Rory Lane, the very talented man behind ‘The Story’ wines, has produced three single vineyard Shirazes from the 2010 vintage. Whilst there is considerable similarity between them in terms of the winemaking techniques employed, each displays its own unique character. The quality is high across the board and personal stylistic preference will no doubt play a large part in which one you like best. That and perhaps – in the case of the Garden Gully release - the threshold and tolerance of the individual drinker when it comes to salinity and red wine.
So much to love here. A sense of vitality, gorgeous fruit flavour and perfume, seductive mouthfeel and twiggy complexity. It’s brimful of blue and red berries with shades of aniseed, pepper and herbs. Whole bunches (50%) aren’t overplayed and the French oak is complimentary. There’s a come-hither creaminess to the whole affair. Sexy stuff. Unfortunately for me, I find the salty notes a bit too distracting. If you’re more accomodating of this character, I suspect you’ll rate the wine a good deal higher than me. Good
Region: Grampians
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $45
Tasted: February 2012
Something to ponder…
I tasted some of the Garden Gully/Grampians Estate wines on offer at the cellar door a few years back, and noted a seweragey, “stinky water” note in a bottle of St Ethels (from the Garden Gully vineyard), which the lady at the counter checked and agreed upon, then opened up another bottle – same thing. She then told me that they use “grey water” on the vineyard. I suspected the grey water was the culprit of the “off smell”, and speaking to another local winemaker, they stated that they wouldn’t use grey water, for those reasons.
Not sure if grey water is still used on the GG vineyard, but if so, maybe the source of the salts in your note?
Cheers, TR.
Interesting TR. I’ve had a couple of 08 Jamsheed Garden Gully’s and not encountered any issues. Hopefully any issues can be rectified. It would be a shame to see a 100 year old vineyard fall into disuse.
Cheers
J