Richmond Wine Society met in February to indulge me in a trip down memory lane.
In November 2019 I ran wine tours to three regions of Australia, and during our South Australia tour we spent two days exploring the McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills regions. During the tours we were lucky enough to meet some of the most illustrious winemakers in Australia, as you can read about in my blogs.
Our wines were also a wonderful reminder of the quality – and variety – that these regions produce. McLaren Vale, an hour or so’s drive south of Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate, and is particularly well known for its Rhone varietal reds (eg the GSM blend of Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre), but is also producing white wines from varieties not normally associated with Australia such as Southern Italian Fiano (we tasted a very appealing wine that many people were very taken with, made by Steve Pannell, son of the legedary Bill Pannell who we met in Western Australia) and Chenin Blanc (opinion was more divided over a very high quality, and rather expensive, wine made by Michael Hill Smith and Martin Shaw).
Adelaide Hills, half an hour’s drive inland (and up hill) from Adelaide has an altogether cooler climate, and its vegetation is strikingly lusher. Sauvignon Blanc has developed a particular reputation here, demonstrating lovely fresh fruit and good acidity without the pungency of many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. The Shaw + Smith (Martin and Michael again) we tried was an excellent example. Jeffery Grossett, who we also met on tour, is one of the most respected winemakers in Adelaide Hills and we sampled consecutive vintages of his Piccadilly Chardonnay, that were totally contrasting and demonstrated that Australia has plenty of vintage variation.
We returned to McLaren Vale for our reds, starting with the Mitolo Jester Shiraz, a real winner for its rich warm juicy fruit. At double the price the Pannell Grenache was perhaps lacking the easy wow factor, but the Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon was incredibly dense and rich – thanks to the picked bunches of grapes being kept for six weeks in temperature and humidity controlled sheds, a similar process to that used for Amarone de Valpolicella. Having lost 30% of their weight, when crushed the grapes produce a very concentrated must, that is then fermented and aged in large oak vats. The drying process also results in very soft tannins, so this is a big wine that can be drunk relatively young (and was!).
A top night, as usual complemented by the Britannia’s great cooking – smoked mackerel pate followed by chicken supremes.
Details of vintages and pricing are on the Wines we have tasted page.