Dog Ridge ALL-ROUNDER Grenache 2016 (RRP $28 WM $23.90)
$23.90
All-rounders stand apart from the specialists. They are flexible and reliable showing great sportsmanship and skill in all positions. They play for the team and can doggedly save the day or fill any gap, but when singled out they may not dazzle but can shine as bright as any star.
Our wonderful WW2 Grenache vines are capable of an amazing range from opera to rock, from tango to tap with these gnarled ancients producing Rhone-ish character and complexity from perfumed confectionery to savoury earthiness. All singing! All dancing! All round delight!
Dog Ridge BUTTERFINGERS Chardonnay 2019 SOLD OUT! (Order 2020 now for its release in mid April) (RRP $28 WM $23.90)
$23.90
It's back!! Re-introducing full-structured, big, rounded, gorgeous Chardonnay. New Butterfingers was aged in Le Grand Oak barrels which created a full-bodied and buttery flavour that lingers on. This wine undergoes a very labour-intensive lees stirring method and gains its oak character from the barrels in which it's aged.
This Chardonnay is that player you've known about forever who has not missed a beat. But one day he drops a sitter, a 'classic fumble' that nobody has forgotten about. That period through the 90's where Chardonnays, like Butterfingers, were no longer popular with wine drinkers was the 'classic fumble'. However, now is the time for those drinkers to remember the champion that the wine has always been.
Dog Ridge Moscato (pink) Non Vinatge (RRP $20 WM $15.90)
$15.90
A modern Australian sparkling pink Moscato. Sweet, fun, not for everyone! (Sweet & fun perfumed style)
Food Serve chilled or, ......................"The Bombay Kitten”; In a tall glass with cubed ice, slice of lime and a shot of Bombay Sapphire Gin + chilled DogRidge Moscato = YUM!
Characteristics Colour: Red with medium depth and a bright crimson hue. Nose: A vibrant bouquet of juicy raspberries, dried strawberries, fig and slight floral hints of clove and lavender. Palate: The palate starts lush with Grenache fruits, filling the mouth, however still medium bodied and elegant. After the first fill of fruit leaves the palate, the wines elegant and fine minerality/tannin line reveals, giving the wine great length. A vibrant and vivid palate demonstrating Grenaches intrinsic vibrancy and elegance.
Winemakers Comments 2019 was a dry but generally mild vintage, especially well-suited to Grenache. Allowing this late ripening variety to achieve full flavour ripeness without an excessively high Baume. An excellent Grenache year demonstrating the lovely purity of fruit from DOWIE DOOLE’s 53 year old bush vine Grenache.
Food Match Charcuterie Board, Peking Duck, Lamb Ragu.
Ageing Potential Drink young and fresh to enjoy the vibrant Grenache fruit, however will cellar for up to 10+ years from those wanting more complexity.
Oak Maturation Matured for 24 months in 36 month seasoned American oak hogsheads and puncheons, with 50% being new and 50% 3-year-old, previously used for the 2014 Cali Rd Shiraz
Characteristics Colour: Intense deep red with a bright crimson hue. Nose: A complex nose of dark berry fruit, choc mocha, star anise and cedar. Palate: The full-bodied palate is rich and generous. The special selection 36 month seasoned barrels have added weight and structure whist enhancing the fruit intensity - flavors of dark berries, blackberries, clove and dark chocolate. A complex wine with excellent tannin structure, amazing length and weight.
Winemaker’s Comments Crop levels in 2016 were slightly above average due to an excellent fruit set. Good rain in late January/early February gave the vines a much needed drink after a very dry spring. This sustained the vines during a mild February, ensuring the fruit could reach full flavour ripeness without excessive sugar levels.
