Iconic Clare Valley winery Wendouree has released seven wines from the 2022 vintage, plus a fortified muscat from 2019. In classic Wendouree style, there’s been no fanfare, no press release. There might’ve been an announcement on the website, if it had one. Shops aren’t making space on their shelves because these wines won’t ever end up there. Basically, unless you’re one of the lucky few on the winery’s allocation list, you won’t be drinking these wines. You’ll read on anyway. It’s Wendouree.
Established in 1895 but owned and operated by Lita and Tony Brady since 1974, Wendouree is known for producing extremely ageable reds from its own very old, low-yielding, dry-grown vines. Excepting the fortified, all its wines are based on cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, malbec or mataro, either single varietals or blends.
The 2022 vintage release includes a straight cabernet sauvignon, two shiraz (including the 24B), a straight malbec, a cabernet malbec, a shiraz malbec, and a shiraz mataro. While the straight shiraz (and increasingly the straight malbec) generally receives the most hype, and is one of the most sought-after wines at auction, this year Mike (who did end up getting to taste the wines, although at a later date) rated both the 24B and the straight cabernet on top. The cabernet malbec is close behind, as is the muscat, for fans of fortified wines.
Click through the below to read Mike’s reviews in full. Unfortunately, it’s probably as close to these wines as you’ll get.
