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McLaren Vale Wine – Graham Stevens Wines

Sunday, 27 May 2012 21:49
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Graham Stevens Wines Cellar Door

Happy 3rd birthday to Graham Stevens Wines.  I have been a big fan of the relatively new venture for Graham and Caroline.  They both work very hard to make their winery successful and I wish them all the success I can.  Three key criteria make their cellar door a must for McLaren Vale wine visitors.  Firstly, you always get a smile and Graham will come over and shake your hand.  This approach makes you feel welcome.  Secondly, they control all aspects of the process.  They even do their own bottling.  Thirdly, Graham understands what the consumer is looking for and the wines are consistently good or better.  Do yourself a favour and check them out.

The man himself - Graham Stevens

2011 Clare Valley Riesling ($14)

A well priced white wine – surprisingly a Riesling, as the only white wine from Graham Stevens Wines.  There is a nose full of limes with just a hint of the lime zest and the flavors not only have the limes but the lemons as well.  There is not as much acid as the more classical Eden Valley Rieslings I have been drinking so I do not put this up there as a classical Riesling.  However those wines are sometimes criticized about having too much acid and many consumers would like to see this toned down.  If that is the case the this is a wine for you.  At this price it is a steal!

2011 “The Cousins” Grenache Rose ($14)

This light pink wine has the aromas of sweet strawberries and the flavors of cherries and strawberries.  There is a little acid tingle on the tongue which cleans the palate after the sugar from the wine (not too much sugar) which makes the mouth ready for more.  Definitely a summer wine.

2009 Arrogant Cleanskin ($9)

This is a 50%:50% blend of Shiraz and Grenache.  First produced as a marketing exercise this 2009 wine is even better.  The wine is not complex but it is just good solid fruit driven wine.  The red fruits from the Grenache dominate both the aromas and the flavors.  If you are looking for a great value wine that shows lots of fruit character (instead of lots of cheap oak) then you could not do better than this wine.

2006 Vat 52 ($18.59)

I have tried this wine many times of the last year or so and the wine just continues to sit up and say please drink me.  A blend of 50% Shiraz, 30% Grenache and 20% Cabernet is interesting as it is ready to drink almost straight away but the wine will age gracefully.  At this time the Cabernet black current aromas seems to be coming through more than I remember but the redness of the Grenache plays an important part. All in all an interesting blend that seems to work.

2006 Stevens Family Shiraz ($24)

A new release bit in the same mould of the previous release.  The aromas show lots of black fruits – dark cherry and blackberry.  There are also hints of french oak cedar.  The flavors show clean black fruits that seem to be the trademark of their vineyard.

2006 Trophy Reserve Shiraz ($40)

I get some hints of American oak coconut sweetness match with the plum character one expects from quality McLaren Vale Shiraz.  The tannin structure was well matched with the fruit and the finish was lingering.  Different to the Stevens Family wine but not necessarily better.

2009 Fleurieu Cabernet Sauvignon ($24)

Fruit from the Cool Mt. Compass area provides the clean black current fruit character with the cedar of French oak.  Soft tannins but there is a lingering finish.  A good Cabernet but I preferred the 2006.

2012 Vintage Fortified ($25)

Another new release – after the quality 2010 Vintage Shiraz I was really looking forward to this wine.  As expected I got plums here, but I did not expect the milk chocolate and cherry – yes, a bit like a cherry ripe.  This wine is more complex than the 2010 version, but the wines are so different that one wine is not necessarily better than the other.  There is sweetness here but the finish is very dry and long which indicates plenty of acid here.  When one tries such a good Vintage Port style it is difficult to understand why these wines are not produced more often.

2010 Vintage Liqueur Muscat ($20)

All about the clean sweet Muscat fruit here.  Yes the alcohol is obvious with a tingle on the nose and the warm finish but the hero of the wine is the fruit.  A wine with not a lot of oak influence but I know oak has played it’s part.  I also find the finish interesting in that there is plenty of acid here.  This acid cleans the ample sugar off the palate so the mouth is ready for more – bring it on.

McLaren Vale Wine – Scarce Earth Shiraz Project #3

Saturday, 19 May 2012 21:10
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McLaren Vale Scare Earth Shiraz Project Tasting

During the month of May the Scarce Earth wines are available for tasting from the cellar doors for the respective wineries or some of the smaller wineries are showing their wines at the McLaren Vale Information Center.