Characteristics Colour: Dark red with a crimson halo. Nose: Unmistakable McLaren Vale Shiraz bouquet: dark red fruits, cloves, cassis, with lovely French oak notes of cedar and star anise further lifting the fruit out of the glass. Palate: The palate is rich and full with layers of dark fruits, licorice, and plums. The mouthfeel is refined and long, with the tannin from the cooler Clarendon Vineyard giving the wine an elegant tannin line giving the wine great length. The 24 months of oak maturation, using second fill oak has added complexity while maintaining a graceful balance between the fruit and oak flavours.
Winemaker’s Comments Crop levels in 2016 were slightly above average due to an excellent fruit set. Good rain in late January/early February gave the vines a much-needed drink after a very dry spring. This sustained the vines during a mild February, ensuring the fruit could reach full flavour ripeness without excessive sugar levels. This wine demonstrates the elegance and power of McLaren Vale shiraz. With fruit sourced from the cooler hills of the Clarendon subregion, combined with the more Mediterranean Cali Rd vineyard from the subregion of Tatachilla, known for wines of great fruit intensity. Combined these vineyards have produced a wine that shows what we love about McLaren Vale, grace and power all wrapped into one.
Food Match Whole beef fillet, Hong Kong Brew House - Chef Jefferies Tomahawk Steak Ageing
McLaren Vale’s warm days and cool nights allow Merlot to reach optimum ripeness, creating a smooth, mouth-filling wine with rich berry and plum flavours.
Fruit for the Dowie Doole Merlot is sourced from the cooler, sandy slopes of our Tintookie Vineyard and the loamy soils of the California Road vineyard. The combination of fruit from these two distinctively different vineyard sites brings savouriness and richness, with fine tannins complementing the classic Merlot aromas and flavours.
Characteristics
Colour:Brilliant crimson with a purple hue.
Nose:Bright red and blue fruit; raspberries, blueberries and plum. Hints of clove and cinnamon stick linger in the background. Subtle hints of oak; cedar, pencil shavings, further lift the fruit and spice.
Palate:The bright red fruits flow onto the palate giving the wine a juicy mouthfeel. The tannins are soft and balanced allowing the wines fruit to shine through, while still giving the wine structure and length. This balance of fruit, oak and tannin allow this wine to be enjoyed now or into the future.
Grenache and Tempranillo is a famous blend of Spanish varieties. It’s the kind of wine you would normally drink at the fashionable wine and tapas bars throughout Spain; but now you don’t have to be in Spain to enjoy it. Salud!
The G&T is a vibrant, fresh and food friendly wine and a classic Spanish blend.
Characteristics:
Colour:Medium intensity red with crimson hue.
Nose:A vibrant bouquet of wild berries, cigar box and spice.
Palate:The palate is medium bodied and elegant, revealing berries and spice. A vibrant, zippy wine with a fine tannin structure making it ideal to complement a wide range of foods. Salud!
Blend Details This is a blend of various vintages. The base is made from Shiraz wines from 1995 – 2012 vintages. These wines have been used like a solera system with a portion of the older material used in the blend to give the wine depth and wonderful richness on the palate. This base has then been blended with Shiraz from the 2015 and 2016 vintages to add lift, palate weight and richness.
NV Shiraz Base To increase the complexity of this sparkling shiraz a base wine blend is kept from vintages as far back as 1996. This base is stored in old oak hogsheads on a bed of Chenin Blanc yeast lees to aid mouth-feel.
Characteristics Colour : Very deep, rich crimson in colour with crimson hue. Nose : Notes of blackberry and cherry fruits, spice box and a little pepper Palate : Dark fruits carry through onto the rich, velvety, long and slightly sweet but not cloying palate.
Winemaker’s Comments This is a quintessential Australian Sparkling Red wine. It is rich, dark and dangerously delicious. Should be consumed cold, with good company, good food, good music and good cheer. Lovely wine to drink as an aperitif, or with roasted duck, goose, chicken or pork or at the close of a meal with dark fruit cake and a good cheddar type cheese. While rich, the wine is never cloying, finishing with vibrant acidity and some lovely drying tannins to offset the semi-sweetness of the wine. Blue and black fruits with spicy notes, long full palate, some initial sweetness on the long palate finishing with a refreshing crispness. Drink well-chilled.
