Issue #64 - A look at our new HQ / Dan Standish New 2017s offer / Nocturne Q&A

 

A Taste of
The Vinorium

Issue: 64

 
 

Our New HQ

Our new HQ build project is gathering pace with final drawings approved with much excitement. We have teamed-up with the award-winning architect Guy Hollaway who has brought our vision to life. I am sure you will agree this is truly spectacular and will undoubtedly be the most beautiful working surroundings imaginable… We eagerly await our local councils’ decision!

 

The Front Aspect

 

Pre-Arrival Offer: New 2017 Release from the Brilliant Dan Standish

ETA: End June / Beginning July 2019

I consider Dan Standish
the reigning king of Barossa Shiraz

Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker.com)

 

We calculate over four hundred Vinorium customers who would agree… We believe Standish wines are something very special.

Dan’s 2016s, introduced last year and exclusively (UK) through The Vinorium, were magnificent with many either sold-out or close to. Joe (Robert.Parker.com) awarded three of the four releases 99 points and The Schubert Theorem Shiraz 98 points, which and given the Aussie competition is quite some achievement.

Previously, Dan held the position as head winemaker at neighbouring Torbreck and was responsible for crafting the Run Rig, Torbreck's old-vine Shiraz Viognier. Both the ’16 Relic and RunRig are blended with 98% Shiraz and 2% Viognier and both rank amongst the rarest and most coveted Aussie wines to collect.

Dan has been incredibly generous with 2016 allocations with 1,152 bottles of The Relic being offered to The Vinorium's private customers. Our final tranche (a further 576 bottles) is leaving Adelaide in a matter of weeks and is available to purchase in advance and under bond. For those who cannot wait, we do have 27 bottles left and we suggest you snap them up quickly as we have lifted the trade embargo on purchasing (this also includes our final tranche)

2016 Standish 'The Relic'

£64.95 per bottle

 

£311.70 IB per case of 6x75cl

 
 

Allocations for the 2017 are equally generous but and given the stunning quality of the vintage, we expect these to be sold quickly. 300 bottles of the 2017 The Relic had been allocated to the trade and moved immediately to being sold-out.

We have allocated 95 cases (6x75cl) to our private customers and propose a ‘special pre-arrival’ offer @ £275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl.

The offer is valid until 9:00am Monday 22 April when the price will revert to £311.50 IB per case

 

Special price of £275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl

 

The quickest seller was Dan’s 2016 Lamella, which and to highlight the speed, sold-out before the team snaffled one bottle. The Lamella is sourced from Shiraz grown by the Angas family on Hutton Vale Farm, Eden Valley a home their family has tended for seven generations. Today, Lamella is Eden Valley’s No:1 Shiraz, a reputation gained through careful and sensitive winemaking. Our 2017 allocation has doubled to a full pallet, translating to more bottles to spread around our customers’ and staff. We expect ’17 Lamella to be the first to sell-out.

We have allocated 95 cases (6x75cl) to our private customers and propose a ‘special pre-arrival’ offer @ £275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl.

The offer is valid until 9:00am Monday 22 April when the price will revert to £311.50 IB per case

£275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl

 

The 2016 Standish The Standish achieved 99 points with Joe waxing lyrically about the wines “full-bodied, creamy-textured and rich, it's intense, concentrated and long beyond belief”. As with the ’16 Relic, Dan provided a final tranche of 576 bottles however, this was immediately allocated to our trade customers and heads directly from Australia to them. We do have bottles and under bond cases available if you fancy sampling a meteoric Shiraz which will take you to the moon and back in a day. Decant for at least 8 hours and hold tight!

£64.95 per bottle

 

The 2017 Standish, The Standish Shiraz is made from fruit farmed by the Laycock family in the Greenock sub-region of the Barossa Valley. Dan has worked closely with this great vineyard since 2005, with previous releases of Standish 'Andelmonde’ and ‘Borne Bollene’ coming from this site. A few lucky customers experienced these wines
during the past year.

We have allocated 95 cases (6x75cl) to our private customers and propose a ‘special pre-arrival’ offer @ £275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl.