My view about the McLaren Vale Scarce Earth Shiraz Project this is a chance for McLaren Vale to market, as a combined approach, one of the wine styles this area does really well – Shiraz.  There has been a better roll out this year and as a general opinion the wines are much better than last year.  The big thing the group need to ensure that the Scarce Earth Project does not turn into a an “old boys club”.

Now my comments about the remaining McLaren Vale Scarce Earth Shiraz Project……

Battle of Bosworth Chanticleer Shiraz ($45)

From stony loamy soils from their Binney Road vineyard.  The fruit is very clean on the nose but the flavors really shine through with white pepper with soft velvety fruit character.

Bottle of Bosworth Braden’s Shiraz ($45)

From the Bay of Biscay clay soils from the same Binney Road vineyard.  Tis wine is all about darkness and strength.  Just so good and so different from from the other wine from this stable and from the same vineyard.

d’Arenberg Shipsters Rapture Single Vineyard ($99)

Mulberry and spice and all things nice that what this wine is made of.

d’Arenberg The Blind Tiger Single Vineyard Shiraz ($99)

The 87 year old Blewitt Springs vineyard produced a fruit rich offering with white pepper on the nose and anise infused fresh plum compote with a dark chocolate finish.  A seriously good wine but at this price so it should.

d’Arenberg The Garden of Extraordinary Delights Shiraz($99)

Of the 3 d’Arenberg offerings this wine has what appears to be the best balance between spice and fruit.  Neither is dominate over the other.

Kangarilla Road Scarce Earth Shiraz ($50)

From their Maslins Beach vineyard I got limited aromas but showed considerable depth of all the classical Shiraz flavors.

Shingleback Unedited Single Vineyard Shiraz ($70)

Limited aromas and a relatively short flavor profile of the dark black fruit character makes me wonder if this wine was only recently bottled as I know this wine’s pedigree and expected more.

Vinrock Shiraz ($40)

This is just pure juicy Shiraz in a bottle.  I enjoyed the pure flavors and definition of the plum and spice range character.  I see this as a definitely drink now wine as I am not sure I could wait.

Hugh Hamilton Black Blend #1 Single Vineyard Shiraz ($50)

The 2 Black Sheep wines were probably the most interesting for me.  These wines were almost under oaked and I believe the wines could have been better with a little more oak.  I do not think I have ever said or thought this about a red wine before – this wine made me think about what was happening and not just experiencing the wine.  My notes just said – fruit, fruit and more fruit.  In this case mulberries.

Hugh Hamilton Black Blend #2 Single Vineyard Shiraz ($50)

As for the wine above this is all about the fruit.  This wine showed more concentrated black fruit profiles so was very different than the previous wines.  One could not argue this wine was showing off the essence of the vineyard!

McLaren Vale Wine – 2010 Scarce Earth Shiraz Project

Sunday, 13 May 2012 21:04
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A couple of weeks ago I had the pleaseure of attending the McLaren Vale Scarce Earth Shirz Project.  Check out my views about the project and the tasting here.  This post will continue my rieviews of these wines.  As I discussed last week I will be reviewing the McLaren Vale Scarce Earth Shiraz Project wines over a few weeks, with each review I will be mainly discussing the differences between the wines and not that all of them have plum character.  I hope you enjoy the comments and I welcome any of your comments as well.

Tatachillia Hall Entrance

Sabella J. Petrucci and Son Shiraz ($25)

Another value offering from the Sabella vineyard and winery.  I have tried the last 3 vintages of Shiraz that Michael Petrucci has made and I think each year has been better than the last.  I suppose one should make good or better wine from the 2010 vintage, but I get a sense of more.  I get the feeling that Michael is getting to understand his craft and his raw materials (grapes from his father’s vineyard) better. The wine shows the aromas expected from Shiraz and a mild dose of white pepper.  I really enjoyed the strength brought on by the fruit as much as any oak treatments.  There is plenty of acid here also so the wine should last for ages.

Penny’s Hill Footprint Shiraz ($60)

Even though there is minimal American oak used in the making of this wine I got an immediate sense of the vanilla and sweetness brought on by oak of the American variety.  What I also took away was the depth of character that lingered until the next mouthful.

Wirra Wirra Patritti Single Vineyard Shiraz ($132)

Grapes for this wine were from the Whittings Road vineyard in the Blewitt Springs area.  The deep sands with peat layers have a distinct effect on both the aromas and flavours.  I also got a feeling of blue-ness what tasting this wine – there is a Shiraz clone that exhibits blue berry, so I guess this is what I was experiencing.  The spice mix was more towards pepper aromas but anise flavours.  A special note about the packaging here, the bottle shows a contour map of the region showing the vineyard location (see the photo).

