A Riverina celebration wine: Centenary of Griffith Durif 2015

Centenary of Griffith Durif 2015

Durif doesn’t get much love. Or at least enough love. Certainly not enough given just how much flavour good Durif packs in – and often at a very fair price.

This Durif serves a nice role then. A collaborative release by the Riverina Winemakers Association that celebrates 100 years of Griffith (and Durif), this sees seven wineries contributing a barrel of their best Durif and then releasing a single wine.

The wineries in question: Berton Vineyards, Calabria Family Wines, Casella Family Brands, De Bortoli Wines, McWilliams Wines, Nugan Estate, Warburn Estate.

A typically luscious beast it is too. Bright deep purple with bright purple edges, it looks v. youthful. Luscious blackberry and mulberry nose is all fruit, with coffee oak a layer over the top. Of interest is how the combination of tannins and acidity hold back the flow of hearty, rough edged purple fruit, completed by a slightly sour edge.

What I like here is just how much authentic coffeed cooked berry flavour it packs in. Ripe fruit at every turn, all blackness and power, if just a little tart, this has heart and character – plenty of ‘sunshine in a bottle’ fruit exuberance, if in an unpolished form.

An admirable project and ultimately lots of wine for the dollars.

Best drinking: 2018-2028. 17/20, 90/100. 14%, $20. Would I buy it? I’d love to see where this goes. A glass for now.