NZ & International Other Reds

WHEN ADELAIDE GP, Hugh Lloyd, and his wife Mary purchased the property in 1967, they made the wise decision to change the name of the estate from Chateau Bonne Santé to Coriole. If my high-school French doesn’t fail me, ‘Good Health Castle’ is just an odd name for a South Australian vineyard. Coriole just seems to fit. The only issue is that, after more than fifty years making wine under the Coriole name, no one in the family can remember why it was initially named Coriole. Several potential stories exist, too many to outline here, but are on the Coriole website, which you can explore if I’ve piqued your interest.

What I do know is that ‘Dancing Fig’ refers to the many species of fig, both fruiting and ornamental, that grow in the terra rossa soils at the Coriole estate in McLaren Vale in South Australia, land that was owned and nurtured by the Kaurna people before European settlement and from where this remarkable GSM comes. Technically this wine is a GMS given that the amount of Mataro in the blend is greater than the volume of shiraz. But technicalities aside, it’s a wonder, medium coloured with just a hint of fade. There are raspberry, currant, blackberry and a little cassis on the dark nose with hints of spice that come through on the palate. Well balanced and nicely weighted, the palate is so harmonious and clean with fruit that has clearly been well handled. Finishes deep, dark and long. Vintners  vintners.nz