Tasting Report: 2016 Barossa Vintage Review
I attended the annual post vintage tasting hosted by the Barons of the Barossa, a yearly highlight on my tasting calendar (I wrote about the 2015 tasting here). Wines in various stages of fermentation and finishing (some bottled) are presented generously by everyone from Henschke and Penfolds to the smallest growers and vignerons. Many wines are mere components that will disappear into blends but they give a handy insight into the state of play, strengths, weaknesses and surprises.
The big news in the Barossa around vintage 2016 is grenache and timing could not be better. Just as Australia’s grenache wines in both varietal and blended formats are garnering more and more interest, here is a vintage that will deliver memorable wines of depth, power and intensity. The 2015 grenache wines are filtering through the market now and these too are superb, so you actually have two vintages to look forward to.
Mataro (mourvèdre/monastrell) is also a star performer of the vintage and, whilst these wines will likely be appearing in the rhythm section or in session jams with grenache, shiraz and others, they will make a very strong impact. Their brooding, sultry presence will be felt.
Shiraz is good, better than I expected and will deliver wines that are full of charm, flavor and appeal on release. Anecdotally, the balance has been great in these wines from the get go (a surprise for all I think in such an early harvest) and the wines have depth and plenty of mid-palate weight. My only question is over longevity. They will drink beautifully on release, full of pleasure, but the engineering for longer ageing may be missing in some cases. In most cases it won’t matter, as these will be snapped up and consumed quickly.
Where grenache and shiraz have excelled, cabernet did struggle in vintage 2016 in terms of achieving complete phenolic ripeness and fullness, the wines look lacy and slightly hollow. They will build in barrel but the real depth will be varied. Ditto whites, although the natural acidities seen across the harvest has been good for these (riesling especially), they lack real body and depth, especially after such glory in 2015.
No matter, it’s a year for the playful, pleasure-laden juicy reds, the first of which should be out in September this year. Enjoy!
Photos from top to bottom:John Duval Wines Greenock Greache 2016;Henschke Shiraz Eden Valley Mt. Edelstone Block C 2016; and samples of 2016 Barossa wines
Contributing Editor Nick Stock is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.
