The big story from the recent McLaren Vale regional wine show was the nine trophies won by Rosemount, steered by winemaker Matt Koch who crafted a winning range of traditional and alternative red wines.
Then there was the white wine that stole everyone’s heart, a variety with Italian tradition now gaining notice in a couple of regions – the Riverland, and after the Vigna Bottin 2013 Vermentino won four trophies last week, definitely McLaren Vale.
Vermentino and another Italian original, Fiano, have shifted the white varietal goalposts on the Fleurieu very quickly.
The Italian white varieties like the maritime influenced regional setting of McLaren Vale, unsurprisingly given they hail from similarly situated Sardinia and Campania.
The folk behind the highly acclaimed vermentino are Paolo and Maria Bottin, second-generation Italians who always wanted to grow Italian varieties in the Vale. After gradually transforming their vineyard from other traditional varieties, keeping some, of course, for commercial necessity, they now also have sangiovese and barbera under their homespun label.
But it’s the vermentino that everyone is excited about, including chairman of judges Tom Carson.
“When we first tasted that vermentino it had so much energy and presence and wonderful vibrancy and seemed very true to type with wonderful aromatics, a dry herb, scrubby bush character, balanced, poised, with a real drive through the palate,” Tom said.
It’s the kind of wine that is all about having a sensitive hand in the winery, he said. “If the fruit’s good you don’t need to get in the way of it; let it speak and don’t clutter it up with winemaking stuff,” Tom said.
My own tasting notes talk about hyper fragrant wildflowers, a delicate musk note, and zingy lemon gelati flavours, as well as an amazing talc-like acidity that drives the wine on and on and on.
It cries out for more oysters, scallops or crab linguine.
Just in case you’re needing an Italian red rather than white for dinner, the Vigna Bottin 2011 Sangiovese will do the right thing beside a dinner of slow braised ragu and pasta.
The wine also has bush notes, the Vale’s typical crumbled earth character, with flavours of dark cherries, savoury spices, bay leaf and meaty jus with mouth-filling sticky fruit tannins.
Tony Love
The Advertiser
