The
wines of John Duval
Ex-Grange custodian's Barossa wines reviewed
John
Duval is famous for the 29 years he spent at Penfolds, where from
1986–2002 he was, as Penfolds’ chief winemaker, the custodian of
Grange. In 2003 he started his own label, specializing (predictably,
but sensibly) in wines from old Barossa vineyards.
People
probably expected John to aim for a big, Grange-like creation;
instead, he produced the relatively elegant Plexus, which is a
Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvèdre blend. In 2004, he added to the range the
Entity Shiraz, and in 2005 the reserve-style Eligo Shiraz. These are
wines that strive for balance and elegance, Barossa style, and to
large extent succeed.
The
job as Penfolds’ chief winemaker had two parts. The first was as
the custodian of Grange and the other great wines of Penfolds; the
second was developing new and exciting wines. The stylistically
different RWT Shiraz was John’s idea. He recognized that another
style of Barossa Shiraz was legitimate, one he describes as ‘more
open, fleshy, blackberry, blueberry, framed in French not American
oak.’
Old
vineyards are important for this project; fortunately, the Barossa
has a lot of them. ‘At Penfolds, we coined the term “controlled
neglect”,’ reports John. ‘Old vines do tend to find their own
balance if we keep them alive.’
John Duval Wines Plexus
Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvèdre 2006 Barossa Valley, Australia
14.5%
alcohol. Half Shiraz, one third old bush vine Grenache, the
remainder old bush vine Mourvèdre, aged mostly in old oak. This is
dominated by sweet, plum, red cherry and blueberry fruit, with a
lovely soft structure and some attractive peppery spiciness in the
background. It’s lively and pure with a seductive lushness, but
there’s enough spicy structure to provide balance. It’s
delicious now, with real Barossa typicity, but it should age really
nicely, too. 91/100 (£18.99 Noel Young, Oz Wines, SWIG,
Harperwells, Secret Cellar, Wimbledon Wine Cellar) 12/08
John Duval Wines Plexus
Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvèdre 2006 Barossa Valley, Australia
Sweet blackberry/blueberry nose. The palate is ripe, sweet and a bit
jammy (but in a nice way) with some lushness and nice spicy
structure and definition under the fruit. Really fresh and nicely
fruited. 91/100 06/09
John Duval Wines Entity Shiraz 2006
Barossa Valley, Australia
14.5%
alcohol. 17 months in French oak, 30% new. Deep coloured. Initially
shy and simply fruity on opening, after time this picks up weight
and begins to show its potential. Lovely aromatic, slightly meaty,
pure dark fruits nose with blackberry, dark cherry, spice and
violets. On the palate there’s real elegance to the dark fruits,
which marry beautifully with the oak. This isn’t a big blockbuster
style; rather it’s a brilliantly balanced, youthful Shiraz with
masses of potential for future development. John Duval says that his
aim with this wine is to produce a Shiraz with elegance and
structure, and I think he’s achieved this. But it needs time.
93/100 (£20.99 Noel Young, Oz Wines, SWIG, Harperwells, Secret
Cellar, Wimbledon Wine Cellar) 12/08
John Duval Wines Entity Shiraz 2006
Barossa Valley, Australia
Nicely dense with pure dark fruits. Spicy with some good structure to the
sweet dark fruit. Quite pure and full. Rich but well defined. 92/100
06/09
John Duval Wines Eligo Shiraz 2006
Barossa Valley, Australia
A dense wine with real purity of dark fruits, complemented by some spice
and mineral notes. Nice density on the palate with great combination
of ripeness and freshness. Good stuff with lots of potential. 92/100
06/09
Wines
tasted as indicated
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