SA 2004 Chapter Three

"TORB Terroir-ises SA" – (The 2004 South Australian Tour Diary) Chapter Two can be found here

Chapter Three – The Barossa – Saturday

There are not many wineries open at 9.00 am on Saturday in the Barossa, so not wasting half the day requires careful advanced planning. Besides, I want to make sure that John does not think this is a holiday and ensure he gets up early! We had arranged to meet at the usual greasy spoon café at 8.20. John was staying in the pub last night and when I got out of the taxi, he was muttering something about a quick beer at the bar, so I had no idea what the cat would drag in this morning. Low and behold, miracles do happen, there he was walking down the street, on time and looking very relaxed and not half dead. Is the lad turning over a new leaf? Is middle age getting to him? Or is he lulling me into a false sense of security? His Pieship insisted that he did not go to the bar for a nightcap and there could only be three possible conclusions to be drawn.

I got him so knackered with the pace of the day that by 10 pm he was done in.
He had consumed so much wine with dinner he was too drunk to find the bar.
John did go to the bar but thought that Sue might read what I had to say.

Being a healthy type, I had already consumed some cardboard flavoured concoction called muesli and no-fat milk that I had brought with me on the trip. John, being John, ordered a bacon and egg roll with both tomato and BBQ sauce, a cappuccino and the inevitable carton of coffee flavoured moo juice. I had a cup of espresso!

Over breakfast, John was lamenting the probable loss of serenity at the Davis McLaren Vale Hilton. It seems some inconsiderate bastards have the hide to want to ruin his domain by building a thumping, great big bottling plant almost directly across the road from his house. Whilst the view will be affected, it will not be totally wiped out but the biggest issue is the quiet rural street will have a convoy of trucks rolling past at all hours of the day and night. His Pieship was seriously considering selling up, or to be more accurate, Mrs Pie King had a bee in her bonnet and was considering selling and his Pieship would do what he was told! After listening to the tale of woe, which I fully empathised with, (but only as it would interrupt my sleep when I stayed with them) it was off to our first appointment.

One of the few people I can con, sorry, I meant to say, I can get to agree to see me on a Saturday at 9 am, is Allister Ashmead of Elderton Wines. This early appointment is becoming an annual arrangement and is made on the understanding that either/both parties may have had a late night previously, no loud talk will be tolerated and the “hair of the dog” rather than spitting is allowed. We arrived a few minutes before nine and were not the only ones waiting for the place to open. A local bird was also waiting to get a free drink.

I have long been a fan of this winery and last year did a feature write-up in the Tour Diary, so this year it was just a revisit and annual tasting. Their Estate range of wines are traditional, big, Barossa wines and the Command can be damn good too. I was pleasantly surprised this year: many of the wines were better than expected.

Elderton 2002 Tantalus is a Shiraz-Cabernet blend and sells for $11 at CD. It is an easy drinking fruit-driven wine where the palate follows the raspberry, red berry and subtle spices that are found on the bouquet. It is medium weight, has a soft consistency with refreshing acid, and agreeable complexity. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value.

Elderton 2002 Friends Shiraz sells for $15.95 at CD. The fruit is sourced 50% from the Barossa and the other half from the Eden Valley, some is estate and some is bought in. Purple in colour, the hue is bright but the freshly opened bottle did not show much on the nose. A well-constructed, clean wine; tannins are unobtrusive, acid is refreshing and the fruit pure. Savoury cherry, milk chocolate, oodles of mint and a good, clean acid finish with no obvious oak makes this a step up from the 2001. Medium weight, the consistency is supple so it is ready to drink now. A good food wine and fine for the price, it is rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Elderton 2002 Friends Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $15.95 at CD. The bouquet is attractive and the rich black fruit and leafy characters leave little doubt this is a Cabernet. Fine-grained smooth tannins, fresh acid and pure fruit are well balanced and solidly put together. Sweet on the uptake, the flavours are layered with savoury elements that finish to chocolate with drying tannins. The wine is clean and has an excellent finish. Medium weight, the consistency is firm but supple and it is a big step up on the 2001. This is a damn good wine for the price and would be perfect in a bistro situation. Even just after breakfast, a sip and spit of this and I wanted food! Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Elderton 2000 Barossa Merlot sells for $24.95 at CD. I tried this last year and was under-whelmed by it so it was no great surprise to still see it for sale. It is a clean wine with pure fruit, which yields spice, light plum and milk chocolate flavours. Medium weight, the smooth tannins provide a silky consistency, the wine is harmonious and has an agreeable complexity. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value, I find it ho-hum but some people will love it.

