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McLaren Vale Wine – Angoves

Monday, 02 January 2012 20:47
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Angove Wines McLaren Vale Cellar Door

I have been watching this new cellar door being built over the last few months and so I was quite excited about visiting the newest cellar door in McLaren Vale.  I was also excited by seeing how this new facility was going to be set up.  I grew up near Tea Tree Gully (TTG) where a considerable part of the Angoves story has unfolded.  Until recently, a small cellar door was situated in TTG and while I have been working all around the wonderful country I would always visit this facility when I visited home.  This old cellar door really was bargain central where bin ends overseas stock and wrongly bottled wines would be available for sale.  This new cellar door could not be further away from the old TTG facility.  Here there are 2 whole ranges that are McLaren Vale based.  Firstly, the Warboys Vineyard range that is made from the single vineyard around the new cellar door, which has the family crest in silver on the label.  Secondly, a McLaren Vale range that is sourced from various growers in McLaren Vale and has a coloured family crest on the label.  These 2 ranges are only available at the McLaren Vale cellar door.  To compliment these 2 ranges there are some other options at both ends of the spectrum.  There are quite a few wines available for tasting so I will review the wines over 2 blog entries.

Angoves Cellar Door

Added attractions at the cellar door are the regional platters (cheese, olives and bread) or a coffee and cake or biscuits.  It was very hot the day of my visit but there is a outside courtyard area with tables and chairs – a great spot to look over the vineyard.  The “Boardroom” is available for small corporate functions and has a table made from hardwood recycled from large wooded vats previously used in the winery (the tasting bar shown above is made from the same wood).  There is also Pizza Oven hidden down one side of the cellar door that I am sure will be able to tell many stories in a couple of years time.

Cellar Door Courtyard

Anyway, enough of this lets talk about the wine………….

2011 Vineyard Select Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc ($A18)

From a Woodside vineyard in the Adelaide Hills from the Wicks stable.  The wine was surprisingly good as most areas of the Adelaide Hills were devastated by disease in 2011.  And surprised I was – the wine showed lots of passionfruit with a little grass on the nose, the palate showed tropical fruits and grass again with a length brought on by the good acid structure.  Still not for me but a good example of what the Adelaide Hills can provide that is not a NZ clone.

2011 Nine Vines Pinot Grigio ($A15)

As expected the Nine Popes range is from the vast Angove Riverland vineyards.  I was expecting pear characters but instead got citrus acid being dominate with a really interesting (and refreshing) grapefruit flavor profile.  A good clean and crisp drink that should be consumed on a Sunday afternoon with friends and Tapas.

2010 Organic Chardonnay ($A20)

One third from the Battle of Bosworth vineyard in McLaren Vale and 2 thirds from the family Renmark vineyard that has been converted to organic practices.  Some of the wine has seen 2 or 3 year old oak barrels for about 8 months.  Great to see the light use of oak as opposed to no oak at all.  A chardonnay with no oak does not seem right in my book.  This wine shows the complexity of a light oak touch with peach, nectarines with a creamy nature right before the wonderful tangy acid finish.  I am thinking a creamy chicken dish to have with this wine.

2010 McLaren Vale Chardonnay ($A20)

Only just released for the opening of the new cellar door and made from grapes from a vineyard just outside the township of McLaren Vale.  The grapes were pressed directly into 1 or 2 year old french oak barrels and the fermentation occurred with the indigenous yeasts and stirred weekly.  The result is a refined aroma of minerality and stone fruits (peach and nectarine) wrapped up in an acidity that wraps around your tongue as well.  I found this the most interesting white wine from this tasting.  The wine could be matched with many food types so maybe a Chinese banquet may go down well here.

2011 Nine Vines Moscato ($A15)

The interesting thing about Moscato is is that what you smell is what it is – grapes.  Wines made from other grapes can smell of so many other things but Moscato is very uncomplicated as it smells and tastes like the grapes it is made from.  At only 8% alcohol and not too much sugar left one can see the uncomplicated freshness is the reasoning behind the large increase in sales of this wine style.

2011 Nine Vines Grenache Shiraz Rose ($A15)

The Nine Vines Rose has been in my glass a number of times over the last 6 or 7 years,  Over this time there has been a consistent theme of quality here.  There is always the red berries and cream with clean acid.  What is a little different now is the wine seems to have a touch less sugar and for me, the resultant wine is better for it.  Sunday lunch with cheese, preserved meats, home made chutneys and fresh crusty bread – nothing more, nothing less.

2010 Organic Shiraz Cabernet ($A16)

As for the chardonnay the grapes for this wine is about 1 third from McLaren Vale’s Battle of Bosworth and 2 thirds from the Riverland.  There is a real berry and licorice theme with this wine.  The berries of black current and blackberry drive the up front flavors and the finish is driven by the licorice.

