Philip White asks the hard questions of Roger Pike about his 2008 Marius Shiraz fraternal twins.
Well really it's two old buggers talking about the wine they're getting sloshed on. Bloody good wines, so can't blame em. You can see the vineyard in the background, plus the galv sculpture and even Philip's famous shrunken skull earring.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Crabtree Cellar Door Shiraz 2008
This wine is only available direct from cellar door, though you can order it online. It's a marketing idea I wish a lot more wineries would wake up to.
Wineries are always treading a fine line between looking after direct customers whom they make the most profit per bottle from, and not annoying the retailers whom they often make most of their sales to. Personally I think many get that balance completely wrong and charge their direct and loyal customers too much, whilst allowing Dirty Dans and others to sell at cost price (and then quietly fuming that they felt forced to). I'll avoid a full rant and stop right there.
The smart thing about this wine is whilst it's not as good as the 2009 Watervale Shiraz, it is still a good wine and hits that value range that Dan and other retailers know is about $12-$15.
It's dark maroon, a vibrant nose of dried thyme and sage with wafts of briar fruits. Tannins are somewhat grippy yet quite fine and the overall balance very good for a 'quaffer'. In fact that's probably an unfair term for this wine because, whilst it's $12.50 a bottle in dozens, apart from it being a tad rustic it's hard to fault really.
She's a bit sleazy but she's hard to say no to. (Just to be clear I mean the wine, not the lovely lass that was at cellar door)
I reckon 6 of these and half a dozen of the Watervale 2009 Shiraz is a good move, I just have to convince Crabtree that I should get the dozen discount on both. I would have suggested the 2009 Windmill Cab, but I think I bought the last bottles of that one.
I rate it Recommended++ and think it will drink better in 2-3 years.
I noticed there is no information about this wine at the Crabtree website, but my label says it's from Watervale West/Dry Grown blocks, hand pressed (I assume hand cranked press else I am really amazed), and 14.5% of the buzz inducing stuff.
Wineries are always treading a fine line between looking after direct customers whom they make the most profit per bottle from, and not annoying the retailers whom they often make most of their sales to. Personally I think many get that balance completely wrong and charge their direct and loyal customers too much, whilst allowing Dirty Dans and others to sell at cost price (and then quietly fuming that they felt forced to). I'll avoid a full rant and stop right there.
The smart thing about this wine is whilst it's not as good as the 2009 Watervale Shiraz, it is still a good wine and hits that value range that Dan and other retailers know is about $12-$15.
It's dark maroon, a vibrant nose of dried thyme and sage with wafts of briar fruits. Tannins are somewhat grippy yet quite fine and the overall balance very good for a 'quaffer'. In fact that's probably an unfair term for this wine because, whilst it's $12.50 a bottle in dozens, apart from it being a tad rustic it's hard to fault really.
She's a bit sleazy but she's hard to say no to. (Just to be clear I mean the wine, not the lovely lass that was at cellar door)
I reckon 6 of these and half a dozen of the Watervale 2009 Shiraz is a good move, I just have to convince Crabtree that I should get the dozen discount on both. I would have suggested the 2009 Windmill Cab, but I think I bought the last bottles of that one.
I rate it Recommended++ and think it will drink better in 2-3 years.
I noticed there is no information about this wine at the Crabtree website, but my label says it's from Watervale West/Dry Grown blocks, hand pressed (I assume hand cranked press else I am really amazed), and 14.5% of the buzz inducing stuff.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Winter in McLaren Vale
Winter in the Vale? Well it is technically, it is July after all, but with a beautiful sunny day around 20C it doesn't feel too much like winter today. Roger Pike of Marius Wines told me he had a fairly thick frost the other morning, so I guess winter is lurking around, it was just taking the day off today I guess.
A lot of vineyards are in the middle of pruning right now, and that's where I interrupted Roger giving the legionnaires a short back and sides. The 2011 vintage went very well for him, as you would know if you read my picking article a few months back. He happened to have on hand a part bottle from a barrel sample of the 2010 Shiraz, which had been exposed to the air for the last 5 days. Despite that, the wine is showing great promise indeed, and I couldn't even detect any VA.
