Utopos New Releases

 When I traveled to the Barossa last year to visit some newer wineries, I missed Utopos. The visit was arranged, but owner and winemaker Kym Teusner fell sick. It was therefore a welcome opportunity to taste these wines in Sydney this week. 

The wines come from a vineyard on Roennfeldt Road in Marananga, previously leased out to Penfolds and next door to David Powell's property. It is a special plot, reaching to the top of the ironstone ridge at 300 meters. Three types of soils allow a lot of options. There is red-brown earth at the bottom, a strip of black biscay in the middle, and depleted top soil exposing ironstone and quartz in the top region. Most of the 30 acres under vine were planted in the early 1990s. Shiraz is planted to the East, Cabernet Sauvignon to the North, and Grenache and Mataro to the West. The average yield is a low 1t/acre. 

The 2021 Grenache is a pretty and fresh wine, tasting of red and black cherry, with a balanced structure and silky tannins. The finish is soft and long (94 points).

The 2021 Mataro/Shiraz/Grenache (40/30/30) is quite different, with the Mataro component quite prominent. Dark fruited and savoury, this wine delivers a firm grip (93 points).

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is quite savoury as well, with the ironstone soil making its presence felt. The wine is medium weight and quite smooth, well made, perhaps lacking some impact (92 points).

The 2021 Shiraz is dark, with blackberry, mulberry and earthy flavours. The wine is fresh and elegant, of medium concentration. It is perhaps a bit fruit forward (94 points).

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz (60/40) is blue and black fruited with a fresh mouthfeel. The tannins are fine and dry. This wine is a good example of the benefits of this famous, now slightly neglected blend (95 points).

The 2018 Shiraz, from this excellent vintage, has a very aromatic bouquet. This is a very pretty wine, black fruited and savoury, with silky tannins and a long finish (96 points). 

I was then shown the first wines from 2016. They were nowhere near the quality of the younger wines. Apparently a lot of work was required in the vineyard to get the vines up to scratch. 

If I were to generalize, Utopos wines are characterized by purity and the aromatics of the fruit, as well as savoury influences. On this site, there has been some discussion of the merits or otherwise of traditional ripe Barossa Shiraz on the one hand and leaner wines made by young winemakers on the other. Kym Teusner with Utopos wines seems to strike a happy medium. 

  

Hickinbotham Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Hickinbotham is the sister property to Yangarra, both owned by Jackson Family Wines. It is a lot less known in Australia, as early production was almost exclusively aimed at the US market. This has, however, changed over the years. The vineyards are in immaculate condition in a prime spot of McLaren Vale. The focus is on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

I tasted the 2019 Hickinbotham Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon a couple of days ago. It is a full-bodied, quite concentrated, ripe and thick wine of blackcurrant, plum, and charcoal flavours. The oak, high quality and mostly new, I imagine, is noticeable as well. The fruit flavours are intense, yet the wine is balanced. It is a wine on steroids you could say. A Napa wine made in Australia. I guess this was always the idea, at 10-20% of the price.

Score: 93/++

Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache

 There are two stylistic expressions of Grenache. There is the lighter coloured, lithe, ethereal type. Yangarra Ovitelli would be an example. And then we have the full-bodied, dark, ripe Grenache. Cirillo's old vine Grenache is certainly of the second type. The 2016 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache comes from the arguably oldest Grenache vineyard in the world, grown on the sandy soils of Vine Vale.

This wine is loaded with fruit flavours; raspberry, red and black cherry, boysenberry. Mint and mushroom flavours deliver complexity on the palate. The mouthfeel is smooth, and a little sweet. This weighty wine is balanced and still quite fresh, backed by firm tannins, before it ends on a silky and long finish. It all works.

This is a real crowd pleaser.

