By Farr New Releases

 The By Farr labels seem to say 'Don't look at the label, try the wine', so we will not look at it.

The 2021 By Farr Chardonnay shows cool climate citrus flavours with firm acidity. It is a good wine, but I find nothing very special about it (92/+ points).

This is different when it comes to Pinot Noir. It is fascinating to compare the two major wines, from vineyards next to each other. The 2020 By Farr Farrside is a light red, a little cloudy. The strawberry notes from the bouquet carry forward to the palate. There is forest floor as well. The main feature, though, is the bony and mineral structure of this wine. There is ironstone in the soil, and you can taste it (even though scientists will not approve). The 2020 By Farr Sangreal is remarkably different. The colour is dark, and black cherry flavours dominate. The fruit flavours are quite big in this lush wine. This is an elegant wine with softer tannins. Will the structure hold up to the fruit? This is not obvious now, but it probably will. If you are a Burgundy drinker, the Farrside would be Chevrey-Chambertin and the Sangreal Vosne-Romanée. A blend of the two, with the structure of Farrside, and the fruit of Sangreal would have been ideal for me. (Both wines 95/++)

The Shiraz is an interesting story. The vineyard was planted 90/10 to Shiraz and Viognier. The Farrs than found out that a 10% Viognier contribution makes the wine taste like Viognier. Now the contribution is 4%. The remainder is now bottled as a straight Viognier. The 2020 By Farr Shiraz shows great purity of fruit. It is delicate with excellent blackberry character. It would have been outstanding as a 100% Shiraz. Unfortunately, even the 4% Viognier has significant influence and dulls the wine somewhat. Still, a high quality drink (93/0 points).     

Powell & Son Loechel Vineyard Shiraz (edited)

 When writing about Dave Powell, wine and personality are inextricably linked. He is larger than life, a very generous, but also quite opinionated man. I don't want to go too much into it, but this is briefly what happened. After he lost control of Torbreck, he formed a company with his son Callum, who had been helping him at Torbreck towards the end. This was Powell & Son. Unfortunately, this partnership only lasted a few years. Dave Powell went his own way, forming Neldner Road. 

When Powell & Son hit the market, a couple of wines were offered for $750 per bottle. I thought this was a very cynical approach for a new brand, not withstanding Dave managed to source excellent fruit from old vineyards. As I learnt, these wines were largely pre-sold to Hongkong, where Dave had a strong following. This essentially bankrolled the new venture. Obviously, since China raises tariffs, this has become impossible.

I was much more modest and bought some 2016 Powell & Son Loechel Vineyard Shiraz for $130 per bottle. The fruit comes from Eden Valley, just south of the town, from 50 year old vines.

The colour is ruby, giving the higher elevation of the vineyard (400m) away. On the nose, black fruits and some smoky notes emerge.

On the palate, plum (why do most people not want to mention plum as a flavour?), blackberry, also blueberry, olive and smoke deliver a complex, full-bodied mouthfeel. This is a ripe wine, as expected, but shows some surprising freshness as well. The tannins are silky before the wine finishes long.

Dave Powell is perfect with Eden Valley fruit. What can be overwhelming from the Barossa Valley does not quite reach the same level of denseness from the Eden Valley. I found this wine to be a fantastic example of a full-bodied, yet drinkable and satisfying Shiraz. I wish I had bought more than a couple of bottles.

Score: 96/+++

Sami-Odi 'Mahé & Ribo' Syrah

 Sami-Odi is in the house! I reviewed the 2015 Sami-Odi 'Mahé & Ribo' Syrah a year ago, and I am interested to see how it has further developed. Today, I show the other side of the bottle.

This time, I find more complexity in the fruit profile. Blackberry, blueberry, and red fruits all show. There is some typical Shiraz sweetness on the mid-palate, but not too much. Mocca and spice flavours appear. This is quite a balanced and attractive full-bodied wine. It is bigger than the Hoffmann Dallwitz I reviewed a few days ago, but this is not a fat or overripe wine. In fact the flavours start to drop off on the back palate. This is compensated by firm, but mellowing tannins. There is a silky long finish. This wine still has many good years ahead.

Score: 95/+++

Adelina McLaren Vale Shiraz

 Adelina is a relative newcomer with wines from Clare Valley (their home) and McLarenVale. Its recent 2021 Adelina McLaren Vale Shiraz received high praise from many critics.

