Welcome to November’s Wine of the Month…..finally!
We head back to the Barossa for this month’s tasting and to an incredible part of the world, Cirillo Estate Vineyards.
Cirillo Estate has what’s believed to be the oldest Grenache vines in the world!
Yes, you read that correctly…
Marco Cirillo and his father before him have been the custodians of these 165 year old vines for the last 41 years and the only two that have worked the vineyard in that time (and just for good measure they have 165 year old Semillon vines, also believed to be the oldest of their kind in the world).
This month’s tasting was done with the mysterious ‘Tool Time’ wine club, a select group of individuals whose core mission is to 1) taste incredible wines 2) enjoy each others company and 3) talk copious amounts meaningless dribble trying to solve the meaning of life!
This group consists of Triple Olympian, Adelaide 36ers superstar and wine novice Brett Maher, regular contributor and Adelaide’s finest lawyer Mark Calligeros, highly respected wine industry doyen and expert Uby Faddoul, and sports agents to the stars and wine consumer Paul ‘Jerry Maguire’ Bell.
November’s Wine of the Month is the 2012 Vincent Grenache which comes from 80 year old vines, a relative baby compared to its aforementioned 165 year old cousin!
The Vincent was named after Marco’s father, his testament to the man who has handed down eight generations of winemaking to him (dating back a lazy 350 years to their original Italian heritage) and is made in the same way as the flagship 1850 Grenache, using whole berry fermentation and basket pressing.
The wine sees 12 months in 70 year old Foudre barrels, something very different to the modern day methods currently used in the majority of the Barossa.
On the nose, most of us detected great fruit characters and a hint of pepper, with the palate being balanced with an extremely generous mouth fill and a long finish.
Mark described the wine as having a great body, a pepper accent along with a sweet Barossa finish, very drinkable, very well balanced and very satisfying.
While Brett, completely and utterly making up any comment he had ever heard about wine before described it as having undertones of blackcurrant, tasting chocolate on the back of his tongue and tantalizing his senses! He did actually thoroughly enjoy the wine though!
Paul said the wine was good…
The final word should go to Uby and I quote:
‘I am in total disbelief as to how a wine produced from 80 year old vines can be so fresh, vibrant and full of life!
Historically not being a straight Grenache consumer, this is the type of wine that has the capacity of engaging people like me to believe that quality Grenache should not be blended away!
Coming into summer, this is a great wine that can be consumed on a late, lazy afternoon on its own. Alternatively, enjoy it with herbaceous and lightly spiced continental sausages, antipasto goods and mild cheeses with attitude.
I encourage you to give this wine a go!’
Absolutely ridiculously underpriced at around the $20 per bottle mark, check them out at Cirillo Estate Wines or contact me directly for more info.
Cheers,
Scott