A complete set of JWT winners …..

Elderton 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $20.95 at CD. The wine is clean, well constructed and balanced. Very fine, smooth, drying tannins provide a firm consistency and solid backbone for this ample weight wine. The bottle had just been opened and it was cool so it was no surprise to find the wine incredibly tight and unyielding. It did show dark berry fruit, cassis and chocolate but the wine needs time to open up. Rated as Recommended with **** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures over the next few years.

Whilst we were trying the wines, Allister told an interesting story. “Whenever you meet a Frenchman and the topic turns to wine, which it most naturally does, you are bound to get a comment upon the following lines from the Frenchman. ‘Monsieur, we have something in France that makes our wine unique, for which there is no translation. The word is “terroir”.’ Allister’s come back line is “well what about soufflé you……”

From there the topic turned to export markets and Allister thought we had a secret weapon in the UK market. “The Poms don’t hate us the way they hate the Frogs.” John replied, “That’s true, even if we do hate the Poms.”

Elderton 2002 Shiraz sells for $23.95 at CD. The wine was matured in 85% American oak for eleven months. Purple in colour, the hue is vivid and bright. The bouquet is youthful, fruit-driven, shows perfumed liquorice and it shines through on the palate as being pure and deep. Black cherry builds across the palate as it gains weight and finishes long with milk chocolate and mint. Slightly dusty, smooth, drying tannins combine with fresh acid and great fruit to produce a well-constructed, ample weight wine that is still tight but is showing a well-developed complexity. There is less oak than previous vintages and the wine is better for it. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it is drinking well now but will improve.

Elderton 2000 Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $85 at CD. Sniff, sniff, sigh, sniff sniff, sigh; it is the sort of wine you want to nose all day, with its pure fruit, obvious oak and everything in the right proportion. Savoury cherry, red spectrum fruit and milk chocolate combine with excellent tannin treatment to form a solid, quality wine. Muscular in weight, it has some refinement and a well-developed complexity. The expression “a good result for the vintage” should not be seen as damning praise. Rated as Excellent with * for value at $85 or ** at the street special price of $65, the wine should peak about 2007.

Elderton 2000 Command Shiraz sells for $85 at CD. The wine is cropped at about ¾ ton per acre from the estate grown old vines. The oak treatment for this vintage was different to most others. Whilst the wine was aged for three years in wood, only eight months of that period was in new oak; 65% of the oak used was American. The bouquet is just delightful, it is fruit driven and whilst there is obvious toasty oak, it has been well judged. The first sip awakens the senses with its gorgeous creamy tannins and obvious, distinct fruit, which combine to form a well-constructed wine that is cleaner than its predecessors. Very ripe fruit flavours of plum, prune, milk chocolate, peppermint and spice flood the palate with a well-developed, harmonious complexity. Consistency is firm but supple and the wine should peak about 2006+. A classy wine and a good result from a difficult vintage, it is rated as Excellent with ** for value.

It is interesting to note that almost every one of these Elderton tasting notes contains the word “clean” and there is also mention of “well-constructed” in most too. This was not something I consciously noted when tasting and only became aware of it when typing up the notes. However, at the time I did notice that, in general, the wines are slowly getting better, year on year. They are starting to become a little less bombastic in-your-face styles and the oak is being refined and used more judiciously. This is a winery to keep watching. The Friends label is sensational value for every day drinking and the Estate range has always been good, especially when you consider the NSW street price of $20 a bottle. As always, I enjoyed the CD experience and really do appreciate Allister’s cooperation in dragging himself in early on a Saturday. By the way, it looks like his taste has improved. Last year he was driving the car on the left. This year he has the one on the right. For obvious reasons, I like this year’s model a lot more.

This was my third visit to Kaesler winery. The first time, I made an appointment and Reid Bosward showed me around a very smart set up. I walked away very impressed and thought this was a winery to watch. They have solid financial backing (that’s like saying Pavarotti can hold tune; the backers are Swiss bankers) and a very talented winemaker. On the next visit, once again, I was impressed with the wines and had one observation that I discussed with Reid. The “house style” looked like it was not as tight and defined and in some ways it looked like they were experimenting a little and trying to find a more consistent footing.

As this was a Saturday and straight after vintage it would have been cruel to ask Reid to come in so the appointment was arranged whereby Reid would leave a selection of wines for me to try. In the past, Reid was extremely generous with the range of samples he offered, so I was hoping there would be some stunning wines on this visit too. It was with a smile of anticipation that I walked into CD; at the completion of the tasting, I walked out with a grin of satisfaction (which had nothing to do with the delightful lady, Kay that served us).

