Chris Shanahan: Wine review — Peter Lehmann and Rosemount

Peter Lehmann Eden Valley

Classic Riesling 2010 $9–$12
Eden Valley Riesling 2010 $13.49–$18

We’re not sure what “classic” means any more, certainly it gives no clue about what lies inside the Lehmann “classic” bottle. Pour it in the glass, though, and we have delicious, soft, delicate low-alcohol riesling with a pleasing, moderate sweetness, balanced by crisp acidity – a pleasant, easy-drinking wine, whatever it’s called. But Lehmann’s dry riesling represents what I would call the “classic” Eden Valley style – a beautifully aromatic riesling with intense citrusy varietal flavour and a tight and tangy line of acid creating a mouth watering desire for another glass. It’s a wine to enjoy any time over the next four or five years.

Rosemount District Release Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 $18–$20
Rosemount enjoys a long connection with Coonawarra, having owned a substantial vineyard towards the southern end of the famous “terra rossa” strip. It’s now part of Treasury Wine Estates, spun out of Foster’s. Treasury owns large tracts of Coonawarra, but whether the wine comes from the original Rosemount vineyard is not stated. Not that it matters, because the wine’s utterly delicious – a fine-boned, pure expression of elegant Coonawarra cabernet made specifically for early drinking. That means lots of vibrant, ripe, varietal fruit upfront and soft tannins – although there’s still a cabernet feel to them. An outstanding regional varietal at this price.

Rosemount District Release Robe Chardonnay 2010 $17–$20
Back in the 1990s Southcorp Wines established a vineyard on the Woakwine Range, a low ridge running parallel to the coast near Robe, South Australia. It’s slightly north and to the west of Coonawarra on the Limestone Coast. The vineyard produced graceful, elegant chardonnays under various labels, but now finds a home, it seems, in the Rosemount cellar. This is beautiful chardonnay, built on intense nectarine-like varietal flavour and delicate, bracing acidity. Fermentation and maturation in new and older oak barrels adds subtle, background leesy characters and a pleasing textural richness. This is drop-dead gorgeous for the price.