5 Fine Wines to share with valued friends!
Shared from Connoisseur Magazine AUS
With Fathers Day upon us,.. most of us are being inundated with E-mail promotions and Offers,.. from the big retailers and also from smaller E-commerce Wine Specialists and the numerous Wineries and Cellar Doors themselves,…
With this in mind,.. We have prepared a Review of some of the Great wines you might consider for gifting this Father’s Day or Gifting and drinking in general…. with reference to any Special deals and Promotions currently on Offer,.. that might make a difference to your selection.
We hope you might find this useful- Enjoy!
1.) 2016 Edizione Cinque Autoctoni No.18 14.5% Alc by Farnese Price range:$60.00 to $75.00
Stockists: Jims Cellar at Woolhara , Kemeny’s Bondi Road and Dan Murphy selected stores
We tasted this wine in the company of a very knowledgeable Tuscan Restaurateur Giuliano, from Picola Baia Restaurant (Tuscan Kitchen) at Little Bay,Sydney and he elected to match a Home made Papardelle with Beef Ragu to do justice to this wine ,..We were both impressed-it was a perfect match!
This wine is becoming one of the iconic wines of Italy,.but it is outside the DOC appellation system.
Farnese “Edizione” gives a very deep violet garnet red colour. The nose is intense and persistent with notes of cherry and blackcurrant, herbs, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, liquorice and hints of mineral. The palate has great structure, good balance between alcohol and freshness, velvety tannins, very persistent with a long finish, ready to drink, or can be put in the cellar for a few years.The wine is macerated and fermented for 25 days. Malolactic fermentation in barriques and French barrels for 12 months.
The philosophy of this wine is what real makes it interesting-Perhaps the inspiration for this wine lies in our own great GRANGE ,..A Multi regional and multilayered Blend !?
Edizione is a cross-provincial blend of five native grapes (the ‘Cinque Autoctoni’): Montepulciano and Sangiovese from the Abruzzi; Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera from southern Puglia. The result is aged in new oak, 60% American (from Seguin Moreau) and 40% French
Grape Varieties: 30% Primitivo, 30% Montepulciano, 28% Sangiovese, 7% Negroamaro, 5% Malvasia Nera
Producer: Farnese is a big, ultra-modern southern producer, specialising in innovative creations like this one
Cellar Potential: 2014-2019
In any case ,the wine was designed to prove it is possible to make a great red wine, that is expression of the enormous patrimony of autochthonous vines that grow in Italy, with the best characteristic of taste and fragrance, that seldom can be found other Fine wines .
It is rather unique and one of the first things you can observe ,..is the wine is not opaque but very dense in appearance and the colour is a very deep garnet red. (Even the rim is so dense as to negate any opacity, very unusual indeed!) The bouquet is perhaps not as intense as I would have imagined,.but it has subtle notes of cherry and blackcurrant, herbs, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, liquorice and hints of mineral.
On the palate the wine has an impressive structure, with a velvety texture and an extremely solid core of fruit ,..such that you can visyaulize the grapes themselves ,…when you are tasting this wine! There is a good balance between alcohol and freshness, velvety tannins, very persistent with a long finish.I drank this wine over three days,..and I can honestly say ,..I don’t think it was oxidated on the third day,…quite unusual,…and this probably attests to the minimal intervention with overdone “new world” type chemistry in the winemaking process,…
The uniqueness of the wine is reflected in the Tasting Notes and Awards of the James Halliday of Italy ,…Luca Maroni when he awarded the wine 99 PointsBest Italian Red Wine!
Luca Maroni – Annuario Dei Migliori Vini Italiani 2019 framed his points as follows:
Consistency – 33/33 – Balance – 33/33 – Integrity – 33/33
Luca Maroni’s Comments are worth reading:
“The sensorial reverberation of its analytical and organoleptic features is a display of pure fruit for the eyes, nose and mouth. Such a deep violet that light cannot show through. Its blackberry pulp is the supreme essence. Its non oxidized aroma reminds us of a berry in its early sap, spicy and flowery. All adding up to texture, balance and integrity, the highest value of its native grapes. Bright and clean, with a residual oxidative integrity due to low impact processing”.
