I found another little gem – a GSM from a very small producer called Vinrock. The red fruit base for this wine is just so enjoyable.
Lonely Grape TV Episode # 82 – Vinrock 2010 GSM
31 08 2011Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Australia, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Mourvedre, Shiraz, Small Producer, wine, wine McLaren Vale
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
McLaren Vale Wine – Gilligan Wines
29 08 2011One of the joys, I find in McLaren Vale, is the small McLaren Vale wine producers who make wonderfully rich and different wines. Gilligan Wines is one of these type of producers. They have 2 vineyards, one vineyard of Shiraz that is on the foothills between McLaren Vale and Willunga and the other vineyard is at the Dowie Doole facility on California Road has young Grenache, Mourvèdre, Marsanne and Roussanne. These 4 varieties make the 2 wines made under this label – a Roussanne/Marsanne blend plus a SGM blend. Based on these wines the owners of this small wine venture are smitten with Rhone wines – and why not. The wines have a level of quality and a level of difference that means they should be sought out.
Gilligan Vineyard on California Road
Interestingly, these wines do well in Victoria and overseas. Little of this wine seems to find its way into the rest of Australia. We may have to do something about that. Check them out at www.gilligan.com.au
2010 Roussanne Marsanne ($A21 – but sold out)
Traditional white wine grapes can, at times, be of varying quality from McLaren Vale to the point that many growers are looking at alternate varieties that can produce the flavor profile while getting the acid and sugar balance right while growing the in the warm McLaren Vale summer. Well many could do worse than check out these 2 white varieties. This 70%:30% blend shows what this balance can achieve. There is plenty of flavor here as well as acid. To add to the complexity here the wine say 3 months in old Chardonnay barrels.
This wine has interesting smeared all over its aromas and flavors. Green apple aromas move into stone fruit and melon flavors with a wonderful creamy texture that has a long. long acid finish. This is a food wine that can take flavor – maybe try it with chicken cooked with 40 cloves of garlic.
I know this wine is sold out – but watch out for the next release.
2010 Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre ($A25)
One of my favorite blends and this wine does not disappoint. there was something immediately interesting here and I will admit that I could not work out what it was. The Shiraz portion of the wine was co-fermented with the Roussanne pressings (from the above wine). The result is a real lift added to the aromas from the red fruits that comes through the from the Grenache. The wine had a portion unoaked and the remainder oaked with various aged barrels – in other words they have been smart by producing the best wine they can from small volume by keeping small parcels separate and treating them differently. Blending of these small batches allows the winemaker to produce the style they are looking for without compromise. This outcome is worth the efforts. There is balance here the red fruits from the Grenache, with the structure of Shiraz and the strength of Mourvedre mixed with a layered tannin structure that is not over bearing. I can see a big pan full of chilli mussels in this wines future.
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Tags: Grenache, Marsanne, Mclaren Vale, Mourvedre, Roussanne, Shiraz, Willunga South Australia, wine
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
Lonely Grape TV Episode #81 d’Arenberg Shiraz Grenache
11 08 2011A McLaren Vale icon d’Arenberg Red Stripe Shiraz Grenache. 2 of my favorite varieties at the moment. A joy to share with you and I hope you enjoy it too.
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Tags: Australia, cellar door, d'Arenberg, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Shiraz, South Australia, wine, wine McLaren Vale
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
McLaren Vale Wines – Assorted wines from Maximus, Coriole, Penny’s Hill and Primo Estate
16 07 2011I have not been feeling well this weekend and I was concerned about what I could write about for this weekend’s blog. So I went looking through my recent wine notes and though I would share some interesting wines I have tried over the last few weeks (while I have been checking out the Scarce Earth Project wines). I hope you enjoy these select wines and hopefully my cold will be over soon so I can share more winery reviews soon.
2009 Maximus GSM
This wine was only 0.1 point from the Bushings King award from the 2010 McLaren Vale wine show. At the same show the wine was award the Trophy for the best Grenache based blend. Others have like it as it is now being served at our Prime Minister Hosted dinners. With this build up, I was looking forward to this wine. The wine did not disappoint. I enjoyed the 2008 wine from the same stable but this is just one big step up. The aromas are dominated initially by the red fruits of Grenache (raspberry and cherry). There is an interesting transfer to a savory aroma that I suspect comes from the Mourvedre. The flavors can be summed up by one word – balance. The red fruits of the Grenache come through again in spades and the tannin structure is just so complementary to that fruit. Plenty of acid here as well so it made my mouth water and think of food. This combination produces plenty of flavor that lasts and lasts at $25 per bottle this wine is a steal.
