Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache

 The Cirillo Ancestor Grenache is one of the few wines I buy on an annual basis. The latest release is the 2018 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache. One of the things I like about this wine is that it gets released at six years of age.

This wine is more fruited than in the previous two years. Blueberry and mulberry flavours are quite ripe. There is an unusual mint character as well, not unpleasant. The wine to me is borderline on confected, but it has the pleasant characteristics of concentration and strong aromatics, and it lifts towards the long finish.

Cirillo does not represent the sophisticated winemaking that Yangarra does, for example. But what Marco Cirillo creates is what the French call a vin d'emotion, a wine which evokes an emotional response. In this way, this wine is a wine of beauty.

Score: 94/+++ 

Barossa Valley, Part 2

 Two more wineries to visit on this short trip to the Barossa; Phase III Wines and Alkina.

The name Phase III refers to the third stage of Ben Kelley's life, when he decided to move to the Barossa to grow truffles, and then wine. However, he has been associated with wine for a long time and along the way got to know Fraser McKinley, the winemaker of Sami-Odi fame. His influence is obvious in a number of ways, for example the port shaped bottles and including wine from more than one vintage.

Ben is more playful, though; grabs fruit from wherever he can, adds Pinot to Shiraz, and generally behaves like a kid in a candy store (not in a bad way). His volume of his key wine, Dero (Australian slang for 'I am nobody') is 250 cases.

I also tasted some more experimental wines. The 2022 Phase III Semillon is an attractive wine. It is barrel fermented and richer and rounder than a young Hunter Valley wine. Yet it is a refreshing wine at 10.5% alcohol with crisp citrus flavours (92 points). The 2023 Phase III Chardonnay comes from High Eden, near Mountadam. The wine has whole bunch and tastes of tropical fruit and spices with a nice acidic backbone. The wine also includes four buckets of frontignac. I did not notice it, but it may have added complexity (92 points).

There was also a 2021 whole bunch Pinot Noir. It was robust and powerful, with red fruits dominating, and a musky and savoury backbone. It was interesting, but did not work too well (86 points).

Then I tried the 2023 Phase III Home Block Shiraz. Ben has now planted three small vineyards, which over time presumably will replace bought fruit. The fruit in this wine comes from 3 (!) year old vines. This seems crazy, and it does not work too well. The fruit is picked early. The wine is fruity, despite 100% whole bunch and one of the lowest alcohol Shirazes in the valley at 12.2% (88 points).

Then we come to the 2023 Phase III Devo, the main wine. The fruit comes from something like 10 vineyards, including two Hoffmann blocks. The bottle is in a bag, in reference to his earlier work in a bottle shop. The philosophy is to pick early and whole bunch to soften the tannins. He wants to make wine to be drunk early. The wine shows pleasant red and black fruit, but no sweetness. The structure is solid (93 points).

I would not be surprised if something stunning will come from this producer one day.  

The final stop is at Alkina. The contrast could not be starker. Serious money has gone into this business. The vineyards around the property have been meticulously analysed, and divided by soil type. This is not unusual in many parts of the world, but not common to this detail in the Barossa Valley. The different plots are called polygons, meaning an area made up of line segments. The focus of Alkina is Grenache and Shiraz. It will be interesting to compare these wines to the McLaren Vale tasted wines.

The first Grenache based wine tasted is a 2024 Alkina Rosé. The wine is matured 50% in stainless steel, 50% in concrete. The wine is light, with beautiful aromatic flower scents, and clean raspberry flavours (93 points).

The entry level Grenache was the 2023 Alkina Kin Grenache. It is a blend from different plots of limestone and schist soil. 100% whole bunch was used, and the wine was matured in 100% concrete, to bring out the fresh fruit. The wine is red fruited and quite soft - an easy drinking wine (92 points).

A big step-up were the two polygon Grenaches, from 2022, a cool vintage. The 2022 Alkina Polygon 3 Grenache comes from a plot of limestone and schist soil. This is an intense and super elegant wine, majestic comes to mind. The acidity is present, but beaten by the weight of the fruit. The silky tannins lead to a very satisfying finish - a superb wine (96 points).

