Savaterre (Beechworth) – One of my clear favourites of this event and I’ve put my money where my mouth is by ordering a mixed lot of these three wines from the mailing list. Not to mention that the winemaker Keppell Smith seems like a really nice guy. It makes it a lot easier to support small makers when their winemakers aren’t jerks (not naming any names). These wines aren’t cheap, but I consider them right at the forefront of quality Australian wine. If you are interested, you can join the mailing list here.
Chardonnay 2004 – Peaches and cream on the nose along with flint and minerality and just a touch of very well integrated oak supporting. It has a clean, elegant, tightly focused palate that pushes all the right buttons for me. Superb length and has the structure to age wonderfully well. This is already excellent and is only going to get better after it has spent some time in the bottle. 94/100
Pinot Noir 2004 – Earth, cherry, violets, oak and some enticing truffle/mushroom aromas. Shows lovely length and exceptional balance. While I very much liked the Les Enfants below, this wine has better structure, texture, depth of fruit and all around class. This is a Pinot to hold onto for a few years before enjoying. 94/100
“Les Enfants” Pinot Noir 2004 – As the name indicates, this is from young vines. Keppell usually makes the grapes from these vines into a house wine for local restaurants – but he felt the fruit this year was too good to pass up the chance to make a Savaterre wine from it. The wine has an enticing nose of stalks, earth, cherry and a bit of smoked meat. Palate is savoury and dry rather than fruity which I really liked. This is the kind of wine I wanted to see more of in the Pinot master class I spoke about earlier. 91/100