Rock and Roll Down Under

R stands for many great things in life. Rock n’ Roll. Rest & Recreation. You can now add great Aussie wine to the list. Although Australia has been much maligned for glutting the market with cheap plonk, great wines are still being made there. You just have to separate the wheat from the chaff. As a retail shop, we, unlike a distributor who is bound to a winery year-in and year-out, can pick and choose the best wines from each vintage. For Vinsionaire, it is our opportunity to find and introduce some hidden gems to our customers.

Jay Miller, who is responsible for the Aussie beat for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, has released his latest review of Australian wines. For us, R is the letter for these new releases. First, there is a great and affordable wine from R Wines, the pet project of superstar vintner, Chris Ringland. It is followed by a fantastic range of wines from Rusden, an up-and-coming winemaker (although many would argue that it has already arrived).

R Wines

First up is 2008 Chris Ringland CR Shiraz from R Wines. CR stands for Cote Rotie and in keeping with its namesake, it is a dramatic wine with earthy flavours and peppery notes. It garnered a rating of 92 from Wine Advocate. Chris Ringland has achieved legendary status with his iconic shiraz from his Three Rivers vineyards. Robert Parker and his Wine Advocate gave a string of perfect scores to this shiraz for 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004 (pretty amazing when he has only made 11 vintages since 1993). Since 100 cases are made each year, the difficulty is finding it and being able to swallow its hefty price tag. We have a few bottles of the 2002 Three Rivers Shiraz at $6,280 each. For $288, you can experience the inimitable style of Chris Ringland when you open a bottle of the 2008 CR Shiraz. Drink one tonight and tell us what you think.

Rusden Wines

Our second R is Rusden wines. Rusden is family owned and operated. The fruits are sourced from their own vineyard and all wines are made on-site. It started in 1979 when Dennis Canute the school teacher and Christine his grape-growing wife decided to start a hobby farm growing grapes in Barossa. They initially sold their fruit to local wineries (and half of their crop is still being sold in the same way today). This eventually led Dennis and his friend Russell to take a stab at making wine in 1992 (Rusden is short for Russell and Dennis). Their dream was to make single vineyard wines. Dennis’s son, Christian, is now the winemaker and he earned his dues from working at Rockford and Torbreck.

In 1998, Christian met an American importer and this led to a small number of their wines being sent to the States and a review by Robert Parker. With the Parker validation, Rusden went full bore at improving its vineyard and the quality of their wines. From 2000 onwards, their whole range of wines from different vintages has received 90+ scores. They have continued to raise the bar with their 2007 vintage :-

Rusden Driftsand (Shiraz & Grenache blend, RP 93) - $298
Rusden Ripper Creek (Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon blend, RP 94) - $368
Rusden Christine’s vineyard (Grenache, RP 94) - $398 1233
Rusden Black Guts (Shiraz, RP 97) - $928

These wines are made in limited production and our stock is similarly limited, so we would invite you to order early. If you are interested in Robert Parker’s tasting notes, please click at the wines.