Clare Valley, South Australia, AustraliaTasted alongside the ‘20 and the ’22, the ’21, considered, one of the best vintages of the century, presents a bit more on the Loire side with some old Barolo notes. Dried roses mix with plummy blackcurrant and fresh clipped greenery. The palate is more similar, with more black plums, sour cherries, mint, and dried tobacco. The red fruit and savoury, mineral notes announce the Clare Valley and a wine that follows its path. It is a modern take on classic Bordeaux, crying out for slow roasted lamb shoulder. Red clay on limestone terra rossa is the soil composition structure, all fermented in open-top tanks with 50% whole berries, no whole bunch that is hand plunged twice daily for two weeks. The finished juice is aged in Slavonian foudre for 12 months and racked off to stainless steel for four months. A classic with a long life ahead.Tasted: 11 October 2024Tasted by: Prices:
Clare Valley, South Australia, AustraliaThe Koerner brothers like to show a neoclassic view of their home, Clare Valley, and it's wines like this, The Clare, that typify their MO. This is their take on a Bordeaux blend. Half cabernet sauvignon, the remainder is cabernet franc, grenache, malbec, carignan, and sciacarello, from the terra rossa soils of Vivian, Parish, and Gullyview Vineyards, and vines planted in 1930 and 1998. This vintage was 50% whole berry (no whole bunch), native fermented in open top steel for two weeks on skins, and then racked into Slavonian foudre for 9 months. This was returned to steel for 3 months prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered, and with a minimum of sulphur. The nose is a treasure box of exotic herbs and spices, with scrubby rosemary, mint, thyme, wildflowers, and pink peppercorns, woven with a ferrous web. Black cherry, black raspberry join on the lifted, medium (13%) palate, framed with long, finely grippy tannins through a savoury, medicinal kissed finish. Really quite striking, there's a lot to intelligently unravel and enjoy here. The Diam10 cork leads me to believe the boys also think this has a long future ahead.Tasted: 24 November 2022Tasted by: Prices:
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