It’s a strange business, the wine business. On one hand, we have Treasury Wine Estates, a giant teetering under the enormous weight of his plundered treasure. On the other, we have small wineries started by people with little more than faith and vision making great wines and flourishing.
The point was driven home once again when we attended a trade tasting at NSW-based fine wine distributor Young and Rashleigh. In our piece on The Retail and Restaurant Disconnect, we made the point that fine wine distributors tend to source wines that you won’t find at Woolworths or Coles. That’s what made this tasting interesting.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Australia is the lucky country because we can buy virtually hand-made wines from dry-grown fruit off single vineyards for around $20 a bottle. In Europe, wines like these are at the top of the hierarchy and generally unaffordable.
Printhie is pretty well established by now, but rarely seen in shops. I was bowled over by the quality of their Printhie MCC Riesling 13 – $22 at the winery. Most of the MCC range wines are over $25 but the Mountain range wines are under $20, for example the Printhie MR Pinot Gris 13 – $17 at the winery – which is made in the rich Alsatian style.
The wonderful wines from Rosily in the Margaret River were here, the 2013 Chardy is all sold out and the 2014 SSB has replaced the 2013, but the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon confirmed how good these wines are – $25 at the winery. The 2010 Cartographer Bordeaux Blend is still available too for $23 – wonderful wine and a serious bargain (same link).
I’d never heard of Skimstone, a tiny winery at Mudgee that isn’t even listed in the Wine Companion. Their 2011 Chardonnay is a lovely, rich, mouth-filling wine and still available at the winery for a bit over $20.
Galli Estate is a bit bigger, with an output of 10,000 cases and a 5 red stars listing in the Wine Companion. Ben Ranken makes really interesting wines from varieties like Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, and a bonus is that the wines are elegant. The Tempranillo Grenache Mourvedre 2012 – $18 at DD – is a great example.
The Galli Pinot Gris 2014 from Sunbury is a beauty too (the 2013 has sold out), and the Heathcote Shiraz 2012 under the cheaper Camelback label is another goodie – Ben has vineyards in both locations. You can buy the wines direct from the vineyard and several from Different Drop.
The wines of Flametree in Margaret River are better known, and the standard range offers good value wines in the mainstream Margaret River style. The standouts for me were the Flametree Chardonnay 2013 – $19 at Kemenys, and the Flametree Shiraz 2011 – $19 at Kemenys. There’s also a cheaper, more fruit-driven range under the Embers label – the Embers Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 is $16 at Kemenys.
Kingston Estate in the Riverland isn’t exactly a boutique winery with an output of 70,000 cases but it might as well be since its wines are very hard to find in retail outlets. The smarter Riverland makers have all branched out and bought vineyards or sourced grapes from other parts of the country, and so it is with Kingston.
The Kingston Estate Chardonnay 2013 – $13 at Wineboss – is made from Adelaide Hills fruit, and is good value. The Kingston Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $12 at Winelistaustralia – is a blend of Clare Valley and Coonawarra fruit, and it makes a very drinkable red.
Geoff Merrill has always been a winemaker with attitude, and his wines have too. There are many interesting wines here, mostly reds, made from interesting varieties. Sadly, prices start at $25 and head off in the wrong direction for us.
Yealands wines from across the Tasman were represented, but we’ve raved about their wines for many moons so there’s no need to do more of that here. Same goes for the Wilson Vineyard at Polish Hill, which continues to make great Rieslings.
As it happens, we also tasted several great Cabernets from small makers this week.
Lake Breeze Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $20 at MyCellar. Pretty serious Cabernet with rich but restrained fruit and nice line of firm tannin hold it all together. Needs another 5 – 7 years to show its true colours. Champion red of the show in Perth 2014.
Harewood Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – $32 at Different Drop. Made from Denmark and Frankland River fruit, matured for 24 months in new and used French barriques. Blue and black fruits of real purity and refinement, wrapped in soft pencil shavings oak, polished tannins, lovely line and length. Still improving.
Lock & Key Hilltops Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $25 at the winery. Has just won a trophy for ‘Hilltops Wine Of The Year,’ and it’s easy to see why: it’s a soft, ripe, plush red that’s high on the drinkability scale. Hints of milk chocolate and cedary oak add more polish – Wolf Blass would be envious.