I also called in on Dudley Brown of Inkwell Wines. Apparently the 2008 Shiraz and 2009 Zin are all gone, though perhaps tiny amounts may be available at retail. Dudley was generous in giving me a taste of a number of barrels as well. They all showed great promise, with some interesting blends likely coming out of them down the track.
One interesting comparison was between two 2011 Inkwell Shiraz barrels, where this year he was careful to seperate during harvest the grapes from two geologically different areas of his Shiraz vineyard. Roughly in the middle of that vineyard the soil changes, literally in a single step, and you can taste it in the grapes and thus of course the wine, where the difference was quite clear. I think Dudley called it geoenology, aka terroir if you're French.
And when you actually taste just how much the soil affects the wine, you then have to shake your head at the monumental idiocy of the South Australian government, who actually approved housing development on one of the oldest geological areas of McLaren Vale.
(Anyway, enough about the foolish, looks like Rann is about to get run outta the top job anyway, perhaps he can take Rau with him.)
I also called in on Redheads Studio, who I have been meaning to check out for a while and was thankfully reminded of by Dudley. Because of all the barrel samples and needing to drive home I only tried a limited selection. Showing my excellent taste I chose the Longwood 2009 Pinot, which was quite clever of me because Phil Christiansen who is the winemaker was at the cellar door. I had been wanting to meet him since trying his very good 2007 Shiraz - I tried his 2010 Shiraz whilst I was there, which is also very good and top value as it's a cleanskin right now.
Clearly a talented winemaker is Phil, and if he points a large knife at you, just check if there's French goats cheese on the end of it, and if there isn't then say something nice about the wine - I hedged my bets by saying nice things and eating the cheese.
The Longwood Pinot is definately my style, and I suspect many Shiraz drinkers would like it a lot, with the complex flavours of Pinot Noir but with a bit more oomph on the tongue than many deliver. Highly Recommended.
I can also recommend the La Curio 2008 Reserve Shiraz, and if you like Grenache then you'd probably like the La Curio 2008 Reserve Grenache as well.
I need to go have a lie down, was a pretty hard day.
A lot of vineyards are in the middle of pruning right now, and that's where I interrupted Roger giving the legionnaires a short back and sides. The 2011 vintage went very well for him, as you would know if you read my picking article a few months back. He happened to have on hand a part bottle from a barrel sample of the 2010 Shiraz, which had been exposed to the air for the last 5 days. Despite that, the wine is showing great promise indeed, and I couldn't even detect any VA.
I also called in on Dudley Brown of Inkwell Wines. Apparently the 2008 Shiraz and 2009 Zin are all gone, though perhaps tiny amounts may be available at retail. Dudley was generous in giving me a taste of a number of barrels as well. They all showed great promise, with some interesting blends likely coming out of them down the track.
One interesting comparison was between two 2011 Inkwell Shiraz barrels, where this year he was careful to seperate during harvest the grapes from two geologically different areas of his Shiraz vineyard. Roughly in the middle of that vineyard the soil changes, literally in a single step, and you can taste it in the grapes and thus of course the wine, where the difference was quite clear. I think Dudley called it geoenology, aka terroir if you're French.
And when you actually taste just how much the soil affects the wine, you then have to shake your head at the monumental idiocy of the South Australian government, who actually approved housing development on one of the oldest geological areas of McLaren Vale.
(Anyway, enough about the foolish, looks like Rann is about to get run outta the top job anyway, perhaps he can take Rau with him.)
I also called in on Redheads Studio, who I have been meaning to check out for a while and was thankfully reminded of by Dudley. Because of all the barrel samples and needing to drive home I only tried a limited selection. Showing my excellent taste I chose the Longwood 2009 Pinot, which was quite clever of me because Phil Christiansen who is the winemaker was at the cellar door. I had been wanting to meet him since trying his very good 2007 Shiraz - I tried his 2010 Shiraz whilst I was there, which is also very good and top value as it's a cleanskin right now.
