Sep
2
New wines
Filed Under Uncategorized
Something that I dread as a winemaker is when I come to a wine that I haven’t looked at for a while. It always seems to be that, just when you were happy with the last taste you had of a wine in barrel, say… the next time you go to show it off to someone (a wine crony, or interested person), it has either turned into a putrid monster or a shy teenager, all curled up on itself and refusing to talk to anyone…
So it was with some trepidation that, upon my return from South America, I had a look at ALL the wines. All the bottled stuff; all the stuff we’re about to release; all the 07 stuff in barrels awaiting bottling; and all the baby 08 wines. And I’m happy to report that, overall, I’m pretty happy. I think we have some great wines coming up, really showing great varietal character, finely structured tannins, and an intensity of flavour as the vines mature.
Some of the ones that particularly caught my fancy:
The 2005 Merlot is due to be released in September/October, and I think it is the best Merlot we have made so far. Absolutely intense blackberry; a hint of cassis, slightly minty; fine, supple tannins and a good, lengthy finish. No empty spot in this Merlot!
2007 Tempranillo - looks like it is going to be a repeat of the 2005, some very beautiful flavours here, with the plentiful yet silky tannins typical of our Tempranillo.
2008 Sangiovese - perhaps because I have been working on this wine today, it sticks with me, but the aroma of this wine is all pervading, wild cherries… I look forward to seeing how this progresses.
2006 Shiraz - a really classy Shiraz. Not a giant Heathcote blockbuster, because I have been deliberately going away from that style over the last few years. The trouble with those big Heathcotes is that after one glass, I get silly, and after two, I fall over. Not good for a dinner party! So I have been constructing our Shiraz out of three parcels of fruit, picked at different levels of ripeness, so that I get a variety of characters, as well as keeping the alcohol down. The wine is more elegant, more classical. I hate to say it at the risk of sounding pretentious, but more “French” - but what the hell, the French make some fabulous wines, so what is the matter with trying to emulate them? Great intensity of flavour, but with a finer tannin structure… perhaps a bit leaner in some ways, but there is plenty of fruit there to support it… I like it. I think it will be a wine for those of us who like to remain urbane and witty at dinner parties…
07 Gamay - Bottling next week, and some really interesting things going on in this, which is my Pinot substitute! More savoury than previous Gamays, perhaps. I like it.
So these are the ones that caught my attention. Nothing upset me - although I do have one wine, a white, bottled years ago, that I’d rather not think about, and still unreleased. One of my daughters is drinking her way through that one with her mates at uni… but you never know what might happen… wines change a lot as they age.. otherwise it will remain my guilty secret, shared only with the denizens of Ormond College!
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