Eloquesta 'A Boy with Fruit' No.1

Stuart Olsen, Eloquesta winemaker, told me recently that he can’t get the ‘set-minded, grumpy old men wine reviewers to appreciate what he’s doing’.

With wines like this I can totally understand why…

As the press release states, this is made using a ‘pastiche of techniques’ involving grapes from the 2013 vintage fermented alongside aged pressings from 2009 and 2010.

The blend too is unusual, featuring Shiraz (co-fermented with a little Viognier), Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Surprisingly enough it works though with this unusual, boysenberry coloured red genuinely intriguing.

It all kicks off with a big hit off wth Ribena fruit juice on the nose – that’s the fresh 2013 vintage component kicking in. The pressings character sits underneath, giving thickness and a sense of savouriness to everything. There’s more surprise on the palate, which is lively and layered, topped off with fine natural tannins to punctuate things nicely.

Ultimately a hard wine to pin down perhaps, swirling from juicy black fruited (little oak to speak of), to quite drying and earthen – even complete with a little Mudgee mud. That complexity, however, is something to be admired and the whole wine feels ‘real’ – not a corner cut.

A quirky, yet satisfying, drink, I’d like to see even more wildness (and maybe some dried grapes – it would work nicely here), but I can’t fault either the fun or the tastiness.

Source: Sample
Tasted: May 2014

Drink: 2014-2018
Score: 17.7/20, 92/100

Would I buy it? Yes. Would share a bottle methinks.