Wine & Spirits - October 2019 - 94

IMPORTED NEW RELEASES
88 | d'Arenberg

$17

2017 McLaren Vale The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne (Best Buy) ^ Chester Osborn
focuses this blend on viognier (84 percent),
with some marsanne to add earthy savor. It's
warm and tropically ripe, a mango-scented
white to chill for grilled seafood sausages. §
Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.

rant flavors and a bristle of grape-skin tannins against the chocolate richness of the
oak tannins. It's smoky and spicy and hard
to see into right now, built for years of development in the bottle. § Delicato Family Wines,
Napa, CA -J.G.
124525

92 | Yalumba

$63

2015 Barossa The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz ^ This is a lush cabernet that
keeps a cool profile, enriched by dark fruit
and tannins that taste of coffee and bitter
chocolate, even as the structure feels lovely
and restrained. The wine benefits considerably from time with air, giving itself more
fully a day after it's first opened. Cellar it for
a year or two, then serve with grilled lamb. §
Negociants USA/Winebow Imports, NY -J.G.

A UST R A L I A RE D
BLENDS

89 | Kilikanoon

$20

2017 Clare Valley Killerman's Run Grenache Shiraz Mataro (Best Buy) ^ Catch
this heady wine while it's young and powerful, matching its rich flavors of black-cherry
syrup and baked strawberry to roast lamb.
The tannins hold a cumin-and-coriander
spice that will meld well with the meat. § Old
Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

124754

93 | Yeringberg

$90

2015 Yarra Valley ^ Guill de Pury and his
daughter Sandra make this field blend from
vines the family planted in successive generations, the oldest from 1969, the youngest
from 2002. In this vintage, it's a blend of cabernet sauvignon (66 percent), franc (13 percent), merlot, petit verdot and malbec. With
an extended maceration and long aging in
French oak barrels (40 percent new), the
wine feels luxurious and elegant, with breathable minerality in its savory plum flavors.
The fruit-skin zestiness is what makes it spicy,
and it opens beautifully with extended exposure to air. A clean, detailed wine with stature and grace, this is set to age for a decade
or more. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.
124729

92 | Davey & Browne

$23

2016 McLaren Vale Vortex (Best Buy) ^
This is the first release from a collaboration
between Andrew Browne, who heads up Precept Wine, and Kym Davey of Shingleback
Estates in McLaren Vale. A blend of cabernet
sauvignon (87 percent) with tempranillo and
grenache from Shingleback's vineyards, it's
a brisk and gamey red, with brambly raspberry fruit that feels savory and rich. It's silky
and plump, with an herbal note that keeps
it fresh. Not complex, but delicious. § Precept
Wine, Seattle, WA -J.G.
124635

92 | Torbreck

$225

2016 Barossa Valley RunRig ^ This is old-vine
dry-grown shiraz blended with two percent
viognier, aged for 30 months in French oak
barriques, half of them new. As dark and inky
as this wine's concentration may be, it feels
cool, zesty and elegant, with fresh black-cur94

vineyards in Eden Valley and Barossa, where
some of the vines date to the 1960s. It has
a high-toned elegance, skinnier than many
of its full-bodied cousins in the region, but
concentrated and firm. You might find strawberry flowers and scents of grilled sausage,
herbs and black peppercorns in this lean red
that leaves room for food. § Negociants USA/
Winebow Imports, NY -J.G.
124704

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2019

124668

91 | d'Arenberg

$20

2015 McLaren Vale d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache ^ Chester Osborn continues to
hit home runs with this classic blend of shiraz
and grenache, which he grows at his estate
vineyards that date to the 19th century.
Those old vines offer a traditional wine with
red-and-black-fruit depths infused with the
green stemminess of roses. This needs time
to integrate, but it's the kind of Australian
red that harks back to the days long before
critters and ripeness, with an authenticity to
its flavors that grounds it in McLaren Vale. §
Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.
124670

90 | d'Arenberg

$29

90 | Henschke

$70

124714

91 | d'Arenberg

$20

2016 McLaren Vale The High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon (Best Buy) ^ This is made in
the d'Arenberg tradition, foot trod in opentop vats, then basket pressed, the juice aged
in American oak barrels. It's a big, bold, powerfully concentrated cabernet, a wine that
improves as it develops with air, lengthening out and showing its depths of fruit and
mineral complexity. A keeper and a steal at
$20. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.

2014 McLaren Vale The Laughing Magpie
Shiraz Viognier ^ This shiraz is cofermented
with six percent viognier, brightening the
wine's floral scents and adding an orange-oil
note to the red fruit. It's dense and soft, but
finishes clean, with an herbal edge; for grilled
lamb. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA -J.G.
124532
2014 Barossa Keyneton Euphonium ^
Named for the B-flat euphonium that was
part of the Henschke Family Brass Band in
the 19th century (and is still in the family
today), this is a blend of shiraz with cabernet
sauvignon, franc and merlot. It comes from

124396

91 | Robert Oatley

$70

2015 Frankland River The Pennant Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Dark and brooding, this
wine has enough intensity of structure to
corral its floral black-currant and licorice-

http://www.obcwines.com/wineries/yeringberg/ http://www.obcwines.com/wineries/darenberg/ http://www.obcwines.com/wineries/darenberg/ http://www.robertoatley.com.au/

Wine & Spirits - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2019