If you plan to drink this wine now, you need to decant the bottle for a number of hours at least. My review is based on a tasting on day two, when the wine has settled some.

This wine is red fruited, very fresh, with some green apple flavours, somewhat unusual for Shiraz. The wine is not unripe, but certainly lives at the early envelope of ripening. It is a very vibrant wine with firm acidity and chalky tannins. Think of it as the antithesis of Torbreck, perhaps.

I think all the elements are there, including fruit quality, but it has pushed modernity a bit far for my liking. And the wine needs to soften. It is definitely great value at its price.

Score: 91-92/+

Sami-Odi Hoffmann Dallwitz Syrah

 The oddity of Sami-Odi (port shaped bottle, blend of vintages) is no longer new, so the obvious question is, how good is the wine?

The ten dots on this bottle of the 2016 Sami-Odi Hoffmann Dallwitz Syrah represent the first 10 years of this venture. Grapes come from some of the oldest plots (more than 100 years) of the famous Hoffmann vineyard in Ebenezer and some newer plantings next door by winemaker Fraser McKinley.

On the nose, this wine does not give much away (or maybe it's just me). On the palate, this is quite an aromatic wine, with pure blackberry fruit and an elegant mouthfeel. There is a mocca note in this full-bodied wine. It is still quite fresh and lively, with fine grained tannins. the finish is medium to long.

This wine is not overly complex, but well made. The Hoffmann vineyard often delivers blockbuster wines, but this one can appeal to people looking for lifted Shiraz as much as traditional Barossa drinkers. I can drink more than a glass of this.

Score: 94/+++

Flor de Pingus

 Peter Sisseck, the very smart Dane, is the founder and owner of Pingus. He researched Ribera del Duero meticulously before he settled on two vineyards of different soils which deliver the fruit for the Pingus wine. If anybody is interested how to create an ultra premium brand, and a wine which sells for more than US$2000 per bottle, one could do worse than studying this story. No I have never tasted this wine.

However, there is a little brother, Flor de Pingus, and this I tasted a few days ago. This wine is a blend of six other vineyards of the region, from 19 biodynamically farmed parcels. He and others hold the view that blended wines are superior to single vineyard wines of Ribera del Duero because of quite extreme soil conditions.

The 2019 Pingus 'Flor de Pingus' shows a very dark inky colour. It is quite aromatic on the nose. One would expect a big, concentrated wine on the palate, but this is not the case. The dark cherry flavours and spice are very elegant; the wine almost dances on the palate with its silky tannins. However, I find the wine lacks some drive and power, which I would have expected from such a premium wine.

Score: 94/++

Priorat Garnatxa

 Up to about 30 years ago, Priorat was a run down region with a lot of poverty and no significant investment in vineyards or winemaking. Then a number of winemakers realized the great history and potential of this area. A group of five wineries moved away from bulk production and planted new vineyards with an interest in single vineyard wines. In the meantime, Chateauneuf-du-Pape had become the epicenter for Grenache. But Priorat started to fight back. And as proud Catalans, they spell their wine Garnatxa. The following mini tasting takes a look at the current state of play.

The 2020 Sara i Rene Dido Garnatxa Tinto is an entry level style wine, but made by two of the famous five, Réné Barbier of Clos Mogador and his wife Sara Perez of Mas Martinet. The Grenache dominant blend is grown on limestone soil. They farm biodynamically. The wine impresses with its pure fruit and elegance. It is not as concentrated as the following wines.

Score: 91/+

The 2020 Mas Doix 'Les Crestes' Poboleda Garnatxa is made from younger vines. The vines are grown on soft powdery brown slate. The flavours show the unique profile of Priorat Grenache. This is not so much raspberry, and it is not sweet. Dark cherry and boysenberry is what I taste. This is a powerful wine with bigger weight than the first wine and more grip than the third, yet impressive silky tannins. I love this wine.

Score: 95/+++

No Priorat tasting is complete without a wine from its superstar, Alvaro Palacios. The 2019 Alvaro Palacios Les Terrases Garnatxa-Carinyena is a blend from an astonishing 80 plots across 8 different villages. The common denominator is the black slate on which the vines are grown. It has similar fruit flavours to the previous wine. The structure is not as big, with a focus on elegance. It is a driven wine, still powerful and a little rustic.

Score: 94/++

 

Dr Edge Wines

 He is not a doctor. The winemaker is Peter Dredge (get it?). He has worked at a number of prestigious wineries in the Adelaide Hills and Tasmania before starting his own label. It is the one with the clown faces.

