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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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Red
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2021 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon Clare Valley
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The first straight Wendouree Cabernet since the 2018 and it's a beauty. I thought the 2018 classy but this may be a notch or so above. Beautiful purples, dark plum hues.
Classically Cab aromas that smell of perfectly ripe fruit, picked at the right time and made with the right touch. Black currants and berries, plums, a smattering of cedar and mint. Only later did the house characters emerge - walnut, bay leaf, aniseed. The striking point about these trademarks was they were sotto voce, nuanced, not the usual distinctive Wendouree stamp. In that sense, more varietal than regional (no gum or Eucalypt for me), with only a light Wendouree thumprint. Perhaps time will see the latter make itself more evident.
The palate is equally as deft. Long, flowing, tempered intensity, very fine lines, almost powdery tannin verging on velvet. Texture to die for, in my book.
For a winery rightly famed for Shiraz, this is a standout. I confess to not keeping up with top rank Oz Cabernet and accept this verdict may be open to challenge. But I'm confident this wine would be right at home alongside the Cullens, Yarra Yerings, Wynns John Riddochs and the like. It made an otherwise very stylish Coonawarra, which costs twice as much (AUD150 v AUD70 from Wendouree direct) appear a little coarser and forced.
The Bradys, who own Wendouree and make the wine, are getting on in years. A wine like this makes you pray they hang in there for as long as possible. They are just getting better and better at their craft. This wine too will get better and grander with age.
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Red
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2017 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec
Clare Valley
Shiraz Blend, Syrah more
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A very fine wine, but as a Wendouree it brought to mind the following lines from John Hiatt:
'He said, "Girl you're a beauty like I've never witnessed,
And I've seen the Northern Lights dance on air
But I've felt the cold that can follow the first kiss
And there's not enough heat in the fires burning there".'
This has a soft inner glow, not an Icey Blue Heart. But despite the fine lines and beautiful fruit, it never quite fires as usual for a Wendouree and particularly this inimitable blend.
A touch more faded on the rim than expected for six years, the nose shows poached strawberries, warm spices, oak dusting, dried meat hints. A study in subtlety.
The palate is all style. Filigreed tannin, medium body and medium intense red fruits. It speaks to the refinements made over the last 10-15 years that have made for better, more accessible wines without sacrificing their individuality or sense of place. For all its class, this doesn't quite possess the depth or personality of those other years (esp 2012, 2013, 2019, or from an earlier period, 1998, 2004, 2006 etc). It's a more bespoke wine than the 2003 S/Mbc tasted alongside it, but the latter etched itself into the senses with its darker, deeper, more complex character (and not least that it rose above an unforgiving hot vintage).
Mindful of comparing cool year 'apples' with hot year 'oranges', I held over 2/3s to assess the 2017 in its own right the next evening. With nearly all Wendourees, a day to breathe up usually sees the the inner strong characters emerge and muscle up (eg, see TNs for the 2015 and 2016 S/Mbcs). But not this time. The characteristic jube gum (Malbec) and acid shot remained strangely elusive, as did the iron filings and coal dust. Incidentally, both the 17 and 03 weigh in at 13.2%. Go figure.
The Wendouree 2017s attracted mixed reviews on release, mostly ill-founded for mine. The Shiraz, Cab Malbec and three-way Shiraz/Cab/Malbec Pressings are each in their own way terrific but without the usual grunt. The Shiraz Malbec seems similar to the Shiraz Mataro from the year. As a self-confessed Wendoureephile, I enjoyed it, but the spark was missing. A perfectly good wine, albeit not quite A Perfectly Good Guitar.
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Red
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2003 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec
Clare Valley
Shiraz Blend, Syrah more
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This strikes me as representing the mid-way point between the ‘old Wendouree’ and the new. The cool long 2002 and mild undervalued 2004 vintages presaged the more refined wines seen in the 2010s on (including the elegantly powerful 2009). The hot, unforgiving 2003 season shapes what the winemaking team could work with it, but the absence of astringent tannins, jaded overripe characters (raisins) and heat (it’s 13.2%) tells you they picked at the right time.
Brick rim to faded red, then dark core. Once you let it breathe (an hour or so) and work through the secondary walnut, caraway seeds and aniseed, surprisingly fresh fruits appear - chopped dark cherries, dark plums, blackberries - then a sprinkle of brick dust. Distinctly Wendouree that tastes 20 years old plus, yes, but gnarly or burly, no.
Palate continues the theme. Sinewy tannins snake their way through more cherry, plum, raspberry. There’s an understated darker, dry vintage port note too, reminiscent of the 03 Shiraz and older Wendouree - it complements, not dominates the other characters. Hints of beef brisket, or is that my belly saying feed me brisket with this wine? Only upper medium bodied at most that carries itself well. No heat, no edges, no guru, no method, no teacher (apologies to Van Morrison).
I’ve ranked it just below CT Outstanding, mainly relative to scores for the more prodigious vintages of this wine (2004, 2012, 2013, 2019).