The 2022 Alkina Polygon 5 Grenache comes from heavier soil, fractured schist and clay. And this is reflected in the wine. This wine is bigger, quite fiery. This more savoury wine has a great structure pointing to a long life ahead (96 points).

These two wines were certainly highlights of my week in South Australia. They are superbly crafted, and showing off the different soil profiles really well. 

Then came the Shiraz flight. The 2023 Alkina Birdsong Shiraz is matured in concrete to showcase the pristine red and black fruit. There is elegance and power in this wine, but the wine is not as focused as some (92 points).

The 2022 Alkina Polygon 1 Shiraz comes from a tiny plot of quartzite and schist soil. The colour is very dark, and the nose is big. This is a fiery, but quite dense wine with a long finish. Attractive mulberry flavours stand out (95 points).

And then came a surprise, the new 2023 Alkina Striato. I do not know much about this wine. It was quite a contrast to the Polygon 1. The wine is lighter, lively and red fruited. It has great balance and finishes with firm, but fine grained tannins (95 points).

As previously, this was an excellent tasting experience. Some of the Alkina wines are superb. With its scientific soil approach, could Alkina become an icon Barossa winery? There is one big problem: these polygons are tiny plots, and the resulting wine is made in small volumes. It will simply not be available to many people. This however, should be a criterion for an icon winery. However, if you are lucky enough to get access to some of these wines, enjoy!

This week in South Australia had a strong focus on Grenache. A theory is emerging. The premium Grenaches from Blewitt Springs and Clarendon tend to be fresh and red fruited. Their ph is between 3.0 and 3.35, indicating high acidity. The Grenaches from Alkina have a ph of close to 3.6, indicating lower acidity, largely a function of the warmer climate. These wines still have some freshness, but fruit intensity and some dark fruit flavours are also characteristic. So it seems ph levels can predict key components of the Grenache flavour.

 

  

Barossa Valley, Part 1

 Then on to the Barossa, where I wanted to taste the 'new' or 'alternative' Barossa. My first stop is at Agricola in the Eden Valley. This is a small operation (700 cases per year) by Callum Powell, the son of ex-Torbreck winemaker David Powell. His wines are nothing like Torbreck, though.

Callum's wines have been well received and are sold out, but he was kind enough to open two bottles for me. One of the key features of his Shiraz winemaking is the use of 100% whole bunch in the ferment. Let's see how this goes. He also does not do any manipulation, say adding acid etc.

The first wine is the 2023 Agricola DWxHV Shiraz. DW stands for Dallwitz, HV for Hutton Vale. So this is a blend of fruit from the famous Hoffmann managed vineyard in Ebenezer and Eden Valley. The wine is fresh and very savoury and drinks well. I took the bottle with me, and found on day two that more green elements emerged. Using 100% whole bunch is brave in a cool vintage such as 2023, but the fruit from the warm Ebenezer area made it work, although not perfect (92 points).

The second wine, the 2023 Agricola Ebenezer Shiraz comes from old Dallwitz and Dimchurch fruit (not the oldest blocks). The wine is bright, and tastes of red skinned fruit, licorice, and mocca. This is also a fresh wine, a little bit herbal. There is no sweetness in these wines and alcohol is about 13.9% (92 points).

I found these wines interesting. In warmer vintages and with more experience, they could become outstanding.

My second visit is to Ollin, a new winery only started in February of this year.  However, Jaysen Collins, the winemaker, is very experienced, probably best known for the work at Massena together with Dan Standish.

The surprise here was that I liked the white wines better than the reds. The 2022 Ollin Chenin Blanc spent 24 months on lees, yet the colour was still bright. This was a refreshing dry field blend with 13.5% alcohol (92 points). The 2022 Ollin Chardonnay was my wine of the tasting. It spent 12 months on lees and was matured in old French barrels. Gentle citrus flavours dominate in this textural wine (93 points). I also liked the 2023 Ollin Rosé from Grenache fruit. 12 months on lees and barrel fermented, this is made in the Provence style - pale, but with flavour (92 points). 