I just tasted his two current releases. The 2021 Dr Edge Tasmania Chardonnay is a blend of Tamar Valley (Joe Holyman vineyard) and Derwent Valley (Meadowbank vineyard) fruit, blending from gravel soils of the former and sandy soils of the latter.

This is a lively wine, tasting of citrus and white peach, with a good body. It has flint and salinity, and a fresh finish, maybe like a good Chablis.

Score: 94/++

The 2021 Dr Edge Tasmania Pinot Noir is a blend from the same vineyards, this time with the Meadowbank vineyard the dominant component, and a bit of East Coast fruit as well. There is some carbonic maceration. 

This is a very pretty wine, quite floral with bright red cherry and orange rind fruit. Not often does one describe a wine as light-bodied, but this one is. This is a delicate wine with a smooth finish.

Score: 93/++

These two wines are crisp and light footed. They speak of the Tasmanian climate. They are not trying to be something unsuitable. They are well made and will suit people who like a more subtle style.  

 

Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay

 After selling Petaluma in 2001, Brian Croser founded Tapanappa. His most famous wine is his Chardonnay from the Tiers vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills. The grapes come from the oldest Chardonnay vines in the valley, planted in 1979. Enters the 1.5m. This is a block of the vineyard replanted in 2003, to Burgundian clones, and only spaced 1.5 meters apart - clearly an attempt to copy Burgundy.

The flavours of this 2017 Tapanappa Tiers Vineyard 1.5m Chardonnay are complex. There is green apple, pear, pineapple, no citrus in sight. There are hazelnut flavours, probably from the oak. The acidity is a little shy, but is clearly there. The wine delivers quite a full mouthfeel. It shows some development. 

I found the overall flavour profile dull, and did not warm to this wine. (As an aside, if you look at the picture carefully, you will detect an edge of a Singapore Airlines uniform. This wine was consumed on a plane, which would not have helped the assessment)

Score: 94/0 

St. Hallett Faith Shiraz

 Let me move to the value segment today. When you look to buy St. Hallett Shiraz, you know you are going to get good fruit. How is this playing out for the entry level Faith Shiraz?

Blackberry and plum flavours deliver a typical Barossa Shiraz. The 2020 St. Hallett Faith Shiraz is full-bodied and quite ripe, with a sweet core on the mid-palate. The tannins are quite coarse, and the finish short to medium. There have been smoother wines of this brand in previous years.

Score:  85/-

Domaine Faiveley Clos-de-Vougeot Grand Cru

 Clos de Vougeot of 50ha is the largest single vineyard of premium red wine in the Côte de Nuits. At the same time, it is very divided and has more owners than any other. It is generally believed that the upper parts of the vineyard produce better wine, but there are many variables in the soil and between producers. I have been to the famous Château of the vineyard, but must admit I have never tasted any of the wines until this time.

The Faiveley plot is at the bottom of the vineyard, so in a less favourable position. However, Domaine Faiveley is a very experienced producer with many Burgundy holdings. As I will outline now, I was very impressed with this wine.

The colour of the 2014 Domaine Faiveley Clos de Vougeot is dark ruby, but quite transparent. On the nose, very perfumed floral and fruity notes emerge from the glass.

On the palate, black cherry, raspberry, and mild spices arise from a powerful texture. This is quite an opulent and velvety wine, quite rich for a Pinot Noir, and a little sweet. The wine is in good harmony with some oak flavours in the background. It is still quite youthful, but good to drink now. The fine, but firm tannins form an excellent structure. The finish is not too long, but expanding in a satisfying way.

This grand cru is priced at premier cru level and well worth seeking out.

Score: 95/+++

Vasse Felix Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

 The blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc is essentially only produced in Bordeaux and Margaret River. White Bordeaux has become quite unpopular, certainly in comparison with White Burgundy or Rhône wine. Yet such a blend has advantages over the world beater of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The 2021 Vasse Felix Semillon Sauvignon Blanc clearly demonstrates this. 

 

The Semillon component in this wine delivers citrus and green apple flavours on the palate rather than the gooseberry flavours and grassy notes of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As a result, this wine has a fuller mouthfeel.The Sauvignon Blanc component delivers freshness. Overall, this is a balanced wine. The acidity is high, but not unpleasant.

Score: 89/++