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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 – Genders Wines

Sunday, 05 February 2012 23:24
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For a number of years I have been unashamedly a fan of Genders Wines in McLaren Vale.  The whole of the vineyard and winery work is undertaken by the one and only Dianna Genders.  When one finds out about her heritage you just know there is McLaren Vale wine flowing through her veins.  On her mothers side there is the Pridmore line – the first female winemaker in the Vale.  Her father planted grapes and a few wonderful King Charles Oaks on the property next to the McLaren Vale sports grounds.  One of the vine clones is just known as the “Genders Shiraz Clone”.  Dianna’s father was somewhat of an innovator where he introduced the first tractor into the vineyards (instead of horses) and the first mechanical pruner to do most of the pruning work.  From the outside the winery looks like it was deserted and run down.  A number of people indicate they did not even know there is a winery there.

Dianna’s wine making philosophy looks toward keeping small volumes of grapes separate in the winery to allow maximum opportunity for blending options. As Dianna does all the vineyard work she understands every vine on the property.  There is 3 varieties planted – Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The grapes are not crushed but de-stemmed.  The winery also has the first 2 prototypes of the Potter Fermenters, so there is a sense of history here as well.

Genders De-stemmer

If you cannot find these wines but are interested then I suggest you check out the Taste McLaren Vale web site (www.tastemclarenvale.com.au) as we usually deal with these wines.

2008 Genders Chardonnay ($A20)

At 12% alcohol, the use of french oak and wild yeast ferments, this is not your normal McLaren Vale Chardonnay.  In fact it is more like a White Burgundy!  The aromas are strongly based on quince and lemon rind when you first fill the cold liquid.  As the wine warms the presence of green apples and creamy melons comes through.  The flavors are not the usual fruit based you expect from Aussie Chardy.  There is a creamy texture to the wine that compliments the crisp apples and lemon rind.  The whole experience leaves almost a nutty after taste that lingers and lingers.  If more Chardonnay was made like this then there would be less of a Chardonnay wine glut.

2005 Shiraz ($A40)

This wine is made from the Genders Clone Shiraz that exists on just 13 rows.  I have seen this wine a few times and I continue to bask in it’s difference.  The aromas are almost black and blue.  The black from dark berries and the blueness from flowers maybe Violets.  Combined with hints of smokiness and dustiness from the oak.  The flavours mirror the aromas with the black and blue tinges.  The acid levels are spot on so the palate is cleansed with each mouthful.  The lasting impression I take from this wine is the tannins.  There is a strength but elegance to these tannins that just make me wonder how well this wine will be in another 5+ years.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon ($50)

We were fortunate to taste this wine before it is released or even labelled.  The blackcurrent is evident with all the florals and blueness that seems to come from the vineyard.  As the wine develops in the glass, and believe me the hour the wine needs to open up is worth every minute, menthol’s and eucalyptus tones develop.  The flavours follow the same path.  The blackcurrent fruits with blue edges and the interestingly strong but elegant tannins that comes from the smart use of oak – both new and old wood has seen this wine.  When this wine is released later this year I suggest you find where to get some.

McLaren Vale Wines – Samuels Gorge

Monday, 23 January 2012 10:54
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Samuels Gorge is one of my favorite places to visit in McLaren Vale.  The wines have a sense of difference, the people are wonderful and the facility has lots and lots of old world charm.   The atmosphere in this place is great.  The locals wine industry people go there for a drink in the afternoon (it helps being one of the last cellar doors open) so you know it has a certain charm.  The 100 year old building contains a number of old world contraptions including an olive press.  The driveway to the property has some very old olive trees.

Samuels Gorge Winery & Cellar Door

Samuels Gorge Verandah and Surrounds

Samuels Gorge Tasting Area

The gardens and covered area overlooks the Onkaparinga National Park, so even the views are just worth being there.

The winemaker, Justin, is also one of a kind.  Having worked in many wineries he not only settled in McLaren Vale he has the ability to do his own thing.  Cannot get much better than that.

The grapes for these excellent wines come from selected low yielding vineyards from Blewitt Springs through to Aldinga Beach.  Only wines with the correct character and quality make the Samuels Gorge labeled wines.  At times they release cleanskins that have to date been great value and exceptional quality for a cleanskin.

Each Easter there is a new release day where the wines are formally released to the public.  This event is one to put on your wine calendar.  They usually have food served and generous wine samples poured.  I try to be there every Easter.

Currently, the white wines are sold out.  Justin’s philosophy about wine tells him that white wine is not really suited to McLaren Vale, so he has decided to look further afield.  Most people would look towards Adelaide Hills – bit not Justin.  He likes the whites from Tasmania so why not.  The last few years he had made a Riesling and a Gewurtztraminer (not a sweet one).  They also produce a Sparkling Shiraz in very limited quantities ($A50/bottle) that has to date been sensational.  I look forward to their next release in the next month.

Now for the wines………..

2009 Cadensia Grenache ($A35)

From Blewitt Springs vineyards this wine continues to impress (as had the previous vintages).  When done well, McLaren Vale Grenache is just such a wonderful wine and it is my favorite variety.  The grape has a bad wrap and wines such as this are a hard sell.  It is interesting that when people try this at the cellar door they usual like it and make a purchase.  This is a beauty – aromas of juicy red fruits with a hint of blackness.  There is subtle spices and some floral notes.  The flavors back up the smells – with red cherries and plums in an envelope of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon.

2010 Tempranillo ($A35)

From the homestead block and the juicyness continues.  Lots and lots of cherries with a little barnyard stink.  There is a minerallity with a chalkiness and really chewy tannins.  Quite an impressive wine from a variety that seems to me moving from alternative to more main stream.  Well worth checking out.

