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Small
production gems from the Barossa Valley,
Australia
David and Hannah Thomas run a wine
shop in Hampshire called The
Cellar Door. David, who’s an Aussie winemaker by training, also
imports an exclusive range of small production wines from the Barossa,
and he sent me some to try. In short, I was deeply impressed: they are
each authentic expressions of Barossa ‘terroir’ (if you don’t
mind using that term) brimming with character and a sense of place. My
favourites were the stunning Spinifex Indigene, and also possibly the
best Aussie Riesling I’ve ever had, from Tin Shed. Here are my notes
on the wines, with contact details for The Cellar Door given at the
end, should you want to lay your hands on any.
I should add that I have no connection with the Cellar Door, nor do I
earn any commission from them, etc.
see
also: a more recent
tasting of these Barossa Valley garage wines
Tin
Shed Wines
Tin Shed is the work of viticulturalist Andrew Wardlaw (ex Henschke)
and restaurateur Peter Clarke, and has been going since 1998. It’s a
‘natural’ approach here, with wild yeast fermentation and minimal
new oak influence
Tin Shed Wild Bunch Riesling 2002 Eden Valley
Hand picked from sixty year old vines in the Eden Valley, whole bunch
pressed and naturally fermented. This has an incredible nose: full,
limey and fresh with great balance. The liminess isn’t over
powering, and there’s some minerality here too, together with a
touch of herbiness. The palate is concentrated and broad with
minerally, lemony fruit. Quite brilliant – a profound effort. Very
good/excellent 92
Tin Shed Three Vines 2001 Barossa
A blend of Mourvèdre, Shiraz and Grenache, from 80 year old wines,
fermented with wild yeasts and aged in seasoned hogsheads. Quite an
intense nose of berry and blackcurrant fruit with chocolatey notes and
some green-olive savouriness. The palate is concentrated and quite
savoury with powerful fruit flavours together with some green herbal
flavours. Lots of flavour but I’m detecting just a hint of greenness
here that stops it short of greatness. It would be interesting to see
how this ages. Very good+ 89
Tin Shed Single Wire Shiraz 2001 Barossa
Low yielding 90 year old vines from the Eden Valley make up 80% of the
blend. With an opaque purple-red colour, this is a wine of huge
concentration. It shows an intense nose of berry and black fruits with
a taut spicy edge and some background tarriness, together with a bit
of chocolatey character. The palate is massively concentrated with
firm, spicy tannins and high acidity (there’s a lemony, almost salty
tang on the finish). It’s tight and primary at the moment but
there’s everything here suggesting a promising future and a
potentially higher rating. Very good/excellent 92
Massena
Vineyards
Jaysen Collins (general manager at Turkey Flat) and Dan Standish
(associate winemaker at Torbreck) established Massena in 2000. The
story behind the 11th Hour Shiraz is that the 60 year old vines from
Greenock responsible for this wine were ready to be uprooted because
of low yields. Jaysen and Dan persuaded the owner to retain some of
these vines, and have blended grapes from them with a small parcel of
Koonunga Hill Shiraz.
Massena ‘The eleventh hour’ Shiraz 2001 Barossa
Ripe yet savoury spicy berry fruit nose, with some tarry, smoky notes
and plenty of complexity. Good concentration on the palate with a
distinctive tarry, spicy edge. Very intense with firm but smooth
tannins and prominent but well integrated oak. Bold, with so much
intensity it is difficult to pull the components apart – typically
Barossan in style. Very good/excellent 92
The
Schwarz Wine Company
Jason Schwarz has strong family connections with the
Barossa wine scene, and his father is a grape grower with over a
hundred acres of vines. The Nitschke Block was planted in 1967 and
contains 4 acres of Shiraz vines: Jason has persuaded his father to
allow him to use a tonne of this fruit, and the result is a small
quantity (1000 bottles) of this intense, full flavoured wine.
Schwarz Wine Company Nitschke Block Shiraz 2001 Barossa
Valley
Distinctive nose is ripe sweet and herby with intense blackcurrant
fruit and a creamy edge. There are hints of mint and coconut. The
concentrated palate is very ripe and sweet, with a soft, rich texture,
and summer pudding fruit. This is a big, soft, almost porty style with
rich fruit and a suggestion of some lifted acidity. Brilliant in its
style. Very good/excellent 90
Small
Gully Wines
Small Gully began life as a partnership between Stephen Black and
Robert Bader called B and B wines, with first vintage in 2000. This
became Small Gully when a farm implement shed situated in a small
gully on Roennfeldt Road was leased and some winery equipment was
purchased in 2001.
Small Gully Wines Shiraz 2000 Barossa Valley
Produced from 30–40 year old vines from the Stockwell & Ebenezer
areas. The Shiraz was taken off skins at 3 Baume to finish
fermentation in new and seasoned American oak hogsheads (60% new, 40%
seasoned), for greater oak integration. This is an intense, rich spicy
wine with lots of rich, sweet fruit and a vanillin, coconutty edge
from the American oak. After a while the coconut recedes and it is
more tarry and liquoricey. I love the spicy intensity of the ripe
fruit. It will be interesting to see what age does to this. Very good+
89
Small Gully Wines Ringbark Red Shiraz/Cabernet 2000 South
Australia
A blend of Clare Cabernet with Barossa Shiraz. Forward, rich spicy nose
with some sweet fruit. Some tarriness and a hint of coconut, too. The
midweight palate has a spicy edge and some warming, rich fruit. I’m
not massively keen on the coconut character this is currently showing,
but it is potentially ageworthy. Very good+ 88
Domaine
Jardin/Spinifex
Spinifex is the baby of Magali Gely and Peter Schell, and was started
as recently as 2001. Peter has made wine in Burgundy, Switzerland,
Provence, the Languedoc, Bordeaux, New Zealand and Australia. The
wines are made from old, low yielding vineyards in the Barossa and
Eden Valleys. The focus of winemaking is to produce harmonious, richly
textured wines with complex ripe fruit flavours. They’re succeeding,
it seems.
Spinifex Esprit 2001 Barossa
A blend of Shiraz, Mataro, Grenache and a little bit of Cinsault.
Striking nose showing vivid raspberry fruit: very pure and appealing.
The palate shows more of the same fresh berry fruit together with a
subtle spiciness. The alcohol is quite evident but the acid balance is
good. Quite delicious with its lovely fruit character. Very
good/excellent 90
Spinifex Indigene 2001 Barossa
60% Mataro and 40% very old vine Shiraz. The ferment was plunged by
hand in old milk vats three times a day, pressed around 3 Baume and
then finished in French and American oak barrels. Deep coloured.
Forward nose of sweet raspberry and plum fruit with lovely spicy
complexity, but it’s still nicely savoury and not at all over the
top. The palate is rich and concentrated, showing nice balance: good
depth of fruit well supported by spicy structure and smooth tannins.
The Mourvèdre character is evident. It’s rare to find a wine this
concentrated but which is still in balance. This is a spectacular
effort. Excellent 95
Contact details
The Cellar Door, No.9 Winchester Street, Overton, Hampshire, RG25
3HR
Tel: 01256 770 397 Fax: 01256 770 944
E-mail: info@thecellardoor.co.uk
Website: www.thecellardoor.co.uk
wines
tasted August 2003
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