Tim Adams Clare Valley Reserve Tempranillo 2005
This is a bit of a surprise. You’d not normally expect too much of an Australian Tempranillo but this made me double take (or sip). Big Tim Adams has an association with Muga and I’d say a little bit of Rioja magic has rubbed off here, although obviously hard work, top winemaking and quality viticulture are the real factors. What most impressed me here are the silky smooth tannins, almost RODAesque if you are familiar with that wine, that coat and caress the mouth. With regards to rating it, I’m dithering between an excellent and outstanding rating, so I’ll probably decide on a number when I finish writing the review. I tasted it over two days (with no sign of tiring) and have two different scores.
A fine smelling wine with a mix of black cherry and red fruits, cola, creamy spicy oak, liquorice (with extended breathing) and wafting above it all a very faint citrus leaf perfume. On the palate medium to full bodied with ripe black cherry and red fruits, brown spice, mineral, nuts and very slight mintiness. Good flavour but it’s the texture here that wins you over - a velvet fog of plush smooth tannins that coat the mouth and extend all the way through to the back palate. Excellente. Drink : 2008 - 2016 93 points Gary Walsh, Winorama
Tim Adams 2005 Reserve Tempranillo
Tempranillo has long been the backbone of the Spanish red wine industry, being the principal variety of the world renowned wines of Rioja. We discovered many years ago that drinking these wines from Rioja could be a wonderful experience and so decided to search for the appropriate site, soil and clone to plant in our vineyard at Watervale. The tempranillo was first planted in 2001 and bore a tiny crop in vintage 2004.
On an exploratory trip to Spain to meet winemakers and taste wines in Rioja, Tim met Isaac Muga who agreed to work with us in Clare for vintage 2004. This wine, from the 2005 vintage, has surpassed all our expectations and exhibits the definitive tempranillo characters of strawberry and cherry, in harmony with clove and cinnamon spice derived from 16 months aging in new French oak.
This wine is spicy and savoury by Australian standards and is lower in alcohol than most red wines we make. Sealed under screw cap to ensure freshness and authenticity, the wine will develop to its full potential over the next 7 years.
VINEYARDS
The wine is made from 100 per cent tempranillo grown on the Sheoaks Vineyard inthe Clare Valley (Owners: Grant Crawley, Tim Adams and Pam Goldsack).
WINEMAKING
The tempranillo was fermented on skins for seven days and then pressed with all pressings being returned to the blend. The wine spent 16 months in new French oak in our cool room prior to blending, fining and bottling in November 2006.
The wine has not been cold stabilized prior to bottling and so may form a harmless crystalline deposit in bottle, necessitating decanting before serving. It may be kept for five-to-eight years in good conditions. This wine has been sealed with screwcap to ensure freshness and authenticity.
