‘Exhilarating Wines’ was the name for yesterday’s giant West Australian wine trade extravaganza, which saw 54 of the cream of WA’s wineries land in Sydney for one day only.
Exhilarating it wasn’t. Probably needed more rollercoasters. But satisfying, it definitely was, especially with a lineup dripping with frankly delicious WA hero wines.
Of course, I didn’t get nearly enough time to taste through said megastars, to the point where I almost left without trying the Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay 2022 and had to smuggle a pour while security gave me evil eyes (and it tasted unready anyway, if pretty classic LEAS).
Another thing that made this event great was that the winemakers themselves were often pouring the wines. The five-hour travel time crossing the Nullarbor tends to preclude West Aussies from dropping in for regular Sydney trade tastings, so to have a weight of makers serving their booze was worth dropping in for alone, especially when that means we get to admire Larry Cherubino’s hair in person.
More than being fabulously hirsute, Larry also had a bag of wine glory. Building off the Dijon Chardonnay which was a worthy winner at the Winewise Championships recently, today it was a pair of fine Frankland River reds. In the unexpected corner was a Cherubino Black Label Frankland River Nebbiolo 2021, which is the first West Aussie Nebbiolo I’ve tried. From a patch of ten-year-old vines, Larry lets this fruit sit on skins for 100 days and matured in large oak for classicness. It’s not quite at the Langhe level of definition, but there’s a level of glace cherry fruit here that, indeed, feels pretty autentico. Promise! Next to it was the real star – a supremely stylish and perfumed Cherubino Black Label Frankland River Syrah 2023, with violets and glossy dark fruit in this perfect Shiraz/Syrah sweet spot of well-judged power.
Across the hall from Larry was Cape Mentelle, and new chief David Moulton pouring plenty..
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