I was not too impressed with the red wines. The 2022 Balto Grenache from Standish fruit was hand stomped. It is meant for early drinking, but I found fruit and earthy components not well integrated (86 points). The 2022 Ollin Grenache is more serious. It comes from 160 year old fruit in the Eden Valley. There is a lot of spice on the palate. The wine is quite astringent and acidic (87 points). The 2022 Ollin Shiraz, from Kalleske fruit, is a slightly better wine. It is fresh, red fruited, but also quite astringent (89 points).

McLaren Vale, Part 3

 The tasting at perhaps McLaren Vale’s most iconic winery, Yangarra, was very extensive. 

I will only report on the five wines, which impressed me most. Others were still outstanding, in particular the 2022 Ovitelli Blanc. So let us start with the Grenache range. On layer three is the 2023 Yangarra Old Vine Grenache. This is simply a joke. This wine is superb. The wine has great purity, and a fragrance which leads to an elegant mouthfeel (95 points). The 2022 Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache is quite different. It is still a fresh wine, but the fruit expression is quite dark. The wine is also quite tannic, but balanced overall (95 points). I found the 2021 Yangarra High Sands Grenache, the top of the tree, controversial. It is an elegant wine, with more fruit intensity than the others. There is a bit of Grenache sweetness in the core. The issue I have with this wine is that it wants to be fresh on the one hand, and deep and profound on the other. These ideas seem to almost clash on the palate (94 points).

Shiraz is the second major leg of Yangarra. I found the 2022 King’s Wood Shiraz very appealing. It is a bright and elegant wine, red fruited, but also quite savoury, helped by 75% whole bunch (96 points). The higher priced 2021 Ironheart Shiraz is a bigger wine, quite plush and long on the finish (94 points).

This tasting proved that Peter Fraser, the winemaker, is on top of his game. These wines are sophisticated, yet quite easy to drink. Perhaps with the exception of the Ironheart Shiraz, I would be happy to drink a second or third glass of all of them.

These three tastings had quite a focus on Grenache. They showed a particular upper McLaren Vale Grenache style which is fresh, aromatic, but not sweet, and quite acidic. One could argue this is because of the recent cooler vintages, but all winemakers emphasized they liked the low ph levels of, say, 3.0 to 3.2. They are somewhat higher in the Barossa, and we will see what difference this makes. This is where I go next.

McLaren Vale, Part 2

 The next stop was at SC Pannell. Stephen Pannell is a highly regarded winemaker, but the wines from the home block have always been disappointing. Then everything changed when he managed to purchase the Koomilya vineyard in 2013. He has always been keen on this, as the wine he won a Jimmy Watson trophy with at Hardys came from this vineyard.

I had the privilege to walk through this sizeable and very isolated vineyard while tasting its wines along the way. The core wines are the Shiraz from three different blocks; the DC block, the GT block, and the JC block. 

                               Looking down the GT Block, with some Touriga vines in the front

The first wine is the 2021 SC Pannell Koomilya DC Block Shiraz. The vines are 49 years old. The wine has quite lifted aromas, but on the palate, you are hit with power and punch. Red and black fruits vie for attention; cranberry, boysenberry, black cherry. There is also some charred meat, eucalypt, and black tea. The firm tannins bring the wine to a powerful close.

Score: 95/++

It is really important to see how this wine ages. The 2013 DC Block Shiraz helps to explain it. The fruit profile is similar. The ironstone effect from the soil comes through a bit more, as savoury flavours are strong. The tannins have softened. I believe 10 years maturing is a minimum to really enjoy this wine.

Score: 95/++

The 2021 SC Pannell Koomilya GT Block Shiraz comes from 33 year old vines. Curiously, the vines are grafted on Gewurztraminer planted 50 years ago. The fruit of this wine is softer, maybe due to the grey slaty siltstone. More raspberry flavours emerge, but also cedar and other savoury notes. This is a fresh and energetic wine with silky tannins.

