Blue Eye’d Boy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2020

Blue Eye’d Boy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2020 

Linda picked up a selection of artisan cheeses and asked for one of ‘her’ wines for pairing. ‘Her’ wines refers to her preferred, favored style; big, bold, concentrated, rich, structured forward fruit filled - ala a McLaren Vale Aussie, Northern Rhone or Santa Barbara Santa Ynez Valley Shiraz, or an occasional Washington Columbia Valley or Sonoma/Napa label. 

So, I pulled from the cellar one of our favorite go-to labels, that happens to the ‘signature’ wine of our son, Alec - “Blue Eye’d Boy” from Mollydooker. 

This is one of our favorite such labels that we enjoy with hearty meals like BBQ, or robust cheeses such as tonight. 

This is one of several labels from this prolific producer that we collect. Producer Mollydooker offer a brand and portfolio of whimsical labels, each featuring a cartoonish character on the label. Even the brand name, Mollydooker, which is Australian lingo for a left-handed person, is a comical play on words, named for the two left handed owner/producers/founders Sarah and Sparky Marquis.  I chronicled Mollydooker brand and portfolio in a recent blogpost. 

Mollydooker is in scenic McLaren Vale, 30 minutes easy drive from Adelaide. Bordered by the Adelaide Hills and five minutes away from glorious beaches.

I developed a special affinity for this wine in recent years. I managed a portfolio of software products used globally, My Australian representative was based in Adelaide who I got to know well over the years and I learned a great deal about life in the region. He was a racing car enthusiast and was a racing buddy of Sparky Marquis, so named for his enthusiasm for race cars, namesake to Marquis-Philips, the predecessor brand to Mollydooker.  He surrendered his stake in the wine business when he separated from Sara. 

The Mollydooker vineyards are situated on the magical Seaview Ridge, which with its ancient soils and Mediterranean climate, is home to some of the most iconic Australian wines. Mollydooker have three separate vineyards – Long Gully Road, Coppermine Road and the Home Blocks, giving us a total of 114 acres of Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot. 

As I wrote in that earlier blogpost, the Mollydooker "Family Series" labels features photos of Sara Marquis' two children. The 'Blue Eyed Boy' label shows Sarah’s son Luke, shown stomping grapes as a kid, who now heads up the Mollydooker Sales Team.

We love this full-throttle shiraz and collect it as part of our Mollydooker portfolio and as part of our Alec collection of labels we keep on hand to toast son Alec. We served an earlier vintage release of this wine at a graduation celebration for Alec back in his college apartment.

Some Cellartrackers talked about using the Mollydooker Shake on this wine. No wonder the producer introduced the Mollydooker 'shake' where they actually prescribe shaking the bottle before opening to awaken or to settle the fruit! We own and drink a lot of their wine and I have never gotten into the habit of doing so but perhaps we should!

Reading up on the Mollydooker Shake, it is prescribed only for still red wines of two years of age or less. It is to release the nitrogen in the bottle that they use instead of the normal sulphites commonly used to preserve wines.  Sulphites can cause an allergic asthma type reaction in some people and Mollydooker realise a lot of people are sensitive to them. So, wherever they can, they use nitrogen to protect the wine so that they can reduce the amount of sulphites.

Mollydooker Blue Eye’d Boy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2020

We've written often in these pages about the fun we have with this label and the rest of the Mollydooker portfolio of wines. Here is a selection of several previous posts on the subject:

September 10, 2022 - Blue Eye'd Boy & Brunier Racines for BBQ Rib Dinner 

March 11, 2022 - Blue Eye'd Boy and CDP for Italian Beef Dinner

May 5, 2012 - Graduation celebration wine tasting flight

February 7, 2014 - Mollydooker 'Carnival of Love' Shiraz 2011

July 4, 2023 - Lede To Kalon and Greywacke showcase 4th of July Celebration

February 3, 2022 - Mollydooker "Scooter" Merlot

We hold more than a half dozen vintages of this label and this is the one of the newest, latest release which we're trying here for the first time. 

This release was sourced from Vineyards across McLaren Vale, Coppermine Road, Gateway, Long Gully Road & Mollydooker Home estate, and the Joppich Vineyard in Langhorne Creek.

Winemaker notes for this release - “The 2020 Blue Eyed Boy is rich, ripe and explosive, this Shiraz displays vibrant blueberry, plum and notes of dark chocolate. A voluptuous palate of blue and black fruit layered with coffee, vanilla cream and liquorice spice. A beautiful balanced wine that has a round and creamy finish, the Blue Eyed Boy exceeds all expectations.”

Winemaker production notes - “We aim to make 80,000 dozen cases of wine each vintage. The tank farm, barrel hall and crushing area are our cellar team's pride and joy. We've got a 1500 tonne crushing capacity, but we only crush just over 1200 tonnes so that the team has plenty of time to mollycoddle the wines, and to keep the winery spick and span.”

It was barrel fermented and matured and aged in 100% American oak, 54% new; 46% 1yr old.

Marquis Fruit Weight - Required: 75% - 85%, Actual: 79%
Marquis Fruit Weight™ is the percentage of your palate (from the tip of your tongue going all the way back) that's covered by the velvety sensation of fruit, before you
experience any of the structural components of the wine.

This 2020 release was rated 93 points by Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate wrote - “This 2020 Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz is a fascinating wine to me, in that it offers everything that I might find challenging in one glass (high alcohol at 16%, prominent American oak and volumes of generous, abundantly concentrated, extracted fruit), yet it does so in such a way that I end up appreciating the construction and the execution despite my stylistic preferences.”

