Lot Thirteen McLaren Vale Grenache 2010
$25; 15.5% alcohol; screw cap; 93+ points
In McLaren Vale, there’s a string of tiny premium wineries growing along the Willunga faultline on the piedmont of the escarpment that runs from Kangarilla to the Gulf St Vincent at Sellicks. Determined individualists all, stubborn, gnarly, and almost secretive, they stay well out of the usual rabble of Vales A-listers. I know them affectionately as The Faultliners. These wisely use, to great advantage, the rubble of the Kurrajong formation, a hotch-potch of very old rocks of many types which have washed or tumbled down from the mountain range that was once there. They include such nascent producers as Marius, Danshie’s Rise, Cradle of Hills, Petagna, Rudderless and Lot Thirteen. The veteran Cascabel is in the same formation. Paul Petagna helped proprietors Stuart and Coralie McMillan make this wine from their delicious, highly sought-after, petrochem-free fruit. It’s a moody, glowering wine, thick with bitter cherry aromas, prunes, and fresh-scraped nutmeg, and presents immediately as another facet of the region’s burgeoning wave of superlative Grenache. The palate’s silky and slick, with tannins so fine they approach the texture of velvet. Those alcohols are up there, but barely evident in the smooth syrupy texture of the wine. Unusual for Vales Grenache, it’s distinctly chocolaty to taste, which in itself is highly comforting as much as intoxicating. It makes me recall a big snapper Cheong Liew once cooked at the World’s End, and served smothered in a brilliant Mexican-style chocolate sauce with a little twinge of chilli. It’s more than a recollection, to be honest: this lovely thing makes me yearn for that remarkable dish. As for the price? There are Grenache wines with fancy names that will set you back $70 more than this slender, almost meek consideration. Love it right up. Jam your tongue into that faultline good and early.
Hurley Vineyard Estate Balnarring Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2011
$50; 13.7% alcohol; Diam compound cork; 94+ points
Kevin Bell and Tricia Byrnes dug their vines into the fast-draining, iron-rich volcanic soil of Balnarring in 1998. They usually release three wines – Lodestone, Hommage and Garamond - from their nine acres, according to their range of clones and the aspect of their particular locations. Like true Burgundy freaks, they insist on low yields with no irrigation, and matter-of-factly use organic farming techniques. 2011, the wettest vintage in the history of eastern Australian winemaking, was rife with rampaging moulds and botrytis, so infinite care was required to pick, then select, only the healthiest bunches, and there simply wasn’t enough fruit selected to bother about keeping the three plots separate. The result reminds me of the late ’seventies Pinots from Jacques Seysses in Morey-Saint-Denis, in Burgundy, where a completely botrytis-free vintage is a rarity. It has a lovely allure built around the aromas of maraschino cherries, redcurrants, strawberries and cranberries, with that unique touch of lightly-grilled cashew that marks many of the paler beauties of Burgundy. Believe me, pale does not mean frail. This wine sets all drinkers leaning back quietly, chewing its mystery and form in wonder, amazed that they can see their fingers through a glass of such form and complexity. It has unction without being thick or gloopy, and has stunning natural acidity and red dust tannin. If you needed another wine to bounce off Cheong’s snapper in chilli chocolate sauce, this would make a brilliant counterpoint to that Lot Thirteen Grenache. Otherwise, take it to Amalfi for a classic saltimbocca. A true bargain at $50. Rock’n’roll.
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