2009 Primo Estate Joseph Double Pruned Cabernet Magnum ($A275)
Joe Grilli, owner and senior winemaker has mad a career of being innovative. 10 years ago he made a wine from Angle Vale Cabernet (very hot climate area) and I am told the wine was an absolute beauty. The secrete was the vines were double pruned. In this case the primary crop was pruned early so a second crop would be produced by the vines. This second crop is much less than the initial crop would have been and the grapes ripen much later. In 2009 Joe decided to have another go at this unusually produced wine and put all of the wine into magnums. Well I am glad I was told this wine was from Angle Vale fruit as I would have made somewhat of a fool of myself with this review as all I could see were cool climate characters. The aromas showed the customary blackcurrent but then I got green herbaceous characters with an interesting hint of mint – which would immediately make me think this was a cool climate wine and even potentially from Coonawarra. There is also evidence of dusty oak. I do not like wines that show to many green characters and I was concerned this wine was going to be very green. Well I was wrong again – the wine was an amalgam of blackcurrent and very fine tannins. Lots and lots of character and lots and lots of time ahead of this wine. An absolute beauty that so many people will never see – what a pitty.
2007 Coriole Vita Reserve Sangiovese ($A50)
Coriole has a long history of growing and making wine from the Italian grape variety of Sangiovese. As a warming area McLaren Vale should be well suited to this variety. They have also been working on a Reserve style to produce a “Super Tuscan” wine. I have tasted earlier Reserve efforts and had felt they were just aged versions of their estate wines. This wine, however, was different straight away. The aromas were a mouth watering mix of juicy black fruits. The flavors continued in the juicy fruits mode with layers of very fine tannins. The oak influence is there but it plays an integrated part. Balanced and long lasting means this wine was wrapped up and brought home with me. My mouth is watering while writing this and I have put the wine away so I do not get tempted to drink it just yet.
2009 Penny’s Hill The Experiment Grenache ($A30)
The last 2 times I have been to the Penny’s Hill cellar door this wine was not available, so when I heard there Grenache was available then I just had to drop in. The aromas showed both the expected red fruits but a lot more cedar from the oak than I would expect for this variety. Even though the oak continued in the same vain in the flavors this wine was what I would call lovely McLaren Vale Grenache – all those red fruits and the oak mixed with a great acid profile that assisted the wonderfully long flavors and mouthfeel of the wine. Yes I love this variety and yes the wine has more wood treatment that I would normally agree with, but the whole thing works. Put the wine away for a couple of years and I would expect an even better wine.
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Tags: Australia, cellar door, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Mourvedre, Sangiovese, Shiraz
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
Clare Valley Wines – Tim Adams
20 03 2011
Tim Adams Wines Cellar Door
I have only been to the Clare Valley 3 times previously to this occasion. On one of those occasions, nearly 20 years ago I went to a tin shed cellar door that had the name Tim Adams. What a difference about 20 years makes. The cellar door complex is vast, new and shiny with what looks like a reasonably sized winery behind it. Unfortunately, I arrived at the cellar door with only 20 minutes left before closing time so my reviews below were conducted in record time and thus maybe not as detailed as normal. So with minimal other information here is my reviews of Tim Adams Wines.
Tim Adams Wines - Winery
2010 Riesling ($A19)
Intense citrus here with lots of lemons and limes, but very interestingly grapefruit. With these flavors here there is the expected acid depth that supports the flavors that just linger. This supports just what Clare Valley Riesling is known for. Bring on the seafood.
2008 Reserve Riesling ($A29)
It has been a long time since I have tasted a somewhat mature Riesling – that organic smell and taste of the kerosene. Well this one brought back memories of a couple of occasions. The toasty, kero, citrus rind and grapefruit aromas followed by all those lovely lime flavors. I can see this wine would not be in favor with everybody, but you cannot please everybody all the time.
2009 Semillon ($A19)
I really enjoyed the floral notes wrapped up with stone fruit (mainly nectarine) aromas. The flavors show the oak fermentation by some cedar notes and a creamyness complexity. Those peaches and nectarines also make a play in those flavors. I can see a bowl of Thai Green Curry in this wines future.
2007 Pinot Gris ($A19)
Did not taste.
2007 The Fergus ($A20)
This is a blend of all sorts of red varieties with a Grenache basis (30%). This medium bodied red wine has the red fruits you would expect from Grenache. The aromas and the flavors are a little short, however I can see a lot of people liking this wine. Lamb, lamb and more lamb would work well here.