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate wrote an interesting observation about this label, comparing the 2020 and 2021 vintages; "Once you taste a few of a producer's wines side by side, you really start to get a feel for stylistic preference between warm vintages and cool ones. I surprise myself by saying here that I prefer the warmer vintages at Mollydooker (this does not make it right) because the sunshine and ease with which ripening can occur in a warmer year really seems to suit the plush, high-octane style being proliferated here. So, this 2021 Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz is far more on the blue fruit spectrum than the 2020 ..."

“The key here is comparisons of this same label from vintage to vintage, and contrasting the resulting impact from a warm vintage vs a cool vintage. Such distinctions are best revealed through comparison tastings of one vintage alongside another or others - what is referred to as a 'vertical' tasting (as opposed to 'horizontal tasting' which would be various wines from the same vintage). “

This was dark inky blackish purple garnet colored, full bodied, dense, concentrated, extracted rich fruit, yet balanced and approachable, despite its 16% high alcohol content, black and blue berry and pomegranate fruits accented by dark chocolate, licorice, anise and dark coffee with hints of creosote and oaky vanilla with dense full tannins on the long finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4177367

https://mollydookerwines.com.au/

https://twitter.com/MollydookerWine

https://twitter.com/unwindwine

Clarendon Hills Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

Clarendon Hills McLaren Vale Clarendon Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

Friday night dinner, Linda prepared BBQ ribs with roasted potatoes and carrots, one of my favorite meals for pairing with full bodied, bold expressive wines. 

Following the trend of this week, for the third time I pulled from the cellar a 2007 vintage release wine to compare the relative aging of that vintage, albeit across different wine varietals and regions. 

One of our favorite varietals with BBQ is the Syrah grape from the Rhône Valley in France, Australia and parts of California. Syrah is one of a trio of grapes often paired together in blends, along with Grenache and Mourvèdre - together referred to as GSM’s. 

Generally we have favored Syrah over Grenache, but tonight, this single vineyard designated label exceeded our most lofty expectations. 

I featured this same label vintage release in an earlier blogpost in which I also featured this iconic producer in detail -  October, 2020 - Trio of Clarendon Hills labels - Astralis, Bakers Gully and Romas , excerpted below.

Clarendon Hills winery was founded in 1990 by Roman Bratasiuk in Clarendon, a town 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Adelaide, part of the McLaren Vale Wine Region in South Australia. Bratasiuk, a viticulturalist as much as a winemaker, selected Clarendon as a base because of the significant number of old vine vineyards that were planted there, vineyards of 50 to 90 years. 

The township of Clarendon was established in 1880 by European migrants, who brought with them pre-clonal, original French vine cuttings that they planted and propagated across the surrounding hilltops. Clarendon is home to hugely varied terrain with sandy, clay based soils in the lower elevated regions and contrasted with shattered shale and ironstone rich, quartz ridden soils in the highest areas. It is ideal growing conditions for traditional French Rhone varietals - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre as well as Bordeaux varietals Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Clarendon Hills vineyards sources lie within the Clarendon, Blewitt Springs and Kangarilla districts. Using single vineyard designated fruits, Clarendon Hills seeks to express terroir driven varietal expression in its wines.

Today, there are many single vineyard wines in Australia, but when Roman started in 1990, he was a pioneer in this approach. In the early 1990s, Roman started becoming known for his Grenache, but today he has an extensive portfolio of premium and ultra premium quality wines across 19 single vineyard cuvee labels.

With the release of the 1994 vintage. Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out and became his signature flagship label which remains to this day.

Robert Parker has written that "Clarendon Hills is one of the world’s elite wine estates". In 1996, Parker tasted the 1994 Astralis and wrote in his newsletter, Wine Advocate issue 110: "This is the hottest wine in Australian wine circles, as it came out ahead of two great vintages of Henschke and Penfolds’ Grange in a recent tasting. If readers can believe it, it is a bigger denser, more concentrated wine than the Grange," and in issue 108 (1996) he named Roman wine producer of the year. Thereafter, Astralis became a cult wine.

Two vintages of Astralis (1996 and 1994) were recently included within the 'Greatest 1000 Wines of all time 1727-2006" as a result of 15 international MW's collaborating with Scandinavian publisher FINE.

Clarendon Hills was awarded New World Winery of the Year in 2006 by Wine Enthusiast. To date, Astralis is either the highest or equivocally scored as the best Australian Shiraz/Syrah based wine every year according to US publications Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate.

Today, Clarendon Hills produces broad portfolio of nineteen labels; eight Syrah, six Grenache, three Cabernet Sauvignon and one Merlot and Mourvedre wine. Roman exclusively produces single vineyard wines, all single vineyard, single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned, hand picked. All wines are aged in high quality French oak barriques.

One of Australia's iconic producers, Clarendon Hills marches confidently to its own drum, crafting deeply flavoured, profoundly structured and often rather savoury and Old Worldly reds from shiraz and grenache from a variety of sites in the higher Clarendon subregion of McLaren Vale. Each are made and bottled separately, so a new vintage tasting of Clarendon Hills wine will take more than half an hour! 

