Arete 2008 Shiraz March 09

Tasting Note

Sydney Time

Arete 2008 Shiraz March 09

You will have never heard of this wine; it’s new! The fruit comes from Greenock in the Barossa, and the wine is ‘hand made’ by Richard Bate. I first met Richard many years ago at Saltram where he was the cellar door manager. Besides being an all round good bloke, he impressed me with his quiet knowledge of things vinous. Richard left Fosters some time ago, and recently decided to start making wine again so he did not forget all that he had learnt. I am glad he did!

The wine is sealed under screwcap and retails for $20 from the winery. The nose bangs out a whopping amount of very fresh, intense, youthful, red currant/plummy Shiraz fruit, together with chocolate and spicy coffee. It is said that a sign of good winemaking is to take good fruit and to do as little as possible to screw up what they have started with, and that’s exactly what has been achieved here. The judicious use of minimal oak, no fining and no filtering has produced a thoroughly honest, unpretentious and uncomplicated wine, with a huge amount of flavour for the price. It’s muscular in weight and whilst it has a soft consistency, there are just enough unobtrusive tannins to stop it being sloppy. Driven by pure, deep fruit, the gob full’s of flavour, the bouquet is replicated on the palate, and it slips down far too easily. Drink over the next four years, it’s a great party wine and is rated as Recommended with **** for value; it is absolutely worth buying without a second thought.