Tag Archives: Canberra District

Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz 2007

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Many enthusiasts will be familiar with the reason for this wine’s existence. Clonakilla’s estate crop was devastated by the elements in 2007, prompting the release of this wine, made from non-Estate (though still Canberra region) fruit. A small amount of Viognier was cofermented here too.

Typical Canberra Shiraz on the nose, with a big hit of spicy red fruit that projects edgy sweetness alongside more elegant, savoury notes. This really is very spicy, with black peppercorns and more exotic notes that tend almost towards potpourri. Expressive, characterful and, to me, seductive.

The palate emphasises savouriness, relegating the sweet red fruit to an intriguing supporting role. Masses of flavour immediately on entry, there’s a good deal of acidity to tingle and refresh the tongue. The fact that it’s light to medium bodied, and quite angular in structure, only serves to intensify the fruit flavours, though it also suggests some time in bottle will be beneficial. There are crunchy red fruits, spice galore and a delicious barbecued meat dimension. Tannins are very fine and evenly distributed, such that there’s considerable dryness on the finish without any obviousness of tannin. Good extension through the after palate and finish.

I really like Canberra Shiraz so I suppose I’m biased towards this wine’s flavour profile and weight. Having said that, it’s an especially good example of the breed, perhaps lighter and more acid driven than some, but with ample flavour and good typicité. Really well priced.

Clonakilla
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2008

Clonakilla Viognier 2006

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I hope I’m not alone in feeling a daggy sense of anticipation whenever a favourite winery’s newsletter drops into my mailbox (virtual or otherwise). Clonakilla’s gets the heart racing more than most. The Spring 2008 edition is now here, and, as someone always in search of an excuse to celebrate, I thought I’d open a bottle of Clonakila’s 2006 Viognier.

A rich, unctuous nose, thick with apricot (part kernel, part syrup), fresh vanilla ice cream and a little astringency. It seems quite responsive to temperature, showing lush opulence when relatively warm. I remember tasting a Petaluma Viognier with Chris way back when and it smelled of raspberry coulis — this wine has the same richly acidic fruit flavour. It’s brassy, no doubt, but controlled, too.

The palate is deceptively austere compared to the nose, although it’s still true to its variety. This perceived austerity derives from the wine’s acid structure, which is (happily) assertive in the context of such a luxurious style. So, a crisp entry, lively and fresh. Movement to the mid-palate is quite controlled and precise — one can feel acid reaching down either side of the tongue as an altogether more slippery component drives down the centre line. Soon, we’re in decidedly plush territory, the mouth awash with crisp apricot kernel and vanilla, plus some fresh phenolic bitterness as a background note. Good impact, impressive intensity. Flavour complexity is decent, but I’m fascinated most by the three dimensional texture of this wine. There’s no drop-off in intensity through the after palate, and the finish is quite long.

I suppose most wines are subject to personal preference and taste, and this is no different. I still struggle to understand where Viognier fits in my life as a wine style. Despite all that, this wine is all quality and is, quite frankly, delicious. From memory, it’s a broader wine than the 2005, but no less enjoyable.

Clonakilla
Price: $50
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: September 2008

Clonakilla Riesling 2005

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It pays to check on wines now and then. The slightly old Rieslings I’ve tasted lately are proof enough, and this wine continues the trend. I remember tasting this at cellar door and finding it a steelier, more austere style than the usual Clonakilla. I loved it and bought several, expecting it to age slowly.

Hence, I was quite surprised to smell this and find savoury toast the dominant aroma component. But it’s not a static wine, and the initial aroma soon disappeared, only to emerge half an hour later as a more complex profile comprising more toast, aggressively sour lime and a hint of honeyed opulence too. It’s beguiling, perhaps forceful, definitely characterful.
The palate is even more surprising. As an aside, people always say aged wines, and aged white wines in particular, are a matter of taste, and perhaps they are right. But there’s no doubt older wine is an education, and for my money a good aged Riesling (or Hunter Semillon) is worth cellaring purely to see how much it changes. This Clonakilla, for example, still shows powdery acidity, but a whole spectrum of bottle aged complexity overlays this firm structure. It’s not a very old wine, for sure, but hints of honey and savoury edge (the unkind might call it slightly kerosene-ish) push their way into the dominant blanket of lime marmalade and floral talc. Quite unexpected in terms of the austerity of the young wine. Intensity is dramatic and, although part of me is tempted to think of this wine as vulgar, I’ll settle for “confident.” Lovely and clean through the after palate, with a finish that lingers very well without undue weight or clumsiness. 
Quite a masculine Riesling style, and oh-so distinctive. It’s interesting to see various Australian regions offer alternatives to the mainstream Clare/Eden Riesling style. A wonderful thing from the drinker’s perspective. 
Price: $A22
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: July 2008

Helm Premium Riesling 2005

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Some time ago, a lovely visit to the Helm cellar door resulted in the purchase of this wine amongst other things. Interestingly, Helm’s top Riesling isn’t made from estate fruit, but rather from that of a nearby grower who is reputedly fastidious in his viticultural craft. On release, I remember this wine as a tight, floral/powdery/slate type of Riesling, and one that struck me at the time as designed for cellaring. Time to check on its progress.

