Did you get turned on to wine with Australian Shiraz? What are your your views now? I'll be interested in the comments on this post.
--- Iron Chef's Review ---
Confession time, I don't even go down the Australian aisle at ANBL any more. I find the whole area over done and boring. Every now and then I am surprised, the d'Arenberg's often surprise and now I see the Reynella is back, but for the most of that country…boring.
My best friend often says that I should lay down one of the WB Prem Selection Cabs each yr. I have ignored those recommendations …. Unfortunately.
Nose: new American oak, Mocha, mocha, Mocha. Cola favours and hot cherries. Deep aromas.
Taste: Highly extracted, Latte. Lots of cherries mixed with cedar wood. Great favours. Smooth and integrated tannins.
Overall: This still tasted young, no age at all, could easily sit for another 5 yrs or more. I will be buying one of these every year.
Price: $29.99
Value 4/5
Score 92
Alcohol 13.5%
Region: South Australia
UPC: 087000308503
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Hi All,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Craig Young an I am the manager for Atl Canada for Foster's wine Estates. Our brands include Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Rosemount, Beringer and about 25 other wineries. Long time reader - first time commenter.
Very interesting post.
I would agree with a lot of the comments above. Auz as a wine region has not done a great job in detailing a number of things about the country and has kinda lost its way over the past few years. A lot was taken for granted and volume took precedance.
Through this there have been a number of great wine produced. This post highlights this. One is the great things that happen to high quality shiraz when it has some bottle age.
Another thing about Auz is that the wine regions there are very diverse and offer a large range of styles. We will be doing a better job of detailing these over the near future and I trust this will bring a lot of people back into the category. It is a lot more than just overripe/resid sugar/critter wine shirazs. But it is up to us to show consumers this.
I would encourage you all to try some of the Cab Savs from Coonawara or Margaret River (This one is prob hard to find in NB). Keep an eye out for Grenache and other Rhone varietals as well. Some very interesting bottlings of this grape are underway these days. Some of the cooler climate areas like Victoira are making great wines as well.
Shiraz is still the king and on that note I think you will see a more managed (re: less) use of oak, more austere style and lower alc versions coming your way. The good ones will be an expression of the region that they come from. There are very diverse wine regions in Auz and people are realizing that the mkt is looking for these types of expressions. The country built its reputation on multi region blending. So it is taking time to make this transition.
For a more pure expression of what a great shiraz can be I highly recommend trying the Penfold’s St Henri Shiraz. It has virtually no oak and is able to age gracefully for decades. I have a vertical from 1997 to 2005. It is my favourite penfold wines (including Grange). The Kilkanoon folks are making some wonderful wines like the Covenant in this style. Leave this one in your cellar for ten years and you will be very happy with the result.
One the white side of the equation Riesling is by far the most underrated grape coming out of Auz. Stylistically they are vinified dry with crisp acidity and flinty minerality. Great with food. I lucky enough to spend a couple of days with Wolfgang Blass last month and his favourite wines that he ever made are the Wolf Blass Rieslings. This from a guy who built the Auz table wine mkt. Eden valley and Claire Valley regions make wonderful (and quite different) Rieslings.
Sorry to drone on in an infomercial way but I am quite passionate about re-energizing the Auz category and want to start a discussion with the good folks on this blog about it.
Great blog. Very well balanced and well thought out reviews.
Cheers,
Craig
Great Post CY, haven't seen you since a few Big Guns ago- do we have the St.Henri at ANBL.
ReplyDeleteAh the Big Guns. Those were great wine tastings. Great wine group as well. I learned an awful lot about wine back then.
ReplyDeleteSt Henri is on offer to anbl. Still have not confirmed the order.
It is available at Port of Wines in Halifax. The Covenant can be picked up at Cristall and Luckett.
Cheers.
thanks for the post, craig. i am apparently one of the few devoted aus wine drinkers on this blog and i agree with much of what you say. though a committed red drinker, i am also a fan of the aus riesling, esp. clare valley. i look forward to reading any reviews of aus wine that you might be posting in the future.
ReplyDeleteHere at ANBL we have McWilliams, Wolf Blass, and Wynns Coonawarra Rieslings anyone out there have a preferance to Aussie Rieslings ?
ReplyDeleteThe Wynss riesling is excellent and consistent. The McWilliams and Wolf Blass rieslings are made from grapes grown in a not so ideal locations. I think McWilliams makes a better entry level rielsling than WB. The McWilliams riesling is relatively clean and crisp while the WB riesling has more than a touch of volatile acidity and they tried to hide it by adding quite a bit of sugar and citric acid. All this did was result in an unbalanced wine.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous - there is an aweful lot of people at Cellartracker that give the Wynn's riesling just 82-85 points. I have not had it, but would not jump at it given the average scores. I will admit we all are different, and this is not an absolute determination, but is a little concerning for most of us.
ReplyDeleteI have found some vintages of wolf blass yellow riesling to be very pleasing with brisk minerality, hints of lime, background fruit, acidity and excellent balance; while other vintages have had too much alcohol.
I cannot say I have had any other Aussie rieslings of recommendable proportions apart from certain WB vintages.
I am certainly on a riesling kick, and it start with the surprise of the WB, and then the Megalomaniac Niagra Riesling.
Peter,
ReplyDeleteYou're clearly a man with many opinions about wine - how about giving us a review? Post it in the Make a Suggestion thread and I will repost as a separate thread.
One from the Foster's portfolio to consider is the Wolf Blass Gold Label Riesling. For price to quality ratio is a good buy. About $3 more than our Yellow Label and about ten times the wine. It is a blend of Claire Valley and Eden Valley fruit. Would be interested to hear people's comments or reviews on that one.
ReplyDeleteIs the Gold Riesling available around here ?
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow Label series has been a bit of a mixed blessing for Wolf Blass to my mind, as they are so closely associated with that wine that I find it hard to take them seriously at a higher price point. Penfolds has escaped that, at least for me (depite Rawson's Retreat which is truly wretched.) I'm not sure why - maybe because the Grange is so famous. Wold Blass doesn't have an iconic premium wine like that to balance out the Yellow Label image. I have had some more expensive wines from Wolf Blass and they were very good, but I don't look for them, and I expect it's just because of a subconsciou Yellow Label effect.
ReplyDeleteWell Norman, I suppose I could contribute something, as I have been taking everyone else's thoughtful reviews for granted for the last couple months. It could prove to be a very interesting experience.
ReplyDeleteNorman – Fair comment on Wolf Blass Yellow Label. The eye was taken off the balls for a lot of vintages since 00/01. We have been sourcing better fruit in more recent vintages and I believe the wine is what it used to be.
ReplyDeleteOn the question of where to find the Gold Label Riesling – there are bottles in Dieppe, Quispam and Parkway in SJ.
I definitely agree with the comment on the megalomaniac Riesling. These guys are making great wines. Niagara is a very interesting region for Riesling. For my two cents – it is the one grape they should really focus on. Two of my favourites are Cave Springs and Thirty Bench. Both wineries are close to each other and source fruit from the Beamsville Bench, which grow world class Riesling. I have been collecting both the Cave Springs CSV and Thirty Bench Triangle Vineyards Rieslings for a while. I think there are Cave Springs and Thirty Bench wines available in NB. They are both available at Port of Wines in Halifax. Great value for dollars here as well.
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