South Australia’s delights in mid-winter
This set of wine reviews doesn’t follow our usual pattern. We spent a week in and around Adelaide, and tasted wines in various circumstances not as well controlled as is our norm. So we’ll go for a short tour instead, selecting the best experiences.
On a sun-filled winter morning, Paxton’s winery was the perfect location among the green rolling hills of McLaren vale. I’ve written about the wines before: the AAA Shiraz Grenache and the Vale Cabernet Sauvignon are great examples of the more elegant McLaren Vale style red. The cellar door has a greater choice, of course, which includes a Marsanne and a Pinot Gris. Both are worth trying if you get the chance. The winery is certified biodynamic.
Samuel’s Gorge was another vineyard in a wonderful location not far from Paxtons. Justin McNamee left his winemaking job at Tatachilla in 2003 to set up this venture on the old Seaview site. It’s a great place to visit and sip wine in. The Grenache and the Mourvedre impressed us, but the prices are over our $25 limit. The view is free of course and Yes, that’s the sea you can see.
Leconfield is owned by Richard Hamilton of Hamilton Ewell fame, a competitor for Ben Ean Moselle some decades past. Richard is a surgeon who has built the McLaren Vale and Coonawarra wineries into a very successful business. He has decided to use the name Leconfield – he bought the vineyard from his uncle Syd who planted it as the umbrella name, and all the wines are made by the same team led by Paul Gordon. The Cellar door on the road from McLaren Vale to Willunga is very inviting.
The red wines we see in retail outlets are the 148 Merlot, the Shiraz and the Hutt Block Cabernet. These are all good wines in the more modern, more elegant mould of McLaren Vale Reds. The Shiraz won the trophy for the best Shiraz in last year’s Visy Shiraz challenge. Chairman of judges Gary Baldwin said balance, harmony and drinkability were key drivers in determining the top wines. He said the 2010 Richard Hamilton McLaren Vale Shiraz was ‘fresh, beautifully balanced, with wonderful primary fruit and a good, soft finish – just a spectacular wine.’
There are some other reds available at the winery but we liked the Merlot best, and the good news is that the 2011 Merlot is at least as good as the 2010. It’s really good news because Kemenys sell it under a Hidden Label for just $12, don’t ask us why. The Leconfield Merlot is another favourite, but will set you back $21.
The real surprises here were the whites: Rieslings from Coonawarra and McLaren Vale, and a Mr V (Mister V, result of a printer error) a full-bodied Marsanne, Roussanne & Viognier blend. The McLaren Vale Riesling was rounder and softer than the more austere Coonawarra, but both were good wines.
The Adelaide Hills area is even more picturesque, with more rolling hills and lots of interesting little villages once you get beyond the Disneyland caricature of a German village that is Hahndorf. There is a little German fare left here, but the best food we found was smoked mackerel at Harris Smokehouse on the main street. The best beer we found was the Bohemian Pilsener at Lobethal’s micro brewery. Real German style.
The Lane (once called Starvedog Lane, now newly independent) is a vineyard that makes lovely wines in a gorgeous location.
Lois is a pretty obvious name, but the bubbly is a lovely, fluffy glass of effervescence.
The Barossa Valley was lush and green as well, and there’s a lot to see. For one, you get a real sense of history and family traditions when you visit some of the older wineries.
This is Chateau Tanunda, which used to make a lot of fine Brandy, became part of the Southcorp empire (along with parent company Seppelt) and has now been bought by the Geber family who’ve restored it to its former glory.
Kym Teusner’s operation is on a different level: a small winery that’s literally bursting at the seams. Kym is a workaholic who is making 20 or 30 wines under different labels, most from fruit sourced from selected growers.
The wines are great and often great value too. The Independent is a case in point: a Shiraz Mataro of serious quality for less than $20. The Dog Strangler is a lovely straight Mataro with a touch of Kym’s quirky wit. The Avatar GSM has long been a favourite of ours, and it just squeezes in under our $25 ceiling.
Cheating a bit here – Teusner’s logo features an old vine, but this photo was taken at Penfolds Magill vineyard in Adelaide.
