Notes from winery visits in Vic and Tas during the family holiday.
Lethbridge Geelong
Informally spontaneous tasting with winemaker Vassily right on opening time. This is always the best case; no tasting charge, lots of great insights, tasting whatever’s there, walk around the winery afterwards! Great stuff. Reasonable list of wines available according to the official tasting sheet with no fee apparent. I seemed to get a few extras below just because I was interested and there was no-one else there. Value here is OK; no bargains but very precise and adventurous winemaking (and a product range) that’s constantly changing depending on the fruit they get. There seem to be a huge number of wines available as well.
- 2022 Lethbridge Wines Edelweiss - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 11.9%, A$42} Riesling, pinot gris and muscadelle. Austrian-inspired. Floral, with blossoms. Some PG pear character. Dry, medium acid, light/medium weight. Floral and apple flavours with riesling raciness married to some gris richness. Medium length finish that somehow adds up to less than the sum of its parts for me. - 2022 Lethbridge Wines Pinot Gris Henty - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Henty (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, A$42} Fairly neutral nose, with a perfume of pear and spirits. Neutral taste too; light weight but dry; short/medium finish. Alarmingly priced for what it is, at least for me. - 2021 Lethbridge Wines Fiano - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, A$42} Grapeskin funkiness, with asparagus. Amphora-aged on skins. Dry palate, quite earthy with greyish flavours. Medium acid and body, even palate, short/medium finish. As with all the whites this morning, served a bit colder than ideal - 2021 Lethbridge Wines Between Five Bells - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$38} Mostly pinot gris, with other varieties thrown in during ferment! Verging on orange in colour. Phenolic apricot and peach, quite rich, always dry. Low/medium skin-derived tannins. All about texture, this wine. Medium weight, short/medium finish. OK. - 2021 Lethbridge Wines Chardonnay - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$58} Figs, nuts and gentle pear fruit. More obviously leesy on the palate despite no battonage. Still the fruit is quite delicate on the medium-bodied palate. Low dusty tannins, subtle oak seasoning. Medium/high acidity. An enchanting wine with a beguiling medium/long finish. Very good. - 2021 Lethbridge Wines Pinot Noir - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$58} All Geelong fruit from four vineyards – mixed soils and clones. Cold soak and 50% whole bunch ferment. Roses and perfumed cherries on the nose; spice added on the palate. Fruit bubbles along underneath an earthy texture, but it’s always polished. Medium acid, medium dusty tannins. Only light/medium in weight but quite persistent. Good value. - 2019 Lethbridge Wines Pinot Noir Hat Rock - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$65} Clones MV6, 114, 115. 40% whole bunch ferment on wild yeast. 10 months in 40% new French barriques. Not much dissimilar to the Estate bottling; perhaps a little bit of extra polish and cherry fruit. A briny aspect to the finish; still spicy with light/medium weight and a medium length finish. - 2019 Lethbridge Wines Pinot Noir Mietta - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$110} Just 180 dozen made of this flagship pinot. Polished cranberry and smoky nose. Darker edged on the palate that the other pinots. Medium fine dusty tannins, medium weight, medium/long finish. This is a quietly aristocratic wine with its earthy texture and glowing fruit. Lovely – almost justifies the price! - 2020 Lethbridge Wines Shiraz Que Syrah Syrah - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.8%, A$38} From the Malakoff vineyard in the Pyrenees. Pungent nose of spice and some mint. It’s medium/high in acid, with low dusty tannins supporting robust spicy flavours. Medium weight, with a short/medium length finish. - 2021 Lethbridge Wines Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.8%, A$58} Proper wine of the soil this. Red purple fruit lives under spice and pepper. There’s a taut line of astringent skin character on the medium length palate as well, finishing with a tobacco twist. Medium weight, with medium dusty tannins. Unobtrusive oak too. Good wine, good value. - 2017 Lethbridge Wines Shiraz Indra - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$110} Some development here with its pointed stalky aromas and tobacco and earth. The soil character on the palate doesn’t neuter the creamy-textured, medium-weight presence overall. Overt fruit is absent, yet the medium/long finish is harmonious thanks to medium acidity, low oak and subtle tannins. Drinking nicely now and for some more years. - 2018 Lethbridge Wines Nebbiolo Il Regalo di Compleanno - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees (13/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14%, A$58} Herbs, roses, cherry, nutmeg aromas. Polished, herby and floral on the palate with medium/high acid, medium dusty tannins, medium weight and a medium long finish. Soft but authentic expression of the grape. A taste from barrel of the 2022 was still raw enough that the tannins dominated the extra fruit.
