Isn’t time an interesting thing. It can have such an effect on so many things and not always in a good way. It’s pointless me giving you examples because they are endless but I’m going to tell you the story of how time was a friend to this wine.
It all started pretty much this time a year ago. I was given a bottle of this wine to try by the owner/winemaker, Michael O’Brien, who asked me to let him know what I thought. Well, I decided to involve a couple of mates of mine, both of whom had vast wine knowledge. The unanimous verdict was, it was a bit disjointed, a bit all over the place to be honest. We could all see the obvious potential, but it definitely needed that thing I was talking about earlier. Time. Mind you, that didn’t phase Michael one little bit. He entered it in the 2018 Tasmania Wine Show a couple of weeks later and it was draped with a bronze medal.
So, how’s it looking now? Well it may be a bit shy on the nose but, if you’re like me, it’s the palate where everything counts. There’s limes, grapefruit and obvious yet delicate acid. It has good length although those flavours trail off leaving the acid component lingering, albeit briefly, all by itself. It’s slightly more developed than I expected but, for me, this has helped the wine seem a bit calmer allowing it to show it’s best. Regardless of this slight development over the year, I still think it has another 10 years left in it.
Grab yourself a big cone of fish and chips or some calamari and chips then a bottle of this. Before you know it, you’ll be going back for seconds of both!
Disclaimer: I have helped Michael O’Brien at the Taste of Tasmania and Dark Mofo events.
It’s not available on the website at the moment so, give Michael a call if you want some. He’ll sort it out for you.
Region: Upper Derwent Valley, Tas Price: $36 Source: Gift thanks to Michael O’Brien
Words from a Wine Glass 