Kaesler 2003 Avignon GSM sells for $30 at CD. The blend is 53/39/8%. The bouquet shows pure, lifted strawberry and milk chocolate. Tannins are smooth, ultra fine and provide an excellent mouth-feel and ably support the pure, deep, sweet red berry fruit that very slowly builds across the palate into savoury flavours that finishes seductively long. Medium weight, the structure is layered and shows elegance and with its refined complexity, this wine is certainly worth buying. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, I loved it.

Kaesler 2003 “No Name Grenache” will be released at the end of the year. They went through every Grenache barrel and chose the best four and left them in oak for fifteen months. The wine has just been bottled and whilst the driving force on the bouquet was obviously very high quality fruit, the alcohol lift was just as noticeable. It turns out the wine is seventeen percent but there was no heat on the palate. A serious Grenache whichever way you look at it! Pure, deep, strong fruit produce raspberry, spice and dark chocolate in a sweet and savoury package. It is well balanced with a huge amount of very smooth, drying tannins. There is nothing confected about this wine with its Gibraltar-like structure. Rated as Highly Recommended, the price has not been set.

Kaesler 2002 “No Name Shiraz Cabernet Blend” will be released at the end of 2004. I guess Reid was kind enough to show me this wine as last year we discussed this blend and I asked him why they were not doing one. Whilst the wine does not have a formal name yet, Reid has an appropriate internal code name of “The Weapon of Mass Seduction” and it is anticipated that it will sell at about the $100 level. At that price, it would want to be good! The wine will not be made every year, just when the conditions are good enough to produce a special wine. The drainings are kept and then blended back into the ferment, which then goes into specially selected barrels for final fermentation and ageing. It is a 2/3 Shiraz 1/3 Cabernet blend. The nose was closed but one sniff said, “I am as serious as my price tag.” I was in lust already. I love tasting a wine like this; what do I rave about first? The fruit or the structure? Both are seriously good. Distinct, deeply-seated fruit flows across the palate with black fruit flavours, plums, dark chocolate and subtle mint. Barrel fermentation is a big contributor to a lovely mouth-feel and abundant, dusty, puckering tannins glide across the tongue with the grace and length of a champion long distance skier. This sophisticated wine is incredibly tight and needs at least another six years to start to begin to show what it is made of, preferably more. Rated as Excellent now, the rating should improve as the wine matures; by how much I don’t know but it could be a classic - time will tell.

Kaesler 2002 Old Vines Shiraz costs $60 at CD and at the time of tasting was about to be released. There has been a change to this wine as it has been matured in mainly new French oak; the 01 was 100% American. Dark purple in colour, the hue was bright and clean. The nose is amazing and shows wonderful fruit but it was very tight. The wine has excellent balance and construction and whilst there is some warmth on the palate, it carries it well. Deep, distinct, strong fruit provides pitch-black flavours bordering on prune spectrum with blackberry and dark chocolate. Dusty, drying, fine-grained tannins produce a rock solid structure that is still tight. Muscular in weight, the wine has a well-developed complexity and it is rated as Excellent with *** for value; it should peak about 2010.

Kaesler 2002 Old Bastard Shiraz costs $155 at CD and at the time of tasting has not been released. In fact, it has only been in the bottle for about a month. The grapes come from vines that are 113 years old and cropped at less than one ton per acre and then matured for eighteen months in 100% new French oak. The wine is black in colour and stains the glass. Forget about getting anything from the bouquet, it had about as much to show as a recently declared bankrupt. However, like any self-respecting bankrupt tycoon, there is a lot hidden away. Wonderful balance, as good as an Olympic gymnast and the deep, strong, pure fruit provides a gold medal performance. Befitting an athlete, the tannins are very tight, the structure tight and solid whilst the consistency is firm. Spice, prune, blackcurrant, black chocolate and tar flavours have some warmth on the palate but the long, drying finish carries it well. It is bloody lovely and more refined than previous versions but refinement in this style is like comparing train smashes. Rated as Excellent with * for value, the rating should improve as the wine reaches its peak in 2010+.

Although there were more wines we could have tried from the general line up, time was against us. We had tried an excellent cross section of the styles and diversity of the wines made here. The range of wine continues to expand and in all honesty, I cannot recall ever having one that was not well rated; these guys just do not produce average wine, even in bad years. The only question mark may relate to the value, some of the wines are not cheap but then the quality is unquestionable. It should also be noted, some of the wines represent great value. It looks like the quality, which was very good, is getting even better and coming from a high base that is not easy to achieve. However, the most pleasing aspect is that the ‘house style’ looks to be getting closer to a reality and is becoming more defined. As long as this winery keeps heading in the same direction, they are headed for stardom. Buy their wines now; you will not regret it. It is only a matter of time till many of their wines become almost unobtainable.