2010 Vineyard Select McLaren Vale Shiraz ($A18)

A blend from regional vineyards from the McLaren Vale region that shows all the usual elements one sees in McLaren Vale Shiraz – dark plums, generous mid palate, the spices of pepper and cardamon combined with a generous dusting of oak.  The tannins dominate the finish and one would recommend a bit longer in the bottle to let this soften a tad.

Next week I review the rest of the Angoves McLaren Vale cellar door wine list.

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 – Grancari Estate

Saturday, 19 November 2011 22:28
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The first thing you notice is this interesting vineyard as part of suburbia. This fully organic certified vineyard and winery is settled amongst the housing estates of Onkaparinga Hills and Hackham. One certainly does not expect a vineyard in this location.

Grancari Estate Vineyard

To my knowledge they are one of only two fully certified organic growers and wineries in McLaren Vale. Many others are in the certification regime but have not been fully certified as yet.

The owners Rino and Gretta bought the property after the 2008 Ash Wednesday bush fires and have set about enjoying one of their hobbies being growing and making wine. They have progressed this hobby to have their own processing facility and now a small scale bottling unit so they can be the masters of their own work. So much for a hobby with a reasonable vineyard holding of both Shiraz and Grenache vines, a storage shed and a winery that acts as a barrel store and an overflow for their bottled wine storage.

Grancari Estate Winery Equipment

The property had 6 acres of neglected Grenache vines and since they have had the property they have built their home and added 2 lots of Shiraz vines for a total of 6 acres of Shiraz. A 12 acre lot would be considered a full time allotment for many people. There is even a row of pine trees around the outside of their property partly to ensure there is no over spray of chemicals from the surrounding properties.

Grancari Estate Barrel Store

From this lot they produce between 50 and 60 tonnes of quality fruit, of which some is sold and the remainder is made into wine. At this stage their philosophy will be to make enough in the coming vintage to match what they have sold from the previous vintage.

And now their wines……..

2011Cheeky Wombat Rose

Not a lot of aromas here, even as the wine started to warm in the glass.  Lots of the red fruits one would expect from Grenache.  Lots of raspberries and an interesting mouthfeel that seems to be like a creamy texture.  I was expecting the wine to be reasonably sweet, and I was wrong (not for the first time) as the wine was off dry.  A pleasant drop that should be drunk young and cold on a summers day.
2010 Sparkling Grenache

Now I was excited – a Sparkling Red made from my favorite grape, Grenache.  I will admit I have never had a sparkling Grenache before.  I will admit my mouth was salivating directly before trying this wine.  I was not sure about it directly as the wine was a little dumb.  The carbon dioxide of the bubbles as the wine was opened masked any character of the wine.  My faith was quickly restored as the glass started to show the typical red fruits from Grenache plus the earthiness that is typical of sparkling red.  The palate not only showed the red fruits, but also some clean tannins (indicating good use of oak in the base wine).  I think I have found another sparkling red for this Christmas.
2009 Old Vine Grenache

What interesting aromas – I got a little fairy floss and pork fat to start with and then over time the Grenache redness came through in spades.  The wine also needed time to get the best from the flavors – please give the wine this time or use an aerator to move it along.  in this case time provided one with a fruit profile that has red and black fruit and has hints of spices and I am so glad that the wood takes a back room view to allow this fruit to do it’s thing.  At 16% alcohol the wine is not shy but there is lots of fruit here so the relatively high alcohol does not cause bitterness.  I had this with a variety of Thai dishes and I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Grancari Estate Vineyard

2008 Shiraz

Very aromatic that needs time to open up for it’s best.  Powerful dark fruit aromas with some interesting sweetness, which probably comes from American oak.  There is oak and spice mix here but the aromas are dominated by fruit.  Power continues in the flavor profiles and mainly fruit power.  The acid and tannins are soft and interestingly only a little spice.  The ripe fruit from the heat of the 2008 vintage takes over.  this wine showed it’s best when it was opened and left to breathe for over an hour – do yourself a favor and give this wine time.
2009 Shiraz

From the same vineyard as the above wine and so different – showing what variation different vintages can have on the final product.  This wine has class and is more restrained and elegant than the 2008 version.  The aromas show essence of Shiraz with some licorice oak hints.  The flavors are plums seeped in chocolate, licorice, cardamon, cinnamon with a restrained oak presence.  Needless to say that I like this wine!
2009 Low Preservative Shiraz

I have had a few low preservative wines before and I have not always enjoyed them.  I was not sure what I was going to find with this one.  I was so surprised!  This wine has lots of character – more than I was expecting.  Lots of dark fresh fruit aromas and quite a dark mixture of flavors.  Depth of the Shiraz plum with some oak – that was the difference.  Normally low or no preservative wines have no oak maturation (as wine may have problems with spoilage without this preservative).  I also got some Mocha and a spice mixture.  If you have issues with the preservative in red wine, but you like a full bodied red then this is one wine you should check out.

