Mornington Peninsula 13.5% Diam $? Source: Cellar
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| The Vineyards of Kooyong |
Ferrous by name, ferrous by nature. These single vineyard Kooyongs are an intriguing exploration of terroir, however you define the word. Click on the map to get an idea of the vineyard locations; the Ferrous is on the middle left, largely unprotected by trees. I can tell you that each vineyard produces a very different sort of wine.
This 05 Ferrous is very strict and stern. I almost feel like it should have some sort of ominous warning sign on the bottle. I’ll provide the website’s spiel on the vineyard because it seems so relevant to how the damn thing tastes-
‘its main difference is a much higher concentration of sandstone pebbles in the soil. Here the sandstones are encrusted with iron oxide giving them a rusty appearance. Their high incidence causes the soil to be much less forgiving, resulting in greater stress being placed upon the vines. These vines tend to run out of available water much sooner. The resulting wine is more masculine in nature, the tannins have more presence and the wine more colour.’
There is dark cherry on the nose and on entry but from there onwards fruit descriptors won’t have much to do with textualising the wine. It’s all about rusty, saline minerality & earth. Tannic bastard for a Pinot too. Some char & tar, noticeable oak and a bit of ashen bitterness. Thank goodness for some cinnamon spice! It’s a challenging wine for sure, perhaps not cerebral so much as it makes you think; “do I like this?”
I wavered a bit and came down in the affirmative. But I really need someone with the talent and skills to explain to me what food would bring out the best in it. It’s all a bit too much hard work as a stand alone drink.
Winery Website-http://www.kooyong.com/kooyong/