Visit to Coonawarra

Landed at Adelaide in the early morning after a red-eye flight, a good Italian breakfast (at the lovely Chianti Classico restaurant) later, and we were on the road to Coonawarra. Jet-lag aside, it was a very good visit, with a chance to visit a small number of wineries. This underlined my belief that Coonawarra produces some of the best Aussie Cabs. The other varietals do not seem to do quite as well here, but the Cabernets have a certain quality to them, with typically ripe cassis fruit, plush tannins and nice juicy voluptuouness along with a little whiff of eucalyptus reminiscent of the gum trees that are abundant in the area - at their best making for very yummy wines with age-worthy structure and balance.

• 2009 Majella Riesling 88 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Decent. Nose showed nice scents of lime, white flowers and some honeyed tones, quite without the overt petrol hints of the Clare Valley. The palate had some ripeness to its lime fruit some nice, soft acidity lending a good freshness before a sterner mineral and spice finish set in. Just a bit of heat at the edges marred the wine slightly, otherwise, this was a very serviceable dry Riesling.

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• 2010 Majella The Musician 88 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Simple, decent quaffer. Fruity nose showed some plums and cassis, which was taken up on the palate alongside some spicy notes and an earthy note. Simple, but nicely balanced and very friendly. A nice tipple at its price.

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• 2008 Majella Merlot 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Pretty good. Nose was very interesting, with classic Merlot scents of flowers, spice and plums, along with a sweeter raspberry scents and a very earthy, damp soil and mushroom sous-bois-ness. The palate was quite a bit simpler than the nose at the moment, with primary plummy fruit wed to lots of spicy notes, especially towards the finish. Plush, well-balanced, but it needs time to develop some complexity, A little layer of oak, with vanilla, toast and coffee floated around in there somewhere and a layer of firm tannins coated the mouth. Should make a nice wine in 6-7 years' time and age for awhile longer than that.

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• 2008 Majella Shiraz 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Very decent. Nose showed blueberry fruit scents alongside some roasted meat, bramble and eucalypt. The palate was nicely balanced, with fresh, almost snappy acidity running through red fruit and darker cassis notes and a decently lengthed finish that showed a touch of chocolate and lots of spicy accents. Simple, uncomplicated stuff, with very friendly fine-grained tannins, but this shows accomplished wine-making in a nicely quaffable package.

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• 2008 Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Very young, but this shows nice potential. The nose was rather expressive, with lots of earthy, loamy notes, a damp green mossy stone accent and then black cassis fruit along with typical Coonawarra touches of ecualyptus and mint and a woody vine stem lilt. The sweet cassis fruit was picked up again on the palate, where it was met with lots of peppery spice and some vanilla oak and more mentholly eucalyptus notes at the lengthy finish. There was good depth and breadth of flavours alongside fine-grained tannins and a decent sense of balance. Still very young and primary now, but this should age well.

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• 2008 Majella The Malleea 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  55% Cab, 45% Shiraz. A pretty decent wine, but rather buried under oak at the moment. The nose was full of vanilla tones, some soapy glycerol and sweet primary fruit seasoned with some brambly mint and eucalyptus notes. It was the oaky vanilla that stood out most though. Same thing on the palate. Very tight here, and very primary, with noticeable oak and ripe, sweetish dark fruit with light hints of savoury earth and bramble notes. There was plenty of rich depth and some persistence at the finish, but this really needs some time to come into balance and show well. I would not touch it for at least another 6-7 years. At the moment, the straight Cab was showing much better.

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• 2006 Majella Sparkling Shiraz 87 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Really unusual stuff. Pretty decent tipple too. Nose showed very Aussie Shiraz-y notes of sweet blackcurrants, blackberries and roast meat. Same semi-sweetness on the palate - with berries, cherries and cassis bolstered by a touch of tannins and a mineral and bramble finish that caught me by surprise. There was a ripe warmness to it just shading into a touch of heat at the back-end. Otherwise, this was a pretty fun drink that might actually go well with food.

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• 2006 Parker Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Terra Rossa 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  there is obviously quality here, but this needs quite a bit of time. The nose was quite reserved, with a woody overnote and some earth and loam scents mingling with subtle blackcurrant and floral accents. The palate was slightly more expressive, but still very primary, with rich plum and chocolate notes alongside spice and bittersweet stems at the long, clingy finish. There was a lovely balance to this that suggests it will age well - at the moment, good, but not quite showing.