The offer is valid until 9:00am Monday 22 April when the price will revert to £311.50 IB per case

£275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl

 

And finally, we come to one of my personal favourites, The Schubert Theorem Shiraz sourced from an ancient vineyard on the Roennfeldt Road, Marananga, one of the more famous addresses in the Barossa Valley. 2016 stocks are dwindling but and given this wine provides me with a throbbing sense of excitement every time I decant a bottle, I am unsure why we have available stocks. Without further ado, and to show you how marvellous the ’16 Schubert Theorem is, I am offering a one week incentive to purchase a few bottles and share the exhilaration of perfectly polished Shiraz…

 

Our first ever Aussie 100 pointer 
& our Wine of the Week

100 Points - Stuart McCloskey “The colour is quite extraordinary – midnight black with a rim of dark beetroot. The nose is powerful, hedonistic and exotic with aromatic blueberry compote, crème de mure, black raspberry, liquorice and a lovely scent of wild flowers. With more time in the glass dark, roasted coffee, bitter chocolate and warm earth come into play. Given the colour and powerful aromatics, one would expect an explosive palate however, you would be wrong. The fruit is sweet, mouthcoating and thick but the sense of seamlessness and balance is staggering. Black and blue fruits dominate juxtaposed with perfectly framed tannins, which I have to say are softer than the Peruvian Vicuña. I keep coming back to the wine’s silkiness, balance and persistence – Truly remarkable for a wine of such an age. Yes, the wine poses extraordinary density, but Dan’s deft touch is truly breathtaking. The detail in this wine is fascinating and the length is simply off the charts. This is a wine of serious pedigree and one of the greatest, young wines I have ever tasted from Australia (and I have sampled many thousands). The true essence of great Australian Shiraz and my first Aussie 100 pointer. Decant for 4-6 hours and please use Zalto’s Bordeaux glass. Drinking from 2019 to 2040”.

Schubert Theorem @ £64.95 per bottle

For one week only - £57.50 per bottle

 
 
 

2017 Schubert Theorem

We have allocated 95 cases (6x75cl) to our private customers and propose a ‘special pre-arrival’ offer @ £275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl.

The offer is valid until 9:00am Monday 22 April when
the price will revert to £311.50 IB per case

 

£275.00 IB per case of 6x75cl

 
 

Nocturne is the husband-and-wife partnership between recently-crowned Jimmy Watson-winner Julian Langworthy and his wife Alana. The two met as young winemakers in South Australia and have been producing their own side-project wines together for 10 years.

Nocturne is a serious new venture producing single-vineyard wines from exceptional sites in Margaret River. This is the region where Julian grew up and where he’s honed his winemaking skills. In the process he’s won just about every prize imaginable, culminating in the 2016 Jimmy Watson trophy.

Julian and Alana are smart, ambitious and acutely sensitive to the best fruit sources in the region – including their pride and joy, the newly acquired Sheoak Vineyard with its beautifully mature Cabernet vines.

 

Q & A with the award-winning winemakers, Julian & Alana Langworthy

Your list of accolades is almost unparalleled. Winning the James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year award and the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy for Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as a host of awards for your own wines including several trophies for the 2017 Nocturne Cabernet. How do you feel seeing your wines at the pinnacle together with the biggest Australian icons (and may we add – rightly so)?

J: You're too kind! The biggest thrill for me, Alana and I getting to collaborate and make some outstanding wines together as we did first 15 years ago when we first met. It’s been a long road to where we are now but I am very comfortable that our Nocturne project is equal to any in Margaret River if not Australia. Winning the James Halliday Cabernet Challenge this year was a nice feather to the cap.

Nocturne wines are a true expression of single vineyard winemaking. When did you identify the special sites and how?

A: Having access to such diverse vineyards through Julian’s job at Deep Woods has enabled us to seek out sights that resonate with our winemaking philosophy. We are firm believers that if you have the correct site, the winemaking requirement is negligible....you are simply a vehicle for getting the personality of the fruit and site into a bottle! We remain true to the single vineyard principle by ensuring no adds are made to the wines throughout their production and maturation, enabling the specific flavours of the vineyard, fruit and vintage to be truthfully expressed.

Can you tell us a little about each vineyard and what makes them so special?

A: It all started with a very special vineyard called Tassell Park which is where the Chardonnay comes from. It is a cool south facing site in Treeton, east of Cowaramup. There are 2 clones interplanted (Gin Gin and 277) which work together to create the unique mineral sulphide aromatically and the powerful acid backbone.