Food Match Duck and pistachio terrine, roasted goose, turkey or duck, spicy beef ribs.
Ageing Potential Though rich, complex and delicious to drink now, if cellared carefully we expect the Moxie Sparkling Shiraz will drink gracefully for 8-10 years.
Dowie Doole R Rose Grenache/Vermentino 2020 (RRP $25 WM $19.90)
$19.90
Rosé - Grenache / Vermentino
Made from 87% Grenache from 54-year-old vines and 13% Vermentino, this unique provencal inspired Rosé is dry, fresh & crisp with exceptional depth of flavour and vibrant acidity.
Characteristics:
Colour: Blush pink with a rose gold hue
Nose: A lifted bouquet of vibrant fruits, consisting of strawberries, tangerine, pink grape fruit and orange peel.
Palate:The palate; dry, long and fine, revealing lovely citrus fruits; pink grapefruit, and tangerine. Combined with strawberries and raspberry adding fruit sweetness. Finishing with a lovely acid line delicately balanced with a slight phenolic grip from the Vermentino.
Our Reserve Shiraz represents the finest shiraz we can make, from the best Shiraz grapes we can grow on the DOWIE DOOLE Vineyards.
It is made to showcase McLaren Vale shiraz with its classical, rich, generous characters entwined with fine tannins and new French oak.
To protect our philosophy, the Reserve is made in very limited quantities, without compromise and only when vintage conditions allow for a supreme shiraz wine.
Characteristics
Colour:Intense deep purple with a bright crimson hue.
Nose:A complex nose of dark fruits, leather, cardamom, sandalwood and aged Jamón.
Palate: The full-bodied palate is rich and generous. The use of extra fine grain French oak has produced a wine showing a lovely integration between the fruit, oak and tannin. An intriguingly complex array of flavours; wild dark berries, spices, cedar and coco powder. Completed by an excellent tannin backbone giving the wine structure, length and great aging potential.
This Heirloom Vineyards McLaren Vale Shiraz was by acclaimed young Brooks winemaker Elena Brooks in our McLaren Vale Cellars from a single site.
Sourced from our neighbours the McMurtie Family’s extraordinary and low yielding old vines, just adjacent to the Salopian Inn, where Ross McMurtrie, Vigneron was born.
Hand tended vines, sorted bunch by bunch, naturally open fermented, with regular hand plunging and gentle pumping over to extract colour, flavour and tannin.
Aged in some new but mainly 3 and 4 year one-year old French and Bulgarian oak barriques for 16 months.
This Heirloom Vineyards Touriga was made from our best McLaren Vale Vineyard in the Willunga basin, whose manicured vines embody the very best in cutting edge, but old school viticulture and winemaking. Hand tended vines, sorted bunch-by-bunch with 30% whole bunches, naturally open fermented, basket-pressed and stored in well-seasoned French oak barriques from bespoke coopers for 9 months before bottling.
The wine's colour is like the dark lining of a Transylvanian Count's cape...
Purposefully picked and bottled a little early, thus accentuating the variety's lifted, Earl Grey Tea-like floral aromatics, this red is all about perfume and powders and cherry-blossom nosegays.
Touriga's innately bullish tannins stretch on forever in this red wine, softened and calmed by fresh, plush and perfect dark fruit flavours, tensioned and etched by fine natural acid. This balance makes the wine surprisingly and charmingly versatile with a range of cuisines. Oh, and it loves a big wine glass.
An extraordinary Touriga from the McLaren Vale that will cellar extraordinarily well but is so deliciously delicious now. Argument for delayed gratification is almost academic.
Hugo Wines Cuvee Sparkling Chardonnay NV (RRP $25 WM $19.90)
$19.90
The NV Cuvee has a clear appearance, pale straw tones,with a refined mousse and lasting bead. The bouquet is clean, fresh, tropical and citrus fruit aromas with suggestions of green bean and bread dough.
