SWTD May 2024
Small batches of grapes are gently crushed, chilled and then basket pressed. Fermentation was long and moderately cool to retain fresh fruit characters and was conducted in stainless-steel tanks. Only free run juice was used for the final wine with no malo-lactic fermentation. Light golden yellow colour. Fantastic bouquet with pineapple, melon, hints of mandarin and passion fruit. The palate is an ocean of tropical flavours. Guava, honeydew melon, lychee and nectarine will hit you like a fat wave. An underlying layer of ripe pineapple, honeysuckle blossom and lemon curd gives you a fresh and natural sweet fruit taste. Once in, you are hooked.
“The cool, wet 2022 winter filled the subsoil, while spring's heavy rainfall impacted yields. Shaded basal buds and reduced fruitfulness from the previous season resulted in small yields. A mild, dry summer caused late veraison (colour changing from green to red/black in red grapes). Despite a week of intense heat in February, most vines survived.” I don't know Chester, but I think it would be interesting proposition to plug into his thoughts. I've long thought him responsible for a number of label dedications in the local industry. “Our maritime climate is perfect for growing Fiano. Much like the energetic coastline, one sip of this refreshing wine will have your neurons surfing sensorial, synaptic brainwaves.”
Available to Retail.
Phone: 08 8329 4888
Fax: 08 8323 9862
Open: Daily 10 to 5.
Address: Osborn Road, McLaren Vale, S.A., 5171.
Web: www.darenberg.com.au
Quasimodo is a unique Australian blend of Nero d'Avola, Shiraz and Durif from the regions of Eldorado, Beechworth, Glenrowan and Rutherglen. It's an amalgam of flavour and colour culminating in a complex rewarding wine. The Nero d'Avola was sourced from two vineyards: our home site at Eldorado, planted on rare decomposed red granite soils, along with fruit from a certified organic vineyard in Glenrowan. Both picks were destemmed and gently hand plunged before being basket pressed into seasoned French oak puncheons and left to mature on lees for eight months. The Shiraz similarly came from two sites: Mt Pilot Estate vineyard in Eldorado and the Battely Vineyard in Beechworth which is leased and managed by us. Mt Pilot Estate Vineyard is painfully low yielding but delivers such incredible concentration and flavour that we can't be kept away. The grapes were gently destemmed and then split into two ferments with one containing approximately 20% whole bunch for a lifted perfume. In 2022 the Durif component was sourced from three vineyards: the Battely Vineyard in Beechworth, a mature and proven vineyard in Rutherglen along with the Mt Pilot Estate Vineyard in Eldorado. The Beechworth element is elegant and restrained, while the Rutherglen component brings power and concentration. The Mt Pilot fruit sits somewhere in the middle. An incredible team tandem. The composition of this blend changes vintage to vintage, with the pursuit being a consistent affable wine of layered complexity that resonates as 'Quasimodo' each year. The 2022 sits in its usual medium bodied spectrum, with plenty of bright fruit, a lifted floral bouquet and fine chalky tannins.
“We are very conscious not to over extract the fruit when crafting Quasimodo, as it is designed to be a wine of youthful pleasure, with or without food.” Always good fun Notes from Eldorado.
Available to Retail.
Phone: 03 5725 1698
Open: Friday to Sunday 11.00 to 5.00.
Web: www.nomadsgarden.com.au
Fruit from Flowstone's Wilyabrup and Forest Grove vineyards were picked and fermented separately in open one tonne fermenters. Hand plunged and left on skins for seven to fourteen days depending on their specific tannin profiles' progress. The wine is a delightful blend of wild hedgerow fruits, dark sweet berries and dry herbs, complemented by exotic anise, warm vanillin and rich cocoa. The flavours combine to produce a rich tapestry of flavours, layers and textures. You'll taste powerful berries, savoury herbs, spices and hints of sweet oak. The ripe, silky and mouth coating fruit tannins are balanced by dense, fine grained oak, giving the wine a rich luxurious feel. The fine acidity and savoury mineral structure support the wines long-lasting, abundant flavour.
“Now and over the next ten years.”
“During the 2018 growing season in Margaret River, the weather conditions were typical of the past ten years. There were good winter rains, a temperate spring and a moderate to warm summer. The seasons followed textbook pattern making it an ideal vintage.” Further: “Margaret River is arguably Australia's premier region for growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. And Cabernet Sauvignon is the region's most prized natural asset. This classic Cabernet is defined by its perfume, poise, rich berry flavours and supple tannins. It is carefully selected from across the region to retain the signature markers of both region and variety.”
