Torzi Matthews 1903 Vines Domenico Martino Shiraz 2012 (Barossa, SA)
14.2%, Screwcap, $35
Source: Sample
www.torzimatthews.com.au
I’ve got no shortage of time for Dom Torzi’s wines – invariably characterful, well priced and authentic.
This particular example comes from a vineyard planted in 1903 by early Barossa grapegrower Bill Hoffman, the vines and tended since the sixties by Domenico Martino. Dry grown and low yielding (1.2 tonnes to the acre) this vineyard is located on the ironstone, quartz and white sands of the Moppa Hills (they’re more like big mounds than hills. But still hills in a Barossa Valley context) in prime Shiraz country.
Happily such wonderful fruit is carefully handled in the winery too – wild ferments (using cultivated vineyard yeasts), largely old oak maturation, 40% whole bunches, basket pressing and no fining or filtration. It reads like a $75 wine in every way, yet you can buy it direct from the Torzi Matthews website for just $35 a bottle – a wonderful price given the context.
What a charming wine this is too – deep purple red in colour, the palate rich, faintly chocolatey, viscous yet not porty in any way. Sure it’s a little warm, but it never feels hot, just cosseting and decadent with black fruit aplenty. Driven by texture, the tannins are fine but not prominent and the overall appeal is simply about purity without excess.
A great example of a western Barossan Shiraz at a very palatable price. Go get some.
Drink: 2012-2022+
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5 Comments
Hi Andrew,
Enjoyed the wine on g.f. Day (not to distracted by the mighty hawks, you follow um……….Sydeney that's right) a really enjoyable drop! loved the mouthfeel and almost gentle tannins and overall balance. Which leads to my question. The balance of this wine for a 2012 barossa really did surprise me if not confuse me a little based on past experience of other barossa nerds. I anticipated the tannins would be more forward and possibly a few jagged edges. Not so, which poses the question . Does the maker target the drink now sector of the commercial market or am I misreading the style of this wine ?
Just different shaped tannins I'd wager – less exogenous (added) tannins (which many Barossan makers use as a matter of course) and gentler extraction during ferment (probably hand plunging rather than pump overs) and basket pressing (again for gentler tannins).
It's an interesting question though – what sort of tannins are required for long term ageing? If great Burgundy is anything to go by, light fine tannins like these are probably going to be just as useful for ageability.
Only one way to tell whether this will live – all cellar a few and report back in a couple of years time 🙂
That should've read reds, not nerds (dastardly auto correct)
Andrew,
Thanks again for the comments. So how do you feel this wine will change with 2-3 years or more in the cellar. For me as I suggested above , to my humble palate it's already drinking like a barossan red with a number of years under its belt.
Colin r
I think that oak is going to integrate further for one and it's also going to look a little less primary and more complex. Worth a year or 3 in the cellar methinks