John Duval 2009 New Releases

If you are interested in Barossa wines, in particular Shiraz, you have some difficult vintages to deal with: 2007 and 2008 have been drought years, with wines often too ripe and not very differentiated. 2011 is a disaster, and don't get persuaded by whatever the local spin doctors come up with. So the vintages to go for are 2009 and 2010.

The first 2009 reds are coming out now, and I had the opportunity to taste the 2009 John Duval Plexus and the 2009 John Duval Entity yesterday. The Plexus is the GSM, the Entity the pure Shiraz. These wines are pretty much as far away as you can get from the Penfolds profile. They are wines where the fruit reigns supreme and the 2009s are impressive. The Plexus shows the elements of all three grapes, the Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre quite clearly and weaves them to an elegant whole. The Entity, from vineyards in the Barossa as well as Eden Valley shows more fruit concentration, a very pretty plum profile. There is oak there as well, and fine tannins - a wine made for longer term cellaring. I was impressed and can recommend these well made wines.