Wine & Spirits - October 2021 - 75

Margaret River
90 | Vasse Felix
$45
2018 Margaret River Chardonnay ^ This vintage
of Vasse Felix is showing its oak more
aggressively than the 2019 (also recommended
here). It has some earthiness from
the indigenous fermentation in barrel, and
from a portion that fermented with its solids.
The generous fruit touches on pungent nectarine
and caramelized pear, a toasty white
for pork chops with creamed potatoes and
mushroom gravy. § Winebow, NY
90 | Wildberry
$30
2016 Margaret River Reserve Chardonnay
^ Chamomile freshness runs through
this coastal chardonnay, its flinty, matchstick
notes picking up on the salinity in the
middle, then turning toward toasty oak in
the end. The wine is creamy and complete,
only needing food to take over from the oak. §
Southern Starz, Huntington Beach, CA
88 | Grace Town
$17
2020 Margaret River Chardonnay (BEST
BUY) ^ This is a tense young wine with greenapple
and bitter-melon flavors along with
some tannins that bring to mind green tea
and almond skins. It's leesy and very dry,
a wine for boudin blanc. § Kysela Père et Fils,
Winchester, VA
SAUVIGNON bLANc
90 | Clairault
They planted a second block in 1987; both
parcels contribute to this 2020, a wine that
achieves its luscious texture without seeing
any oak. There's sweetness to the wine's
plentiful acidity, making it mercurial in the
mouth, changing up from crisp apple to tart
raspberry to the richness of lobster in a pastry
shell-with which this would be refreshingly
delicious. Decant it if you open the bottle
now; it's probably best to age this for six
or seven years to let it fully develop. § Little
Peacock, Brooklyn, NY
REDS
bLENDS
93 | Cullen
founder Tom Cullity in the 1960s (his first
release was a cabernet sauvignon-malbec
blend). The cool 2017 season produced a
dark-fruited wine with notes of black olives
and bitter chocolate. Highlights of eucalyptus
and strawberries brighten the richness,
as does the pithy acidity. This is built to age,
or to decant now for grilled lamb and eggplant
marinated with Mediterranean herbs. §
Winebow, NY
91 | Woodlands
$27
$109
$18
2019 Margaret River Halley & Lex Sauvignon
Blanc (BEST BUY) ^ Open scents of passion
fruit and lime introduce this bright sauvignon,
then grapefruit edges of acidity add
some cut to the richer fruit in the end. Focus
the acidity with a chill and serve this with oysters.
§ Epicurean Wines, Seattle, WA
SEMILLON
91 | Ashbrook Estate
$25
2020 Margaret River Semillon ^ This unoaked
wine develops its intriguing complexity
through a sequence of harvests at the Devitt
family's vineyards in Wilyabrup. The fruit
has a firm white-cherry flavor, golden raspberry
notes and deeper tones of almonds.
The driving acidity informs a texture that
would be right at home with grilled abalone. §
Little Peacock, Brooklyn, NY
VERDELHO
92 | Ashbrook Estate
$25
2020 Margaret River Verdelho (BEST BUY) ^
The Devitt family first planted verdelho in
1976 with cuttings from the Swan Valley.
2018 Margaret River Wilyabrup Diana
Madeline ^ Vanya Cullen named this wine for
her mother, who planted the vines in 1971 on
the family's ranch along Caves Road. Grown
on their own roots on gravelly granite soils
and farmed under biodynamics, those vines
consistently produce one of the most beautiful
reds in Margaret River. In 2018 the blend
included cabernet sauvignon (79 percent),
merlot, cabernet franc and malbec, which
Cullen fermented in a selection of tanks, barrels
and amphorae (she makes no additions
other than sulfur). This vintage is delicate in
weight but satisfying in flavor, a silken cabernet
with air in the tannins allowing herbal
notes of thyme and rosemary to show. Fresh,
bright and honest, it will cozy up to a sautéed
mix of wild mushrooms, with or without a
steak. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA
93 | Woodlands
$40
2017 Wilyabrup Valley Clementine ^ Still
young and developing at five years of age,
this blend focuses on cabernet sauvignon
(56 percent) planted in a gravelly meadow
at Woodlands Brook in 2009, a year after the
Watson family purchased the vineyard. The
site already included a young planting of
malbec, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot,
together making up the balance of this
blend. The 2017 growing season extended
into late April, as the vines recovered from
cool, heavy, late summer rains. There's a classic
Margaret River stoniness to this cabernetscented
wine, with high notes of hibiscus and
lasting purple berry flavors. Fine in its tannins,
with length in its fragrance of roses and
herbs. § Vine Street Imports, Mt. Laurel, NJ
91 | Vasse Felix
$165
2017 Margaret River Tom Cullity ^ This
blend of cabernet sauvignon (82 percent),
malbec and petit verdot is a selection from
the eight acres first planted by winery
2016 Wilyabrup Valley ^ A bright, red-fruited
blend, this leans into vegetal notes of sundried
tomatoes and rosemary spice. It's structured
without being aggressively tannic,
opening food possibilities beyond red meats
to grilled vegetables. § Vine Street Imports, Mt.
Laurel, NJ
90 | Clairault
$25
2017 Margaret River ^ Tangy red fruit and
darker tones meld in this cabernet sauvignon-merlot
blend, saturating a cool, austere
structure with cushioned richness, lasting
on smoky scents of tobacco. § Epicurean
Wines, Seattle, WA
90 | Woodlands
$27
2017 Wilyabrup Valley ^ This fresh blend of
cabernet franc and merlot carries tobacco
scents on a lean frame. There's a kelp or
iodine undertone to the dark fruit, and spiciness
that suggests serving this with a meaty
Thai curry. § Vine Street Imports, Mt. Laurel, NJ
cAbERNET SAUVIGNON
93 | Clairault
$20
2018 Margaret River Halley & Lex Cabernet
Sauvignon (BEST BUY) ^ Layering red,
black and blue fruit, emphasizing delicious
strawberry freshness, this cabernet smells
and tastes so much like a Margaret River
wine that it's hard to believe this is priced
at $20. It has the lovely feel of a cool rain
in summer, delivering bright fruit, some
blood-orange acidity, all integrated into supOc
TO b ER 2021
WINE & SPIR IT S
75
https://www.clairaultstreickerwines.com.au
Wine & Spirits - October 2021

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