Giddy up I say. It’s the horse’s birthday today and this blog has absolutely nothing to do with our equine friends.
What this entry is about is the wonderful winemaking skills of Oakridge’s David Bicknall. Since 2002 he has been plying his trade at Oakridge, which he now a paid up stakeholder in. In 2008 I worked the vintage there (some of us used another word to describe the vintage but it is a bit blue for this forum) where we crushed just under 100 tonne of fruit in 8 weeks, turning the winery over four times. Now if you really want to shed some kg’s, work a vintage; I dropped 11 kilo’s in 8 weeks!!
Anyhoo, Oakridge and in particular David, are putting out some serious cool climate wine. The premium range 864, address on Maroondah Hwy, is probably the truest form of Yarra Valley premium wine; Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot. These wines year in and year out display what Yarra Valley wine can are – elegant, heaps of finesse, structure and massive cellar potential.
This entry is on the Oakridge 864 Shiraz from 2003. The colour is showing a little bit of translucency, but it is not the pale red pinkie style that Pinot Noir gives, more the reddy chocolate sort. The nose is very Rhone like with Cornas coming to mind – herby bay leaves feel about it. The longer in the glass a bit of liquorice comes in the form of the black savoury kind. The mouth follows the nose with a Cornas sting, great acid length that holds up more savoury touches of olive tapenade with a touch of red liquorice at the back – very long.
Great balance, plenty of length and incredible complexity that is not overwhelmed by weight – only 13.5% a/v; no JABS here.
Drink till 2018
Drink with herb crusted lamb
18.5/20
Oh yeah, for the punters out there; Caulfield, race 3 number 4 ‘With Apologies’ – giddy up.
What this entry is about is the wonderful winemaking skills of Oakridge’s David Bicknall. Since 2002 he has been plying his trade at Oakridge, which he now a paid up stakeholder in. In 2008 I worked the vintage there (some of us used another word to describe the vintage but it is a bit blue for this forum) where we crushed just under 100 tonne of fruit in 8 weeks, turning the winery over four times. Now if you really want to shed some kg’s, work a vintage; I dropped 11 kilo’s in 8 weeks!!
Anyhoo, Oakridge and in particular David, are putting out some serious cool climate wine. The premium range 864, address on Maroondah Hwy, is probably the truest form of Yarra Valley premium wine; Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot. These wines year in and year out display what Yarra Valley wine can are – elegant, heaps of finesse, structure and massive cellar potential.
This entry is on the Oakridge 864 Shiraz from 2003. The colour is showing a little bit of translucency, but it is not the pale red pinkie style that Pinot Noir gives, more the reddy chocolate sort. The nose is very Rhone like with Cornas coming to mind – herby bay leaves feel about it. The longer in the glass a bit of liquorice comes in the form of the black savoury kind. The mouth follows the nose with a Cornas sting, great acid length that holds up more savoury touches of olive tapenade with a touch of red liquorice at the back – very long.
Great balance, plenty of length and incredible complexity that is not overwhelmed by weight – only 13.5% a/v; no JABS here.
Drink till 2018
Drink with herb crusted lamb
18.5/20
Oh yeah, for the punters out there; Caulfield, race 3 number 4 ‘With Apologies’ – giddy up.
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