The 2003 Sth Australian vintage is one at this point I’d be wary of, but this is an exception. I searched for signs of decline but found none. It’s still vibrant. The road may not go on forever but the party has yet to end (thanks Robert Earl Keen).
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Red
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2021 Clarendon Hills Domaine Clarendon Old Vines Grenache
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A reminder that Grenache is a broad church. It's said to be a 'site-sensitive' variety - a chameleon grape in the words of Yangarra maestro, Peter Fraser. You see that in differences not only between regions (Barossa v McLaren Vale in Sth Oz) but subregions (in the Vale, the famed Blewitt Springs v Seavie or Onkaparinga or higher Clarendon), and terroir, with the top makers. A mosaic, and that's before looking at the diversity across European regions.
No doubt true, although this wine shows that viticultural practice, picking times and wine making approaches shape and influence the final product. The intended wine making style cannot be discounted, again as we see here. The hand of (wo)man plays its part. The degree of influence of any of these variables, for mine, remains open to question - and tricky to pin down.
This is Clarendon Hills 'second label', with fruit coming from the estate vineyards that they say are similar altitude to Adelaide Hills and presumably moderately cooler than other parts of the Vale. Clarendon has always been at the Baroque end of town. The early technical issues (brett, occasionally VA too) are in the past. Despite refinements, not exactly my style generally with reds and particularly with Grenache (where my effeteness comes to the fore). Even the Romas, their flagship Grenache that one leading critic elevated as his only 'grand cru' of the variety in Oz, is more a wine I can admire for the fruit quality than love for the dramatic, potent style. But raps from Ned Goodwin MW, a high priest of Oz Grenache, that the oak had been de-throttled, that good things such as cranberry and pomegranate were to be found here with the Domaine Clarendon, that it was primo value ($30-35), prompted me to check it out.
A lengthy backdrop to explain my initial recoil at the bombast on the nose. On the cusp of overripe, with a whisper of VA amplifying the effect. Initially brought to mind some of those overdone Spanish examples. Raspberry, chocolate coated perhaps. Air settled things, to a degree. Herbs and black tea leaves flicker. Then the 14.7% creeps through, a touch of heat. I couldn't find the love.
For all that, the palate's more composed and tight laced, by comparison at least. No excess. More ripe raspberry/pure blackberry, spicy touches, tensile tannins. Ripe yes but not sweet. Vibrant and lively. The tannin provides ballast and counterweight to the ripeness. This might not be my kind of Grenache but it pulls off the tightrope act with some panache - ripe to the point of bolder Vale Shiraz, but in no way lumbering or corpulent.
It will last but how long it ages is open. My sense is the rich fruit will fall into the otherwise restrained oak. Like a Dorian Grey, the visage will dissolve. But this is not a morality tale. It 's a case of style, different brush strokes for different palates, and a lot of bang for your thirty bucks, bro.
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Red
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2017 Paradise IV Resilience Moorabool Estate
Geelong
Red Blend more
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Like so many PIV wines, white or red, this really needed a night to breathe up and get into its stride.
Good depth of colour for six years age, dark dusky hue, purples, hint of bricking.
Shiraz is the hero in this blend. On the nose not only offsetting the greener Cabernet streaks but more so injecting a burst of spice into the wine, which helps nudge up the complexity and interest. The green pea/herbals are starting their transition to tobacco and old leather, with a dusty (Cab) hint emerging too. Ripe mulberries and raspberries give lift. All up, nascent complexity simmering away.
It all falls into place on the palate. Composed, good fruit with any traces of greenery tucked out of sight. A chewy element enhances the palate feel. Finishes balanced.
For a challenging vintage, as the one-time name suggests, this is looking good. In some ways, not as 'conflicted' as the quixotic but ostensibly superior Dardel Shiraz from 2017 (where the polarities of ripe and unripe flavours feature). Good now but worth cellaring for 3-5 years more, by when it should be more integrated and interesting. Fingers crossed.
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Red
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2017 Rockford Grenache Dry Country
Barossa Valley
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12/15/2023 - Dr S wrote: 89 points
A bottle that left me betwixt and between. Is it a weaker vintage or was it a poor bottle thanks to that repeat offender, cork failure?
Good garnet colour still. Lifted, heady cherry and cranberry nose. Some initial earthy burnt characters raised concern that it seemed older than expect for its age - or that the Grim Reaper of oxidation had made a house call ('it's the salmon mousse'). With air, fresher red fruit showed with aged mushroom notes and hints of dusty old oak/chest of drawers (that have their place, when in balance with good things - such as fruit, or radish).
But the palate left an ambivalence about the wine. A core of those tasty Grenache cherry/cranberry flavours, offset by grainy drying tannins. The generally astute Erin Larkin's admonition that 2017 Barossa Shiraz for her looks to be tiring and drying out already compared with the 2018s kept coming to mind. The oxidation question kept nagging.