It's also home to some steadily improving cabernet sauvignons and some slightly idiosyncratic Mourvedre and Merlot. The winery's two top red wines, the Astralis Syrah and the Romas Grenache, easily justify their 5-Star status. The Domaine Clarendon Syrah is an exciting and relatively new project that should gain more standing and status as the vineyard matures. I love the ambition and attitude behind Clarendon Hills. It's pushing the envelopes of style and quality, and it's spectacular when it succeeds.

Clarendon Hills "Romas" Grenache 2007 South Australia

This is Clarendon Hill's top Grenache, single vineyard designated, sourced from the Romas Vineyard Block, in the Clarendon hills, in the tenderloin/best part of the more famous Blewitt Springs Vineyard, located just north-east of McLaren Vale, to the south of Adelaide, Australia

The vineyard was planted in 1920 and the 1940's with the 'Romas Grenache' the steepest, most elevated section. What makes this site special is its elevation of almost 1000 ft and its proximity to the ocean, which sits only a few miles away. The hillside site in some places reaches above a +40˚ slope gradient where the old vines struggle to survive on a steep rock hill face with yields a microscopic 1.2 ton to the acre.

The elevation and slope combined with the proximity to the ocean results in a cooler-climate site and not prone to producing the ‘jammy’, ‘porty’ styles of Aussie Grenache so popular from the broader area, rather, this wine is more like wines from the north side of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. 

Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.

Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. In those cases, Appellation rules require it to be included along with Syrah and Mourvèdre to be at least 70% of the blend, which can include up to thirteen specified varietals. 

Grenache is also grown on the Italian island of Sardinia where they produce bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). It is also grown in California, Washington and Australia who have all achieved found success with Grenache, both stand along single varietal bottlings and in blends.

We held several labels of Clarendon Hills in our cellar going back two and half decades, and several vintages of this one. I selected the oldest vintage, as part of cellar/inventory management, and as a continuing fun comparison of this particular vintage release this week - Garric Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and another, in a post coming soon. 

As I write often in these pages, the optimal pairing of a wine with food will greatly amplify and enhance the enjoyment of both! 

Tonight, these was extraordinary with the delicious BBQ ribs, roasted potatoes and carrots and was perhaps the best showing of a Grenache that I can remember. 

Historically, we not huge fans of Grenache, much less desired than our more favored Syrah varietal. Moreover, in the earlier blogpost review of this specific label, I gave it very low lackluster marks. 

Clarendon Hills McLaren Vale Clarendon Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

While usually we’re not huge fans of Grenache, tonight, this showed extraordinarily well, enhanced by the ideal food pairing. I believe that the extra couple years aging in the bottle allowed this to settle further as it showed great balance and harmony. 

This label release was awarded 91 points by both Wine Enthusiast and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. 

It was matured for 18 months in 1-5 year old tightly grained French Oak.

This may have been my best tasting experience in memory for a Grenache varietal wine. 

Dark garnet purple colored, full bodied, bold and expressive, textured but balanced black berry, black currant and plum fruits were accented by savory rustic, meaty and spice tones of black tea and tobacco leaf with firm but fine approachable tannins on a long gripping finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=933956

https://clarendonhills.com.au/

Two Hands Lily’s Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012

Two Hands Lily’s Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012

Visiting Destiny Cove, our vacation rental home in Destin, (FL), we enjoyed a relaxing evening by the pool with some artisan cheeses, biscuits and assorted chocolates, paired with one of our favorite sipping wines, a full bodied, flavorful Aussie Shiraz.

This is from Two Hands, the handicraft of two producers, Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz. The Two Hands 'Garden Series' portfolio of single vineyard designated Shiraz’ represents their six ultra premium select bottling Shiraz's from the six key South Australia regions and appellations; Bella's Garden in Barossa Valley, Harry & Max's Garden in Langhorne Creek, Max's Garden in Heathcote, Samantha's Garden in Clare Valley, Sophie's Garden in Padthaway, and Lily's Garden in McLaren Vale. Recognizable for their similar standard style, they are differentiated by different colored typeface letters, the McLaren Vale label blue denotes its proximity to the sea. 

The first vintage of Lily’s Garden was produced in 2000, as one of the first wines in the portfolio and was simply labelled ‘Two Hands McLaren Vale Shiraz’. When proprietor Michael Twelftree’s daughter Lily was born in 2001, the wine was renamed ‘Lily’s Garden, to complete the series with ‘Bella’s Garden’. 

Over time, Two Hand wines have gained a following among wine enthusiasts and critics, establishing a reputation for full round blueberry, blackberry and chocolatey flavours, and the ability to age gracefully. Over the years, the Lily’s Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz has received high ratings and critical acclaim as one of Two Hands’s top wines.

Two Hands Lily's Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012

. 

With alcohol content of 16.5%, to say this big bruiser wine is big is an understatement.

Winemaker notes - “Despite its massive 16.5% alcohol content, this wine is very approachable and easy pleasant drinking, if one is accustomed to the big bold fruit forward select Shiraz's. Typical distinctive dark inky black purple colour and big full body with concentrated forward fruits. This vintage is a bit more subdued and moderate than many yet still has complex concentrated dark berry and ripe plum fruits, with tones of blue fruit, spice, dark chocolate and smooth well integrated oak. finishing with supple fine tannins on a lingering persistent finish.”

“South Australia’s viticultural origins began in McLaren Vale and our region’s Mediterranean climate continues to drive our region’s wine style and diverse food culture.”

“Lily’s Garden is the pick of the bunch from our growers’ McLaren Vale vineyards. Lily’s Garden is a generous wine with cascading blue fruits and a rich long palate, typical of the region.”

