(2022) From the Limestone Coast, a straightforward proposition in the shape of a Shiraz and Cabernet blend, with spicy and plummy aromas, smoothed by vanilla and spiked with pepper. In the mouth, a ripe mouthfull of black fruit flavours, rounded by oak and while the combination of tannins and alcohol make it a little hot for my taste, it delivers a soild mouthful of beefy red at a fair price.
(2022) Wild-fermented in French oak, with 10 months ageing in barrels of various sizes, this comes from elevated Eden Valley vineyards planted in 1980 and 1995. Pale gree/gold in colour, it is peachy, full and creamy on the nose, with twist of confit lemon and hint of something spicy and nutty. In the mouth it very nicely straddles full texture and palate-weight, and crispness, with no shortage of apricot and peach fleshiness of fruit, and a taut core of acidity that is quite pithy and lemony-dry, smoothed by the barrel component.
(2022) Vines here are 45-years-old and planted on terra rossa, and after fermentation in concrete open fermenters, the wine spent 16 months in French oak 300-litre hogsheads, 25% new. Dense and deep, the oak is more prominent than the Koonara, but quality is very high and it adds a lovely mocha depth to the ripe blackcurrant. There's a little graphite lift too. In the mouth this is very juicy, medium-weight, with a fine and dry tannin profile, slightly dusty, good acidity and fine overall balance and length.
(2021) From the super-Cooperative cellar, CAVIT, a range-topping Pinot Grigio cropped very low (45hl/ha) from high altitude vines with an average age of 15- to 30-years. It's an elegant and yet concentrated wine, unoaked, and showing a distinct salts and minerals edge to ripe pear fruit - not pear drops, but fully ripe fruit. In the mouth it has texture and a little sense of grippiness, very dry, a nice bitter endive twist to the finish where good acidity also pushes through.
(2019) A perennial favourite of mine in the Seven Springs range, this feather-light 12.5% alcohol Chardonnay is both delicate and intense, the acidity drives this in a Chablis-like way, stripped down and fresh and yet not without a hint of creaminess, a hint of more tropical mango fruit in there somewhere. A brisk, yet gentle and aromatic Chardonnay.
(2017) As always, the Sauvignon Blanc from Seven Springs is about intensity and concentration, about drive and minerality as much as flamboyance. Having said that, there is an edge of cut grass and nettles on the nose, as well as a hint of tropical fruit, along with plenty of citrus and apple skins. On the palate delicious intensity, a streaking mineral and lemon zest freshness, dry, with a shimmering quality of fruit giving shine and brilliance. The best vintage yet for this I think.
(2017) From Miguel Torres' long-established Santa Digna outpost in Chile this sparkling rosé is made from 100% País, a local variety, made by the traditional method and given nine months lees-ageing in bottle. It's a deliciously quaffable style, pale, pale pink in colour and redolent of hedgerows and raspberries, a gently creamy citrus note too, the same onto the palate, soft, a flattering dosage of sweetness and a finely tuned finish. Moving a Prosecco drinker onto this would be an easy baby step towards Champagne :)
(2016) From very high altitude again, at 900 metres, 30% was whole bunch pressed. Beautifully fragrant nose, such delicate ripe cherry and redcurrant, but smokiness, briar, sweet damp earth and roasted chestnut. The palate is fresh and perfectly taut, with a fresh orange acid crunch.A delightful Pinot.
(2016) From northerly vineyards close to the Portuguese border and schist (slate) soils, this is juicy but full, and packed with fruit and substance. Really tangy and personality-packed stuff, it shimmers with vitality.
