Grosset Tasting | CVGW 2016

[Matt@5453]

Grosset are open this weekend as part of the Clare Valley Gourmet weekend offering a vertical of the Polish Hill and Springvale. They are charging $10/head for the tasting (redeemable on purchase). Brief impressions below:

Springvale

2015 Springvale – very fresh, crisp, typical Springvale citrus notes alike licking a fresh Tahitian lime. A great driving line of acidity, great mouthfeel and long lingering finish. This has the hallmarks of a long lived wine.
2010 Springvale – on first tasting it was very similar to the 2015, still very fresh, it has hardly moved at all, showing the trade mark Springvale citrus notes. The acidity has softened a fraction, but you’d swear it’s the current release.
2005 Springvale – I was expecting some bottle aged characteristics to start showing but again still very fresh and zesty, if anything the acidity has softened, but still so fresh.
The consistency of the wines is to be applauded, the colour of the 2010 & 2005 were almost identical to the 2015. Great to see them side by side.

Polish Hill

2015 Polish Hill – slate, minerals, very good laser like acidity. When I tasted the Grosset wines at the Cellar Door last year, I preferred the Springvale, I think this now settled down now in bottle and is more approachable than on initial release; was my favourite of the 15s today. A long life ahead of this.
2010 Polish Hill – this wine was showing much more development than the 2010 Springvale, starting to show some ‘toasty’, honeyed type notes to it. The acidity has definitely softened. Colour was showing more developed too. Based on this wine, I don’t think this will be a long lived wine, give it 5-7 years and I think will be pretty developed by then.
2005 Polish Hill – still remarkably fresh, I would not have picked this as an 11 year old wine. A touch softer than the 2015 in terms of acidity (less “brut” force to it), but again showing the traits of a fresh Polish Hill wine. Plenty of time left still on its side. The colour has hardly moved at all.

Overall the tasting was surprising,I was expecting to see some development across the various vintages but all the wines were very fresh and quite young apart from the 2010 Polish Hill.

I had a chance to look a few other wines also whilst I was there

2014 Piccadilly Chardonnay – this is an awesome wine. The complexity and length of this wine is amazing. Excellent use of restraint with the oak, the deft touch of fine grained French oak complements the beautiful Adelaide Hills fruit. This wine has been gently handled, the mouthfeel and full palate balance is to savour. Balance is the key word here; in my view this is stunning, very very limited stock available. One other patron suggested it was like a fine New Zealand Chardonnay.
2015 Apiana – I was not a fan of this when I tried it last year, but it has settled down in bottle. Quite aromatic, I am picking up a pineapple type vibe to it. Very textural in the mouth, very good weight and balance. It has a nice line of acidity. I am going to pop one away for 5 years to see how it looks.
2014 Pinot Noir – a touch under medium bodied, raspberry fruits, fine tannin and again restraint like the Chardonnay. Excellent mid palate and a superb long velvety finish, the plush raspberry fruit continues to build at the back palate delivering a very very good wine.
2015 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc – not really my style of wine. The Semillon battles the gooseberry / grassiness of the Sauvignon Blanc (20%). I struggled with this.
2013 Gaia – what strikes me the most with this wine is the colour and medium/light body nature to it. The fruit has obviously been gently treated. The nose it quite floral, with nuances of violets. The palate delivers again violets, touch of blackberry, cassis; it is like velvet in your mouth. Once again judicious use of oak provides harmony and balance to the wine with very fine tannins. Although just medium bodied, the pure fruit gives it richness and fullness, but I’d describe it an almost delicate wine. The finish is long and very satisfying. Very good effort, in my view with time will evolve and develop some really good complexity over the years – at $74 ex Cellar Door the price is right up there though, I remember paying about $50 a few years ago.

For the people that live in Adelaide, get up to Clare and check out Grosset whilst it is open for the weekend. Jim Barry are conducting a tasting tomorrow with verticals of the Florita and Armagh!