2008 Reserve Tempranillo ($A29)
It is good to see the region looking at what maybe the future direction of warmer regions like Clare Valley. Tempranillo is doing good things in many of the wine regions of Australia – so I was looking forward to this. I was not disappointed. The aromas were cherry fruits with a spicy earthyness – with the spices being cloves and cinnamon. The earthy and cherry continues on a flavor profile that has associated body that is very appealing. If this is the view of Tempranillo in the Clare Valley then bring on more of it.
A classy wine from an unfashionable blend. If you like wines with strength and substance then this is one to try. Strong dark fruits and spice with character and palate length. At this price this should be on everybody’s list.
2007 Shiraz ($A20)
This vintage is almost sold out and I can understand why. This vintage the old vines from Aberfeldy vineyard helped produce the wine. The aromas were reminiscent of mulberries and violets. The fruit is mainly blackberry and there is wonderful spices of pepper and cardamon. The acid here creates depth as well as a little tingle on the tongue.
2008 Aberfeldy Shiraz ($A44)
The Aberfeldy vineyard was planted with Shiraz in 1904 so one would expect concentration of flavors from small yielding vines. So this was another offering I was looking forward to. The aromas were based around cloves and cinnamon with an envelope of cherry plums. The aromas also showed there is a decent slug of American oak here – there was the tell tale coconut sweetness. The flavors were layers of dark fruits, plums and cherries with the spices of cloves and cinnamon and then the American oak adds complexity. The oak imparted sweet coconut and vanilla flavors.
2010 Botrytis Riesling ($A25 – 375mL bottle)
In the right conditions the Botrytis mold can do wonderful things to a wine – and I emphasis the conditions need to be right. In this case I can see many right things – flora and fruit salad aromas combined with tropical and citrus fruit flavors that has quite a viscous mouthfeel. The most impressive thing though is what is not there – so much sugar that it just covers the whole palate and that is all you can taste. There is a big acid hit here so the high levels of sugar are “stripped” from your tongue and mouth so that cloying experience does not happen here.
20 Year Old Fine Tawny ($A35)
This wine has the hallmarks of a good tawny – wood age colour and flavor that just combines together to just provide a party for your mouth and taste buds. But as with the wine above there is a lot of acid here and it is not too sweet. If you like the tawny style without all of the sugar hit then you really need to find this wine. I know I will enjoy this during the coming winter.
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Tags: Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon, cellar door, Clare Valley, Grenache, Riesling, Shiraz, tempranillo, wine
Categories : wine
McLaren Vale Wine – Shingleback Wines (Part 1)
27 02 2011
Shingleback Cellar Door
Shingleback Wines Cellar Door has the distinction of being the first cellar door you drive past or to as you enter McLaren Vale’s main street. They moved into the current facility a few years ago after being in the Tourist Infoamtion Centre and have not looked back. The renovated old building looks great and is set up with lounges and art for those that may want to linger or those who are driving and not wanting to have a drink. The facility has a lot of room so they can set up well for functions. For the Sea & Vines Festival they put on a great show.
Shingleback’s vineyards are on the flat between McLaren Vale and Willunga. They are close to Fox Creek Wines – I used to work for Fox Creek so I like the association. I found some close flavor profiles – particularly with the sparkling red between Shingleback and Fox Creek. The tastes of McLaren Vale are here for all to see and taste.
I find one of their marketing ploys as fascinating – they have a buy 2 and get a third wine at equal or lesser value (not for the Show Wines). This makes their wine seem to be better value to the customer and the winery gets more volume sold -quite simply the potential for a wine – wine situation. This could be a 2 edged sword as some people may take offense to such a strategy, however I am told that the strategy is seen very favorably at the cellar door so well done guys!
There is now a restaurant open next door to the facility – I will talk about this more next week.
Shingleback Cellar Door - Side Door
Red Knot Range
Fruit driven entry level wines – $15/bottle or $30 for 3.
2009 Unwooded Chardonnay
The aromas are quite distinctly missing – maybe the wine was a bit cold. The flavors are true to variety (melons) and there was not as much of an acid finish as I was hoping for. A soft drinking style that is not necessarily a food wine – just drink it with friends on a Sunday lunch.
2010 Rose
Your basic Rose – strawberry and rose water mixed with a real acid backbone. Another one for a hot weekend lunch wine.
