Yangarra Tasting with Peter Fraser

Couldn't pass up a great steak at one of Atlanta's best steakhouses. Was really curious to taste some Australian as there seems to be very little push for their wines anymore. Wanted to get an Aussie's view of the market and learn more about their wines.

Yangarra Estate
-McClaren Vale which is 700-800 ft in elevation
-more mild Mediterranean climate
-100% Biodynamic making the wines in the vineyards as much as possible. No petrochemicals. Proactive farming.
-Specializing in Southern Rhone varietals.
-Oldest vines in white sands, Grenache, 1947.

• 2008 Yangarra Estate Roussanne

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Light yellow with green hues; slight petrol, lime, some honey, nose is a bit faint; richer palate, fuller but not oily, good balance, like freshness, lime, apple, sweet melon, almost mineral; tasty with lots of life left.

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• 2012 Yangarra Estate GSM Estate Vineyard

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Dense pretty brighter maroon, higher extraction; fresh fruit, nice purity in nose, plum, dark cherry then smoky dark fruit, some floral, black pepper, nice plushness to nose, later on I got black truffle; silky plushness to the tannin, slight reductive plastic note, sweet fruit but good enough acid underpinning, silkier tannin, good density; nice.

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• 2013 Yangarra Estate Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Darker bright garnet with some clarity; sweet juicy macerated berries, rich, deep, sexy, more density and hedonistic qualities in this nose; meaty, good grip, sweet penetrating fruit, floral, dark cherry; very nice.

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• 2012 Yangarra Estate Old Vine Grenache

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Lighter extraction, bright maroon, some clarity; high toned oak, penetrating rose which almost reminds me of Nebbiolo, black truffle; high toned on the palate too, good focus, intense fruit, good acid, waxy texture, sour dark cherry, sweet dark raspberry, velvety tannin; different, tasty.

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• 2012 Yangarra Estate Grenache High Sands

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Dark garnet core with brighter garnet rim; dark fruit, rich, plush, slight cedar and reductiveness, some tar; dense mouthfeel compared to the regular Grenache, rougher tannin, dark sour cherry, slight tar, cedar, almost Italian-esque, juicy acid, more masculine; very good, would like to see with some age.

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• 2012 Yangarra Estate Shiraz McLaren Vale

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Darker core with thin reddish violet rim; sweet dark fruit, plush, some plastic, sappy red fruit; juicy, fuller body, velvety tannin but a large amount, plum, dark raspberry, dark cherry, some floral, good acid and structure; pretty serious, tasty.

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• 2012 Yangarra Estate Shiraz Ironheart

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Very dark core, extracted, bright violet rim; very dark fruit, cedar, almost Italian seeming, sweet fruit but good restraint, menthol, tobacco; dense, loads of tannin but there's a certain roundness to them, big but good acid complementing structure; noble, very good.

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Well the steak didn't disappoint. Not really a filet guy but this was like butter. It actually did really well with these more gently extracted wines.
The wines really impressed. The price point on the entry levels are really attractive making the higher end ones seems a bit expensive. The quality must be seen with bottle age I'm hoping. No, scratch that, there was a clear difference between the tiers, but I prefer a more elegant higher acid wine which these entry levels provided.
The older (Roussanne) was a mistake from the shipping side, but we were more than happy recipients. This showed so well I wouldn't mind stashing a few bottles away to revisit every several years.
Great stuff and Peter was a class act, thank you.