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The
Clare Valley
Part
2: Jeffrey Grosset
Jeffrey Grosset (pictured above in his Polish Hill
vineyard) has achieved fame as the producer of Australia’s most
celebrated Rieslings. I was anxious to meet him on my visit to the
Clare, but unfortunately this coincided with the first weekend opening
of his cellar door, plus a visit by family. Most producers would have
used these as quite legitimate excuses to tell me I’m out of luck.
Let’s face it, he’s someone who has no trouble selling his wine,
and I’m a low-ranking journo who isn’t going to contribute much to
his bottom line. His loyalty quite clearly, and appropriately, lies
with his customers, but Jeffrey pulled out all the stops to avoid
leaving me feeling unwelcome. In the end, the only way I could meet up
with him was to show up at the cellar door with the regular punters,
which I was glad to do.
I arrived mid afternoon after a scoot round the
vineyards of Clare, and taste the wines, asking questions but backing
off to give him space when his customers arrive. Towards the end of
the tasting, all becomes quiet. That’s it for the day, so a couple
of phone calls later Jeffrey is free to show me round his vineyards. A
stroke of luck.
| The discussion we have is wide ranging; he’s a very
thoughtful sort of guy, with well reasoned and quite strongly
held opinions. A familiar Grosset theme is that of ownership.
Who owns a name? Jeffrey is keen that names of places
shouldn’t be locked in and owned by people. Yet he’s
understandably a little miffed that a name he has made famous
with one of his wines, Polish Hill (from a vineyard in Polish
Hill River Valley in Clare), is now being used by others as a
marketing tool. I guess it works both ways. |
The spectacular Gaia vineyard,
stuck out on its own in the rolling high country of Clare,
pictured in the evening twighlight. It's a five acre,
east-facing site, red soil over red rock that Grosset describes
as a soft slate. The land belongs to a friend of Grosset who
owns 6500 acres, all above 500 metres high. |
We also spend some time discussing the Australian Closure Fund which
Grosset has just established. It's designed to encourage research into
the science of sealing wine bottles. In particular, is oxygen
transmission through the closure needed for successful ageing of reds?
And the wines? The two Rieslings are fantastic,
although a little tight at this early stage in their lives. Jeffrey
crushes after destemming and sells off the pressings, because these
have a higher phenolic content. Whole bunch pressing has it advocates,
but a problem is that it’s then hard to get a clean break between
the free-run and press juice. I’m also a big fan of the Gaia, which
is a serious red wine of great appeal.
Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2004
Of Grosset’s two Riesling sites this is higher up, with soils
that are sandy shales. It is very aromatic and tight with lean, limey
character. The palate is concentrated, fresh and bright with lots of
minerally notes. Great depth to this brilliant Riesling. Very
good/excellent 92/100
Riesling, Polish Hill
Grosset Watervale Riesling 2004
From red soils over limestone. More floral, limey nose. The palate
is crisp and lean with bright fruit and good acid. There’s almost a
spiciness to the minerally finish. Very fresh and bold with good
depth. Very good/excellent 91/100
Grosset Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Very intense, herby grassy nose is quite refined and rather lean.
The palate is crisp, grassy and shows lovely natural acidity.
Delicious savoury white with great intensity. Very good/excellent
90/100
Grosset Picadilly Chardonnay 2003 Adelaide Hills
Fermented and aged in French oak, half of which is new. 40% goes
through malolactic fermentation. Creamy, toasty, bready nose is
elegant but distinctly oaky. The palate is savoury and bready with
good length. Quite a restrained style with a strong oak imprint. Very
good/excellent 90/100
Grosset Pinot Noir 2003 Adelaide Hills
Lots of care goes into this wine. The vines were planted in 1982
in a cool bit of the Adelaide Hills. Grapes are crushed by feet and
the wine is left on lees for a year; 60% new oak is used. The nose is
quite sweet with cherryish, herbal fruit and a sort of sweet and sour
character. The fresh, savoury palate has lovely expressive cherryish
fruit and a nice sort of sourness (doesn’t sound nice, but it
works). Juicy and quite primary, but elegant and nicely structured.
Very good+ 88/100
Grosset Gaia 2002
From a single vineyard high up in the hills. Lovely intense
blackcurranty fruit on the nose, which is pure and has a nice savoury
spicy edge. The palate shows cool-climate elegance to the fruit –
bright and pure with a minerally edge and a spicy finish. A really
wonderful wine. Very good/excellent 93/100
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