Score: 95/+++

The vines of the JC Block are also 49 years old. The fruit is darker in this wine. There is a lot of ironstone  rubble in the soil. The 2021 SC Pannell Koomilya JC Block Shiraz shows complex fruit flavours; dark cherry, mocca, black pepper. However, it is a softer expression of Shiraz. Having said this, the finish is very long, flanked by firm tannins.

Score: 95/+++

There is also a small volume of 2021 SC Pannell Koomilya Cabernet Touriga from this vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon does not ripen every year and is likely to be pulled out. However, I found this wine very attractive. This is a fresh wine, caressing fruit on display. The Touriga grape lifts the wine adding some fruitiness to the wine, which is otherwise still quite tight and astringent. I think in a few years, this will be a great wine.

Score: 94/+++

Overall the impressions from this vineyard are: freshness, no sweetness on the mid-palate, and firm tannins.

Leaving this vineyard, I am moved to the centre of Blewitt Springs to taste the three single site Grenaches.  This is the other strength of SC Pannell. The 2022 SC Pannell Smart Grenache comes from the famous 67 year old bush vines of the high altitude Smart vineyard. The acidity is very prominent in this wine, maybe a bit too much for me. However, the raspberry and red cherry fruit is perfectly ripe, before the wine finishes with firm tannins.

Score: 93/+

The 2022 SC Pannell Little Branch Grenache is the first release from a newly acquired 30 year old vineyard. The tannins are not as strong as in the Smart Grenache. This is a slightly more friendly wine at this stage, still with a focus on freshness.

Score: 93/++

These two wines are based in Blewitt Springs at some altitude. The third Grenache is closer to the ocean at only 80 meters of altitude. All are on sandy soils, of course. The 2022 SC Pannell Old McDonald Grenache comes from an 80 year old vineyard. It has more of the characteristics of the flats of McLaren Vale. This is a gentler wine with some fruit sweetness on the mid palate, but clearly held in check. Good winemaking here.

Score: 94/++

Overall, this tasting wiped out some less exciting SC Pannell experiences of the past. The 2021s and 2022s tasted here come from cooler vintages, and it shows. The wines are fresh, but also quite acidic.

McLaren Vale, Part 1

 A brief trip to South Australia plans to first of all explore the northern parts of McLaren Vale, Clarendon and Blewitt Springs. First stop is Bekkers, a boutique producer of high end wines. You have to be brave and confident to start pricing from $90/bottle. Is it justified?

Bekkers focusses on three red wines, as they say, from the hero varieties of McLaren Vale. The 2022 Bekkers Grenache is red fruited, singing the high notes. There is some spice as well. The key to this wine is its texture, defined by the silky tannins. Acidity is quite high (more on this in later posts) and the finish is long. This is a very harmonious wine.

Score: 95/+++

The 2021 Bekkers Syrah sees 47% new oak. The dark fruit flavours are intense, but more significant are the savoury flavours, its salty and liquorice notes. This firm flavour profile is matched by soft and silky tannins. This is a very seductive Shiraz.

Score: 95/+++

Then there is the 2022 Bekkers Syrah-Grenache. This blend is 75% Shiraz, 25% Grenache. I find it less convincing. The colour is dark, showing the Shiraz dominance. Vegetable flavours add to the dark fruit flavours. I did not find much of the alluring Grenache flavours in this wine. The blend is not so convincing.

Score: 92/+

I could also taste the 2017 Bekkers Grenache to understand how the Grenache evolves over time. This is a very aromatic wine. The acidity stands out less. It almost tasted like an aged Nebbiolo; very gentle, but with a solid structure and red and black berry flavours.

Score: 95/+++

Overall, a very promising start to the McLaren Vale exploration.

Swinney Farvie Grenache

 The  large Swinney vineyards near Frankland River in the south of Western Australia have been a significant source of fruit to the royalty of Margaret River for many years. The obvious question is, why not make wine ourselves? When the Shiraz and Grenache wines launched some years ago, they were welcomed with some fanfare, given the pedigree of the old vines. But how do they really stack up? I tried to find out with a bottle of the 2019 Swinney Farvie Grenache,  the second vintage of their premium wine. 