Clearly a talented winemaker is Phil, and if he points a large knife at you, just check if there's French goats cheese on the end of it, and if there isn't then say something nice about the wine - I hedged my bets by saying nice things and eating the cheese.
The Longwood Pinot is definately my style, and I suspect many Shiraz drinkers would like it a lot, with the complex flavours of Pinot Noir but with a bit more oomph on the tongue than many deliver. Highly Recommended.
I can also recommend the La Curio 2008 Reserve Shiraz, and if you like Grenache then you'd probably like the La Curio 2008 Reserve Grenache as well.
I need to go have a lie down, was a pretty hard day.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Clare Valley - on your bike!
I'm off to the Clare again next weekend and decided it's about time I wrote about my last trip there when we rode the Riesling Trial. We won't be on our bikes this time as it's mid winter, and whilst it's likely the weather would be fine enough to ride we're not going to gamble on it.
So, what is the Riesling Trail anyway? It's a bicycle trail and a set of loops within the Clare Valley, see this brochure for more details. It's called the Riesling Trail because that is what the region is most famous for, and rightly so as the trophy below proves, but there are also some great Chardonnays too, and more importantly some brilliant red wines, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The main trail between Clare and Auburn is a very easy ride as the trail follows the defunct train line path, and trains aren't too good with rolling hills so the trail is quite flat.
The views from the trail are brilliant, and for the most part it's a very safe ride with no cars to contend with. You're often riding with the vineyards on both sides of you, or amongst the shadey gum trees that line a lot of the trail.
The path we took was starting near Kirrihill and Tim Adams, we rode down to Penwortham via Sevenhill Cellars. Then we did the John Horrocks loop, which is along the country roads which are quite winding and you need to be careful of traffic, and also be aware that loop has some quite steep sections where the kids needed to walk their bikes at times.
One side benefit of travelling that pathing is the trail from Clare towards Penwortham is ever so slightly uphill, you don't really notice it on the way south but coming home after those hills near Skillogalee and Jeanneret we were able to rest our legs since we hardly had to pedal at all.
The negative thing about riding your bike when wine tasting is that you really can't purchase the wines there and then. What I did was make careful notes, flagging any wines I wanted to buy, and dropped in with the car the next day on the way home. Please don't abuse the hospitality of the wineries by using the bikes as an excuse not to buy, most can freight your wine for you at a pretty cheap rate.
It's hard to highlight wineries as they were all great, but Cardinham Estate, Pauletts, Sevenhill Cellars and Crabtree stood out in my mind for various reasons that trip. I do suggest you skip the wineries owned by the corporates since you can buy their mass produced stuff much cheaper from the supermarket chains. Instead try to visit the smaller wineries making higher quality wines that have some character and life in them.
I'll try to be good and post more on the upcoming trip.
The main trail between Clare and Auburn is a very easy ride as the trail follows the defunct train line path, and trains aren't too good with rolling hills so the trail is quite flat.
The views from the trail are brilliant, and for the most part it's a very safe ride with no cars to contend with. You're often riding with the vineyards on both sides of you, or amongst the shadey gum trees that line a lot of the trail.
There's also a few bridges across the more major roads. The one below goes across Quarry Rd.
The path we took was starting near Kirrihill and Tim Adams, we rode down to Penwortham via Sevenhill Cellars. Then we did the John Horrocks loop, which is along the country roads which are quite winding and you need to be careful of traffic, and also be aware that loop has some quite steep sections where the kids needed to walk their bikes at times.
One side benefit of travelling that pathing is the trail from Clare towards Penwortham is ever so slightly uphill, you don't really notice it on the way south but coming home after those hills near Skillogalee and Jeanneret we were able to rest our legs since we hardly had to pedal at all.
The negative thing about riding your bike when wine tasting is that you really can't purchase the wines there and then. What I did was make careful notes, flagging any wines I wanted to buy, and dropped in with the car the next day on the way home. Please don't abuse the hospitality of the wineries by using the bikes as an excuse not to buy, most can freight your wine for you at a pretty cheap rate.