At twelve years, the important fill level, cork, and the label and foil were in pristine condition. This was probably at the apex of its drinking window, with several years yet at this level.  

Tonight, this tasting was consistent with an earlier one back in 2016 of this label when I wrote:

Dark inky purple, big, full bodied, plush, rich, concentrated thick tongue coating, black and blue berry fruit compote and coulis accented by a layer of spice, gravelly mineral, tones of mocha and black pepper with oak on the chewy tannin laced lingering finish.

RM 93 points.

Two Hands Lily’s Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012 

Winemaker Notes - “The 2012 Lily's Garden Shiraz has a deep dark red, black core. Rich, bold and heady spiced plums aromas with notes of milk chocolate, vanillan, black pepper and fresh meat. There is a fine plump and juicy entry to the palate, echoing the aroma with waves of plummy fruits. Spicy mocha notes emerge mid-palate and are carried through to a finish filled with lovely long fine.”

This vintage release was awarded 94 points by Wine Spectator, and 93 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and the International Wine Cellar, and 91 points by Natalie MacLean. 

Dark inky purple colored, big, round, full bodied, rich concentrated black and blue berry fruits with notes of floral, spice, sweet mocha, and hints of licorice and pepper with a sweet smooth polished finish on the long tannin based finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?1795068

https://www.twohandswines.com/lilys-garden-mclaren-vale-shiraz/

https://x.com/twohandswine?s=21

Piper Heidseick - Enchanted Path for anniversary celebration

Piper Heidseick - Enchanted Path for gala anniversary celebration

We traveled to Indy this weekend to attend the gala celebration of Sis-in-law and Bro-in-law Pat's and Rodger's 50th Wedding Anniversary they hosted for close friends. This follows our trip the week before last to celebrate with them personally in taking them to dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse, Indy, which was featured in this blogpost - Sullivan's Steakhouse Domaine Serene for celebration dinner.

I took for the occasion a large format magnum of this special limited edition bottle of Piper Heidseick Brut NV Champaign which we opened in a special toast to the 'newly' wed couple. This festive red bottle was released a couple years ago over the Christmas holidays and I bought a case of the picturesque festive bottles for the holidays and for special occasions such as this. 

I also opened several of these large format bottles for son Alec and Viviana's wedding celebration dinner as featured in this blogpost at the time - Wedding Wines - Birthyear and Big Bottle Extravaganza Continues.

I also took this weekend for tasting/pairing/sharing with the pot luck dinner at the anniversary celebration this hearty red blend Aussie Shiraz withe whimsical branding and label. 

We've written often in these pages about the Mollydooker portfolio of wines and their whimsically branded, labeled, named wines. What fun to open "Enchanted Path" for a gala Anniversary celebration occasion. 

I also took and opened this label for For dearest friends, Eric and Cathy's 40th anniversary celebration party - a bottle of Mollydooker whimsically named 'Enchanted Path' Mclaren Vale Red Wine Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz - Caymus 40th Anniversary Release - An Enchanted Path.

Mollydooker "Enchanted Path" McLaren Vale South Australia, Red Wine Blend 2012

Mollydooker is the handiwork of the husband-and-wife winemaking team of Sarah and Sparky Marquis. Prior to starting their own label the pair produced under the Marquis Philips brand in partnership with their distributor Dan Philips. Previously, they produced award-winning wines for Australian producers including Fox Creek, Henry’s Drive, Shirvington, and others. The term Mollydooker is Australian slang for a left-handed person as both Sarah and Sparky Marquis are left-handed.

Since 2005, they've focused exclusively on making their own exuberant wines which include a range of Shiraz labels and a variety of Shiraz/Cab/Merlot blends, as well as some adventuresome white wines such as The Violinist, a Verdelho varietal.

They source their fruit from 116 acres of vineyards at their winery in McLaren Vale where about 50 percent are planted in Shiraz, with the rest made up of Cabernet, Merlot, Semillon and Chardonnay. Most of their wines bear distinctive whimsical and humorous names and labels with cartoon characters. Never-the-less, many of their wines, while modestly-priced, Mollydookers are often highly rated. Their premium label, 'Velvet Glove' Shiraz retails for $175, however. 

The 2012 Enchanted Path is dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich thick concentrated and complex with varietal Cabernet notes of ripe black and blue berry and plum with clove, spice and layers of chocolate and anise, with supple creamy mouth-feel and chewy tannins on nicely polished balanced finish.

The 2012 Enchanted Path is a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon.

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1773713

www.mollydookerwines.com

Some other earlier posting notes of this label in these pages:

• Caymus 40th Anniversary Release - An Enchanted Path

•  Horizontal Tasting of South Australia Shiraz - Mollydooker "The Enchanted Path", GoDolphin, BCH and '9'

• 007 Shiraz-Cab Blends

• Mollydooker "The Enchanted Path" Shiraz Cabernet

Rosemount Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

Rosemount Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

We ordered a carry out pizza from Angeli's Italian, our favorite neighborhood trattoria. I opened from our cellar this aged vintage Aussie Shiraz for a full throttle big red.

This is one of our favorite Australian wines from this era, one that we collected going back to the 1992 vintage. We held a decade of vintages of this label including every vintage during the nineties. Over the years, we discovered and collected more Australian Shiraz' from other producers but this was one of our benchmarks. 

This 1999 vintage was one of our favorites from those early years and is one of the few remaining bottles. In those days, these were bottled in six packs which is how we bought them so we invariably had six bottles per vintage (or more).

