Joshua Greene recently led five blind tasting panels assessing shiraz and other Mediterranean varieties from South Australia, all new releases coming into the market. As always, the panels were told the vintage, the region and the variety, with no information given about producer or price.
After our tastings, we reached out to the winegrowers of d’Arenberg, Yangarra and Yalumba for their take on how the age of their vines influences the style of their wines. You can join filmmaker Martin Gillam as he documented some of those ancient vines at Yalumba—and other sites in Barossa—in 2016. And you can read Joshua Greene’s interview with Peter Gago, who chronicles Penfolds’s three decade sojourn in California, leading up to the first releases of several new wines, including international blends of Napa Valley and South Australian cabernet and shiraz.
For members of the site, we’ve published all of our Australia notes in our searchable database. And, for all of our readers, we’re highlighting some of top-scoring wines from shiraz, grenache, mataro and the Mediterranean blends. —Corey Warren
OUR SOUTH AUSTRALIA PANELISTS INCLUDED
WINERY PROFILE
Cali by Oz
Peter Gago and the Penfolds team are bringing their South Australian winegrowing protocols to the vinelands of Paso Robles and Napa Valley.
FEATURE
Old Vine South Australia
Ancient vines don’t necessarily make better wine, but when growers sustain them for a century or more, there’s usually a good reason for it. Joshua Greene explores why South Australia’s old-vine assets are among the most robust in the world.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Barossa’s Alternate Side
Documentary film-maker Martin Gillam visits the ancient grenache vines behind a new wave of Australian reds. (February 2016)
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Brightness in Barossa
Luke Sykora went to Barossa looking for elegant, flavorful grenache. And he found it. (W&S February 2016)
RECIPE
A Braise for Grenache
Carla Rza Betts & Richard Betts, of An Approach to Relaxation, provide a favorite recipe for bright, old-vine Barossa grenache: their take on Luke Nguyen’s Aromatic Braised Pork in Soy-Coconut Broth from Street Food Asia.