Our next appointment was at Penfolds and whether you like the company or not, they are an institution in the Barossa and an Australian icon that has been responsible for doing much to foster the growth of the local wine industry.

The same problem here, it was Saturday straight after vintage so I did not expect to see a winemaker and was happy to have a normal staff member look after me. However, late the previous afternoon, I received a phone call informing me they had been able to find a winemaker that would be able to take me through the wines. That was exceptional service, which was above and beyond the call of duty. It would be remiss of me not to give a special thankyou to Oliver Crawford for coming in on Saturday to look after us. As it turned out, John knew Oliver because when John was 2.I.C. at Lincoln College, Oliver was a student. It was like ‘old home week’ as they caught up.

This was another tasting that I was very much looking forward to as I had asked to try the recently released icon line-up. After having a wander round the CD for a few minutes which was packed with tasters hoping to get a taste of the new releases, Oliver took us upstairs to a private tasting room.

As befitting a line-up of wines of this pedigree, they deserve more than a cursory tasting note so additional detail will be provided to paint a more complete picture. In terms of my prejudices, it is important to understand them prior to reading my tasting notes on these wines. We all have prejudices and preconceived ideas about wine labels we are familiar with and as I have a long history with these wines, the following thoughts were in the back of my mind.

St Henri is a wine that I love when it is about ten years old. I still have most vintages going back to 1986 in my cellar and buy it every year. Generally, I do not like it much when it is young (on release) but I am normally very glad when I haul it out of the cellar when they are about a decade old.

Magill Estate has never rocked my boat much and to my palate, the least impressive of the line up. I have tried them young, I have tried them old but they were always a bit to elegant for my taste.

RWT is a wine that I do not have a great deal of experience with but, on spec, bought the 97 and 98. I recently tried a bottle of the 97 and was not impressed with the wine and whilst it was OK, thought it was very ordinary for the price and the hype.

Bin 707 is a wine that I thoroughly enjoy and used to buy pretty regularly. With bottle age, the good vintages can be stunning. The last vintage I bought in quantity was 1996 as the price was still reasonable. I did purchase a few of 1998’s which I was lucky enough to get at mates rates but felt the price was starting to push the outer limits.

Grange is well -it’s Grange! There has been more written about this wine than any other Australian wine. In good vintages it can be great; in bad vintages it can be ordinary. I have seen it served in blind line ups to educated wine drinkers where it has shown poorly against other wines of lesser pedigree. When it is served openly, it is normally served with reverence by the host and drunk with respect by the guests. It is a piece of living wine history and as such it is not cheap. You are paying about $150 for the wine component and about $250 for the history. Personally, I don’t see the value and the last vintage I purchased was 1996, which cost about $300. Good mature back vintages can be picked up for around the same price so to my way of thinking, I would rather pay $330 for a bottle of 1983 that is ready to drink than $450 for a bottle of 1999.

On to the tasting notes and at the end I will make comments about the whole line up.

Penfolds 2000 St Henri sells for about $60+. The wine has a rich fruit-driven aroma. Pure, deep, spicy plums, cherries and what seems almost like a subtle apple flavour present a very approachable wine that has good length. Ample in weight the structure is well supported by powdery drying fruit tannins and refreshing acid. The structure is solid but has some elegance to it. Complexity is well developed and the flavour profile holds interest. A good result for the vintage, it is rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value whilst it is approachable now, it should peak about 2007.

Penfolds 2001 Magill Estate sells for about $70+. The bouquet was unyielding but did show subtle spice, and mushroom scented oak. The distinct, youthful plumy fruit shows mint of the mid palate and chocolate on the tail but the fruit is presently buried by copious quantities of dusty, very fine, drying tannins. Despite the tannins dominance, the wine has a solid, well built structure that is also very tight. Ample weight, it is a clean, sophisticated, classy wine that should gain complexity as it matures - don’t even think about opening it till 2009+. It is so tight and youthful it is hard to get much from the wine at present but I would be happy to cellar it. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, the rating will improve as the wine matures.

