Yarra Valley – Cognitive Bottle Therapy

2019 Giant Steps Syrah Carignan Grenache

Sometimes the sum of the parts in a blend can be more than the individual bits, maybe. Despite thinking Pinot Noir is complete in its own wonder, I must admit to really enjoying some of the more recent Pinot and Shiraz blends from the Yarra Valley. This proved to be another delicious bottle of mixing things up. Perhaps made to be drunk in its vigorous youth, lots of what seems to be whole berries, it nonetheless was still fresh and remarkably deep a few years on. Lots of vivid very ripe raspberries, some mint and touch of pepper trimmed by some sappy stem herbs. Lush and for want of a better word, slurpable. Gentle skin tannin and acidity. Hard to stop sipping until the bottles all gone. It’s nice to go travelling but it’s just a good to drink local at home.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $35 ish.

93 points but more delicious than some with more points.

2000 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

I remember the year 2000 was a good one for the variety that does so well in the Yarra Valley. This bottle was a bit of a gamble at auction. Who knows where it’s been slumbering through many hot summers? Add the lottery of cork and the chances of a duff bottle increase to the point of not risking a huge bid. It was enough to score what turned out to be a tiring but still very lovely bottle. Loads of reliable Cabernet leaf, cedar and tobacco with plenty of cassis and red fruit plumping up the cushion of those fine Yarra Cabernet tannins. A pleasing roundness and resolution with age. A sort of savoury sweetness, if that makes sense? Maybe the flavours are very different but Yarra Valley Cabernet can produce a lingering sensation of timelessness just like some Bordeaux does, at a fraction of the price.

13.% alcohol. Cork. $30 at auction.

93 points.

2021 Bandesh Time to Fly Shiraz

It’s worth reading articles by Max Allen in the AFR and Anna Bailey in the Guardian where Farhad Bandesh’s arduous journey from Kurdish Iran to making wine in Australia gets some sympathetic coverage. How he survived about eight years detention as a refugee on the hell of Manus Island and still smiles when talking about Australian wine and its supportive people is extraordinary. He had a stall at a local farmers’ market one cold damp Saturday recently. It was a privilege to buy a couple of bottles and reflect on how we take such free choices for granted. Well, not only a tough, lovely human, Farhad can make very good wine too. Quite rich and ripe for a Yarra Valley Shiraz. Plenty of summer pudding berries and custard. Spice and a clean finish of intermingled fine acidity and tannin. Even when it’s pretty ripe, the Yarra Valley seems to imbue its gentle fresh touch. Just a delicious Shiraz. I also bought a 2022 Time to Fly Shiraz made from the same Grampians vineyard as Rory Lane from The Story sources his fruit, picked at the same time. Every bit as deeply red fruited and entrancingly peppery as you’d want. Didn’t take a note but happy to buy another.

14% alcohol. Diam. $35 and worth every cent.

93 points but so much more than just points. Survive and thrive.

Farhad’s wines and spirits are available on line at

bandeshwineandspirits.com

2020 Soumah Cabernet Merlot

Reading the label, Soumah is a geographical reference, South of Maroondah, as in the highway. The road to good Cabernet for us lovers of the Yarra Valley’s star variety. Cool mint, red currant and cassis, cedar and tobacco, tweaked with sweet herb and gravel. Pleasing cut of fine tannin and refreshing acidity. Many flavours set against a watercoloured wash of gentle ending. Understated but not diminished in expression. Nice round feel, it sort of seems comfortable, if not incredibly concentrated. On the basis of about five or so bottles, Soumah seem to like restraint and an agreeable savoury invitation more than grabbing your lapels. Civilised, nice.

Happy days, the post Covid energy fog is clearing and stumbling to describe a nice drink seems to be compulsive again. Instead of just sitting there and enjoying the warming effect.

13.5% alcohol. Screw Cap. $28 RRP

91 points maybe 92.

2015 Innocent Bystander Syrah

When this was first released it was a cracking buy close to $20 when discounted. The very good 2015 vintage fruit looked round, poised and filled the senses with vinous joy with the whole bunch herb and woody spice adding a satisfying counterpoint. I must admit to fretting a bit about how these cooler, or should that be less hot, vineyard Shiraz progress with time in the bottle? Must admit to enjoy calling it Shiraz, it seems to add to the debate, hee hee. Let’s see. Dusty bottle age lifts to perfumed spice, stems or Shiraz spice or a bit of both? Loads of tart red fruits like an English pudding sit fat on the tongue, still fresh and bright. Some pepper and more of that spice too. The end and overall texture are drawn tight by some sour green stem tannin and acidity. Wether this is a pleasant tension or a distraction from some beautiful fruit is open to discussion for me. I found a tech sheet that says 40% whole bunch, so it’s there to some extent. I think I preferred this in its bouncy youth as I do a lot of Australian red wine. Fascinating to get the chance to compare and contemplate. Serious business this wine thing.

