My Dad helped me taste this sample bottle of Curtis Family Vineyards 2017 Heritage Shiraz from McLaren Vale in South Australia recently.
Curtis Family Vineyards is owned and operated by Mark, Thomas & Jenna Curtis, with guidance from their father, Claudio Curtis who lives on the vineyard.
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Have you met Eileen yet? Her favourite colour is blue and she’s the great matriarch of the Hardy’s family. This 2016 Shiraz is a tribute to Eileen Hardy and her significant contributions to the Hardys Wines.
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If you haven’t come across Hardys Wines Char No.3 yet, then you need to add it to your ‘to drink list’ ASAP. Jeeze even Mr Spittoon (who’s not a big red drinker) is still going on about how much he loved both this 2018 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon and the Shiraz I posted about a little while ago.
A big thanks to Hardy’s for sending us samples.
What sets the Char No.3 wines apart is that they’re aged in charred oak barrels. This helps ‘mature the wine to a new depth’ and ‘enhances the roasted coffee and chocolate characteristics’. Both wines in the range retail for only $26.
What is also cool about these bottles is that they have special augmented reality labels which you can use an app to experience – it’s the best AR wine label I’ve seen to date! See the video on my Instagram page.
Plus the labels were designed by fire artist Steven Spazuk who has done an amazing job – check out the video above to see what I mean.
Here are our notes:
Deep velvet red colour in the glass. Aromas literally jump out of glass, think cassis, dark fruits, forest scents and black jelly beans. While in the mouth it’s rich and smoky, with notes of pomegranate, black currant, leather, cigar, smoke and cedar. As Mr Spittoon put it, it’s got ‘those big yum flavours’.
This wine was given to me as a sample, I was under no obligation to post about it.
All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy!
If you haven’t come across Hardys Wines Char No.3 yet, then you need to add it to your ‘to drink list’ ASAP. Jeeze even Mr Spittoon (who’s not a big red drinker) is still going on about how much he loved this 2018 McLaren Vale Shiraz.
A big thanks to Hardy’s for sending us this sample. Continue reading
If you enjoy your natural and organic wines, I have another one for you guys! I was recently sent some samples from Paxton Wines (thank you!) from their NOW (Natural Organic Wine) range to try including a Rose, Chardonnay and this 2019 Shiraz.
This McLaren Vale Shiraz is not only natural and organic but it’s also made from biodynamically farmed vines and there’s no added preservatives. While there was no sulphur dioxide or preservatives added during the making of this wine, you do need to understand that sulphur dioxide is a natural by product of the wine fermentation process.
This Shiraz has been made in a drink now style and retails for $25. Therefore it’s not one to lock away in your cellar for years. Simply enjoy! Which is what Mr Spittoon and I did. Here are our notes on this one:
It’s a deep mulberry shade in the glass. While on the nose it has a wonderful berry-plum aroma to it with a hint of spice. In the mouth those fruit-forward flavours follow suit with wonderfully integrated tannins in the mid palate which lead into a nice dry finish. It’s got bold flavours which would marry well with red meat and the acidity screams to be matched with some sort of tomato based sauce.
This wine was sent to me direct from the winery as a sample, I was under no obligation to post about it.
All opinions are based on my own taste buds. Wine is subjective & always evolving, so make sure you drink what you enjoy.
