2021 Toby Bekkers Grenache

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 91.5 points

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  3/6/2024 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Dry with notes of dark red fruits, smoke, grainy tannins, savoury underling, mineral streaks. I feel I should like this more than I do....

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  8/1/2023 - chatters wrote:

  3 Winos and a Providore Trade tasting (The four seasons hotel, the rocks, sydney): Medium minus intensity aromas of red berry, sweet spice, savoury underpin, palate offers far more; tangy, savoury, drying grip, red and black fruits, interesting.

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  4/24/2023 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 92 Points

  In the comparison with the Paralian, I found this to be the more serious wine, offering more depth but also a wine that was perhaps still somewhat closed off in comparison. I thought it showed nearly as much complexity but it was more muted at this time. Was I looking too hard? Sometimes you can see what you want to see.
  
  I note that this wine was scored at 96 on a very reputable site led by Australia's Huon Hooke, one of the doyens of Australian wine writing and not someone who easily parts with his points. They noted amaro herbs and plum and I agree. I also get the cinnamon and spice of which they wrote.
  
  Here we hit what is an issue for me; the role of oak. My impression is that oak plays a substantial role in this wine and I have not settled on whether or not it is too substantial a role. The fruit is certainly there and is of high quality. I just can't quite get a line on where I think this will go with time, which it certainly needs. Will the oak start to poke through and irritate or will it continue to provide textural and flavour/aroma support? Will this wine start to look a bit on the fat side with time, losing the light touch that is one of the things I find attractive in Grenache? I just don't know the answer. I think Dr S may have less doubt and his diagnosis might be less bright.
  
  Right now, I found the Paralian the more approachable drink and at 1/2 the price of the Bekkers you have to ask whether you want to pay that much more for what I do see as the more serious, deeper wine. However, I would want to see the Bekkers open up and that fruit hold the oak (oh God, I hope I don't read somewhere that barrel was never seen within the winery). I have just seen Andrew Caillard MW's review as I scratched about looking to see if I could get something re oak in this wine and like Hooke, he seems to have great confidence in where this wine is heading.
  
  I will surrender to better judges than me; in this case my star seems to lead me fairly close in their footsteps, at any rate. If you have the coin, I think it is worth at least looking at this - if nothing else to see what you think.

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