Well heck… what a crazy year 2020 has turned out to be…
We have experienced a historic stock market crash, a frightful Summer bushfire season, and of course a global pandemic that has directly or indirectly affected everyone. With all that’s going on in the world, we think a little good news, wouldn’t go astray.
So, without further ado, we are proud to announce that in 2020, and more specifically, over the last few months, our Mitchell Wines have racked up quite a few noteworthy reviews.
So, go on, what are you waiting for? Crack open a bottle, pour yourself and glass and check out our latest reviews fromWine Pilot’s, Angus Hughson, Jeni Port and Tony LoveandYoung Gun Of Wine’s, Jen Latta.
Mitchell Wines 2017 Kinsfolk Grenache
- 92/100
“The Clare Valley is not well known for Grenache, but this is an attractive version with a couple of years under its belt. It is ripe, generous, and open for business with fleshy sweet red cherry and raspberry fruits plus a whisper of oak. It is then dry and supple with silky tannins, and also takes on a more savoury side with earth, spice and tobacco complexity. It’s an easy-drinking red but with good character and balance and well suited to fancy hamburgers.”
Mitchell Wines 2017 Kinsfolk Riesling
“Slight floral bouquet sneaking through, nice and light with elegant lift and balance. Acidity not overpowering. Feels like it was picked at perfect ripeness to not just be a balance to the acidity. It definitely has the stalkiness/warmth that can be seen as a negative, but I f$&king love it when it makes sense. That sunshine warmth in a glass. Almost feels viognier-esque in display. Maybe that’s why it stands out against the bunch? But it gets my vote in the top six due to interest.”
Mitchell Wines 2015 Kinsfolk Shiraz
- 95/100
“There is a changing of the guard at Mitchell Wines with a new generation running things and a new brand – Kinsfolk by Mitchell Wines – which says so much more about the move than any official announcement. Kinsfolk represents the Mitchell family, past and present. The 2015 shiraz is very much about the present, an interpretation of the Clare Valley’s great red grape by the three Mitchell children, Angus, Edwina and Hilary. Sourced from the “Skilly” hills, it’s a youthful five-year-old still running fresh and vibrant, all but oblivious to time. So much to take in with a blackberry, briar, high spice intensity first up. The regional trademark, eucalyptus, can be found meshed between savoury, sweet fruit. Sturdy with a core of lively bitter chocolate, red licorice, dark berries and toasty vanilla oak in full harmony. Still tight and focused, it’s settling in for the long haul.”
Mitchell Wines 2015 Kinsfolk Shiraz
- 92/100
“This is a fairly classic and traditional version of Clare Valley Shiraz. It is a firm and muscular wine that carries plenty of fruit complexity but really needs something substantial and meaty to show its best.
The wine is deeply coloured and opens with a solid core of blackberry, dried herb and white pepper scented fruits with a little touch of aged meatiness just sneaking through. The palate shows good generosity of dark fruits with touches of baked earth and while it is ripe and rich there is also reasonable structure with acid and tannins helping to carry some genuine length. Match it up with rump steak and enjoy.”
Mitchell Wines 2010 McNicol Riesling
- 94/100
“This is a serious Clare Valley Riesling at the peak of its powers which shows the benefits of detailed winemaking. Mid golden in colour, despite its ten years of age the fruit is still relatively youthful with kaffir lime now joined by buttery, honeyed complexity. The palate is power-packed but what stands out most is supreme balance and its well-integrated acidity. There are also subtle complexing elements – spice and beeswax adding interest to what is a long and textural finish. Nice wine that would be perfect with King George Whiting straight off the grill.”
Mitchell Wines 2010 McNicol Riesling
- 94/100
“The elite Mitchell offering, with only 250 cases made, the name a nod to the pioneer of this proud wine family. From a tiny Watervale vineyard, this has been given the royal treatment, fermented partly in tank, partly in wood, then matured on its lees in a larger oak barrel. It’s mid-gold now, 10 years old, with attractive toast – heavily buttered – and lime marmalade characters. In Riesling terms, this is quite full bodied, its minerally feel perhaps reflecting tannins that have softened with age. A grand varietal statement, and not afraid of what it stands for.”
