Interesting small batch wines from Yangarra.
Crazy rose and mint perfume and freshness, spicy and energetic, red and black fruits. Medium bodied, savoury, spicy and meaty meets red bean paste sweetness. Lithe and long with a firm backbone of superfine chalky, yet insistent and controlling tannin. Terrific. Wild and cool expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz.

Whole berries. Whole bunches. Wild yeast. All French oak, only 20% new.
Deep flavour. But lively. This is terrific drinking. Rich and generous but honed and architectural. Plums, blackberries, saltbush and a swoosh of cedarwood. A touch of red-fruited brightness. Cracking wine.

Winemaker Peter Fraser has crafted a serious, structured, aromatically captivating grenache, of a style rarely seen in Australia, with intense red and black fruits and a complex tannin profile. It is made from old vines grown in white/grey sand and undergoes meticulous berry sorting before a wild fermentation; the result being a wine with great purity and clarity. Alluring, charming florals are gradually unveiled as the wine sits in the glass, and the progression of flavour is simply outstanding. Sweet-fruited, tight, concentrated and bright. Needs some time, but the patient will be amply rewarded.

Welcome to the debut Ovitelli Blanc release. A magnificent wine, there is plenty going on as you'd expect from Yangarra Estate. The back label states, "Renowned for our Grenache and respecting the distant homelands of this variety, we planted its white varietal cousins." Lovers of texture and interest ought to dip their oar in.
This is one serious piece of masterful blending of Grenache Blanc, Rousanne, Clairette, Piquepoul and Bourboulenc (50/25/12/9/4). Fermented exclusively in ceramic eggs, 59% saw skin contact for 90-126 days, which comes through in the mouthfeel. Great width through the mouth, it's all pears, quince, pie apple and a dash of lemon juice. Wonderfully weighted, it rolls through with ease - a ball of pleasure if you will. A minerally drive takes a back seat with an ever-so-soft nuttiness. Cinnamon spices close things out leaving a tonic-like texture in its wake. This has the potential to be something special for Yangarra Estate - watch this space.

This is an open and focused red with blackberry, cloves and dried flowers. Pencil shavings, too. Some black cherry. Medium to full body, firm and balanced, fresh and bright. Peppery. Flavorful and savory. Open for this wine already. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

So expressive with white pepper, orange blossom, dried lemons, dried pineapples and spice. Powerful and spicy with a medium to full body and oily, yet fresh and vibrant layers. Lots of energy. 59% extended skin batch. Matured in ceramic eggs. From biodynamically grown grapes. This can age nicely. Screw cap.

Aromas of sliced strawberries, pitted red cherries, white pepper, grated nutmeg and rosemary stem. Medium- to full-bodied with fine, textural tannins. Transparent and clear with pretty red fruits and berries washing over the palate with lovely definition and drive. Vibrant and bright. Excellent finish. Best after 2024.

A creamy and fine-tannined grenache with perfectly ripe strawberry and hints of tile. It’s medium-bodied. Fresh and fine. Lightly chewy. Orange peel. Refined and elegant. Terracotta. No wood. Excellent aging potential. Drink or hold.

This has an open and polished nose of black cherries, blueberries, olives, mint chocolate, rosemary and nutmeg. Bright and silky with fine yet firm tannins wrapping a textured, creamy core of fresh and spiced black fruit. All interwoven. 52% cabernet sauvignon and 48% shiraz. Already drinkable, but better from 2025. Screw cap.

