Issue: 41 / Sunday 30 September, 2018
September has always been my favourite month of the year. Perhaps an unconventional appreciation of the autumn season but I always feel at my most industrious. Some, who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder must be less welcoming although, and if I am to be perfectly honest, I am not a believer in this disorder save those who live close to the polar circle. My diet changes – daily bowls of lettuce are pushed aside for more comforting dishes. Mushrooms are in abundance and match perfectly with my sage bush which currently offers a profusion of leaves. Not only is sage delicious, the health benefits are profound, ranging from strengthening our immune system, helps with the management of diabetes and stimulates brain function to improve memory and concentration; however, it also works to eliminate cognitive disorders that may arise, including Alzheimer’s and dementia…
I am privileged to live in a quiet, unspoilt part of Kent with stunning views and fantastic walking through the valleys. I often sit in my lounge and lookup to the neighbouring valley hill which is home to a beautiful herd of Dexter cattle. We both share our home with two nesting pairs of common buzzards which are no further than one hundred meters from my home. It’s the best form of entertainment – Simply sitting in my garden watching both breeding pairs soaring and gliding with their wings held in a characteristic shallow V-shape. Quite beautiful and such a joy to live next door to them.
The Dexters have a wonderful life. They are raised on grass which is what nature intended and roam the valley pastures at their will. They also make for great eating and knowing exactly their provenance and welfare is reassuring. Did you know that grass fed Dexter is high in Omega 3 essential oils (even higher pound for pound than mackerel)? I now buy all my beef from my neighbour. The fillet makes for a wonderful carpaccio which I drizzle with our grassy, and peppery Capezzana extra virgin olive oil. The rib is my first choice – four-hour braised short rib roasted with wild mushrooms enveloped in an entire bottle of wine and served with a celeriac mash. Thick cut ribeye is meltingly good – Lots of seasoning and given a touch longer than other steaks as the marbled fat needs a tad longer to break down. I rest my steak for as long as I cook it, which produces its own, rich beefy jus.
My wine habits change too with fewer white wines being consumed in preference to reds. Pinot Noir is my first choice as I find the breadth and depth staggering and it partners autumnal dished perfectly. Perhaps the perfect match for mushrooms and gamey meats. Richer styles (By Farr) work an absolute treat with my Dexter beef as do the great Pinot Noirs from Eileen Hardy and DuMol.
As another working week draws to a close, I found myself looking back at this year’s journey so far and wondering about the future possibilities with Brexit looming. This has been a cathartic, momentous and at times, a thought-provoking exercise for me. Winning both the IWC & Decanter awards is certainly a highlight and I must thank you all for your kind messages, which my team and I have enjoyed reading. For us, our success is shared with our producers and of course, you. There would be no awards without these two important components.
We are listing some amazing producers who we represent exclusively in the UK however, we are not resting and are working hard to bring some old names back to you. This week, we confirmed our partnership with Two Hands wines and our first order leaves Adelaide on the 19th October. We are introducing many new wines, chiefly from their single estate collection and of course our biggest sellers of 2017, Bella’s and Lily’s Garden. Charlie’s Garden joins the line-up for the first time. We have prepared a pre-arrival offer, which I am sure will meet with your approval. The prices are particularly keen and will only be available for two weeks. Of course, we will offer free delivery…
Our cry for warehouse space has been met and again, I must thank you for all your generous orders. Staggeringly, we have completely sold-out of all 2003 & 2004 Henry’s Drive Shiraz, which I respect will be met with some disappointment. Nonetheless, 2,568 bottles have left our warehouse over the past fourteen days which has freed up some much-needed space. I have a fondness for Henry’s 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, I have often opened a bottle with various wine producers purely to gauge their reaction of sheer, wonderous drinkability versus its price. Certainly, a fun game to play when they’re pitching unjustifiably expensive wines. So, and given the mass Henry’s Shiraz departure, I thought I would add the delicious ’02 into the mix…
Magda and I are meeting with father Duck (as he likes to be known) from Wild Duck in a few weeks. We’re keen to exclusively represent them and they’re equally enthusiastic, which is great news as the ‘reserve’ wines were so popular. We will report back.
Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday – I am sitting thoroughly enjoying a glass of Nick Glaetzer’s 2015 Rêveur Pinot Noir. Superb and our full tasting notes will appear in next Weekend’s Reading. Until then, enjoy the introduction to Nick’s wines and fill your boots as these are something very, very special.
Cheers,
Stu
New Addition
to our Clearance Sale!
All special prices are available for case orders only.
In addition, you will also benefit from our express free delivery service
when your order exceeds £100.00.
Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Stuart McCloskey
"Robert Parker once called the ’02 Henry's Drive Cabernet Sauvignon “Sexy, hedonistic and Australia’s version of a hedonistic vintage of Lynch Bages” which is a powerful statement. Today, there is a typical Pauillac nose of cedar wood, pencil lead and cigar-box. Lots of new saddle leather too. The palate is very elegant, beautifully balanced with slightly dusty tannins – the texture smooth and sensuous. This is Cabernet Sauvignon which offers sophisticated drinking pleasure. Still impressive and never fails to put a smile on my face (including several Oz winemakers who have taken a bottle whilst visiting). A stupendous wine showing all the hallmarks of a mature Claret. Just a joy."
(Purchase, leave for a few days for the sediment to settle, decant for 1-2 hours and enjoy)
£14.95 per bottle
** Special 12 bottle case price - Bottle Price £8.25 **
**Available w/c 10th December 2018**
Two Hands Dave's Block 2016
97 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"No doubt some will find it ironic that my top-rated wine from Two Hands is this McLaren Vale Shiraz. But the 2016 Shiraz Dave's Block Blythmans Road Blewitt Springs was just the most elegant and harmonious of the recent offerings. Mint accents cherries and blueberries in this full-bodied, plush, creamy-textured wine whose flavors linger forever on the silky finish. Those folks in McLaren Vale just might be on to something!"
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Yacca Block 2015
96 Points - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
"From Mengler Hill Road in the Eden Valley. Need good strong wrists to pour a glass while holding the top of the neck. Oh this is nicely made. There’s very little in the way of new oak, plenty of thick ripe tannin, boysenberry and blackberry, a bit of dark chocolate, spice and dried herb perfume. Intensity of flavour, balanced acidity and alcohol, and heaps of length. Has richness of fruit, but keeps itself complex and savoury too.
Top shelf."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Yacca Block 2016
93 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"From the cooler Eden Valley, the 2016 Shiraz Yacca Block Mengler Hill Road comes across as a bit tight, crisp and firm. It offers attractive clove and cherry notes on the nose, but it's linear and verging on austere on the palate before finishing on a silky note. It will prove eye-opening for consumers who think that Barossa Shiraz is all fat, alcoholic and overripe, and after a couple of years in the cellar to loosen up, it should drink well for more than a decade."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Heartbreak Hill 2016
95 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RoberParker.com)
"Sourced from the Clare Valley, the 2016 Shiraz Heartbreak Hill Roach Road White Hut is a terrific wine, not out of place at all among the Barossans in the Two Hands lineup. Loaded with raspberry fruit and dried spices, it's full-bodied, supple and long, with fine-grained, silky tannins that caress the palate. Remarkable, given the vines are only 12-13 years old."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Holy Grail Shiraz 2015
95 Points - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
"Shiraz from the estate vineyard on Seppeltsfield Road. It spends 19 months in all French oak, 18% new. DIAM-sealed. Squeaky clean, pure and bold, a lake of fruit, a wall of flavour. It’s a ‘gobfulls of fruit’ style done ashamedly; it rolls with dark, blackberried flavour, it’s inflections of asphalt and gum leaf mere cate’s eyes to the long black road of Barossa shiraz flavour. It doesn’t yet boast complexity but it has plenty of time to generate it."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Holy Grail Shiraz 2016
94 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"A new bottling from Two Hands, the 2016 Shiraz Holy Grail Seppeltsfield Road Seppeltsfield comes from a historic vineyard purchased from Jayson Woodbridge, who used it for his Hundred Acre project. Blueberry and blackberry fruit mingle on the nose and palate in this rich, full-bodied beauty. It's creamy and supple on the palate, with a long, vanilla-tinged finish."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Secret Block 2016
94 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"The 2016 Shiraz Secret Block Wildlife Road Moppa Hills is another tightly structured wine from Two Hands. It's medium to full-bodied, with crisp boysenberry, raspberry and even cranberry notes. Give it a couple of years in the cellar to round into form, and drink it over the next 15 years."
£211.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Charlie's Garden 2016
92 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"The smoky, peppery, meaty aromas of the 2016 Shiraz Charlie's Garden are immediately mouthwatering, leading into a medium to full-bodied wine that's sturdy, savory and appetizing. It's ripe yet firm, perfectly suited to pairing with nearly any red-meat preparation over the next decade."
£126.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Bella's Garden 2015
91 Points - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
"Bella’s Garden is a nice name for a vineyard, but this wine is a blend across several parishes of the Barossa Valley. Always generosity in Two Hands wines. No slacking here. Pleasing perfume shows ripe berry, vanilla, sweet spice, dark chocolate and faint coffee aromas. Palate is slick, rich, spiked with peppery spice, dark in ripe cherry, forest berry feel. Finishes with palate staining dark, sweet fruit flavours running to a saline finish, with a bit of bitter-lemony tang lingering a quibble for balance/pleasure. Has some grip and structure too. Quite a serious wine, it feels. Ample and hearty stuff done well."