Rosemount Estate began producing high-quality wines from its founding in 1974. Rosemount’s 1980 Show Reserve Chardonnay won a rare Double Gold Medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London, England, establishing the company’s reputation for quality in Australia and overseas.

Rosemount purchased the 100-year-old Ryecroft winery and vineyards in 1991 and developed other vineyards in the South Central Australia McLaren Vale region, and they source fruit from these vineyards to this day.

The McLaren Vale wine region lies 40 kilometres south Adelaide, the South Australian capital. Built around the coast of the Great Australian Bight, the region has a Mediterranean feel, with its seaside location.

McLaren Vale is a diverse region boasting a mix of sub-regions with different characteristics each best-suited for different varietals, depending on their geology, soils, elevation, rainfall and distance from the sea. Over 18000 acres of the region are covered in vineyards. While 51% of the McLaren Vale vines are Shiraz, the region is also home to many other varieties including Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet, and lesser known varieties such as Grenache, Mouvèdre (Mataro), Fiano and Vermentino.  

With this 1999 vintage, Rosemount Estate was awarded Winery of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. In 2000, Rosemount Estate was awarded Winemaker of the Year and Best Australian Producer at the IWSC in London and Best Australian Producer at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), and in 2011 were awarded New World Winery of the Year from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Rosemount Estate’s Balmoral Syrah is a flagship label, sitting at the top of the Rosemount Estate family tree, achieving international recognition, winning both a Trophy and a Gold medal at the coveted Decanter World Wine Awards in 2011 and again in 2012 and regularly receiving 90+ points in the notable US Wine Spectator across multiple Balmoral vintages.

Balmoral is predominantly sourced from the McLaren Vale sub-region of Seaview, in the northwest corner of the region, northwest of the town center sitting above the McLaren Vale township at roughly 110 metres above sea level. The soils range from quite sandy to red clays with quite a bit of surface iron stone.

 

The Balmoral label is produced from premium parcels from carefully selected vineyard blocks (ranging from 50 to 100 years old) that produce tiny quantities of exceptional fruit that typically delivers intense depth of flavour, superb length and fine acidity with a soft, velvety tannin structure. 

 

Rosemount Estate Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999

This release was #37 of Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2002 with a rating of 93 points. It was awarded 92 points by Wine Enthusiast, and 90 points from Wine and Spirits and Jeremy Oliver.

The Winemaker Notes for this release cited: "A classic, collectable Syrah - one of the best red wines to make it over here from Australia. Made from grapes grown on 50-100 year old vineyards, this McLaren Vale classic is matured nearly two years in new American oak prior to bottling. The richly textured fruit and deep, velvety tannins interweave beautifully into a long, harmonious finish. 15 years plus cellaring potential." 

This certainly held up for the prescribed fifteen years. Here at 22 years it is holding its own, showing well, but starting to show diminution from aging. The fill level, label and most importantly the cork were all in ideal condition, considering their age. 

I started to remove the cork with a traditional corkscrew and it was a bit soft and threatened to come apart. Switching to the ahso two pronged cork puller it extracted intact. 

The color was garnet colored with some brown bricking starting to set in, medium-full bodied, the full blackberry and black currant fruits are starting to give way to the non-fruit notes of tobacco, spice box, hints of pepper, anise and black olive with tangy acidity on the lingering finish. 

RM 88 points.

My first published review of this label was back in Aug, 19, 2003 - Rosemount Estate Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999, RM 92, WS 93 SS $53, Huge forward long mouth full of currant, plum, blackberry and anise. Bigger and more robust than other recent years. Try it and see why this is one of my perennial favorites - even better this year! 

 

I published follow on reviews: Rosemount Estates Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah 1999 - Aug, 19, 2003, Nov 23, 2002, and my most recent previous review, September 17, 2016.

 

My previous review for this wine: This vineyard is one of the few in Australia with vines dating back a hundred years. The concentrated fruit is akin to the Chateau Tanunda with its legendary 100 year old vines. The story of  we Pour Boys discovering and then capturing the US allocation of this wine is written often in these pages. 

Dark inky purple garnet colored, medium-full bodied, forward  currant, plum, blackberry fruits turning to blueberry on the mid-palate, accented by a layer of anise, raisin and fig with hints of clove and spice.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3000 

 

Fellow Cellartrackers' reviews for this label: 

12/11/2020 - bdhanna Likes this wine: 89 Points  "Just past peak. A near perfect cork after two decades in the bottle. Consumed over two days. Popped and poured this wine, it opened up quickly. On day two the fruit was still fresh, this wine had softened to reveal increased depth and integrated complexity.

Dark burgundy color with little to no oxidation and clarity was medium. Aromas of bing cherry and raspberry. Flavors of black cherry cola, black pepper, raspberry framboise, leather, and a little funk. This Syrah has a medium finish. This is my last bottle of this vintage. Always a great fruit source and a good winemaking effort."

12/31/2018 - corkus Likes this wine: 94 Points "Purple brownish color. Mint, pepper, musk and brambles on the nose. Palette of pepper, blackberry, black cherry with mint overtones and a creamy light tannic finish. Still quite a long finish with a good acid spine. The fruit is not as prominent as it was and I think it's starting to get close to the end of it's drinking window, Hint: Be careful of the cork, it's starting to crumble!"

