La Prova Sangiovese 2024
G 93
Cheeky and energetic – this wine has a little spring in its step. Drunk cherries, freeze- dried strawberries and toasted apple seeds. The palate is tensioned and tightly framed, with a mineral edge of crushed slate and the tiniest touch of rusty nail. It looks and smells like all the best parts of Sangiovese – yet it doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously; maybe just the right amount of uptight, in fact. Drink now–2033 Lobethal Road Bacchant Chardonnay 2024 G 93 Sunshine on linen sheets, cut hay, a little edginess in the fruit to begin, with a tight lemony slice in the palate that energises the trajectory of the wine. Zesty too, with a vitality in the finish. Give this some time in the glass or decanter to be its best self. Drink now–2035 Longview Juno Rosato Nebbiolo/Pinot Nero 2025 G 93 Pale with a generous nose, ripe fruits, apple, strawberry, and white peach. And all the same goes in the palate, which is fully toned and rich in flavour, with excellent acid and tannin structure in the mouth. A more serious wine lover’s styling for the genre. Drink now–2028 Longview Macclesfield Syrah Shiraz 2023 G 93 Named after its vineyard site in the south-east corner of the region, there’s plenty going on here, with solid aromas of dark plum and blueberry crush, some rocky minerally work as well. Rich and vibrant in the palate, spicy, subtly wooded, coated with prominent tannins but still pliable enough to allow the plum fruit flavours to carry forward. Drink now–2036 Mr Riggs Valerie Pinot Noir 2023 G 93 Leaving his McLaren Vale home base to plug into the Adelaide Hills for a set of varietals more suited to that cooler region, Ben Riggs has double lucked it with this 2023 vintage with even cooler weather than average, encouraging a delicate style, quite floral and spiced aromatically, a sense of Mediterranean scrub evaporating in the summer sun. This then folds into a brightness in the fruit, a dried cherry feel, a faint note of pomegranate, all quite buoyant as you taste – perhaps the result of a small percentage of whole bunch in the ferment – while a subtle woodiness adds depth, 20% new oak, just enough to build savoury complexity into a moreish, juicy palate. Well balanced, neatly crafted, very drinkable. Drink now–2031
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The Vintage Journal
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