Hunter Valley 13.5% Screwcap $40
Brisbane hosted the New Generation Hunter Valley brigade on Thursday (De Iuliis, Hook, Thomas, Eather, Patterson and Margan). It was an excellent tasting at the South Bank Surf Club and the commitment, passion and innovation on show bodes well for the future of one of Australia’s great wine regions. Hopefully we’ll see the caravan make its way here again in the future.
Anyway, I thought I might post a couple of reviews dealing with the older guard. Brokenwood’s Hunter Valley Shiraz has been very impressive over the last couple of releases. The 2006 and 2007 were wines I enjoyed a lot. This one though, seems a bit confrontational and out of sync to me. A red confectionery element just doesn’t quite mesh with the other flavours…although it improves over time.
Raspberries and Redskins with vanilla bean, blackcurrant/jellybeans/crushed ants. Savoury earth and leather battle it out with the fruit flavours – it left me a little confused to be honest. The palate morphs between sweet lolly fruit and earthy, liquorice root characters with vanilla omnipresent. The structure is sound and there’s no problems with length, depth or intensity though.
It may just be a personal thing, but I’ll probably pass on the 2009.
Winery website- http://www.brokenwood.com.au/