Vino Paradiso

The Australian Technology Park seems to carve out a niche for "alternative" wine festivals. After the hugely successful Rootstock festival for organic and biodynamic wines, comes Vino Paradiso, a new festival of food and wine, targeting a younger audience with many unknown wineries presenting and DJ music to boot. The other feature seems to be high temperatures. I visited on Saturday, and after the scorcher at the Rootstock festival, hey presto, it was 39 degrees celsius again. The air-conditioning could not cope, and the tasting of red wines in particular was difficult. They should have been cooled, but were not.

I stayed with some of the better known wineries. Eden Road presented its single region Shirazes. The 2013 Eden Road Hilltops Shiraz was quite perfumed and pretty - a feminine wine with excellent texture (92 points). The 2012 Gundagai Shiraz is darker in colour and more peppery, but the finish is a bit uninspiring (90 points). The popular 2012 Long Road Shiraz is a blend between the two regions (mainly Gundagai) and more of a quaffer, but with attractive aromas (88 points).

The 2010 Kaesler Bogan Shiraz and the Pizzini Barbera and the Nebbiolo did not impress me, but suffered from being way too warm.

The major surprise, however, was the 2012 Soul Growers 106 Vines Mourvedre. This is  the best single variety Mourvedre I have tasted from  Australia (or anywhere). There are only 106 vines left from this 130 year old vineyard north of Nuriootpa in the Barossa. The flavours are very complex and varietal. Blackberry and mulberry flavours are mixed with spice and mild red meat. The texture is framed by smooth and silky tannins.

Score: 96/+++

SC Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah - Jimmy Watson Winner

The power of the Jimmy Watson! Less than a month after the trophy, this wine is now sold out across the country. Is it worth while to hunt it down in the secondary market?

I was lucky to be able to taste the wine yesterday. The 2013 SC Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah has attractive lifted aromas and blackberry fruit intensity on the palate. It is quite a feminine wine with smooth tannins - a showy wine, perfect for standing out in judging competitions. However, the mouthfeel of this wine is not complete, and the finish not as long as you would hope from a "best" Australian one year old wine.

I would happily drink this, along with many other well made young Australian wines.

Score: 92/++

Wynns Alex 88 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

In this post, I am reviewing the 2006 Wynns Alex 88 Single Vineyard Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a couple of years earlier that Sue Hodder at Wynns started to get serious about quality and explore the potential of the many plots of land which Wynns owns on the famous Terra Rossa strip. Yields were cut back and some individual vineyard wines started to appear.

The 2006 is the first such wine from the Alex 88 vineyard, named after the Alexander family who owned it for almost 70 years. Wynns replanted the vineyard in 1988. The 2006 Alex 88 is very attractive on the palate, with blackcurrant building the big core of fruit typical for the Terra Rossa, changing to redcurrant flavours on the sides of the palate in a seamless mix. The wine has good weight, but is a bit too fruity for my liking. Nevertheless, the structure is balanced, with oak only in the background. This is an elegant wine which can be consumed on its own as well as with protein rich food. It is still quite youthful and will easily live for another 10 years.

Score: 93/++  

SC Pannell Grenache

Stephen Pannell just won his second Jimmy Watson for an Adelaide Hills Syrah. This was the first time a Jimmy Watson went to the Adelaide Hills. Otherwise, Stephen's wines hail from McLaren Vale. His wines tend to be fresh, not overripe, but what happens when they age?

The 2006 SC Pannell Grenache has an attractive flavour profile. Oak is in the background, fruit dominates, but it tends to show some restraint. There is no Grenache sweetness in this wine. Red plum dominates, and there is blackberry as well. The tannins are smooth. I enjoyed the mouthfeel of the wine and the structure is certainly holding up well after eight years.

This is a pleasant and pretty wine to drink. No doubt it is well made, and the screw cap has kept it alive. Yet, something is missing. This is a wine where 2+2=4, but it lacks personality.

Score: 93/++  

Spinifex Rose

I tasted seven Roses on Saturday. There were clearly two styles. One was a pale coloured wine in a savoury style with fruit flavour playing second fiddle, whereas the second style had stronger colour and more emphesis on fruit, without being sweet. My favorite from these wines was the 2014 Spinifex Rose. It belongs clearly in the first category.

