February Premium Six Pack 2023 - Super Summer Reds

Shadowfax has taken tremendous strides in recent times, with the team refining the range and proving their prowess with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. With long-serving vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Alister Timms taking the helm in October 2017, these are hugely exciting times for Shadowfax and these wines are better then ever.

The aromatics of this Little Hampton Pinot Noir is seductive and engaging. Floral citrus blossom and rose petal waft from the glass, bolstered by blueberries and dark cherry fruits. Further complexities reveal themselves, such as cardamom and sandalwood spice. Mineral aspects including gunpowder and graphite provide intrigue. Given time in the glass the Little Hampton’s signature aromatics intensify and seduce the drinker gracefully.

Blue and black fruit fall immediately onto the palate. Complexed with sandalwood, bramble and some white pepper spice. A focused and mineral core has drive, vibrancy and poise. Fine and lacey tannins frame the complex cardamom spice and subtle fruits. The wine has energy and lift that can only been seen in high altitude, cool climate Pinot Noir. This Little Hampton Pinot noir is uncompromising in its purity and identity.

Old vines, fermented traditionally (no carbonic) and aged in a bunch of old wood. It's pure, energetic and unbelievably slippery. 

Lifted black and red cherry fruit, dark raspberry, mixed ground spice and a pretty lilt to the nose. It at first seems like a combo of the Brouilly and Villages with a lovely mix of dark and light. The palate is snappy and fresh, etched with fine-boned tannin a wonderful and incisive mineral spike. Lots of energy here and a nice burst of mineral fruit at the end that carries the palate along. Great looking Morgon with a fresh, mineral-driven edge.

Trophy – Best Young Red Wine of Show ( the Jimmy Watson )
Trophy – Best Grenache of Show
Royal Melbourne Wine Awards 2022

I tasted again the 2019 Lg. Valbuxan, the new red from Valdeorras named after Lugar de Valbuxan, a place in O Bolo. The wine is aromatic, expressive and with red fruit and notes of wild herbs, juicy and light, with freshness and energy, a young wine. It's very drinkable now. 6,703 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2021.

Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza have fermented their 2021s from Galicia in the new winery in Valdeorras, Ribera del Duero. It is still a work in progress, and there will be new stuff from Rioja in a few more years. The main wines across the portfolio feel very consolidated now. LUIS GUITIERREZ, Robert Parker

Musky black currants, smoky crushed stone, wild herbs and hints of pepper create an inviting bouquet as the 2019 Schioppettino RiNera opens in the glass. This is silky yet finessed, with saline-infused acidity and tart wild berry fruits that cascade across the palate. It tapers off spicy and fresh, only lightly structured, and leaves sour blackberries and hints of citrus through the finale. This is a fresh expression of Schioppettino from Ronchi di Cialla which is refined completely in stainless steel after a two-week maceration on the skins. ERIC GUIDO, www.vinousmedia.com

The Prieler estate, in Schützen on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, is a historic old farm, once dedicated to many types of agriculture but now specializing in grape growing. Two generations of the Prieler family now run the estate: Engelbert and Irmgard, who in 1972 focused the estate on quality production of several grape varieties, mainly blaufränkisch and Burgundian varieties. Their son, Georg, now heads the estate and continues working to best express the unique terroir of the Leithagebirge.

Freshness and elegance on show here rather than power and structure. Currant and cranberry fruit flecked with dark cherry and raspberry throughout. Some ground coffee and pepper spice intrigue. The palate is silky, fresh and playful with  crystalline acidity, supple tannins and a lingering sour cherry aroma on the aromatic close. Such a great example and really makes you wonder why we don't drink more here.