Score: 96/+++

 

Massolino Vigna Rionda

 A little while ago, I asked a highly regarded Australian winemaker, if he had only one last wine to drink before his death, what would it be? I expected him to either pick one of his Shiraz or Grenache. Instead, he said; the 2001 Massolino Vigna Rionda. The Vignarionda vineyard is the legendary south and west facing vineyard in Serralunga, Piedmont. I tasted wine from this vineyard for the first time at my recent Piedmont visit. I have only one bottle of this in my cellar, the 2004 Massolino Vigna Rionda Reserva. I thought the evening of the opening match of the Matildas at the world cup soccer would be a good time to open it. 

Ten wineries share this vineyard. Massolino has by far the largest holding. Naturally, my expectations were very high. This can sometimes be a problem. As it turned out this wine was a very classic, well made Barolo, but I was missing the expected x factor.

Tar and roses, black cherry, licorice, some cola fill the mouth of this dark wine, typical for Serralunga. This wine is quite austere and a little unyielding. Earthy and savoury flavours dominate. It is very elegant on the mid palate, but the very dry tannins lead to a dry, mouth-plucking finish. This is a traditional Barolo, seems a bit old fashioned now, where more emphasis on fruit and freshness is common. 

Score: 95/++

 

The Standish Wine Company - A Vintage Comparison

 People who follow my blog know that I am quite fond of the Standish wines. They push fruit weight and ripeness to the boundary, but in doing so manage to match power with elegance. I like these wines in particular, as in this way they deliver a uniqueness of what Barossa Shiraz can be in the world of wine.

Today, I will report on a comparison between two wines of 2021, the current release, and the same wines from 2018. Before I go into details, a few words on alcohol levels.

Three of the 2021 releases have a noted alcohol content of 14.9%. Apart from the fact that this is high, it is most likely to be higher in reality.  As in Australia the actual level can be 1.5%ige points different from the label, it seems Dan Standish wanted to avoid a 15% plus labelling. Do these wines really all have the same alcohol level?  I find it difficult to talk to Dan Standish about this. It is legal, but seems deceiving to me.

 Why is the alcohol so high in a drought braking, milder vintage? Standish likes to use whole-bunch in his wines. The 2021 Lamella uses 100% whole-bunch , there is 70% in the Schubert Theorem. People use different arguments about the benefit of whole-bunch. To me it adds texture, tannin structure and complexity, but the stems have to be ripe. So in a mild vintage like 2021, harvesting has to be late to achieve stem ripeness. This drives the sugar content, and ultimately alcohol up.

Now let us have a look at the wines.

                      The labels are not very interesting. I am showing the back label for the 2021s.

So I am comparing here the 2021 Lamella with the 2018, and the same years for the Schubert Theorem. In theory, the Lamella would be the freshest of the Standish line-up, and the Schubert Theorem the biggest wine. As these are big wines, I have tasted them over three days, from an open bottle.

The Lamella comes from the Hutton Vale vineyard in the northern part of Eden Valley. The cuttings come from the Mt. Edelstone vineyard. The red-brown earth is similar to much of the Barossa Valley, but the vineyard is at higher altitude. The fruit is the latest picked of the Standish vineyards.

The 2021 Lamella is quite ripe; it is black fruited as opposed to the more typical blue fruit from Eden Valley. The oak is noticeable, but the fruit can take it. There are Early Grey, black olive, and licorice flavours. On day one, the wine needs time to open up in the glass. Then it becomes quite elegant and delivers a long, harmonious line. On day two, the fruit is more aromatic, but the alcohol is also starting to come through. On day three, the wine loses some freshness and energy.

Score: 96/+++

The 2018 Lamella shows more violets and is more fragrant. Yes, there is fruit weight, but the wine is more transparent and layered. Raspberry, and blue fruits dominate the slightly peppered palate. This is very elegant. The wine has good energy. It is still very young. I love the silky finish. On day two, the wine has opened up more, and on day three it remains superbly elegant.