2009 Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre
I got a distinct aroma layer of red fruits (red currents and raspberries) with a perfume ending. This is a real fruit driven wine with all fruits you expect from this blend – red fruits from the Grenache and some fruit tannin and backbone from the Shiraz and Mourvedre. If you have not tried this blend before and like fruit driven wines then this is a great start. The wine is under a Zork closure as part of a trial.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
At first I was concerned about this wine as I got almost no aromas from my tasting glass with this wine. What I tasted was completely different – nice black current fruit (as expected) combined with fruit based tannins (skins etc) that are quite fine. The real thing that got me here was the acid levels that left the tongue tingling. I can see my favorite beef and chilli pizza going down well with this one.
2009 Shiraz
Again the aromas were closed here. The flavors are what you expect from a fruit driven Shiraz – particular emphasis on plums. The acid level is again nice and high and the tannins are quite fine and smooth. Soft everyday drinking with a BBQ written all over it.
Haycutters Range
Mid level wines $18/bottle or $36 for 3.
2010 Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon
The grassyness of the Semillon comes through as the dominant aroma with some passionfruit there as well (from the ripe Sauvignon Blanc). There is a real citrus component here – probably from the Semillon. I found the wine a bit lacking in the mouthfeel department so it would be a pass for me.
2007 Shiraz Viognier
The wine saw co-fermentation of Viognier skins and the Shiraz. The aromas of plum also have a lift that you get from the co-fermentation. I could definitely taste the apricots one expects from this blend but it was just a little apricotty for me.
Show Wines
2006 “The Gate” Shiraz ($A37.50)
As you would expect this is a step up and the wine delivers. With a 2006 wine there was a number of developed flavors here mixed with licorice all over the place. The flavors are what McLaren Vale seems to produce the best – chocolate and licorice. There is a fruit sweetness here also that goes straight into a mouth full of fresh plum character. The tannins are fine and not over powering. With the fruit basis of te wine, I would choose a dish of Chicken in Red Wine.
Check out Part 2 of this review to read all about the Shingleback wines plus the rest of the Show Wines.
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Tags: Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon, cellar door, Chardonnay, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Mourvedre, Oak, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, wine, wine McLaren Vale, Wine tasting descriptors
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
Lonely Grape TV Episode # 69 – 2009 La Curio Grenache Shiraz
8 02 2011A new format with only tasting 1 wine – so to reduce the size of the videos. Also I am reviewing a wine I have for sale on www.tastemclarenvale.com.au web site. The wine – 2009 La Curio “The Nubile” McLaren Vale Grenache Shiraz. Just gorgeous!
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Tags: Australia, Food, Grenache, La Curio Wines, Mclaren Vale, Oak, Shiraz, wine
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
Taste McLaren Vale’s Backyard Shed Crew Red Pack #4
6 02 2011
Every 3 months Taste McLaren Vale puts together a tasting pack called the Backyard Shed Cru pack. This time it is a red wine pack. While I review small artisan wineries from McLaren Vale I not only write about them but also look to providing you with the value for money pure McLaren Vale yummyness wines from these small producers. The price also includes freight to anywhere in Australia!
You can check out the wines and order at the Taste McLaren Vale web site in the next couple of days.
Below is my reviews of the 6 wines that appear in the Backyard Shed Cru Red Pack #4 – I hope you enjoy, and remember any questions about these wines or any other McLaren Vale wine please let me know how I can help you.
2008 Thorpe Wines Shiraz
There was about 30 – 35 tonne of grapes used to make this wine and was picked before the heat wave of that year. The picking date was based on flavor profiles and not based on the impact of the heat wave. The aromas were the usual plum and berry character plus the same iodine background that I found in the Cabernet from the same vintage. The flavors hit me with citrus notes combined with plums plus the spice character of nutmeg and star anise (not the normally associated pepper flavors of Shiraz). The finish was savory but not overly tannic (the wine spent 1 year on 2 year old oak). There was an overall delicious factor that stuck me as definitely providing value. When tasting this wine I thought of charred (BBQ) meats – maybe a good burger with lots of onion, cheese, lettuce, tomato and beetroot smothered in tomato sauce.
Check out my review of Thorpe Wines.
2008 Pieri Occasione
Made the classical Ripasso style and from Shiraz grapes. Unlike the amarone style above I have never had this wine style before. This wine creates difference by taking the red wine from last year’s vintage and pass it through this years skins after they have been pressed – talk about a point of difference! The wine was aged in older French & American oak so oak is not a dominate factor. The aromas showed strength of plums and currents. The strength of the fruit was not expected – particularly as these aromas were not jammy. The flavors were an interesting contrast of some bitterness (from the skins), sweetness and drying tannins. The fruit flavors are in line with the aromas, so the Shiraz-ness is true. Drink it with just about anything but just drink it to try wine of this style.