Mitchell Wines 2008 McNicol Shiraz
- 95/100
“A great rendition of the traditional Australian dry red that is more regional than varietal but carries with it great fruit power and structure. It is bright deep ruby and is aging at a snail’s pace with youthful and fleshy dark cherry, kirsch and blackberry jam fruits with oak in the background. There is also some baked stone Clare Valley character thrown in. This all leads to a dry and full-bodied palate with a core of dark berry fruits underpinned by some serious tannins that are chewy and balanced providing tremendous backbone and supporting a long finish. It is a big red no doubt from a big vintage but also carries with it superb balance and underlying complexity. There is also a Bordeaux like balance and feel here the bodes well for a long future ahead.”
Michell Wines 2008 McNicol Shiraz
- 94/100
“It’s a delight to be able to experience a 12-year-old elite shiraz at such a respectful price. Its maturity is barely discernible, the colour still vibrant while the nose is just starting to show a little development in and around its regional/varietal stamp of mint and eucalyptus. Now for the big show, for it’s in the drinking department this wine impresses, rich with crushed, crimson berries, raspberries still lifting out of a full-bodied core, lingering in the upper registers while through the palate there’s a tight, yet balanced, tannin underlayer. In the end, the fruit just keeps resonating. Deliciously. Quite a powerful Clare Shiraz statement that has stood the test of time.”
Mitchell Wines 2015 Peppertree Vineyard Shiraz
- 91/100
“A Clare Valley shiraz with plenty of cooler-climate expressions. The fruit notes to begin are vibrant and spicy/peppery, rather than simply rich and ripe. Vineyard yield is tiny, reportedly, and this shows in its palate concentration. It is more, however, about fragrance and lift while teasing out some bitter dark chocolate feels from a coat of softish tannins. It’s full-bodied and forceful, and more a barbecue and grill companion than a gentle sipper.”
Mitchell Wines 2013 Sevenhill Cabernet Sauvignon
- 92/100
“From the Mitchell’s homestead vineyard, this is such an old-school claret style – and note the alcohol content at 13.5%. It exudes a fair amount of mint and bay leaf in its fragrant beginnings, while its fruit notes are a little restrained. The winemaking, with 40 days on skins and two years of barrel maturity have tightened this wine even further.
It’s medium weight, savoury and dry, and clearly built for the long haul, somewhat “Bordeaux-like” in style, and suits the dinner table admirably where elements of the wine flourish away from the more sterile tasting bench.”
Mitchell Wines Sparkling Peppertree Shiraz
- 94/100
“This is no easy-over, sweet, ripe red bubbly. There is some serious intrigue in here, with clear evidence of winery-aged material included in the multi-vintage cuvee. It’s made in the traditional method – kept on its lees in this very bottle before finished and dosed with eight-year-old fortified shiraz.
So, that’s the background, and well worth knowing. To pour and taste, this is right up there with the best of its class, and yes, there’s a wave of mint-eucalyptus to start, which is totally acceptable in such an Aussie wine style. The rest is as rustic and rural as all get out: earthy, rocky, leathery as well as suggesting tinges of kitchen garden herbs like rosemary and sage that have been seeped in a bucket of crushed blackberries. There’s more too – with a decent mouthful of tannins to grip and guide you on its lingering, soulful way. Impressive and heroic.”
Mitchell Wines 2019 Watervale Riesling
- 94/100
“This feels like a very old school Riesling – and with that, seemingly new school. Vineyard management is traditional, dry-grown, without fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides, hand-pruned and hand-picked. In the winery, the slow approach continues with a natural and gentle ferment then eight months floating on its wild yeast lees. All this is pertinent, as the wine, now released 18 months after harvest has a very distinctive style about it, a slowly developed richness of aromas and flavours.
Sure, there are the expected citrus notes, but with a deeper presence than simply fresh juice and zest. The palate is keenly balanced with a dusty minerality and judicious acidity, mouth-watering, spicy, and definitely individual in its expression of what is a renowned varietal/regional stamp. You want character in your Riesling? Here you go.”