It is a dark version of Grenache, with black cherry, some gravelly and spice flavours. This is a full-bodied, muscular wine, with a whiff of alcohol on the finish. The wine is perhaps similar to the Cirillo 1850, not quite as round and aromatic. The wine has a savoury and firm finish. It is quite long with blocky tannins very present, probably thanks to the 12% Mourvedre in the wine.

There is clearly great fruit in this wine. The winemaking is good, but not excellent. I think there are a few little kinks to flatten out.

Score: 94/++

Château de Vaudieu

 Château de Vaudieu is not as well known as Vieux Télégraphe or Château de Beaucastel, but I think it should be. It is the largest continuous holding in Châteauneuf -du-Pape, with 70ha. As such, it has seven different soil types on this property with sand, limestone, and large pebbles dominating parts of the property.

These different soil types invite different bottlings, and this is what Chateau de Vaudieu does. I tasted three of their wines from the 2016 vintage.

The 2016 Château de Vaudieu Châteauneuf -du-Pape is the base wine. It is Grenache dominant. The wine is predominantly composed of grapes from sandy soils. The flavour profile is quite intriguing, with red, blue, and black fruit flavours dominant on different parts of the palate. There are licorice flavours and some spice. The wine has a medium concentration. Firm tannins overshadow the fruit a bit. This is a solid, but not outstanding wine.

Score: 92/++

The 2016 Château de Vaudieu Val de Dieu is from a little valley which gave the name to the Chateau. The soil is large pebbles and red sandstone. This wine has a similar flavour profile, with darker fruits more dominant. This wine is more rounded, more elegant, with quite ripe Grenache flavours shining through. The mouthfeel is quite deep, as chalky, dry tannins lead to a dry finish.

Score: 94/++

The 2016 Château de Vaudieu L'Avenue is stunning. This wine is 100% Grenache from a small block of sandy soil. Black cherries and blue fruit flavours avoid any raspberry. This wine is powerful, concentrated, and rich, yet at the same time elegant and not dense. It has been described as a 'plush sexpot of a wine'. The tannins are ample, yet silky. I loved this wine.

Score: 97/+++ 

  

  

Penfolds Collection 2024

 

                                        

The Penfolds Collection now consists of 22 wines. It is difficult to taste them all. I had an opportunity to taste 9 of these wines. The biggest omissions were St. Henri (small volume?), Bin 707, RWT, the premium Chardonnays, and the French wines.

An overall impression of the red wines is that they seem to be fresher and more energetic than in the past. The influence of new oak is more subdued, and overall the wines are quite drinkable straight away.

I was not too impressed with the white wines I tasted. The 2024 Bin 51 Riesling from Eden Valley was quite broad (90 points). The 2023 Bin 311 is actually quite complex on the palate expressing citrus, white nectarine, strike match and almond flavours. The Penfols notes give more than 10 flavours, but somehow the wine did not grab me as some previous vintages have (92 points).

Of the entry level red wines, the 2023 Bin 23 Grenache was a real revelation. Many Grenaches are too big and too fruity, but this wine is quite restrained. It is medium-bodied, with raspberry flavours and a touch of bubblegum sweetness, only a touch. The mouthfeel is quite velvety and the finish is long - a very attractive wine (94 points). The 2022 Bin 28 Shiraz, the Penfolds workhorse, is pure and plummy, but the finish is short (92 points). 

The American wines are from the wildfires impacted 2021 vintage. The Bin 600 is this curious combination of Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and  15% South Australian Shiraz. Despite the Shiraz component, I felt the hole on the mid-palate. The Cabernet component not very strong. The wine has an earthy taste and the finish is medium (91 points). The 2021 Bin 704 is Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. This is quite a big wine, but it has acidity to match. This is an intense and tannic wine, but it is in balance (93 points).

