The wines
of
Mitolo, McLaren Vale, Australia
This relatively new venture is a collaboration between
grower Frank Mitolo and superstar winemaker Ben Glaetzer. A recent
feature on Ben Glaetzer tells the
story; the wines are very impressive, as the notes below indicate. An
earlier review on these wines is here.
Mitolo Jester Sangiovese Rosé 2005 McLaren Vale
This is a clone of Sangiovese that isn’t suited to red wine:
it’s an old Italian clone that crops heavily. This spent 3 days on
skins and only the free run juice was used. Very deep colour. Bright,
full fruity palate is quite bold and intense with crunchy joyful red
fruits. A delicious bold style of rosé. Very good+ 88/100
Mitolo Jester Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
A fun wine with a hint of seriousness. Fresh, full, sweet spicy
nose with a bit of chocolatey richness. The palate shows rich,
concentrated spicy fruit that’s very accessible. Quite smooth, sweet
style. Very good+ 89/100
Mitolo Jester Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 McLaren Vale
30% of this is made with an amarone technique. Ben Glaetzer uses
this to fill out the mid-palate of Cabernet, which can be problematic
in South Australia. However, he says that this doesn’t work in the
Barossa. Smooth supple berry and blackcurrant fruit nose with lovely
freshness. Nice fresh pure fruit on the palate, which is sweet, smooth
and supple. Delicious. Very good/excellent 90/100
Mitolo GAM Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
There’s one vineyard with three different soil types, and it is
micromanaged to produce this wine, the Sativar and the Serpico. This
one comes from yields of up to 3 tons/acre and is aged in 70% new oak.
It has beautifully defined pure, sweet spicy red fruits on the nose.
The palate is spicy and fresh with lovely definition and
concentration. A lovely wine: full but balanced. Very good/excellent
92/100
Mitolo Savitar Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
From yields of 1 ton/acre, aged in all new oak, of which 80% is
French. Taut, deep spicy nose leads to a palate that is bold and full
with lots of dense sweet fruit. Great concentration: firm and spicy.
Lovely freshness. Definite potential for further improvement. Very
good/excellent 94/100
Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 McLaren Vale
Made using the amarone technique, with grapes being dried for 8
weeks on racks before fermentation. 100% new oak and post-ferment
maceration employed. Beautifully perfumed, sweet nose with some
exquisite herb and tea notes. Open and smooth. The palate is
concentrated, open and lovely with smoothness and nice weight. Full
and spicy with some blackcurrant character. Very good/excellent 94/100
Mitolo Riever 2004 Barossa
Spicy, chocolatey, rich nose. Nice freshness to the fruit. The
palate is concentrated and sweetly fruited but with nice spicy
structure and a fair bit of freshness. Very good/excellent 91/100
Wines tasted 01/05
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these wines with wine-searcher.com
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