On the palate crisp and lively with lifted fresh fruit flavours of zesty citrus and lemon over more developed notes of green melon, broad bean and baked bread. The fruit components are well balanced with the more complex characters resulting in a celebration style with engaging vitality.
Serve with: Gougeres with anchovies, Oysters any style or Twice cooked mushroom souffle.
Produced from the old bush vine Grenache planted by Colin Hugo in 1951. This low yielding 4 Acre block produces distinctive fruit with soft raspberry characters.
Only the best selected rows are handpicked and whole bunch fermented to create a bright, juicy & fresh style Grenache.
Deep inky black core with a deep dark red black hue. Heady scents of liquorice and blackberry intermix with dark plum, subtle vanillin cedar, hints of dark chocolate, light fennel and pepper.
The cooler 2017 vintage has imparted an air of refinement to what is otherwise a rich, plush palate. Medium to full bodied a bounty of opulent blackberry, liquorice and dark plum fruits are layered across the mouth underpinned by elements of spicy vanillin cedar, fennel and pepper. Silky smooth tannins with good underlying freshness.
Concludes long and quite sumptuous yet also shows a high degree of finesse.
Hugo Wines Shiraz Cabernet 2017 (RRP $28 WM $22.90)
$22.90
This Shiraz Cabernet blend is from selected parcels of handpicked estate grown fruit.
Created by co-fermentation to enhance the integration of both grape varieties.
A classic Australian blend combining the length of the cabernet sauvignon characters, cherry and mulberry with the shiraz, plum and blackcurrant on the palate.
Ministry of Clouds Grenache 2018 (RRP $38 WM $36.90)
$36.90
Grenache delivers what Pinot promises…
A celebration of the dogged stubbornness of three McLaren Vale families, who persisted with their plots of Grenache, when other implored them to turn their land to other pursuits. From very old bush vines each vineyard eighty years plus, we make a contemporary Grenache with fragrance, succulence and fine boned structure (a little like our favourite Pinots!!). Viva la Grenache!
Creation Hand harvested from a trio of vineyards ranging from 80 to 96 years of age and situated in the higher climes of Blewitt Springs and Clarendon. Planted into deep Aeolian sand these sites express a spicy, more modestly built, and slender expression of McLaren Vale Grenache. We lightly de-stemmed 85% of the fruit to retain whole berries, including the balance as whole bunches. Ferments were started wild in traditional open fermenters, with hand plunging twice daily to wet the caps, but not so vigorous as to macerate the stalks. After 12 days on skins, we basket pressed each parcel to a mixture of old oak puncheons and a 1000 litre foudre. Maturation was undertaken on fine lees to build mid palate texture and for the reductive benefit to avoid Grenache’s predisposition to oxidation. 11 months only in old oak to allow the blend to come together and bottled young before any meaningful oak influence can be seen.
Composition
Entwined within a complex deep core of red and purple fruit aromas, violets, earth and herb tinged; the palate is pure with old-vine flesh, calming depth and purity, but kept necessarily fresh by grainy tannins and a bright line of natural acid.
Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 16 °C, we suggest you try with your local version of the food of the many homes Grenache – the various cures of black pig from Spain, the toasted wild yeast bread and smashed tomato of the Priorat, and the smoked veal sausages of the Rhone Valley. Cool cellaring between to 5 years to 8 years will be rewarded.
Ministry of Clouds Kintsugi 2016 (RRP $85 WM $80.90)
$80.90
Sum of the parts… Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of “golden joinery”, the creation of enduring beauty from broken fragments of ancient pottery as they are pieced together with lacquer laced with gold. It befits our desire to meticulously blend only our very best parcels of old vine fruit from a single year. In direct contrast with the Australian obsession to label single varietal wines, Kintsugi is the simply the best Southern Rhone inspired wine we can make in a year, no matter its components. The whole, we hope, is greater than the sum of its parts.
