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McLaren Vale Wine – Pertaringa Undressed

Sunday, 12 February 2012 19:15
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Why Pertaringa Undressed I hear you ask – well last weekend was the first time I am aware of that Pertaringa had all the cleanskins that they have available for tasting at  their cellar door

Pertaringa Cellar Door

The cleanskins were a range from 3 areas – McLaren Vale (of course), Langhorne Creek and Adelaide Hills.  Pertaringa is now 100% owned by Geoff Hardy, who also owns the K1 complex in the Adelaide Hills plus a significant vineyard in Langhorne Creek.  This vineyard includes planting of many alternate or maybe better in calling them emerging varieties.  It seems that Geoff Hardy is putting his passion into continuous improvement into practice.

Sure these wines will not win medals but there was a number of happy faces at the tasting thinking out the value for money.

The full list of wines and carton prices were:-

2010 McLaren Vale Riesling ($A85)

The lime and citrus peel that the variety usually provides – softer in acid than my palate demands.

2010 Limestone Coast Verdelho ($A85)

Peachy and watermelon notes.  A bargin quoffer.

2011 Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc ($A95)

Floral, tropical notes with some fresh grass.  A big yes for the Sauvy drinkers out there.

2011 Langhorne Creek Rousanne ($A120)

My pick of the whites – aromas that we’re flowers wrapped in bacon and the flavors of stone fruit with a hint of sherbet.

2011 Adelaide Hills Rose ($A95)

Made from Merlot and smelt of the non-chocolate part of a cherry ripe.  It was a bit sweet but the acid levels madesure the sugar was washed away with each mouthful.

2007 Langhorne Creek Ruby Cabernet ($A80)

Smokey plums with soft but drying tannins.  A softer everyday drinking style.

2005 Pertaringa Reserve Shiraz ($A160)

Past it’s best.

2006 Premium Cabernet Tempranillo ($A150)

Earthyness and forest floor of the Tempranillo mixed with the berries of the Cabernet.  A lively blend that was the surprise of the red wines.

2008 Shiraz Cabernet ($A85)

Good everyday drinking with violets and berries (including blackcurrents).  Again the acid levels are hear that gives the wine some body.

2010 Limestone Coast Shiraz ($A95)

Juicy plums with not a lot of tannins.

2009 Shiraz Viognier ($A110)

There was a little lift from the Viognier but it was not overdone.  For those that like a little white in their reds then give this a try.

2009 Premium McLaren Vale Shiraz ($A110)

A bit of a step up from the other Shiraz wines.  A Shiraz one could drink anytime.

2007 Petit Verdot ($A95)

Plums with a violet chaser.  Good tannins and balance.

2009 Premium McLaren Vale Petit Verdot ($A110)

Worth the extra money!  We should show this wine to more people so they understand wines from this variety.  Plums, blackcurrents with a hint of florals.  Softer than I expected and I believe it would surprise a few people.

 

McLaren Vale Wine – Brick Kiln

Sunday, 11 December 2011 23:50
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Brick Kiln was established in 2001 when Alison and Malcolm left Fox Creek Wines and joined a partnership with fellow Adelaide people and some Canadians to form the Nine Gums Vineyard Partnership.  The vision of the partnership is to make a wine to the same level of the Fox Creek Reserve at an affordable price.  The eight hectare vineyard in Willunga has Shiraz planted progressively since 1996 (by previous owners).

Their cellar door has only recently been opened in the Red Poles Restaurant and Art Gallery on McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale.  The wines are available for tasting from 12 noon to 4 pm Wednesday to Sunday each week.

On the 7th January 2012 Brick Kiln are having a special tasting between 5 and 7 pm – with special guests, wines and maybe some music as well.  I may even see you there!

2011 Pinot Grigio ($A16)

Made from grapes from the Sabella Vineyard near the Red Poles cellar door facility and was made by Linda Domas who does her thing at both the Dennis Wines and Parri Estate facilities.  I have tasted the Sabella made Pinot Grigio as well as having tried Linda’s offerings over the last couple of years.  So I was looking forward to this wine.  What I got was a suitable offering that had aromas of grapefruit and lime zest that went to flavours of pear with citrus inspired acid.  The mid palate was particularly good.  I can see many people enjoying this crisp seafood wine or maybe just on it’s own, but I am still struggling to see what has people excited by this variety.

2011 Shiraz Rose ($A16)

Another Linda Domas offering and made by fruit from the 9 Gums Vineyard.  It is all that one expects from a Shiraz rose.  The typical red fruit and almost creamy aromas followed by a clean refreshing palate of red fruits, with some extra body from the Shiraz fruit.  Not sweet but not fully dry either so it should appeal to many people, particularly during the hot days of summer.

2009 Sparkling Shiraz ($A18)

One of my favorite wine styles when done well so I was looking forward to tasting this offering from the 9 Gums Vineyard.  The beginnings were looking good, with aromas of blackberry, dark and ripe plums with oak derived elements.  The flavours were unfortunately a little one dimensional as it was only about the plums.  The tannins were almost non-existent which lead to the wine being quite short – in other words the flavours just stopped very quickly when you drink the wine.  I am probably spoilt by such wines as the 2006 Thope Sparkling Shiraz, but give me a bottle of this any day.