Youthful colour that doesn’t betray any significant change through bottle age. The nose is similar to what I remember, with aromas of flowers, talc and so on. There is, however, a fullness to the aroma that seems new and reminds me of spicy, lightly tropical fruit. Quite pretty. The palate shows greater intensity than anticipated and confirms the nascent development of this wine. Clean, lemon flavour registers soon after entry and becomes richer towards the mid-palate. Although acid provides adequate shape, it’s relaxed enough to enable a generous flow of flavour over the tongue that widens along the line. A hint of honey and an interesting savoury edge become more prominent on the after palate and create an impression of rich, spicy preserved lemon. Excellent drive through to the finish, where a sweetly floral note, combined with delicious sourness, lingers on for quite some time.

Clonakilla Riesling 2003

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I retrieved a mini-vertical of Clonakilla Rieslings from storage recently, and have already tasted the 2002. Here, now, is the 2003, of which I have several bottles but no recollection of tasting on release. A poor memory of one’s own wine collection is more advantageous than it sounds, as it allows for the wonderful experience of discovery multiple times per wine. Now that’s value.

Clonakilla Riesling 2002

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Canberra churns out its share of good Rieslings, and is home to the International Riesling Challenge, amongst other vinous highlights. Ken Helm of Helm Wines has been a key advocate for this variety in the district, and I will be tasting his Premium Riesling soon. For now, though, another regional benchmark — the Clonakilla Riesling. On release, this was right up there (to my taste) with celebrated Clare and Eden wines from this vintage, so I’m interested to find out how it’s tracking.People talk about letting red wines breathe, but white wines can be equally lumpy on opening, and often benefit from a bit of swirling and loving care. Case in point: this wine was a bit all over the place at first. Spritzy, acidic, some aged characters but overwhelmingly dry and austere. Not a great mix of elements. An hour later, things are settling in well. An interesting nose of nuts and baked goods mixed with a distinctive, savoury fruit note. I’m not sure it’s quite coherent, but it’s certainly characterful and perhaps even slightly provocative. Even after settling a bit, entry is still pretty lively, with full-on acid that collides with dry lemon fruit flavour. There are also some aged characters, but they are not straightforward honey/toast. Rather, they are more savoury and perhaps buttery, very much in alignment with the nose and more than a bit of fun. The whole, though, feels underdeveloped to me, and the wine’s still-prominent primary character is very much dominant. That’s not bad, it’s merely indicative of a certain stage of development, and does not mask the intrinsic qualities present, such as complexity and elegance. You realise on the mid palate that flavour intensity is impressively high, and the acid has shown itself well architected, if a little coarse. The after palate becomes quite savoury, and suggests to me this wine would be a brilliant aperitif, perhaps served with strongly flavoured canapes. Decent, fresh finish.I’m not at all disappointed with this tasting, and believe this wine has its best days still ahead. It’s developing really interesting aged characters that are out of step with the Clare/Eden norm and are all the better for it. ClonakillaPrice: $A25Closure: CorkDate tasted: June 2008

Collector Reserve Shiraz 2006

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It’s interesting to compare wines from a producer that offers just two in its portfolio. Collector, a new Canberra-based producer, sells a lower price Marked Tree Shiraz, and this, its Reserve label. Both are made from Canberra region Shiraz grapes, which makes the comparison doubly interesting.

A heady nose of roast meats, vanilla, spice and rich red and black fruit, and of all things a bit of Yorkshire pudding. Showing a clear resemblance to the Marked Tree wine, this is a whole lot more of everything except perhaps a certain lightness of touch. But this is a Reserve level wine, presumably designed for extra oomph, and it attains this goal admirably.

Deep fruit flavours gush over the tongue on entry, and it’s the sort of cool, firm attack that marks wines of sufficient padding. Despite the rush of flavour, though, this isn’t a large scale or clumsy style. By contrast, there’s real balance here, with each element asserting itself just enough to be perceived before retreating into the complex harmonic flow. This wine has the sort of flavour profile that would be considered lolly-like if it were sweeter; that it shows only a touch of sucrosité means the fruit is beguiling and even a little elusive in character, despite its generosity. A lovely blanket of fine, slightly sandy tannins descends on the tongue as the after palate kicks in; they’re ripe and not especially drying, and so contribute primarily to the wine’s textural dimension. Despite the tannins, I wouldn’t describe the wine as overly structured — acid is not a feature. The finish morphs into a sort of raspberry liqueur-like note crossed with licorice that is utterly delicious.

