The Colonial Estate Envoy GSM 2006
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Robert
Parker
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The traditional mix from the Southern Rhone excels in the Barossa Valley – the home in Australia of old bush-vine Grenache and Mourvèdre. Handpicked before being transported to the winery in shallow trays, the grapes are double-sorted before vinification. The wine is aged for a year in French and American oak barrels.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Envoy GSM is composed of 50% Grenache, 30% Shiraz, and 20% Mourvedre. Dark ruby-colored, it delivers a fragrant perfume of earth notes, mineral, wild cherry, and blueberry. Smooth textured, savory, and concentrated, this tasty wine will blossom with another 2-3 years of cellaring and offer prime drinking from 2010 to 2018. The Colonial Estate is the Australian project of Englishman and Bordeaux chateau owner Jonathan Maltus. His first vintage in Australia was 2002. The entry level wines are line-priced at $30 offering excellent bang for the buck.
Other Vintages
2004-
Robert
Parker
CWC's approach is deliberately and uniquely French. The wines are handpicked into trays and double-sorted. The reds receive cold pre-maceration, delestages, pigeage, and maceration on the skins prior to ageing in French oak; whilst the whites get whole-bunch pressing and lees batonnage and are fermented with yeasts imported from Champagne. The reds come, in principle from the prime Northern Arc of the Barossa Valley and the whites from the cool-climate of the Adelaide Hills. The wines are produced from vines that are either owned by the Company or are from selected growers.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.