Usual preamble: I’m not the best taker of notes, I don’t think CD visits produce the best TN’s anyway, and re-reading these notes they aren’t all great quality, but hey, I was on holiday
. At least this time I didn’t lose my notes. Not all of the CD’s are conducive to note taking, particularly in McLaren Vale which was much busier on Sunday.
Day 1: Adelaide Hills.
We weren’t going to visit Shaw and Smith this time around, but really, if you go to the hills, you can’t miss this. $10/head to taste the wines is a bit of money (with a modest cheese platter), but the cellar door and the outlook are worth it. Heres what they had on offer:
03 Sauvignon Blanc: Very pale straw. Passionfruit, pawpaw and some grassiness on the nose. The palate is more restrained and minerally than many, in a more European than NZ mould. A very different style to the 02 (which a number of people I spoke to preferred), I liked it.
03 Unwooded Chardonnay: Also very pale straw. Banana and nectarine nose, with some honeydew and cashew adding to these flavours on the palate. Closes clean and fresh.
02 M3 Chardonnay: A bit more colour here. Cashew and honeysuckle, figs and melons nose. Palate also shows fresh honeydew and very subtle oak. Elegantly styled, and lovely. Give this a little time for the fruit to blossom and it will be very fine indeed.
01 Merlot: Red Purple. Pencil shavings, stalk & spiced plums to smell, and the palate follows in much the same vein. Elegant and charming.
02 Shiraz: A new line for Shaw and Smith, made in very limited quantities from a vineyard in Macclesfield. Purple colour. Smells like plums, spice, subtle white pepper. Wow, this has an X factor that screams quality. For whatever reason I was immediately reminded of the top end Torbreck reds. The palate shows as a beautiful mix of plum, juicy purple berries, and subtle pepper and spice, and again that familiar X factor that I couldn’t nail. This is cleanly made in a modern style, the palate is almost silky. And the X factor? 3% Viognier. How did I miss this?
A stunning wine that will be hard to beat, and should last well in the cellar.
Across the road to Nepenthe.
I really liked Nepenthe on my last visit, so I was keen to go again. Tis time round I came away with more questions than answers. With 11 wines on offer + the three extras (Tempanillo and two Zinfandels), we didn’t want to try everything. The wines we tried were:
03 Sauvignon Blanc: Less fresh than the Shaw and Smith. May have also seen a little wood. Not up to their 02 which was very good.
02 Pinot Gris: Pears, citrus, peach. Spicy finish, a little hot? Short fruit but the warm sensation is quite long on the finish
02 Chardonnay: An oystery barrel ferment character I really don’t like. Some butterscotch and grapefruit. OK
01 Pinot Noir: Pale red pink. Strawberry, some spice. Simplish and a bit short.
02 Tryst Red (Cabernet/Zinfandel/Tempranillo): Black berries overlaid with a bit of Zinfandel fruitcake. A nice mouthful, good length, and at $12.80 this is good buying for the BBQ.
01 The Rogue (Cabernet Merlot): Spicy Berry, a bit of EA on the nose. Sweet fruit, pencil shavings oak, good length.
00 The Fugue (Cabernet/Merlot/Franc): "Deeper" flavoured than the Rogue, perhaps more char on the oak, and more oxidative, perhaps the bottle was open a bit longer. Nice Black berries
01 Adelaide Hills Zinfandel: Not usually open, but one was opened while we were there. Surprisingly clear red. Fruitcake, chocolate, alcohol and spirit nose. Richly flavoured red fruit & fruitcake. Lacking some length? His really surprised with the colour, and the wine seems to have matured very fast. If this was a representative bottle, it’s a drink now prospect.
While it wasn’t on tasting, I have spoken highly of the 02 Tempranillo in the past. Shame, I’d have liked another look at it.
I’m not sure why, but I got a sense of unease at Nepenthe. The wines are in general reasonably priced, an in some case competitively priced, but there was back vintage stock available at CD, the SB and the Fugue seem continually on special at retail. We’re not up to the 02 Pinot, and only showing the 00 Fugue. All the wines are sound, but I couldn’t find anything exceptional. I thought I would. As I say, a sense of unease.
Despite any misgivings about the wines and perhaps about sales, the two ladies staffing the CD were cheerful and helpful and made the visit a positive experience.
So off we trotted to Bridgewater Mill, to try the Petaluma and related ranges. It turns out we’re there on a good day, as an unnamed VIP has been through, and a lot of unusual wines are open. I wish I could remember the fellow's name, he served us on our last visit 9 months ago is there, and remembers us. This is a comprehensive tasting but we didn’t reject a single offering. Heres what we looked at:
01 Croser: This is very different to the 00! An explosion of strawberries and brioche on the palate! Intense and lovely, finishing very clean. Not champagne (but who cares?), and very different. Yum.