The 2022 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of Cabernet grapes from all major regions of South Australia is quite a step up. It is a fresh wine with good drive, representing the vintage. The cooler year defines this wine. It is much leaner than in previous years, again with a bit of a gap in the middle. However, it is a well constructed wine with good balance (92 points). The 2022 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is quite a step up. The wine is quite fresh, with good drive, showing the characteristics of the vintage.  Blackberry, plum, and mulberry flavours deliver a satisfying mouthfeel. The key feature to me is the very long finish. This wine will benefit from ageing, no doubt (95 points).

Grange; what can you say that has not been said already. this is the 2020 Grange. The first impression; you can actually drink this wine on release and enjoy it. Given the unparalleled grape resources available to Penfolds, it is not surprising that the variability from year to year is quite low. So you expect the wine to be powerful and ripe, which it is, with licorice and dark chocolate flavours adding to the fruit. However, this is not an outstanding Grange, when measured against other vintages. What is missing is the detailed layering you find in the best vintages. Did the 2020 bush fires have an influence? (96 points).

Overall, Penfolds is heading in the right direction with this release. Some key wines were missing in this tasting, so a complete assessment will have to wait.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

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/--  

 

Bindi New Releases

 There are some wineries with exceptional wines which manage to deliver high quality at reasonable prices as well (think Penfolds Bin 28, for example, or Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir). Bindi, unfortunately, is not one of them. However, there are specific reasons for this. As Bindi became better known, wines from their exceptional Estate Vineyard in Macedon sell out in an instant. It was an opportunity too good to pass up, to expand with wines from bought-in fruit. The recent release of these wines (and some estate wines) allows us to assess their quality.

Let's start with the 2023 Bindi Dhillon Macedon Ranges Chardonnay. This wine is made from fruit sourced from the Macedon Ranges. Citrus and white peach are the dominant flavours. The focussed acidity is high, giving the wine a very refreshing finish (88 points). The second wine from the current release is the 2023 Bindi Kostas Rind Chardonnay. This is the standard wine from the Estate. The immediate observation is that this wine is much more concentrated. Otherwise there are similarities to the previous wine in terms of flavour and acidity. In addition, the wine has more energy and drive (92 points).

Then we come to the red wines. The 2023 Bindi Dixon Pinot Noir is the entry level Pinot Noir from the Estate. The colour is pale, but there is a lot going on in the mouth. Strawberry and raspberry flavours reveal themselves first, savoury notes follow, balanced by fine tannins. This wine tastes very young and must be aged to experience better harmony. The Dixon is my pick from the wines reviewed here (92 points).

The second area of focus for Michael Dhillon is Heathcote. The 2023 Bindi Col Mountain Grenache comes from there. This is quite a light red, soft, with typical raspberry flavours - a basic expression of Grenache, somewhat unusual from Heathcote (88 points). The Pyrette Shiraz has been around for longer. This release is the 2022 Bindi Pyrette Shiraz. This is a lighter style, very different from the typical expression from Heathcote. Blackberry, earthy and peppery notes deliver a typical cooler climate style. The wine finishes quite tannic (90 points). 

I was not able to taste the premium wines of this release. They were the 2017 and 2018 Darshan Pinot Noir and the 2019 Block 8 Pinot Noir. I tasted the 2017 Darshan at a visit to the winery last year (see previous blog post), as well as the 2021 Block 8. These wines come from new high density plantings on the Estate. They are exciting wines of small volume, the scarcity matched by high prices. 

 

Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache

 I was a bit slow to post, as I was in Asia in hot weather. It was beer time. Now back to drink some great Australian wine. Cirillo claims to own the oldest Grenache vineyard in the world, and it may well be. The vines grow on deep sands on the flats of Light Pass. As other Cirillo wines are released earlier and provide cash-flow, it is great to see that the flagship Grenache is only released at 7 years of age. So the newly released wine is the 2017 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Grenache.

The harvesting of Grenache fruit is quite tricky, as the grapes take a while to ripen, but then ripen very quickly with baumé levels shooting up fast and risking an overripe wine. Marco Cirillo has been at this game for some time, so he knows how to manage it.