13.8% alcohol. Screw cap. $26 at auction.

91 to 93 points depending on whole bunch enjoyment?

2020 Oakridge Over the Shoulder Cabernet Merlot

Last bottle from the Dan Murphy’s October six buy and in some ways the best. Well, that’s if you’re convinced the Yarra Valley is best suited to the noble Cabernet family? Seems bouncy and keen to escape the bottle with a perfume of raspberries and blackcurrants, like a waft of passing aftershave but much nicer. An overlay of tobacco and green leaf, fresh and refreshing. Finished with a rich note of just turned sod for want of a better phrase. Mineral and sweet ripe tannin and acidity mingle well. The sort of fruit and earth you’d want from Bordeaux but closer to home and much better value.

13.3% alcohol. Screw cap. $19 Dan’s member special.

91 points.

2021 Hoddles Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

You may have read it, er..reddit here before but there’s a spawned fondness for Yarra Cabernet that keeps me coming back. It’s obvious that the Upper Valley is perhaps a bit cool for Cabernet to ripen to the richness many expect in Australia but if you fancy crisp acidity and a bit of leaf that lead to some food friendly succulence bear with me. Bright, frog pond fresh and clean to open. Loads of red fruit, cherries, almost strawberry and blackcurrant leaf. So bright maybe some whole berries in the brew? Appealing savoury undercurrents of sweet earth and almond paste add length like Medoc gravel does to good claret. The acidity sits a little high as the surprisingly sweet tannin calms the end. Reminds me of Loire red ripeness, mouthwatering and ripe enough for me, maybe not you though?

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $20 but a ridiculous $24 for two on the shelves of those credit card terrifying Boccaccio Cellars. Balwyn calling.

92 points, easy.

2019 Giant Steps Pinot Noir

Nice to see a bit of clarity in labelling. You don’t have to declare grape ingredients below 15% on a label under Australian wine rules but here it’s noted there’s 8.5% Central Otago Pinot Noir as well as the majority Yarra Valley. Kudos for rigour. Sort of apposite to the last Fairbank post as the winemaker has made the move from there to here. Doubly so as both wines seem to be honest, no fiddling expressions of grapes, season and place. Perhaps this hasn’t the weight and charm of that lovely 2015 vintage. Here there’s mint, a lick of Oz forest, sappy stems and wild strawberries. Some lifted perfume, almost incense or joss stick like. Darker fruit emerges. Just enough flavour to buffer the slightly green stem and acid structure which dries things up enough to warrant another sip or bite of food. Must say I do enjoy Yarra Pinot when it’s young and fresh. Maybe with a bit of Otago richness too? Again a good drink not trying too hard to impress.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $30 on special.

91 points.

2016 Luke Lambert Nebbiolo

I’ve read that Luke Lambert is obsessed by Nebbiolo, sensible fellow. This is possibly the best non Italian version for me, albeit from a pretty limited sample range. Still some cheerful crimson colour without the tiring orange seen in high PH Australian versions. Touch of typical Luke Lambert reduction clears quickly to fresh sour cherry, raspberry and sweet earthy fruit. Hint of regional mint and forest. The shape is beautiful. Crackling fresh ripe acidity and the sort of ripe, sweet and melting tannin that’s rarely seen in Australian wine. Oddly but in some way not surprisingly, the freshness of fruit and soft depth of tannin remind me of Yarra Cabernet. Obviously not the flavours. Something in the valley season seem to soften the green hardness both these varieties can show in places where they ripen too quickly perhaps? Probably a daft generalisation but looks good here. Like the Socceroos of past generations, there’s quality here to play at international level without embarrassment. Particularly at the price point.

14% alcohol. Diam, extremely difficult to get out of the narrow necked old style Bordeaux bottle and even harder to get back in. $60.

95 points, even in an away game at the Stadio degli Alpi.

2015 De Bortoli The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

From an original Yarra Valley vineyard in Dixon’s Creek, the area not actually the creek itself I think. Full ripe Cabernet smells, almost lush, backgrounds of earth and pencil case austerity too. Just right ripeness in the mouth with black currant, touch of gravel, black olive, all sweet but in no way sugary. Satisfying old style Yarra Cabernet with a fine mesh of milky tannin and natural acidity. Touch of cedar oak in low volume adds seasoning. Another of those that shows just how good 2015 was in the valley where it’s best grape still struggles to be noticed in the sea of Pinot and Chardonnay. Unless you’re from Mount Mary or similar royalty of course.

13.8% alcohol. Screw cap. $27 RRP but discounted to close to $20 and still there’s plenty to be bought.

93 points.