Wirra Wirra Scarce Earth Shiraz

Geoff Merrill Reserve McLaren Vale Shiraz ($75)

Just making it into the McLaren Vale region being made from Kangarilla fruit next to the Mt Bold Reservoir.  One special barrel was selected that shows anise aromas but a fruit driven front flavours with a big mid palate and a soft finish.

Hastwell and Lightfoot Scarce Earth Single Vineyard Shiraz ($28)

My first wine from this stable and I was not disappointed.  This wine from the Foggo Road vineyard has lots of spice and length with an interesting mouthfeel that brings me back for more.

Chapel Hill The Chosen House Block Shiraz ($65)

Blue aromas mixed with a funky, earthy and almost barnyard stink style flavours.  The fruit has been well looked after here.

Chapel Hill The Chosen Road Block Shiraz ($65)

The aromas were somewhat closed but the wine here is all about the fine structure and lovely spice.  This wine will live for a long, long time and will reward anybody who cellars this wine.

Angoves Warboys Vineyard Shiraz

From a small section on the hill of the Warboys vineyard .  Lots of spice and fruit sweetness that melds into an interesting viscocity and the resultant mouthfeel.

Dowie Doole Scarce Earth Shiraz ($45)

A little fruit sweetness here as well with a depth of fruit based character and the wonderful experience of mixed spice.

Brash Higgins SHZ ($37)

This wine really made me sit up and take notice.  A meatiness like chorizo sausage loaded with paprika, the usual iodine character (that I seem to get consistently from this Malpas rod vineyard) and some slight citrus (most unusual).  There is sufficient tannins here that act like all they want to do is to is to dry out your teeth.  This wine is my second favorite from the Project wines.

McLaren Vale Wine – 2010 Scarce Earth Shiraz Project

Wednesday, 09 May 2012 13:26
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The Scarce Earth Project was born from the passionate and creative minds of Dudley Brown (Inkwell) and Adrian Kenny (contract winemaker) to show off what they understood very well.  McLaren Vale produces great Shiraz wines plus the varied geology and micro climates of the region produces such different expressions of the same grape variety.  The vision moved into action ready for last year where 2009 wines were released.  How does a wine get to be part of this project.  Well McLaren Vale wineries can submit barrel samples of wine for a first pass review by a tasting panel of McLaren Vale regional experts.  If these wines are deemed acceptable then they get tasted twice more – before and after bottling.  Oh and by the way the wines are to be from single geology (typically single vineyards) and show off the fruit definition and not the use of oak.

Last year the 2009 wines were released in somewhat of a hurry where not all wineries had the labeling ready plus I thought the marketing was also hurried.  I also considered the wines to generally be over oaked and this did not seem to marry with the intent of the Project.  Well what a difference a year make the 2010 Scarce Earth Project Shiraz wines were released to the public in a tasting held at the old Tatachilla Winery to some considerable fanfare and the wines were just so different.  Yes the 2010 vintage was a significantly better vintage that 2009 but the treatment of the wines seemed so, so different as well.  With the 28 wines that made it through to the Project list I did not consider any to be over Oakes.  Sure some had more oak than others but I did not once feel like I was drinking a glass of “splinters”.

As a passionate McLaren Vale-ite the offerings from the Scarce Earth Shiraz Project made me feel all warm inside – not just from the alcohol but I can now see this scale of work can only increase the standing of McLaren Vale to the whole of the wine world.  Now if we can just do something similar with Grenache……….

I will be reviewing all of the 2010 Scarce Earth Shiraz Project wines in the coming weeks.  With each review I will be mainly discussing the differences between the wines and not that all of them have plum character.  I hope you enjoy the comments and I welcome any of your comments as well.

Scarce Earth Shiraz Project Tasing Event

Cradle of Hills Row 23 Shiraz ($55)

From a new player in the world of McLaren Vale wine with their patch of dirt in the Sellicks area.  When I initially tried this wine the aromas were quite closed, but I was so surprised so I went back and found a totally different experience.  The second time I got the expected plum but there was the spiciness that is Paprika and a finish on the nose that was almost meaty.  There were tannins here but I thought they were more skins and seed tannins than wood based tannins.  There is the floral-ness that is violets and oh what length.  What a start both for the vineyard and the tasting.