There’s no room for a cellar door at Teusner wines, but you can find them at the Artisans of the Barossa hangout down Light Pass Road at Angaston. Other Artisans include John Duval, Sons of Eden and Spinifex.
The Spinifex Fleur is a straight Roussanne, and it was far superior over dinner than the white Cote du Rhone from Guigal we thought might make a good benchmark. On recent form, Guigal seems to have lost it. The 2007 Cote du Rhone red was pretty ordinary and the 2009m wasn’t much better. Richard Hamilton’s Merlot was a plush, ripe but elegant red that’s a joy to drink. The Pfitzner Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills offered terrific fruit and zest but a touch of sweetness took away from it.
The Bethany Chardonnay was disappointing as well, and nowhere near as good as a previous bottle we had about 3-4 months ago. Just goes to show that Stelvin caps might’ve taken care of oxidation but not of bottle and batch variation. The Riposte The Sabre Pinot Noir 2010 had the same immediate appeal of the last bottle, but seemed a little short on complexity this time.
Only a few days before our visit, Peter Lehmann died at age 82. He was a living legend until then, admired by all who knew him. He was chief winemaker at Saltram/Stoneyfell before he set up on his own when new owners Dalgetty wanted to cut loose most of the contract growers during the wine glut of the early eighties. Peter called his company Masterson Wines after Sky Masterson, the big gambler in Damon Runyon’s New York stories. He changed the name to his own a few years later. The little Gnadenfrei church at Marananga reminds us of the faithful Germans who settled the Barossa.
Bethany’s vineyards are as picturesque as the labels suggest, and situated at the end of Bethany Road on the way to the lookout at Mengler’s Hill. The Rieslings are true to type, with the 2009 a joy to drink already. The 2011 Chardonnay is a fine example of the elegant style. The reds are just as good, the whole operation says: quiet achiever. Some of the wines are best bought direct.
Charlie Melton’s wines are mostly out our $25 range, except for the Father In Law Shiraz 2011 and the Rose of Virginia. This is a full on wine, big and busty and round. 14.5% just like the big boys. Charlie was the first to see the potential of a southern Rhone blend in the Barossa, and the Nine Popes GSM has been with us for 2 decades or more now.
The reds are stylish and polished, just as their labels suggest. They feel luxurious and expensive, not unlike Penfolds upper end bin reds but more subtle. The Grenache was our favourite. The tasting room is a pleasant sit-down affair in a comformtable room with a fireplace. You can choose your wine and your food from the restaurant here as well.
The Clare Valley is a 45 minute drive to the north of Gawler, and the vineyards always appear a bit unexpected and look out of place in the cattle and sheep country that surrounds them. Some would argue that this is where our greatest Rieslings come from, and I wouldn’t argue with them. Andrew Mitchell said the Clare Valley was blessed with the unpopularity of Riesling, meaning you can buy these great wines for a song.
Mitchell’s Watervale Riesling 2012 is made from 40-year old vines, which produce a Riesling of generous flavour and body. Paulett’s Rieslings from Polish Hill lean toward the other end of the spectrum: restrained and austere to the point of shyness in their youth. Pikes and Wilson’s Riesling are from the same sub-region, and tend toward elegance. The rest of the Clare Rieslings fall in between and, in 2012, they all show off this region to its best.
Andrew Mitchell also makes a great Semillon, and some cellar door specials plus some serious reds. You can buy some of these from the winery online if you can’t find them at your favourite retailer.
We had a stunning Shiraz from Crabtree in our last review, and we found the Rieslings here just as good. Everything here is done by hand, from pruning to picking to winemaking and the quality shows.
O’Leary Walker is another favourite, a much bigger operation than the boutique Crabtree with a lovely cellar door sitting on a hill with views over the valley. Here you can choose from Watervale or Polish Hill Rieslings, but don’t overlook the reds – they made a great Cabernet and Shiraz in 2010, on the big side but built for the long haul. 1st Choice has the Cabernet on special at $17. It is the lucky country …
Kim