After trying lots of Zins in June, I had this thought that the grape has a lot of synergy with Shiraz and wondered why I hadn't noticed any blends of such.
Next time I was talking to Dudley Brown I asked him if he'd ever thought of blending the two. I think I surprised him a little since he had indeed made a Shiraz+Zin and was just about to bottle it. Clearly I am either clever or can read minds, or both - I know my wife can read my mind so perhaps I've absorbed that skill.
Dudley is obviously as clever as I think I am because this blend works really well. It smells like I've gone picking cherries in the Adelaide hills just before xmas. It tastes vibrant and yet not acidic, and would eminently suit being ever so slightly chilled for a warm summer's eve dinner.
I only had a small taste of it but I think it's a very exciting wine and well worth trying this unusual blend. I see a great future in it (I'm prescient as well as clever and having ESP).
Rated Highly Recommended.
http://www.inkwellwines.com/Inkwell/Shiraz.html
Monday, October 24, 2011
Inkwell Infidel 2010 aka Primitivo
Infidel [in-fi-dl,del]
noun
A person who has no faith; unbeliever
That's what Dudley has called this 2010 Primitivo (or as I prefer, Zinfandel), and whoever doesn't believe Zin can make great wines is indeed an infidel. A quick grape variety lesson here, Zinfandel and Primitivo are indeed the same grape. Read more about them on wikipedia if you're interested. I'm calling it Zin for the rest of this article BTW.
I first sought out Dudley because he was growing Zin in McLaren Vale. I had first tried Zinfandel in Napa Valley 15+ years ago at Cline Cellars in the Sonoma Valley, and I was blown away. I've been randomly searching for a local version of similar style for a long time, but it's just not a popular variety in Australia, possibly because it's pretty hard to grow.
My search has ended. This 2010 Zinfandel is brilliant.
In June I spent 3 weeks in Hawaii, and surprisingly there is actually a pretty good selection of Zins if you take the time to find the specialty wine shops. I reckon I tried two dozen Zins hunting for what my taste memory said I should expect from this grape, and I got close with a few but nothing that blew me away. What I found was many lacked complexity, such that after one glass I was ready to move on. That may well be my ignorant palate when it comes to Zin because I wasn't buying the cheap ones, well mostly not anyway.
This Infidel though, well lets just say I had to tell my wife off twice for trying to steal another glass of it - I was trying to save some of the bottle for day 2 to get a bit of an idea how it might go longer term. BTW, the answer is it's impressively even better today and sadly not enough left in the bottle for my liking either.
I'm not even going to attempt to describe it in detail, but I can say it's fruit forward, silky smooth tannins, perfectly balanced acid and flippin more-ish.
There's unfortunately very few bottles of it, and there's now at least one less than there was.
I rate it Excellent. And in my somewhat limited but enthusiastic search it's the best Zin I've ever had.
http://www.inkwellwines.com/Inkwell/Primitivo.html
PS. the label print is done as a eyesight focus/sobriety test, but I had no trouble reading the word "INKWELL" so I reckon I'm fine. (you'll understand my waffle when you get a bottle)
PPS. US consumers will be buying this under screwcap cos only an Infidel would think cork is better.
noun
A person who has no faith; unbeliever
That's what Dudley has called this 2010 Primitivo (or as I prefer, Zinfandel), and whoever doesn't believe Zin can make great wines is indeed an infidel. A quick grape variety lesson here, Zinfandel and Primitivo are indeed the same grape. Read more about them on wikipedia if you're interested. I'm calling it Zin for the rest of this article BTW.
I first sought out Dudley because he was growing Zin in McLaren Vale. I had first tried Zinfandel in Napa Valley 15+ years ago at Cline Cellars in the Sonoma Valley, and I was blown away. I've been randomly searching for a local version of similar style for a long time, but it's just not a popular variety in Australia, possibly because it's pretty hard to grow.
My search has ended. This 2010 Zinfandel is brilliant.
In June I spent 3 weeks in Hawaii, and surprisingly there is actually a pretty good selection of Zins if you take the time to find the specialty wine shops. I reckon I tried two dozen Zins hunting for what my taste memory said I should expect from this grape, and I got close with a few but nothing that blew me away. What I found was many lacked complexity, such that after one glass I was ready to move on. That may well be my ignorant palate when it comes to Zin because I wasn't buying the cheap ones, well mostly not anyway.
This Infidel though, well lets just say I had to tell my wife off twice for trying to steal another glass of it - I was trying to save some of the bottle for day 2 to get a bit of an idea how it might go longer term. BTW, the answer is it's impressively even better today and sadly not enough left in the bottle for my liking either.
I'm not even going to attempt to describe it in detail, but I can say it's fruit forward, silky smooth tannins, perfectly balanced acid and flippin more-ish.
There's unfortunately very few bottles of it, and there's now at least one less than there was.
I rate it Excellent. And in my somewhat limited but enthusiastic search it's the best Zin I've ever had.
http://www.inkwellwines.com/Inkwell/Primitivo.html
PS. the label print is done as a eyesight focus/sobriety test, but I had no trouble reading the word "INKWELL" so I reckon I'm fine. (you'll understand my waffle when you get a bottle)
PPS. US consumers will be buying this under screwcap cos only an Infidel would think cork is better.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Dandelion Lionheart 2008 Shiraz
Gawd, I've neglected the blog again. I have written a few posts in my head but they never made it as far as my fingers. It's not the wine's fault, I'm sure.
Interesting wine this, and not in the way that people who use the word interesting to mean "I don't want to say bad things about this but...", rather I mean it's not an obvious wine. It's not obviously big, or obviously light, nor indeed can you fall back on the now obvious, 'obviously medium'.
The colour is light, the acid balanced, the tannins substantial, and the fruit is red. I think someone is pulling my leg, this is a Grenache yeah? Perhaps GSM? I know I wouldn't have guessed a Shiraz in a blind tasting.
The wine smells like a winery, well at least the room where they sit the barrels of wine to age. There's probably a name for such rooms, but personally I just call them heaven on earth. You'd think most wines would smell like that, but what I mean is this smells fresh, rich and heady.
Really the most obvious thing about this wine is it's obviously good. Light colour, medium bodied and huge nose - there's a joke at someone's expense in there somewhere.
Highly Recommended with a ++ I reckon.
Interesting wine this, and not in the way that people who use the word interesting to mean "I don't want to say bad things about this but...", rather I mean it's not an obvious wine. It's not obviously big, or obviously light, nor indeed can you fall back on the now obvious, 'obviously medium'.
The colour is light, the acid balanced, the tannins substantial, and the fruit is red. I think someone is pulling my leg, this is a Grenache yeah? Perhaps GSM? I know I wouldn't have guessed a Shiraz in a blind tasting.
The wine smells like a winery, well at least the room where they sit the barrels of wine to age. There's probably a name for such rooms, but personally I just call them heaven on earth. You'd think most wines would smell like that, but what I mean is this smells fresh, rich and heady.
Really the most obvious thing about this wine is it's obviously good. Light colour, medium bodied and huge nose - there's a joke at someone's expense in there somewhere.
Highly Recommended with a ++ I reckon.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hard hitting wine interview
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.
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 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.
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