The colour of this wine is more orange than pink. Skin impact would have been minimal. The wine is based on Rhone varieties, with Grenache being dominant, but there is none of the bubblegum flavour this variety sometimes displays. This Spinifex is a smart wine. It is restrained, but has intensity, and at 12.5% alcohol is a relatively easy drinking style. It accompanied a Japanese meal for me last night and worked very well. I am looking forward to drinking more of it this summer.

91/+++  

Tahbilk Marsanne

You are looking for a light wine to drink in summer. Are you tired of grassy and sweet New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, or slightly fruity Riesling? What about the poor fruit in unoaked Chardonnay? Or too much oak in oaked Chardonnay? Okay, I am not describing a premium scenario here, but a $20/bottle often has these problems.

Why not try something different? Tahbilk has a long tradition with Marsanne and quality aged vines. The 2014 Tahbilk Marsanne is an attractive proposition. This wine is crisp and has a focus on texture, rather than fruit, with an underlying minerality showing on the palate. This profile is perfect for supporting food, such as salads or fish.

This Marsanne is well made and could be cellared, but I recommend to drink it while fresh and zesty.

Score: 88/++

Spinifex Indigene

It is good to be back drinking Australian wine. I have reviewed the 2005 Spinifex Indigene before, but it is interesting to follow the aging process of this wine, made by a winemaker who wants to make fresh and vibrant wines, after nine years.

This Shiraz/Mataro blend is quite moreish. It is a savoury and quite well integrated wine, with flesh from the Shiraz and a tannic expression of the Mataro both contributing in a balanced fashion. Blueberry and mulberry fruit flavours dominate, on the structure of firm, but mellowed tannins. The wine has a long finish and has definitely gotten better with age. It is drinking very well now - a very modern and profound expression of Barossa Rhone varieties.

Score: 95/+++

The Cradle Of Wine

It has been a little quiet on this blog recently. This is because I am currently travelling around the Black Sea. Wine is believed to have originated from Mesopotamia, or what is today eastern Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, maybe 6000 years ago. I  tasted wines in Turkey and Georgia. Both countries have a bewildering array of indigenous grapes, more than 500 in each country. Not all are made into wine.

I was generally impressed with Turkish wines. Maybe they will go the way southern Italian wines have gone or even Greek varieties are going, although it will require a fair bit of investment. I enjoyed a white wine variety called Emir from Central Anatolia. This is a light, dry wine, with green apple and citrus flavours, minerality and an acidic finish. A well known red variety is Kalecik Karasi. Wines from this variety are medium bodied and quite elegant, similar to Tempranillo, I find. I was more impressed with Öküzgözü, another variety from Anatolia. This variety is often blended with Bogazkere. The idea is the same as with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends. Öküzgözü is a large grape, which produces a soft and elegant flavour, Bogazkere provides dark colour, body and tannins. Turasan is a producer I enjoyed. Another appealing wine was a Shiraz-Bogazkere blend from Sarafin.  I rate the wines mentioned 86-89 points and  good value for money.

In Georgia I tried a white wine called Rkatsiteli. This grape variety has been planted in Georgia for more than 5000 years and was widely planted in Russia as well. Apparently some is grown in the US and Australia. The wine I tried was quite Chablis like, with citrus flavours and a flinty, acidic finish. The red wine was Khvanchkara, regarded as a high-end wine. It is quite a sweet wine, tasting of raspberries and bubble gum. This takes some getting used to.

Overall, I found it very enjoyable to delve into wines which are very different from what we are used to. These wines are quite unique, and I hope some wineries will manage to achieve wider international distribution (which the Turkish wines need, as the dominant Muslim population does not drink wine).

Thomas Wines Kiss Shiraz

I wanted to test this Shiraz expression issue from the Hunter a bit more, but I must admit I do not have many examples in my cellar. But I found a 2003 Thomas Wines Kiss Shiraz.

This wine was still under cork, but it came up with a bright colour and vibrant aromas of red plum, which continued on the palate. This is a big wine with spicy undertones. I enjoyed the balanced texture and the noticeable acidity in this wine. The tannins are firm, but the fruit flavours continue to dominate through to the back palate and the lifted finish.

This is not your classic Hunter Shiraz, but this wine will live for ten years plus without problems.