Interestingly, food (well, the lamb chops I’m having tonight) dulls the wine and hollows out the after palate somewhat. I attribute this to the relatively subtle acidity. So, pair this wine wisely with food, or go the total alco route and drink it unaccompanied.

Collector Wines
Price: $A46
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008

Clonakilla Ballinderry 2005

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Canberra’s not known for its Cabernet-based wines, but I’ve enjoyed several vintages of this, Clonakilla’s version of a Bordeaux blend. It underwent a name change a couple of years ago but otherwise remains the same. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, more or less in equal measures.Savoury aromas that show dried blackcurrant, flowers, meatiness and cedary oak. This is certainly not a berry-driven, straightforward aroma profile. Instead, it’s a bit funky and austere, and is about definition, not generosity. The palate shows more of the same, with the oak translating to a pencil shaving note that is prominent without becoming unbalanced. Flavour through the entry and mid palate sits in the higher registers, in that the dark berry fruit is edgy and taut, intense and complex, and doesn’t relax enough to generate a sense of richness or plushness. Partly, this is due to very fine tannins that dry the mouth from a relatively early point in the wine’s line, but I suspect it’s also a matter of style. Certainly not a criticism, but rather indicative of where the wine is “at” right now. Fruit sings linearly through the after palate, and continues on to a good finish. This is a pretty serious wine of high quality that really needs some time to relax, fatten out and become more drinkable. That said, give it a good decant or some vigorous swirling, and you’ll be drinking an elegant wine that will give you something to think about if your mood tends to more analytical tasting. After an hour or so in the glass, it’s already gaining some weight and depth, which seems to indicate a promising future.ClonakillaPrice: $A35Closure: StelvinDate tasted: May 2008

Collector Marked Tree Red 2005

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I bought some of this wine on a whim after reading that it had won some awards. That’s me, a sucker for a few medals stuck on a bottle. Actually, I’m a fan of Canberra District Shiraz for its often elegant, medium weight style, so usually jump at the chance to acquire a new example. A bright, expressive nose that presents dried flowers, peppery spice and clean red fruit in equal measure. A bit of funk in there too. It’s got good complexity (more so as it sits in glass) and, to me, is extremely attractive. To digress for a moment, wines like this make me acutely feel the inadequacy of using flavour comparisons when describing wine. I suppose, at a molecular level, there’s some validity to describing wine through flavour analogues, but good wines, such as this one, defy such descriptions because they are seamless, they taste of themselves, and all I can hope to do in saying “spice and red fruit” is roughly approximate the impression of this, or any other, wine. With that over and done with (much to everyone’s relief, I’m sure), I will continue with the wine’s entry, which is lightfooted and slippery, maybe more textural than flavoursome at first, but quickly building brightly fruited flavour as it moves towards the mid-palate. It’s medium bodied and characterful by way of red, sappy fruit and edges of spice. Mouthfeel is supple and soft, but there’s also some subtle acidity contributing flow and structure to the wine. Balance is very “drink now,” though. The after palate gets spicier and trails to a finish that shows some attractive, lingering sweetness. Overall, it could do with a notch more intensity, but it’s a lovely Shiraz style (in my view) that places elegance before power. It reminds me of a more subtle version of Gimblett Gravels Syrah. Good value.Collector WinesPrice:  $A26Closure: StelvinDate tasted: March 2008

Clonakilla Ballinderry 2004

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One sniff of this wine takes me back to the Clonakilla cellar door, where I first tasted and subsequently purchased the 2004 Ballinderry. At the time, I wasn’t sure about the wine. It seemed to be almost completely dumb on the nose, much more so than previous vintages, but I have enjoyed this Clonakilla Bordeaux blend on so many occasions that I bought a few purely on past performance.

A couple of years on, and as I say, one sniff takes me back, because it’s still quite a tight wine in terms of its nose. It is, however, starting to unwind, the way a stripper starts by peeling back the outermost layers of clothing. So I’m told. Aromas of dark, perfumed fruit emerge from the glass, with edges of leafy cabernet character and spicy, cedary oak. Very tight, coiled, but by now leaking a little.

The wine’s entry is a bit misleading, in that it is quite easygoing and quickly moves on to an elegant, medium bodied palate of pure, fleshy red berry fruit. Good intensity and complexity of flavour. But just as you begin to suspect the wine is a bit of a sheep in wolf’s clothing, the fine, ripe but rather abundant tannins make themselves felt. They don’t exactly swamp the fruit, but they are very assertive at the moment, and create a lengthy, puckeringly dry finish.

It’s pretty clear to me that this wine’s best years are ahead of it, and I may well wait 2-3 years before trying it again. Really good potential on the basis of this bottle. I’m about to tuck in to a big rump steak now and it will be interesting to see how the wine responds.

Update: food didn’t do much to tame this wine’s structure. Perhaps only time can do that.

Clonakilla
Price: $35
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2007