It's hard to highlight wineries as they were all great, but Cardinham Estate, Pauletts, Sevenhill Cellars and Crabtree stood out in my mind for various reasons that trip. I do suggest you skip the wineries owned by the corporates since you can buy their mass produced stuff much cheaper from the supermarket chains. Instead try to visit the smaller wineries making higher quality wines that have some character and life in them.
I'll try to be good and post more on the upcoming trip.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sieber Road Wines
Sieber Road Wines is owned and run by Richard and Val Sieber, hence the name. They have diversified into wines from being predominantly a cropping and grazing farm, after their viticulturist son Ben convinced them they had a property highly suitable for growing wine grapes. It's been a bit of a long road, but the last 5 years or so have seen them release a variety of consistently well regarded wines.
Val is most likely who will greet you at cellar door as they have it incorporated into their actual house living area. It feels quite homey yet also very classy, and the view is beautiful. I was made to feel very welcome indeed even though it was my first visit there, and I think I was there over an hour talking, mostly not even about the wines. Val is just like the cellar door, classy but comfortably down to earth. Even if the wines weren't so good I reckon I'd visit for a chat anyway. But they are good, very good in fact.
They grow Viognier, Mataro/Mourvedre, and Grenache, but the majority grape by far is Shiraz. With those varieties they do a straight white Viognier, a Shiraz/Viognier co-ferment, a GSM, a Shiraz/Mataro, and a straight Shiraz or two.
The Shiraz-Viognier was quite impressive because, unlike many of that blend, there was no overt apricot, but instead the co-ferment simply lifted the bouquet of the Shiraz, giving it a different feel and style to the straight Shiraz, without detracting from it.
All of the wines are fruit forward style with lively, and good quality, blue and black fruits.
Sadly I didn't keep notes of all the wines I tried at the cellar door as I was enojoying the chat, but I am enjoying the 2006 Ernest Shiraz whilst writing this, and in fact I drank it over two nights.
The colour is almost black but there's just a hint of crimson when held up to the light. There are aromas of ripe blackberries and black cherries, with some cedar and soy loitering around. Those all continue on the tongue, supported by lovely silky tannins and lively acid, overall presenting a muscular frame. The fruit is forward but not sweet, and the complete package is well balanced. The finish is pleasingly long and quite savoury. This should go at least another 5 years as it was noticably even better on the second night. $20 cellar door.
The winery is slightly off the beaten path but well worth the side trip from Tanunda.
I didn't get around to publishing this for a while and in the meantime I've tried a couple more of the wines, so here's my notes on those.
The 2008 Shiraz Mataro has a big rich nose, blue and black fruits, a bit of nutty oak combined with some floral hints to keep you interested. Dusty tannins and a refreshing acid blend with the fruit forward style to present quite a sophisticated wine. Went reall well with a mildly spicey stir fry. $20
Tonight I had the 2008 Special Release Shiraz, and whilst all of them will age well, of the three this one really is demanding more time in the cellar to show it's best. Based on it's structure I can only assume it was built to age. There's a fair bit of oak, but then there's a fair bit of everything. Intense black fruits on the outside, with some chocolate and Shiitake mushrooms providing a delicious earthy core. $28
Val is most likely who will greet you at cellar door as they have it incorporated into their actual house living area. It feels quite homey yet also very classy, and the view is beautiful. I was made to feel very welcome indeed even though it was my first visit there, and I think I was there over an hour talking, mostly not even about the wines. Val is just like the cellar door, classy but comfortably down to earth. Even if the wines weren't so good I reckon I'd visit for a chat anyway. But they are good, very good in fact.
They grow Viognier, Mataro/Mourvedre, and Grenache, but the majority grape by far is Shiraz. With those varieties they do a straight white Viognier, a Shiraz/Viognier co-ferment, a GSM, a Shiraz/Mataro, and a straight Shiraz or two.
The Shiraz-Viognier was quite impressive because, unlike many of that blend, there was no overt apricot, but instead the co-ferment simply lifted the bouquet of the Shiraz, giving it a different feel and style to the straight Shiraz, without detracting from it.
All of the wines are fruit forward style with lively, and good quality, blue and black fruits.
