With Richard Slater & Grant Foulkes
RICHARD SAYS
2018 Coriole Sangiovese
14.2% McLaren Vale,
South Australia
RRP $28
Sangiovese (SAN-GEE-OH-VAY-SEE) is a food-friendly red wine variety. Its Italian home boasts Chianti, Brunello plus “super-Tuscan” styles. Other countries have adopted Sangiovese for varying reasons – its ripening profile, to exploit marketing points of difference, or indulge winemaker excitements. Coriole demonstrates its vast experience, as this wine is much more attractive than the -mostly – pale and flaccid Chiantis available for the price. Its colour is a solid, bright, dark red; there is redcurrant, aniseed, cedar, asphalt and compelling morello cherry; it’s a bright juicy savoury style, bursting with red fruits, dried herbs and spices with a satisfying tannic chew. It’s a clean, modern wine that is faithful in its expression of the variety and its adopted home.
Conclusion: Match with tacos, a rich stew, pizza, or tomato-based pasta sauce. It will easily endure for a few years if you misplace a bottle or two…
GRANT SAYS:
2017 Delatite ‘Demelza’ cuvée Rosé
13% Victoria,
RRP $50
Delatite’s vineyards and cellar door is located in Mansfield at the foot of Mt. Buller. It was fortunate to escape any damage from Victoria’s bushfires and the vines did not experience any smoke taint. But, like so many other wineries, its cellar door traffic halted over summer which is its busiest trading period. Delatite represents supreme value for money across its impressive and very broad range, displaying classic cool climate characteristics. This vintage sparkling rosé is made from 100% pinot noir grapes and undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle to build complexity. Jump on their website and consider joining their wine club. They very much look after their members and definitely pay their cellar door and restaurant a visit next time you’re lapping up Victorian high country.
Conclusion – This is a special occasion wine and the quality far surpasses the price tag..