I have seen the Foggo label from time to time but in reality I knew nothing about them until I a received a phone call in December asking me if I would like to try their line-up.

Whilst Foggo may be the new label, they have been in the wine business since 1915 when the main vineyard was originally planted. In 1987 the brand Curtis Wines was established by the original owners of the site and it was renamed Foggo when the new owners, Herb and Sandy Van De Wiels bought the business in 1999. Hubert and Sandy are not exactly new to the business; they are second generation viticulturists and have been providing McLaren Vale grapes to major labels for over two decades. The first vintage of the Foggo label was in 2001.

It has long been said that the best wines are made in the vineyards, so having access to your own fruit and complete control over the whole process is always a big advantage. Having established vineyards helps was well. The Old Vine Shiraz is sourced exclusively from dry grown vines that were planted in 1915. The Grenache is sourced from 85 year old dry grown bush vines. The family owns vineyards in McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat and Blewitt Springs. By and large, the vineyards are dry grown.

They believe in old-fashioned winemaking with a combination of modern technology. All the fruit is hand-picked and the vines hand-pruned which is indication of the commitment to quality. When the grapes come in they are pressed lightly. The free run juice is separated from the pressings and is kept that way until the final blending decisions are made. The philosophy also includes being as gentle as they can with the wine. For example, the Reserve Shiraz has whole bunches placed in large open fermenters which are then gently hand plunged. None of this high-pressure hosepipe stuff in this winery!

Herb believes in the importance of barrel maturation and a significant quantity of both new French and American oak are used. Most wines spend between 14 and 19 months in oak. Interestingly enough, both the old vine Shiraz and Reserve Shiraz are matured in predominantly French oak and are, in my opinion, all the better for it.

Everything is done in-house. Production at this stage is quite small, only about 2,000 cases. They are still selling some of their crop for inclusion in well-known labels but the plan is to eventually utilise all their own fruit and grow to 5,000-6,000 cases. Naturally, these are estate-grown wines.

Although I was informed that all wines are sold through the winery and not available from bottle shops, that is not quite the case. Three Melbourne merchants have a limited range but if you want access to the whole portfolio, the winery is your best bet. (Mixed) case discounts of 10% and free freight will apply if you mention my name and twist their arm. (Value ratings are based on the case price although the list price has been quoted.)

Upon opening the five bottles of red, a few things were immediately apparent. Firstly, all the wines were reasonably tight, unyielding and showing very little without the benefit of airtime. Secondly, all the wines seemed clean and bright. Finally, there was a consistency of style across the whole range. These factors are a good indication the winemaking process is under control and the winery knows what it's doing.

Foggo 2002 Grenache Shiraz Cinsaut Jan 05

A touch of lightly lifted alcohol, the bouquet is clean and shows bright, with lightly perfumed floral ripe fruit characters together with spice, coffee, cedar, subtle milk chocolate, menthol and mint. Initially, the wine is intensely sweet but the refreshing acid cuts through it with rapier-like precision and the unexpectedly dusty tannins provide good balance and length. This is certainly not a wimpy wine although it is only medium-weight; the smooth, dusty tannins provide an excellent backbone and solid structure. Spice, white pepper, milk chocolate, raspberry, dark chocolate and plum all combine to produce an excellent level of complexity, however there is a fair level of mint and sappy green characteristics on the finish that may be from a component of slightly under ripe fruit. Rated as Recommended with *** for value (CD RRP of $22,) it is certainly an attractive wine for summer consumption.

As an aside, there are only three wineries in Australia that grow Cinsaut or Cinsault as it is sometimes spelt. The other two are Buller’s and Brown Brothers which are both in Rutherglen.

Despite some reasonably vigorous swirling in the early stages, this wine was tight, unyielding and showed little other than coffee, aniseed, some obvious sweet fruit, a lick of milk chocolate and a nose clearing menthol. Abundant smooth tannins which are currently burying the fruit explain why the bouquet was tight and unyielding. Initially slightly sweet on the uptake, the flavour profile is well balanced with loads of off-sweet flavours so to those people that hate sickly sweet Grenache; this could be right up your alley. Milk chocolate, raspberry and blackberry finish reasonably long and very dry. Complexity is a little simple but this is a Grenache that could benefit from time in the bottle and one I would like to try it again in a couple of years. Rated as Recommended with *** for value (CD RRP of $28,) this is a pretty serious ample-weight Grenache.

After trying this wine, I had to speak to Herb about it and find out how he could produce a wine with such incredible tannins and a “not sweet” flavour profile. Herb told me, the grapes come from ancient, widely-spaced bush vines at Blewitt Springs. The block has excellent drainage and apparently Grenache loves to have dry feet. The grapes are small loosely packed bunches with thick skins and therefore have a high skin to juice ratio and this provides the rock solid foundation for this wine.

Not only was no tannin added in 2002, Herb does not believe in the addition of tannin and prefers to use blending options as an alternative.

