Chris Shanahan: Wine review — Charles Cimicky, Lock & Key, Moppity Vineyards and Shaw & Smith

Charles Cimicky Barossa Valley Trumps Shiraz 2010 $14.25–$20
Charles and Jennie Cimicky’s winery and vineyards are at Lyndoch, in the slightly cooler south of the Barossa Valley. Their reds, starting with the inexpensive Trumps shiraz, deliver typical Barossa generosity and softness without going over the top on oak, tannin or alcohol. Delicious, ripe, cherry-like shiraz flavours underpin a deep but limpid and lively wine. Round, soft tannins cut through the fruit giving structure and satisfying, dry, slightly savoury finish. Trumps is a very good, sophisticated regional wine – sensitive winemaking lets the fruit talk. Charles Cimicky says, “It is the variety, region and vineyard that are most important to us”.

Lock & Key Riesling 2012 $14.99
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Riesling 2012 $24.99
Both wines come from Jason and Alecia Brown’s Moppity Vineyards, one of the oldest in the Hilltops (Young) region. Jason Brown says their planting include “Some of the oldest riesling vines in southern NSW”. For much of its history, Moppity sold fruit to other producers, but Brown launched the current label in 2007. Lock & Key, at just 11 per cent alcohol, makes a tasty, refreshing aperitif. It shows the high acid, intense fruit and delicate structure of the cool vintage. The notably fuller bodied (12.5 per cent alcohol) Moppity vineyard presents a riper, more powerful, though still delicate and fresh face, of riesling.

Shaw and Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2010 $37–$45
The latest Shaw and Smith shiraz sits at the more powerful end of the house style. That is, it’s medium bodied and elegantly structured, as you’d expect in the cool growing climate; but the deep, intense-crimson colour, opulent, seductive aroma and palate-saturating fruit flavours, cut with very good oak, probably outweigh any they’ve made in the past. Winemakers Martin Shaw and Darryl Catlin say the fruit comes from “low yielding vines at Balhannah, the central Adelaide Hills, and Macclesfield, the warmer and drier sub-region to the south”. The wine should drink and evolve well for a decade or more if well cellared.