2020 Yangarra Estate Blanc Ovitelli

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 90 points

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  1/30/2024 - kostaslonis wrote:

  Australia Trade Tasting (Lindley Hall, Royal Horticultural Halls): ripe, balanced, stone fruit, fresh, herbal, balance, mineral, green peel notes, lime acidity, med body, grapefruit

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  1/24/2023 - kostaslonis wrote:

  Austalia Trade Tasting (Lindley Hall, Royal Horticultural Halls): Very fresh, green fresh citrus, pear, lime peel, green apple, med body, med finish

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  7/13/2022 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 90 Points

  "Why, Charlie, it is so good to see you. I have just the thing for you, very hard to find, very interesting. Would you like to buy a bottle?" Thus purred the proprietor of a local purveyor of fine wines as he saw me enter his store. Answering him, I cried out "But my name is not Charlie. But of course, I will take a bottle." Chortling a little my man replied "Pity your name isn't Charlie; it really should be. It would fit so well." Clearly this man really liked me. Shortly after this I found myself on the street clutching this bottle and now I write about it.
  
  This is a Grenache Blanc dominant wine, with a large dash of Roussanne and then a few other Rhone-ish varietals. It reminds me a good del of the Vieux Donjon white, which is a really charming wine.
  
  The wine is given skin maceration and is made in the rather fashionable ceramic egg/amphoras. The latter are a wank, I suspect, but my name perhaps should be Charlie. The egg is meant to impart particular textural qualities but the concrete vats used in some Rhone wineries seem to result in a similar texture and my guess is that skin contact probably accounts for a large part of the texture.
  
  The aromas are lovely and fresh and grapey is probably the best descriptor. This is not a negative at all - I see it as pure and lovely. There is a side note of lemon, white peach and some flinty, clay type aromas. OK these could be from the ceramic eggs - that seems logical- but I have found this on wines that have never been near an egg or amphora.
  
  The palate is a real joy. Length and intensity are pretty good and the texture is both rich and with hints of being unctuous but then comes bracing salinity and some real flinty cut and fresh acid. There is a little, nicely handled tannin - I am guessing from the skin contact.
  
  Flavours are as per nose. This can be enjoyed on its own and would be fantastic on a warm summer night, perhaps with several nude women of proportions matching the wine (ample but not flabby). Penny Mordaunt might drop by if I ask her nicely? Horrible politics but awfully nice. The wine (and quite possibly Penny) would also be splendid with quality pizza, or other Med type 'easy' foods. It is the depths of winter here in Oz, but this wine almost has me hearing the crickets strigulating and feeling the hot pavers under my feet, as I watch the sun slowly sink in a fiery blaze of colour over the ridge line that I see from my humble abode.
  
  Back to Charlie. The only bum note in this happy symphony is price. I paid $60 AUD (Pacific Pesos) and whilst this isn't a financial Texas Chainsaw Massacre it is on the verge of an arm and/or a leg. That said I applaud the making of a class wine that explores texture more than the pure fruit styles so common here and the balance between fruit and texture is spot on. I am really happy to drink it, it is made in limited quantity, I appreciate the proprietor feeling I might like it and in the end I guess price is what you are willing to pay. Or is that what all Charlies say?

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