A rich and textural chardonnay with tons of ripe pear fruit and floral complexity. On the concentrated palate this has a serious tannin structure and a bright mineral acidity that interlocks very neatly. Long, generous and complete finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

This is from a 2 hectare block of dry-farmed bush vine Grenache planted in 1946 on Maslin Sands. The grapes are destemmed and fermented on skins over the whole autumn (158 days post-ferment maceraton) in ceramic eggs. The juice is then drained and matured in the eggs for another 5 months – no pressings are used. This has an intriguing nose that initially reminds me of Barolo. It’s fresh, dry, dusty and a bit spicy, with some rose petal, orange peel and cherry notes, as well as a slight acid lift. The palate is dry, grippy and grainy, but with nice fresh red cherry and plum fruit, as well as a twist of raspberry and tar. It’s very textural: a touch of silkiness, but also some pepper spice and then some grainy, drying tannins with a hessian-like texture. Good acidity, allied to firm but well managed tannins give this real grip: the Barolo analogy stands. It’s youthful and quite profound, and I think it will age in very interesting ways. I’ve not had an Australian wine like this, but I still think it communicates its place very well, albeit in quite a stern way as yet.

This is great. A great wine and a great drink – and all at 13.5% alcohol. So what’s the secret of the Yangarra King’s Wood Shiraz 2020?
It obviously starts in the vineyard (hello cliche!). This comes from a patch of vines planted on an ironstone sandy outcrop on the certified biodynamic Yangarra McLaren Vale. In other words, a choice block, inside a celebrated old McLaren Vale vineyard, farmed to the highest standards. Check. Then in the winery – there are some whole bunches included in the (wild) ferment before maturation in very big 25hl foudre, a mix 50% new, 50% one and two year old oak. Those big barrels ensure that you get much less wine surface area in contact with the oak, and they tend to have less oxygen ingress – so less oak flavour, and more vibrancy.
The end result? A lovely, entirely moderate McLaren Vale Shiraz. Mid weight, this kicks off in the red (rather than purple or black) end of the fruit spectrum, with an unforced, gently spiced feel. If anything, it’s a style more akin to some of the Tyrrell’s classic Hunter reds rather than classic plump and purple McLaren Vale Shiraz, which are more vibrancy rather than impact (indeed, Tyrrell’s pick early, and use very large oak too). There’s still some plummy ripeness through the middle, but it’s not heavy, and then the wine finishes with very fine fruit tannins. In some ways, it would be easy to mark a wine like this down – and it’s not going to win show awards as a result. But that’s kind of the point – this isn’t out to win show awards, just hearts and minds. It got mine.
Best drinking: now, ten years time, twenty. It will still be going strong. Would I buy it? Definitely.

I jumped the gun with my original International Grenache Day post a few weeks back, so here is another super wine on the actual Grenache Day. This Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2020 is right up there too.
Sourced from a block planted in 1946, the fruit is fully destemmed and spends 180 days on skins in 675L concrete eggs.
What a lovely, lucid, red fruit laden, yet structured, Grenache it is too. There is this interplay between tannic picker and glacé raspberry that is a delight, even if the tannins hit like a wall. Formidable Grenache. In fact, the only question is whether it’s a more perfect wine than the Clarendon Grenache? This wine is more intellectual, that wine nor seductive. Both are bloody great. Interestingly, I don’t see the compactness and the drying finish that marks some 2020 McLaren Vale reds.
Best drinking: good now, good in five years, good in ten. I like these younger though tbh. Just go now, you won’t regret it. Would I buy it? Sure would.

Luscious fruit defines this 2020 King's Wood Shiraz, but it morphs through the middle palate with shades of meat, red licorice, dark chocolate and mulberry—it’s very sweet in character. There is blackberry, raspberry and licorice on the nose, however on day two it feels much softer and lighter, with deli meat, star anise, clove bud, green tea and layers of red apple, eucalypt and crushed granite. Kind of a loose, sandy disposition. Really impressive. Dappled and beautiful.

I tasted this 2014 Brooks Road Shiraz as a second-round release in 2022. This wine was made by Charlie Seppelt and not by Pete Fraser as the more recent ones are. This is great. It is pure and savory, with attractively fine tannins through the middle palate and tail. A cascade of salted red fruits that tumble over each other and really spool out through the long finish. Smart. Very smart.

