Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 49

FOCUS: AUSTRALIA
ize its potential, Rose cellars this for five years
before release; after we twisted the screw cap,
the wine held its freshness for a week, which
is not surprising, given that Pewsey Vale, an
early adopter of Stelvin closures, can develop
for three decades or more with proper cellaring. This 2012 is youthful, bright and crisp,
with the crunch of fresh grapes yielding a flavor of lime essence and stony white peaches.
Harmonious and vibrant. § Negociants USA,
Napa, CA
121299

92 | Jim Barry

$20

2016 Clare Valley Watervale Riesling (Best
Buy) ^ It's rare to find a $20 wine with the clarity and mineral intensity of this lime-scented
riesling. The flavors have depth and complexity while the texture is round, a delicate Clare
riesling that tastes like sucking on a stone
even as it's soft around the edges. Suited to
age, this is also appealing for current drinking with a seafood stew. § Negociants USA,
Napa, CA
121513

92 | Paulett Wines

$24

2016 Clare Valley Traditionale Dry Riesling ^ A warm, ripe style of Clare riesling, this
touches on apricot flavors even as the bathpowder and lemon-pith notes of acidity keep
it youthfully restrained. The flavors are reticent and structured for aging, though you
could chill this now to enjoy with oysters. §
Craft + Estate/The Winebow Group, NY
121327

91 | Xabregas

$30

2015 Mount Barker Mad Men of Riesling Devolution ^ A skin-macerated riesling,
including fruit with some botrytis, this grows
at two estate vineyards at the southern edge
of the Mount Barker region, on the southern
coast of West Australia. While it's marketed
as an "orange" wine, it's not particularly
tannic, though it is mineral rich and a little
sweaty. What's mainly on offer is brisk, cool
density of citrus flavor. It's clean and spicy,
rounded by some residual sweetness, ready
to decant for grilled abalone. § Vine Street
Imports, Mount Laurel, NJ
121434

88 | Paulett Wines

$16

2016 Clare Valley Helmsford Riesling
(Best Buy) ^ Based on Paulett's Watervale

pleasantly bitter, with pale and earthy flavors
of peach. Chill it for duck in a green coconutmilk curry. § Negociants USA, Napa, CA

WHITE BLENDS

SAUVIGNON BLANC
121357

90 | Shaw + Smith

$22

2016 Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc ^ Martin Shaw and his cousin, Michael Hill-Smith,
MW, consistently produce one of Australia's
top sauvignons, a crunchy green wine with
passion fruit and lime blossom flavors and
grapefruit-like acidity. § Craft + Estate/The
Winebow Group, NY

SEMILLON

$25

2016 Clare Valley Polish Hill River Riesling ^ A chalky, bone-dry riesling, this wine's
tart fruit yields citrus scents and floral undertones out of its mineral core. Firm and
intensely lime driven, this needs five years
or more in bottle to open. § Great Australian
Wine Co., Calistoga, CA
121360

92 | Pikes

vineyard, this has tart-green Granny Smith
apple flavors and some pine needle notes
as well. A touch of dusty grape-skin tannins
closes off the finish for now. Give this several
years in the cellar for the flavors to lengthen. §
Great Australian Wine Co., Calistoga, CA

121406

91 | Brokenwood

$20

2016 Hunter Valley Semillon (Best Buy) ^ A
classic style of Hunter semillon, this young
wine seems neutral until the very end, where
it begins to open to scents of honeysuckle
and lemon blossom. It's a delicate white with
vibrant acidity that will sustain it as the flavors unfold with bottle age. Or decant it now
for oysters. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA
121545

90 | Tyrrell's Wines

$45

2011 Hunter Valley Single Vineyard HVD
Semillon ^ This grows at a vineyard planted in
1908 between two creeks, where the old vines
get plenty of water and little stress. From a
warm vintage, the 2011 is golden in color,
with scents of toasted hops, roasted mushrooms and fresher notes of oranges as the
acidity refreshes the finish. Caught between
youth and maturity, this needs further bottle age to bring out its toasty complexities. §
Broadbent Selections, San Francisco, CA

121417

91 | d'Arenberg

$17

91 | Rob Dolan

$22

90 | Howard Park

$23

89 | Burch Family Wines

$15

2016 McLaren Vale The Hermit Crab Viognier-Marsanne (Best Buy) ^ Chester Osborn
manages to produce a cool and juicy white
from the warm climes of McLaren Vale, particularly in 2016, when rain in late January
refreshed the vines. He focuses this blend on
fruit grown in free-draining soils over limestone, once a seabed built by the shells of
creatures like hermit crabs. Early-harvested
fruit provides brightness to the richer fruit
left to ripen later. The wine has the crispness
of Asian pear to balance the fuller notes of
peach and smoky chamomile. Chill it for
Dungeness crab. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA
121515
2015 Yarra Valley True Colours Field
Blend (Best Buy) ^ This vintage of the True
Colours Field Blend is dominated by savagnin (40 percent), giving the wine a Jura-inYarra pallor. It also includes gewurztraminer,
pinot gris and chardonnay, each fermented
separately and blended later. It's as crunchy
as a white cranberry, with cool lime and ripe
pineapple flavors needing air to show themselves. Pour it with crispy sweetbreads. § Great
Australian Wine Co., Calistoga, CA
121359

$20

2016 Margaret River Miamup Sauvignon
Blanc-Semillon ^ Decant this to shed its
green-onion reduction, and you'll have a
deliciously supple white balanced between
brisk, pungent sauvignon and rich, leesy
semillon. Then pour it with roast halibut or
most any white-fleshed fish. § Craft + Estate/
The Winebow Group, NY
121370

2016 Eden Valley Viognier ^ Louisa Rose has
focused on viognier during her long career at
Yalumba, having tuned the variety to its Eden
Valley home, producing wines that emphasize the peach side of the grape, rather than
the pungent perfume. This is lightly floral,

2016 Western Australia Mad Fish Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon (Best Buy) ^ A cozy
and comfortable wine, this blends semillon's wheat-sheaf scents with notes of daffodils and meadow flowers. It lasts on cool,

VIOGNIER
121318

90 | Yalumba

WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2018

49


http://www.obcwines.com/wineries/darenberg/ http://www.obcwines.com/wineries/brokenwood/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2018

Contents
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 1
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 2
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 3
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 4
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 6
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 7
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 8
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 9
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 10
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 11
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 12
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 13
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 14
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 15
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 16
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 17
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 18
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 19
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 20
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 21
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 22
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 23
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 24
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 25
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 26
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 27
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 28
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 29
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 30
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 31
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 32
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 33
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 34
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 35
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 36
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 37
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 38
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 39
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 40
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 41
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 42
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 43
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 44
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 45
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 46
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 47
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 48
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 49
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 50
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 51
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 52
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 53
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 54
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 55
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 56
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 57
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 58
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 59
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 60
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 61
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 62
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 63
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 64
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 65
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 66
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 67
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 68
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 69
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 70
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 71
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 72
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 73
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 74
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 75
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 76
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 77
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 78
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 79
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 80
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 81
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 82
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 83
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 84
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 85
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 86
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 87
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 88
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover4
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