The blinds must have been put in by a red bigot ………..

the perfect colour for a winery …………………

Penfolds 2001 RWT sells for about $130-150. Almost black in colour, this is a glass stainer. The bouquet screams “I am serious but I am going to keep you in suspense” but it is youthful, complex and shows perfumed fruit, liquorice and spice. The first sip indicates fantastic fruit. None of your overripe 2001 fermented prune juice here; it is beautiful, fresh, vibrant deeply seated and shows black plums, lots of liquorice and chocolate that finishes with great length. Complexity is well developed and the abundant, dusty, drying tannins back the fruit with an excellent rock-solid structure. It is a well-balanced, full-bodied, serious, long-term wine that is worthy of long-term cellaring and should not be approached till 2014+. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, the rating will improve as the wine matures, it is just a matter of by how much.

Penfolds 2001 Bin 707 sells for about $130-150. This bank vault like bouquet was doing its best to stay shut but despite that, the incredible floral complexity is obvious, inviting and demands to be sniffed again and again. Inky blackberry, blackcurrant, mint and iodine flavours are well supported by bucket loads of dusty, drying, tight tannins that pulverise the tongue, fill the mouth and takes about a week to finish the assault. From that description, it should be no surprise that this is a full-bodied wine that has been crafted for the long haul. It needs about another 10+ years to come together, soften and gain complexity. Rated as Excellent with ** for value, the rating should increase as the wine matures.

Penfolds 1999 Grange sells for about $450. Oliver informed me this is one of the very few vintages of Grange that has no Cabernet blended because the winemakers felt the structure was so good the wine did not need it. The bouquet is unmistakably Grange with lifted aromas of formic acid. The wine is full-bodied and is ably supported by lots of dusty, drying tannins (that are slightly coarser than the rest of the range,) youthful acid and pure, deeply-seated fruit. On the uptake, liquorice dominates with noticeable peppermint, eucalyptus on the mid palate and chocolate that finishes long and with great persistence. Complexity is sophisticated and it is very approachable for a young Grange. Rated as Excellent with * for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures.

Summary comments – My choice (disregarding cost) of most favourite to least favourite is Bin 707 first, followed by RWT, Grange, Magill and St Henri. If you factor cost into it, the scenario is different and my purchase choice would change. (See later for that order.)

St Henri seems more approachable and enjoyable than previous vintages when young and it looks like there is a subtle stylistic change. As a result, I would anticipate this wine will not be as long lived as previous vintages. Whether that is a function of the 2000 vintage or a new direction for this label, time will tell as we see later vintage releases.

Magill Estate was pretty impressive. In fact, I would be happy to cellar this wine, something I would not have said previously. Whilst it still has some elegance, it now looks a lot more interesting to my palate.

RWT is a very impressive wine. It has come a huge distance in five years and was my second favourite in this line up.

Bin 707 is a damn fine wine and I would love to try it side by side with the 96 and 98 some day. They just keep on doing this right.

Grange is well - it’s Grange! But in this case, it is a little different in that it is the most approachable young Grange I have tried. It looks like this stylistic shift may be intentional to better cater to the instant gratification demands of modern society. Be it right, or be it wrong, that is the way the wine was made. I wonder if that slight stylistic shift, in future excellent vintages, will preclude the wine reaching the same complexity and “greatness” as the best examples from the past vintages. Unfortunately, I suspect that what is gained at one end will cost at the other.

When you get to this price level, value becomes a very subjective thing. All serious wine-lovers know that a $100 wine is not as twice as good as a $50 wine and that there is a law of diminishing returns at play here. Value still needs to be considered and put in perspective. In the case of Grange, I can not help but feel that in the Australian market, a large factor influencing the price is the impact of the clueless investor who thinks they will make a tidy profit by buying a few bottles of Grange, holding for a few years and then turning them over for a profit. And pigs might fly! Just have a look at the auction prices for 92, 93, 95, and 97! In many case, they are less than the retail release price so people are losing money by selling them. Retailers are milking the Grange cow for all its worth, in many cases marking up the current release far higher than it should be. Southcorp (and others in the same situation) have raised their retail price to ensure they are making as much as possible and not leaving a killing for the secondary market. A smart move for their shareholders but the “Grange investors”, no matter how you look at it, are screwing it up for the wine lovers but there is nothing anyone can do to stop the greedy who want to make a buck from anything and everything.

It is for this reason, that I now have stopped buying Grange. The RWT, in my opinion, whilst stylistically different to Grange is just as good and one third of the price. I would much rather have 3 RWT than one Grange. Australia only produces a very limited number of great Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Bin 707 is one of them but is trading on the Penfolds icon reputation and status. If you compare it to 2001 Cullen and average Moss Wood, the Bin 707 is no better so why pay almost double because it has a Penfolds label?