On balance, I suspect bottle variation and cork failings account for the less than unblemished showing here. Vintage comparison does bear considering though. My first bottle of the 2017 didn't possess the presence or vitality of the 2016. The 2018 overshadows both prior years. It's high class Barossa but I'm not sure it makes the case for that year over 2017, for Grenache at least.
The mild 2017 is generally hailed as a superior year, particularly for Grenache. The 17 Eperosas look first rank (and helped win Brett Grockey winemaker of the year from the grandee of critics, James Halliday. Incidentally, from memory Eperosa didn't release any Grenache from 2018. 2017 Grenache from McLaren Vale won many plaudits. Top Grenache practitioners from the Vale, Steve Pannell and Peter Fraser (Yangarra), espouse the virtues of cooler to milder years such as 2017 , believing the conditions permit deeper, more layered Grenache to develop. Who would argue against the masters? To add another layer to the riddle, I prefer the 2018s from Pannell, Thistledown and Yangarra to the 2017s... Perhaps 2017 is a slow-burn vintage?
On this occasion, the jury is out on the Rockford 2017. It calls for a retrial, alongside an Eperosa, Pannell etc or two.
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Red
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2013 Eperosa Stonegarden 1858
Eden Valley
Grenache Blend, Grenache more
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This vintage of this venerable wine throws up a number of issues.
First, it provides an insight into the capricious behaviour of Grenache as it ripens. The maker Brett Grocke, who cut his teeth as a viticulturist, told me it took him a while to come to grips with growing Grenache. When he picked the fruit for this wine, the sugar levels said it would translate into roughly 13% alc. Once the fruit was in the winery, the read out was 14%. After fermentation…15%. The label says 15.4%. Brett says he learnt a lot in 2013. It makes you understand more clearly why some (Thistledown, for instance) say they harvest Grenache 'on the rise'.
Second, the cork closure did this wine few favours. On opening, tell-tale signs of some leakage. Almost inevitably, the colour looked more advanced than a nine year old red should. Tawny hue with a green olive rim.
And so the nose follows (I am not unmindful of autosuggestion at play here). Old Portuguese tawny port (10-20 years) characters – grain, wood spice, orange rind, slightly caramel (no doubt due partly to the high alcohol/oak blend). Prune and date – that says a lot: verging into over ripe and raisin, but to be fair hauling up in time. Some of these characters would be ok in the appropriate place – which should be in a fortified wine, but should not be here in a table wine. Later stale old mushroom notes intrude, telling of tiring out. A paradox: ultra-ripe characters and fatigue.
The palate is uber rich offering a slippery glycerol ride but balanced. Sweet cherries, pepper and spice, Xmas cake too. It's not marred by the cork's failings like the nose but it seemed closer to a Robert Parker idol than expected. My mind kept going back to a Parker 99 point Chateauneuf du Pape I tried once, of which my mates and I could not push past a glass each. His (in)famous praise, 'tastes like a vintage port' seemed apt.
This all goes to the third point, one of style. This is almost a Baroque expression of Grenache. It was always likely to be at the riper, bolder end of the scale thanks to the warm 2013 vintage. The accelerated ripening before harvest left the maker having to play in the winery the hand nature dealt. The wine is at odds with the current fashion. It differs from the medium-bodied Eperosa Grenaches I’ve tried since 2017. They tend towards the more red-fruited, more transparent, less dense Grenache styles in vogue, although the ancestor Stonegarten vines do impart darker, brooding and slightly riper/sweeter flavours. They also show the making style has evolved, no doubt in part to understanding how the vineyards behave in different years.
I freely disclose that the finer, medium weight "Pinosity' styles are where my Grenache heart lies. I want fruit clarity over richness, to savour the subtle variations on an assorted red and dark fruited theme. And I love the finely etched tannin, which offsets any riper flavours and sharpens the focus – of the fruit and your taste buds. Luminosity over concentration, for me.
I opened the 2013 SCG alongside Eperosa’s three current Grenache releases, from the decidedly cooler 2022 vintage. All sat closer to the current fashion, in flavour profile and medium weight. Exquisite, but I have a slight question about their intensity and length for long-term ageing. They are not 2017s or 2021s either. Less so the Stonegarten, mind. From the second oldest productive Grenache vines on the planet, it has an inner depth and simmering intensity to suggest a decade or more should yield a subtle complex beauty.
All that said, there is room for the larger, richer styles. Grenache is a broad church. Chateauneuf and Priorat have their place. It’s just not where I go to worship.
As for persisting with cork, I get that the maker is a 6th generation Barossa vintner who rightfully honours his forebears. He's a very good maker, a sensitive viticulturalist attuned to the sense of place from whence his fruit comes. And his style and approach have evolved. I'd just like to see the closure change. Some ‘traditions’ should make way when the accumulated evidence proves their infallibility or a more reliable tool is available.
NB this is probably a low 90s wine but I've clipped points due to the cork's misdemeanours (not due to subjective bias, I pray).
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Red
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2005 Te Mata Estate Coleraine
Hawke's Bay
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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A study in refinement.
