Trade tasting with Ben Glaetzer of
Heartland winery (as well as the Glaetzer family label of Barossa) hosted by
Palette Vino. Glaetzer himself was on hand to discuss the wines and explain something of his philosophy. Although he harvests grapes in a number of regions in South Australia, all of the wines are still made in the Barossa.
Ben explained that for many of his reds the Limestone Coast vineyards tend to provide aromatics, particularly eucalyptus in the hotter years, but also an herbaceous quality (basil, rosemary, green pepper etc.); whereas the reds from Langhorne Creek tend to give more structure and a chocolate quality. For this reason he often blends the fruit from both areas.
Also, when it’s hotter, if there are eucalyptus trees in the area, the oils from the eucalyptus become volatile and even settle on the grapes in a kind of resinous state. This is why certain Australian reds really do taste of eucalyptus, although Ben admitted there’s considerable research to be done in the area (clearly, some wines may yet smell of eucalyptus even if the vines have not been in close proximity to eucalyptus trees).
It’s just that Glaetzer himself has seen a eucalyptus mist envelope his vineyards in hotter years like 2003, conditions that simply did not occur in cooler vintages like 2002. Anyway, we had a great time tasting the wines and also enjoyed a very good chat, both with Ben and also Vicky Arnold, general manager.
Here are the wines. As mentioned, all are made in the Barossa. All are also typified by very clean wine-making, restraint, elegance and lovely ripe fruit:
2006 Heartland Stickleback WhiteAppearance: pleasant gold-green
Nose: lovely lemon fruit nose with some waxy notes.
Palate: pleasant fruit, good acidity and a touch of residual sugar on the palate, although this wine is essentially dry.
Conclusion: a really drinkable blend of 52% Chardonnay, 32% Verdelho, 16% Semillon (all of which are fermented separately in stainless steel then blended).Very good at its level and a great buy at 99RMB.
Rating: 16.5/20
2006 Heartland Viognier Pinot GrisAppearance: medium gold.
Nose: complex nose with peach, apricot and pear fruit with some mineral notes and slight spice.
Palate: medium-bodied, glycerol, but also lifting acidity, lovely fruit and good length.
Conclusion: this wine is 68% Viognier and 32% Pinot Gris with most of the grapes coming from Langhorne Creek and the rest from Limestone Coast. The varieties are again vinified separately with the Pinot Gris being allowed some skin contact for a little bit of colour and structure to tame Viognier’s fattier ways. Lovely and pure.
Rating: 17.5/20
2005 Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein
Appearance: medium to dark purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: has a wonderfully spicy nose with black fruits (even dried cherries). Clove is predominant in terms of spice (comes from the oak here).
Palate: lovely fruit, chewy medium tannins, good oak, pleasant moderate acidity and impressive length.
Conclusion: this is 70% Dolcetto with the remaining 30% being made up of Lagrein. About 50% of the Dolcetto spent time in French oak, but the Lagrein only went near stainless steel. Very interesting and very well-made. Hurray for growing these grapes in Australia!
Rating: 17.5/20
2005 Heartland Shiraz Appearance: dark purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: has a characteristic black cherry and slight blueberry nose, but not the masses of fruit that can blow some tasters out of the water. Elegant.
Palate: there are two things you wouldn’t notice about this wine: 1. it’s 14.5% alc., but without a ‘hot alcohol’ nose, 2. it’s been matured for 16 months in a mixture of light and heavy toast French oak. Both the alcohol and oak simply harmonize with the fruit. Tannins are moderate and chewy with just enough acidity to carry the fruit. Impressive length.
Conclusion: I loved this wine. It’s 100% Shiraz with 56% coming from Limestone Coast and the remaining 44% from Langhorne Creek. Very good.
Rating: 18.5/20
2005 Glaetzer Bishop Barossa Shiraz
Appearance: dark purple to black, clear rim.
Nose: sweet black cherry and blackberry fruits with mixture of savoury and sweet oak notes.
Palate: lovely fruit, large chunky tannins, good alcohol balance, pleasant medium acidity. Good length.
Conclusion: launched as a bench-mark Barossa Shiraz, this wine has all the elegance of the Heartland wines with a little bigger fruit. From 60 year-old vines, it has impressive structure and pure fruit. Vinified in a mixture of French and American oak, it has a slightly ‘sweeter’ nose than the Heartland Shiraz which is very appealing for the larger fruit here.
Rating: 18/20
2005 Glaetzer Wallace Barossa Shiraz Grenache
Appearance: dark purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: has an instantly appealing nose of ripe black and red fruits (more black on the account of the Shiraz fruit, at least in its Barossa expressions), some white pepper and other spices and appealing oak (French and American here again too).
Palate: refreshing acidity, chewy medium tannins (although these are slightly grainy too), strong fruit and good balance throughout. Good length.
Conclusion: this is 70% Shiraz and the remainder Grenache. Clean, pure and tantalizing, rather than being merely technically well-made.
Rating: 18/20
Labels: 2006, Barossa, Ben Glaetzer, Chardonnay, Dolcetto, Featured Tastings, Grenache, Heartland, Lagrein, Langhorne Creek, Limestone Coast, Palette Vino, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Shiraz, Verdelho, Viognier