I used to be happy to buy St Henri every year and it could normally be found on special for as low as $40. It appears with this release there is very little available domestically and the lowest price I have seen is $60. It is off my buy list as there is far better value available.

As to what I would buy, and the order I would buy them, first would be followed by RWT, Bin 707, St Henri, Magill and Grange.

The experience of being able to taste these icons was marvellous and made even more so by having the opportunity to discuss them with Oliver, even if he is a c-through wine maker. The one priceless comment made was “Bin 389 is no longer poor man’s Grange, it is now middle-class man’s Grange.”

Pie O’clock had arrived and unfortunately the Pie King was at the wheel and decided to hit the bakery on the main road between Nuriootpa and Tanunda. Surprise, surprise, he had two meat pies and a carton of coffee flavoured moo juice. This bakery does not have sandwiches so I had to have a “thing.” The “thing” looked like a cross between a quiche and a pizza and had more grease than the average grease trap. Delightful! Luckily, we had a fairly easy afternoon planned and I was glad I tried the Penfolds icons before lunch rather than after lunch. The espresso was good.

On to a side topic. On Friday morning, John’s phone was quiet until lunchtime when he received a business call. In the mid afternoon there was a minor flurry of SMS between his Pieship and Mrs Pieship. As the afternoon wore on, the minor flurry became more intense with much of the time between wineries spent with his fingers doing the walking across his shoe phone. By the time we left the last winery of Friday afternoon, it was full on 10-finger exercise. Luckily for Mrs Pieship, on Saturday we were not there to disturb her beauty sleep and as a result, the incessant beeping did not begin until about lunchtime. His Pieship made a phone call and I thought “the topic” was almost “sorted” but during the conversation Mrs Pieship mentioned something about going to have a look at a new house.

Later that afternoon, The Pie Kid must have been missing The Pie King and started getting in on the SMS routine as well. What has that man got that requires his family to stay in almost permanent contact? Heck, I can’t even stay in the same hotel as he does. After another flurry of finger strengthening exercises he rang The Pie Kid and told her he still loved her and was not running away with me (praise the Lord). During the conversation The Pie Kid happened to mention Her Pieship had been to look at a 10 acre property at Blewitt Springs that was under vines and had a great house on it. Also, Mrs Pie King had been to a real estate agent to talk about selling their house. No wonder Her Pieship was happy to let the Pie King go away with me for a four-day weekend. I am beginning to see the method in Mrs Pie King’s madness. Get him out of the way and solve the housing issue.

Last year I called into Whistler Wines and was impressed from the moment I drove down their rose-lined driveway to the time I drove out again - and the wines were pretty good too. Since then, the winery has sent me some of the new releases to try but there were a couple that I had not seen and Martin had requested that I pop in and give them a go. They started with nothing in 1994 and now, ten years later have produced 7,000 cases, all from their own estate grown fruit. They do everything themselves (but Rolf Binder is their winemaker.)

Whistler 2002 Merlot sells for $23 at CD. The nose on this wine was really weird and had one of the strangest noses of any red I have ever tried. It was rank with linseed oil. John smelt it too and then he finally worked out that there was a guy standing in CD wearing a brand new oilskin coat. After he left, we could determine the wine had musk stick, plum and spice. On the palate, the initial sweet hit is offset with savoury spice, aniseed and plums, which finish back to sweet berry with respectable length. Medium weight with smooth tannins, the wine is harmonious and supple. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Whistler 2003 Cabernet Merlot sells for $19 at CD. Bottled under Stelvin, the wine has a lively fresh fruit-driven nose with no discernable oak. It is a mid-weight, clean, easy-drinking bistro style wine with smooth tannins and a supple consistency. Raspberry fruit, subtle spice and milk chocolate flavours complete the package. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value.

Whistler 2003 Sparkling Shiraz will sell for $35 at CD. It is their normal shiraz which spent 12 months in oak and then underwent a méthode champenoise process. I must say, that despite its structure and almost silky consistency, this wine will not do this wineries reputation any great favours. It is NutraSweet with plain level of complexity. Rated as Agreeable with * for value.

Whistler 2002 Reserve Shiraz will sell for approximately $48 at CD when it is released in December 2004. Dry grown grapes were cropped at 1 – 1½ tons per acre and 280 cases have been produced. The wine was matured for twenty months in 70% American oak, of which 60% was new. The wine has been well made and has incredibly fine tannins, good clean fruit and well judged oak. Lovely, ripe, sweet fruit produces milk chocolate, subtle white pepper spice, with savoury undertones and a leafy finish. Just ample in weight, the consistency is approaching silky and the structure almost seamless. Time is needed for the complexity to build but due to the mouth-feel, it is stupidly easy to drink now. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, it would be a lot more attractive if it was at least $10 less.

