DAN'S WINE BLOG- THIS WEEK'S WINE REVIEW
Since I first tasted a #Durif back in the late 1980’s I have been a big fan of this superb, big, bold variety. Back in those days Durif was confined wholly and solely to Rutherglen in North- East Victoria. It was first planted there in the early 1920’s and the first ever varietal Durif wine was released by Morris of Rutherglen in 1954.
Over the years I have enjoyed some sensational Rutherglen Durif going all the way back to the late 1960’s. In 2019 I enjoyed a bottle (probably the last in existence) of Morris Wines 1969 Durif (50 years old) with David Morris- it was sublime.Anyhow back on track, since the turn of the century, Durif has spread its wings to other wine regions with a great deal of success. Firstly, it popped up in Griffith with De Bortoli Wines & Calabria Family Wines making excellent wines. From there it kept spreading to a number of other areas.
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It is to one of these other areas that we travel this week. To the Riverland a much maligned region which has a growing number of brilliant boutique wineries who specialise in emerging varieties, mainly from the Mediterranean region of Europe. Whilst the big wineries still produce gazillions of litres of vin ordinaire from the Riverland, the boutique producers are making some of the best examples of some of the emerging grape varieties made it this country.
Today’s wine is no exception. 919 Wines make a whole raft of superb emerging variety wines, fortified wines and even a pretty nifty Shiraz.The 919 Wines Riverland 2019 Reserve Durif is sensational. It is a tad bigger in style and structure than earlier vintages- possibly from extended barrel maturation, but it is a cracker. Dense, almost impenetrable in colour, it has a big, rich slightly sexy bouquet of ripe dark berries with a dash of black pepper and just a hint of dark chocolate.The palate is big, rich, juicy with powerful deep flavours, yet quite elegant and sophisticated with a magnificent, long lingering svelte finish.This is a world class Durif that at 5 years old is raring to delight the palate without needing any further cellaring- mind you, you could still easily cellar it for 5-10 years and it would become even more complex and alluring. Check this ripper and the rest of the classy 919 Wines range out at www.919wines.com.au