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THIS WEEK
The nights are getting cold, and we’re longing for rich casseroles that call for heart-warming reds. They don’t come much more heart-warming than the reds of the Barossa Valley, so that’s where we’re going today.
Weekend Reading: The Vintage Journal – Barossa 2022, by Andrew Caillard and Angus Hughson\
Weekend Tucker: Dead Easy Sausage and Bacon Casserole.
WINE OF THE WEEK
Creamery Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2020 – $24 at Our Cellar. Made by O’Neill Vintners, who take ripe Chardonnay made from grapes grown in Monterey, Paso Robles and Clarksburg. It’s 100% barrel fermented, 100% malolactic fermentation, and spends seven months in American and French oak.
This was the crowd favourite at a lunch we had for a big birthday with family and friends. So many of us prefer this style of ripe, peachy, creamy and buttery chardy to the austere grapefruit concoctions so popular with sommeliers and critics. California winemakers know how to fine-polish these styles too. Gorgeous drink, usually sells for around $30. 95 points.
BEST VALUE BAROSSA REDS
Yalumba Homefullness Grenache 2017 – $120 a dozen at the winery. Insights into this wine from Wine Companion. Yalumba donates half the proceeds to an outfit that builds homes for the homeless. It sounds like alight red that can take a chill.
Duval Surgo Barossa Valley GMS 2018 – $10 at DM’s. I’m not sure about this one – a $10 red made by an ex-Grange winemaker who learnt his craft from Max Schubert? Check it out if you’re near a DM shop.
Thorn-Clarke Sandpiper Shiraz 2018 – $15 at Summer Hill Wine. A perennial bargain, from the great 2018 vintage, a generous red of solid build, chock-full of honest flavour. Will improve for 3 – 5 years.
Peter Lehmann Portrait Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – $16 at mycellars, where the freight is free for subscribers on any quantity (promo code BWU20). This red won a bunch of bling, most likely because it’s a crowd pleaser, soft juicy and slippery. Drink now and over the next couple of years. 94 points.
Glaetzer Wallace Shiraz Grenache 2018 – $18 at Summer Hill Wine. Old vine Barossa Grenache at a bargain price. Aged in old oak so the fruit does most of the talking. Juicy red fruits, soft and silky on the palate, with the Shiraz adding weight and fine tannins on the finish. Another crowd pleaser. 94 points.
Secret Label Barossa Valley Grenache 2020 – $19 at Kemenys. Made by a couple guys who get their fingerprints all over their labels, this is a real charmer, soft and silky, mid-weight with lots of finesse. Lovely style. 95 points. Bargain.
Secret Label Barossa Valley Mataro Grenache Shiraz 2020 – $19 at Kemenys. From the same makers as the Grenache above. We opened a 2016 this week, and it was a beauty at its peak. The 2020MGS will reach its peak a bit earlier I think. The perfumed Mataro adds something special here. 95 points.
Teusner The Independent Barossa Valley Shiraz Mataro 2018 – $20 at Our Cellar.
2018 was a great vintage for reds, as I keep telling you, and Kym’s team made the best of it. This is a 50 / 50 blend. The Shiraz is rich, plummy and peppery, and the Mataro adds dark cherries, exotic spices, charcuterie and earthy notes. Layers of rich and robust flavour make this a superb Barossa red that is the perfect match for a hearty sausage casserole. 95 points. Back up the ute.
Shanahans Silence is Golden Barossa Valley Shiraz 2019 – $21 at DM’s (member offer). Top red from the word GO. Profound Shiraz with a spicy nose and a glossy texture. Rich, ripe fruit, dark chocolate and Christmas pudding spices, with some charcuterie in the background. Fine tannins on the long finish round it all off nicely. Perfect pitch, one of those reds you can enjoy now (after some airing) and keep for 20 years. Brilliant. 96 points. A genuine bargain.
Chaffey Bros Pax Aeterna 2021 – $23 at Our Cellar The brothers are 3 smart young Turks who make wines that are different, more modern, more intriguing, more colourful. I haven’t tried this wine, but CM at The Wine Front has. I love his opening line:
‘It took Grenache roughly 150 years to become an overnight success in Australia but the glory days of Aussie Grenache are upon us. This release is fresh, delicate, laced with dry spice and tannin, juicy with fruit, and high in drinkability. It feels authentic because it is. Raspberry characters with a glow to them. Earth notes inlaid. Everything on firm/sure tippy toes, ballerina-like, elevated and exact. There’s texture here too, warm texture, silk fresh from the ironing board, treated right. A lovely drink, it is. 92 points.’
Head Red Shiraz 2018 – $22 at Kemenys. Another red from the great 2018 vintage, and another one I haven’t tried. Gary at the Wine Front says: ‘Medium-bodied, succulent, intense fruit of perfume and weight, dark chocolate tannin, savoury elements, very long fresh finish. Super vintage. Puppy-like in enthusiasm as at now. Almost 94 points, though that’s kind of arbitrary.’
Gibson The Smithy Shiraz Cabernet 2018 – $25 at Nicks. Rob Gibson was amking reds at Penfolds until he went out on his own in 1997. He got the nickname ‘Dirtman’ because of his obsession about vine growth which led him to dig deep pits in between vines.
This is a big red, close to 15%, with impenetrable colour, a nose of ripe red berries, seductive oak, various spices, hints of warm earth and touch of tar. Another product of the 2018 vintage, and one that should improve for years. 95 points.
SPECIAL WINES
Teusner Joshua 2021 – $28 at Our Cellar (where the freight is free for subscribers (promo code BWU20). Grenache Mataro Shiraz stored in stainless steel to showcase the freshness and boldness of top notch Barossa fruit. Which is intense, glass-staining, and full of youthful exuberence. The attraction is strong but a little more time will not hurt the wine. 94+ points.
Teusner The Dog Strangler Barossa Valley Mataro 2018 – $28 at Our Cellar. I adore Mataro, and it’s so underrated. I love the flowery notes and seductive aromatics. In France it used to be known as ‘étrangle chien’, because it makes tough reds in a cool climate. In the Barossa it tells a different story. 95 points.
Duval Plexus Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre 2019 – $35 at Kemenys. Another Rhone blend, this one from ex-Grange winemaker John Duval. Haven’t tried it; check the real review’s rave review at the link. 95 points.
Sons of Eden Zephyrus Shiraz 2018 – $35 at Kemenys. Corey Ryan and Simon Cowham make generous Barossa reds, which always seem to have had some fine polish applied that adds a silky texture. Another great red from 2018. 95 points.
Yalumba FDR1A Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2015 – $44 at Our Cellar. A medium-bodied style of elegance and finesse, made from Eden Valley fruit a stone’s throw from the Barossa, stylish and good drinking already but there’s no rush since the pitch is perfect.
I remember the 1974, which was unloved and discounted heavily, a winemaking triumph in a wet year. The wine was still great 20 years later.
INTERESTING STUFF
2022 Barossa Wine Guide from Winepilot
Old School Meets New in Barossa, From Young Gun of Wine
World’s Drunkest Job – Wine Blogging, from the wine folly
Heat Threatens Oregon Pinot Noir, via wine searcher
That’s it for this week
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Kim Brebach
Wine Sleuth & Riesling Freak