DAN'S THIS WEEK' WINE REVIEW

I have always loved Chardonnay and Shiraz from Padthaway. Maybe because I spent the 1990s working for Orlando, enjoying Lawson’s Shiraz and Orlando St Hilary Chardonnay. My love affair rekindled in the mid-2000s when I was involved with Padthaway Estate for a while, and then again recently when I discovered the superb wines of LANDAIRE.

I first came across them when I was looking for wines to include in my Graciano tasting for the article I was writing for WBM Magazine. I was very impressed by their classy GRACIANO as it was warmer and richer than one expected from an area as cool Padthaway – it had obviously had a lot of TCL put into it.

They very kindly sent me a bottle of their 2017 CHARDONNAY along with the Graciano sample, and I was smitten upon the first sip. It is drop dead gorgeous!! It instantly reminded me as to why I love Padthaway Chardonnay so much – complex, elegant, creamy and sophisticated.

The other week I had the opportunity to taste their full range of wines at the Padthaway Regional Tasting in the National Wine Centre here in Adelaide. The range consists of: Vermentino, Chardonnay, Tempranillo, Graciano, Shiraz and Cabernet Graciano, along with the just released, super premium LANDAIRE 2016 BLOCK 22 SHIRAZ. 

Each and every wine was a really good example of that variety:

►The VERMENTINO was a cracker, spot on varietally with lovely concentration and superb flavours.

►The TEMPRANILLO had some lovely savoury notes and to me, was about halfway between the Spanish “Joven” style and the “Crienza” style – young, vibrant but with considerable depth of flavour.

►The star of the line-up and indeed of the whole tasting for me was the LANDAIRE 2016 BLOCK 22 SHIRAZ – it was so concentrated, deep, almost brooding, with lashings of superb, slick, rich flavours and had a very moreish finish.

So do yourself a favour and visit their website to check out these excellent Padthaway wines, they are well worth seeking out. www.landaire.com.au