Top 100 Wines: Other Varieties
Top 100 Wines: Other Varieties
Some classic grapes like merlot and malbec take their place here while we see more and more exotic Spanish and Italian varieties stating their case as everyday drinking companions.
Patritti 2012 Trincadeira
Trincadeira, otherwise known as ‘Black Alicante’ or Tinta Amerela, is a Portuguese variety favoured for fortifieds, but in Australia it’s rarer than a steak that still moos. This wine may change that. It’s packed with licorice, coal dust, woody spices and the scent of freshly baked blackberry pie. It’s chewy, tightly textured and intriguing.
★★★★
Barossa Valley
Food: Chorizo and beans
$16
Jeanneret Dilly Dally 2010 Merlot
The alcohol level on this wine (15.5%) is right up there, yet it’s an extraordinary balancing feat to still achieve such vibrancy in its violet, prune and anise set of aromas, as well as not being blown away in its tasting spectrum. It is full bodied without doubt with textural oak tannins now worked into the wine’s core after four years’ maturation.
★★★★
Adelaide Hills/Clare Valley
Food: Lamb curry
$17
Partisan By Jove 2011 Tempranillo
Lively and attractively lifted lavender to thyme fragrances with quite a bit of structure and build in the mouth, the variety’s youthful tannins still playing up big in the scheme of things creating a savoury, peppery layer to classic black cherry fruit styling. Needs a bit of air now before pouring and a few more years in the cellar will repay.
★★★★
McLaren Vale
Food: Braised pork belly in masterstock
$20
The Hedonist 2012 Sangiovese
Tuscany’s famed rustic red ticks all the trend boxes in this version: micro boutique, organic/biodynamic/minimal intervention in the cultivation and local craftwork to reveal a fleshy and bloody character not dissimilar to the region’s best grenache, tinged beautifully with mixed spices and empowered with fine table-mannered tannins.
★★★★
McLaren Vale
Food: Salami pizza
$20
Yalumba Old Bush Vine 2012 Grenache
Wow. Don’t let the lighter colour in the glass fool you. This is all about its herb and spice layering and blood-lip core grenache characters built from 35 to 80-year-old vines that deliver also a solid note of crumbly earth through its subtle cherry spectrum. The balance between subtle fruits and savoury elements is a great gift.
★★★★1/2
Barossa
Food: Braised rabbit
$21
Pindarie 2012 Tempranillo
All the hallmarks of the variety come out to play, with earthier underlayering adding a fulfilling palate structure beyond its already attractive dark cherry flavours, mouth-watering spice, and integrated delicate tannins. A superbly balanced and satisfying wine without any weight issues. Delicious and all-round food compatibility.
★★★★1/2
Barossa Valley
Food: Pork and white beans
$23
Bremerton 2012 “Special Release” Malbec
A trophy winner at last year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show, this Langhorne Creek trademark red variety shines here, oak still influential, yet twisting and turning deftly around a primary set of grapey aromas then more spicy scents, rich, chewy and fleshy in the mouth with powder-fine tannins supporting a long finish. Excellent.
★★★★1/2
Langhorne Creek
Food: Charcuterie, antipasti
$24
Fox Gordon The Sicilian 2012 Nero d’Avola
The front-end power here suggests a heavyweight bout is on the cards from this Sicilian-origin red, but it’s all bluff with a mountain of dark, sweet spices adding top notes to rich, black-skinned plums and cherries, their juices mingling with blackcurrant syrup for a sweet core with a supple backbone. Big meats will benefit immensely.
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Hills
Food: Osso buco
$25
Woods Crampton 2012 Graciano
A Spanish variety often partnering tempranillo, as a solo act it can be a big, energetic red wine, coloured deep and dark, fragrant with vibrant natural acidity. This is all that with artisan passion at its heart, powerful, concentrated, showing lovely herb and spice notes above a chewy, almost meaty richness, yet lip-smacking to the finish.
★★★★1/2
Barossa Valley
Food: Slow-cooked spiced beef
$25
Irvine Estate 2010 Merlot
Mid-range in the merlots produced by the Australian king and queen of the variety, Jim Irvine and daughter Jo. While an $18 Springhill is great value, this has greater power and weight, crafted from Eden Valley high notes and more solid southern Barossa Valley fruit, revealing cherry characters with energetic spicy oak to finish.
★★★★1/2
Barossa
Food: Black bean beef
$28
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