Aussie Wines!

I’d never heard of these guys and a Google search shows up nothing, but one of the boys at the shop was particularly excited when this wine became available and bought three cases to sell. The reason will become clear in a moment.

Rise is a partnership between two blokes (and I can’t find any information on who they are) who wanted their own vineyard. They’re based in the Clare Valley, the home of Riesling in Australia. The back label has an intriguing reference thanking “The Reverend Riesling”. It took me less than half a second to work out that The Reverend Riesling is none other than Mr Grosset, Australia’s most famous Riesling producer. So it looks like these guys have done well for themselves.

When I first opened up the bottle, some really interesting floral odours flew up my nose… you could almost confuse this with Gewurztraminer, but that’s mostly because it’s really young. Hints of green capsicum, touches of honey and a beautiful acid are evident on the nose. On the palate you’ll find a very intense citrus and grapefruit kind of flavour going on, with a lively acid dancing over your tastebuds and a lovely viscosity too. It’s a beautiful dry style, although a lot of people will pass over any Riesling because they think it’s sweet, which in my mind is a shame.

For $22ish, this wine has a lot happening. I want to see this wine again in a couple of months, if there’s still any left, to see how it has settled down in the bottle. I’d highly suggest buying half a dozen bottles of this and aging them if you can, as they’ll develop more complexity and taste frigging awesome then too. A word of warning though, don’t serve it too cold! You’ll miss half of the beautiful aromatics to it.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris/Grigio with this much flavour, complexity and mouth-watering fruit anywhere near this price. 93 points

(Originally written February 2007)

In this case, I’m going to write about the winery, rather than an individual wine, because they’re all outstanding.

When a number of the leading wine writers in Australia were asked which winemakers to keep an eye on over the next few years, most of them mentioned Troy Kalleske. The Kalleske family have been growing grapes for five generations, but it took Troy, the sixth generation to be involved in the family business to actually set up a winery and start making wine under the Kalleske label. With all of that grape growing experience, it’s not surprising that they are working with premium grapes and making spectacular wine.

My favourite are these three reds, but they also make one other red in very very limited supply and a quirky white blend also available, not to mention a dessert wine.

Clarry’s Red Blend - $22

80% grenache, 20% shiraz, this wine is full bodied with a lot of fruit sweetness from the grenache. A high alcohol number which will go with some richer dishes. Osso bucco anyone?

Old Vine Grenache - $45

Another high octane number, 15.5%. Don’t take it out to dinner if you plan on driving home! The old vines mean low yielding fruit, more complex and structured flavours and a certain “wow” factor. If you’ve never tried grenache, or have only tried the quite sweet grenache styles of some producers, then this is worth a go to see just what everyone is raving about.

Greenock Shiraz - $45

Named after the nearby village. Sitting at 15.0%, it’s a big rich juicy number, with lashings of American and French oak. It’s one of those numbers that needs cellaring, but you can drink it now if you like. All of the grapes are sourced from a single vineyard, with cuttings dating back to the 1800’s. Buy it,thank me later.

All are wines from one of the most exciting prospects in the Australian wine industry.

I was fortunate enough to try an early sample of the O’Leary Walker 2009 Rieslings, both the Watervale and Polish Hill, last Saturday. We have strong connections with the guys and these wines are great value.

Mind you, most Rieslings are great value, as they’re not a huge seller. In Australia, many if not most Rieslings are fermented through to dryness, but everyone still thinks that a Riesling will be sweet. That may have been true 30 years ago in Oz, but not so much these days. Plus, Riesling generally doesn’t go into oak barrels (which are expensive). Riesling is seen as one of the purest expressions of wine, because you literally pop it into the fermenters and let the yeast do their job, rather than making all sorts of decisions about what treatment it should get. Because of these two factors, you can pick up great quality Riesling at bargain prices. It’s rare for a Riesling in Australia to get over $35 or so, whereas the best Chardonnays can hit $100 or more.

I haven’t been able to track down many vintage reports for the 2009 Clare Valley vintage yet, but I know that in general South Australia got hit with a big heat wave and the early ripening varietals were picked quite early. Fortunately they got some rain before Christmas, so that helped the ripening process and may have saved an otherwise difficult vintage.

So how are the wines looking? The Watervale smells so fresh that you’d almost swear it was still in the vat. It’s beautifully floral on the nose, the usual lime flavours, without being harsh at all. The acid is well balanced too. It really is a young wine, but I think it’s a good drop and will settle down in bottle over the next month. Great value for a white in the low $20s. 92 points.

On the other hand, the Polish Hill was much more restrained, almost closed on the nose. While the nose and palate were promising, I think bottle shock was a major issue here and will reserve judgement on this wine until I have a look at another bottle in a month or so. Sometimes when a wine has just been bottled, it can taste dull and lifeless… this is bottle shock. The wine will usually right itself, or come back to life, in a month or so. Watch this space for an update.