NobleRottersSydney - O'Leary Walker with David O'Leary

The first official Noble Rotters dinner at Alio in Surry Hills, and thanks to Andrew, David O’Leary is the guest winemaker with the full range of O’Leary-Walker offerings.
A few gems from David during the night:
Both rieslings are from 40-50 year old vines from top vineyards on Watervale limestone soil and the even leaner mineral and gravel soils of Polish Hill. Polish Hill also sees a lot less sunshine than the Watervale vineyards. The reason you don’t hear much about old vine riesling is because there isn’t much of it around. Even in Germany the vines are often replanted at an earlier age – grubbing up at 40 years is not uncommon. Our vines are on their own rootstocks, which is important; the rootstock invigorates the vine. There is no acid added to these rieslings, and only a little to the reds.
This talk about high alcohol is all bullshit. If the wine is balanced, the alcohol doesn’t matter. It’s true that these days with the very efficient yeasts you can finish up with half a degree more alcohol than the Baume you picked at. And don’t believe the French on the subject either. I was at the Pinot Challenge in 1980 – we had everything there – the lot, including Romanee Conti. We had it analysed. The label may have said 13%, but the wine was 14.8%. I could dig out the testing sheet and show you…
80% of the wine is made in the vineyard. We’ve lucky here that we’ve got generally consistent vineyards & vintages – much more so than in France. I worked the 1993 vintage at La Louviere in Graves, and we were picking reds grapes at 8-9ºBaume. You’ve only got limited options when dealing with that fruit. But, even in good vintages they don’t get things right. We are the leaders in the winery. The other night we had a Chasse Spleen that was riddled with brettanomyces. Down the sink. Absolutely undrinkable. I’ve had Pichon Lalande with the same thing.
But we’re a winery, not a factory. Not when we’re making 15,000 cases a year…

• 2003 O'Leary Walker Hurtle Pinot-Chardonnay

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills

  A clean and fairly straightforward bubbly, the 75% pinot component is obvious on the nose and palate, with strawberry fruit dominating. A persistent mousse, with a fine bead of creamy texture, there’s minimal yeasty quality (30 months on lees, but then completed using the transfer method, rather than the champagnoise) which has emphasizes the fruit, but can’t push the length of finish beyond short-medium. Made in small quantities only.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 O'Leary Walker Sauvignon Blanc

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills

  {screwcap, 12%} Served very cold, but failed to suppress a gooseberry and lime nose, with straw & grass aromas. Nearly dry – an impression of fruit sweetness perhaps – light-medium body and gentle fruit which sits quite neatly on the mid-palate. which sealed the nose. Tastes less ‘green’ and more tropical than the nose suggests – there’s paw-paw and passionfruit not evident on the nose. Quite a neat little wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 O'Leary Walker Riesling Watervale

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Watervale

  Also very cold, with a correspondingly closed nose. A soft lemon-lime bouquet. Dry palate, and seemingly low acidity. Surprisingly thick and phenolic on the palate. This all seemed rather closed – I found little here to remark upon.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 O'Leary Walker Riesling Watervale

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Watervale

  A similar yellow-green colour [to the 2005], and a similar but a more pronounced nose than its older brother. The acid is better defined on the palate, the weight is medium-bodied and hold some length even to the back palate. A better wine than the 05 – seemingly a lighter wine but with better persistence and finish. Should improve.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 O'Leary Walker Riesling Polish Hill River

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Polish Hill River

  Visually this was the third pea in the pod [after 05/06 Watervales], but the nose here left fruit behind, and presented instead grey slate and minerally aromas. Bone-dry on the palate, with medium acidity and body, the faint lime fruit spreads with length and evenness along the palate. Pure and lean and tighter than a fish’s bum, this might just go on to develop all sorts of interesting characters.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 O'Leary Walker Chardonnay

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills

  A clear lemon-yellow colour, this youthful-smelling wine presents subtle fig, nut and melon aromas, with a smidgen of subtle French oak. The palate has peach and other stone fruit, a little yeasty component from lees stirring and background oak. Restrained, and proudly wearing its cool-climate heritage. Respectable value at A$23-ish.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2006 O'Leary Walker Pinot Noir

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills

  {screwcap, 14%} A distinct ruby colour, which belies the 50% carbonic maceration ferment this wine has undergone. The aromas are very pinot/cherry/strawberry, with a touch of herb and green vegetable. It’s a bit wild – hardly surprising when it was only bottled three weeks ago. The palate is dry, with spicy acidity. As the wine opens in the glass the sweet fruit becomes more apparent and the stalkiness settles down. The weight does tail off a bit in the mid-palate, there are quite soft dusty tannins. It’s no brute, and the alcohol seems well-integrated. Priced in the low A$20s, you could hardly complain. For the record, this is the NV6 pinot clone.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2003 O'Leary Walker Blue Cutting Road

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 13.5%} This is a trade/restaurant label. Mid garnet, but holding its colour at the rim, it presents a developing nose of blackberry, blueberry liqueur and vanillan oak. Dry, with medium powdery tannins and quite full body, there’s still plenty of rich ripe fruit on the warm palate, an inky sort of texture. The merlot does a pretty decent job of filling out the middle palate, and the finish holds on for a medium length. This will probably hold for a few more years and is very enjoyable, although it’s hardly profound. A top quaffer, though.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 O'Leary Walker Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 14.5%} Very youthful wine. Tight closed nose. Classic coolish cabernet aromas – no green here. On the palate it’s brooding, inky and concentrated, with some warmth and good persistence. Nice balance across the palate. Strong chalky tannins and subtle oak. All arms & legs at the moment. A good buy at A$25-odd.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2005 O'Leary Walker Shiraz Clare Valley

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  (70% Clare, 30% McLaren Vale) {screwcap, 15.1%} A young and almost raw nose, deeply spiced with ripe black fruits. Plenty of acid, medium powdery tannins. Dark-edged primary shiraz fruit, with the medium length finish let down only by a soft back palate. Seems to carry the alcohol well enough – helped by the dryness of the finish. Give it another five years.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

• 2002 O'Leary Walker Shiraz Claire Reserve

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {magnum, cork, 15%} Shiraz from the Polish Hill River district of Clare. This bottle is from the winery museum stock. An intense purple-ruby colour, with no fading at the rim. An intense nose, young and clean, with aromas of iron and ink and spice and blackberries. These grapes must have been at the very end of the ripeness spectrum, surely. The palate is dry, with persistent dusty tannins, full-bodied, with tremendous weight running almost the full length of the mouth. Still somewhat disjointed, and shows almost no development at all, even after five years. Strong, warm, and quite long finish. Impressive wine. May develop into something great. Quite drinkable now if you can’t wait, certainly, but worth sampling regularly (ha!) to watch the aging…

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue