The SOMM Journal

April / May 2015

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74 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } APRIL/MAY 2015 AUSTRALIAN WHITES McGuigan 2014 Shortlist Riesling, Eden Valley (South Australia) A honeyed note hangs over this pungent, citrus blossomy varietal rendering, just hinting at petrol, and extended over a tart edged light-medium body, giving a creamy, glycerol textured feel. By comparison, a 2004 of the Shortlist showed similar light, sharp, almost impertinent youthful qualities, plus an evolution of marmalade-on- toast nuances in the nose and texture. McWilliam's Mount Pleasant 2007 Lovedale Semillon, Hunter Valley (New South Wales) Like many of Australia's older houses, McWilliam's Mount Pleasant (est. 1921) releases its flagship whites after extended bottle age (2007 is the cur- rent commercial vintage) simply because, as winemaker Craig Stephenson put it, "acid drives these wines for an eternity, but makes them prickly in youth." Yet this citrusy, steely-knifed wine is fermented entirely in steel tanks, garnering its hon- eyed, marmalade-ish complexity from Hunter Valley's sparse, shallow soil and just a little lees contact. Oliver's Taranga 2014 Small Batch Fiano, McLaren Vale (South Australia) While now in its fifth generation of McLaren Vale farming, the Oliver family has recently taken a road less traveled by plant- ing grapes new to Australia, like Sagrantino, Vermentino and this Fiano—a light (12.5% alcohol), mildly crisp dry white, its fresh lemon and white flower scented fruit kept pristine by indigenous fermentation and unfussy, unoaked treatment. Devil's Lair 2012 Chardonnay, Margaret River (Western Australia) On one hand, this is a fully front-loaded, barrel fer- mented, toasty, muscular, densely phenolic Chardonnay, ripped with fragrant white peach/pineapple-ish fruit. On the other hand, it waters the mouth with positively refreshing, lime-like natural acidity resem- bling nothing else grown in, say, Burgundy or California. Take or leave this wine for what it is, much like you would an old school Shiraz: lavish, weighty, yet unique to Australian terroir. AUSTRALIAN REDS Majella 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra (South Australia) Coonawarra's famous open-faced sand- wiching of vivid rust colored, iron oxide clay over white limestone—the perfect natural tools for formation of anthocy- anin and other flavonoids contributing to flavor, as well as higher grape acidity and lower wine pH—lies along a flat ridge ten miles long and only one mile wide. In the Majella, the varietal character is immensely concentrated in minty/weedy, tobacco and cassis/liqueur-like components. This is as terroir-driven as Australian winegrowing gets—everything in place, as advertised. Ochota Barrels 2014 I Am the Owl Basket Range Syrah, Adelaide Hills (South Australia) Winemaker/owners Taras and Amber Ochata represent the newest wave of energetic vignerons. You know the type: endeavoring to reinvent the wheel; working in cooler climate zones, employing small-batch, native yeast–fer- mented, unfiltered, un-nothinged styles of vinification. This super-fragrant, silken fine Syrah, is brimming with unvarnished, flow- ery, violet scented fruit that seems to float cloud-like over the palate in a way that is, well, very unAustralian. St. Hallett 2012 Blackwell Shiraz, Barossa Valley (South Australia) Stingy, shallow soils, Mediterranean climate and a plethora of ancient "bush" vines (much of it own-rooted) are the reasons why the best Barossa Valley Syrahs are invariably big, opulent, and muscular. The question is whether or not this magnitude can be expressed with a finer sense of delineation in the nose, and precision in the balance. The Blackwell sports opaque pigmenta- tion, black and blue fruits (ripeness sans jamminess) and tannin to spare, but also a pervasive freshness and fluidity in the overall feel. Yalumba 2013 Old Bush Vine Grenache, Barossa Valley (South Australia) If you're looking for pure, feathery touches, one should never forget the treasure trove of ancient vine Grenache found in South Australia, which Yalumba smartly show- cases by playing up the varietal's aromatic, nostril tingling, fresh strawberry character, while juxtaposing the bright, lively, medium- weight sensations with meaty, mild yet densely packed tannin. Curly Flat 2012 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges (Victoria) Macedon Ranges is another new sub-region; most of its vine- yards first established in the mid-1990s in a climate zone qualifying as the chilliest in all of mainland Australia—very much con- ducive to ultra-perfumed styles of Pinot Noir with zippy acidity and fairly strong phenolic grip (amplified in this wine by whole-cluster fermentation). Curly Flat balances this steel girded structuring with a lush nose of strawberry perfume, and a silken viscosity giving a curvaceous, rather sensuous feel to the wine's medium weight body. Some highlights, out of over 100 wines tasted over the course of three days in Vancouver: The Vancouver Convention Center dazzles after dark.

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