By David Ellis from vintnews
Neil McGuigan, the extraordinary driving force behind the McGuigan Wines label that’s been named International Winemaker of the Year for a record three times (2009, 2011 and 2012,) has now come up with another reward for wine aficionados – a Claret-style red (yes, Claret – remember the name?) that he’s been quietly working on with his Hunter Valley winemaking team for an amazing ten years.
Labelled The Philosophy, this 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz blend of super-premium fruit from South Australia’s Eden and Clare Valleys, fulfils a decade-long challenge both to himself and his team: to create an icon wine that goes beyond anything else, and recognising not the makers, but the wine as the hero.
“I named it after my own philosophy: that every day you need the ambition to craft a super-premium wine, spreading that focus through every step of your winemaking process, so your $10 wine starts tasting like a $12 wine, the $12 like a $15 and so on to every wine from your lower price levels, to your very best super-premiums.”
The 2010 The Philosophy is a wine strong on blueberry fruits without being overly sweet fruited, fine tannins and an incredibly long palate; well rewarding the $150 asking price, but with only limited availability, it’s worth getting hold of now to make the most of any particularly special occasions coming up in the next year or so.
One to note: Choosing a wine to go with spicier dishes, or with many of those with stronger Asian-influences, can often prove somewhat of a challenge, but one that takes-on such challenges really well is Gewurztraminer – and Rymill’s just- released 2013 Coonawarra gt (the gt for Gewurztraminer) does just that trick.
Layered with lovely aromas from rose petal and orange blossom, to freshly-cut lemons and limes, it’s the wine’s palate of juicy pink guava, papaya, lychees and zingy citrus that stands up, takes-on, and tempers those spicier foods. At $21.50 it’s a top-drop to enjoy now with that next normally challenging spicy or stronger Asian meal, and it’ll develop even further with anything up to a decade in the cellar.