03 Bridgewater Mill Sauvignon Blanc: Grass and gooseberry, good length. Nice. Fresher in the NZ style than, say the Shaw and Smith. This takes grapes from 3 districts, and apparently Petaluma are looking to increase the Adelaide Hills component to 85% to get it over the line to be an "Adelaide Hills" sauvignon blanc.
03 Riesling: Believe it or not, my first taste of this, and I overlooked writing any notes on it. A lot already said on this wine. A very nice drink indeed, but for me it’s much more forward than the 02 was, a drink now/drink soon prospect.
01 Bridgewater Mill Chardonnay: Peaches, nectarines and orange. Not excessively oaked, very nice.
01 Petaluma Chardonnay: Now this has come along nicely. I remember an oaky, buttery chardonnay 9 months ago, but this has integrated a lot. Cashew and melon nose, joined by some peach on the palate. Still quite oaky but not fat. Richly textured, and should live for a quite a while.
00 Sharefarmers (Cabernet Malbec): Unbelievable colour for a 4 year old, still a dense red purple. Rich plum and dust nose. Juicy liqueured blackberry and cassis palate. Oak is noticeable but not dominating. Mid length, and not too sweet, this has worked out very nicely, and I’m amazed by its youth. In the $14-$15 range tis is a good buy.
00 Millstone Shiraz: Purple colour. EA and oak nose. Plummy palate with some dusty oak. Slightly green tannins, and finishes a little short.
99 Merlot: Mid red with some purple tinges. Cedar, mint and tobacco nose. Lush fruit texture, cedar, plums, lovely fine grained tannins and good length. Nice wine
95 Merlot: We got to taste this as it had been opened by mistake. Clearly the 99’s older brother, it shares a lot with it. More vegetal and oxidative nose, and less minty. The primary fruit has gone, leaving mature leather and tobacco as the dominant flavours. Pleasant, but not my bag.
01 Coonawarra: Two bottles were open: the balance of a bottle opened the previous day, and a fresh bottle opened while we were there. The one day old bottle had settled a lot on the nose compared to the fresh bottle which showed menthol and cassis. On the palate the situation was reversed: the new bottle was quite tight and primarily showed tannin and pencil shavings oak, where the older bottle had blossomed and showed cassis and some plumminess (there’s the 50/50 blend!). Firmly tannic, a good sleep will see this wine right in 5 years or so. As usual, a classy wine.
01 Shiraz: Peppery lifted apricot dominates the nose – hey, I’m sensitised now after the clanger at Shaw and Smith – with some plum in the background. Rich liquorice and plum fruit with a tiny apricot lift. Subtle fine grained tannin, dense flavour and fine french oak in support, although the high toast has "darkened" the palate. I like this wine, and if the toast was turned down a bit I reckon it would be an absolute stunner. Has the Adelaide Hills got a future in Shiraz? Come to think of it, has anywhere NOT got a future in shiraz? Except Tasmania
93 Croser: After the reds we were offered this palate cleanser. Not a bad wine to throw in for this purpose alone! Neglected to ask how much longer this had been on lees, bit it did show a bit. The bead is quite fine and starting to lose some persistence. A toasty lemony nose, with some biscuity tones. Lemon curd, strawberry and yeast join in on the palate. Finishes clean, long and intense. Lovely indeed, a real treat.
98 Sharefarmers Botrytis: Getting a bit palate fatigued at this stage despite the refreshment from the Croser. Honey, floral and grapefruit are here, joined by some pineapple on the palate. A lingering, light floral finish on this, its surprisingly good in the lighter style dessert wine. I could happily own some of these.
00 Essence: And for the final surprise. Honey, orange marmalade and grapefruit nose. Viscous, syrupy apricotty, breakfast marmaladey palate, with high toned acid too clean this intense mouthful up nicely and leave a long finish behind.
Also encouraging to know that Petaluma realise that a lot of their stock can be bought cheaper at retail than they can sell for a CD
At this stage we were off to Chain of Ponds, but we arrived about 5 mins after they closed. Time gets away on a summers day in Adelaide as the sun is up so much longer than in Brisbane. Never mind, we’d had enough anyway. Off for a sleep before the next days trek.
These three cellar doors were a pleasure to visit, all with different qualities. They were also more enjoyable because they weren’t as busy as I expected. As they are only about 20 mins from the city, I’d recommend them to any visitor to Adelaide.
Back to the hotel, and on to McLaren Vale in the morning.
Cheers
Andrew
