Dregs
Issue No. 1 - July/August 2001
raise your glass
Lone Star that has shone
Some 10 years back Spence George retired to Burra Burra after selling Skillogalee. His ‘Lone Star’ vineyard at Burra is now a small-berried, low yielding site. The first wine is big and complex, matured in French oak. It’s quite different to Clare Shiraz; this has much darker berry with mint and iron mineral character. It drinks well now with a big decant and has plenty of potential to cellar.
98 Burra Burra ‘Lone Star’ Shiraz $40
Mocha, spice dark rich fruits with underlying savoury bits. Fine nutty oak adds to a mouthful of flavour. Soft and spicy with red berry chocolate finish. Big wine needs time.
Casa Freschi
This very new name made its debut at the recent Langhorne Creek winemakers tasting a few weeks ago. David Freschi has produced this outstanding wine while running part of the family vineyards in Langhorne Creek . We liked the way the wine opened up in the glass. Fruit intensity is high suggesting low-cropped vineyards and some very attentive winemaking has produced a wine of immense quality.
99 Casa Freschi ‘La Signore’ Cabernet Shiraz Malbec $35
Spicy, sweet smoky fruit then bean and cassis aroma evolves. Slippery and seductive with ripe red fruits in a big oak frame. Big and powerful and needs time to settle.
Late stocks of Hardy’s Reynell
One wine clearly head and shoulders above everything we’ve seen lately is Hardys Reynell Shiraz. Premium old vine McLaren Vale shiraz sends a shudder down your back when as you drink it. It’s a monster with a lot to it. Needs a bigdecant.
97 Reynell Shiraz $39
Super concentrated, the blackest of fruits with smoky, eucalyptus, licorice and dark chocolates. Once opened, wonderful spice toast red fruits appear with layers of flavours. Very tight and composed. Lots of time. Brilliant.
