Cult & Boutique Wines import a number of wines I’d not previously tasted, many of which, given their name, you’ll not be surprised to hear have received rave reviews in The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
With few exceptions, they’re big, bold wines with the concentration to mop up lashings of American oak. Not necessarily my favourite style, but some great, unmistakably Aussie wines.
Here’s my pick of the bunch, with winery website details in case you’d like to find out more (pictured, full on ferment, credit: Kay Brothers’ website).
Loose End GSM 2006, Barossa Valley – warm and earthy with a good concentration of red berry and cherry fruit; well balanced. Click here for the winery website.
Gibson Wines Wilfreda Blend 2005, Barossa Valley – a blend of Shiraz 50%, Mourvedre 27%, Grenache 23%, it shows lots of liquorice, dried herbs even cough sweet (in a good way), very Collioure, so round but dry. Click here for the winery website.
Hentley Farm Shiraz 2005, Barossa Valley – rich, ripe berry fruit though it’s dry, with persistent but well-integrated acidity. Very good. Click here for the winery website.
Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz 2005, Barossa Valley – a very sappy nose, the palate shows great freshness for the vintage with liquorice-edged juicy blackberry and currant; fine tannins make for an upfront, bouncy style. Good. Click here for the winery website.
Shirvington Shiraz 2005, McLaren Vale – very dark and meaty on the nose, though in the mouth there’s a core of juicy blackcurrant fruit; vanilla oak comes through on the long finish, lending a dash of opulence. Oh, and it’s a 16 percenter, though wears it well. Click here for the winery website.
Kay Brothers Amery Shiraz 2005, McLaren Vale – a plump mid-palate but this has a measure of restraint and layer too, with liquorice spice and dried herbs and an attractive grip of tannin on the finish. Good grunt. Click here for the winery website.
Kay Brothers Amery Hillside Shiraz 2005, McLaren Vale – no less concentrated but with less overtly sweet fruit than its siblings, this reveals more of its brawny structure; balanced, long and persistent. Very good.
Kay Brothers Amery Shiraz Block 6 2005, McLaren Vale – 113 year old vines make for a very darkly concentrated, hulking wine, with a huge depth of ripe cassis amply supported by bold but ripe tannins; a vinous molasses and one to keep for several years before broaching.
Wild Duck Creek Reserve Shiraz 2006, Heathcote, Victoria – a very characterful Shiraz, quite different from the more solidly fruit-focused South Australian wines. It shows classic Heathcote open knit blackberry fruit, a savoury blood/iron tang and savoury, even funky edge. A long, lingering finish is supported by fine, polished tannins (100% new French oak). Click here for the winery website.
Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective
(Tasted 3 February 2010)
