Corti Brothers Newsletter for December 2003   Page 3  

Please note!   Many of our past newsletter items came from a very limited stock and are no longer available.  Please check our products page or contact us for availability.

BEST’S GREAT WESTERN AND TOWER ESTATE: now in stock (after much delay)

Wines from both of these estates have finally arrived. There is not a lot from either producer, but the wines are quite appealing and our selection, quite good.

BEST’S is from the very special area in Australia’s Western Victoria called “Great Western.” This is the area much like our Gold Country, since it was the location of Australia’s Gold Rush. BEST’S, owned by the Thomson family, is small production, finely made, historically famous, and much sought after in Australia. This is what BEST’S wines are. They are not: overblown, overly extracted, and overly priced as some notable Australia products have become. They are wines that are balanced, age well, and give great pleasure. I have selected what I think are the most representative and delicious wines from the BEST cellar.

GREAT WESTERN RIESLING 2002
Another great vintage for riesling in Australia.. Pale greenish color, very fragrant varietal aroma, limey flavor, and mineral character. Delicious now, this will age developing wonderful flavors.

GREAT WESTERN DOLCETTO 2001
Dark in color, fragrant and fruity. Produced from the original 1869 vineyard planting and another from 1970, this is not Piemontese Dolcetto. However, whatever it is, it is very tasty.

GREAT WESTERN CABERNET SAUVIGNON 1999
Silky, with very flavory Cabernet character, berry-like, with cassis/eucalyptus tones, it has youthful astringency for 5-7 years further development. A lovely Cabernet already delicious.

GREAT WESTERN SHIRAZ 2000 BIN 1
Dark purple color, with a licorice character to its flavor. Impressive mouthful, now savory, but readily ageable another 5-6 years. Less wood influenced, to its great benefit.

GREAT WESTERN SHIRAZ 2000 BIN 0
Historically known as Hermitage, this dark colored, intensely scented, powerful wine with fine grained tannins, it is one of the Shiraz icons of Australia. Unfortunately, very little leaves Australia, hence it has less recognition here than it merits.

GREAT WESTERN SHIRAZ F.H.T. 1999
Dark and scented, with a spicy, almost caraway-like scent and ripe plum flavor, this is BEST’S top Shiraz. Very rich–almost soft due to its weight and extract–it seems to have low tannin. But tannin is there to guarantee a very long life. An extraordinary Shiraz from a very special area and producer.

TOWER ESTATE

TOWER ESTATE is the winery of a luxury lodge located in the heart of the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney. It is the most recent creation of Len Evans, Mr. Australian Wine, and a group of friends to produce small lots of wine, not more than 1,000 cases, from highly selected vineyards throughout Australia from the best and most famous areas for these varietals. Each area and varietal is selected for its historical and in some instances, its potential quality.

TOWER ESTATE CLARE RIESLING 2002
Very pale greenish color, with intense varietal scent, minerals and lime; full body. Intense, long limey flavor with great penetration on the palate. A superb Riesling vintage in Clare as elsewhere in Australia. A wine for at least 10 years aging.

TOWER ESTATE ADELAIDE HILLS CHARDONNAY 2001
This is from a new, cool climate area outside Adelaide. Medium color, full body with very good acidity. An elegant flavor tending to lean rather than fat, with fine, judicious oak treatment. An intense wine already delicious drinking.

TOWER ESTATE HUNTER VALLEY SHIRAZ 2001
Sourced from the noted, old vine Howard vineyard in the Hunter Valley, this has an excellent deep color, fragrant varietal aroma with light licorice tones, very fruity with good wood handling and great balance. A wonderful example of that rare Shiraz, an almost perfect Hunter.

TOWER ESTATE BAROSSA SHIRAZ 2001
From fruit coming from Peter Lehmann’s private vineyard in the Barossa valley floor, planted with very old vines, this shiraz has an enormous black color, rich blackberry nose, with the distinctive licorice character typical of great Barossa shiraz.

TOWER COONAWARRA CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2000
A very dark colored, very varietally scented Cabernet with striking eucalyptus and cassis aromas and flavors with a very long finish. It is sourced from cabernet grown on a Hill-Smith vineyard in the famed “Terra Rosa” soils of Coonawarra. It has wonderful aging potential for as long as you can keep your hands off it.

Christmas is not Christmas without the traditional breads and delicacies proper to the season. PANETTONE, a buttery, raised dough bread, with raisins and candied fruit makes an Italian style Christmas. For five years we have offered the lovely, exclusive PANETTONE BARDI, the brand of a Milanese friend. There are several styles, all traditional, but with slight variations. We also offer the traditional Venetian New Year’s bread, PANDORO. All the BARDI products come in 1 kilo (2.2 lb) size.

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