Tyrrell's Johnno's Shiraz

 In contrast to the other sacred sites, the soil of the Johnno's vineyard is mainly sand.

The 2017 Tyrrell's Johnno's Shiraz is a beautiful, flavoursome, and elegant wine. It is red and blue fruited with some licorice and milk chocolate flavours rounding out an intense and velvety mouthfeel. The flavours reveal themselves in different nuances down the palate towards a long harmonious finish.

The 2017 vintage is quite special. This wine is still very youthful and has many years ahead. I would rate it higher than the 4 and 8 Acre wines. I still have to try the Old Patch from this year (coming to you soon). 

Score: 96/+++

Taste Champagne

 The Tyson Stelzer Champagne tasting extravaganza rolled into Sydney again this year. Not quite as big as in some previous years, but certainly plenty of Champagne to taste. And it proved to be popular again.

Soon after I arrived, almost disaster struck, as the Champagne pyramid in part came tumbling down, but it turned out the cartons were empty, haha.

On to the tasting; last year I called it 'The main houses are back'. So this year I did a comparison of some Major Houses with some reputable Grower Champagnes. The Major Houses I tasted were Bollinger, Billecart-Salmon and Pol Roger. On the Grower side, I had Ayala, Duval Leroy, Jacquesson, Veuve Fourny and Mailly.

The overall winner, as in the year before, was Bollinger. Bollinger has access to perhaps the best vineyards in Champagne (all premier cru), and it has a Pinot Noir grape bias, adding to the complexity of the Champagnes. I rated the Special Cuvée NV 94 points, with its fine mousse, great balance between freshness and toasty flavours and its long finish. La Grande Année 2015 had a darker colour, more concentration and outstanding length (96 points). I found the special PN AYC 18 NV lighter, quite savoury, and not as refreshing (93 points).

The Billecart-Salmon Champagnes rated 92-94 points, with the Rendez-Vous Number 3, being the best. I have always been quite fond of Pol Roger. I found the Vintage 2016 flavoursome, but a bit short (93 points). I preferred the 2015 Blanc de Blancs with its fine mousse, good depth, and longer finish (94 points).

The two outstanding Grower Champagne houses were Jacquesson and Veuve Fourny. The 746 Jacquesson is based on the 2018 vintage. It includes a significant amount of Pinot Meunier (24%). The flavours make quite a strong statement, based on the Pinot depths (94 points). Equally good, if not better were the Fourny Champagnes I tasted. The Grands Terroir Brut Vertus Premier Cru NV included only 20% Pinot Noir, but showed a lot of depth and good length (94 points). The R Extra Brut Vertus Premier Cru is 100% Chardonnay based on the 2015 and 2016 vintages. It is quite toasty, having spent three years on lees. It is a very layered Champagne (95 points).

I found the Mailly Champagnes agreeable, on the lighter side (92-93 points). The Ayala Champagnes are very refreshing, for a hot summer day (91 points). Duval-Leroy, which also sources fruit from the village of Vertus would not be my choice, compared with Fourny (92 points).

In summary, Bollinger is an outstanding Champagne producer. Overall, it is difficult to generalize, as it is with all wine, but with Grower Champagnes in particular, choose the producer wisely. 

 

Rioja and Ribera del Duero

 In a tasting of 20  mid-level wines from the two major Tempranillo regions of Rioja and Ribera del Duero, four wines stood out. A number of the other wines were a bit out of balance with tannins performing strong, but fruit less so.

My favorite wine was the 2019 Alejandro Fernandez Pesquera Tinto Reserva. Robert Parker once called a Pesquera wine the Petrus of Spain. Well, this obviously was not this wine. This wine impressed with its beautiful fruit, its elegance and its long finish. It is a slightly bigger wine than the following three, but it is in perfect harmony.

Score: 93/++ 

The second wine, a little lighter, but with similar characteristics, was the 2020 Los Tres Dones Tinto Fino. It had quite a generous feel of dark fruit and soft tannins.

Score: 92/++ 

                           

The third Ribera del Duero wine in this 'finals' list was the 2020 Protos '27 Tinto. This wine spent 24 months in American oak, but despite this, the wine had a delicate texture, some minerality and a light finish.

Score: 91/++

The one wine from Rioja which made the list was the 2018 Valenciso Rioja Reserva. The grapes come from Rioja Alta, from vines at least 60 years old, and organically farmed. There is minimal oak influence, showcasing the beautiful fruit. Some earthy flavours add to complexity.

Score: 91/++

Overall, Ribera del Duero wines did a little better with a more rounded profile from the warmer region. Rioja wines can soar very high, but they need to be the very best (and expensive), in my experience. 

Cherubino Folklore Chardonnay

 When it comes to quality value wines from Australia, historically Shiraz would have been your best bet. But lately, I think, terrific Chardonnay is available for a good price, in particular from Western Australia. The 2022 Cherubino Folklore Chardonnay from Margaret River pushes this further, as a wine below $20 per bottle, at a quality level more typical for a high quality $30 bottle.