A revisit since last year. The same messy ‘selection’ tasting – “choose four wines from these lists” for $20. There follows five sparkling, four table wines. 35ml (simultaneous) pours, in stemless fine glass bowls. Plus $5ea for the three available reserve wines. I guess you can keep going until you’ve tasted everything they have available, but it will set you back about $60, none of it refundable on purchase. I guess by international standards it’s not much, but it’s certainly a big change from a half dozen years ago. To be fair, they’re a small winery and I guess they’re trying to avoid being treated as a bar for the punters, but it still grates when you’re used to the old ways (and didn’t abuse them).
- 2012 Delamere Vineyard Late Disgorged - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (14/01/2023)
{A$150}. Pale straw. Lees and cheese nose. Gently-flavoured palate of stone-fruit and white flowers. Creamy bubbles, medium/high acid, medium weight, medium/long finish. Very good, but not enough to justify the price for me. - 2017 Delamere Vineyard Cuvée - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (14/01/2023)
{A$55} Only mild yeastiness apparent; this is more citrus, lime, pith. Quite a fine texture despite vigorous bubbles; medium acid, medium weight, medium length finish. I think time will help this a bit. - 2013 Delamere Vineyard Sparkling Rosé - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (14/01/2023)
{A$80} Onion-skin colour. Mature nose of violets, roses and a touch of cheese. Medium acid, light body. Cherry hint on the palate, but also an oxidative note for me. Not quite convincing. - 2021 Delamere Vineyard Chardonnay - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (14/01/2023)
{screwcap, A$65} Stonefruit, grapefruit, nuts, figs. Same on the palate, with a full-malo richess that avoids butteriness. Medium acid and weight, medium/long finish. Clean, even, generous palate. This is terrific chardonnay which ages nicely for 5-8 years. - 2021 Delamere Vineyard Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (14/01/2023)
{screwcap, A$65} Sold out everywhere, including winery. Big points from James Halliday apparently. Easy to see why. Perfumed and seductive nose of strawberry cordial. A voluptuously-textured palate follows, rich but only medium weight, yet with drive and balance. Even balance; the fruit turns blue and luscious on the medium/long finish. I suspect its going to be shorter-lived, but when it tastes like this now, why wait?
In the old days I’d just rock up and they’d pour whatever they had. Here too, the ‘curated flight’ approach has arrived. Lots of Tassie wineries are adopting this approach nowadays. I get they’re trying to make it easy for punters who maybe don’t know what they like, but it still feels like hard work to find alternatives to pre-selected line-up, which really isn’t my bag. I’m not paying money to taste pinot gris to start with! Here they offer are three flights of 4, by style, for $15/flight. No refund on purchase. Fizz, aromatic whites, reds. I looked nerdy enough with my tasting sheets that they were happy enough to do some swapping around – I ditched the official rose for the Riesling. And I think they might have brought me more to taste, although I wasn’t certain about pricing. So that’s the beef. That apart, they are offering 50ml pours, in big, fine, stemmed glasses, with up to 45 minutes for your flight. The ‘Zdar’ premiums don’t appear to be for sale at CD, otherwise whites are ~$33, fizz around $50, which is pretty good value for what they are.
- 2022 Josef Chromy Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (25/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$33} Citrus, juniper, petals, talc. Quite lightly-flavoured on the palate though, despite medium/high drying acidity. Crisp texture, fruity but not sweet. Hint of lime, but doesn’t really shout ‘riesling’ overall. Hmm – not quite convincing. - 2022 Josef Chromy Sally Field Blend - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (25/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.8%, A$41} A 10-grape field blend, being virtually everything they sell as a single variety (Riesling, SB, Chard, GW, Pinots Noir & Meunier, plus a few oddities (Zweigelt for example), all co-fermented. Fumey, tobacco-like nose. Earthy, not dirty. Some spice too. Palate is cleaner, with a spicy, rosé-character despite the bright crimson colour. It’s light-bodied (no oak detectable), dry, with medium/high acidity and a medium length finish. I like the idea, but the wine can’t really justify the price. - 2021 Josef Chromy Pinot Noir Pepik - Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania (25/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$27} Smoke, raspberries, oranges, spice. Grainy and earthy palate. Rustic country wine with low gritty tannin, refreshing medium/high acidity, light body and a short/medium dry, crunchy finish. Terrific value for an honest wine for early drinking. - 2020 Josef Chromy Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania (25/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$43} Stewed strawberry/compost aromas. Mild spicy oak. A little more delicatessen meat character on the light/medium-bodied palate. Medium/high acid, low/medium chalky tannins. Good wine, decent value at sub-$50, should age OK for half-a-dozen years. Nice.