9/12/2015 - Bsmith457 Likes this wine: 95 Points "Very dark almost black colour. On second night, aromas primarily of oak and leather. Black berry, pepper and a sweet cherry flavour. Surprisingly fresh still. Tannins have not taken over at all and the fresh fruit is still evident. Still looks like it has few years in it."

6/18/2020 - Bsmith457 Likes this wine: 93 Points "Dark dirty crimson. Dry spice, rotted wood. Sweet plum, strawberry, black cherry, coffee beans. Full body, tannin is remarkably fine. Acidity is a bit low. Some signs of oxidation when first opened, the cork broke apart but could be recovered. Recovers very well, impressive wine for its age. I was worried it would be flat but still has good flavours, even if a bit dull. It’s my last bottle, but if I had more I would be happy to open them."

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3000

https://www.rosemountestate.com/

 

 

 

 

Father Son wine dinner

Father and my three son's celebrate Dad's b-day wine dinner

With the ladies on the east coast for a wedding shower, I got to dine with my three sons as the men got together for a grilled steak and wine dinner. 

Son Alec hosted and broke in his new grill preparing rib-eye steaks, roasted corn, squash, grilled marinated mushrooms and carmelized grilled onions. 

We each brought an interesting bottle to share and compare. 

Beforehand, Alec served the selection of Murray's artisan cheeses as he did the other evening when we dined there christening their new townhouse. 

 

 

Son Ryan was bringing one of my historically most memorable Syrahs, Kongsgaard Napa from 2002, (which we drank at my birthday two years earlier). So, I looked for a comparative bottle from a near vintage, and pulled from our cellar a 2001 Noon Eclipse. 

 The wines were a spectacular accompaniment to the steaks, corn, mushrooms, onions, squash and chocolate - a fabulous dinner! 

For the dinner entree course, Alec opened a Corley Reserve Napa Cabernet. 

Noon Vineyards Eclipse McLaren Vale Grenache Syrah blend 2001 

This is produced by Drew Noon and his wife Raegan who carry on to the next generation this family owned small vineyard and winery in McLaren Vale, South Australia. 

Drew grew up on this property that his father David established as a family wine business in 1976. Drew took over winemaking duties from his Dad with the 1996 vintage. 

Drew writes about the vines that surround the house, "They are like old friends. I have pruned and tended them since I was a child and so the appearance of the vines themselves, the leaves and the bunches as they develop, is very familiar. I feel like I share a life experience with them and so they are close to my heart."

The Noon vineyards like many in South Australia are unique, with the old vines growing on their own roots (not grafted onto rootstocks necessitated by the presence of phylloxera like most of the rest of the world). Their native, natural 'old' vines more readily reflect their terroir and produce wines with a ‘sense of place’. This circumstance is quite rare in the world sense and gives Noon a unique advantage.

Noon specializes in limited production red wines, hand crafted to be full bodied, sourced from their estate from small vineyard blocks. They employ a minimalist approach to craft wines that optimally reflect the grapes and the site terroir.

When I pulled this from the cellar it was still wrapped in the tissue from the original release. I initially thought it was the Noon Syrah until we unwrapped it for opening at dinner. I seem to recall buying this at Gary's in Scottsdale, during one of my frequent trips there during that era.

Noon "Eclipse" Langhorne Creek South Australia Grenache-Shiraz 2001 

The 2001 Eclipse is a blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz, from 56-65 year old vines from three vineyards surrounding and adjacent to the producer's homestead house and winery in McLaren Vale. From the Winery Block they grow Grenache bush vines planted in 1934; from the Almond Block they  grow Shiraz and Graciano (bush vines) that were planted between 1998 and 2001, and from BJ’s Block, they grow another Grenache bush vine vineyard, planted in 1943.

This was rated 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 93 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

At twenty years, despite perfect cork, fill level and label, this is at the end of its prime drinking window and will start to diminish here forward, time to drink. 

Lighter than expected. Dark garnet color with opaque purple hues, medium bodied,  blackberry fruit accented by charcoal, smoke, bacon fat, some pepper, licorice, black tea, hints of floral and spice. 

RM 90 points.

https://noonwinery.com.au/noon-eclipse.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=30300

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah 2002

For my second birthday dinner in three years, Ryan opened this Kongsgaard Napa Valley Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah. I first tasted this label, the 2007 release, at Grange Restaurant in Sacramento. I wrote in my blogpost at the time that it was the most memorable Shiraz I had ever tasted. 

This is sourced from the Hudson Vineyard down in Carneros at the bottom of Napa Valley near the San Pablo Bay. 

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah 2002

Consistent with that earlier tastings, this was dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex and concentrated with notes of what Robert Parker refers to as soy, beef jerky and smoked game tones. There is a layer of bacon fat and graphite overlaying the more subdued flavors of black blackberry and raspberry with accents of of licorice and pepper. 

This was a great pairing with the Noon and a perfect complement to the artisan cheese and grilled steaks, as well as chocolate cake for dessert.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=18009

Corley Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

This is produced by the Corley family who are long time grape growers in Napa Valley that produce a small limited amount of wine of their own label, only in extraordinary vintages. 

They produced this wine at Monticello Winery on Big Ranch Road in the Oak Knoll District of south Napa Valley. We visited this winery estate back in the late nineties when it was operating as a custom crush facility and we did a tasting of boutique producer Elan Wines with producers Patrick and Linda Elliott-Smith. 

This was a special bottle as the boys know and are friends with one of the members of the Corley family and were able to source this special limited release bottling. 