Waywood Wines Reserve Shiraz ($45)

Made from grapes fom the same vineyard as the Cradle of Hills wine and so different.  The aromas were based around a lifted cherry with perfume and hints of cedar.  The flavors surprised me – not for the plums, not for the acid inspired length, but for the citrus zest oil character that left the taster right on the back palate.

Vigna Bottin Wines Shiraz

From a vineyard next to the Aldinga Airport, the grapes have imparted the lifted aromas of dark fresh plums with hints of violets.  The wine is all about the fruit – stewed plums all the way.

Shirvington The Redwind McLaren Shiraz ($85)

From their Willinga vineyard and oh bring on the spice.  I get aromas that. Can only be considered to be depth of floral, peppered plums.  The spice continues on the palate with white pepper and plums plus just the right amount of oak that gives a finish of drying tannins.

Halifax Per Se Block Shiraz ($50)

I am going to have to say that this was my favorite wine from this tasting.  Aromas of black and concentrated fruits.  In terms of flavors I got fresh fruit compote – you know all the fruits of fresh plums, blackberries and cherries that transformed into a silky concentration on the mid palate and a subtle spice finish.  In a word – Yum!

Fork in the Road ($15)

The first surprise from this label (that I had not heard of before) was the price.  Made from Sand Road fruit the wine showed the first hints of American oak for the afternoon.  The American oak sweetness came shining through on the nose with with an interesting perfume.  Then came the treat – a really good fruit and oak balance with black plum sweetness.

McLaren Vale Wine Functions – Unearthing Grandfathers (DeadReds) Wine Dinner

Monday, 30 April 2012 00:21
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Charlie-Helen Robinson had the vision – lets have a wine dinner with a group of people from Adelaide coming to a venue in McLaren Vale to celebrate the knowledge and experience that our grandparents have and what this role means to on-coming generations.  In particular in the McLaren Vale wine scene and what role this older generation means to today’s wine industry.

Within what seemed like a short period of time the big day was upon us and the Cellar at The Victory Hotel was descended upon by a 30 strong group of keen and enthusiastic people from diverse backgrounds all brought together by Charlie.  Great job Charlie!

The Victory Hotel Cellar

The venue was well set up and when the bus arrived it was all go.  The first course soon arrived.  The chicken and seafood was matched well with a 2008 Karra Yerta Eden Valley Riesling, that was full of limes – particularly lime zesty.  The second course of rabbit pie came with a 2010 Kay Brothers Mataro.  2010 was an excellent vintage and this wine was no exception with flavours of cherry and plum with hints of violets and a meatiness that I tend to find with this variety.  The tannins were a little grainy but this is part of what Mataro is usually about.  Without letting Colin Kay, the current head of Kay Brothers, finish his rabbit pie he was standing up and sharing with us some of the rich history of the Mataro grape in Australia plus the even richer history of the Kay family in McLaren Vale.  We were all delighted with his stories and also delighted that Colin was willing to share with us copies of his family daily records from the late 1890’s.  These documents had me convinced on how well their fortified sales were back then – only to be told that Tawny was the name of one of the family cows and the volume mentioned was not the volume of Tawny “Port” sold but how much milk Tawny (the cow) produced daily.

Colin Kay at Unearthing Grandfathers

The third course was for me a steak and I enjoyed the Rudderless 2006 Grenache which is made from the vines surrounding the hotel.  As a fan of McLaren Vale Grenache I was looking forward to and was not disappointed.   The perfumed red fruits combined with fruit strength and mid weight tannins was just what we were looking for.

A wine options game with 2 wines was an interesting venture during the night.  Each person was given their own stash a fake Deadred Dollars and were able to bet on 1 of 3 options for the category of what vintage did the wine come from, what grape variety the wine was made from and lastly what winery the wine came from.  There were 2 wines that were covered to ensure nobody could cheat.  The wines ended up being a Zinfandel from the Inkwell stable from 2009 and 2010.  These wines are so different and so it was interesting to see the reaction when people were told the 2 wines came from the same winery, same vineyard and same winemaker.

The Vintage Cheddar with dried muscatels, quince paste and crackers went down a treat mixed with the Graham Stevens Wines 2010 Vintage Shiraz.  This wine is just essence of Shiraz mixed with clean spirit.  It is interesting that the Vintage fortified style is not a big seller however almost all in the room were delighted with the finishing wine of the night.

A big thanks to all that attended that made the night something to remember but special mention must be made for Colin Kay for the generous giving of his time and experiences, for Ron who was the bus driver and had to sit and watch most of us indulge in good wines and to Charlie for bringing the night together.

I already look forward to the next Unearthing Dinner……

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