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The
New Barossa
Part 13:
Veritas/Rolf Binder Wines
The
Hanisch vineyard
Veritas has recently had to change its name to Rolf
Binder wines. It’s a shame, really – the reason was because of
disputed ownership of the name and the risk of legal action. Ownership
of names is a funny issue: Veritas have happily been using theirs for
the 50 years or so of their existence and now they have to change it.
Doesn't seem fair to me.
Old
Mourvèdre vines |
Veritas was founded by an Austrian migrant, the father
of Rolf Binder who currently runs things here, and its focus was
originally on fortifieds, which formed the bulk of the output of
the Barossa for quite some time. Rolf was trained at Roseworthy,
and changed the direction of the company, shifting emphasis to
dry red wines. Over the last decade Veritas has shown strong
growth, from processing 50 tons of fruit to 500 each year, with
a current output in the range of 30 000 cases.
Rolf has some great old vine vineyards, most notably
Heysen and Hanisch (next to the winery). White wine making is
handled by Rolf’s sister, Christa, while Kym Teusner handles
the reds.
I liked these wines a lot. My only criticism is the
perceptible presence of new American oak in a couple of them,
when I feel they’d be better without this. But that’s just
my view. |
Christa Rolf Shiraz Grenache 2003
Lovely nose of really open, forward raspberry fruit. Sweet and
very appealing. Delicious ripe fruit on the palate with a nice earthy,
spicy structure hiding under it. Vibrant and reasonably serious. Very
good/excellent 90/100
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Heinrich Shiraz Mataro Grenache 2002
Another alluring sweet ripe nose of sweet raspberry and
blackberry fruit, but with a more savoury, almost animally
twist. Dark, meaty and spicy. The palate is savoury and
structured with delicious pure fruit. The oak is unobtrusive.
Very good/excellent 92/100
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A little friend hiding in the
trunk of an old vine |
Shiraz Mataro Pressings ‘Binders Bull’s Blood’ 2002
Sweet dark fruits nose with some subtle coconut and vanilla new
oak present. The palate shows richly concentrated fruit with some
creamy richness from the oak. Big and quite tannic, in a bold style.
This is essentially declassified Hanisch and Heysen. Very
good/excellent 90/100
 Heysen
2002 (vineyard is pictured right)
Tasted at dinner the previous night with Kym Teusner. A big, rich
style with some creamy coconut oak showing, but with very fine-grained
structure. A substantial, classy red. Perhaps a touch too much
American oak showing at the moment. Very good/excellent 90/100
Hanisch 2002
Dark, intense, brooding nose with lots of dark fruit and spice,
together with a touch of coconut oak. Plenty of impact. The palate is
hugely concentrated and quite structured, with smooth tannins. Lots of
blueberry, blackberry and raspberry fruit, still quite primary. Very
good/excellent 93/100
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