Canberra - Clonakilla & Lerida

Canberra
Tasted Saturday, October 3, 2015 - Monday, October 5, 2015 by graemeg with 486 views

Introduction

Squeezing in two cellar doors on a weekend away. Clonakilla is very popular indeed, and seem on the cusp of opening a big new facility. Lerida have a cafe too, so their tasting space is a bit cramped as well.
Very good wines coming out of the Canberra district these days. Prices are reasonable, considering.

Flight 1 - Clonakilla (8 Notes)

  • 2015 Clonakilla Sémillon Sauvignon Blanc

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, 12%, A$22} smoky hint on the nose but it's not oak; more a steely Sancerre impression. Despite 60% sb the semillon's grassy aspect really cuts through. Steely texture, lively acid, light-medium body and great mid-palate presence and vivacity. dry, crunchy medium length finish. Terrific wine.

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  • 2015 Clonakilla Riesling

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, 12%, A$30} fresh green apples. The light-medium bodied palate has pure, crystalline apple flavours, crisply acidic without ever being searing or screeching. Focussed and intense, although soft on he back palate. Dry, medium length finish. Should age well but it's gorgeous now.

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  • 2014 Clonakilla Chardonnay Tumbarumba

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Tumbarumba

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, $36} lovely fig and grapefruit aromas, cool in character. Beautifully fine-grained sandalwood/cedar oak (11 months in barrel) supported by zippy acid. Even, long and finely balanced with a lovely chalky textural quality to it; classy Chardonnay fruit in a medium-bodied guise with a medium finish. Lovely in the short term.

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  • 2014 Clonakilla Shiraz Hilltops

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, 14%, A$28} lifted cherry and spearmint aromas. Little oak. Decently fresh ripe fruits on the palate, balanced somewhat forward ion the palate, with low/medium powdery tannins, medium acid and and a light/medium body which easily tames the 14% alcohol. A dry, short-medium finishing wine which is a good shorter-term prospect.

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  • 2013 Clonakilla Shiraz O'Riada

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {375ml, screwcap, 13.5, A$20} Raspberry, smoke and earth. Very different in character to the Hilltops bottling with it's smoothly rich texture, fine medium powdery tannins. Good mid-palate presence, plenty of sweet black fruit, with medium intensity and weight and a medium length finish. Very tidy wine, sold out in the regular 750 bottling. Might have bought some otherwise.

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  • 2014 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, 13.5%, A$90} Sweet strawberry fruit with the usual lifted exotic apricot twist from the Viognier. It's not overpowering but does add a sweetish character for me. The palate is beautifully focussed with strawberry/apricot flavours, fine medium dusty tannins and an even palate of delicate and nuanced presence, finishing medium/long, but never in a knockout manner. It's a very nice wine but the price is too steep I think; you've got to like Viognier to find the value here I reckon. Good for up to a decade or so; I've not tasted this label at great age and ever been all that impressed.

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  • 2013 Clonakilla Syrah

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, 14%, $90} Seductive strawberry and floral aromas. A magnificently pure palate offers gorgeous blackberry and spice flavours, medium-bodied with medium dusty tannins, coolly refreshing with medium/high acid, and a long, evenly-balanced finish. Really good; trumps its stablemate Shiraz-viognier easily. Expensive, but very nearly worth it. Such depth and persistence; gorgeous.

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  • 2013 Clonakilla Ballinderry

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/3/2015)

    {screwcap, $45} Youthful spice and currants, subtle oak, and a generally reticent presence. The palate seems to emphasise the spiciness of merlot and cab franc rather than the darker sauvignon. Low key but polished, with mulberries and basil flavours, medium dusty tannins, medium weight and a medium finish of lovely polish and evenness. Ought to age nicely although it's not hard to drink now.

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Flight 2 - Lerida Estate (10 Notes)

  • NV Lerida Estate Brut Rosé

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {A$39} Strawberry and cream nose. The palate has a very dusty character; the pinot is only 75% but could pass for 100%. Seems dry in character, but that pinot fruit gives it a sweet kick on the finish which even decent acidity can’t balance out fully. Medium-sized, fairly aggressive bubbles. Medium body, slightly short finish. Doesn’t have a lot of autolysis character either; would probably benefit from more time on lees.