So how does the 2017 shape up? This is a full-bodied wine with raspberry flavours hitting the palate, but immediately put in check by some savoury and herbal notes. These flavours will integrate more over the next 2-3 years. This brand is always dark in colour. At 14% alcohol, it is a very drinkable wine.

This is one of Australia's leading Grenaches. It is interesting to contrast it with Yangarra's approach. The Yangarra wines are meticulously and I would say scientifically crafted. Cirillo's approach seems more intuitive. As I drink this wine, I taste Italian love and family in the glass. I really enjoy this wine. 

Score: 95/+++

Head Ancestor Grenache

 Alex Head has dramatically increased his range. The Ancestor Grenache comes from the famous 163 year old Stonegarden Vineyard at Springton, Eden Valley. The soil is sandy loam over decomposed granite and clay.

Only 900 bottles were made of the 2020 Head Ancestor Grenache. This is a soft and smooth version of Grenache. Raspberry, cherry, and plum flavours lead to a very round and ripe mouthfeel. Black olive and cola flavours add complexity. The acidity is low, the tannins are fine grained. The wine ends with a velvety finish.

This wine is not quite my style, but it is well made.

Score: 93/+ 

Hayes Family Wines Tasting

 Hayes Family Wines is a certified organic winery in the heart of the Barossa. A recent tasting showed some strength, but also some easy pitfalls of winemaking in the Barossa.

Hayes produces a large number of different wines. The first wine I tasted was the 2021 Koonunga Creek Block Grenache. The Koonunga subregion is famous for its sandy soil, and therefore well suited to Grenache. The grapes for this wine come from 130 year old vines, but as can easily be the case with Grenache, this wine is too alcoholic (15%). The old 500l oak barrels cannot tame the alcohol. The raspberry flavours are very ripe, and although the wine seems balanced otherwise, the hot finish takes the pleasure out of this wine (88/0 points).

This contrasts with the 2021 Glengrae Old Bush Block Grenache from Ebenezer. The vines grow on the famous red-brown clay, and deliver a darker wine. Raspberry, black cherry, mocca flavours, and some spice vie for your attention. This is an attractive and elegant wine with a medium finish. Alcohol is 14.5% (94/++ points).

Then there is the 2021 Prayer Garden Grenache, also from Ebenezer. The soil is sand over clay, and the wine is more red fruited. It is not a bad wine, but the mouthfeel is not very distinct (91/0 points).

The first Shiraz is the 2019 Estate Reserve Shiraz from Stonewell. 2019 was a drought year, and it shows in this wine. It has a sweet core and a very oaky flavour (86/-- points).

The 2018 Ancestor Shiraz is a better option. This wine is also intense and quite big, but the blackberry and vanilla flavours deliver a much more elegant and balanced mouthfeel (92/0 points). 

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. 

  

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/+++

 

Bekkers Grenache

 I have reviewed the 2017 Bekkers Grenache a couple of times before. Here is a little preamble. On those occasions, I rated the wine 96 and 93 points, today it will be 95. Does this mean poor assessments on my part? Studies have been done that even the most highly regarded wine critics in the world score the same wine differently at different times. How can this be? There are a number of factors. Over time, a wine will change. While it is possible to incorporate ageability in the score, it is quite impossible to predict how a wine will age, as the chemical composition is unknown. Other factors which will have an impact are the temperature of the wine, how long it has been open, any food involved, and the general mind set of the reviewer. So, here the assessment of yesterday.

This Grenache is quite dark fruited, with ripe raspberry, red and black cherry flavours. The wine is quite layered and complex. It is savoury and elegant, but with some real bite. This wine comes from vineyards not far from Yangarra, where I just reviewed the Ovitelli Grenache. But it is a real contrast to the super fine Yangarra.

This is another sophisticated wine from the Blewitt Springs/Clarendon region in McLaren Vale. It is perhaps not quite as well rounded, but I am splitting hairs here.

