Danshi Rise McLaren Vale Shiraz 2009
$25; 14.8% alcohol; screw cap; 93++ points
Some weeks back I was
guest judge at the annual Willunga Beefsteak and Burgundy Club's Shiraz
Challenge, where local growers and winemakers present masked wines from a nominated
vintage. Some are professional jobs,
others less so. Steve Daniels cleaned up
with a brilliant 2010. He's won it on
four other occasions, each with a different judge and vintage. So another visit was due. This also has to do with the man's devilish
skill at growing some of the world's hottest chillies and my delight in the
Kurrajong, a rubbly geology whose wines I love. Steve's trim Danshi Rise vineyard is on the
piedmont of the Willunga Escarpment, just off the faultline south of Willunga township.
It offers a brilliant vista across the whole of the Willunga Embayment to the
Gulf beyond McLaren Vale and across the Onkaparinga estuary to the north. He grows and makes the wines himself. They always seem alive with wild cherry. This
2009 wine is favourite amongst visitors to the cellar, which means they are a
wise and gluttonous lot. It's plush and
rich and velvety, with a set of carbon-dark spices glowering further back there
in the flavour cave. Such is its initial
generosity - and its certain mystery - it makes me yearn for field mushrooms
and smoked pork belly. Lavish and comforting upon opening, it seems to become
more austere after a day of air; more moody and worthy of deeper
contemplation. So today it makes me
think of well-hung slow-cooked venison haunch, or maybe pigeons in red wine
with beetroot, belly bacon and juniper berries.
Danshi Rise McLaren Vale Shiraz 2010
$25; 14.8% alcohol; screw cap; 94+++ points
A different blend to the
one I awarded at the B&B competition, this wine's also quite different to
the '09. In spite of its alcohol number,
it's tighter, with the types of darker green tannins that to me indicate a wine
whose true glory days are a long way off.
It's obviously different in style, but its black olive tightness brings
to mind the likes of Wendouree and Kay's Block 7 more than the traditional
plush easygoing wholesomeness of your standard McLaren Vale red. It still has a soul of cherry - think the
slightly bitter pickled Marello version - but that's suspended like a junior
driver strapped into the unbreakable space frame and carbon fibre of a Formula
1 racer. After 24 hours of air, the wine
has tightened and receded, and is now hissing "So whatter you lookin
at?" Those with patience will
relish this true beauty in the years to come.
Danshi is another pioneering fautliner truly on the rise. Get in early.
For sales details, call 0408 562 647.
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