First visit for me. No selected tastings here – everything is on offer bar the 1904 Block Shiraz. Maybe it’s because they’re a fair way off the beaten (wine-trail) track? No tasting charge apparent. Quality glasses too, plus a knowledgeable pourer for my visit on a fairly quiet Australia Day public holiday. Wines have picked up here this century compared to the old ‘reds for heroes’ style of the 80s and 90s, keeping a measure of heft but offering more freshness and vitality. Alcohol levels nicely under control. All-organic operation. I was much impressed. Worth the 15-minute detour off the Hume.
- 2022 Baileys of Glenrowan Fiano - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13%, A$23} Floral & jasmine aromas. Medium/high acid, light/medium weight. Neutral sort of palate with white flowers and a vague hint of citrus. Dry, crunchy medium length finish that’s more about texture than flavour. The only white the winery makes! - 2022 Baileys of Glenrowan Nero d'Avola - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (26/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$23} Crowd-pleasing plum and liquorice aromas, but not intimidating. Juicy, medium-weight palate of prune and plum, warm but not too alcoholic. Medium acid, low dusty tannins. Short-medium finish. This is pretty good. - 2021 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz Organic - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$29} Fresh nose of gentle oak and black fruit. Blackberry palate, medium acid, medium dusty tannins. Mild oak. Fruit-driven but not simple. Medium/full weight, medium length finish. Outstanding quality for the price. - 2019 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz 1920's Block - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$55} Spice & blueberry aromas. Plum syrup palate, but with sustaining medium acidity and medium tannins. Subtle oak. Medium/full weight. Finishes warmly but not hot or heavy, gluggy. Even palate. Impressive and decent value. - 2014 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz Varley - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14%, A$75} Startlingly young, with spice and blackberry along with classy pure French oak. Similar to the 1920s bottling in style (despite the age difference) with extra polish and black-fruited silkiness. Medium/full weight, long finish. Beautiful wine. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Founder's Series Classic Topaque - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{vinolok, 17%, A$35} Caramel, tea, butterscotch. High acid, medium/sweet, medium weight. Has a honeyed, ginger-and-sultana sweetness on the palate. Sits on the front of the tongue a bit, however. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Muscat Founder Series Classic Muscat - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{vinolok, 17%, A$35} Burnt caramel, raisin and rancio aromas. Much darker flavours than the corresponding topaque bottling, with better length and balance. This is medium/sweet as well, medium/full in weight. Great value beside its Rutherglen equivalents. Tick! - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Winemaker's Selection Rare Old Topaque - Australia, Victoria, North East (26/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, A$75} Toffee and caramel. A step up in concentration (four steps in price!) after the Classic bottling. Rich, medium/full-bodied long. Fully sweet on the palate. - NV Baileys of Glenrowan Muscat Rare Old Muscat - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (26/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, A$75} Honey and molasses. Sweet, high acid, full-body, but with balance and length to the caramel/rancio flavours. Really good, and excellent value.
A return visit after a few years. CD looks a bit tidier, but it’s still endearingly rustic. They charge $5 for tasting the 32 standard wines they sell, plus $5ea for the Grand fortifieds and $10ea for the Rare, which is reasonable enough considering their cost. No refund on purchase. Table wines under gas (small serves), and they offer a new glass for every wine (at least for me, as first there!), but strangely they pour the top (rare) fortifieds into much smaller, thick-rimmed glasses which do them no favours at all. Keen staff, but knowledge may be sketchy (“there’s less oak in the Rieslings than a lot of other wineries” – perhaps she thought all whites were handled like chardonnay?) Anyway, it’s always a fun visit, and if the table wines rather tend towards blandness they’re almost ridiculously cheap. The Gouais is a novelty, being in commercial production in only about three wineries around the globe. The cheap fortifieds are serviceable and workmanlike but the Classic(=Old Vine)/Grand/Rare are startlingly good, and beneath Rare level at least are reasonable value.