This winery is capable of doing good things at realistic prices; I just hope they do not lose the plot.

A new winery recently poked its head above the radar and has received very positive comments from a multitude of people so I was keen to see Kalleske, especially as I had already purchased a six-pack of their wine. Troy is the winemaker and his family own 400 acres of which 100 are under vine, some of them going back to 1875. Being traditional growers, they have been selling the majority of their fruit to major companies but in 2002 started making their own wine and produced 400 cases in their first vintage. In 2004 they produced 4,000 cases and intend to stay at that level for the next few years.

Troy works out of a big green shed behind his brother’s house up in the northern end of the Barossa. There is a dichotomy of scenes at work here. The house in front looks like it has just been built but it has been there for sometime, it is just the garden that has never been finished. On the left hand side of the driveway, all the way up the fence line, you walk past huge, ancient Australian native trees that have been growing since the original settlers planted them. They provide visitors to the shed with a feeling of solidity, almost as though the winery has been there for hundreds of years. Yet, as we know this is a new operation. We walked into the winery as Troy was working on a 2004 Langhorne Creek wine and it smelt fantastic. This was not a smell to die for, it was a smell to live for, open top fermenters bubbling away with a collage of wonderful wafting wine scents.

Troy is a young guy full of enthusiasm and seems quite bemused by the attention he has been receiving and the requests for visits. Naturally, Troy is very happy with the success in achieving wine sales so quickly. We tried two finished wines, some barrel samples and then one surprise finished wine.

Kalleske 2002 Grenache sold out in days. This is a well-built wine with deep, strong fruit and a solid backbone of smooth, dusty tannins. The consistency is firm, rich and almost fleshy. Oodles of dark chocolate, plum, raspberry and liquorice go through waves of flavour and ripple back to a dark chocolate finish. The pretty good fruit at work here produces a well-developed complexity, but let’s be honest; there is nothing subtle about this muscular wine. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it is drinking well now but should peak about 2007.

Kalleske 2002 Shiraz also sold out in days. Dark purple in colour, the hue is equally dark with some VA on the nose. The rich fruit simply sings! It is pure, strong and concentrated providing a multiplicity of black flavours including chocolate, blackberry, plums, aniseed and tar. The mouthful of solid fruit is ably supported by a deceptively good structure. Full bodied with a firm but supple consistency and well-developed complexity, the wine has been well made and balanced. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should peak in 2008+.

John spent some time eyeing off a small quantity of cases that were destined for export and working out who he had to sleep with to get some. I told him he could eventually try one of mine if I didn’t have to sleep with him.

Time to try some barrel samples and as these are unfinished wines they will be brief impressions. The 2003 Grenache has been made from fruit that came from vines planted in 1935. No acid has been added and in fact, the yeast used to ferment the wine is wild. Stored in old oak it has another eight months to go before being bottled. The wine shows good complexity and structure with its huge chocolate, mint and musk flavours. The 02 Grenache is slightly better than the 03. Troy felt the 04 was not as good as the previous two vintages but it is still very early days.

……. The Hands of a Hands On Winemaker

The 2003 Shiraz has attractive tannins, an excellent structure and the coffee, chocolate and plum flavours finish with terrific length. The wine is pretty much on the same level as the 02.

We then tried a 2003 sample from one of the three barrels of 1875 Old Vines Shiraz. This wine should be stunning, the tannins are seductive and the flavour is chocolate personified.

Then there was the Red Nectar – all of 33 cases made and Troy has a name for every bottle!

The final bottled wine sample was a surprise. Both John and I had a bit of trouble nailing it. The wine did not seem to be your normal table wine. No wonder! It was a VP and whilst very good, will require ages to settle down and mature.

Troy is doing some pretty good things here and with the high quality fruit available should be able to produce some very credible wines over time. Keeping production low is also a good idea as it enables him to run a tight, hands on, operation.

From the northern end of the Barossa our next appointment was at Williamstown, right at the southern end. I first visited Winter Creek and met David Cross a couple of years ago and was impressed with this micro-producer. They produce two wines, a Grenache/Shiraz and a straight Shiraz. Both wines are well priced and under $30.