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• 2005 Parker Coonawarra Estate Favourite Son 87 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Drinkable, but not great. The nose showed a sweerish synthesis of merlot-ish plums and flowers alongside more earthy, cassis-led Cab notes. The palate was very simple, a lot more cassis flavours some spice and a mid-length finish. Nice balance made it very quaffable, but there was neither much imagination nor interest on offer.

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• 2006 Parker Coonawarra Estate Merlot Terra Rossa 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  From grapes grown on a clayey patch of soil in the Terra Rossa vineyard. This was pretty good, but needs a lot of time in bottle yet. The nose was rather tight still, with clayey soil scents, spice and a bit of flower along with suggestions of ripe plum fruit underneath, all still rather buried though. The palate was young as well, but seemed relatively open compared to the nose, with good fresh dark fruit notes on the attack paired with bittersweet bramble and spice alongside more clay and earth towards the finish. Just a hint of heat distracted a bit, but otherwise it was nicely balanced and well shaped. I would see this improving over the next 6-7 years at least. Until then, it speaks more of potential and quality then drinking pleasure.

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• 2006 Zema Estate Cluny 87 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Drinkable, but not one I would rush out to buy. The nose showed typical Coonawarra notes of ripe cassis, a touch of roasted red peppers and eucalyptus alongside some duty earth notes. Pretty attractive. Did not quite like the palate as much though, Lots of ripe cherry fruit, rather stewed, a little hot and then some spice at the finish. Primary, simple, quite forgettable really. Balance was decent, so that this was pretty drinkable, but nothing much more beyond that.

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• 2008 Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  A decent wine which should improve with time. Very expressive on the nose for such a young wine, with loamy, wet soil scents alongside cassis, eucalyptus and some floral highlights - I liked this. The palate was also surprisingly approachable. Rich and plushly rounded, it showed plums and cassis flavours wrapped in sweet, ripe tannins and juicy acidity leading into a mid-length finish. Very friendly, eminently drinkable. A bit simple now, but this should improve quite a bit over the next few years.

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• 2005 Zema Estate Shiraz Family Selection 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Not quite sure what to make out of this. It was a decent wine, but something was not quite there. The palate was nice enough, with blueberry and plum scents at the fore, along with a liberal dose of peppery spice and a touch of meat. The palate attacked with another mouthfull of pepper and then opened up into sweet fruit notes. There was a nice freshness on the midpalate, but I thought it went just a bit green and stemmy at the shortish finish, where the sweet plummy fruit and spice notes mingled with more than a touch of vine stems. Overall, okay, but not a great wine. Unlike the Cab, which I see improving with time, I do not really see where this is going.

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• 2005 Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Family Selection 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Very young, but clearly well-made. This should age well. I liked the nose. More obvious oak than on the straight Cab, but there was lots more going on, with sweet ripe cassis tones, some vine stems, green peppers and a touch of eucalyptus. The palate was pretty pleasant as well. Rich and ripe, with lots of plush cassis notes, this came across as rather forward. There was 15.5% on the label, but apart from a bit of glycerol on the attack, one really could not tell. The wine was more shaped by some lovely balancing acidity and soft, well-shaped tannins than anything else. The finish had just a little touch of heat before vine stems, spice and eucalypt notes lingered in on the back-palate. It is showing pretty well, but there is a sense that there is a lot in reserve. This wine really is one to drink in another 10 years' time - it should show pretty well then.

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• 2008 Wynns Coonawarra Estate The Gables Cabernet Shiraz 86 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Hmm... did not quite like this. It was drinkable, but not all that good. The nost was quite promising, with cassis and eucalyptus nestling amidst some mossy stone scents with a touch of vine stems. Unfortunately, the stems were picked up and amplified on the palate, so there was a noticeable green twinge amidst what was otherwise a clean, fresh expression of cassis and spice. The finish was a bit short and thin. Quaffable, but barely so.

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• 2007 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard Glengyle 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  This was a unique opportunity to try one of Wynn's single vineyards, but I was not all that impressed by this. Well-made, I would say, but not great. Lots of oak on the nose, which came across as a dominant notes of powdery mocha, cocoa and some dessicated coconut layered over ripe cassis fruit and a little bit of meat. The palate was rather better. Lots of rich fruit - plums I though, along with a touch of black olives. Good concentration, but this was also buttressed by firm, almost chewy but well-formed tannins and a nice clean freshness. Unfortunately, the finish lapses into a touch of awakwardness, with a woody, tight-grained feel. This needs time but, even then, I am not quite sure how well it will age. At the moment, decent, but a bit gawky at parts.

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