Turkey Flat Barossa tasting via Zoom

[Claudius2]

Thursday night Wendy and I both participated in a Zoom based online tasting.
Samples were sent to us the same day, having been decanted into little glass bottles for the tasting.

Turkey Flat has the second oldest vines in Australia AND the world which are still used in making wine, and the original bush vines are now being used only in a super-premium wine (not on tasting).
Luckily, I have quite a lot of older TF wines which do include those old vines and they are best around 10-15 yrs old.
The winemaker (also called Mark) does NOT like the super-concentrated porty, tarry styles and says that it was never the historic style of Barossa, and that he is trying hard to get balance and intensity without high alcohol or heaviness.
He also pointed out that the original vines are so low yielding that it is simply not worth keeping them for purely financial reasons, yet they will preserve them for as long as they can still produce grapes.
He also dislikes overt oak characters and the reds ae matured in a combination of American and French oak, only a proportion being new.
I have never tried a TF wine that was over-oaked.

2017 Butcher's Block White (Marsanne, Roussanne and a touch of Viognier).
Light gold colour, with tropical fruit, citrus and stone fruit nose. A touch of honey and stony, flinty characters. Minimal wood. Quite aromatic and slightly musky.
Palate is well balanced, not oily or heavy, though quite round and medium bodied.
I have not been a fan of this wine previously, but it has good acid, some length and a clean finish.
Fruit is intense and musky in the mouth, with stone fruit, pineapple and lime, the back palate has good acid and freshness.
Rated very good+

2020 Grenache Rose
Never been a fan of Rose and just smile and drink it when offered.
Very light pink (something like Rose Champagne) with a nose of white flowers and soft red fruit.
I found it quite hard to get much flavour out of it, showing soft, slightly musky, spicy redcurrants and plums.
Not to my taste but others seemed to like it.
I poured the rest of the sample down the sink.

2018 Butcher's Block Red (GSM blend)
Bright purple red colour, pinky red rim that suggests medium body.
Nose was spicy and earthy, with soft red fruit and some smoky oak in the background.
There is a touch of savoury, herbal characters that made me think of Provence.
Palate is a little sweet/sour. The front plate shows spicy, slightly jammy fruit, but the tannins and acid are there soon.
I think it is a bit awkward at the moment, with a slight stalky, stemmy flavour which seems to dominate the red and black fruit.
Should have opened the samples earlier.
Good but no better.

2018 Mataro (Mourvedre)
Totally different style here. The nose and palate are dominated by Anise and other spices, some pepper and dark fruits.
Very dark colour, though the wine was not heavy.
Well balanced with medium body and a range of savoury characters to match the dark fruit and vanilla oak.
Quite long finish and clean finish.
Needs time to show its best and rated Very good+ and probably much better in 10-15 years.
My few experiences with this wine is that it matures slowly.

2018 Grenache
The previous vintage of this wine won the Jimmy Watson Trophy (Melbourne Wine show, and quite a prestigious award).
Again, I have never really been a lover of straight Grenache, but this is a complex and interesting wine, avoiding the sweet, syrupy characters of some.
Good medium dark red colour and a nose of red fruit, plum, pepper/spice and dusty oak.
Palate is medium bodied with roundness and softness though with firm tannins and acid.
Needs some ageing and a little closed on this showing, but is very good at least.

2017 Shiraz
No ancient bush vines here but the vines are at least 30 yrs old.
2017 was a cooler and wetter year in the Barossa (not the heatwave conditions that are now common).
Dark mahogany red with a range of savoury, gamey characters on initial smell.
After a while, plum, earthy brambly fruit emerged with medium body, good acid and well balanced tannins.
The palate tastes a bit like a central Victorian shiraz, with black fruits, musk, spice and well integrated oak.
Needs 8-10 years despite the cooler season, and the fruit is still very closed and took some swirling to show through.
I think this is very good to excellent, and will turn into a Rhone like wine with age (which is NOT common in the Barossa these days).

Cheers
Mark