2008 Shiraz ($A20)

The wine was made by Phil Christiansen who is making quite a name for himself making small volume wines for many labels in McLaren Vale.  Matured in 65% American oak with the remainder in French oak.  The aromas started a little stinky even barn yardy with the coconut one expects from the American oak and the plum you expect from McLaren Vale Shiraz.  The tannins are smooth to make what is a good effort from what was a difficult year.

2008 The Grove Shiraz ($A35)

All the best fruit of the 9 Gums Vineyard was saved for the best French oak.  I thought the aromas were somewhat short but the flavour profile was a different thing all together.  The flavours were an integration of dark plum fruits, good acid levels and smooth soft tannins that provide you with a structured trinity of flavour.  I suspect this wine will improve over the next couple of years.

McLaren Vale Wines – Noon Winery

Sunday, 13 November 2011 23:22
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Noon Winery has been one of my favorite wineries since I first tasted their wines around 1985.  In those days it was owned by :the old man” and had Clive – one of the worlds gentlemen and one who had a photographic memory.  I have very fond memories of visiting the cellar door and spending time with a man small in stature who wore thick lensed glasses and a terry toweling hat.  Clive could also remember what you purchased last year and would ask how you enjoyed that specific wine.  I used to love to visit Noon’s as the last point of call for a McLaren vale winery visit and just give them all the money I had left and just asked “how many bottles could I get for this?”  Invariably we would walk away with more bottles than we had money for, but we always went back.  When I returned to McLaren Vale in September 2007 I found the Noon cellar door not open, the old man had sold the winery to his son (Drew) and that Clive had passed on to that great cellar door in the sky.

Today, the Noon Wines cellar door is only open for 3 weekends a year and their wine is sold under allocation to their mailing list members and to those brave soles who line up to see what limited allocation they could get.

Lineup to purchase Noon wines

The wines can be tasted at a wooden bench just outside the cellar, so there is something you can do while waiting to get into the winery.  Drew gets help from his friends to make what must be a hectic few days work as smoothly as possible.  Many of those who line up keep coming back each year and their request is constant – how can I get onto the mailing list?  Yes folks, there is a waiting list for the mailing list.  The Noon family go to great lengths to be fair to as many as possible.  If you do not purchase wines and are on their list, then you are politely asked to move on so others can benefit.  They request that the allocation available is per family and not per person – I have seen a few people smile as they exit the cellar with more than they really should have.

The wines are made from a couple of vineyards around the Noon Wines complex plus from long term growers based in Langhorne Creek.  The wines are consistently made with flavor in mind and Dew needs to be comfortable that the required flavor profile is available.  To do this the wines usually have relatively high alcohol – it is not unusual for a 15% alcohol Rose as an example.

For the scarcity of the wines (the wines usually are sold out after the members receive theirs and the first weekend at the cellar) and the reputation these wines are value for money.  I have seen many times a Noon wine up for sale at inflated prices compared to that at time of purchase.  Well for me these wines are mine, I may share some with you but I will never give them away or sell them for profit!

Noon Wines with the wonderful Winery Block Grenache

And after picking up my allocation and tasting the wines, here are my comments…..

2011 High Noon Rose

Back to the Grenache based wine and it it better for it.  At 14.2% alcohol this wine packs a smaller punch than most High Noon Rose wines of the last few years.  Fresh and lively aromas and flavors that are based on the red fruits of raspberry in particular.  Lovely and I will be looking to this as a food Rose style compared to many other Rose wines that are really veranda wine.

2010 Twelve Bells

Due to a lower crop of Grenache in the 2010 year (after a heatwave damaging the Grenache flowers in November 2009) means this wine has changed from a Grenache based wine to a Shiraz based wine.  At first I got the aromas of the red Grenache based fruits but as this wine spent time in my glass the black fruits from Shiraz started to come through more and more.  There are cedar hints and loads of subtle spices here.  The flavor profile was medium bodied wine that is easy drinking now.  The darker fruits dominate and there is wonderful soft tannins that will strengthen the drink now-ability of this wine.

2010 Reserve Shiraz

Good to see this is a blend with 7% Grenache and 3% Cabernet to provide what I suspect to be a much better balanced wine that it would have been as a straight Shiraz.  Well, what can I say – this is Shiraz as it should be!  Black concentrated fruits with subtle spices of cardamon and white pepper with just a hint of anise hanging around.  The mid palate is as it should be to give a great mouthfeel with such a wonderfully full, but not intrusive, tannin structure

2010 Eclipse

I was so looking forward to this Grenache based blend (45% Grenache, 35% Shiraz, 15% Grenaciano and 5% Cabernet) and I was not disappointed.  The glass exploded with red fruit aromas and I even got some blue fruit hints as the glass got close to my nose.  Lots of depth apparent here even from these aromas.  The flavors showed both balance and power – fruit character, smooth tannins, good acid length.  Everything seemed to be in balance with everything else – and even so I suspect this wine will get better over the next few years.  Sorry guys, I have 5 bottles and they will be mine and mine alone!

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