Available to Retail.
Phone: 0487 010 275
No Cellar Door.
Address: Flowstone, PO Box 570 Margaret River W.A., 6285.
Web: www.flowstonewines.com
Fruit for this wine was grown in McLaren Vale and was made up in the following proportion: Shiraz 52%, Grenache 42% and Mourvedre 6%. The colour is bright red with great clarity and depth. The aroma shows complex notes of black olive, chocolate, leather, coffee and clove with ripe berry fruits. The palate is rich with ripe berry fruits and spice, also showing plum, earth, game and some floral hints. The texture is fine and smooth finishing with well balanced acidity. (The wine was matured for 22 months in seasoned American and French oak puncheons).
The books generally give this wine a 10 window for is journey.
Bush Vine: “named after the beautiful old Bush Vine Grenache vineyard owned by mates of mine in McLaren Vale. The Grenache component in this wine is hand picked to best preserve this glorious old vineyard. We have been taking fruit from this block for many years and it's one of our favourites.” G.M. The Shiraz in this wine 'adds spice while the Grenache gives us opulent fruit with backbone provided by the Mourvedre.'
Available to Retail.
Phone: 08 8381 6877
Open: M to F 10.00 to 4.30, W/E 12 to 4.30
Address: 291 Pimpala Road, Woodcroft. S.A., 5162.
Web: www.geoffmerrillwines.com.au
“Made from 100% organic Riesling grapes sourced from certified organic vineyards in the Wairau Valley. Simple, stainless steel tank ferment for freshness. Indigenous yeast to start and finished ferment with organic yeast. Filtered with a small amount of SO2 added before bottling. Pale lemon in colour. To the nose, key lime pie, lemon sorbet, citrus blossom, lime leaf, nectarine, honeysuckle. And Taste: racy acidity tempered with a tiny amount of residual sugar placing this wine very much in the dry style. Lemon zest, pie crust, granny smith apple and daffodils lead to to flinty, mineral finish.”
Five to eight years.
Jo from Bacchus Wines gave me an option of this very recent release or the vintage it was backing up. At this offer she gave away her preference. It wasn't a sales pitch, she's a friend. Anyway, I grabbed the recent release, the 2023. It is her preference and she'll easily move the other to Restaurants which is their usual 'preference.' I liked the wine enough for the Riesling inclusion, as a Riesling is typically my starting point in a Dozen. This wine 'won over' after it opened up beautifully in the glass. And, also remembering previous lovely Huia Riesling wines. To start with I found the nose a bit 'dumb', an awful descriptor for wine, but a legitimate one and accurate in message. Though still young, it does open up nicely. I had to look up 'key lime pie.'
Available to Retail.
Phone: +64 3 572 8326
Fax: +64 3 572 8331
Open: Daily 10 to 4.30
Address: Boyces Road, RD3, Blenheim N.Z.
Web: www.huiavineyards.com/
“Unlike most red wines, our joven style of Tempranillo is pressed off skins midway through fermentation. This early pressing, prevents the extraction of bold and harsh tannins that are typical to Tempranillo from skins into the wine. The resulting wine is plush, juicy and an endlessly drinkable style of red . A short time maturing in seasoned French oak, before early release preserves the fresh and intensely red fruited character of this wine. Light, bright and juicy; 'joven,' meaning young or youthful, is the name given to this style of Tempranillo, and lively freshness is certainly the name of game in this wine. The nose is seriously aromatic; strawberries, juicy pomegranate and black cherries mingle with an ephemeral hint of fresh tobacco and dried bay leaf. The palate is smooth and supple; soft tannins and zippy fresh acid are the ideal complement to the plush fruit weight.”
Short term, three to five years. Enjoy young.
“The vineyard is in the north of the Adelaide Hills near Kersbrook, giving a cool dry climate. Gentle east facing slopes provide shallow loam soils ideal for these old vines to grow small grape bunches, giving intensity of flavour and soft tannins.” There are no Pinots in this Dozen as a choice was made to include this wine, a Tempranillo varietal going into winter. Logically, a Pinot into spring!
Available to Retail.
Phone: 0410 519 945
Open: Tastings by Appointment
Address: 211 Kays Road, McLaren Vale, S.A., 5171.