Score: 95/+++ 

Yangarra New Releases, Part 2

 In the red wine group, only two Grenaches featured at this tasting.

The 2021 Old Vine Grenache strikes with an intense aroma of red berry fruit. This is a big and quite fruity wine with raspberry and red cherry flavours. This wine is quite ripe, round, and soft - a real crowd pleaser one might say.

Score: 92/+

The 2021 Ovitelli Grenache could not be more different. The colour is lighter, and on the palate, this is a finer, more elegant, and quite ethereal wine. Yet the wine has good intensity, built on fine, silky tannins. The soil for this wine is deep sand, and the maceration is very gentle in ceramic eggs. This is a sensational Grenache, only medium-body, but perfectly made.

Score: 96/+++

The idea of the Shiraz tastings was to compare a recent release with an older version.

It started with the 2015 King's Wood Shiraz. This is a big and ripe wine with jammy blackberry and plum flavours. The wine has good length, but I found the finish a bit flat (91 points). The 2021 King's Wood Shiraz is a bit lighter, still dark, but the fruit spectrum has now moved to blackberry and blueberry (92 points). 

For reasons unknown, the order was switched for the Ironheart Shiraz. We tasted first the 2020 Ironheart Shiraz. This is a more impressive wine than the King's Wood, with black and blue fruits. The palate is elegant, quite soft and gentle. Savoury notes and velvety tannins deliver an appealing mouthfeel. 

Score: 94/++

This was compared to the 2014 Ironheart Shiraz. This wine was more concentrated, with deeper fruit weight and quite a long finish. The question was, was this a function of age, vintage or style difference? According to Peter Fraser, a bit of all three.

Score: 94/++

It is clear, Yangarra is moving towards more elegant wines in its reds. The latest Ovitelli Grenache and Ironheart Shiraz are quite sophisticated wines, without giving up Australian typicity of these varieties.

Vanguardist Grenache

 In the previous post I talked about Blewitt Springs, and how suitable the area is for Grenache. Yesterday I tried one from a producer I know nothing about. It was the 2021 Vanguardist McLaren Vale Grenache. This comes from a more than 50 year old sandy vineyard.

This turned out to be quite an intriguing wine. The bouquet is very intense and aromatic.

On the palate, quite a lot is going on from the start. Raspberry flavours, licorice, herbs and savoury notes deliver a complex and quite moreish mouthfeel. But then it tastes as if the winemaker wants to avoid at all costs a confectionary flavour. This is fair enough, but it is like a meal where too many things are going on without achieving a balanced integration. The tannins are shy, and the soft finish is of medium length.

I would like to drink this in a few years and see how this wine develops.

Score: 92/+

Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache

 A couple of posts ago, I reviewed a Bekkers Grenache, which was highly aromatic but lacked some secondary components. This 2020 Thisledown Sands of Time Grenache comes from the same area of Blewitt Springs, in the Northern and slightly hilly part of McLaren Vale.

This wine is highly acclaimed. It is very aromatic. The fruit flavours of strawberry and raspberry almost explode in the mouth. This is a full-bodied wine, very aromatic, with a big mouthfeel. It is powerful and concentrated with firm tannins; but again, I think some complexity is missing behind the fleshy initial impact.

Why does this wine stand out in reviews? It is always the same thing. The first impression counts, and big flavours obviously stand out. But you drink a wine like this over an evening, and there is something lacking.

The other thought that comes to mind after drinking these two wines: The wisdom in Australia is that the best Grenache is grown on sand. And yes, this produces pure and aromatic wines, but maybe not much else. In contrast the best Grenache in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is grown on the famous rock field of La Crau. Similarly, the Grenache in Priorat grows on rocky slate soil. Most of Seppeltsfields famous Grenache fruit used to go into Port, but they have now bottled some premium Grenache, which I have yet to try. This is grown on red brown clay.

The Grenache story in Australia is still in its early stages. It reminds me a bit of the Pinot Noir development 20 years ago. This wine is a promising start, and maybe I judge it a bit unfairly, as this wine is very young and will no doubt develop further.

Score: 93/0