This wine is barrel-fermented in used French oak, unusual for this price point, with fruit coming from Pemberton, Porongurup, and Margaret River. The wine is light and refreshing at first, but more substance and complex flavours of white peach, melon and apricot emerge on the mid palate. The wine delivers a satisfying mouthfeel and a medium finish.

Score: 90/+++     

 

Clarendon Hills Kangarilla Shiraz

The wines of Clarendon Hills are a conundrum. Roman Bratasiuk, who founded the winery in 1990, is playing at opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, he takes advantage of his great vineyard sites in Blewitt Springs and Clarendon, which allow him to produce powerful, yet elegant Shiraz and Grenache. On the other hand, he started his business when Robert Parker's influence was at his peak. Making wine for his palate has allowed the shy Mr. Bratasiuk to direct the majority of his wines to the US for many years. I have found his wines very variable for my palate.

The 2016 Clarendon Hills Kangarilla Grenache was offered to me at an incredible price. I could not say no. Maybe I should have been warned.

The aroma is perfumed and quite strong. On the palate, ripe raspberry and stewed prune flavours hit the palate hard. The Grenache grape has the habit of hitting a peak in ripening quite suddenly, and then goes into overripe territory quickly. In this wine, I suggest, the best picking time was missed. The wine is intense, but overripe, thereby missing any nuances. One glass was all I could manage, and this with difficulty.

Score: 84/--  

 

Complexity In Wines

 To get to this topic, one firstly needs to clarify what is a blended wine. The common understanding is that it is a wine of different vineyards or of different varieties. There can also be a blending of different sorts in a single vineyard, single variety wine. For example, the grapes which go into Henschke’s Hill of Grace are grown on four different soil types. As another example, Torbreck’s Laird vineyard has in one half an easterly exposure, and in the other half a westerly exposure. The top part of the vineyard has very little top soil, the bottom part has a lot more. However, these variations are not normally used to name a wine a blended wine.

The blending of wine is often used to increase complexity and layering of fruit. Penfolds would be a master of this approach. Considerable skill and experience is required to deliver a seamless wine from different locations or grape varieties. The two single vineyard wine examples I quoted are fortunate that they can deliver complexity from a single vineyard due to its composition.

The main purpose of single vineyard wines is a different one. It is to highlight the terroir. For example, a sandy ground delivers perfumed wines, ironstone soil delivers tannic wines. Another issue that comes in here is the topic of clones. The winemaker of Williams-Selyem, a highly regarded Sonoma producer, made the point that combining different clones in a young vineyard makes a lot of sense, as they emphasize different aspects. This is particularly true for Pinot Noir, a variety quite sensitive to clonal variety. On the other hand, he claims, these differences disappear in older vineyards, as the terroir takes over.

And then there are tools in the winery to add complexity, for example combining different vessels in maturation, part whole-bunch, or different times on lees.

As with everything in wine, there are many options. Hopefully I added some clarity to the topic of wine complexity.

Standish Wines Revisited

 For the last six years or so, Dan Standish has collected incredible praise for his Shiraz wines, and I was one of the first to do so. Now it is one thing to produce wines which are great on release. It is quite another to maintain this level over time. As most people who buy his wines will store them for at least some time, this is quite important.

Yesterday I opened a 2018 The Standish Wine Company The Relic and 2018 The Standish Wine Company Andelmonde to see how they have matured. The corks under wax were very fresh on opening. 

I tried the Relic, a Shiraz/Viognier, first. The wine comes from a Krondorf vineyard, with vines slightly more than 100 years old. The colour is deep purple. The wine is very aromatic on the nose. Intense blackberry fruit hits the palate first. There is spice as well. Tobacco and earth flavours are in the background. The fruit weight in the mouth is strong, yet the wine has sufficient energy to drive the flavours down the palate. This is supported by silky tannins, before the wine delivers this massive finish, which goes on and on, and is not heavy. As an aside, you cannot distinguish the Shiraz from the Viognier, which is great.

This wine has not suffered through ageing. Based on this tasting, I would not even be able to say when this Relic will hit its peak - in ten years?

Score: 99/+++

The Andelmonde comes from a 60 year old, sandy vineyard in Light Pass. The colour of the wine is a brighter red. It is more floral on the nose. It is not as powerful as the Relic, with a focus on elegance. Redcurrant and blood plum flavours dominate, no secondary flavours to speak of right now. The tannins are quite tight-fisted. The overall feel is one of harmony, before the wine finishes firm. Again, this wine will live for a long time.

This wine is different from the other Standish wines, more fragrant. It is a shame that Dan could not renew the lease once it ran out. The Andelmonde will be rare and past vintages will be cherished for a long time.

Score: 97/+++

These two wines have held up incredibly well. They have hardly aged and promise even more in the future. Who says powerful Barossa Shiraz cannot age?