Web: www.jerichowines.com.au
“100% Hunter Valley Semillon fruit sourced from our Honeytree Vineyard in Pokolbin. This wine shows citrus fruits and floral notes. The palate is medium bodied and intense with great length.” From the difficult to read back label. And also, the magic:
“Can be enjoyed immediately or cellared up to 25 years.”
Last time a wine from this Producer was included, I had problems getting 'any' Winemaking and Tasting Notes. Nothing has changed. So, I will refer to several writers' comments. Firstly, and why in the end, I went for this wine, was a high rating from James Halliday, probably the most experienced writer of Hunter Wines, generally. Two extracts: “A beautifully made Semillon and The quality of the fruit is awesome.” The colour is very pale yellow with a diminishing green edge and an aromatic nose prominently featuring lanolin, typical of Hunter Semillon (me). Among others: 'passion fruit' is also mentioned. Wonderful acidity and great length are also mentioned. High quality of the wine is confirmed enthusiastically by all writers, as is it's extend Cellaring potential. This is the magic I referred to in the Notes above.
Available to Retail
Phone: 0438 683 973
Address: 130 Gillards Road, Pokolbin, NSW, 2320
Open: Wed - Sun 10 to 5.
Web: mounteyre.com
“Combination of hand picked and machine picking, destemmed and chilled to open top stainless-steel fermenters. A short three day cold soak followed inoculation with pump overs twice daily. Pressed off skins just prior to dryness and racked to tank for Malolactic Fermentation. Post this, the wine was racked to between 10% to 15% new French oak barrels. After 10 months aging the wine was transferred to tank for bottling. An intense palate of fresh fruits, red and black berries coupled with spice and hints of blue fruits. A beautifully fine tannin structure, showcasing a true medium bodied Hunter Valley Shiraz with its perfectly balanced acidity and impeccable length.”
“Designed to be drunk in its youth with friends and family, this wine will reward short term cellaring. Three to five years.”
“Sourced entirely from our own vineyards, our Philip Shiraz comes exclusively from the Old Hill, Old Paddock and Rosehill vineyards. This wine is a perfect example of Mount Pleasant and the season that was. Rich in tannin, brilliant in colour and flavour, all displaying that classical Hunter Valley medium body and wonderful length.” Project complete. This is the third consecutive Philip vintage from Mount Pleasant's new
'beginning.' Three in a row from the Hunter, all attracting broad scale praise. I went to Cellar Door and picked this wine up, and again, was really impressed with the 'feeling' in the place. I intend signing up to the structured Tastings, ongoing. They are hosted by Phil Ryan, Mount Pleasant's retired, long term Winemaker. I will have to wait until the 2021 arrives, post bushfires. More on Mount Pleasant on back page. An email, just received.
Available to Retail.
Phone: 02 4998 7505
Open: Thursday to Sunday 10 to 5
Address: 401 Marrowbone Road, Pokolbin, NSW, 2320
Web: www.mountpleasantwines.com.au
“Fruit for this Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced exclusively from the Drogemuller family's original vineyard at Paracombe in the Adelaide Hills, planted in 1992. Vinification was in open tank fermenters with daily hand plunging. Post fermentation the wine was matured for 20 months in French oak Barriques and Hogsheads. Bottled and matured in winery estate underground cellars for 40 months before release. The colour is deep red. The bouquet is lifted with fragrant aromas of blackberry, soft leather, floral and hints of spice. The palate is packed with flavour. Dark cherry and plum with hints of herbs and long fine, spicy tannins. This wine is versatile and made to be enjoyed with a table full of flavoursome dishes and good company.”
“An elegant smooth wine drinking well now. Will reward even more with age.” Looking at previous reviews, the Paracombe Cabernet is conservatively rated to improve up to ten years.
The first Paracombe wine in the Dozens was a 1995 Shiraz Cabernet blend in August 1998. And there have been many of their wines since. I remember on one visit, Paul showing me the excavation that was to be their underground maturation area and I was surprised at the extent of it. According to the above Notes, the Cabernet Sauvignon was planted in 1992, so we have a wine from 27 year old Adelaide Hills vines.
Available to Retail.
Phone: +61 8 8380 5058
Open: By appointment
Address: 294B Paracombe Road, Paracombe, S.A., 5132.
