Out Of The Bottle
With David Ellis
2009 Barwang Cabernet Sauvignon & Graeme Shaw’s 2009 Shiraz
World War II Air Force rear-gunner, later wheat farmer and
wool-grower, Peter Robertson was all of these things before turning his
hand to wine-grape growing and planting the very first vines in NSW’s
Hilltops Region.
That was after a disastrous drought in 1969,
and Peter cleverly planted his pioneering vines in contours where he
noted his wheat crops had previously thrived; the result was instant
success, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in particular flourishing as had
his hillside wheat crops pre that 1969 drought.
Today Peter
Robertson’s Barwang label is one of the most highly-respected in the
Hilltops Region, an area where warm days with cooling evening breezes
from the Great Dividing Range help Barwang’s winemaker, Andrew Higgins
create distinctive, full-flavoured yet elegant and subtle reds.
The
just-released 2009 Barwang Cabernet Sauvignon is one such wine: after
drought again in 2007 and heatwaves in 2008, the 2009 vintage returned
to textbook Hilltops with warm, gentle and even temperatures giving
this 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon nice black currant and mulberry fruit
characters, and well-structured tannins.
At $19.99 it’s good buying to enjoy with prime rib and roast vegetables. One For Lunch
Twenty-Five minutes north of Canberra on a one-time fine-wool
growing property, the Shaw family’s impressive Shaw Vineyard Estate is
turning out some very more-ish reds and whites some 640-metres above
sea-level.
These cool-climate wines are impressing consumers and
show-judges alike, with vigneron Graeme Shaw’s 2009 Shiraz one of his
finest-ever: loaded with rich black cherry flavours and nice varietal
white pepper and spice, at $22 its a beauty to share with hearty
Italian-style meat and tomato-sauce dishes.
Need a drink? We're archived on vintnews.com
 More Food &
Wine Reviews
|