Awards: 90 Points Wine Spectator December 2016, Gold Medal Selections Mondiales Des Vins Canada 2016, Certificate Of Excellence Merano Wine Awards 2016, 5 Grappoli Bibenda 2016, Gold Medal New Zealand International Wine Show 20152.) Pierro Chardonnay 2018 Margaret River
Stockists: Jims Cellar at Woolhara , Kemeny’s Bondi Road and Dan Murphy selected stores
PRICE RANGE: Online Offer $84.95 per bottle at Dan Murphy
(Normal Price is $89.99 per bottle)
Shop around and you will find that it is hard to beat KEMENY’s (Bondi Road)on price on many Fine Wines!
Margaret River is a world renowned Chardonnay producing region and Pierro can rightfully stake a claim as to why. Incredibly complex, it is a tangle of fine-boned acid, lees complexity, pristine fruit and the most detailed use of good quality oak. Extremely enjoyable now, but will benefit from short to medium term cellaring.
The result is a world-class white. The wine has won many awards over the years and is well entrenched in the top three Chardonnays of Australia. No mean feat for a chap who at one stage of the vineyard development was regarded as a crank for his innovative practices in vine planting and canopy management.
“This is a white of great finesse yet impressive power, tight structure yet generosity of flavour; ripe melony, peachy characters yet noticeable restraint and subtlety; an unctuous mouth-feel yet with taut, fine acidity on the finish.Indeed, it is a fitting ambassador for Margaret River wine and the on-going quest for ever greater quality at Pierro.”
In the words of Jeremy Oliver, one of Australia’s most highly respected wine writers:
“Pierro is one of the few Australian wineries that could claim to have established a trend that many others have followed. Since the mid-1980s Mike Peterkin has crafted a Chardonnay of not only monumental power, but of simultaneously smooth and silky delivery.Pierro Chardonnay is the role model for so many of Australia’s more opulent and hedonistically proportioned chardonnays and is a stunning expression of Margaret River Chardonnay.”
Mike Peterkin had initially intended to specialise in Riesling on his Willyabrup plot, so it was a tad fortuitous that Chardonnay became Pierro’s most famous wine.
3.) Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2017
Stockists: Jims Cellar at Woolhara , Kemeny’s Bondi Road and Dan Murphy selected stores
PRICE RANGE: VINTAGE CELLARS has a special promotion for Fathers Day, but widely available at all Fine Wine Merchants
Hot Price !! SPECIAL $100 PROMOTION at Vintage Cellars for FATHERS DAY!
St Henri is a time-honoured and alternative expression of Shiraz, and an intriguing counterpoint to Grange!
“St Henri is rich and plush when young, gaining soft, earthy, mocha-like characters as it ages. It is matured in old, 1,460 litre vats that allow the wine to develop, imparting minimal, if any oak character.”
St Henri is a time-honoured and alternative expression of Shiraz, and an intriguing counterpoint to Grange. It is unusual among high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on any new oak.
“Proudly, a wine style that hasn’t succumbed to the dictates of fashion or commerce. St Henri is rich and plush when young, gaining soft, earthy, mocha-like characters as it ages. It is matured in old, 1,460 litre vats that allow the wine to develop, imparting minimal, if any oak character. Although a small proportion of Cabernet is sometimes used to improve structure, the focal point for St Henri remains Shiraz.”
Pictured above is the regular price on the left, and the Special Fathers Day Promo Price at Vintage Cellars !
4.) 2018 Lake’s Folly CABERNETS
PRICE RANGE: RRP $100.00
Stockists: Vintage Cellars EastVillage, Summer Hill Cellars
I was quite surprised to spot the magnificent Lakes Folly CABERNETS latest vintage on the shelves at Vintage Cellars at EastVillage,as this wine very much in demand from collectors and connoisseurs alike is normally sold out to Winery members and subscribers …and usually in very short supply. Clean, vibrant lifted blackcurrant and black cherry aromas with perfumed violet hints. Palate is generous and the pristine red and black berry fruits flow over the palate with fine tannins and elegant oak supporting a sensationally balanced and long-living Cabernet.
WinemakerHunter Valley icon Lake’s Folly was established by Max Lake and family 1963 and his Cabernet blend has become one of the most collected wines in Australia. Magnificent nose of ripe black fruits – especially blackberry. Hints of Christmas cake, dark fruits with subtle hints of violets. The palate is elegant with restrained power – this is a classy wine – stylish, long palate, seamless with lovely structure and balance. It will age for a long period and be one of the great vintages in years to come in our buyers option.
