Salomon Estate: sophisticated Australia

Posted on 7 September 2012

Interesting tasting of Australian wines today from Salomon Estate. This property was founded in the 1990s by Bertold Salomon whose superfine Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners from Austria have long been favourites of mine. In South Australia with the help of winemaker Mike Farmilo (former chief red winemaker at Penfolds) Salomon is now making a very exciting range of red wines, mostly based on Shiraz.

The secret is terroir. The Finniss River area on Fleurieu Peninsula lies higher than nearby McLaren Vale, at around 200m asl under the influence of cooling oceanic winds. Consequently the wines are more balanced with more moderate ripeness and reasonable alcohol levels. They do show a dense creamy texture but come across as less jammy and chocolatey than your typical McLaren Vale or Barossa Shiraz, with good natural freshness. Another interesting factor is Farmilo’s soft hand in the winemaking. The extraction is very gentle with typically just 5 to 7 days of skin contact during which the must is simply pumped over rather than extracted more aggressively. There is also prettly little new oak here, with the top cuvée Alttua at 100% new (French) but other wines between 0 and 50%. On the whole these are some of the most polished and balanced wines I’ve had from Australia. Although you’d be tempted to term them ‘European’ in style they do taste Australian with plenty of flesh and recognisable eucalyptusey, mentholly aromas but the latter are always finely woven into the bouquet and never overemphatic.

Salomon’s top red is Alttus, a 100% high-altitude (relatively speaking) Shiraz that sees such prolonged bottle ageing that only the 2001 and 2003 have been released to date (2007 will follow). On the previous occasion I tasted it, Bertold Salomon served the 2001 alongside 2001 Grange, a fitting challenge for a wine that by virtue of its complexity and depth of flavour, can match any of Australia’s blue chip bottlings. Tasting the 2003 yesterday, it is a wine halfway into maturity with nice tertiary overtones of tobacco and dry earth but there are still gobs of fruit, with enticing concentration but also Salomon’s hallmark balanced and stylishness. Alttus is expensive but delivers, as does Salomon Estate across he board, offering a welcome edge of sophistication while remaining recognisably Australian.

The entry-level wines here, 2010 Merlot Süd and 2010 Bin 4 Baan Shiraz, are assertive, drinkable and balanced while the 2010 Norwood Shiraz Cab is a fine take on that classic Aussie blend, with lovely Cab-induced freshness supporting a big concentration. From the two Finniss River varietals, I thought the 2009 Shiraz offered the most blowsy New World-styled package in the range here while the 2009 Cabernet was more complex and layered with, again, very superior freshness and crispness by antipodean standards. But my preference would go for the 2009 Fleurieu Peninsula Shiraz Viognier, a mighty bottle of fine-grained, soft-tannic, dense yet refreshing red juice. It retails here in Poland for around 25€ which is a fair price for a five-star wine.

Watch this short video with Mike Farmilo talking about Shiraz and Chardonnay (subtitles in Polish, sorry):

[vimeo 48957720 w=480 h=360]

Disclosure

All wines tasted at a trade event organised by the Polish importer.