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The New Barossa
Part 13: Veritas/Rolf Binder Wines


The Hanisch vineyard

Veritas has recently had to change its name to Rolf Binder wines. It’s a shame, really – the reason was because of disputed ownership of the name and the risk of legal action. Ownership of names is a funny issue: Veritas have happily been using theirs for the 50 years or so of their existence and now they have to change it. Doesn't seem fair to me.


Old Mourvèdre vines

Veritas was founded by an Austrian migrant, the father of Rolf Binder who currently runs things here, and its focus was originally on fortifieds, which formed the bulk of the output of the Barossa for quite some time. Rolf was trained at Roseworthy, and changed the direction of the company, shifting emphasis to dry red wines. Over the last decade Veritas has shown strong growth, from processing 50 tons of fruit to 500 each year, with a current output in the range of 30 000 cases.

Rolf has some great old vine vineyards, most notably Heysen and Hanisch (next to the winery). White wine making is handled by Rolf’s sister, Christa, while Kym Teusner handles the reds.

I liked these wines a lot. My only criticism is the perceptible presence of new American oak in a couple of them, when I feel they’d be better without this. But that’s just my view.

Christa Rolf Shiraz Grenache 2003
Lovely nose of really open, forward raspberry fruit. Sweet and very appealing. Delicious ripe fruit on the palate with a nice earthy, spicy structure hiding under it. Vibrant and reasonably serious. Very good/excellent 90/100

Heinrich Shiraz Mataro Grenache 2002
Another alluring sweet ripe nose of sweet raspberry and blackberry fruit, but with a more savoury, almost animally twist. Dark, meaty and spicy. The palate is savoury and structured with delicious pure fruit. The oak is unobtrusive. Very good/excellent 92/100

 


A little friend hiding in the trunk of an old vine

Shiraz Mataro Pressings ‘Binders Bull’s Blood’ 2002
Sweet dark fruits nose with some subtle coconut and vanilla new oak present. The palate shows richly concentrated fruit with some creamy richness from the oak. Big and quite tannic, in a bold style. This is essentially declassified Hanisch and Heysen. Very good/excellent 90/100 

Heysen 2002 (vineyard is pictured right)
Tasted at dinner the previous night with Kym Teusner. A big, rich style with some creamy coconut oak showing, but with very fine-grained structure. A substantial, classy red. Perhaps a touch too much American oak showing at the moment. Very good/excellent 90/100

Hanisch 2002
Dark, intense, brooding nose with lots of dark fruit and spice, together with a touch of coconut oak. Plenty of impact. The palate is hugely concentrated and quite structured, with smooth tannins. Lots of blueberry, blackberry and raspberry fruit, still quite primary. Very good/excellent 93/100  

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