2011 Tarrawarra Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne

Provided all of the components to this type of blend are made with care, I enjoy a good Australian white Rhone blend. 2011 was a difficult vintage in most regions, including the Yarra Valley, so I was interested to see how this presented on the tasting bench.

The wine has a pretty, slightly sweet bouquet of orange blossom, freshly cut apricots and some citrus fruits. In the mouth the textural qualities of the wine dominate: rounded yet not flabby, the wine spreads across the palate without flooding it. There is a pleasant grassiness on the mid palate, with a savoury, spicy and slightly bitter finish that includes orange peel, some sugared ginger and finely grated fresh ginger.

There are some interesting textural and acidity interplay with this wine that might please or put people off, while the finish is subtly spicy and pleasantly bitter which may also polarize. Regardless, I found this a cleansing, interesting wine from a very difficult vintage.

Rating: 88pts

ABV: 12.5%

RRP: $30

Website:  www.tarrawarra.com.au
 

Tarrawarra Estate 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir

Tarrawarra are an impressive, well-resourced winery with a long history of making Pinot Noir in the Yarra Valley. Hailing from the much vaunted 2010 Yarra vintage, this wine was on the tasting bench for 4 days and impressed.


Initially decanted for 2 hours, the wine was a bit closed on the first day of tasting.  When it began to open up, it had restrained red fruits, was tight and textured with impressive length and focus. Interestingly, the savoury, slightly stalky finish provided more fruit impact than was evident on the front palate.
By day two, the wine had opened up elegantly with herbs, cherry / raspberry fruit, and an emerging earthiness. Day 3 was lost due to a late finish at work!. By day 4 the wine was singing: richer overall, with dark spice, red cherry, ripe strawberry fruit a bit of chocolate and fine tannins. The standout feature of this wine - structure and length - was still evident till the end. A lovely wine that needs several years or more in the cellar to open up like it was on the fourth day of tasting.


In a wine blogging world that covets small batch, rare and exotic wines, the Tarrawarra Reserve Pinot stands out proudly like a burgundy-red Bentley in a carpark full of Kombi vans, Holden Commodores and Toyota Prius enviro-cars.

Rating – 94+ Points
Closure: Screwcap

RRP: $60
ABV: $13.5%
Website: www.tarrawarra.com.au