The Rosé has traditionally come from a vineyard called Letedal in Carbanup, however going forward this will be a blend of Nebbiolo from Watson Vineyard in Wilyabrup and Tempranillo from Yallingup. No longer being single vineyard from 2019, the wine is now more about varietal expression and texture. Nebbiolo is a fabulous varietal for Rosé as it offers bright poppy strawberry aromas, a crunchy refreshing acid and textural tannic crunch. It is the structure of the wine! The Temp gives the wine personality with more aromatic range to balance the boldness of the palate.

The Cabernet is very close to both Julian and my heart as this is the varietal we have the most history making together! Sheoak is now the spiritual home of Nocturne as we purchased it 2 years ago not only for the fruit but because it is where we want to build our family home. It is a south facing slope around 1.5km as the crow flies to the ocean. It is very heavily moderated climatically by the ocean breeze and this is what allows it to produce such a complex wine without being overblown with jammy fruit and high alcohol.

 
 

You both have an incredible career in winemaking. How does Nocturne differ from your previous projects (please expand on your past projects too)? Is Nocturne the pinnacle of your aspirations?

J: Nocturne is super special and super exciting and resonating hugely with our customers which is a thrill in itself. We see it as a body of work that we will continue to put together over our entire lives and hopefully into our children’s futures too.

We know that it’s a very busy time for you at the moment. How is the harvest going? Anything of particular note from the current vintage?

 

"...this year’s Chardonnay is going to be the best ever… It’s epic."

 

A: Harvest was quite late this year on the back of a cooler summer. There have been a few rain events which is not typical for this time of year, however good viti advice and decisions have seen our Chardy and Rosé vineyards picked at the right times to avoid issues with disease. There have been a few late nights and hair pulling but looking at what is currently in barrel, we are delighted with the wines. Cabernet is still hanging, but remaining clean and developing flavour nicely. 

J: Have decided this morning that this year’s Chardonnay is going to be the best ever… It’s epic.

Do you have any future plans to add to the Nocturne range? Any exciting plans or projects lined up in the background which you can share with us?

J: Yes!  The single vineyard ethos will remain, but we hope to bring in a Cabernet Blend in time and another Chardonnay!

Are there any other winemakers (past or present) that you admire or who have had an influence on your winemaking?

A: For me, Virginia Wilcocks and Sue Hodder are truly inspirational women first and foremost, but winemakers too. Their ability to craft wines of such regional distinction and personality yet remain utterly unaffected by their Rockstar winemaking status is truly inspirational! 

J: Also Sue Hodder who was my boss at Wynns, Coonawarra. She taught me as much about managing staff as she did about Winemaking, which is at least equally as important, as teams make wines, not just individuals. Then we have Steve Pannell, hugely inspirational, won two Jimmy’s one in the heady Hardy’s corporate days and one for his breakout SC Pannell brand. Always at the cutting edge of quality yet imaginative Winemaking.

Margaret River celebrated half a century of winemaking since it was put on a world wine map in 1966. How did the region / the industry change over the years? Where do you think it’s heading?

 

"Margaret River can and
will make the world’s best Cabernet and Cabernet blends and for me this means the world’s best wines."

 
 

J: It’s changing rapidly and we are heading for the top. Margaret River can and will make the world’s best Cabernet and Cabernet blends and for me this means the world’s best wines.

Given the growing numbers of wineries in the Margaret River, is there a good sense of the community between the winemakers? Do you exchange views/experiences? Do you swap wines?

A: We are so fortunate that Margaret river has such a diverse range of people all working together for the greater good of the wine and each other. Sometimes, those south of the border *Cowaramup* need to be reminded that we are Kings in the North and that they should respect us and kneel in our presence.....but other than that, there is a great sense of comradery. We regularly get together for events or just a catchup with friends in the industry and there are always wines being exchanged!

What is your favourite grape variety to work with and why?

A: For me it’s Chardonnay, as I love the expression of provenance that it exhibits. The truly special Chardonnays have such poise and capture the essence of their site more so than any other white varietal. Plus, when made well....it’s just damn delicious!!

What do you drink after a long, hot day spent working in the vineyard?

A: Tanqueray Gin and good tonic with cucumber for me... Jules, a frosty beer.