A disclosure upfront. If there's any wine I 'grew up with’, it’s Coleraine. Dad did the engineering work on the 1890s stables that were converted into the original winery (now a barrel hall within a more modern structure). He also did the owner's house that adorns the Coleraine label. Dad said engineering the ‘phallic’ chimneys was the hardest challenge he faced. The home so-named Coleraine vineyard was the base for the wine, until it became a cuvee of the best fruit in the Bay. All that aside, I am confident this note is as objective as one can strive for.
Stunning colour for a near 20 year old. Dark purples/crimsons, a crimson rim with only a tinge of brick.
If a bouquet can seem smooth, then the aroma achieves that quality. Immensely perfumed. Black currant, blueberry even, a mellow woodsy/autumnal and cedary streak. Darker olive and graphite things lurk here too. Deep aromas.
Likewise, a deep-seated medium palate. Beautifully balanced, depth (did I mention it's deep?) and suppleness, both fine and firm, medium bodied and suave, with just the right touch of grip. Still fresh. Elegant line and length.
At its mid-point, at most for mine. We need to wait for it's tertiary years, whenever they might fall, for more complexity to come. For now, a very satisfying 'Claret'.
An easy 10-20 years beckon. Coleraine on a cruise. Provided the cork doesn't falter or fail. Why? Why do they persist with the anachronistic voodoo of the cork?
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Red
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2011 Quinta do Monte d'Oiro Vinho Regional Lisboa Reserva
Syrah Blend, Syrah more
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This Portuguese Syrah Viognier character travelled far before it was broached. From Lisboa/Lisbon to Da Gama in Riga - by my estimation the only Portuguese wine shop in Riga if not all Latvia, run by the excellent Alexander with whom my boss and I shared a fine Clonakilla Syrah 2010 (see my TN), which had travelled almost as far before it was broached. And thence to Oz (via Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi and Melbourne), ultimately Murrambateman, outside the nation's capital, at Clonakilla winery. Das Kapital of Shiraz Viognier, down under!
Mature brick rim, dark purple/red core. Early insinuations of bretty badness proved to be fake news. Old bottle funky skunkiness perhaps. Much lovelier with air, especially day two. Malty, autumnal, earthy notes. Gamey, charcuterie, sour cherry, blood orange, raspberries. Quite aromatic in an older mature sense.
No questions about the palate. Beautiful lines from the get go. Long, fine seams of tannin and those malty/tobacco characters. Darker fruited than the nose suggests, fresher too thanks to subliminal acids. Satisfyingly elegant.
All who tasted it at Clonakilla were impressed. Interestingly, some with experienced superior palates punted on it being Bordeaux, perhaps due to the autumnal aromas, linear palate structure and tannin line. It didn't invoke Northern Rhone, nor local models. A reminder of Shiraz/Syrah's many guises.
Agree it's fully mature, in a distinguished manner. From a great vintage, love to see more. I too wish I had another bottle or 'tres'. Portuguese wines have only a toehold in the Australian market, but hopefully if locally grown Touriga and its blends can grow in profile the demand for the original article will rise likewise. Examples such as this put the case eloquently for more Portuguese imports. Fittingly tasted at the home of Oz SV.
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White
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2018 Ravensworth Riesling Estate
Canberra District
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This brought BB King to mind. A good wine, albeit a dialled back version of the 2017, that benefits from air. Similar alluring gold colour to the 17. Similar lime cordial, peach skin aromas too, but buttoned up, not as effusive or inviting. And a similar sense flows into the low-medium intensity palate. Not hard but ungiving, not the expected zip.
Unquestionably better on night two. More stone fruit (yellow peach) with seashell hints. Delicate soft acids, hidden on night one but released with air, improve the texture and overall sensation - livelier, fresher, tasty peach skin texture. More interesting than night one but not a rockstar (or guitar hero).
Worth drinking but for Riesling lovers, you might feel ‘the thrill is gone’ (you can always dial up BB King or many imitators - Joe Bonamassa does a ripping rendition).
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Red
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2010 Clonakilla Shiraz O'Riada
Canberra District
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A superb bottle taken to Melbourne to taste with The Truth and Mr Aldo, a couple of tasting glasses poured for Callum of Chiara Wine Bar to return the favour for excellent wine advice (and a generous free sample of a classy Attwoods’s Chardonnay from Mt Macedon).
Right in the cool climate ‘Syrah’, cooler vintage groove. Mellow plums, cherries and poached raspberries. Infused with savoury tones - subtle bacon streaks, dried herbs, tanned leather, spices. Just lovely.
Possibly better palate. Gone are the edges seen (supposedly) last year. Rounded, smooth - kid glove suppleness - with depth and length. Achieves its maker’s aim to make ‘Shiraz with a warm heart’. It possesses ‘glow’. Similar subtle complex notes flow from the nose. Light and shade.
A reminder of how context can alter perceptions. And that final judgement is rarely reached, with wine at least, if not the superiority of the radish to the rose. Fully mature but in a sweet spot.
