With Richard Slater & Grant Foulkes
RICHARD SAYS
2020 Pewsey Vale Riesling
Eden Valley, South Australia 12.5% RRP $26
Riesling is a highly aromatic variety that doesn’t require oak, so it can hit the streets early, usually over-delivering on quality for price. Under screw-cap. Riesling can merrily develop gracefully over decades. Pewsey Vale is ultra-consistent with flagship “Contours” block released at a modest price after several years maturation in bottle. Its standard wine is compellingly crisp and pale with blossom florals – classic scents of lime and lemon battle for supremacy, with exotic bath powder notes also present. Exemplary depth of flavours and compelling minerally tanginess join the citrus flavours on a fine talc-like base. Altogether lovely. Tackle the wine while it thrills with freshness; or rest it for a few years to capture honeyed and toasty nuances (a recently tasted 2012 hit the mark)- you can’t lose.
Conclusion: Seafood will succeed; I’m banking on fried calamari, but will settle for beer-battered or any oily fish; or a stir-fry with chicken and cashew. Happy times are ahead.
GRANT SAYS
Torbreck Hillside Vineyard Grenache 2018
Barossa Valley, South Australia, 14.5%, RRP $75
It was 10am on a Tuesday and I was perched at the tasting bench for an intimate tasting of some of Torbreck’s latest range, lead by sales rep. Ben Yoffa, who happens to be a westside local! Each wine came with its own story entrenched in history and tradition. Each wine showcased a personality that perfectly toed the line of appealing to the ‘old school’ Barossa fan and the new age ‘modern’ drinker. The stand out, for me, was their Hillside Vineyard Grenache. The 2018 vintage will be released in the coming weeks and I highly recommend you pool your pennies and scramble to secure some. The Hillside Vineyard is located near Lyndoch, a southern sub-region of Barossa and has some of the oldest Grenache plantings in the country. Old vine grenache (in the hands of excellent wine makers) is a delight to behold and enjoy and I can’t say I’ve enjoyed a better drop than this. It’s bursting with character and a youthfulness that demands immediate attention.
Conclusion: Pair with Portuguese spiced flame grilled chicken thighs, peri peri corn on the cob and twice cooked French fries in celery salt. @grantfoulkes.
