Flaxman NV Sparkling Barossa Shiraz

Barossa 14.5% Crown Seal $35

I actually don’t drink a lot of Sparkling Shiraz, although I admire the concept. It’s often a touch too sweet and lacking the focus I really seek in a red wine, still or otherwise. I’m happy to say that this version from Flaxman, disgorged in 2009, doesn’t suffer that fate.

For such a flamboyant style of wine it actually borders on refinement. But before we get into the wine too much it’s worth briefly touching on the story behind it. The catalyst for the wine’s existence lay in birds pillaging the fruit of Colin Sheppard’s neighbour, James Linke of Karra Yerta wines. James offered to exchange some of his fruit for some protective bird netting (Both wineries are very close to the Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park!). Instead Colin suggested they both team up & make a Sparkling Shiraz. But when tirage time rolled around the two friends realised they didn’t have enough fruit for the project. So they approached another ally in wine, Nathan Schultz who is the assistant wine maker at the highly respected Dutschke Winery. Nathan had some older barrels of Shiraz that seemed suitable for a Sparkling base. And thus the three friends united to produce the wine in question. It’s a great example of how smaller wineries can work collectively to achieve excellent results despite a shortage of individual resources. And it also speaks of the camaraderie present amongst the “little guys” in the Barossa Valley.

As you would expect, the wine has that incredibly seductive black purple colour along with a theatrical mousse which is all part of the joy of Spurgles. There is something royal about cracking a bottle and pouring some glasses. It smells of blackberries, cherry cola, leather, plums and chocolate with a little hint of mint and coffee grounds. The texture is spot on, the bubbles very fine and luxuriant, as one would expect from a wine made using the traditional methode. All of this is present on a palate that has that desired chocolate and fruit cake character but never becomes too broad or rich through its line.

It’s highlighted by the lighter red fruits- cherries, raspberries, cranberries – with the darker plums and blackberries in the wings adding depth of flavour. Some liquorice and nuttiness from the back of the mid palate onwards & a lovely sprinkle of cinnamon to complete the picture. The finish pulls back into a drier territory and encourages another sip. There is also a slight homeopathic medicinal character on the finish, but I can’t say it did anything other than add to a wine of considerable charm and complexity. I matched it with the traditional Turkey hind quarter, barbequed this time. And it worked bloody well, I must say.

Winery Website- http://flaxmanwines.com.au/