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The wines of Mitolo, McLaren Vale, Australia

This relatively new venture is a collaboration between grower Frank Mitolo and superstar winemaker Ben Glaetzer. A recent feature on Ben Glaetzer tells the story; the wines are very impressive, as the notes below indicate. An earlier review on these wines is here.

Mitolo Jester Sangiovese Rosé 2005 McLaren Vale
This is a clone of Sangiovese that isn’t suited to red wine: it’s an old Italian clone that crops heavily. This spent 3 days on skins and only the free run juice was used. Very deep colour. Bright, full fruity palate is quite bold and intense with crunchy joyful red fruits. A delicious bold style of rosé. Very good+ 88/100

Mitolo Jester Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
A fun wine with a hint of seriousness. Fresh, full, sweet spicy nose with a bit of chocolatey richness. The palate shows rich, concentrated spicy fruit that’s very accessible. Quite smooth, sweet style. Very good+ 89/100

Mitolo Jester Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 McLaren Vale
30% of this is made with an amarone technique. Ben Glaetzer uses this to fill out the mid-palate of Cabernet, which can be problematic in South Australia. However, he says that this doesn’t work in the Barossa. Smooth supple berry and blackcurrant fruit nose with lovely freshness. Nice fresh pure fruit on the palate, which is sweet, smooth and supple. Delicious. Very good/excellent 90/100

Mitolo GAM Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
There’s one vineyard with three different soil types, and it is micromanaged to produce this wine, the Sativar and the Serpico. This one comes from yields of up to 3 tons/acre and is aged in 70% new oak. It has beautifully defined pure, sweet spicy red fruits on the nose. The palate is spicy and fresh with lovely definition and concentration. A lovely wine: full but balanced. Very good/excellent 92/100

Mitolo Savitar Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale
From yields of 1 ton/acre, aged in all new oak, of which 80% is French. Taut, deep spicy nose leads to a palate that is bold and full with lots of dense sweet fruit. Great concentration: firm and spicy. Lovely freshness. Definite potential for further improvement. Very good/excellent 94/100

Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 McLaren Vale
Made using the amarone technique, with grapes being dried for 8 weeks on racks before fermentation. 100% new oak and post-ferment maceration employed. Beautifully perfumed, sweet nose with some exquisite herb and tea notes. Open and smooth. The palate is concentrated, open and lovely with smoothness and nice weight. Full and spicy with some blackcurrant character. Very good/excellent 94/100

Mitolo Riever 2004 Barossa
Spicy, chocolatey, rich nose. Nice freshness to the fruit. The palate is concentrated and sweetly fruited but with nice spicy structure and a fair bit of freshness. Very good/excellent 91/100

Wines tasted 01/05
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

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