We all love to mix things up a bit now and then, and in wine speak that means varietal blends (mixing together of different varieties), vineyard blends (mixing of different vineyard sites) or sometimes field blends (mixing of different varieties grown within the one vineyard).
\nWhichever way, it\u2019s all about balance, complexity and value. Blends are the in thing once again and always add colour and interest if you\u2019re looking for something new. Speaking of which, I tasted some really exciting whites from the Eden Valley recently and came away very impressed.
\nChaffey Brothers is the brand and their avant-garde packaging is certainly eye catching and like their wines, full of interest.
\nWinemaker \u2013 Daniel Chaffey Hartwig is the fifth generation of the Chaffey brothers\u2019 descendants to produce wine in Australia, with a winemaking mantra based around purity of fruit, minimal intervention and a respect for sub-regional diversity.
\nChaffey Bros. source their fruit from the Barossa and Eden Valley\u2019s but it\u2019s the Eden Valley wines we\u2019ll focus on today.
\nEden Valley is a small town in South Australia and was so named after the surveyors found the word Eden carved into a tree. It\u2019s part of the Barossa Ranges region, with aromatic Riesling and rich Shiraz it\u2019s two main stars.
\nThe first vines to be planted were in the famous Pewsey Vale vineyard back in 1847.
\nSpeaking of aromatic varieties, when tasting these wines, I came across a variety I\u2019d never heard of before called Weiber Herold (aka Kerner). It\u2019s a very rare aromatic white grape variety bred by August Herold in 1929 at his plant breeding station in Germany.
\nHe crossed a variety best known as Trollinger with Riesling, and it eventually received varietal protection and was released for cultivation in 1969, where it became the third most planted variety in Germany in the mid 90s. It is also found in other countries like Austria, Switzerland and the Italian province of South Tyrol, plus some very smallholdings here in Australia.
\nSo, if you like to mix it up a little, here\u2019s some newbies worth looking at. CHAFFEY BROS. D\u00dcFTE PUNKT EDEN VALLEY 2015 ($24) This is a wine that appeals on so many levels. Your senses working over time to take in all the wonderful floral fragrance complexities, the sensual textural mouthfeel, the super fine lithe weight on the palate, the natural acidity and dry minerally finish. It all comes down to one vineyard \u2013 the Fechner brothers\u2019
\nexemplary and much-famed vineyard in Eden Valley \u2013 renowned for its unique aromatics and its unique varietal mix of three Germanic grape varieties.
\nSublime and seamless, this singlevineyard blend is quite a cocktail with Gew\u00fcrztraminer for spice, precise Riesling for purity and precision and Wei\u00dfer Herold for its texture. It\u2019s a field blend consisting of 40 per cent Riesling, 40 per cent Gew\u00fcrztraminer and 20 per cent Wei\u00dfer Herold (very rare \u2013 one of only two Australian plantings of the Riesling-Trollinger crossbreed), that has all been cofermented together, producing a wine of poise and elegance with intense aromatics alongside flavours of lychees, mandarins, minerality and florals. Serve with spicy Asian foods and seafood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We all love to mix things up a bit now and then, and in wine speak that means varietal blends (mixing together of different varieties), vineyard blends (mixing of different vineyard sites) or sometimes field blends (mixing of different varieties grown within the one vineyard). Whichever way, it\u2019s all about balance, complexity and value. Blends […]<\/p>\n