10 GREAT REDS
I have never pretended that I have the Wisdom of Solomon, or anything close thereto.
But the overnight disappearance of what was our largest market has inflicted pain on Australian winemakers large and small at prices far in excess of those offered by any other market. Time will cure the problems given the quality of Australian wines across all varieties and styles, and the resilience of those who live and work here.
In the meantime you will see top quality wines at rock bottom prices exemplified by this selection.
Thus I had a starting field of 570 wines with space for 10 so I had to be ruthless in the preliminary selection process. So I limited my selection of wines to those priced less than $100. Next, I had to arrange the wines by variety, and decided to limit this to mainstream: pinot noir, shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon. I resolved there wouldn’t be a ‘Captain’s Pick’, and reluctantly decided I couldn’t make an exception for the 2017 Henschke Hill of Grace (99 points, $900). I bled for the wines cut out of the final selection as you see it.
2020 Castle Rock Estate Porongurup Pinot Noir
Five clones, vines 20-35yo, fermented in multiple batches, including 7-day cold soak, whole bunches, barrel ferment of final 3 baumé for new French oak (28%), matured 15 months. Perfect colour; a great pinot at the dawn of its life; plum and cherry riddled with spice, char, violets and forest floor. Sophisticated and confident.
2020 Stargazer Palisander Vineyard Coal River Valley Pinot Noir
75/25% whole berries/bunches; wild-yeast ferment; matured in French puncheons for 8 months. Perfect clarity and colour; a vibrant pinot that caresses the mouth with its red cherry, wild strawberry, pomegranate flavours and gossamer tannins. Utterly delicious, yet there’s more to come as exotic spices start to play.
2019 Bannockburn Vineyards De La Terre Pinot Noir Geelong
From a block of ultra-close-planted (1.2m x 1m) clones (777 and 114) of pinot noir. Fermented with 10% whole bunches and wild yeast,
2 weeks on skins, matured for 10 months in French hogsheads (20% new). Typically powerful and complex, with dark fruits that have made light work of the oak, but haven’t moved out of primary mode. Will cruise along the next 15–20 years, as the savoury, forest floor and spice notes develop in a leisurely fashion.
2020 Bondar Violet Hour McLaren Vale Shiraz
Sourced from Shiraz plantings dating back to 1947 ex the Rayner Vineyard. A beautiful wine in every dimension – its crimson colour, haunting perfumed bouquet, caressing the mouth with its perfectly ripened fruit, superfine tannins, and subtle but relevant oak. One of the great bargains.
2019 Paul Osicka Heathcote Shiraz
The lively bouquet offers fluttering wafts of spices crossing into dabs of French oak, but gives little advance notice of the depth and intensity of the black fruits wrapped in a fine skein of ripe tannins. A Grampians-like twist is all the better for that in the hands of Simon Osicka.
2019 The Story Grampians Syrah
Has built on its layers of savoury and spicy cool-grown shiraz flavours over the past year, adding weight and depth but without compromising its freshness. The lingering aftertaste is special, throwing up sparklets of blackberry and blackcurrant. Oh, and vigneron Rory Lane has a degree in ancient Greek literature.
2021 Lake Breeze Old Vine Langhorne Creek Grenache
Hand-picked fruit from 100% estate vines, planted 1932, 90% destemmed, 10% whole bunches in small open fermenters; 2-day cold soak, 10 days on skins; finished fermentation and mlf in 4yo barriques; matured 7 months, neither fined nor filtered. 333 dozen made. The brilliantly clear crimson-purple hue announces a beautiful grenache, bursting with juicy red fruits backed up by a fine-spun tannins giving a savoury farewell.
2020 Chalk Hill Alpha Crucis Old Vine McLaren Vale Grenache
From 90yo Blewitt Springs bush vines. The bouquet is expressive and enticing, as is the gorgeous, juicy and mouth-watering mediumbodied palate. Moving the wine back and forth in the mouth unlocks rivulets of earthy spices, running through the pomegranate and red forest fruits. Precision and purity.
2019 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon
The 64th vintage. A wine of provenance. A wine of excellence. It ages superbly, yet is flattering when young. Perfect fruit at its core, with gentle flavours of cassis, blackberries and blueberries. It has depth, length and line, thanks to the fine, detailed tannins. Classy cabernet. This is up there as one of the finest to date. Bravo. JF.
2018 Domaine Naturaliste Rebus Wilyabrup Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
Matured for 12 months in French oak (40% new). The bouquet is a fragrant mix of cassis and cedar/cigar box, the intense palate with a tapestry of flavours of cassis and savoury bay leaf. Yet it has the lightest of tannin touches encouraging a quick return to the glass.