The
New Barossa
Part 17:
Domenic Torzi, revisited
I'd
visited Domenic at his beautiful property at Mount McKenzie before,
when I was really impressed by his Frost Dodger reds, made from
Shiraz grapes part dried on racks (see earlier
report). This time round there were two new themes to explore.
First, a wonderfully refined Eden Valley Riesling and a series of
reds from the Adelaide Plains. I also had another look at Frost
Dodger itself.
You'll
recall that Domenic's vineyard is in the Eden Valley, in a
frost-prone region where the risk of damage is from the beginning of
October to the second week in November. As a result, the vines are
pruned with a permanent cordon (two woody arms which are then spur
pruned), and an insurance cane trained onto the higher guide wire
(see picture on the right). The Riesling is the latest addition to
the Frost Dodger stable, and comes from 1970s plantings in Mount
McKenzie, Craneford and Mengeler's Hill.
In
contrast to the cool-ish Eden Valley, the Adelaide Plains are the
hottest viticultural region in South Australia (thermally, that is).
This is where Domenic hails from, and while it used to be a popular
place for growing grapes (Penfolds' Grange used to have a decent
contribution from this area) it's fallen out of favour. Domenic's
latest mission has been the Old Plains Wine Company, which is a
joint project in collaboration with an old schoolmate, Tim Freeland.
The old vineyards were non-profitable and were being pulled up by
growers, who typically kept small blocks to make wine for family and
friends. Since 1996, Domenic and Tim have been sourcing these
remaining small blocks, perhaps of half an acre or two acres. They
have also taken cuttings from old vineyards and planted 10.5 acres
of their own, releasing the first wines with the 2004 vintage. I
tasted a mix of 2004s and 2005s, and I think the results are
fantastic. The notes speak for themselves.
Torzi Matthews Riesling 2005 Eden Valley
This is a beautiful wine. Lovely smoky, spicy minerally notes on
the nose together with some limey fruit. Nicely complex. The palate
has nice weight with quite a soft, rich texture. This is an assured,
confident Riesling with good concentration. Great balance. Very
good/excellent 94/100
Longhop Boomerang Shiraz 2005 Adelaide Plains
Wonderful nose of pure, sweet blackcurrant fruit with a sweet
cassis character. Seamless and smooth. The remarkable palate is bold
and rich with lovely pure fruit, but it’s all in balance and
avoids being jammy. Nice structure. Brilliant winemaking. Very
good/excellent 93+/100
Boomerang Old Vine Grenache 2005 Adelaide Plains
Sweet, opulent and lush on the nose with a liqueur-like edge and
subtle herb and tea notes. Beguiling. There’s a lovely supple
texture to the bright fruit on the palate, which displays
undercurrents of earthiness and spice. There’s already a bit of
complexity, but I reckon this superb wine will develop very
interestingly. It carries its high alcohol (just under 16%) quite
well. Very good/excellent 93+/100
Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2004 Adelaide Plains
(Just about to be bottled.) Lovely rich nose of pure, vivid
fruit with a bright blackcurrant and raspberry character and a nice
spicy lift. The palate has interesting weight: it shows lots of
lush, pure fruit with a subtle, spicy structure. A really
interesting wine which is in balance, although dominated a little by
the pure, smooth fruit at present. Good potential. Very
good/excellent 92–94/100
Longhop Old Vine Reserve 2005 Adelaide Plains
Quite a bright dark nose of brooding sweet black fruits with
some spicy complexity. There’s lots happening here. The palate
shows hugely concentrated sweet dark fruit with a spicy, almost
earthy structure. It’s a striking style, very driven by pure fruit
but with the structure and stuffing to age, although this is mostly
hidden at this early stage. Very good/excellent 92–94/100
Power of One Shiraz 2004 Adelaide Plains
Utterly fantastic nose of complex dark fruits with a subtle
spiciness and some earthy character. There’s also some beguiling
notes of subtle autumn leaves and dry straw, under the rich
blackcurrant fruit. The palate shows a huge concentration of bright
fresh fruit with seamless, spicy, earthy tannic structure. It’s
hard to see past the forward fruit at the moment, but there’s
plenty of structure here. 93–96/100
Power of One Shiraz 2005 Adelaide Plains
Supple, dark smooth sweet fruit nose with a smoky, spicy edge.
There’s lots of fruit here. The palate is dominated by full,
sweet, supple fruit. It’s rounded and rich, but there’s a stack
of tannin underneath it all. This is a big, primary wine with a long
future ahead of it – it’s going to be brilliant. 91–94/100
Torzi
Matthews Frost Dodger Shiraz 2004 Eden Valley
Really forward, dark, sweetly fruited nose with a lovely herb
and tea lift and complex sweet spices. The palate shows a lovely
expression of herb-tinged lush fruit. This distinctive wine has a
lovely silky texture, and this is coupled with a dry, savoury,
tannic finish keeping things in balance. A wine with lots of
personality that keeps giving. Excellent 95/100
Torzi
Matthews Frost Dodger Shiraz 2005 Eden Valley (cask sample)
Hard hit by frost, 9 tons were picked at 1 ton/acre. Pungent, vivid
nose of pure blackcurrant jam with a spicy edge. Quite complex and
intense. The palate is juicy and ripe with sweet, rounded,
concentrated fruit. Lively and vibrant with nice structure. A dense
forward style with lots of promise. 92-95/100
Wines
tasted October 2005
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