Score: 98/+++

The Schubert Theorem comes from a vineyard on Roennfelt Road in Marananga. The vineyards have quite a bit of quartz here, which tends to make the wines big and ripe, as the quartz reflects the heat at night, and the ripening continues. Whole-bunch is 70%.

The 2021 Schubert Theorem is the big surprise for me in this line-up. The wine is black, deep, and powerful, as expected, but it is also quite elegant and lush with silky tannins. In addition to the black and blue fruits, black olive and pencil shave add to this balanced and majestic wine. It has a very long finish. Clearly, the milder conditions were beneficial to the Schubert Theorem in this year. In many ways, the wine is similar to the 2018 Lamella, but with a firmer finish and more fruit weight. The wine remained silky and smooth on day two and three.

Score: 98/+++ 

The 2018 Schubert Theorem has a similar flavour profile: blackberry, ripe plum, black olive. The wine feels more blocky in the mouth, and is starting to taste a little tough and ripe. On day two, it is less blocky, but starts to show a slightly hot finish, and is not as rounded as on the first day. The very dry tannins lead to a long finish. As the wine mellows, the alcohol becomes noticeable.

Score: 95/++

Overall, this tasting presents a complex picture. Here are some of my insights:

1) The 2018s are still young. In fact, in a blind tasting, one may not be able to distinguish 21 from 18. This points to a very long life for these wines.

2) The wines must definitely breathe. Day two was the tasting peak. At least a few hours decanting is highly recommended.

3) It is hard to predict which of these extraordinary wines performs best. In this tasting it was the 2018 from Eden Valley (the warmer year in the cooler region), and the 2021 Schubert Theorem (the warm region from a cooler year).

4) The concern: initially, the fruit power dominates the alcohol. But as the wines mellow, alcohol may raise its ugly head.

Confused? Comments welcome.

     
 

Bordeaux 2022 Vintage

 Every new vintage is hyped up as one of the greatest or at least something special. Experienced wine consumers let this go by. However, it is hard to ignore the avalanche of high ratings for even mid-priced Bordeaux wines from the 2022 vintage (these are based on barrel samples). 

I normally do not mention any commercial operators in the industry, but today I will make an exception, as Langton's has managed to bring a tasting of over 30 en primeur wines from this vintage to Sydney. It is very rare to be able to taste en primeur outside of Bordeaux. Yours truly attended the tasting last night. So what is the verdict?

On tasting were wines in the low and mid price range from both left and right bank. The lower priced wines ($50-100) were relatively simple, and I would recommend a Cabernet from one of good makers in Australia over them any day.

However, in the mid range ($100-500), there were some amazing wines. So what is the characteristic of the vintage? Elegance, elegance, elegance combined with depth of fruit and silky, sometimes firm tannins. There was also a significant difference between the wines, where it comes down to preferences. Château Trotanoy and La Fleur-Pétrus were super elegant, and the tannins so fine grained, they were hardly there. Château Hosanna seemed to be without tannins. These wines, all from Pomerol, were good, but not for me.

My favorites were Château Haut Bailly from Pressac-Léognan, Château Beychevelle from St-Julien and Clos Saint Martin from St-Emilion. Not far behind were Certan de May and Seraphine from Pomerol. These wines were elegant, with great depth of fruit, already very balanced and fine tannins. The Clos Saint Martin probably had the biggest punch of these. This selection also suggests that great wines were made across the region.

In the morning, and after writing this, I had a look at some of the wine critics’ ratings of these wines. They went from 95 to 99 points. The Haut Bailly was especially praised, likely one of the wines of this vintage.

There were a couple of wines from Margaux of all regions, which were denser and bolder, but I liked the wines with a happy medium weight.  

Dominio de Atauta Valdegatiles

 

The 2016 Dominio de Atauta Valdegatiles is my second single vineyard wine from this remarkable and unique estate. I reviewed the first one a month ago. This wine was the first single vineyard wine made by Atauta, starting in 2000. The vineyard is 1ha in size, and sits on two metres of clay above calcareous rock at the bottom of the valley. The wine is matured in French oak barrels for 16 months, and bottle aged for almost four years.

