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2017 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec
4/20/2024 - Dr S Likes this wine: 91 Points
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 A Perfectly Good Guitar.
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2003 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec
4/20/2024 - Dr S Likes this wine: 93 Points
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 teacher, but guru, yes (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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2013 Eperosa Stonegarden 1858
4/3/2024 - Dr S wrote: 88 Points
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 weigh "Pinosity' styles sre 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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