With two groups of tasters and a couple of outside interruptions we were there quite a bit longer than I’d planned, and that combination of factors resulted in much more copious tasting notes than I was able to manage elsewhere.
Starting with the Rieslings the 2008 Watervale ($15) was another in the long run of fantastic wines that are, in effect, the Clare Valley’s trade mark. Anyone minded to quibble is reminded that the track running along the old rail line from Auburn to Clare is labelled the Riesling Trail rather than the Shiraz, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc or anything else Trail.
Slightly upmarket, the 2007 Lodge Hill ($18) showed the benefit of bottle age and was quite wonderful but the first knockout punch of the day came with the 2007 Florita ($40) a stellar wine made from free run juice (about 40% of the available volume) that was 100% Riesling without any trace of skin, stem or stalk. Quite simply, a fantastic wine. After that, the 2008 Silly Mid On Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
was always going to pale by comparison.
We moved on to the Lavender Hill late picked styles, the 2007 Riesling (quite wonderful) and the 2006 Riesling Semillon, which reminded us of the Pfeiffer’s Late Picked Muscadelle and was on special at $30 the 375 mL half dozen. Accordingly we broke the we’re not buying anything to carry home and invested in a six pack.
We started on the reds with the 2004 Three Little Pigs Shiraz Cabernet Malbec ($18) which was nicely peppery and featured charming label artwork to boot. The 4/6 label features one little pig bowling what appears to be a perfectly flighted leg break!
Questions about the frequent cricket references produced the explanation that the family had bought the old Penola Cricket Ground in the Coonawarra, source of the non-Clare component of The Cover Drive ($18), a blend of Cabernets from Clare and Coonawarra, a really classy wine worthy of comparison to the classic shot of batsmanship. Things were warming up with the 2006 Lodge Hill Shiraz ($18) with three gold medals to its name and great value at the price.
As we moved into the top of the range the quality, already almost stellar, made a succession of quantum leaps.
The 2005 First XI Cabernet (100% Coonawarra $55) was stunning, the Benbourie Cabernet Sauvignon (100% Clare $90) was sublime and with the 2005 The McRae Wood Shiraz things just kept getting better. By the time we reached the summit (the 2005 The Armagh Shiraz @ $195) I’d run out of superlatives.