The wine is quite a contrast to the powerful Llanos del Almendro. It is red fruited, full-bodied, but soft and smooth. Black olive and earthy flavours add to the complex and silky mouthfeel. This is an elegant wine, which is perfect to drink now, but has the structure to live well for many years.

Score: 95/+++ 

Château d’Yquem - A Paradox Wine

 

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What can you write about a legendary wine? I will focus on what I experience as the striking feature. This brings me to paradox wines. I am not sure that I invented the term, but I have used it from time to time. A paradox wine is a wine which combines features which are normally opposite to each other, for example powerful and elegant. Powerful implies intensity, even brutality. Elegance implies lightness, detail. Yet some wines manage to combine both.

What do I see in the 2014 Château d’Yquem? There is pure honey, some toffee, candied fruits and hazelnut on the palate. The wine is smooth and long, but most strikingly, this is a paradox wine. It is very intense, yet lifted on the finish. The intensity makes it very serious, but it is also very pleasurable: a paradox wine.

Score: 97/+++

Quinta Do Crasto

 

Visiting Quinta do Crasto, Portugal’s leading table wine producer IMHO, first requires a hair raising drive up the Douro mountains. But you are rewarded not only with amazing views, a look at its world famous Maria Teresa vineyard (above), but also a memorable tasting. The Maria Teresa vineyard, over 100 years old, is always voted as one of the world’s top 10 vineyards and the single vineyard wine certainly made the reputation of Crasto. When I visited 6-7 years ago, Manuel Lobo, the winemaker, described a project to identify the different grape varieties of this field blend. He estimated about 35. When I met him now, he mentioned they are up to 54 varieties - astonishing and pretty unique. The care for this vineyard is such that if vines die, and the variety is not known, they replant with the major varieties mix, in order to maintain the profile of this vineyard. It is an amazing story, but not the only one. Total production of table wines has grown dramatically to 1.8 million bottles. Let us taste some.

We start with two whites. The 2021 Douro is an entry level wine. It comes from grapes grown at 600m altitude on granite soils, and it sees no oak. The wine is fresh, with good line, citrus and melon flavours, refreshing acidity, good energy, and a saline and mineral finish. This is an entry level wine? (91 points).  The 2020 Superior White comes from a similar vineyard, but in contrast, has been matured for 8 months in barrique, 50% new of light toast. The other feature is the batonage, in a racking system of barrels, which allows each barrel to turn individually. It also avoids any oxygen contact. This wine is also fresh, and impresses with its fine texture (93 points).

Now to the reds, which is the winery's main focus. The 2019 Superior, from a good year, comes from the Upper Douro, not far from the Spanish border. The main varieties in this blend are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, and Souzao. The wine is matured in oak for 12 months, 35% new. Red plum is the main flavour. The wine has firm tannins and will require a bit more time to fully settle (90 points). The 2020 Reserva has an incredibly black colour. It comes from old 50-100 year old vineyards, 42 blocks in total. Each individual block is a field blend - amazing. The wine is matured in 60% new oak, but the oak is not obvious. The wine is concentrated and powerful, but elegant as well, with a long lasting mouthfeel (95 points).

The final two reds in this tasting are single variety wines, which is not often found in the Douro. The 2018 Touriga Franca comes from 40 year old vines, and is matured in 85% new oak. Despite this, it is a lighter wine, but with some bite. It is fresh, red fruited, and with some spice (93 points). The 2017 Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) is also matured for 18 months in 85% new oak. It has a darker colour and is a bigger wine. The palate is quite complex with red and black fruits, dark mocca, and olive flavours (95 points). 

Overall, this tasting has been impressive. Manuel Lobo has been the winemaker for 18 years now. He has assembled an incredible portfolio of vineyard sources. The oak treatment is smart, and all the wines are of a high standard.