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Red - Sparkling
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2010 Ashton Hills Sparkling Shiraz
Clare Valley
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A wonderful wine in its own right and fine exhibition of a distinctive slice of Australiana’ for the wine world. Last tasted in Kuala Lumpur in 2017, tonight it followed on the heals of a lovely, mellow 2010 Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz.
Pronounced bricking receding rim to a garnet, mahogany core.
The nose speaks of its age. Sticky date pudding/Xmas cake, cardamom, amaro bitters, raspberries and plums, smokey Russian Caravan tea (ex oak?) hints. If you want to know what complexity looks like, the aromas here give the answer.
The base wine comes from venerable Wendouree Shiraz vines. This smells older than the elegant 2010 Wendouree Shiraz, partly to do with it being Wendouree ‘seconds’, mainly to do with the different making methods.
Equally satisfying palate. The art of making sparkling red lies in judging the dosage just right, to smooth the edges without straying into perceptible sweetness. Many are called but few are chosen when it comes to striking the right balance. This wine does. It’s plush and savoury. Good line. Leathery hints suggest it’s time to drink up, before it starts drying out.
No complaints from me on that score. My last bottle is in the line of fire. Great value when bought (AUD35-40), the price is now AUD60. Still good QPR but it makes you think of other top tier spkg reds (admittedly AUD20 more or above). But that Wendouree source fruit does make you want more, and like Pooh Bear, just a drop more and more. No Backsons here.
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Red
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2010 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
Canberra District
Shiraz Blend, Syrah more
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In the mature (but not twilight, yet) zone. Colour foretells much. Translucent light brick rim before browning/brick, then dark red core.
The nose instantly summons a learned judge’s comment at the Clonakilla 50th anniversary of the 2010. ‘Slightly vegetative Cote Rotie’, with ashy edges, charcuterie, tanned leather, then more New World cherry and plum, fennel seed too.
Alluring nose but the palate consummates the liaison. Suave and silky, just a touch of grip to keep things interesting with chargrilled sirloin and other meaty thingies. Lovely, slinky and long. Better than good intensity, a long bow finish, with leathery and aniseed traces to give it a lick of complexity. The palate’s fresher than the nose suggests.
I’m a fan of this Cka vintage. There are richer, more potent years. But I’d trade some of that for the silky wiles of the 2010s. Ready to roll.
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White
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2018 Collector Wines Chardonnay Tiger Tiger
Tumbarumba
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Collector number among the Canberra district’s front rank. Maker Alex McKay is a thinking drinker’s wine man. I’m not sure the reds have built on their early promise - good, but not quite sustaining the upwards trajectory from the 06s and 08s that won garlands and bling at reputable shows. The Chardonnays, on the other hand, vie for top spot. Like the best in Canberra, the fruit is sourced from uber cool,
high altitude Tumbarumba.
Silver gold colour, signalling midway to maturity.
Textbook contemporary Oz Chardy nose. Smoky bacon (sulphite), nectarine skin, gently sautéd yellow peach, sprinkling of grilled nuts. Hits the mark for me.
Good, pleasurable palate but doesn’t quite follow through on what the nose promises. Soft, caressing, gentle tingling acid finish. A melange of flavours from the nose, soft focus. Fresh but middling intensity. Not quite the zip of the top years. Where’s the trademark Tumby crystalline acid cut and thrust?
No matter. You’ll find those distinguished characters in the thrilling 2017. Drink the 18 now while you let the better years take their time to settle and mature.
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White
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2016 Rockford Sémillon Local Growers
Barossa Valley
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Rockford have rightly carved out a place in the Barossa and Australian elite for their reds but this wine underscores why they deserve acclaim on the strength of their whites too. The Vine Vale Riesling transformed my thinking about not only Riesling and oak but also that the stinkin hot Barossa floor could yield fine and profound white wine. The Eden Valley Riesling is a case study in how to use skin contact to mould texture while preserving delicate fine fruit.
And to the 2016 Semillon, a museum release courtesy of a good buddy at the winery.
Inviting burnished gold colour speaks of more age than the wine itself discloses.
Lemon scented, that sour bath salts aroma too, then a hint of seasoned oak somewhere off yonder, a hint of sizzled butter, just the right touch. The middling intensity combined with those characters makes it more enticing than if the power were dialled up.
The nose is a delight. The palate is superb. While only medium intensity, the gentle texture and uber long, tingling finish sing. It’s finer than expected for the variety from the Barossa and raised in oak. It’s not only the fine acidity but the precise balance of tactile elements (gently grainy oak, skin phenolics) and fruit that makes the palate so comforting and refreshing.
It’s in a prime drinking spot but no doubt will age another five years without losing elegance, the delicate acidity and fine balance underwriting its future. But I would smash it now if you have only a bottle or so. And I would buy more - tons more - Barossa barrel aged Semillon based on this charmer!