£126.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Two Hands Lily's Garden 2016
91 Points - Joe Czerwinski (RobertParker.com)
"legant notes of pencil shavings and red cherries appear on the nose of the 2016 Shiraz Lily's Garden. It's a taut, medium to full-bodied wine with fine-grained, almost silky tannins, a wiry core of red fruit and just the right touch of oak for balance on the focused, lingering finish."
£126.95 In Bond per case (6x75cl)
Exclusive to The Vinorium
The wine world is always open, waiting to be discovered
Earlier this year, an unexpected gift arrived on our office doorstep from one of my Tasmanian customers, which in turn became the catalyst to unearthing some of the best Apple Isle Pinot & Shiraz we have sampled in a very, very long time.
Allow me to explain. My customer, Martin assists a friend who produces a Pinot Noir named ‘Devil of a Red’, the wine which arrived at our HQ. Unusually, as our mountain of samples grows, we poured after a few days of arriving and were surprised by the overall quality. Granted, the label design was unstylish but the liquid content certainly made-up for the exterior failings. That day, I contacted Martin as we were very interested in purchasing some stock for the UK. Alas, very little is being produced and the winemaking venture is merely there to please friends and family – no more, no less.
Interestingly, a familiar name popped up in tiny letters on the back label, made by Nick Glaetzer. Needless to say, the Glaetzer family of winemakers has roots in the Barossa Valley dating back to 1888. We know Nick’s brother, Ben and stock his superb 2005 The Bishop. I physically tracked Nick down to his own operation in Hobart, Tasmania’s capital. An enthusiastic email titled: “We loved your Pinot Noir...”, was sent and an equally excited response was returned. Nick was incredibly complimentary and declared that the ‘Devil of a Red’ site is “pretty special and amazing to work with”. Of course, the content of his email turned quickly to his own wines and the offer to send a full set of samples was graciously accepted.
Fast forward two weeks and an on-track delivery from DHL – They all arrived safely and were quickly prepared for sampling a few days later. Wines do become a little stressed with long distance travel and do require some TLC before sampling. We normally wait a month however, time was of the essence and we were impatient!
Nick’s Impressive CV: Nick first corrupted his hands with wine as a toddler in the cellars of Seppelt’s at Rutherglen and Great Western, where his father Colin was a winemaker for the Seppelt Family. Then Colin established Glaetzer Wines in the Barossa Valley, where Nick worked his first ‘real’ vintages before moving on to work at some of the great Australian wineries, including Leeuwin Estate, Wolf Blass, Lindeman’s, Rosemount, Evans & Tate and Frogmore Creek. A few vintage stints in between in France (Domain de la Ferrrandière in the Languedoc and Domain Albert Morot in Burgundy) and Germany (Weingut Egon Müller) broadened Nick’s practical experiences and sparked a thirst for Pinot Noir and Riesling.
In 2011 Nick Glaetzer was named 'Young Winemaker of the Year' by Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine. In the same year, Nick's 2010 Mon Pere Shiraz was awarded the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show - the first time in the trophy's 50-year history for a Tasmanian wine.
To draw this story to a close, all five of Nick’s wines have arrived safely and are recovering after their long journey in the cooling comforts of our HQ warehouse. We are extremely excited to re-taste and share the discovery with you all. As promised, you have first dibs with all customers receiving our full offer next Sunday.
Cheers, Magda
Stuart McCloskey -
“I defy anyone to present such a prodigious line-up for the same value. There are a handful of wines that unite in a chorus of admiration and Nick’s certainly do. The range is tensile with profound complexity gaining with the hierarchy of each wine. We will be resampling throughout the course of next week and issuing our full tasting notes for each wine in next Weekend’s Reading, which is an exercise we are all looking forward to. I am confident Nick's wines will become one of the leading names in Australia. And who knows, perhaps his La Judith Pinot Noir will knock Bass Philips wines off their pedestal. Now, there’s a thought…”
Glaetzer-Dixon 2014 La Judith Shiraz
“It's a tour de force of Tasmanian Shiraz, albeit one produced in micro quantities of 232 bottles. If Mon Père is Saint-Joseph,
this is Hermitage”.
Joe Czerwinski (robertparker.com)
"Nick Glaetzer's incredible 2014 La Judith Shiraz smells something like pfeffernüsse and cherry preserves, offering layered aromas of cracked pepper, star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg and red fruit. It's medium to full-bodied, feeling bigger and more expansive than its modest 13.7% alcohol, while being rich, silky and long. The oak, entirely new, has been nicely absorbed into the wine, contributing spice and texture without getting in the way of the fruit. It's a tour de force of Tasmanian Shiraz, albeit one produced in micro quantities of 232 bottles. If Mon Père is Saint-Joseph, this is Hermitage."
