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William's Best Picks
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Pick #1: Clarendon Hills, Old Vines, Romas Vineyards, 2002 (€47.25)
Australia is known, above all, for very high volume wines that are tasty, refreshing, well priced, and above all made from Syrah, known here as Shiraz, where 96,000 acres are planted. But there are many small wineries which produce highly prized wines in small quantities, of which Roman Bratasiuck’s estate, Clarendon Hills, is one of the best. His Romas Vineyard wines are made from very low yielding Grenache grape, the same grape from the Southern Rhône that is the principal component of Châteauneuf-de-Pape. The Romas vineyard, planted in 1925 on steep slopes facing east, is always hand picked and fermented with natural yeasts, and then aged in barrels for at least 18 months. The wine is deeply rich, high in alcohol, but not jammy, and showing raspberry and spice flavors that are long lasting and frankly yummy on the nose and in the mouth. Parker gave it a 96, but Bratasiuck described it better as Naomi Campbell in high heels wearing pink lipstick.
Most of us think of Chianti as a light wine that goes so well with any Italian dish, especially on a picnic or at your favorite trattoria. In fact, most Chiantis are rather flabby wines, hardly tasteless but hardly profound either. Not so Castello di Ama, located in Ama about 25 kilometers from Siena. Here making wine under Marco Pallanti is thoughtful and serious with the quality of the fruit produced each year always magnificent as a result of planting the vines in V-shaped vertical canopies that allow the grapes to capture more sun. The result is stunning: silky, smooth, fruity, with some tobacco notes that caress the mouth as few Chiantis can. The wine is composed of 80% Sangiovese with Malvasia Nero, Canaiolo, and Merlot completed the mixture. The alcohol level is a reasonable 13% which makes sipping a delight. Think blackberry and cherry flavors that last and last. The Wine Spectator gave this wine a classic rating of 95.
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