An attractive bouquet showing brooding dusty oak and also exhibits clean, sweet red and blue and black spectrum lightly perfumed berry fruit and coffee together with mint. Once again, the palate on this wine is dominated by dusty drying tannins that are burying the fruit, in many ways the wine is old-fashioned but I say that in the nicest possible way. Given time, the tannins should resolve and when the fruit surfaces this wine should improve substantially. Flavours are layered, with a slight sweetness in one layer that is dominated by a more attractive off-sweet layer of chocolate, blackberry, blackcurrant, a touch of liquorice, tobacco leaf and mint. A muscular-weight, solid, varietally correct wine that just needs another five years or more to show its best. Rated as Recommended with **** for value (CD RRP of $28,) this wine is definitely worth of cellar space and the rating is bound to improve as it matures.

Foggo 2002 Shiraz Jan 05

Squeaky clean, the bouquet shows excellent intensity and depth and despite its tightness it is attractive and you know this will be an enjoyable drop. Smoky coffee essence, plum, sweet vanilla, chocolate and touch of eucalyptus completes the picture. Surprise, surprise, the tannins on this wine are far tighter, smoother and fine-grained than the previous wines sampled and the pure, intense fruit more to the fore. This is a quality, attractive full-bodied wine. Sweet plums on the uptake, the rest of the flavours are savoury with dark chocolate, blackberry, a touch of aniseed together with coffee and the vanillin oak flavours which provide excellent complexity. Slightly dusty, drying tannins provide good length. Rated as the Highly Recommended with **** for value (CD RRP of $28.) Whilst the wine can be drunk now, it should get better over the next five years or so.

Foggo 2002 Hubertus Reserve Shiraz Jan 05

The bouquet of this wine is very similar to that of the Shiraz but is blacker, a fraction more intense and brooding. Coffee and chocolate, almost in the mocha spectrum, plum and aniseed complete the picture. From the first sip, it's obvious this is a step up in class over the previous wine. Pure, clean, deeply seated intense fruit is well matched to the drying, chewy, fine tannins and unobtrusive acid which combine to form a solid, well-balanced, tight, full-bodied wine that has a touch of class. Coffee, chocolate, plum, blackberry and aniseed provide a good level of complexity that will only get better with time. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value (CD RRP of $45), the rating should improve as the wine matures.

They few days later, I tried the other three, two of which I was not particularly looking forward to as I could just about see-through them. Just as well it was a hot day!

A spicy, red current and a raspberry bouquet leads to a silky smooth, savoury palate of cold meat, subtle white pepper, milk chocolate and raspberry. The suitably refreshing drink for a hot day, it is inoffensive, crowd pleasing and slips down far too easily. As I normally don't review Rose, I won't rate it, but it is certainly drinkable and costs $15 from cellar door.

Being a sucker for anything red with bubbles and always on the lookout for something new in that department, I was quite prepared to give this one a shot. Interestingly enough, this wine was not as dark as the previous one. The bouquet of this wine was very similar to last although it was more sedate and subtle. The wine is a lean but refreshing. There is a core of ripe sweetness but there is a component of what seems to be fruit that has not reached optimal ripeness which gives the wine a contrasting sappy green characteristic. Not overly great, if there was a reasonable component of 2003 fruit in this wine, they may do better in a more forgiving vintage. At $10 a bottle, it certainly represents value of a hot summer's day but one in which I would prefer not to indulge.

The bouquet on this wine was not what I would have expected and shows mushroom oak, spice in the white pepper spectrum and red berry fruit. The sweetness has when judged well. Too many sparkling Shiraz are in the sickly sweet bracket and although this is sweet, it is certainly at an acceptable level. The core of ripe fruit is beautifully offset by spice, earthy mushroom oak, a dab of chocolate and a touch of aniseed. It's a medium-weight wine with a silky smooth mouth feel. Although it finishes short on the back palate and the complexity is a little simple, it would slip down with disgusting ease. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, this is an excellent first effort and given time this label has potential. The tannins are also a touch green but when served cold, no one would notice it.

One of the advantages of being able to assess wines at home is you can have a good long, leisurely look at them and come back to them later. This tends to give the reader a more accurate impression of the wine than a quick review in the winery. That was the case with the Foggo wines and when I came back to the Black Mariah after some time, the mushroom character had metamorphosed into classic plastic Band-Aid Brett. The longer wine was open, the more obvious it became but even then it was not at an offensive level.

After trying all these wines, I must admit I was quite impressed. The wines are honest, rustic, old-fashioned McLaren Vale reds; the sort of wine that will benefit from time in the cellar and just the sort of wines that serious wine lovers are after. The prices also seemed reasonable, especially considering case discounts and free freight so I wanted to find out more and why this one had never slipped its head above the radar previously. Considering this is only their second vintage I know the answer to that question now, but it is a winery that I'm sure many wine lovers will hear a lot more about as time goes by.

Besides having an absolute commitment to the business of making good quality wine, Herb seems like a very amiable, content and well-adjusted fellow who has nothing to prove personally. He was born in Berri (during the floods, we should be so lucky now) into a family of Riverland grape growers. After having worked in the family business he got his first real job and worked at Renmano (and I remember their 1986 Chairman Selection, huge, butterball, oak bomb Chardonnay with fond memories.) He has held a number of jobs in the industry working for other people up until late 80s when Herb and Sandy bought their first vineyard.

The rest, as they say, will become history.