Ochota Barrels 186 Grenache 2013
From Blewitt Springs and old bush vine grenache, a single puncheon was filled with whole bunch fruit and left for 186 days, opened up and basket pressed. The 186 Grenache rolls around again. If the...
View ArticleOchota Barrels The Fugazi Vineyard Grenache 2013
Fruit is sourced from 66-year-old bush vines that are dry grown. I liked Fugazi’s early work but found that Red Medicine (1995) was for me their best album, perhaps a cross-over of sorts away from the...
View ArticleYear Wines Grenache 2012
A newish project from McLaren Vale and a family concern that sees a young couple and their child as the humorous yardsticks of the season linchpins in what was happening in winemaking. Fruit from a...
View ArticlePrimo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red Disgorged 2013
Right at the top of the tree for iconic in Australian sparkling red wines, set nicely alongside Seppelt and Rockford for the old school prestige end of fizzy red stuff. Complexity to the fore with...
View ArticleThorpe Wines Sparkling Shiraz 2006
Produced from a single vineyard and made methode Champenoise, spends its life before disgorgement on lees.
View ArticleZonte’s Footstep Chocolate Factory Shiraz 2012
The old chocolate-and-shiraz-word-association-trick.
View ArticleChapel Hill The Parson’s Nose Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Sweet, commercial style of red but pretty attractive at it. Part of the enormous range of wines now offered by Chapel Hill.
View ArticleShingleback Haycutters Shiraz 2012
Each vintage since the 2007 release has been good for Shingleback Haycutters but this 2012 release is a return to the value offered by the 2007 and 2008 versions.
View ArticleShingleback D Block Shiraz 2010
Two bottles opened, first one corked. Bottle is adorned with a swag of gold and silver medal stickers, most of which are of limited merit.
View ArticlePaxton Graciano 2012
Low-ish alcohol, biodynamically grown, no yeast or acid added, all old oak, limited SO2. It sounds downright un-Australian.
View ArticleKangarilla Road The Devil’s Whiskers Shiraz 2011
You’d never know this 2011 McLaren Vale Shiraz is from a cool, wet vintage.
View ArticleKangarilla Road Scarce Earth Project Shiraz 2011
Grown on a single vineyard in the Maslin Beach area of the McLaren Vale region.
View ArticleKangarilla Road Shiraz 2011
The wines higher up the Kangarilla Road price tree are often impressive; but the wines lower down the tree are often the better drinks.
View ArticleKangarilla Road Organic Chardonnay 2013
Organic chardonnay from McLaren Vale. Picked early. Unoaked.
View ArticleKangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
It wasn’t the easiest season for cabernet but Kangarilla Road made a fair fist of it.
View ArticlePaxton MV Shiraz 2012
Biodynamically-grown shiraz from McLaren Vale. Small proportion of whole bunches. Grapes come from four separate vineyards. Spends extended time on skins and is matured in both French and American oak.
View ArticleThomas Wines Two of a Kind Shiraz 2011
Unusual vintage to kick this wine off – a blend of McLaren Vale Shiraz and Hunter Valley Shiraz. The blend is 57% in the Hunter’s favour. It spent two years in oak, origin unknown.
View ArticleBrash Higgins SM/R 2013
A whopping 49 cases produced from a vineyard in Kangarilla. It’s hand-picked, co-fermented and sent to two old use barrels for time in penance. Brash Higgins could be the alter ego or super hero name...
View Article