If you like your Shiraz rich and generous, head on over this way.
Clandestine Vineyards source fruit from a range of districts. Here we have Malbec from Margaret River ready for that ragu or osso bucco.
Frankland River Syrah harvested by moonlight and fermented for ten days with some Viognier skins tossed in to lift aromatics. This is a great drink.
Sparkling Shiraz is a great drink but sadly it gets pigeonholed as a "Christmas drink". Park that idea and reap the reward when you pop that top off this on any of the other 364 days of the year.
If Montepulciano translates to "yummo" then the crew at FU Manchu and Dr Plonk have nailed the brief. Yikes! This is a great slurp.
15% whole bunch, 30% new French oak and 100% juicy. This is the second Pinot Noir release from Clandestine Vineyards and it's a vibrant and perfumed bomb of pleasure. Well played.
From an excellent Barossa vintage comes this delicious blend. GSMs are made for burgers and barbecues, well I think so anyway. The detail and slurp factor presented here demand large pours.
Carbonic maceration is a sexy thing - thousands of little ferments all happening in one big ferment. It's a flavour orgy of sorts. This Shiraz/Pinot Noir blend comes from the Adelaide Hills, and if low-fi wines are your thing, get this on your radar.
Here we have a Pinot Grigio that is ready to refresh and delve into all at the same time. This is a great expression from Clandestine Vineyards.
Dry and mouth-sapping, waves of spices wash through effortlessly. One thing you can't miss is the layers of interest that seem never-ending.
The Mickan Block brings together cuttings of some super premium vines from across the Barossa to be grown on the same dirt at the Hoffman Vineyard in Ebenezer. The vines are still young at five years of age but already the differences between each are telling. Hayes Family Wines have made a barrel of each of the three (300 bottles) plus a blend.
These wines are available for members only, but a cheeky phone call or email will get your foot in the door to snare a sneaky four pack.
Dallwitz 2021
These cuttings come from the Dallwitz block in Ebenezer. Muscular, this is by far the biggest wine of the group. This is the bouncer at the door. The safety. No one dies on Dallwitz's watch. Lots of dense plums, blackberries and a cheeky suggestion of Ribena. Add some dried herbs and a flash of mint, it's dusty and powdery which brings those 90% cocoa feels through the mouth. Drying and sapping, it's mouth-filling and incredibly long. Give this beast some time but I get a sense it will bloom and potentially outstrip the others.
92/100
Becker
These cuttings were sourced from the Becker ancestor vines in Koonunga.
This is a wine for later, purely and simply. Follow that simple rule and you'll be rewarded in five+ years. Dense dark berry fruit, fruit bun spices, licorice bullets and some meatiness, it is drying and sapping. Powdery tannins scatter about. Still quite reserved and tight, it is yet to show its hand. Over a number of days of tasting, it started to show itself on day three. One for the cellar, this will improve over time as will the score.
Drink to fifteen years+
93/100
SCC
These cuttings came from the cooler Eden Valley and it was a great expression compared to its Mickan siblings. The cooler climate traits in its DNA shine through with brighter and pretty aromas. Think chocolate brownie, dried petals, blackberry jam, dense plums and dancy purple fruit. Baking spices and waves of earthiness build terrific momentum. Easily the most approachable of the four Mickans for now, it will age beyond a decade make no mistake.
Drink to ten years+
94/100
Hoffman Mickan Block
A cool Friday night and a glass of this curled up on the lounge would be a winning combo.
A blend of the Dallwitz, Becker and SCC, each contributes roughly a third to this wine.
As with the others, this is still so young and no where near its best. Blackcurrants, mulberries, licorice, dark chocolate set the scene. Ribbed with exotic spices, this is long and almost refuses to move. Dense, brooding and structured, those firm and drying tannins certainly make a statement. It's a wine with a decade of aging easily in its veins. Mouth-sapping dryness swoop on close as those characteristic Barossan spices do laps around the mouth with absolute ease. I'm fixated on its mystique.
A clever wine that will only get better.
94/100
Region: Barossa
Savoury, skinsy and lip-smackingly dry, this is a great starting point if you'd like to step into the world of natural wines.
Pinot Grigio with a little colour! You have my attention. That slight copper appearance has me snapping my fingers. More like this, please.
A blend of all the white varieties on the Soumah property, Viognier, Savagnin, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay come together to deliver a textural and thought provoking white.
I taste this and my mind goes back to a McLaren Vale trip in 2020. I learnt that unique parcels of Carignan are all over the district, but most of the fruit is blended away. When allowed to stand tall on its own (which is rare), it's a great drink - just like Exhibit A here.
These FU Manchu wines are fun and interesting. Loaded with personality, there is satisfaction and joy around every corner. This Rosé hits that mark once more.
A single vineyard wine showing all the little things that glisten. Delicacy, depth, balance and length, it's an impressive Hunter Valley Chardonnay.
There is plenty going on here to amuse those who enjoy a Hunter Valley Chardonnay. More people should dive into the beauty that the region delivers with this variety. In this case, a little bit of richness goes a long way.