Lake’s Folly was established in Broke Rd, Pokolbin, in 1963 by surgeon, author, winemaker, bon vivant and wine judge Dr Max Lake and his wife Jo.
Their two flagship wines, a Cabernet blend and a Chardonnay, are made in limited quantities and are grown, vintaged, and made on the Estate. The wine styles are restrained and elegant, showing finesse and complexity. They have clarity of structure and great length of flavour.
Lake’s Folly Cabernets is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Shiraz made from low-yielding, estate-grown, hand-picked fruit.
The fruit is open-fermented producing softer, more subtle tannins, and then transferred to large old casks for six months for settling, and then into small French oak barriques (new and one- and two-year-old) for approximately one year before bottling. Excellent long-term cellaring potential of up to 20 years, depending on the vintage.
Wine Ark does a triennial list of the 50 most collected wines and Treasury Wine Estates’ Penfolds brand holds the 2019 top three positions with its Grange shiraz, Bin 389 cabernet-shiraz and St Henri shiraz.,….Then comes Lake’s Folly CABERNETS!!
Rod Kempe, who has been Lake’s Folly winemaker since 2000, said the 2019 Wine Ark collectability placing was a great honour, especially since it had held a top ranking for the past 13 years.Max Lake defied Hunter convention by planting cabernet sauvignon and producing world-class reds labelled cabernets and typically blends of 60 per cent, cabernet sauvignon, 22 per cent shiraz, 12 per cent petit verdot and 6 per cent merlot.
TASTING NOTES:
“Clean, vibrant lifted blackcurrant and black cherry aromas with perfumed violet hints. Palate is generous and the pristine red and black berry fruits flow over the palate with fine tannins and elegant oak supporting a sensationally balanced and long-living Cabernet.”
5.)Clonakilla 2018 Shiraz Viognier (pictured)up to $125.00 per bottle ..
Stockists : Dan Murphy stores,..OR Buy the straight SYRAH or a GIFT VOUCHER-
Direct at https://clonakilla.com.au/product/2018-syrah/
Whilst the 2018 Shiraz Viognier is stocked by Top Wine Merchants and Retailers (including Dan Murphy),the Clonakilla Syrah 2018 , from a stellar vintage just released,.. is at least as good as any Syrah, or indeed any wine, they have ever made,..albeit without (I presume) the addition of the Rhone Valley Blend identifier Viognier!?
Here are the first assessments of the Clonakilla Syrah 2018 just released for online e-commerce customers) by the experts
Here is what Huon Hooke had to say:
“The bouquet is spicy first, floral second, fruit driving it … wonderful complexity. The palate is medium-bodied and very elegant, stylish, polished and fluent…The palate length is extraordinary and seamless all the way…It’s deceptively easy to enjoy now, but a few years on it promises to bring even more to the table. Great now and even greater potential.” 98 points – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
“The winemaking is kept as simple as possible. Whole berries are fermented warm by their own native yeasts. The wine spends a month macerating on skins and twenty-two months in fine-grained French oak puncheons.”
“…the pure Syrah of 2018 is as good as the Shiraz Viognier.” – Huon Hooke
A great vintage, but not without challenges.
Price $110.00 per bottle or if your feeling optimistic ,..Buy a case for $660-Which is still much less than the price of a bottle of Grange! (I know which I would rather have!)
Now just to complicate the plot a little further,….an alternative Bordeaux style wine the 2018 Ballinderry is also now available
Whilst I tasted the previous 2017 vintage and was impressed by the wine,…the 2018 vintage has not surprisingly this wine has scored 93 points.
(Apparently Ballinderry is Irish for ‘place of the oak’ and is named for the great oak tree planted in the top corner of the property when Clonakilla was established by John Kirk in 1971.)
By all accounts ,..2018 was a great vintage. A brilliant ripening season was marked by a run of gorgeous weather in the crucial late summer and early Autumn.
This Bordeaux style wine is a blend of 39% Cabernet Franc, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot from estate vines planted between 1971 and 1987. A wine that will age with dignity over many years.
Cellar Door:
https://clonakilla.com.au/product/2018-syrah/
3 Crisps Lane
Murrumbateman
NSW 2582
Australia
Phone: (02) 6227 5877
*Written by Axel Ritenis, Editor/Publisher of Connoisseur Magazine
*The author acknowledges the use of company publicity content in the compilation of this article