Check out my Review of Redheads Studio where you can get Pieri wines.
2006 Petanga Wines Dio
A Grenache (70%), Shiraz (30%) and Mourvedre (10%) blend and what another joy. Dio means God – there is nothing more behind this name that it is the sister wine to Diavolo, which means Devil. Here we have the musk lolly smell, with more obvious red fruits (red currents) and the familiar fennel linger on the back of the nose. Paul tells me this wine has a relatively high volatile acid level which would also increase the “funkyness” on the nose. Again, this is a big wine but has a silky finish that includes a real floral and perfume element which I would expect comes from the Mourvedre. Make sure you decant the wine and let it breathe – it will be worth the effort. Talk about expression of of the vineyard and the sense of place, this wine is just sensational now and will only get better over the next 10 years (if it lasts that long). This wine screams food, so don’t let it down and have it with a beef stir fry that has some Chinese five spice that will go so well with the fennel notes of the wine.
Check out my review of Petanga Wines wonderful wines.
2006 Danshi Rise Shiraz
Just essence of McLaren Vale Shiraz here – all the plum, licorice and just a little chocolate. The mid palate that McLaren Vale red wines are famous for is shown so well here. Added to this is a sense of place – the minerallity of the soil mixes well with the strength of the fruit and the grainy tannins. The tannins are interesting as there are lots of them but they just meld so well together with the weight of the fruit. This is a wine that is all round complexity and even though it could be drunk now would continue to get better over the next 5+ years. Slap a Wychwood Meats T-bone steak in front of me with this wine and get out of may as this would be devouring time!
And yes another review – this time of Steve’s Danshi Rise wines.
2006 Pikkara Shiraz
This wine was a surprise from the moment I tried it. Pikkara is a small wine label from a 5th generation McMurtrie family growers and Nat has decided to make some wine with the help of the guys at Redhead Studios. The aromas start with lovely cedary notes from the French oak combined with the classical plum one expects from McLaren Vale Shiraz. As the wine breathes the obvious cedar blows away and the silky smooth plum tends to dominate. The flavours show the savory characters of that classical McLaren Vale Shiraz with the chocolate plums enveloped in lovely fine tannins. As the wine opened up I found some cherry character also coming through. The best way to understand this wine’s underlying strength is that at no time during the tasting did I pick up on the 15% alcohol! Drink over the next 5 years and enjoy it with that has been slow cooked with garlic and rosemary.
2009 La Curio The Nubile Grenache Shiraz
I was lucky enough to taste some of Adam Hooper’s wines in barrel from the 2009 vintage about a year ago and knew these wines were going to be good. As soon as I poured this wine I knew it was going to be interesting. The wine was quite light and a dark pink colour. The aromas just jumped out of the glass as soon as this pouring occurred. Lots of raspberries and cherries combined with just a hint of cedar oak – no oak monster here! The flavors were all about easy drinking with lovely raspberries wrapped around silky smooth tannins. the 30% Shiraz component added some plum strength on the finish of the wine which just allowed the whole experience to stay in your mouth for quite a while. This easy drinking red wine can be consumed in almost all occasions, and why not when the quality is this good. Forget this wine if you are looking for the strength of a Shiraz but for drinkability count me in – especially if there is a Chinese banquet ready to be consumed also.
My review of La Curio (previous vintage wines) is here.
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Tags: Australia, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Mourvedre, Oak, Shiraz, Small Producer, wine, wine McLaren Vale, Wine tasting descriptors
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
Lonely Grape TV #56 – Sabella Shiraz, Willunga Creek Cab Shiraz & Sellicks Hill Grenache Shiraz
10 11 2010This time I share with you 3 wines that will be available in the Taste McLaren Vale – Backyard Shed Cru Red Pack #3. The Sabella 2007 Shiraz, 2007 Willunga Creek Wines “Out for a duck” Cabernet Shiraz and the Sellicks Hill Wines “Valletta” Grenache Shiraz. 3 wonderful wines personally by me from the artisan producers of McLaren Vale.
These wines will be available from Taste McLaren Vale from mid November 2010
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Tags: Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Food, Grenache, Mclaren Vale, McLaren Vale Wine, Shiraz, Small Producer, wine, wine McLaren Vale
Categories : Mclaren Vale, wine
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