Weekly tasting report (July 5-11, 2020): Australia, Hungary, Italy, South Africa
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- Executive Editor Nick Stock getting through some top Aussie wines.
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- James tastes in Hong Kong.
This week’s top wines come courtesy of some highly respected producers across three countries: Australia, Italy and South Africa. The top scoring pair of pinot noir wines both rated 97 points and are from two of Australia’s most respected cool-climate producers, Bindi in the Macedon Ranges and Oakridge in the Yarra Valley.
The 2016 Bindi Pinot Noir Kaye (97 points) is a “delicately nuanced and complex” pinot from a cool site in one of Victoria’s most exciting regions with “immaculately fine tannins”. This parcel is a diverse geological puzzle of mudstone, sandstone, quartz rock and clay with a covering of varying amounts of much younger, fine volcanic top soil. A tight selection of the best vats is released under the Kaye label.
Bindi has two more wines in this week’s top selections, the 2019 Dixon Pinot Noir (96 points) and the 2019 Kostas Rind Chardonnay (96 points). These are two very polished, complete and powerful wines that show such refined fruit character and structure combined with insightful, refined winemaking. The Dixon Pinot Noir has pristine and intense cherry fruits combined with a “layered and succulent” palate and the Kostas Rind Chardonnay is so “dialled in and focused” with a “composed, long and balanced finish.”
I tasted Oakridge’s single site pinot noirs from the very consistent 2018 vintage and two iterations of pinot from the red volcanic soils of Woori Yallock’s Henk Vineyard are the highlights there. The 2018 Oakridge Pinot Noir 864 Henk Aqueduct Block (97 points) is a selection of the best pinot of the harvest and is a very complex pinot that “delivers such intensity and focus” as well as a “convincing finish.” The 2018 Oakridge Pinot Noir Henk (95 points) is “beautifully detailed” and “casts a long, velvety finish.”
The 2017 Marchesi Antinori Toscana Tignanello (96 points) is another strong showing from Tuscany’s 2017 harvest that delivers in the established theme of power, concentration and balance that we have seen define the region’s best wines. James described this as a “dense, really pinpointed red” with “fine, creamy tannins” and “shows real finesse for the vintage” with strong aging potential. Ornellaia’s Toscana Bianco 2017 (95 points) is a blend of sauvignon blanc and viognier that is “tight and solid with fine phenolics that give it structure and focus” and is an “extremely poised and dignified” white from this warm, dry season.
The Castello di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione La Corte 2017 (95 points) leads a solid procession of Chianti tasted last week by James in Hong Kong. It is a “rich, layered red” with bright cherry and orange peel with “firm, silky tannins and a fruity finish.” Wines from Cantalici, Borgo, Castello di Querceto, Tenuta di Arceno, Cecchi and Castello di Meleto are all impressive Chianti that share a 94-point rating.
And South Africa’s Mullineux from Swartland has a pair of 95 point wines covered this week, a syrah and a chenin blanc, both grown in the decomposed granite soils of the Paardeberg. The 2017 Mullineux Syrah Granite shows Cote-Rotie-like complexity with “smoked and grilled-meat undertones to the tile and crushed-stone” characters as well as “creamy and ripe tannins.” The 2018 Mullineux Chenin Blanc Granite is a “stony and floral” chenin with a “full-bodied, yet agile” palate that has trademark granitic terroir precision.
Precision and power define all this week’s best wines, enjoy the read!
– Nick Stock, executive editor