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!

McLaren Vale – Itallian Herritage and Wines

Monday, 07 November 2011 19:11
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Yesterday (6th November 2011) was a McLaren Vale celebration of it’s Italian heritage.  The grand opening of the McLaren Vale Pizza della Valle.  The project has been evolving over the last few years and a couple of Million Dollars culminated in this exciting day celebrating the link between McLaren Vale and the Italian’s who settled here all that time ago.

The Piazza will serve as a centre piece for the street front of McLaren Vale – and lets face it the street front needs some work.  It will also be a meeting place, a resting place and even a central entertainment area.

Piazza Entrance

There is a story of the immigration depicted on four glass panels that are placed along one side of the Piazza.

Piazza della Valle Opening

The photos show the large crowd that was on hand for the official opening, the Italian foods plus some good wines including some Italian Prosecco.

Piazza Opening Continued

In line with the celebration I tasted a couple of red wines in the Fall From Grace store (across from the Piazza) and a recently released unusual offering from Oxenberry Wines (owned by the Scarpontoni family).  Check out my reviews below.

Waywood Wines

I have been watching the progress of this small wine label for the last couple of years and I have been consistently impressed.  Firstly the wines have always been first rate.  Secondly, Andrew Wood (winemaker and owner) has been looking at how to maximise his exposure.  This brought him to using initiatives such as QR codes (see the below photo), that will take you to the Waywood website – a great idea so you can use a QR code reader on your smart phone and hey presto there is the web site on your phone telling you about the wine and the winery.  He also provided the National Wine Centre a dozen of his wines were supplied, one each to 12 local wine bloggers.  These bloggers were given the chance to write about the wine and their review were rated by followers of the National Wine Centre to determine their favorite blogger.  This person has now been given free entry to a number of National Wine Centre functions and hopefully blog about their experiences.  I was hoping to be one of those 12 bloggers however I got my application in to late.

Waywood Bottle Shot

2010 Quattro Vini ($A28)

A blend of 35% Nebbiolo, 25% Sangiovese (both from Blewitt Springs), 30% Cabernet (from Willunga) and 10% Sellicks Hill Shiraz.  What an interesting blend this new release is.  The aromas are firstly dominated by the plum of Shiraz and blue fruits, with a little vanilla sweetness.  The the wine opens up more and more with spice – I certainly got hints of fennel and anise.  As I drank the wine there was blue and black fruits with lots of spice – these things coming mainly from the Shiraz, Cabernet and the oak.  What you finished with was a wonderful savory acid and tannin structure that is probably from the Italian varieties of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese.  This wine is highly enjoyable not, however I can see this wine becoming something else entirely in a couple of years time when the Nebbiolo and Sangiovese may come to the fore and take the wine to the next level.  At this price I will be putting some of this away in the bottom of the wine fridge to be unearthed in a few years time.

2009 Cabernet Franc ($A28)

Unusual to find this variety as a varietal wine, as it gets blended into so many other wines where a small amount can make a big difference.  On it’s own the wine is a hard sell and that is unfortunate when you drink wines of this caliber.  As soon as the wine was poured I got this wonderful uplifted aroma out of the glass.  Lots of berries, licorice with floral and herbs – particularly dried Italian herbs like oregano and rosemary.  In the mouth I got fresh berry compote with just so many layers of structure from the good acid level, fruit plus wood tannins and the quality of the fruit just shines out.  As Andrew said himself – “If I cannot sell it at least I have 10 years of drinking 10 dozen excellent wines every year”.  Andrew, you could do a lot worse by by drinking this wine over those 10 years – I may just have to help you.

Oxenberry Farm

Grapple Cider  ($A7.90 for 500mL bottle)

The team from Oxenberry Farm have just released a part grape, part apple sparkling cider (70% grapes and 30% apples).  This is just in time for Summer and I think they are onto a winner.  Firstly, in a sea of alcohol products that have a sameness about them here is something different, plus the result is light and refreshing.  The Grapple Cider is about 8% alcohol and comes in 2 forms – a Red or White.  The white is made from Chardonnay grapes plus the apples of course and is slightly sweet and very, very refreshing and moreish!  The Red version is made from Gamay grapes (they use this grape variety to make their Rose style wines), is a little sweeter and I can see “refreshing” written all over it.  This wine had strawberries and cream in a bubbly that would be oh so good on a hot summers day.

Well done Oxenberry Farm and the team!

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