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McLaren Vale Wine – Vale Cru Twilight Tasting

Monday, 23 April 2012 20:06
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On the evening of April 14th I had the pleasure of attending the Vale Cru tasting at the McLaren Vale Piazza.
For a measly $10 fee I was able to attend a function where there we number of small McLaren Vale wineries (some not having a cellar door) were each showcasing 2 wines.  A local band, The Yearlings, were playing in the background and locally made Italian sausages were a cooking.  It was hard to ask for more.
I know most of the wineries and more importantly the people from these wineries and for me the evening was just like a social event where I could catch up with friends and talk about their wine.  What was not to enjoy?
I must admit that when the idea for the Piazza in the main street of McLaren Vale was first mentioned I was skeptical on how was the facility going to be used.  I had no issue with how the area looks but I was not sure it was money well spent.  Well after this evening I have been won over.  The facility was great with excellent use of space and levels – even the acoustics of the band worked well.  Speaking of the band, I would recommend The Yearlings for any such function.  For me the big winner was the volume.  We all heard the band and was able to enjoy their music while still being able to have a conversation and not having to shout or strain to be heard – a big tick from me on this one guys.
In no particular order we were able to enjoy wines from the following wineries:-

Lazy Ballerina

Waywood Wines

Maximus Wines

Samuels Gorge

Alpha Box and Dice

J&J Vineyards

Brash Higgins

Settlement Wines

Five Geese

Geddes Wines

Old Faithful Project

Rudderless Wines

Ulithorne

Vigna Bottin

 

The memorable wines for me from the night (again in no particular order) was:-
Brash Higgins Nero d’Avola

I have been watching this wine from early days.  I spoke to Brad Hickey (aka Brash Higgins) about this variety a number of years ago.  I was even offered to help in picking the grapes for this wine (unfortunately I was not able to make it) and I even saw the wines sitting in their clay Amphora Pots in the winery – so I was very keen to see what the wine was like.  I would firstly have to say different, for me a good different.  The wine showed lavender and citrus peel notes (probably mandarin) with clean cherry fruit character and a very interesting textural mouthfeel.  This texture really dragged me in as it was so different.  I suspect the texture comes from the wine being left on skins for many months and provides an almost chewy feel.  This wine provides the drinker with a quandary as the wine is of a lighter style but there is a lot of complexity- bring on the lamb shanks.
J&J Vineyards Reserve Shiraz

Plums and spice and all things nice that is what McLaren Vale Shiraz is made of.  This wine shows depth of character but is not a heavy tannic wine – not too heavy but just right to drink now.
2010 Waywood Wines Nebbiolo

The citrus notes one expects from Nebbiolo Thant I find so interesting in a red wine.  There was chewie tannins that probably more time to settle down.  I will be interested to see how it goes.
A big thanks must go out to Gill from Fall From Grace who organized the night.

McLaren Vale Grape Condiment – Zimmermann Wines Verjuice

Monday, 16 April 2012 23:56
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A quick quizz – what is the oldest known condiment?

The answer is – crushed mustard seeds mixed with crushed unfermented grape juice.

It is speculated that the unfermented grape juice would have had to be high in acid to mix with the mustard.

Zimmermann Verjuice

Verjuice is the juice from unripened grapes that has not been fermented and thus this early condiment base was Verjuice.  This juice can be used for many culinary devices.  I use it as part of a salad dressing (mixed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar), sauce or gravy base (use it to deglase the pan after cooking meat and then reduce for a jus or gravy) or a baste when roasting meats.  I have also used it as a drink base mixed with soda water to produce a very refreshing summer drink.

How does it taste, I hear you ask.  Well this one is made from Chardonnay grapes.  It has the aroma of apples – both Granny Smiths and Jonathon’s but more like an apple pie as opposed to the fresh fruit.  As expected the high level of acid dominates the palate with a slight sour taste (like unripe apples) and just a hint of sugar.  The palate is left clean and refreshed after tasting it.

Maggie Beer has raised the profile of Verjuice and this offering will work well over a number of uses.  At the going price around $15 for a 500mL bottle I think everybody should have a bottle of this in their fridge.

Purchase McLaren Vale Wines – Backyard Shed Cru Pack

Saturday, 07 April 2012 22:49
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The web site www.tastemclarenvale.com.au has a membership offered where a pack of 6 wines from six different small artisan winemakers from McLaren Vale.  These wines are selected to be a show case of these small winemakers as well as McLaren Vale.  The members who can sign up easily on the site (check out the link here) and will automatically receive a six pack every six months – freight free.  Check out this offer plus other membership benefits here.

These packs have been dubbed – Backyard Shed Cru packs.  The name comes from the backyard nature of a number of the winemakers.

Alternatively these six packs can be purchased (without the membership discount) from the web site here.

The current Backyard Shed Cru Pack has the following wines:-

2009 Grancari Estate Dry Grown Organic Grenache

2010 Waywood Wines Quattro Vini

2008 Danshi Rise Shiraz

2006 Braydun Hill Single Vineyard Premium Shiraz

2009 Pikkara “McMurtrie” Cabernet Sauvignon

2010 Graham Stevens Wines Liqueur Muscat

McLaren Vale Wine – Tintara (part 2)

Sunday, 01 April 2012 21:37
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Check out my general review of the Tintara Cellar Door here.  For the red wines see below.

Tintara Cellar Door

2010 Hardy’s Oomoo Shiraz ($A18)

Form a good vintage this wine comes from good stock.  With the black fruits of blackberry and black current with the classical oak influence that manufests itself as cinamun that brings the Christmas cake thoughts straight to my palate.  Good clean wine that sits well at this price point.

