By Fergal Gleeson
Winter in Australia is more likely to involve a picnic by the beach than ‘stopping by woods on a snowy evening’!
Northern winter expressions such as to ‘catch one’s death’, ‘blanket of snow’, ‘bundling up’ and ‘dead of winter’ are thankfully never appropriate no matter how vivid your imagination.
However a dark night, the smell of a slow roast, the crackle of an open fire do make you want to reach for a hearty winter red. Read on for some of the regions finest to cozy up to!
Juniper Estate Malbec 2016 RRP $40
We’ve all swirled easy drinking commercial Malbec from Argentina. It’s no bad thing. But this single vineyard Malbec from Juniper has a higher calling. It shows balance, elegance and structure with smooth tannins and a savoury feel leading to a spicy finish.
Most Margaret River Malbec plays the role of ‘Extra’ in a Cabernet blend. A wise choice to give this Malbec centre stage. Juniper Estate is one of Margaret River’s oldest wineries with vines planted in 1973.
Their Cellar Door won the 2019 award for ‘Best Large Cellar Door in Margaret River’ from Gourmet Traveller Wine. It is open daily.
Shiraz/Syrah
Streicker Bridgeland Block Syrah 2014 RRP $45
This wine is consistently one of my favourite Syrah/Shiraz’s and has collected heady scores from wine critics James Halliday (95 pts) and Ray Jordan (96pts). It comes from Streicker’s coolest site and is carefully made by the very talented Bruce Dukes.
He includes the stalks in the ferment to add extra character to the wine. There is beautiful ripe fruit in this medium to full bodied wine with a great depth of flavour and texture. There’s also leather, pepper and cloves.
The quality of the reds and whites across the range is excellent. Cellar door open daily, tours and café on site.
www.clairaultstreickerwines.com.au
Howard Park Leston Shiraz 2015 RRP $50
Howard Park have the rare advantage of premium vineyards in both the Margaret River and Great Southern regions. And so their Cellar Door can offer you Cabernet, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Sauvignon Semillons but also critically acclaimed Rieslings and the internationally awarded Jeté sparkling wine range.
Their range spans everything from the everyday to the super premium. Leston Shiraz is Howard Park’s best Margaret River Shiraz and comes from a single vineyard.
The wine is in the happy place of offering ripe dark fruit flavour with good tannins. Feels classy and complete now but also highly age worthy, which is something of a trademark for ‘2018 Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year’ Janice McDonald.
From Your Margaret River Region Magazine
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