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  • 2015 Lerida Estate Pinot Noir Lake George Pinot Rose

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, A$16} Pale pink. Sweaty nose. Cherry strawberry flavours; with a real dustiness, and yet there’s a fizzle of sweetness too. It’s light-bodied, perhaps in the end tending towards off-dry, but does turn out to be a bit simple on the shortish finish. Fair quality only, although well-priced.

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  • 2015 Lerida Estate Amara

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 11.8% , A$16} A bitzer blend of Viognier, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. Inevitably, the viognier dominates, with lots of pear and apricot on the nose and palate; I don’t get much chardonnay! It’s a bit nebulous in flavour - all that pear – although it is boosted by plenty of balancing acidity. It seems a bit contrived perhaps, by anyone better disposed to V and PG than me will probably quite enjoy it. It’s fairly dry, with a low-key finish. Meh.

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  • 2014 Lerida Estate Chardonnay

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 12.7% , A$25} From the Estate’s Lake George vineyard. The nose offers smoke, sweat and grapefruit. There was a certain similarity of flavour across all the whites, which I found odd; this has a smidgin of grapefruit, but there’s still a lot of sweat and meal about it. The low-key palate is fairly light-on for fruit flavour, but is without great structure either, leaving it a bit flat. It’s light/medium-bodied, with medium acid, and a short-medium finish. Should have been better somehow.

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Pinot Noir Lake George

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, A$26} Youthful, tart cherry aromas. All fruit; little oak and no sense of artifice. The palate has dust and smoke, a real dryness to it, with just a little strawberry fruit. The palate is nicely even, knitted together with low/medium gritty tannins and medium/high acidity. It’s never unripe, it just feels a little sparse and brutal, despite being only light/medium-bodied. Sensibly priced; I wouldn’t pay more for it.

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Pinot Noir Josephine Lake George

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 13.1% A$65} The top pinot cuvee from estate fruit, this has a fleshy, plummy and cherry nose, still quite youthful. The palate has translucent flavours of plums and cherries, leavened with subtle oak only, and a decently even palate, with the flavours well-balanced on the front and back of the tongue. It’s a restrained wine, light/medium-bodied, and leans more towards an old world style. It has low/medium powdery tannins and medium/high acidity, but a lovely medium/long finish. A tidy, slightly restrained, not over-the-top example of cooler-climate pinot which should see a decade’s aging well. I liked this very much, except for the price…

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Georgianus Lake George

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 13.6%, A$17} Easy-drinking, viognier-laced pale red. A real passtoutgrains style, this is a better rose than the rose. Light-bodied, short finish. Not too sweet, thankfully.

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Merlot Cabernet Franc

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 14.5% ,A$27} Fleshy and plummy; nice ripe nose; neither sweet nor nasty. Decent depth of structure on the light/medium-bodied palate; there’s some spice and smoke there too along with the rich red fruit. Really good merlot (65%). It has a savoury character, medium chalky tannins, good mid-palate presence and a dry medium length finish. Really good for the price I thought.

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Shiraz Canberra District

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 14.1% ,A$27} Spice and pepper, but dark red cool-climate fruit aromas too. The medium-bodied palate blends blackberry and pepper, with mild oak. It has medium gritty tannins, medium-body, dry finish; it just needs to settle down a bit. Honest, sound effort; persistent finish and good balance along the tongue. Recommended.

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  • 2013 Lerida Estate Shiraz Viognier

    Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District

    (10/5/2015)

    {screwcap, 14.2% ,A$75} Rich, velvet-lace shiraz aromas. The viognier just adds the right amount of exoticism without sickly sweetness. A bit slippery in texture; spicily persistent red fruits; medium powdery tannins, medium weight with medium acidity. There’s lots of presence on the mid-palate; it finishes a little warm, but evenly so, and medium-long in its persistence. Fine effort with a bit of time ahead of it. Pricey, though…

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