Campbell Mattinson (Wine Front)
"Second release of Glaetzer-Dixon’s ambitious La Judith Shiraz. The bottle reviewed here was No. 003 of 232. Shiraz for lovers of cool-climate reds. Red and black cherries, port wine jelly, tomato leaf, deli meats, truffles and fistfuls of spice. Throw in walnut and black pepper characters too. First night there seemed a good measure of oak too; day two and it all seemed to have meshed into one. It’s an exotic wine. It’s not for everyone but then the best things rarely/never are."
£100.00 per bottle
* Restricted to 3 bottles per customer *
Glaetzer-Dixon 2014 La Judith Pinot Noir
“2014 La Judith Pinot Noir is as profound an
Australian Pinot Noir as I've tasted”
Joe Czerwinski (robertparker.com)
"With only 251 bottles produced, this tasting note will be largely academic, but the 2014 La Judith Pinot Noir is as profound an Australian Pinot Noir as I've tasted. After around three years in new oak, it's seamless and supple, with notes of rose petals, caramelized cherries, cinnamon and tea leaves that swirl endlessly on the palate. Add in notions of dried leaves, clean compost and autumn rain, and it's a wine that can transport you through the seasons, from spring through summer and into fall."
Campbell Mattinson (Wine Front)
"Price tag made the eyes pop last year. Quality this year takes centre stage. Sure there’s plenty of spicy-sweet oak here but the fruit is both intense and complex, tannin strikes a firm blow, the finish boasts a final flourish and every step is full of conviction. This wine is a quality statement if ever there was one. Stewed plums, raspberry, violets, undergrowth, a sweet array of roasted nuts and spices, tips of mint, washes of woodsmoke and cedarwood. It’s compelling now, but its best days are well ahead of it."
£100.00 per bottle
* Restricted to 3 bottles per customer *
Glaetzer-Dixon 2016 Mon Père Shiraz
Joe Czerwinski (robertparker.com)
"Made by a scion of a prominent Barossan winemaking family, it perhaps should be no surprise that the 2016 Mon Père Shiraz is a top Tasmanian example. Prominent cracked pepper notes accent ripe cherry fruit in this medium-bodied wine that combines the weight and feel of Old World Syrah with the bold fruit and expressiveness of the New World. Perhaps most akin to a top Saint-Joseph, it's the sort of Shiraz that is winning new converts to the variety."
Campbell Mattinson (Wine Front)
"The legend that is Glaetzer Dixon Mon Père Shiraz. There’s a creamy, musky, almost vanillin character here and combined with the tangy, redcurrant-like flavour of the fruit makes for a pretty delicious effect. Of course, being Tasmanian Shiraz, spice notes are set to high levels, as are autumn leaf and tobacco-like characters. Drinking it is like rummaging around a forest floor, the wine’s juicy acidity, satiny texture and choc-nut notes providing all the light/shade/life/interest you could hope for."
£42.50 per bottle
Glaetzer-Dixon 2015 Rêveur Pinot Noir
Joe Czerwinski (robertparker.com)
"It's a testament to the power of the fruit that the 2015 Rêveur Pinot Noir spent 19 months in 40% new French oak and yet emerged with such profound purity and freshness. Hints of tea and roses add complexity to ripe cherries and clean compost, which infuse the palate from front to back in richly textured layers of flavor. It's medium to full-bodied, with plenty of tannin, yet it remains approachable and should drink well through at least 2024."
Campbell Mattinson (Wine Front)
"Pinot noir from the Coal River Valley. 250 dozen produced. From one of the most interesting and individual producers in the land. A sure-footed, confident wine. Oak and fruit, both served plush, with the acidity and tannin to march it in certain fashion from start to finish. You feel like you’re in good hands. Cherry-plum, foresty notes, pine and cedarwood. Needs time to settle and integrate but the hallmarks of quality are well and truly established."
£37.95 per bottle
Glaetzer-Dixon 2017 Avancé Pinot Noir
Campbell Mattinson (Wine Front)
"From one end of the price scale to, almost, the other. This is an impressive wine, from an impressive producer. Excellent varietal character including a hearty sling of flavour through the finish, as is the way of the better examples. This pinot noir is blessed as much with confidence as it is with length, its sour-smoky fruits littered with sweet herb and orange rind notes, a whisper of reduction not hurting matters at all. A dry, structural, fruit-pulsed finish makes for a beautiful exit. Quality and value are both on offer here."
£22.50 per bottle
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Glaetzer-Dixon Wines
** The full range is purchased and available for
delivery week beginning 8th October **
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