Chris Shanahan: Wine review — Grosset, Bleasdale and Tower Estate

Grosset Adelaide Hills

Pinot Noir 2009 $66
Chardonnay 2009 $53

Jeffrey Grosset is best known as a producer of pristine Clare Valley rieslings – wines made protectively to display fruit, fruit and nothing but fruit. This mastery of riesling making shows, too, in the intensity and varietal purity of his pinot noir and chardonnay – barrel aged wines that we might expect to reveal significant winemaker inputs. Sip through the wines over a couple of days, and the winemaking textures and complexities emerge. But shimmering fruit remains always at the front. Both come from the cool Adelaide Hills (to the south of Clare on the same Mount Lofty Ranges).

Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Potts’ Catch Verdelho 2010 $16–$18
The Potts family say that verdelho was one of the first varieties planted in their vineyards back in nineteenth century. It thrives there. And while probably originally planted to make fortified wine (as it does in Madeira), verdelho retains good acidity in this warm region, endearing itself as a variety for dry white wines. The aroma’s of tropical fruit, with an appealing sappy undertone – characters that come through on a fresh and fruity drink-now palate. The vineyard, established by Frank Potts in 1850, is on the Bremer River flood plain near Lake Alexandrina, South Australia.

Tower Estate Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris $22–$25
Samantha Connew took over winemaking at the Hunter’s Tower Estate in 2010, following ten brilliant years at Wirra Wirra, McLaren Vale. Connew’s arrival coincided with Tower’s belated but welcome shift to screw cap seals – a tremendous boon for all of their wines, but especially for vibrant, fresh whites like this, their second pinot gris from young vines in the Adelaide Hills. The wine presents a zesty, citrusy freshness with subtle pear-like varietal flavour and just a trace of the rich texture (but not the oiliness or viscosity) often seen in some expressions of the variety.