McLaren Vale 13.5% $21
I had the 2009 of this but didn’t post a note. The 2010 is a big step up. It’s 60% Roussanne, 40% Marsanne.
Loads of honeysuckle on the nose along with aromas of apricot nectar, peach, musk and herbal tea. It’s a full bodied white but the unctuous characters are handled very well. Good fruit density, rich honey notes with green tea chiming in on the back of mid palate, then hanging around for the long finish.
Stone fruit kernels and ginger spice linger as the wine tapers in a pleasing manner after the full, rounded entry. Not a an everyday wine by any means. Perhaps even slightly unfashionable…it’s unashamedly different and all the better for it. The fact that these sort of wines are still being made, and made well, makes me happy. Good price too.
Winery website- http://www.gilligan.com.au/