Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Chester Osborn manages to produce a cool and juicy white from the warm climes of McLaren Vale, particularly in 2016, when rain in late January refreshed the vines. He focuses this blend on fruit grown in free-draining soils over limestone, once a seabed built by the shells of creatures like hermit crabs. Early-harvested fruit provides brightness to the richer fruit left to ripen later. The wine has the crispness of Asian pear to balance the fuller notes of peach and smoky chamomile. Chill it for Dungeness crab.
Best Buy -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A winery that I have been tracking for more than two decades, d'Arenberg has produced one of its best Hermit Crab white wine blends. The 2016 vintage of this combination of Viognier and Marsanne is bright and exotic. The wine's tropical fruit, citrus peel, and savor herbs pairs it nicely with a fisherman's stew. (Tasted: December 8, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.