From the tough vineyards of Western Australia’s excellent southern red wine region comes Howard Park’s newest release: a red wine quartet aptly named the Flint rock Range. Here’s what to expect.
The very first red wine region I ever went to was in WA. given it wasn’t the significant sprawling region of excellent Southern—the most significant in Australia, however my daytrip to the Swan Valley in my early 20s just north of Perth triggered a enthusiasm I never understood I had.
Wine regions are fascinating—wherever you are in the world. They’re a crazy confluence of tough, coarse-handed farmers as well as well-heeled soft-skinned city folk.
I don’t believe there’s a cultural crossover so direct as well as obvious, as well as so necessary, anywhere else or in any type of other industry. They share a parlance as well as a passion, as well as both have a typical goal: great wine.
Howard Park Wines no exception, crafting lovely red wine in methods that improve the ‘end user’ experience as much as possible. We’ve written before about Howard Park’s museum release programme, which ages red wine for you as well as enables you to have a vertical tasting of the exact same red wine across a number of vintages.
And for the quality, their wines are rather affordable.
4 Wines of The Flint rock Range
Howard Park’s Flint rock variety was made to represent the terroir of the three out of five subregions of the excellent southern where the grapes come from.
Butted up next to every other inland north of Esperance, the install Barker, Porongurup as well as Frankland River subregions at first just had Cabernet as well as Riesling grapes. however in the 35 or so years that Howard Park has been in business, their variety has grown considerably.
Epitomising the minerality, structure as well as savoury beauty that these subregions are understood for, the Flint rock wines all speak of the gravelly, sandy loam, as well as granite bedrock soils of the area.
Howard Park Flint rock Riesling
Made with grapes from install Barker (Australia’s very first red wine subregion) as well as Porongurup, this Riesling has a floral yet sharp aroma – crunchy white nectarine, nashi pear as well as eco-friendly apple.
It has a beautifully balanced acidity with a savoury flintiness that fits its name, lemon zest, much more nectarine, lime as well as a bit strawberry.
There’s a great length that leaves lots of flavour in the mouth after tasting and, like its other Rieslings, suggests ageing potential.
Howard Park Flint rock Chardonnay
The great climate as well as ancient soils of the install Barker subregion has enabled for a excellent acid balance as well as mineral complexity to this Chardonnay.
Fermented in older French oak casks in addition to in stainless steel tanks have brought a gentle flavor as well as clean, sharp lines to this tight expression of the varietal.
Nine months of lees have softened the red wine a little, enabling for much more structure as well as texture, while the elevated ABV of 13% provides even much more body to a major wine.
Howard Park Flint rock Pinot Noir
From the low-yield vines grown on a few of the world’s oldest landforms comes this fantastic example of Pinot Noir.
Spice as well as flint from the install Barker as well as Porongurup vineyards work together so well with the deep cherry notes of this delicate yet somehow robust varietal.
A soft, silky structure as well as fine-tuned mineral structure leads to a lingering surface as well as a extremely satisfying red wine altogether.
Howard Park Flint rock Shiraz
A strong yet aromatic expression of Australia’s preferred varietal, this Shiraz owes its huge juicy structure to the fruit from the Frankland River subregion while flavor as well as pepper from install Barker level things out.
Plenty of work has gone into crafting this wine, from choosing private parcels of fruit as well as utilizing 15% whole-bunch to fermenting in little vats to maturing in French oak for 15 months.
Sweetness, flinty structure as well as firm tannins suggest great cellaring choices for as much as about seven years.
This aromatic Chardonnay, crisp Riesling, supple Pinot Noir as well as opulent Shiraz are all $28 RRP a bottle from Howard Park’s cellar door as well as on the internet here.