Finally, here is a message from both Alana & Julian
to all Vinorium customers:

Drink widely and imaginatively and always share with your loved ones. Few things are emotive as wine and great bottles can make special occasions in themselves especially if shared
with the right people xxxx

 

Julian (left) with James Halliday (right)
Presented with 'Winemaker of the Year' at the Halliday Wine Companion Awards on August 1 2018)

A Supper & Tutored Tasting
to Remember…

We will be hosting Julian and his wife (co-winemaker), Alana during September. Julian (with his Deep Woods hat on) has won just about everything there is to win in Australian wine, from James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year for the 2019 and the prodigious 2016 Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at Royal Melbourne. Most recently Julian’s Deep Woods Reserve Chardonnay has been awarded 98 points by Decanter and his Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 99 points from James Halliday.

We focus on their exciting ‘solo’ project Nocturne, which we believe will soon become the ‘hottest’ wines to come out of Margaret River. We are hosting two masterclasses which Julian & Alana will be leading.

 
 

Rub shoulders with some of
the UK’s ‘top’ Wine Press

• Tuesday 10th September

• 11:00am to 2:00pm

• Venue: 67 Pall Mall, London

30 Tickets @ £25.00 each

 

A Special, 3 Course Dinner &
Tutored Tasting with Julian, Alana & Stu

• Friday 13th September

• 6:00pm start with a finish
around 10:30 / 11:00pm

• Venue: The Marlborough Room, 
67 Pall Mall, London

11 Tickets @ £100 each

 

Julian & Alana will be presenting their new releases (an exclusive world unveiling) along with a mini-vertical of Nocturne Chardonnay & Cabernet Sauvignon from
the past 3 releases

 

Nocturne Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

2018 Halliday Cabernet Challenge Winner: Margaret River Best of Region
Margaret River Wine Show Trophy: Best Red Wine of Show 2018 
Margaret River Wine Show Trophy: Best Single Vineyard Red Wine 2018

 

Stuart McCloskey 96-98 points “A wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon which offers a distinct regional feel and is just starting to come-around. The wine opens with a beautiful perfume of dark fruits, cassis, warm earth and lead pencil. Medium-bodied, bright and balanced to perfection, which is very much Julian’s style. After a 1-2 hours in the decanter, the 2017 unfolds graciously with sublimely polished fruit. Most impressively are the wine's expansive flavours which, and after swallowing, are endless. From sweet cassis (with a dash of menthol) to ink and then onto spice, which leads to fennel seeds. There’s wonderful aromatic freshness and lift and I am very much looking forward to seeing how the wine develops over the coming years. Served in Zalto’s Bordeaux glassware”. (I believe this will comfortably arrive at 98 points in a few years).

Julian & Alana Langworthy “After 12 days on skins and a peak ferment temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius, the wine was pressed to tank and settled briefly, before being transferred to a combination of new (25%) and two-year-old barrels to undergo malolactic conversion. This wine was racked only once in this time and, after 15 months in oak, was emptied from barrel, settled, clarified and bottled. The Sheoak vineyard makes expressive, medium-bodied Cabernets that bear some semblance to a modern version of luncheon claret. I am as happy with this Cabernet as any I have been involved in making. While it’s amazingly accessible on release, two to three years’ further maturation will really make this amazing wine shine”. 

£27.95 per bottle

 

Nocturne Chardonnay 2017

Acclaimed Margaret River winemaker Julian Langworthy and wife Alana are turning heads with their own boutique label, Nocturne.

This Chardonnay is their take on the famous regional style, with great success. Born and raised in the region Julian has developed close relationships with some of Margaret River's finest growers, with this Chardonnay coming from a single vineyard in Treeton, planted to some of the region's best-suited clones.

In the hands of Julian, this fruit absolutely sings. It's a polished version of Margaret River Chardonnay with ample weight whilst maintaining and elegant balance.

This is an exciting new addition to the Margaret River Chardonnay landscape.

£27.95 per bottle

 

Nocturne Nebbiolo Rosé 2018

A brilliant example of the rising quality of Australian Rosé here from the hands of 2016 Jimmy Watson Trophy Winner, Julian Langworthy.

The Nocturne Nebbiolo Rosé was made from a single vineyard in Margaret River. The fruit was hand picked specifically for Rosé, then whole bunch pressed to barrel for 10 weeks before being settled and bottled.

Julian is going for a more architectural style of Rosé with this wine.  Something inspired by the pink wines of Bandol that can develop with time in bottle.

£18.75 per bottle