- 2021 Chambers Rosewood Riesling - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 11.5%, A$16} Mild, neutral. Washed out palate (underripe?), faintly grapey texture, light weight with a fizz of medium acidity. Melon? But really, I can’t find much flavour here. - 2018 Chambers Rosewood Roussanne - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 11.9%, A$13} Pith and lanolin. Light body, greyish flavours, more texture than fruit that’s for sure. Maybe marginal ripeness as well? Time may help a little. - 2021 Chambers Rosewood Gouais - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.3%, A$20} No oak, mild yellow flesh aromas. Very neutral, squash perhaps, with lowish acidity and a nod to grape-skin tannin. In the past I think I’ve tasted this too old; this example might be too young. Keep three years with fingers crossed. - 2017 Chambers Rosewood Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.5%, A$20} Last stocks. Plum and blackberry. Soft dusty palate, medium acid, low oak. Light/medium weight. Authentic, fairly simple wine that finishes a bit short. - 2018 Chambers Rosewood Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap} Release imminent. Seemingly a better vintage than 2017, this is very similar to the last wine but with richer fruit and a longer finish. Definitely preferable. - 2017 Chambers Rosewood Anton Ruche Shiraz/Mondeuse - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.1%, A$30} Spicy nose. Savoury palate with broad red fruit. Barely medium weight with low furry tannins and minimal oak. Medium length dusty dry finish. - 2019 Chambers Rosewood Shiraz & Durif - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.8%, A$20} Plum, liquorice, blackberry. Even palate, medium weight, acid and length. Nicely balanced and even. Subtle wine though, with low dusty tannins. I thought this the pick of the reds. - 2018 Chambers Rosewood Durif - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$30} Big generous plummy red. Not overly concentrated, so it’s no port-in-disguise, but still has an earthy softness that marks all Chambers’ table wines. Medium furry tannins, lowish acidity. Not too warm on the medium length finish. - NV Chambers Rosewood Durif Hayshed Red - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.1%, A$12} I’m told this is in fact a single vineyard 2019 Durif, and certainly it differed very little from the preceding 2018 durif at nearly three times the price. - 2014 Chambers Rosewood Muscat The Broken Windmill - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{screwcap, 15.5%, A$35} New concept – vintage fortified muscat. All the hallmarks of a barrel that got lost somewhere? Caramel and butterscotch. Medium dry, with a creamy smooth texture. Honeyed flavours, light/medium in weight, short/medium length finish. Hmm. Missing a magic spark somehow. - NV Chambers Rosewood Muscadelle Old Vine - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 17.5%, A$30} Old Vine = ‘Classic’ in Chambers’ speak. I didn’t taste the base ‘Rutherglen’ fortifieds which are half the price of the Old Vine pair. This is a good starting point though. Spirity cold tea aromas, fumey palate. Medium/sweet. Good. - NV Chambers Rosewood Muscadelle Grand - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 18%, A$70} Nearly everyone else in Rutherglen calls this ‘topaque’ but Chambers prefer to stick with the grape name, despite the potential confusion with their muscats. The deeper colour and greater intensity are searingly evident after the Old Vine bottling. This is quite aged, with toffee and burnt caramel. Medium-sweet, medium/full in weight, long finish, although it tends to blur the line with a tawny port for me. - NV Chambers Rosewood Muscat Old Vine - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 18%, A$30} Raisins, fig jam, quince. Medium/dry with refreshing acidity, medium weight. The medium/long finish sits toward the front palate a bit but this is pretty good I must say. - NV Chambers Rosewood Muscat Grand - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 18.5%, A$70} Follows the Old Vine with added sweetness, intensity, weight, length. Also the acidity shines through. Really harmonious, and balanced enough that you can drink more than a mouthful! - NV Chambers Rosewood Rare Muscat - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (27/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 18%, A$250} At $10 for a small taste, this is still probably cheaper pro rata than buying the bottle – it’s surely nearer a 25ml serve than 15! It’s an impenetrable murky brown, a treacly thing, more akin to a syrup than a liquid. It’s a muscat essence, massively acidic and sweet and persistent. One or two mouthfuls are enough. Seems heftier than I recall a decade ago. It’s pretty special but even so the price is a bit silly.
