2007 PAULETT AGED RELEASE RIESLING - WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN?

The adoption of the screw cap as the closure of choice almost singlehandedly secured the cellarworthiness of premium Australian Rieslings. Anyone who has tasted John Vickery’s Leo Buring Rieslings from the 1970’s knows just how good aged Australian Riesling can be. However, sealed under cork (often of variable quality) the strike rate of prematurely oxidised examples was unacceptably high. Screw cap closures have addressed the issue of cork taint and oxidation in one.

With this in mind, it is perhaps odd that only a handful of producers, Pewsey Vale, Crawford River and Paulett, that hold back the release of one of their Rieslings, only offering them to market when aged complexity emerges.

Paulett’s 2007 Aged Release Riesling illustrates in full the benefits of bottle age. The wine shows excellent mid-palate texture and more than a modicum of complexity. Although it still has a good amount of time up its sleeve, there is a lot to enjoy now. Bravo Neil Paulett!

2007 PAULETT AGED RELEASE RIESLING
Producer: Paulett
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2007
Region: Clare Valley, South Australia
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $35.00
Date tasted: 13 September 2014

Tasting Note:
Bright yellow with greenish gold glints. Lifted aromatic nose – stereotypical Clare Valley Riesling – lemon/lime, kaffir lime leaf, honeyed notes. Dry, medium bodied, fleshing out on the palate. Flavour profile is much the same as the bouquet, but with excellent intensity and drive. A fine line of acidity provides balance. At a good point now, but should develop further for several years.
Score: 17/20

2013 QUINTA MILÚ ‘MILÚ’ - BANG ON THE MONEY

The past few decades have witnessed a dramatic modernisation of the Spanish wine industry. By and large, this change has been positive, revitalising many DO’s and elevating the quality of Spanish table wines. That said, some of Spain’s greatest and most distinctive wines are its most traditional, ‘old school’ Riojas that have undergone extended barrel and bottle ageing.

Ribera del Duero, to the south of Rioja, is the source of some of Spain’s most ambitious and famous wines, among them Vega Sicilia, arguable Spain’s greatest red wine. There are many would be pretenders to the throne, wines that are picked at the precipice and indulged with the Rolls Royce treatment when it comes to winemaking and oak maturation. Not all examples are successful.

This particular example is a relatively modest wine with no great claims to greatness. Aged for 6 months in a combination of French and American oak, it is a fruit forward expression example of Ribera del Duero intended for early drinking. It succeeds in most areas, delivering impressive balance and textbook varietal character and an undeniable sense of place.

2013 QUINTA MILÚ ‘MILÚ’
Producer: Quinta Milú
Variety: Tempranillo et al
Vintage: 2013
Region: Ribera del Duero, Spain
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $25.00
Date tasted: 9 September 2014

Tasting Note:
Bright cherry road. Lively, prototypical Tempranillo nose of morello cherry, plum and cola. Floral notes. Medium bodied, suave and silky. Flavour profile much the same as the nose. Well controlled and everything is in place with excellent balance. Relatively simple, but a textbook example of the style. Good length and satisfying depth.
Score: 16/20

2008 ROCKFORD LOCAL GROWER'S SEMILLON - STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

Barossa Valley bastion Rockford is best known for its hearty red wines. In this imbiber’s opinion, Local Grower’s Semillon is the best of its whites. It is a typical Barossa Valley Semillon, rounder and more open than a Hunter Semillon at a similar age, with suggestions of pear, melon and stonefruit.

Six years from vintage, the 2008 Rockford Local Grower’s Semillon is mid-point in its development. The wine has fleshed out and there’s good weight on the palate, but there is upside potential here. One would allow roughly 3-4 years before the wine reaches full toasty maturity.

2008 ROCKFORD LOCAL GROWER’S SEMILLON
Producer: Rockford

Variety: Semillon
Vintage: 2008
Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $25.00
Date tasted: 5 September 2014

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Attractive nose of pear, melon and white peach, reflected on the palate which is medium bodied and compact. Suggestions of white flowers and honey add allure and complexity. Acidity is fine and well integrated. Sitting at mid-development with potential to improve further over 3-4 years.
Score: 16/20

2013 VINTELOPER VUWP RED #1 - YOU BELONG TO THE CITY

Vinteloper is a one-man show drawing on fruit from the Adelaide Hills and selected vineyards in other South Australian regions. VUWP, short for Vinteloper Urban Wine Project, is a rather unique project in as much as the wine was vinified in the heart of Adelaide’s commercial office precinct on Grenfell Street.

VUWP is anything but a one-man wine, as members of the public were invited to participate in the winemaking process from foot-treading whole grapes, pressing and transferring the wine to oak for maturation.

As to the wine, it is a ‘one-off’, a blend of Aglianico, Shiraz, Barbera, Shiraz, Graciano and Pinot Noir. Aromatically, the wine very much speaks of the blend, rather than its component parts. Red fruits lead the bouquet together with distinctive stemmy and smoky notes. The palate slightly belies the nose, being quite round and fleshy. All in all it’s a pleasantly rustic drop, not particularly complex but nonetheless enjoyable. It’s the sort of engaging wine we could do with seeing a bit more Down Under.

2013 VUWP RED #1
Producer: Vinteloper
Variety: Italian red blend
Vintage: 2013
Region: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $25.00
Date tasted: 7 September 2014

Tasting Note:
Mid-ruby. Interesting nose of cranberry, cherry, rhubarb and sour cherry. Stems and woodsmoke. Slightly sappy. Dry, medium bodied, soft and round, brambly red fruits leading to a sour cherry finish. Acidity is initially very prominent, but is enveloped by the structure of the wine as it opens up. Pleasantly rustic.
Score: 15/20