Metlot
Sweet and sour flavours. Plums and berries. The sort of woody tannin I rightly or wrongly associate with oak staves. Vanilla custard. It’s all a bit hollow and skinny, and it doesn’t hang around long. 83
Region: Australia
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $14
Tasted: June 2014
“She brought me another whisky
Said “Here’s to the best you ever had”
We laughed and made a toast
It wasn’t the best I ever had
Not even close” – Bruce Springsteen, ‘Reno’
Lifted blackberry, pepper and faux plums. Lipstick and vanilla. I feel like I’ve visited a strip club, had a dance and come away with more money than I would have expected…but slightly less excitement. 85
Region: Australia
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $14
Tasted: July 2014
An extension of of the Mr Riggs Wine Co. portfolio from what I can make out. McLaren Vale fruit. Highly aromatic and jubey.
Abundant blueberry, blackberry and plum fruits, French vanilla, minor mocha oak and strong, ferrous tannin. Crushed spice. Gains body in the glass. Finishes dry with a grilled meat aftertaste. Lacks a degree of depth and purpose but good. 88
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $18
Tasted: June 2014
Old Tapley Hill formation, Seaview subregion. The latter is instantly recognisable to me when tasting the wine. More power and density than the Willunga 1920 Shiraz even if the vines are much younger.
Blackberry and mulberry with plenty of raspberry highlights. Milk chocolate and licorice. High quality tannins tether the flavours. Plenty of intensity and weight. Bold but ably delineated. 94
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $55
Tasted: June 2014
Another from 2012 Scarce Earth stable, obviously from the Willunga subregion. Geologically we’re talking the Christies Beach formation.
Predominantly redcurrants which present in a oddly diffuse manner. Notes of chocolate and aniseed with Indian spice. Grainy, gum-creeping tannin. 91
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $55
Tasted: June 2014
“I’ll miss the system here
The bottom’s low
And the treble’s clear” - Townes Van Zandt
The Chapel Gorge Block Cabernet Sauvignon has always been a wine I’ve admired and the 2012 continues a run of strong releases.
It smells of black currants and berries, red and purple fruits, earth, aniseed and roasted vegetables. The sweetness is sophisticated and bears no resemblance to the confected Ribena notes you often find in Cabernet. Brown leaf sits among a number of counterpoints. Slow, steady and sure pacing. Oak is significant and well-considered even if its peak drinking window is a ways off. Minerally with musclebound tannins and superior length. 93
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $65
Tasted: June 2014
Solid and straightforward Australian Sauvignon Blanc at a fair price.
Tropicals over citrus. A little sweaty. Passionfruit, melon, asparagus and guava with a squeeze of lemon. Tangy. Not too sweet, not too sharp, a hint of grip and miscellaneous herbs to close. Doesn’t have the pungency of a Marlborough expression. If this sounds like your thing then you’ll struggle to find much better for your proverbial dime. 86
Region: Australia
Alcohol: 12.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $14
Tasted: June 2014
Graciano’s potential in the Barossa is difficult to ignore. Much of that has to do with the grape’s natural ability to retain acid. Of course it has produce attractive flavours and aromas as well.
This comes across as rather liqueurous on the nose and palate. Chocolate covered raspberries, almonds and plums. It’s dense and velvety with a spiced orange peel character contributing to the impression of Xmas cake, although it’s more bitter in aftertaste. Not as much acidity as I’ve witnessed in other expressions from Australia but what’s there animates the wine very well. 89
Region: Barossa Valley
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $25
Tasted: June 2014
A worked style with the intensity of fruit to match, not to mention a girder of acidity that is unimpinged by malolactic fermentation.
Grapefruit, oatmeal, shortbread, spiced pears and lime. Leesy, nutty and mealy yet remains detailed. Lingering woodspice and a little friction at the end. Give it a year or a decant to get the most out of it right now. 93
Region: Margaret River
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $45.50
Tasted: June 2014
Having first tasted this briefly with Nicholas Crampton and considered it good if not much more, I thought I’d wait a while to revisit it…and pop it into a line-up of 2012 McLaren Vale Shiraz tasted blind. I don’t think there’s anything very scientific or ‘objective’ about that. It’s just a different approach. Has some Mataro and Eden Valley fruit in the mix for the record.
It’s sweet, chocolatey and plummy but also floral and seasoned with crushed brown spice. What it isn’t is over-extracted or overworked. The tannin is of a much higher quality than you might expect at this price – well actually, it shows more finesse than in many wines twice the price. Oak is scaled back. This time round I was left with an entirely positive impression. 92
Region: Barossa Valley
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $19.99
Tasted: June 2014