Web: www.paracombewines.com.au
“Fruit was destemmed but not crushed so lots of whole berries in the ferments giving bright fruit characters. Fermented in 1300 L open fermenters (each holding about one tonne) with three different yeasts to add complexity. Fermented on skins for 16 days then pressed to barrel. (Barrel selection included some new and older barriques and hogsheads, all French). Bright ruby red, with the nose showing red fruits in the red plum spectrum. This blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon (each component fermented and matured separately before blending) gives us a delightful early drinking red; full of charm and fresh, bright fruit characters (which suits a wine named after our granddaughter). With nine months in barrel, it is medium bodied and with a certain plushness in the mouth.”
Early drinking as noted and over the next few years.
I stopped in Molong to pick up wine boxes and decided to drop in on Justin and Meg (who went missing on the day) and check out the 2024 Vintage. No encouragement necessary, it was straight into the car. I took this spontaneity to be a good sign, as usual, when someone wants to show you their wine. And, all of 2024 I saw looked very good and I will certainly track their progress. After much chatting, Justin gave me a bottle of this Lilian Rouge. I let it settle for a few days before opening it. I've long thought Merlot needs partnering and this wine supports my thoughts and at the same time reminded me of some lovely Canobolas Smith wines. Not too surprising as only a fence divides the vineyards.
Please contact Cellar Door or me.
Phone: 0402 498 419
Open: By appointment.
Address: 116 Boree Lane, Lidster, NSW, 2800.
Web: www.strawhousewines.com.au
“Hand harvested fruit was gently pressed and fermented with indigenous yeast in 500 litre French oak puncheons. Indigenous yeast ferments help add complexity and texture. Malolactic fermentation was encouraged to soften acidity and give further richness. The wine received 14 months barrel ageing then a further five months in tank on lees. Fruit flavours are in the cool to moderate spectrum of citrus; white flowers, ripe grapefruit and stone fruit. The style is mid weight with elegant oak nicely tucked in, providing texture and lingering flavours of cashew, roasted almond and gun flint. The structure has a tight shape with the finesse and concentration that are hallmarks of Trinity Hill Chardonnay. It displays delicacy, but richness and the beautiful linear acidity makes it a fantastic match with food.”
“Drink 2024 to 2028.”
This is one of the wines unable to be included in February as it was still floating on either 'The Ditch' waters or up in the clouds at the time, whatever it's mode of choice. “The Gimblett Gravels wine growing area is a small sub-region in the Hawke's Bay of New Zealand defined by a unique stony soil type. Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels wines are all crafted from vineyards within this small sub-region. We have three vineyards in this unique grape growing region. The Vintage was a warm, dry season, ideal conditions for grape growing.”
Available to Retail.
Sydney Distributor: Young and Rashleigh
Phone: 02 9967 5900.
Phone: +64 21 737 058
Open: Wed-Sun 11 - 5.
Address: 2396 State Hwy (50 Roy's Hill Rd), Hastings, New Zealand, 4175
Web: www.trinityhill.com
“100% Estate fruit. This wine was made from fruit harvested at optimum maturity, then fermented for seven days under controlled temperatures in a combination of rotary and static fermenters. Maturation for 15 months in French and American hogsheads has assisted in the development of a wine that shows vibrancy and richness. The colour is deep purple / red, reddening deeper. Spice, pepper and a hint of leather with fruits shining through on the nose. The palate is full and rich. Savoury notes of olive and spice with attractive supporting oak in the background. Silky tannins producing a moreish finish.”
“Well structured with outstanding depth of fruit, this wine while drinking well now will continue to gain complexity and offer excellent cellaring potential. Eight to ten years with ease.”
“Coonawarra is renowned for its remarkable 'terra rossa' soil, a thin one metre band of soil over-laying a deep formation of limestone.” This is well known. Also known, by a shrinking number it seems, the Coonawarra has produced some cracking Cabernet Sauvignon wines and Cabernet Blends, (Shiraz, Franc and Merlot) over the years. Were the single variety Shiraz wines ever as highly regarded? If that's the right way to put it. They've always been there but their flag never seemed to have that filling wind behind it. I have been a fan of Sue Hodder’s Shiraz (Wynns) for years. Last year I saw a Doug Bowen 1992 (Magnum) which brought a lot of praise from a knowledgeable crowd.
Available to Retail.
Phone: 08 8736 3219
Open: M - F9 to 5; Sat - Sun 10 - 4.
Address: 14944 Riddoch Highway, Coonawarra, S.A., 5263.
Web: www.zema.com.au
All prices on this web site are in $AUD
Liquor Licence LIQP24009748
Trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Under the Liquor Act 2007, It is an offence to sell or supply to or to obtain liquor on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years.
You will be required to provide proof of age before any goods are shipped.
