Wine Time with Aaron the Wine Guy

Hello Prince Albert! When is the last time you bought a wine from the Australian section? If it was red wine, chances are that it was either a Shiraz or a Cabernet Sauvignon (or possibly a blend of both). Australia is one of the prime geographical locations on the planet to produce red wine and if you haven’t tasted a Shiraz for a few years, I urge you to take another look. If you had asked me several years ago what I thought about Australian Shiraz, I wouldn’t have been too enthusiastic but over the past few years, my outlook on the land down under has changed dramatically.

While Australia has been producing wine for at least two centuries, it wasn’t until the 1980’s that their wines (specifically Shiraz and Cab Sauv) became internationally recognized. A glut of cheaply produced but intensely flavored wines were exported around the world until there was an over-saturation in the market and sales seemed to drop off. Recognizing a shift in wine trends and noticing that their current model would no longer produce the results they desired, wineries began to focus on wines of quality and authenticity by highlighting regions like Barossa, Coonawarra and McLaren Vale.

You can still find “cheaper” brands like Yellowtail, Jacob’s Creek and 19 Crimes (the latter considered one of the premium wines in the entry-level category), but many of these brands have been relegated to the bottom shelf in favor of high-quality offerings from premium regions. I decided to focus on one of these quality regions this week and chose two Shiraz wines from McLaren Vale in South-Eastern Australia: Gemtree Dragon’s Blood (a biodynamic, organic, vegan-friendly wine) and the Little Road Shiraz from Richard Hamilton winery. Before we dive into the wine, what makes McLaren Vale unique?

The McLaren Vale region has a large variety of soils which change the flavors of grapes from district to district within the region including terra rossa (red earth), rendzina, clay and soft sands. Another huge factor in the quality of wines is its gentle, warm climate which sees hardly any frost or drought due to mitigating factors from its proximity to the sea. Days are long and warm, while nights are cool and short. This combination means wines develop huge, ripe flavors with soft but firm tannins while also maintaining lower acidity levels.

Old vines are common in McLaren Vale where planting began in 1838, and many vines are between 40 to 50 years old (some are as old as 100 years). This results in smaller yields with tinier berries. Since the berries are small, the ratio of skin to pulp is much higher, meaning more antioxidants, and flavonoids in the juice.

The wines I tried this week are both extremely ripe and packed with dark fruit, but cooler or higher-elevation vineyards will create wines with accents of smooth raspberry underpinning the mélange of intense fruit, oak and spice notes. Both wines were absolutely delicious, but the Little Road felt a bit rounder or more luxurious on the palate. The Gemtree probably has a higher price due to the costs related to producing biodynamic and vegan wine.

There is a noticeable difference between the entry-level wines of Australia and the premium options but what most consumers will notice is the integration of oak and tannins in the wine. The cheaper wines will typically taste like the oak is tacked on or added artificially (oak chips or oak extract) and they also tend to lack real tannic structure from time-consuming aging in real oak. If you’ve gotten bored with Australian Shiraz or view them as thick and syrupy like I used to, give a premium region like McLaren Vale another shot and pair it with a perfectly seared/crusted steak off the BBQ. Here are my wine picks of the week!         

Gemtree Dragon’s Blood Shiraz 2021: (McLaren Vale, Australia). Off-dry red, deep purple color with thick legs sticking to the glass. The nose is intensely perfumed with juicy/jammy black grapes, dark cherries, currants and hints of pepper. The first sip reveals mouthwatering flavors of intense dark fruits with juicy, concentrated black cherries, blackberries, chocolate/cocoa followed by a small bite of black pepper. Medium-acidity, medium-plus body. The concentrated flavors really stick to the tongue as tight (high) tannins grip the mouth with a soft, velvety sandpaper-like grit. Within a moment or two, the intense tannins loosen up and the bitter (but enjoyable) flavor of grape skins softens, leading into a long finish of dark fruits swirled with a kick of cracked pepper and leather. Even though the tannins can seem overwhelming at first, they add a pleasant texture to the wine which will perfectly suit a grilled steak or protein-rich entrees. Slightly off balance but immediately enjoyable and fruity. Very good! $38, 14% ABV   

Richard Hamilton Little Road Shiraz 2019: (McLaren Vale, Australia). Off-dry red, deep purple color with long legs in the glass. The high-intensity bouquet waters the mouth with blackberry/black cherry jam, black licorice, hot rocks/soil in the sun, mineral twang, grape candies and engine oil. High intensity is also present on the palate with an intro of full-bodied preserved grapes (jam), cooked plums, medium-plus fuzzy tannins and medium-plus acidity. The mouth buzzes and waters from all the robust flavors of dark fruits on the mid-palate. Before the fruit can subside, savory toast notes and silky tannins (high) delight with a blend of dark berries, tea leaves, licorice, leather and cracked black pepper. While the spice and toast take over after the mid-palate, the long finish comes full circle with fruity accents (dark cherry/blackberry), raspberry and a background of mild pepper spice and toasted oak. The balance between full, fruity flavors and savory toast/leather is exceptionally easy to sip on and had me polishing off the bottle in no time. Very good! $32, 14.5% ABV

Cheers and thanks for reading! 

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