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Red
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2020 Querciabella Chianti Classico
Chianti Classico DOCG
Sangiovese Blend, Sangiovese more
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A pleasure indeed and hard to improve on Komrade Rote K’s note below. It’s been a while since I’ve supped from a bottle of fresh Chianti Classico, or this maker for that matter.
This is very fine. It needs time to breathe and the dusty oak to depart the stage, but all is in order. Cherry and cranberry, for sure, on nose and palate.
Fresh, balanced, middling intensity as you’d expect in a CC. A tidy package. And yet, I wanted a little more oomph, grunt and bite. I haven’t tried the 2019s but I get it when Rote K says he misses the extra grip that year delivers. This is a far better model than I recall from the rough hewn Querciabellas of the 90s. But I’d trade a bit of finesse for some heft and grit on the palate, I think.
As for ageing, I wouldn’t bother. This is in a good place. It might get better but that I suspect would be a case of diminishing returns. Drink in the moment.
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Red
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2008 Clonakilla Syrah
Canberra District
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A compelling Syrah, for the mind, soul and tummy. It may not be the best Cka Syrah (09, 15, 16 and 19, perhaps 18 too, vie for that spot) but it’s upper echelon and one I love, not least for the intrigue – is it a great wine, or almost but for how the delectable fruit was handled with oak? And like some legendary romances or Jane Austen thing, it wasn’t love at first sight or without ambivalence and subplots as it has evolved.
From a very good year. The vineyard sprung back from the frost devastation of 07 to deliver the largest crop at that time, absorbing a notably (notoriously) hot summer.
Similar colour to my last note almost 2 years ago. Purple core, with decided fade on the rim (up to a centimetre or so).
A spicy, bunched, complex nose. Fruit and oak spicy, greengage plum, tarragon or fennel, pepper, raspberry, boysenberry. Lots of aromas competing for your attention, a dusty oak note receding like the last trumpet call at post. I could sit with the nose a long time, longer than I could meditate with my woeful self.
The palate is a silk slipper. So fine, so delightful and playful, waltzing across Texas tonight (check out Emmylou Harris’s version on her brilliant Wrecking Ball, you’ll get the drift). More raspberries, dusty spices, charcuterie touches, and crystalline acid trail across the palate. Fresh yet mature.
Does it retain the fruit intensity to see out the 22 month oak birthmark? That’s the nagging question that keeps me coming back, trying to crack the code. The romantic in me thinks so. The realist thinks it 50:50. The 2006, the maiden Cka Syrah, also had 22 months or so in oak. It’s very good, a fave, but walks the line.
While I’d prefer a touch less oak to let the almost delicate fruit disport its naked self, this is a case where the oak plays an honourable role. It provides savouriness, texture and grunt to the fine fruit. As Townes Van Zandt sang, ‘I’ll miss the system here, the bottom’s low and the treble’s clear’.
All up, a study in how to use oak. It reminds me of what Duane Coates is doing in the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale, in a different climatic context and inspired by different influences. With the right touch, vintage and fruit, it works. On balance, I think so here with the 08. It’s great now but should offer more subtle delights as it merges into its twilight (5 or perhaps 10 years on). Not better than now. Just another intriguing stage in its life story. Oh to have a magnum of it.
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Red
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2017 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône
Red Rhone Blend more
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The stalwart delivers (from a 375 ml half bottle). Good purple/red core with rim fading to crimson.
Hard to say whether I like the nose or the palate more. Both impress, given the modest price tag.
Dry spice, pepper and char mingle with (Grenache) raspberry, strawberry hovering in the background. Composed.
A similarly dry, savoury palate. Touch of liquorice to the above characters. Not only avoids the porty excess of some (many?) CdRs but better still exhibits fine tannins and good line - especially for the price, back in the day (it seems Guigal have cottoned on to ‘international pricing’ and adjusted upwards, alas). Drinking agreeably well now but a few extra years wouldn’t hurt.
Ever since tasting a 1997 Jaboulet Parallele 45 CdR with 20 odd years or so age, I’ve been on the hunt for a good value CdR to buy in bulk and consign most to the cellar. This would have been a reasonable candidate. Me thinks the 2015 even more so. A good Komrade bought a stash of the 15s. I must remind him of what a good deserving pal I am.
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Red
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2014 S.C. Pannell Shiraz Koomilya
McLaren Vale
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2014 Koomilya
If I could see only two vineyards in Oz before I time out, the first would be Wendouree in the Clare Valley. Any serious lover of great Shiraz or historic Australian wine needs to make the pilgrimage. The second vineyard is Steve Pannell’s Koomilya in McLaren Vale. The two are twained in different ways.
Pannell’s formative winemaking years were in the Clare, where he would visit the Brady’s at Wendouree one evening a week to absorb what it was all about. Like the original Wendouree vines, Koomilya was planted originally in the 19th century (with Pannell planting new vines (Touriga, Tempranillo, Graciano and other hot wine country stuff) and grafting over existing vines (Gewurtz to Shiraz). Raised in Margaret River with impeccable pedigree (Mosswood), Pannell is a spiritual son of the Vale. He envisages the wines coming from Koomilya as expressing the site’s singularity. In that he’s striving to capture the vineyard’s personality in the way Wendouree does with its secluded block in the Clare.
