Autumn Release 2003
2003 In 2002, easy growing conditions during spring were followed by benevolent warm weather through the early December flowering. This gave rise to generous crops which were adequately sustained by the continuing rain and humid conditions for most of the summer. The combination of large canopies and the dry spell which followed this through to vintage, has given full-flavoured wines with good extract which are approachable now and appear to have at least medium-term cellaring prospects. This is in contrast to the 2001 vintage which also followed a drought but in that year canopies were much smaller and the final wines, while also ending up with good concentration, were more floral in style, and elegant in flavour with taut structures which appear to be suited for longer term cellaring.
- Arapoff Gewurztraminer Selection 2002
This has a light green-gold colour and a full bouquet of freesias, white peaches, ripe pears and spices including star anise. The wine has a residual sugar of over 60g/L but the palate is full - even creamy rather than obviously sweet, tasting of apricots and very ripe pears - almost a fruit salad conserve, with cloves, fruitcake spices and a mineral finish with a very long aftertaste. These wines tend to benefit greatly from the first 1-2 years in the bottle and although some 'Selections' can be quite long-lived, my preference is to drink them at around 3-5 years when they still have some of their bright primary fruit.
- Pinot Gris 2002
The wine is a light gold, and has a full powerful nose smelling of mandarin blossom, peach and quince. The palate is full, showing classical Pinot gris fruit with spicy pineapple, peach and quince jelly and a protracted complex aftertaste. It is opulent, even lush but with an underlying phenolic structure which we presume will take a few years to soften and completely integrate. The wine is surprisingly forthcoming considering its youth, but it is a variety which most commonly gives of its best with bottle age. The best examples drink well from about 4 or 5 years and go on well beyond that. Try at 3 years and follow its development.
- Craighall Riesling 2002
This wine is light straw in colour and smells of flowers, sweet hay, talc and crushed lemon tree leaves. The palate is silky in texture tasting of lemon curd, Granny Smith apples, sweet flowers and talc, with lemon zest on the finish. To me the wine is somewhat austere in structure at present but I have no doubt it will fill out to become quite a rich wine with similarities to that which we produced in 2000. Riesling can be surprisingly responsive to the vintage: the amount of canopy influences the varietal, floral and even mineral characters, while shading within the canopy can cause it to produce its own version of 'herbaceous notes' - normally different and more subtle than Sauvignon blanc but sometimes almost as obvious. Vintages with active botrytis (possibly not even visible in the fruit), depending on the activity and levels of laccase enzyme produced by the fungus, can result in wines which develop (and peak) faster and show honeyed, botrytis characters when none were initially evident. My guess is that this wine may be medium term, showing powerful but pure varietal flavours from the full, carefully managed canopies and honeyed flavours from the hints of botrytis influence. Try at 2 years, and evaluate after this - it is likely that you will be drinking it inside 6 or 7 years.
- Arapoff Syrah 2001
Very dense colour with a pure ruby edge. It has an ebullient nose which is varietally precise: black pepper, full red and black berry fruit, roses, subtle milk chocolate and the soft inky smell of ripe fruit tannins. It has a taut structure - built to last, with flavours of red and black sauvage berries and a touch of caramel/milk chocolate. It presently appears elegant and tight rather than weighty, but because of its concentration I expect it to blossom and round out when the tannins soften. It appears to be a long term proposition - evaluate in 3-4 years.
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