2010 Shiraz ($A35)

This wine is so popular they have had to release the 2010 vintage well ahead of schedule (a couple of weeks ago).  It has just been bottled and released now instead of waiting for the normal Easter weekend release.  Even though the wine needs time to settle down and would be suffering from bottling shock, you can see the pedigree.  There is the Shiraz plum here with dusty mouth drying tannins and a concentration that  provides an interesting mouthfeel.  This will be great by Easter.

2010 Mourvedre

Barrel sample that will released around Easter this year.  There is a sense of floral, meaty earthiness that is Mourvedre.  Lets just say that I look forward to the Easter release.

McLaren Vale Wine – Angoves Part 2

Sunday, 08 January 2012 23:25
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The McLaren Vale range was released for the Cellar Door opening – so brand new.  The use of colour and the family crest on the label is really good and shows the family theme.  This theme continues into the Warboys range.  Here a silver family crest depicts a classy label.  The Warboys Vineyard range is a series of wines from the Angoves McLaren Vale vineyard (where the cellar door sits).  The name Warboys comes from the vineyard (not family owned) that formed part of the original winemaking exercise for the family in 1893 – their first vintage.  The Medhyk (pronounced “medic”) also shows the family heritage as Medhyk is Cornish for doctor.  The link is the first Angove making wine was a Cornish doctor – Dr William Thomas Angove.  The wine will only be made from only the best McLaren Vale wine and is considered the flagship of the Angove range.

Angoves Cellar Door

 

2010 McLaren Vale GSM ($A22)

The Grenache component comes from the Warboys Vineyard, the Shiraz comes from a number of McLaren Vale growers and Mourvedre comes from the Longwood Vineyard (which you can almost see from the Cellar Door).  The wine seemed a little closed on the nose however the flavors were all that one expects from this blend.  The up front  of the Grenache, the spice and mid palate of the Shiraz and the body with a savoury finish of the Mourvedre.  What I did find interesting was there was a level of minerality that I was not expecting and found quite intriguing.

2010 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon ($22)

As a generalisation, McLaren Vale makes a wonderful dry red from Cabernet and these wines have been very successful in wine shows and in sales.  For me I have found this interesting as so many of these Cabernets do not have the “normal” Cabernet character of the black current and Cassis.  This wine has a small component of Coonawarra fruit  that seems that have a wonderful effect on this wine.  As such in this glass was all the Cabernet character one expects from a classical Cabernet – the blackcurrent, french oak and drying tannins.  A wine for the Cabernet lovers to check out – a bargain at this price.

2010 McLaren Vale Shiraz ($A22)

All one wants to see from a McLaren Vale Shiraz – plum and cherry fruits, subtle pepper spices mixed with licorice.  Is it the best McLaren Vale Shiraz I have tasted – No, but again at this price range one could do a lot worse.

2010 Warboys Vineyard Grenache ($A35)

The single vineyard wine comes from the Chalk Hill Road property and the vines were planted in 1964 – a great year (the year of my birth).  As for the GSM the aromas were a little closed but the flavors were just so juicy.  Red current and cherry fruits wrapped up with subtle spices and an over arching minerallity.

2009 Warboys Vineyard Shiraz Grenache ($A35)

My favorite red wine of the range – made from the fruits of vines that were planted in 1948 and the whole vineyard was transformed since it was purchased in 2008.  There were essences of dark fruits, pepper and licorice with an inherent earthiness that made the aromas worthy of trying the wine.  Being impressed with this wine continues as you drink it.  The redness comes through and through – from the fruits to the licorice.  The spice and minerlity come together for a lengthy experience.

2009 Warboys Vineyard Shiraz ($A35)

Pepper and spice and all things spice – that is what this wine is made of!  There is lots to like about this wine and my comments when tasting it was “vivid palate”.  The only thing missing here is time.  Time is still needed to let the whole mixture settle down into the amalgam that this wine should become.

2008 The Medhyk Shiraz ($A55)

Made as the flagship McLaren Vale Shiraz so the best grapes with the best treatments including the best barrels.  Then the wine in these barrels are tasted with only the best of these making it into this wine.  There is a commitment to ensuring this label gets only the best so it is likely that if the wine does not stack up to the quality it will not be released under this label ie there may not be a Medhyk every vintage.

There are lots of dark fruit (plum based) on the nose with a depth here not sen in the other wines.  The darkness continues in the flavor profile where cherry and plum are wrapped around layers of spice and chocolate with hints of oak tannins.  This wine needs time and lots of it to see it’s best.

Angove Grand Tawny 500ml ($A25)

Only 50 cases have been bottled of this Grenache based fortified blend that averages 13 years old and the oldest wine in the blend was from 1981.  Time has been good to this infusion of clean grapes with slightly burnt caramel.  There is lots of acid here as the palate is kept fresh.  As expected the spirit here is also very clean but not intrusive.  A beauty that shows why Grenache has had a long history in Australia – starting in fortified wines.

Angove Rare Tawny 500ml ($A45)

Another blend with 50 cases bottled.  This time a blend of Shiraz and Frontinac grapes and the blend is older than the Grand Tawny.  Just brilliant – spiced caramel with alcohol.  The effort to visit the cellar door is repaid just by trying these fortified wines.

St Agnes XO Brandy 700ml ($A100)

The blend that goes into this stylish decanter is a minimum of 20 years old.  I am not a big brandy drinker but one can tell pedigree here.  Normally spirits for me, when drink neat, have an alcohol burn that characterises the type of spirit.  Here there is no burn but a smooth strong drink that has a wonderful fruit based series of aromas.  I was not going to try this, but I am so glad I did.

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