 |
| Rise McCulloch Shiraz |
Rise McCulloch Vineyard Shiraz 2009 (Clare Valley, SA)
14.5%, Screwcap, $45
Source: Sample
www.risevineyards.com.au
Suitable for vegans but best drunk with a hug slab of meat. There, review over.
There is much more to this wine than that. Much. Sourced from the dry-grown McCulloch family vineyard in the Clare Valley, this was handpicked and had a full week-long soak before ferment began. Said ferment was ‘open’ and preceded 2 years in French oak. In other words, that is serious handling designed to get big flavours, maximum extraction and serious tannins, with everything then softened and enriched by the slow oxidation of oak ageing. The only question mark is whether the fruit was up to all that winemaking…
Well it certainly looks the part, a really inky deep, rich red colour. On the nose it’s all deepset stewed plum and bitumen licoricey fruit sunk into the wine thanks to the long oak ageing, everything showing that savoury-yet-rich, flourless chocolate cake oak character too. Attractive, if slightly heavy and forward nose is super
serious indeed. Is it fresh enough though? More than a dash of stewed fruit in there. Dark and very dense palate is rather drying and extractive, with no shortage of concentration but oh so drying, with long dried tannins and a hint of dessicated fruit.
The question remains – is this a little too much extraction and not enough fruit? Perhaps, but no questioning the seriousness of the style. 17.6/92+
You might also like
3 Comments
"Suitable for vegans but best drunk with a huge slab of meat. There, review over."
LOL! My wife is a vego so she'll love this!
Thanks for the review which is pretty much spot on. Grant and I love big wines, not jammy and alchoholic wines, but structured and tannic ones with the ability to develop over many years in the cellar. Some of my favourite wines come from the underrated South West of France: Buzet, Cahors, Irouléguy, Madiran, Marcillac, Tursan etc. where character, personality and sheer drinking pleasure with good food outweigh points and medals – though they do help sell the wine!
Grant and I consciously set out to make a "vin de garde" for cellaring and hesitated about releasing the wine for review whilst it's still so young and somewhat recalcitrant and standoffish. However, the realities of a small grape grower and winemaker, well this one anyway, are governed to some extent by cash flow so a year's vineyard costs, the winemaking, new French oak plus two years' maturation, packaging and bottling costs all add up – maybe I should take up wine writing, then again after reading Andrew Jefford's recent article maybe not!
From lessons learned with the 2009 vintage we didn't cold soak the 2010, worked the cap more gently with hand plunging and pump overs, used hogsheads instead of barriques at a lower rate of new oak with some American oak from Nadalié (individual forests: Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia all 36 months seasoned and medium toast so no coconut flavour) with the aim of reducing the extractive, drying tannins you mention above.
Cheers for the feedback, Matt
Matt. Steve Webber (de Bortoli) told me (listen to me name dropping!) that it's really not a good idea for wineries to age their own wine (cash flow, tax, etc.,) So you are probably doing the right thing (in the opinion of your bank manager at least.) He said this in response to me stating that Ada River were smart to age their own 2004 Heathcote shiraz as it is absolutely lovely upon release (now.)
I guess I was right, but only when in respect to the pleasure of the drinker 🙂
Matt – thanks muchly for the feedback. Glad to hear that I got at least some it right and keep up the good work.