Barossa, Ebenezer SA 14.5% Screwcap RRP $35 Tasted 18-19/8/2009
I do so love a pretty bottle with lots of information, and wine maker Adam Barton has offered just that in the form of his 2008 Barossa Valley Shiraz. Listing the GPS co-ordinates corresponding to the latitude & longitude of the vineyard on the label is a really smart move, which itself stresses that the wine has a sense place. And indeed this one has that sense in spades…spade fulls of Northern Barossan Ebenezer dirt no doubt.
The wine is made from grapes hand-picked off of 50 year old vines. It is basket pressed and matured in fine-grain French Oak. That ticks a lot of boxes for me. It needs a little time to settle down and hit its groove (what young red wine doesn’t?), once it’s there, so many good things happen.
Ebenezer plums and black fruit lay down the flavour base, and red stuff frolics above playfully creating a sense of interest in the fruit spectrum alone. And the fruit/grapes seem to be very good. Nothing is stewed here. The plums & darker stuff is fresh and the red fruits are lively. Very impressive. But wait, there’s more…
Brazil nuts in a shiraz remind me very much of what Ebenezer can offer with this variety. They are here, as is some lovely coffee, spice and chocolate with a hint of tar. Complex but not at all hard work drinking. A pleasure in fact. The French oak has been used with intelligence, there but not dominant. The wine enters soft and slippery before some good tannins pull things into stride on the mid palate. The tannins then do that thing that I love in Australian Shiraz- create the perception of dissolving to allow a very long and intense finish of spicy fruit.
I could nit-pick and ask for more structure, but that would be my personal preference and vintage conditions most probably didn’t allow it. 2008 got very hot and dry for most in the Barossa and prompted an early harvest for many. As Adam said “you’ve got to work to the conditions”. It’s a brave move to set up a winery in this current economic climate. You’d only do it if you were passionate, and Atlas wines seems to be a very passionate endeavour.
Us wine drinkers get to enjoy the spoils, and this wine was complex, impressive and above all enjoyable. If anything, the point score is harsh, and the + sign is there because this wine got better over two days. It’s young, so if you crack one now, give it a good decant. It’s more than worth it.
92+
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