Alan & Veitch Woodside Merlot 2004
Style: Red Wine
Variety: Merlot
Closure: Screwcap
Alan & Veitch Woodside Merlot 2004
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Alan & Veitch
Country: Australia
Region: Adelaide Hills
Vintage: 2004
Critic Score: 90
Alcohol: 14.0%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: Now
Robert Johnson has a tiny 12-ha vineyard in the Eden Valley where he makes seriously good wines under the brand of Robert Johnson. He also produces wines from fruit sourced from various vineyards in the Adelaide Hills and showcases them under the Alan & Veitch label, named in honour of his vigneron parents.
The 2004 Merlot, sourced from a cool site in the Woodside district, is a beautifully crafted, cool-climate savoury merlot. Plush plum fruit with traces of spice ease into a soft, gentle palate showing elegance, structure and balance.
"Light-to-medium bodied, but with considerable length to the bright, small red fruits, fine, slippery tannins, and background notes of green olive. " James Halliday
"Colour of the wine is medium-red with attractive vibrancy. The nose displays classic Merlot varietal characters with Satsuma plum spice, cinnamon and perfumed violet aromas. The palate has a classical Merlot medium-bodied structure with supple fine-grained tannins, beautifully sweet lingering fruit flavour and a long gentle clean finish." Alan & Veitch
Expert reviews
"Light, clear purple-red; light-to-medium bodied, but with considerable length to the bright, small red fruits, fine, slippery tannins, and background notes of green olive. " James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 90 points
South Australia
South Australian is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. It is home to more than 900 wineries across 18 wine regions. The regions are Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Currency Creek, Eden Valley, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Riverland, Robe, Southern Fleurieu, Southern Flinders Ranges and Wrattonbully.
Many of the well-known names in the South Australian wine industry established their first vineyards in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The first vines in McLaren Vale were planted at Reynella in 1839 and Penfold's established Magill Estate on the outskirts of Adelaide in 1844.
South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the State to be able to produce a range of grape varieties - from cool climate Riesling in the Clare and Eden Vallies to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Two of Australia's best-known wines, Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, are produced here. There is much to discover in South Australia for the wine lover.