Lest there be any confusion, he’s not aiming to make a Wendouree clone in McLaren Vale. His vision is for Koomilya to be to the Vale what Wendouree is to the Clare. A profound statement of place, of roots, of what the vineyard feels like – its rhythm, its soul.
I got turned onto Pannell’s Koomilya venture by a piece Philip Rich wrote a decade or so ago about the new wave in the Vale (Ministry of Clouds, Bekkers etc). What caught my interest was his comment that the most interesting wine he’d seen was unfinished, a Shiraz out of a large 2,800 ltr barrel that Pannell had shown him. That wine emerged as the maiden Koomilya, a 2013 from the DC Block. The 2014 combines the various blocks into a single vineyard wine.
Great colour still. Dark purple/black, tinged with crimson on the rim. Pretty uncompromising statement on night one. An amalgam of dark fruits, mineral and bush characters, spice and iron. Heroic tannins in a Wendouree mould – but with a different texture and weave. It seemed to defy time, in a more primary state than when tasted on release where it seemed finer but not as potent as the 2013 DC Block. No manicure here.
It really came into its own on night two, drawing me back again and again to try to pin down its characters. Tasted from two Riedel Shiraz-specific glasses. The differences between the two were more than variations on a theme, and thus bear setting out.
Riedel Shiraz bowl – a hot summer day’s dust, cumin and cardoman, ferrous, liquorice strap somewhere in the background, boysenberry, blueberry, a whisper of gum and a sense of…Koomilya?! Compared with the other glass, seemed rounder, ample mid-section (no hourglass waist here sorry, if that’s your thing), good intensity and grip. Something old-fashioned about the tannin and texture that works for me. Finishes with jube gum and spicy/dustiness, a pleasing unpolished sensation. Authenticity.
Riedel Shiraz tulip – brooding, harder to unravel the many threads. Flashes of iodine, salinity, spicy, sandy against a black and blue fruit backdrop. At once long legged (‘Walk this way’!!) and commanding, as well as muscular, more of that sinewy tannin. Highly detailed, fruit and savoury elements galore, more of those saline characters you see (and want if you are pure) in Vale Grenache but rarely in Shiraz from anywhere. And once finished, a lingering perfume in the glass of blueberry, Dutch cinnamon biscuit (the only hint of oak, if it’s that), a whisper of iron and that sandy note you see in St Joseph – and sometimes in darker versions of Vale Grenache.
Koomilya. What a vineyard. One to watch. Potentially higher than 95 – in 10, 20, 30 years etc.
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White
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2023 Ochota Barrels Chardonnay The Slint Vineyard
Adelaide Hills
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Sure is a lean rooster but with a decent long tail. If I hadn't known its identity and thus Adelaide Hills provenance, I would have picked it as from Tumbarumba. 'Tumby' (NSW) enjoys the distinction with Mt Macedon (Victoria) as one of the two coldest places where vines grow in Oz. This has similar citrus notes, similar skinny 'fruit on the bone’ profile, but avoids the greenness of melon rind. Just, as Rote K aptly notes in the TN below. It reminded me of Clonakilla's Tumby debut in 2011, from the coldest and wettest vintage in memory.
I was expecting more funky town from this maker but suspect they dialled it down for the cooler vintage. Reasonable balance in that respect, although I found the vanilla pod from the oak mildly distracting. It's not overdone but haunts the nose and palate. The tingling finish and shot of flavour on the back palate save the wine from blandness.
Not sure whether it will age or get better. That said, I thought the 2011 Clonakilla was more classy oak and artefact than fruit with a pulse, and it looked at its best at the 10-12 year mark. You'd want to be an Ochota diehard and have a ton of faith to cellar this, me thinks. Better to place your money on the 2022s and better still the graceful, vibrant 2021s if you can find any.
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Red
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2017 Clonakilla Syrah
Canberra District
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From a cooler vintage, this is on the savoury, charcuterie side of the Cka Syrah spectrum. Lighter coloured, ruby to fading red. The nose mixes spicy, baking bones and twiggy/bracken autumnal notes with soft cherry and plum. A sense of rawness lingers, from oak puncheons (600 litre) is my guess, lending seasoned oak and graphite notes.
No such issue with balance on the rounded, mellow palate. It’s medium weighted, soft, spicy, middling intensity, fine and reasonably long. Pinotesque. It reminded of the 2009 Cote Rotie Cote Brune tasted a week earlier (Domaine Barge, about which I knocked up a TN). Not bad company to keep.
But a touch of dryness on the finish, oak derived I sense, raises a doubt about how it will age. It doesn’t possess the raspberry or rose perfumes of the 2010 and 2012 – both cool years – nor their mid palate intensity. Not quite the depth of the 2017 Western Vineyard SV either. It’s lighter, more detailed, in line with what seems to be the stylistic refinement made circa 2015 to the top reds. One to keep an eye on and perhaps enjoy sooner than later.
