Yangarra Ovitelli Blanc 2023
G 96
Some wines transcend their varietal makeup. While the technical details – winemaking choices, percentages, élevage – may matter to some, they dissolve entirely in the sheer experience of tasting. This is one of those wines. As I sit with it now, the specifics fade, and what remains is the ethereal bliss of an exceptional white. Notes of pineapple core, nashi pear, and starfruit emerge first. Yellow fruit pulp, dry sand, and pumpkin shells seem to scatter across the floor. There’s also a savoury edge of wholewheat flour, hay, and fennel seed. The palate delivers, not just in fruit, but in complexity: olive brine salinity and the savouriness of pickled winter melon elevate this from a simple sipping wine to a perfect pairing for poached chicken, pork rillettes, or three-cheese ravioli. The acidity, though a passenger to the driving fruit, carries enough energy to keep the wine bright and vibrant from start to finish. Drink now–2030 Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache 2023 G 96 Adjacent to the herald High Sands block, the Ovitelli comes from vines planted in 1946. Fermentation occurs in Clayver ceramic eggs and on skins for 7 months; no pressings were used. Matured in ceramic for 11 months total. Dehydrated raspberries, Sweetheart cherries, and wild strawberries. Crushed sandstone, saffron threads and Sichuan peppercorns. Acidity leads the charge, followed by those unique Ovitelli tannins that sap and dry the palate, before floods of red berry flavours rush in again. This can only be one wine and a decidedly approachable vintage at that. Some quince bitters give lift and texture to the finish of the wine. Always memorable, always a wild ride and one of a kind. Pair with Tasmania tiger prawns and red pepper sauce. Drink Angove Warboys Grenache 2022 G 95 Vine age of around 59-plus years in the heart of McLaren Vale. This delicately poised wine starts with cherry blossom, rose and persimmon. A hint of autumnal earth and white pepper spice. The palate is charged with wild strawberries and sumac spice. Acidity is lofty with a mesh of dry super-fine tannins; this will go a long way. Equally a beautiful drink now that could handle the roast game meats or creamy risottos, its faint herbal thread making for a very alluring drink. Drink now–2035
South Australia Wine Guide 2026 | McLaren Vale
263
Powered by FlippingBook