DAN'S WINE BLOG- THIS WEEK'S W

DAN'S WINE BLOG

THIS WEEK’S WINE REVIEW:

This week’s review is about one of my favourite big red varieties, SAPERAVI – originating in Georgia. I fell in love with?#saperavi ?when I first tasted it – I can recall that it was a 2008 vintage, one of the first, if not the very first vintages of SAPERAVI grown in Australia. However, I can’t recall whether it was from?Gapsted Wines ?or?Symphonia Wines ?(both in the King Valley). This was followed almost immediately by the first vintage of Barossa SAPERAVI from?Patritti Wines .

Since then I have written several articles on the variety, most notably my article, “SAPERAVI THE SENSATIONAL”, in WBM March/April 2017 (see link below), in which I reviewed some SAPERAVI from Georgia and the Finger Lakes region of New York State as well as all the Aussie ones available at the time. I also assisted Hvino News (the official wine body of Georgia) to get a sample of every Australian SAPERAVI entered into the SapPrize global contest they ran to find the very best (non-Georgian) SAPERAVI in the world. There were 19 Australian entries, winning 4 out of the 5 gold medals awarded and with the Cirami Estate Riverland 2015 SAPERAVI winning the Grand Prize of the golden tastevin and being named, “The Best non-Georgian SAPERAVI in the World”.

So my expectations were rather high when I recently tasted the LINO RAMBLE McLAREN VALE “SIMON SAYS’ 2022 SAPERAVI. This wild fermented wine is an absolute doozy!! Deep, bright, inky-purple in colour, it has the classic SAPERAVI bouquet of roasted beetroot, wild berries and a dash of dried herbs – very appealing. The palate is overflowing with divine, rich flavours and has tight, crisp acidity on the lovely, long, lingering finish.

This wine is truly outstanding, slightly more in the Georgian style than the Aussie style as the oak is very subtle and not really noticeable, whereas most made in the “Aussie style” have noticeable if not predominating (when young) oak.

Congratulations?Lino Ramble ?this magnificent wine is a fabulous bigger style red wine and a world-class SAPERAVI. If the Hvino SapPrize were held again today, this wine would be right up there with the highest scorers. OUTSTANDING!

PS: LINO RAMBLE also make fabulous Arinto, Grillo and Fiano, to mention but a few of their superb wines. Please check them out – you will definitely enjoy their wines! Cheers, Dan T.

Winery Link:?www.linoramble.com.au

Article Link:?www.wineassist.com.au/dans-articles/saperavi-the-sensational