This is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot.

Ken's Wine Guide Tasting Panel summed this up perfectly when they wrote about this label, "This very dark garnet colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Corley opens with a mild black currant and black licorice bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, slightly acidic and savory. The flavor profile is a fruit forward fruit bomb featuring stewed plum and black currant with notes of graphite and toasted oak. We also detected a hint of blackberry. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins show very nice length. The Panel suggested pairing this Cab with a New York strip steak. Enjoy - KWGTP"

I echo their tasting experience and give this 92 points. Dark garnet color, medium-full body, nicely balanced and integrated blackberry and black currant fruits with notes of anise, hints of graphite and toasted oak with smooth polished moderate tannins on a lingering finish.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?Label=46&iWine=3237704

As the time of this writing, the Corley Wine website is not operating.  

Fine De Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château La Nerthe 1988 

We finished the dinner with chocolate cake and  this special aperitif. 

This is another very special bottle we tasted. We opened and christened this bottle during a special dinner at Alec and Vivianna's apartment in NYC. 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/10/parents-son-dinner-features-birth-year.html

We discovered, tasted, and Alec acquired this wine during our visit to the Château La Nerthe estate two summers ago.

La Fine de Château La Nerthe comes exclusively from the distillation of white wine in bottles of the Château. White wine is aged in bottles in the cellars before being tasted and distilled.

Château La Nerthe perform a triple distillation to obtain the finest and delicate aromas possible. They seek the spirit of their old white wines that make the reputation of Château La Nerthe. By its origin, its extraction, its requirement and its refinement of 10 years minimum in oak casks, the Fine of the Castle La Nerthe is the expression of the exceptional finest spirit of their wines.

Château La Nerthe have been producing these fine wines in the true tradition of fine wine distillation in Châteauneuf du Pape since this, their first vintage, 1988.

Tea honey colored, full bodied, delicious, smooth, harmonious, nicely balanced.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3330760

http://www.chateaulanerthe.fr/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clarendon Hills "Piggott Range Vineyard" Syrah Duo

Clarendon Hills "Piggott Range Vineyard" Syrah Duo followed by pair of Rubissows

With the ladies gathered in town for a bridal shower for daughter-in-law Vivianna, the guys hung out sipping a medley of fine wines. Dr Dan brought from his cellar a Clarendon Hills "Piggott Range Vineyard" Syrah so I pulled another vintage of the same label for a mini-vertical comparison tasting. 

We've had several memorable tastings of this label going back to the '97 vintage including a special anniversary dinner and several of our wine group special events featuring this 2004 release. Links to these various tastings are featured below. I wrote about Clarendon Hills in one of those earlier blogposts. 

This Piggott Range vineyard designated label is by far my favorite of the Clarendon Hills portfolio even when compared to their flagship super premium Astralis label. I wrote about a trio of Clarendon Hills labels in a blogpost comparison tasting last fall, "Trio of Clarendon Hills labels - Astralis, Bakers Gully and Romas".

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Clarendon Hills "Piggott Range Vineyard" Syrah McLaren Vale South Australia 2011

This vintage release of this label was not as big or fruit filled as the other releases I have tasted, taking on a little bit more menthol and acidity than the more complex concentrated fruit flavors of the 2004 that we paired and compared. One Cellartracker reviewer MMack gave it 92 points and compared it to a CDP (Chateauneuf du Pape). Vivino reviewer DcLaxFan also likened it to a Rhone, he wrote "From a winery founded by a biochemist, the Syrah opens with a nose of smoked meat, mulberry, tapenade, and plum. Savory mouth of prunes, brisket, cassis, and earth. A wild, smoky, meaty feel like a Rhône Vacqueyras."

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1953014

Tasty and big never-the-less, the 2004 put it in its place with a more classic big powerful concentrated fruit Piggott Range profile.

Clarendon Hills Syrah Piggott Range Vineyard 2004

Consistent with earlier tasting notes, this exhibited a rich dark purple color, full bodied, and full smooth polished aromas and flavors of raspberries, blueberry, blueberries and smoked meat with notes of spice and floral elements with hints of oak with nicely integrated silky tannins on the lingering finish.

The rich extracted fruit however did not succumb to the last tasting of this label when the fruit seemed more ripe or extracted so as to be a bit more raisiny with a subtle tone of graphite or a metallic note - perhaps or most likely attributable to aging at this stage of life - fifteen years of age.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=153424

Previous tastings of this label:

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/11/bbq-ribs-and-syrah-syrah.html 

http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2012/08/clarendon-hills-clarendon-piggott-range.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2015/10/cityscape-syrah-zin-bbq-ribs-wine.html 

https://clarendonhills.com.au/

Trio of Clarendon Hills labels - Astralis, Bakers Gully and Romas

Clarendon Hills Baker's Gully Shiraz 2003

After drinking the Clarendon Hills Astralis at the gala Pour Boys tomahawk ribeye wine dinner last weekend, for midweek meatloaf dinner I pull from the cellar another Clarendon Hills label, this aged single vineyard syrah-shiraz, Baker's Gully Syrah. At seventeen years, this bottle is past its prime and its time to drink while it is still within its drinking window. This is the final bottle of several that I obtained more than a dozen years ago. On my last tasting note of this label, three years ago, I wrote it was past its drinking window and starting to show its age. Ideally, I wouldn't finished consuming the remaining bottles rather than waiting three years to consume this final bottle as it has diminished linearly over that time. 

