid- to late-season. Vigour is moderate to high with sprawling growth habit. Bunches are small to medium, well-filled to compact with medium thick-skinned and highly coloured berries. Yield is moderate. Spur pruning can be used. Souzao has lower susceptibility to powdery and downy mildews than average but it is susceptible to sunburn. There may only be one clone of Souzao in Australia at the present time—this was introduced from California in the 1960s.
Wine
Souzao is said to produce the most intensely-coloured wines in Portugal—even more intense than varieties with red flesh such as Alicante Bouschet. It is the basis of the best red table wines of the Vinho Verde. Descriptors include cherry and ‘fruits of the forest’. In the Douro it is used in blends to add both colour and acidity.