[Scotty vino]

Grosset are open this weekend as part of the Clare Valley Gourmet weekend offering a vertical of the Polish Hill and Springvale. They are charging $10/head for the tasting (redeemable on purchase). Brief impressions below:

Springvale

2015 Springvale – very fresh, crisp, typical Springvale citrus notes alike licking a fresh Tahitian lime. A great driving line of acidity, great mouthfeel and long lingering finish. This has the hallmarks of a long lived wine.
2010 Springvale – on first tasting it was very similar to the 2015, still very fresh, it has hardly moved at all, showing the trade mark Springvale citrus notes. The acidity has softened a fraction, but you’d swear it’s the current release.
2005 Springvale – I was expecting some bottle aged characteristics to start showing but again still very fresh and zesty, if anything the acidity has softened, but still so fresh.
The consistency of the wines is to be applauded, the colour of the 2010 & 2005 were almost identical to the 2015. Great to see them side by side.

Polish Hill

2015 Polish Hill – slate, minerals, very good laser like acidity. When I tasted the Grosset wines at the Cellar Door last year, I preferred the Springvale, I think this now settled down now in bottle and is more approachable than on initial release; was my favourite of the 15s today. A long life ahead of this.
2010 Polish Hill – this wine was showing much more development than the 2010 Springvale, starting to show some ‘toasty’, honeyed type notes to it. The acidity has definitely softened. Colour was showing more developed too. Based on this wine, I don’t think this will be a long lived wine, give it 5-7 years and I think will be pretty developed by then.
2005 Polish Hill – still remarkably fresh, I would not have picked this as an 11 year old wine. A touch softer than the 2015 in terms of acidity (less “brut” force to it), but again showing the traits of a fresh Polish Hill wine. Plenty of time left still on its side. The colour has hardly moved at all.

Overall the tasting was surprising,I was expecting to see some development across the various vintages but all the wines were very fresh and quite young apart from the 2010 Polish Hill.

I had a chance to look a few other wines also whilst I was there

2014 Piccadilly Chardonnay – this is an awesome wine. The complexity and length of this wine is amazing. Excellent use of restraint with the oak, the deft touch of fine grained French oak complements the beautiful Adelaide Hills fruit. This wine has been gently handled, the mouthfeel and full palate balance is to savour. Balance is the key word here; in my view this is stunning, very very limited stock available. One other patron suggested it was like a fine New Zealand Chardonnay.
2015 Apiana – I was not a fan of this when I tried it last year, but it has settled down in bottle. Quite aromatic, I am picking up a pineapple type vibe to it. Very textural in the mouth, very good weight and balance. It has a nice line of acidity. I am going to pop one away for 5 years to see how it looks.
2014 Pinot Noir – a touch under medium bodied, raspberry fruits, fine tannin and again restraint like the Chardonnay. Excellent mid palate and a superb long velvety finish, the plush raspberry fruit continues to build at the back palate delivering a very very good wine.
2015 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc – not really my style of wine. The Semillon battles the gooseberry / grassiness of the Sauvignon Blanc (20%). I struggled with this.
2013 Gaia – what strikes me the most with this wine is the colour and medium/light body nature to it. The fruit has obviously been gently treated. The nose it quite floral, with nuances of violets. The palate delivers again violets, touch of blackberry, cassis; it is like velvet in your mouth. Once again judicious use of oak provides harmony and balance to the wine with very fine tannins. Although just medium bodied, the pure fruit gives it richness and fullness, but I’d describe it an almost delicate wine. The finish is long and very satisfying. Very good effort, in my view with will evolve and develop some really good complexity over the years – at $74 ex Cellar Door the price is right up there though, I remember paying about $50 a few years ago.

For the people that live in Adelaide, get up to Clare and check out Grosset whilst it is open for the weekend. Jim Barry are conducting a tasting tomorrow with verticals of the Florita and Armagh!

+1 on the Piccadilly. Love this wine. had a 10 recently and it was so so good.
perfect restraint and balance.