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Red
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2019 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec
Clare Valley
Shiraz Blend, Syrah more
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This brings to mind the 1991 Shiraz Malbec, my first Wendouree vintage, when tasted with my now wife in 2006. It seemed, on the occasion, the most authentic expression of Shiraz, regardless that it was 15 years of age, regardless that it was a blend. In fact, I felt then the wine had needed 15 years to fully emerge. Blue and black fruited, loaded with spices, mid-palate vibrancy with simmering intensity, firm yet fine tannins that trailed onto the long, satisfying finish like a jet stream. My kind of Shiraz, noting I subscribe to a broad church with the variety, as my Clonakillanista TNs - and others in between - I hope attest.
The 2019 is in the same league, if not better. Dark purple, crimson rim, touch of fade.
Seductive nose. Blueberries bordering on Danish pastry spring forth (classic Shiraz/Malbec from Wendouree), cedary oak touches, pressed flowers and minerals. A nose to linger over.
Delicious ripe/savoury palate. Here the secondary characters - coal dusty, dried seaweed, oak seasoning - offset the exuberant fruit. Tidy package. Long and fresh, with tingling acids as usual with this blend.
The switch in the late 90s away from American to French oak marks a key difference between this wine and the 1991. The 1991, when tasted circa 2022 (alongside the stupendous 1998 and potent 2008), looked remarkably fresh for 30 years or so. But the vanillin traces from the US oak stamped more standard Sth Australian Shiraz styling on the core Wendouree character. Even with French oak side notes on this 2019, you know it’s Wendouree talking to you, straight and true.
A Wendouree you know will age long and supremely well, but one where the balance makes it an easy proposition to drink sooner than later. Discipline now komrades, and yea shall reap rewards. At its 15 year mark, it will look even better. But so damned delicious, an extra point awarded since the tasting on release.
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Red
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2006 Paradise IV The Bates’ Ford Shiraz/Cabernet Moorabool Estate
Geelong
Cabernet-Shiraz Blend, Red Blend more
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One of those good yet rare moments where an old bottle, which has been lying in the stash and you’ve skirted for whatever misgiving or doubts about it you had, springs a surprise on you, pirouettes with some class and gives you the finger for the numpty you are (talking personally of course). Far better than when first tasted at the close of 2018.
Good red, darkish colour still with expected bricking and receding rim.
An initial whack of burnt tobacco aged Cabernet notes, some mushroom and greenery that reminded of late 80s/early 90s Cape Mentelle or Te Mata Coleraine. Underlying perfume of blackberry, sooty pipe tobacco and spice comes through. If this was a Margaret River Cab or blend, the pundits would bestow laurels.
Palate is the real deal. Rich fruit any Cab maker would turn tricks for. Sumptuous tannin (thanks to the Shiraz perhaps) provides a cushioned texture, as does the well judged glycerol. Mellow finish. All the reasons you age wine.
Timed its run nicely, or I at least picked the right moment. Just when I was reappraising PIV, this provides a reminder of their ageing qualities and the grace time can bestow. Good years matter and I sense 06 was kind down Geelong way.
It does raise a tantalising question as to whether the Chaumont Bordeaux/Hermitage blend (Cab, Franc and Shiraz) might have the final word over the more touted Dardel straight Shiraz. Wine games, for the mind and soul.
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Red
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2009 Domaine Barge Côte-Rôtie Côte Brune
Syrah more
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A sentimental memento bought from the cellar door in Ampuis on a pre-wedding honeymoon in 2012. From memory, 35 Euro that gave good QPR and sure as hell beat the price back in Oz.
Dark core but brick to browning rim. That belies the seductive nose. If a wine can smell or feel velvety on the nostrils, this does it. Burgundy meets Cote Rotie. Cherry/raspberry mix, scented, soft spices and later charcuterie.
The palate doesn't quite live up to the romance of the nose. Soft and fine, but diffuse. Acid peppers the middle weight body, lending freshness but it seems the fruit's fading. Herb appears but doesn't distract.
The nose, initially at least, is a 93-94. The palate an 89-90, or thereabouts.
My first bottle of the three. At its plateau and better than a pleasant drink, but no rock star. As expected, I should have opened these earlier, circa 2019 or sooner. But I vowed to so do to share with my wife. Making babies, feeding babies, and all that stuff got in the way. C'est la vie.
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Red
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2009 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec
Clare Valley
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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For a wine with a reputation for a stern countenance, this is a beauty with power and grace. Deep dark coloured, still unevolved.
Fragrant blackberries, gum drops (ex Malbec), flecked with bayleaf, clove and spice.
Smoothly fused palate, still fresh, long. Tannin and texture both powdery soft and yet taut - ah, the Wendouree paradox. In this case, more velvet glove than iron fist, but not a softy. More Sugar Ray Leonard than George Foreman.
Ten, twenty years or more, particularly under screwcap (its debut vintage for Wendouree).
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