Clarendon Hills winery was founded in 1990 by Roman Bratasiuk in Clarendon, a town 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Adelaide, part of the McLaren Vale Wine Region in South Australia. Bratasiuk, a viticulturalist as much as a winemaker, selected Clarendon as a base because of the significant number of old vine vineyards that were planted there, vineyards of 50 to 90 years.

The township of Clarendon was established in 1880 by European migrants, who brought with them pre-clonal, original French vine cuttings that they planted and propagated across the surrounding hilltops. Clarendon is home to hugely varied terrain with sandy, clay based soils in the lower elevated regions and contrasted with shattered shale and ironstone rich, quartz ridden soils in the highest areas. It is ideal growing conditions for traditional French Rhone varietals - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre as well as Bordeaux varietals Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Clarendon Hills vineyards sources lie within the Clarendon, Blewitt Springs and Kangarilla districts. Using single vineyard designated fruits, Clarendon Hills seeks to express terroir driven varietal expression in its wines. 

Today, there are many single vineyard wines in Australia, but when Roman started in 1990, he was a pioneer in this approach. In the early 1990s, Roman started becoming known for his Grenache, but today he has an extensive portfolio of premium and ultra premium quality wines across 19 single vineyard cuvee labels. 

With the release of the 1994 vintage. Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out and became his signature flagship label which remains to this day.  

Robert Parker has written that  "Clarendon Hills is one of the worlds elite wine estates".  In 1996,   Parker tasted the 1994 Astralis and wrote in his newsletter, Wine Advocate issue 110: "This is the hottest wine in Australian wine circles, as it came out ahead of two great vintages of Henschke and Penfolds’ Grange in a recent tasting. If readers can believe it, it is a bigger denser, more concentrated wine than the Grange," and in issue 108 (1996) he named Roman wine producer of the year. Thereafter, Astralis became a cult wine.

 

Two vintages of Astralis (1996 and 1994) were recently included within the 'Greatest 1000 Wines of all time 1727-2006" as a result of 15 international MW's collaborating with Scandinavian publisher FINE. 

 

Clarendon Hills was awarded New World Winery of the Year in 2006 by Wine Enthusiast. To date, Astralis is either the highest or equivocally scored as the best Australian Shiraz/Syrah based wine every year according to US publications Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate.

 

Today, Clarendon Hills produces broad portfolio of nineteen labels; eight Syrah, six Grenache, three Cabernet Sauvignon and one Merlot and Mourvedre wine. Roman exclusively produces single vineyard wines, all single vineyard, single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned, hand picked. All wines are aged in high quality French oak barriques.  

Clarendon Hills Baker's Gully Shiraz 2003

This Baker's Gully label was produced to be an entry level wine targeted at the restaurant trade which found the Clarendon Hills Old Vines range too pricey for some wine lists. This also provided an introduction to Clarendon Hills wines to a broader customer base.  

 

The Bakers Gully vineyard from which this label is sourced, is located approximately 1 km from the winery. Bratasiuk has been looking at this site for a few years, which consists of 10 year old dry grown Shiraz. The cropping levels are at the higher end of the quality status at 3 ½ tonnes per acre. Roman believes that over a period of 2-5 years the yields will be reduced to 2-2 ½ tonnes per acre. The soil profile is similar to those of another popular well known vineyard/label, Liandra, with sandy and clay soils which are typical of Blewitt Springs. The wine is aged in 15% new oak consisting of a mixture French Allier and Nevers.

Over the years we've had and still hold several labels from this producer including the flagship, premium Astralis that we consumed last weekend at our gala Pour Boys dinner. My actual favorite label from this producer, and perhaps most memorable drinking experiences is their Piggott Range Syrah. My experience is that those labels were always vastly exceeding this label. Lastly, we hold and recently tasted their Romas Grenache varietal label. It was underwhelming to the extent that I did not publish a review at that time. I'll wrap that up at the bottom of this post.

At this writing, the Baker's Gully still holds its dark inky garnet color and full bodied concentrated fruits, but a slight earthy leathery funk has set in with notes of a slight burnt note that was described a decade ago but a fellow cellartracker reviewer, offset by a raisin tones and a bit of a cognac alcohol heat tone. Satisfactory sipping as it nears end of life. 

RM 86 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=161636

Clarendon Hills Romas Clarendon Grenache 2007

Last week I opened this Clarendon Hills Romas Vineyard Grenache. This is Clarendon Hill's top Grenache, sourced from the Romas Vineyard, which sits in the tenderloin/best part of the more famous Blewitt Springs Vineyard.

The vineyard was planted in 1920 with the 'Romas Grenache' in the steepest, most elevated section. What makes this site special is its elevation of almost 1000 ft and its proximity to the ocean, which sits only a few miles away.  The hillside site in some places reaches above a +40˚ slope gradient where the old vines struggle to survive on a steep rock hill face with yields a microscopic 1.2 ton to the acre.The elevation and slope combined with the proximity to the ocean results in a cooler-climate site and not prone to producing the ‘jammy’, ‘porty’ styles of Aussie Grenache so popular from the broader area, rather, this wine is more like wines from the north side of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. 

This was dark garnet colored, medium bodied with strong nose of cherry liqueur, ultra ripe raisiny berry and strawberry fruits are accented with an offsetting medicinal glycerin and high alcohol tone, with notes of oak, clove and mineral.

RM 84 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=933956

https://clarendonhills.com.au/