2009 Tintara McLaren Vale Shiraz ($A27)

Plum or Christmas cake combined with dusty oak aromas lead one to a typical McLaren Vale Shiraz – lots of plums plus the wonderfully soft butgenerous mid palate.  This wpen will get better over the next few years but I am not sure one will wait.

2008 Reynella Basket Press Shiraz 2008 ($A54)

This wine has an excellent reputation and I was so glad that it was available for tasting. The last few times I have wondered into the cellar door as well as the one in Reynella it has not been available.  The wine was opened at the time of tasting and passed through a Vinturi aerator.  Even after doing this the aromas were closed and all I could get was some darkness.  The flavors were dark as well with intense black fruits with a concentrated almost viscous mouthfeel to the wine.  The oak was present but was not dominant as the blackness was all encompassing.  This is definately a wine that needs a number of years to approach it’s best.  I drank a similar wine recently that was 12 years old and it was just coming into it’s own.  I think this wine is of a similar nature.

Inside Tintara Cellar Door

2009 Hardys Oomoo Cabernet Sauvignon ($A18)

The cooler nature of Coonawarra fruit comes through here straight away.  The essence of blackcurrent aromas is very different to those from McLaren Vale.  The blackcurrent theme continues on the palate with hints of red fruits and the mintiness that Cabernet can sometimes produce.  Yet again the Oomoo range over delivers – I just wonder if people are put off by the label?

2008 Tintara McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon ($A27)

The difference between Cabernet from Coonawarra and McLaren Vale is shown hen you try this wine after the one above.  The Cabernet aromas of black current come through but the chocolate one tends to associate with McLaren Vale is here.  There is bright cabernet fruit flavors but there is no Cabernet hole here.  Cabernet is know for lacking in flavor on the mid palate but McLaren Vale is know for a generous mid palate – there is definitely a mid palate here.  Maybe, just maybe, the “terroir” of McLaren Vale is dominating!

2007 Reynella Basket Pressed Cabernet Sauvignon ($A54)

Unlike the Tintara labeled wine this wine shows significant finesse with black current combined with sage and mint aromas.  The herbs here added complexity and interest straight away.  The flavors backed up a mouthful of typical Cabernet flavors with maybe a hint of American oak sweetness.  For the Cabernet lovers out there this wine shows that McLaren Vale and seriously good Cabernet can be used in the same sentence.

McLaren Vale Wine – Tintara (part 1)

Saturday, 03 March 2012 17:02
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It has been a couple of years and a couple of ownership changes so I thought it was time to check out this iconic McLaren Vale winery.

In the last couple of years this once major player in the McLaren Vale wine scene has been stripped of it’s unique position with the 2010 vintage this 9,000 t winery only processed 500 t and leaving many grape growers high and dry.  I am very glad to hear that under new management this years vintage they are looking to process around 2,000 t.  My love of McLaren Vale Grenache also made me interested to see that there was no Grenache on their tasting list and even more horrified that their 2007 Reserve Grenache was being sold as a Cleanskin for a considerable markdown on the previous $70 price tag.  So it looks like a bit of a claw back still for this wonderfully placed facility.

Tintara Road Sign

I was also ready to see a new range called HRB or Herritage Reserve Bin.  This range is interesting as the winemaker is given the opportunity to work with premium fruit from different Australian wine regions and use them in blends to produce the best wines possible.  This makes me interested in these multi regional blends and I am sure this helps give interesting work for the winemakers.

Hardys HRB D644 2010 Riesling ($A33)

Made from both Clare and Tasmanian fruit and showed some class straight away.  There were aromas of minerality and lemon rind with flavors of classical Riesling – lemons and steely acid (that minerality again).  The finish was softer than I thought it would have with the acids involved – then it hit me.  The acids are somewhat masked with a small amount of residual sugar.  A number of people have remarked to me recently that the strong acid finish put them off Riesling.  A number of people seem to expect that Riesling is also sweet.  In this case the wine has elements of both that would make the wine appealing to many.  I was one of that many!

Hardys Oomoo 2011 Sauvignon Blanc ($A18)

This Adelaide Hills wine that has only been released for about a month was the surprise white wine for me.  If I was asked to make a guess where this wine was from I would have thought it was from Margaret River in Western Australia.  This wine has a lot of the  characteristics I remember from my days checking out Semillon Sauvignon Blancs from this southern WA region.  Green apple aromas with a little tropical juice leads to flavors of grassy (hence the Semillon reference) and some passionfruit.  At this price the Sauvignon Blanc drinkers around should really check this one out.

Hardys Oomoo 2008 Chardonnay ($A18)

Another Adelaide Hills offering that has had some oak treatment – but not too much.  Peachy aromas with a smattering of nutty oak mirror the flavors.  The oak was not overwhelming and added the complexity Chardonnay really needs.  Should be available at many outlets – at this price what not.

Hardys HRB D648 2009 Chardonnay ($A33)

A Pemberton and Adelaide Hills blend shows significant elegance with peach and ginger dominating both the palate and nose.  Quite a classy wine that has Burgundian qualities where fruit is not the driving quality but a sense of terroir.  The use of oak is again very clever and I would recommend this wine very highly to those that like Chardonnay but also to those that say they do not like Chardonnay and need a Chardy lesson.

Reynella 16 year old Rare Old Tawny

A classy wine that comes from the blending stocks of Chateau Reynella.  A large number of classy fortified wines have come from this stable consistently for decades.  This wine does not disappoint with a mouthful of spiced raisins with a subtle nuttiness that just fills the mouth with each sip.  There must be plenty of acid with the wine as even though there is significant sugar with each bit the mouth is cleansed and ready for the next installment.  I have seen this available for about $20 and thinks it is a steal at this price.

Next week I will review the Tintara red wines.

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