Barossa Valley 15.5% Screwcap $50 Source- Sample
I’ve been tasting/drinking a lot more old vine Grenache wines recently and I must say quite a few of them are really impressing me. Out of a good bunch, this has stolen top spot in my own personal heirarchy.
Tar, spadefuls of earth, cherries, dried fruits and some awesome dark Terry’s Chocolate Orange on the palate. Fine but appropriately grainy tannins suit the flavours to a tee. Savoury, layered and just medium bodied. Star anise and caramelised fig appear with a little breathing. Some sweet black fruit and mint add contrast. Very taut wine at the moment, altought it loosens somewhat over time. Redcurrants were starting to assert themselves as the bottle came to an end. Little flutters of nutmeg and cinnamon too.
It seems common place these days to dismiss high ABV wines as short term blockbusters that will fall over in a few years. Well, this one won’t. I can’t wait to revisit it in another ten.
The winery currently does not have a website.
Agreed on the comments about ABV's. Given the legal 1.5% variance anyway, I generally ignore ABVs. If a wine is 15.5% but has the fruit to match and comes across as well balanced and structured, my only concern about a high alcohol wine is that I might feel slightly more dusty the next day!
It will be interesting to see, with several high profile wines in the "large" ABV area these days whether these wine are long lived. I suspect you're right; if the balance, structure and quality of fruit are fine (and in many of these wines I think they are), then they'll age.
Science or time may prove me wrong…
1850 Grenache. Does that mean 1850's vines? Cause that is seriously old stuff. Sounds good anyway though. I wonder where it can be found. Speaking of old, I just wandered arond some of tahbilks 1860's vine shiraz on the weekend, fanbloodytastic vines and wine.
Dave
Yep, 150+ year old vines. Breathtaking. It's availible here in Brissy at Purple Palate, but otherwise I'd call them and see if they distrubute to VIC or email marcocirillo@adam.com.au and ask direct.
Cheers
jeremy
I found this wine at the Wine Experience in Rosalie for $50 and plan on having it tonight with some duck. Yum yum!
Excellent! Would love to hear your thoughts. I reckon there's a few duck dishes I know of that could work really well with this wine.
cheers
jeremy
I've always found these reviews fascinating but bewildering; but really, can you taste "Terrys Chocolate Orange" in the wine? Not just chocolate, not just orange, but "Terry's" chocolate orange? Which, presumably, you tasted in a Jolyon "caff" about 60 years ago? And that's in there with the star anise, caramelised fig, mint, tar (and doesn't everybody just love tar?) AND THE MASSIVE ALCOHOL…? If it's all there, it's a mish-mash…Really? Like really really really? With a background in philosophy, you can take a little skepticism…
Horatio- skepticism is fine.
Did I taste "Terry's Chocolate Orange"? I tasted something that I could describe better as "Terry's Chocolate Orange" than just "orange" (which itself would need clarification- type of orange, ripeness, pith, zest or flesh eyc) and "chocolate". The taste also recalled that specific confectionary (which is still able to be purchased today, no need for me to go back 60 years), something I find amazing in wine. Proustian.
In short everything I write, I hope, is of value in describing the wine. Yes, anise, caramelised fig, mint. Tar is slightly different- Jancis Robinson wrote "sometimes accepted tasting terms bear only the loosest of similarities to the flavors whose name they carry". I consider tar as having a poetic parlance in wine writing which is understood by most of those love wine. I like "tar-like" traits.
ABV doesn't enter into it unless it unbalances the wine. It doesn't here. So there's no mish-mash at all. Which is probably why the wine tasted so good and was of such interest over two days.
cheers
jeremy
Tried this a week ago, loved it. Gotta get me some more!
It's an outstanding wine. 05 was just as good. I better get my order in too, actually. Can't remeber how big the run was but not a lot of bottles were filled.
cheers
jeremy