Score: 94/+++

Hunter Valley Shiraz Trophy and Gold Medal Winners 2014

Hunter Valley Shiraz used to be a unique wine: relatively low in alcohol (12.5-13%), very soft with velvety tannins. Then along came Robert Parker, and everybody felt they needed to beef up their red wines. This was not so easy in the Hunter, so a number of wine makers, in particular Brokenwood, started to source grapes from McLaren Vale, and even added McLaren Vale brands. You cannot blame them to go with the trends, but these unique wines almost disappeared.

So what is the play in 2014? I tasted the nine Shiraz Gold Medal winners and have to say that the overall standard was quite good. But I could detect the "Hunter classic" only in one wine. This was my top wine from this tasting; the 2011 Tyrell's  Vat 9 Shiraz. This wine showed blueberry flavours, with great depth of fruit, and the velvety characters will develop (93 points).

The two Brokenwood wines were good, too. The 2013 Brokenwood Verona Shiraz is very dark and quite intense, well balanced, and with dusty tannins on the finish (92 points). The 2013 Brokenwood Mistress Shiraz is not as big, showing more red fruit and elegance (91 points). At the same level is the 2011 Thomas Wines Kiss Shiraz. This is an elegant, well balanced wine, but I found it a bit boring (91 points).

De Iuliis had two wines as well: The 2013 De Iuliis Steven Shiraz is quite fruity, and a little harsh (86 points), whereas the 2011 De Iuliis Limited Release Shiraz has more depth. This is a well rounded wine with a smooth finish (91 points).

Not quite at the same level were the 2013 Briar Ridge Signature Release Stockhausen Shiraz and the 2011 Pepper Tree Wines Tallavera Limited Release Shiraz (88 points). I did not try the 2013 David Hook Old Vines Belford Shiraz.

Red Wines from two other grape varieties won Gold Medals: the 2011 Margan White Label Barbera (soft and fruity, 88 points), and the 2013 De Iuliis Shiraz Touriga Nacional (a bit harsh, 88 points).

The Pepper Tree wine was the big trophy winner. This is why I am not a wine show judge.

  

Yarra Yering - The Full Line-up

It takes a long time to build up to an iconic wine brand status. It seems it takes an equally long time to lose it. I have not been familiar with Yarra Yering for many years, but yesterday I tried the following wines:

2013 Warramate Chardonnay
2011 Yarra Yering Chardonnay
2011 Warramate Pinot Noir
2012 Warramate Cabernets
2011 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1
2008 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1
2011 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 2
2007 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 2
2011 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 3
2010 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz
2007 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz

Underhill is a neighbouring vineyard bought many years ago, Warramate is also in the neighbourhood, bought more recently. The No 1 wine is the Bordeaux blend, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon I believe, No 2 is Shiraz, and No 3 is a blend of five Portuguese varieties, traditionally used to make Port.

I remember these wines having attractive fragrant feminine aromatics, built on a soft, but solid structure of fine tannins.

When I tasted the wines mentioned above, I found them thin, often underripe, without much shape, unattractive mouthfeel and length on the finish. I scored the wines 84 to 89 points. Only the 2011 Dry Red No 2 achieved 90 points, as it showed some good balance.

I remember some 15 years ago, I pulled a Dry Red No 1 from the 80s out of the cellar. It still had the price label on the bottle: $ 6.99. Today, all of these wines other than the Warramate cost $100 per bottle. Phew! As the saying goes: Money better spent elsewhere.

Two Excellent New Pinot Noirs

I recently drank two excellent Pinot Noirs side by side, grown about 200km apart, but they could not have been more different.

The 2012 Oakridge 864 Block 4 Guerin Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley has a bright red colour. The wine is light to medium, very smooth and elegant. The flavours are fragrant and of strawberry fruit. This is a feminine wine with excellent mouthfeel. Only the finish is a bit shorter than desirable for such a high quality wine.

Score: 93/+++

The 2012 Sangreal By Farr Pinot Noir from Geelong is much darker, and tastes of black cherry. As a result, it has a fuller mouthfeel. The finish expands beautifully. Like the wine above, this wine has a 'European' structure, but combined with sun-kissed fruit.

Score: 96/+++

It is not always that the bigger Pinot Noir wins out for me, but in this case it has.