Creation
This vintage is lead by a parcel of 97 year old bush vine Grenache planted high in the cool climes of Clarendon, blended with a multi-clonal pick of Blewitt Springs Mataro, a parcel of our best Patritti Shiraz, and a small amount of Cinsault. All picked by hand, the Grenache, Mataro, and Shiraz, were all fermented in open vessels with a small inclusion of whole bunch, the Cinsault was 100% whole berry ferment. Ferments were worked very gently, largely by plunging only, but left on skins for longer than any of our other parcels. Basket pressed to 100% old French oak, matured separately for 10 months before assembly as a final blend and allowed another 6 months maturation to knit together before bottling.
Composition
An elegant, floral wine, showing the aromatic red fruit lift, and depth of spice from old vine Grenache and the Cinsault, buried underneath is the intense blue fruits and violets of dry grown Mataro and Shiraz. Layered and long this wine exhibits a tightly wound core of dense red berried crunchy fruit, framed by persistent sandy tannins, and bright acidity.
Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 16 °C, please take the time to splash in a decanter for as long as you can – we love our blended wines with paprika spiced chicken, roasted hot and fast, or grilled, with Moroccan Couscous flavoured with chorizo, kale, pistachio, and preserved lemon. Cool cellaring for 5 to 10 years will be rewarded.
Ministry of Clouds Mataro 2017 (RRP $38 WM $36.90)
$36.90
Q: Mataro, Mourvedre, or Monastrell? A: It doesn’t matter, just think beast!
Ever the blender, Mataro rarely gets to shine individually in Australia, but here is its chance… The worst vegetarian wine in the world, Mataro famous for its robust intricate tannins begs to be consumed alongside a slab of beast – fatty, barbequed, flame grilled meat… Unleash your inner carnivore!
Creation Sourced largely from a sloping Blewitt Springs vineyard, planted into deep wind-blown sand to highlight aromatics and fine grained structure. Dry grown, producing thick skinned and small berried grapes, we hand picked all fruit to ensure delicacy, then lightly de-stemmed to retain whole berries, and cold soaked before fermentation to capture aromatics. Fermentation was in open vessels with daily pump overs, before basket pressing to old French oak barriques for 13 months maturation.
Composition
Shy and brooding, this is a bright but deep expression of Mataro. A complex nose of clove, cardamom, fennel seeds, Provencal herbs, and the whole butcher’s shop… On the palate, a compact core of blue fruits subtly supported by creamy oak, and carried by a ferruginous driving tannin structure, which carries the fruit through the mouth.
Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 16 °C, please take the time to splash in a decanter for as long as you dare – and serve with your family BBQ – spicy Chinese chicken wings with turmeric and garlic, Italian pork and fennel sausages, or black cardamom spiced skirt steak flashed over open coals. Cool cellaring between to 5 years to 15 years will be rewarded.
Ministry of Clouds Shiraz 2019 (RRP $32 WM $28.90)
$28.90
Sand & Stones may break my bones, but geology will never hurt me…
Born of one of the most ancient and geologically diverse wine regions in the world, McLaren Vale, this wine is made from Australia’s most ubiquitous grape – Shiraz. With the aim that this Shiraz reflects our view of the region, we combine a famed dry grown Blewitt Springs deep sandy vineyard, and a younger more structured and fragrant parcel from the shallow old rocks of our own Seaview site in the hope of a more modern, slender and youthful expression.
Creation We hand picked each parcel to preserve freshness and vibrancy, keeping 5% as whole bunches, and gently destemming the balance to retain whole berries, we allowed it to cold soak for 2-3 days to capture aromatics. Fermentation commenced naturally, it was hand plunged or pumped over and tasted twice daily to assess flavour and colour extraction. After a gentle basket press, the wine was matured in a 5000 litre old Freinch oak foudre, and a selection of 500l puncheons. Bottled without fining or filtration.
Composition
Layers of cool blue and red fruit lift with layers of allspice and cardamom to entice, supported by a gentle creaminess, which progresses to the palate exhibiting a deep fruit weight kept bright, nervy, and fleshy and filed down nicely by fine and savoury tannin line.
Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 16 °C... God forbid a Shiraz that won’t dominate all food placed before it. Try with spicy Catalan Fish Stew with grilled rye and aioli. Cool cellaring between 5 years to 8 years will be rewarded.
Ministry of Clouds Tempranillo Grenache 2020 (RRP $32 WM $28.90)
$28.90
Imagination
Inspired by our eating adventures in San Sebastian, immersed in the timeless pinchos bars surrounded by endless morsels of deliciousness, we wanted to create a versatile ‘eating’ wine designed to grace the table. With versatility in mind, we combined spicy and fragrant Tempranillo from both Blewitt Springs and the foothills of the McLaren Range, with a selection of old vine Grenaches.
Creation
Two vineyards of Tempranillo, one cool Blewitt Springs site, and one McLaren Flat Foothills vineyard were picked both by hand, we retained 20% whole-bunch, fermented another 10% by carbonic maceration, and de-stemmed the balance to retain whole berries for traditional open ferment. With a desire to retain freshness and vibrancy and to build a wider aromatic profile on the Tempranillo, it was left to the Grenache component to provide mid palate intensity. Old vine Grenache from three blocks ranging from 80 years to 44 years of age were de-stemmed and fermented in large open vats, with daily pump overs. After basket pressing the wine was matured in a mixture of stainless steel, old French oak barriques, and to two large old oak foudres for 7 months maturation before bottling.
Composition
This wine combines bright notes of pomegranate, sarsaparilla, violets and nutmeg typical of dry grown Tempranillo, with the perfume and succulence of old vine Grenache. This medium bodied wine is pretty, juicy and deliberately moreish. A lithe and juicy wine, it errs on the blood orange, cherry, red berry spectrum supported by savoury tannins built around a fine boned structure.
Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 16°C... Enjoy over a shared grazing meal, this food friendly versatile wine works a treat with a good selection of flavours from a platter of cured meats to, chorizo prawns to pizzas, pastas, quail and duck dishes. Cool cellaring between to 5 years to 8 years will be rewarded.
This Grenache rosé is light pink/salmon in colour while offering strawberries, pomegranate and minerality, the wine is bone dry and is balanced with refreshing crunchy acid and mouth watering length.
About Houdini The Houdini is the easy drinking introductory range for Smidge Wines. This 100% Shiraz comes from both the northern Seaview and southern Willunga regions of McLaren Vale. Although the introductory level to Smidge, this wine was matured in both bar- riques and hogsheads which were predominantly French (5% new) and a small amount of American for 18 months.
Tasting Notes McLaren Vale Houdini has a black core with a deep red rim. The nose is quintessential McLaren Vale Shiraz with a perfumed array of dark berries, plums, dark liqueur chocolate, vanilla bean and spice. On the palate the dark fruits jump to the fore and generously flow through to the long finish, balanced with spicy dark chocolate and slightly chewy yet fine tannins. This wine screams for a juicy steak or some hard cheese.
Cellaring Smidge recommends drinking this wine within the next 6 to 8 years.
Viticulture This Shiraz was sourced from two immaculate vineyards. The block in the northern subregion of Seaview is approximately 25 years old whose soil profile is dark sand over red clay. Even with its double cordon, yields are consistently 2t per acre. The second block is on the western fringes of Willunga adjacent to White’s Valley. The vines are 10 years old and the vines are single cordon producing con- sistent yields of 2.5t per acre. The soil profile here is red / brown clay / loam mottled with quartz and ironstone.
Vinification & Maturation Fermentation was even and on average lasted 7 days with a maximum temperature of 280C. Total average time on skins was 15 days. Upon pressing, the free run and pressings were blended to tank. After 24 hours, the wine was racked to new to 4 year old barriques and hogsheads, which were predominantly French with some American for 14 months, during which time malo- lactic fermentation occurred and the wines were racked twice. Prior to bottling the batches were blended and fined, but not filtered.