Kristy Melton has coaxed out hallmark freshness in her single-vineyard Cabernets. Heady oak spices rise from the glass mingling with chocolate-tinged red berry fruit and dried herbs. Plush red berries on the palate are framed by firm, dusty tannins with notes of cedar, tobacco and vanilla emerging on the finish.

From Freemark Abbey's Bosché vineyard, which sits on a gravelly bench. Enticing aromas of mulberry, thyme, earth smokey minerals and cedar. Full and rich with tart cherry and ripe blackberry fruit, iron shavings and a structured dusty tannic backbone. A long finish is marked by crushed cocoa nibs and dried flowers. Very fresh with plenty of acidity for long ageing.

Deep, brilliant red. A hugely perfumed, complex bouquet evokes ripe red berries, cherry pit, Asian spices, incense and musky earth. Sweet, seamless and expansive on the palate, offering intense, mineral-tinged raspberry preserve, candied lavender, star anise, succulent herb and blood orange flavors that deepen with air while maintain ingurgency. Shows outstanding energy and delineation on the strikingly long, floral- and mineral-driven finish, which is framed by silky, harmonious tannins. This crazy wine was left on its skins for 191 days after fermentation. My guess is that it will be showing its best in the near term, while its intense fruit is to the fore.

Brilliant ruby. Heady, mineral- and exotic-spice-accented red and blue fruit, candied lavender and incense aromas show outstanding definition and lift. Sweet, seamless and penetrating on the palate, offering concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry, cola and spicecake flavors that become livelier as the wine stretches out. Delivers a compelling blend of richness and energy, with no rough edges. The strikingly long, floral-driven finish is framed by velvety tannins.

Brilliant violet. Vibrant dark berry, cherry liqueur, violet oil and exotic spice aromas show excellent clarity and mineral lift. Alluringly sweet and incisive on the palate, offering palate-staining black raspberry, boysenberry, vanilla and spicecake flavors and a late touch of cola. Supple tannins give shape to the penetrating, mineral-tinged finish, which hangs on with superb focus and tenacity.

Pale yellow. Bright and energetic in style, displaying Anjou pear, tangerine, floral and mineral qualities on the nose, along with a hint of smokiness that gains strength as the wine opens up. Shows superb depth as well as urgency on the palate, offering bitter citrus pith, pear nectar and honeysuckle flavors and an exotic suggestion of saffron. Finishes extremely long and nervy, showing sharp delineation and lingering floral and mineral qualities. This vibrant Chardonnay, which comes from a relatively warm site (by Giant Steps' standards), carries alow pH of 3.21, putting it smack in Chablis territory.

Shimmering magenta. Ripe red and blue fruit, rose oil and exotic spice scents take on smoky mineral, vanilla and mocha nuances with air. Sappy and expansive on the palate, offering appealingly sweet boysenberry, cherry cola and five-spice flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. The spice and floral notes repeat on an extremely long, focused finish framed by subtly chewy tannins.

An impressive blend that’s stylish and handsomely structured, this slowly unfurls notes of cherry and cassis accented by espresso, toasty spice and hints of flint as it promenades on the palate toward polished tannins. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030. From California.

Dense with some flirtatious mulberry fruit working the edges, this is an excellent Shiraz from Yangarra Estate.
Sourced from a 2.3 hectare block with its feet deeply rooted in sandy ironstone soils, 20% whole bunches were used and it was matured in 25hL French oak Foudre (50% new) for 16 months.
Blueberries and dark plums build delicious momentum and roll forward with charismatic ease. Some smokiness and meatiness builds depth too. The dense fruit has a soft caress through the mouth before tensing up on close with a shimmer of fine spices. Give it a decant for now or embrace its beauty later.
Certified organic and biodynamic.

Unlike the Fijnbosch Chardonnay, which is a single vineyard bottling, the straight Capensis wine uses grapes from different selected sites in the Western Cape. Showing Graham Weerts' sure touch with the variety, this has enticing toast, cinnamon and beeswax aromas, impressive concentration, chiselled focus and minerality and pear and waxed lemon fruit.