Sadly I didn't keep notes of all the wines I tried at the cellar door as I was enojoying the chat, but I am enjoying the 2006 Ernest Shiraz whilst writing this, and in fact I drank it over two nights.
The colour is almost black but there's just a hint of crimson when held up to the light. There are aromas of ripe blackberries and black cherries, with some cedar and soy loitering around. Those all continue on the tongue, supported by lovely silky tannins and lively acid, overall presenting a muscular frame. The fruit is forward but not sweet, and the complete package is well balanced. The finish is pleasingly long and quite savoury. This should go at least another 5 years as it was noticably even better on the second night. $20 cellar door.
The winery is slightly off the beaten path but well worth the side trip from Tanunda.
I didn't get around to publishing this for a while and in the meantime I've tried a couple more of the wines, so here's my notes on those.
The 2008 Shiraz Mataro has a big rich nose, blue and black fruits, a bit of nutty oak combined with some floral hints to keep you interested. Dusty tannins and a refreshing acid blend with the fruit forward style to present quite a sophisticated wine. Went reall well with a mildly spicey stir fry. $20
Tonight I had the 2008 Special Release Shiraz, and whilst all of them will age well, of the three this one really is demanding more time in the cellar to show it's best. Based on it's structure I can only assume it was built to age. There's a fair bit of oak, but then there's a fair bit of everything. Intense black fruits on the outside, with some chocolate and Shiitake mushrooms providing a delicious earthy core. $28
All three wines I rate as Highly Recommended and ****. All of them are capable of going 10 years past vintage, but give the SR 08 at least another 2 years minimum. BTW, if you've got access to James Halliday's notes and you're comparing to mine, I've confirmed he's got the 2006 and 2008 Shiraz backwards. | ||
Friday, May 20, 2011
Crabtree Hilltops Shiraz 2008
This took about 2 hours to open up properly, and although it was quite good to start with, it's really singing now after 3 hours. On the olfactory senses it's overtly hitting me with black fruits, then following that up with subtle spices and quality oak.
My gustatory senses are enjoying the harmonious balance of silky velvet tannins, good quality obvious fruit with lively acid on a full bodied frame. A long finish leaves me satisfied, briefly, as it's more-ish. It went brilliantly with a top notch home made pizza.
There's none of this left at cellar door, and hasn't been for quite some time. They're into the 2009 there now, if there's any left of that. I got lucky and found some of this at a bottle shop, so keep your eyes peeled.
Rated Highly Recommended and ****.
My gustatory senses are enjoying the harmonious balance of silky velvet tannins, good quality obvious fruit with lively acid on a full bodied frame. A long finish leaves me satisfied, briefly, as it's more-ish. It went brilliantly with a top notch home made pizza.
There's none of this left at cellar door, and hasn't been for quite some time. They're into the 2009 there now, if there's any left of that. I got lucky and found some of this at a bottle shop, so keep your eyes peeled.
Rated Highly Recommended and ****.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Head Wines Head Red Shiraz 2010
The first thing that stands out is the stewed fruits on the nose. It doesn't scream apricot like some Shiraz Viognier's do, and thus it's more about subtle complexity. There's mainly red and blue fruits with a hint of spice. Tannins are dusty supporting a medium bodied frame, with somewhat lively acid. Fruit is noticeable and of very good quality.
Trying this wine over 3 hours, with and without food, it showed very good complexity and changed quite a lot in that short time. This wine will age and was probably released too young really.
Initially I wasn't overly impressed with it, but seeing how well it went with a seafood chowder I'm inclined to grab a couple more just for those type of foods, since I rarely drink whites. Actually a white wine would probably cower in fear at my seafood chowder.
It's Recommended and ***.
Trying this wine over 3 hours, with and without food, it showed very good complexity and changed quite a lot in that short time. This wine will age and was probably released too young really.
Initially I wasn't overly impressed with it, but seeing how well it went with a seafood chowder I'm inclined to grab a couple more just for those type of foods, since I rarely drink whites. Actually a white wine would probably cower in fear at my seafood chowder.
It's Recommended and ***.
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