Winemaking at Cobaw Ridge

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Download Tasting Notes |Lagrein

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Tasting Notes

Download tasting notes
for previous vintages:

2003 Tasting Notes ( 140kb pdf)
2004 Tasting Notes ( 222kb pdf)

Cellar door: Current release

2006 Tasting Notes

2006 Cobaw Ridge Chardonnay

Brilliant light gold/green in the glass. Subtle nose of melon, showing complex barrel fermentation characters. Vibrant on the palate with complex mineral characters and fine acidity. Fantastic length.
Winemaker: Alan Cooper

2005 Tasting Notes

2005 Cobaw Ridge Pinot Noir

James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2008 Edition.
Powerful, intense dark plum and accompanying black cherry; a long palate sustained by fine tannins; should develop very well with age.
Rated: 93 out of 100

2005 Cobaw Ridge Shiraz/Viognier

James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2008 Edition
"Listed in the best of the best by Variety." Generous, soft, velvety black cherry, plum and blackberry fruit; fine tannins and supporting oak.
Rated: 94 out of 100

GOURMET TRAVELLER WINE : June /July 2008 Edition Ken Gargett : Big red 2008 : Shiraz Macedon Ranges : Emerging Star 2005 Cobaw Ridge Shiraz Viognier

2005 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein

James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2008 Edition
Considerable density and structure coming with greater vine maturity and expectations of the variety; blackfruits.
Rated: 90 out of 100

WINEWISE Volume 23 Number 3..August 2007 Recommended 2005 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein SILVER. The Cobaw Ridge Lagrein is worthy of note. It presents well with a dense colour and fresh blueberry fruit. It's better than many Italian examples we have tasted.

2004 Tasting Notes

2004 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein
Deep dark damson red in colour with vivid varietal characters. Filled with desiccated dark Morella cherries on the nose with fine and plush richness on the palate. Plush stylized tannins with signature acidity. Very much fits in with our 10 year history of this still rare variety.
Winemaker: Alan Cooper

James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2007 Edition
Aromas of freshly baked fruitcake; a long palate with off-setting lemony acidity, and overall freshness.
Rated: 90 out of 100

Ralph Kyte-Powell and Huon Hooke, The Penguin Good Australian WINE GUIDE 2007
Lagrein is a rather obscure grape variety native to north-east Italy. Alan and Nelly cooper have made a specialty of it in their vineyard. We can only think of two other Australian examples. Good on 'em for showing such innovative spirit.
2004 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein This is always a very distinctive wine. The '04 has deep colour and there was a wee tingle of gas opening, but the initial aromas are very seductive. It reminds us of tar, cherries spices and that peculiar mint/aniseed sort of perfume the Italians call liquorizia. The palate is on the light side of medium-bodied but it has fair intensity and persistence. The finish is light and soft. Par it with prosciutto crudo and roasted vegetables.
Rated: 91 out of 100

Fantastic flagship reds | The Courier-Mail By Ken Gargett September 11, 2007

Cobaw Ridge, also from the Macedon Ranges, makes a shiraz viognier among a number ... If they were to sample the Cobaw Ridge, they might be a lot keener to ...

DIAM cork: Our wine is bottled under DIAM cork to retain it's purity and integrity. The Diam corks are going in to often the more expensive and exclusive bottles of wine." -- Oeneo Closures, producers of DIAM, website at: www.oeneo.co.uk .

Lagrein

Lagrein is almost unknown in Australia, the variety originates from Sud Tyrol - Alto Adige in the far-north east of Italy. Cobaw Ridge in the Macedon Ranges produced the first commercial quantities in Australia.

1998 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein "Best Wine of the Show" The Australian Italian Wine Awards

at Mildura Grand Hotel 18 November 2000 Mildura

Australian Grapegrower & Winemaker- National journal of the ...

For more about Lagrein's history in Australia, see:

Lagrein - a new winegrape variety for Australia

Cobaw Ridge held a tasting of their wine and 15 Lagreins from Italy's best producers, also noted to be the largest tasting of its kind outside of Europe in the Southern hemisphere.

Here's what James Halliday had to say:

"Several things emerged: first, the aroma and flavour of the Cobaw Ridge wines is utterly typical of the variety. Second, the grape has emphatic character, which binds the wines of both countries into a coherent, tightly knit group... it is also abundantly clear the wines have a long cellaring potential.

The '99 Cobaw Ridge is still a bright purple-red, and looks every bit as youthful as the 2002. How long the vivid fruit aromas and flavours - raspberry, cherry, plum, will take to subside is anyone's guess. Having initially had a few doubts about the legitimacy of the variety - was it just a novelty or was it really worthy of attention - I am now a convert to the cause."

"I am now a convert to the cause."
-- James Halliday, 'Pucker up for Kyneton’s wild Italian... Lagrein', Weekend Australian, March 6-7 2004

www.winepros.com.au article: Cobaw Ridge, in the Macedon Ranges June 08 2004

Lagrein tasting with Nelly and Alan Cooper, Max Allen and James Halliday

Along with a number of other fantastic reviews:

"Long Live Lagrein" -- Tim White (personal communication)

Best Australian Italians: “Cobaw Ridge – a tightly focused, structured, savoury lagrein” -- Jeremy Oliver, 'Australian Winemakers Are Out To Beat The Italians At Their Own Grapes', Qantas magazine The Australian Way, July 2004

"LAGREIN an old Italian grape moving Down under" -- Nino Borsari (wine writer), 'La Dolce Vita - Italy Down Under', The National Magazine Of Italian Australian Affairs And Culture, Spring Summer 2004

Quotes from previous Cobaw Ridge Lagrein vintages:

"2003 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein -- The obscure red lagrein grape originated in Italy's north - east and is planted in a few Australian vineyards – but none yet matches the quality of the lagrein from this Macedon Ranges producer. Seductive, crisp, perfumed with violets and cherries this exceptionally well-balance, fine, medium-bodied red wine is a real beauty."
-- Max Allen, 'Taste', Weekend Australian, February 5-6 2005

"Cobaw Ridge in the Macedon Ranges has pioneered the grape variety in Australia and has had considerable success with it: 2003 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein "A much more serious offering from considerably older vines... Vigneron Alan Cooper has crafted a much richer wine..., full of blood plum, mint, black cherry, red rose and dusty oak off in the background. Crystal clear palate showing great clarity of saturated fruit and a driving backbone of herbal acidity and very fine tannins on the finish. Great definition and balance. A terrific wine, to be enjoyed with or without food, that will age over the medium term."
-- Andrew Wood, DIVINE Food & Wine, Issue 39 March/May 2005

"2003 Cobaw Ridge Lagrein: Delectable : from the Macedon Ranges."
-- Bob Hart, 'eat,' Weekend Herald Sun, June 18, 2005

"The cool climate grape variety can be built firm with ageing ability."
-- Jeni Port, 'Wine Style', The Age, June 25, 2005

HIGHLY COMMENDED
-- Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, November 2005