To say that David is passionate about his vines is like saying that Mel Gibson likes to play around with acting and directing. David can enthusiastically bang on for hours about his vines and wines. The way he treats the vines, I am sure he must have a personalised name for each individual plant. That is not a bad thing as this passion is behind the drive to continually improve the end product.

We spent the first little while examining the Grenache vines and the changes he has made to the viticultural practices. I will not go into the details here (mainly because by the time I typed this up four weeks later, I have forgotten the fine, gory details of leaf plucking, trellising, canopy management and pruning) but suffice it to say the changes made in the vineyard are meant to have produced a grape with a more complex flavour profile. David wished to prove that theory to me by letting me sample two vintages of The Old Barossa Blend so I could compare them.

Last time we were here, although it was the same week in May, the temperature was much warmer and we sat on David’s porch with the sun gently caressing us and we enjoyed the ambience of the location whilst we sampled the wine. This time, as it was much cooler we were invited inside the house. On many occasions when I have visited small producers, the tasting has taken place inside their homes, so there is nothing new in that experience. What I did not expect, and have not seen on many of these home visits was the quality touches that David and his wife Pam had provided when arranging the tasting. As John later said in the car, “We have just come from a tin shed where we used stained glasses that you could hardly see through, to a formally set table with Riedels, bickies and cheese. Isn’t the diversity of wine wonderful?”

Winter Creek 2002 The Old Barossa Blend is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Shiraz and is the previous vintage. Purple in colour, the wine is bright with a dark hue. Ample in weight, the raspberry, liquorice, aniseed and chocolate fill the mouth with wave after wave of repeating sweet and savoury flavours. Tannins are unobtrusive but provide enough backbone to hold the wine together and also provide a supple consistency. A classic case of the fruit speaking which is David’s objective; the wine is rated as Recommended with **** for value and is drinking well now.

Winter Creek 2003 The Old Barossa Blend will retail for $25 when it is released in June. The nose is highly perfumed with a forest floor aroma. This wine is very different to the previous vintage. For a start, there is nothing sweet about it; the wine is almost austere. Savoury milk chocolate on the uptake with strawberry on the mid palate, leading to liquorice, some sappiness, mint, mushroom and chocolate on the tail. The next major differences are the tannins and the structure. Here the tannins are abundant, dusty and finish dry. This ample weight wine is clean and has an excellent solid structure that is still very tight. The complexity is well developed but should develop further as the wine matures around 2008. There is nothing ‘fleshy’ about this, it is a serious Grenache with potential and is rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value.

David Cross – Mr Winter Creek …………..

Winter Creek 2002 Shiraz sells for $30. This is the second time I have tried the wine, the last time was about 8 months ago. It is not your average Barossa blockbuster, in fact it is only ample weight and once again, the pure, deep fruit is doing most of the talking with no sign of oak. The bouquet is lifted and shows subtle cigar box, menthol, eucalyptus, and liquorice. As it opened, the complexity became more obvious. Smooth, unobtrusive tannins provide a solid backbone for this firm, tight, ample weight drop. Pure, deep fruit is more than a match for the refreshing, piquant acid that will tame down as the wine matures around 2008. It produces tar, aniseed, chocolate, blackberry, spearmint and leafy tomato flavours, in all an amazing complexity. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value.

Eccentricity and passion are good things for a winemaker because they wind up doing their own thing and doing it well. David’s objective is to make good wine and improve on it little by little as he goes. He is a great believer in minimal intervention in the winemaking process and allowing the fruit to shine through. Looks to me like he is doing what he has set out to do and the prices are right too.

That was the end of the formal wine tasting for the day, which was a complete success - we could not have wished for more. John and I headed back into town feeling that we had tasted some special wines and had met a bunch of interesting and talented people as well as having a few laughs along the way. What more could you want? Well how about a good dinner!

Tonight, we had a night off and dinner with a friend at his home. The food was excellent; our host is a good cook and makes a mean salt and pepper squid. In fact the starters and main were both fish but, as we were amongst red bigots, that did not represent a problem. No notes on the wine, we were just enjoying drinking them, one of us more than the rest. It had been designated an early night and we left at 10 pm for the short walk back into town. John was feeling no pain and singing once again. I must have been reasonably sober as I was afraid he would be arrested for disturbing the tranquillity of the area. Just after we hit the main street a cab approached and we said our good nights. John mentioned something about a “cleansing ale” and I expected to see a real mess the next morning.

Ten minutes later I was in bed and tomorrow is another day. The big question is will the Pie King be there for breakfast and if he is, will he be in any condition to enjoy the days’ planned activities?

Tune in next week to find out.

Chapter Four can be found here

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