Our big news for the week is that our 2010 Karra Yerta Wines Eden Valley Riesling won a Gold Medal last week at the 2010 Canberra International Riesling Challenge. This is Karra Yerta's first Gold Medal and needless to say, we are incredibly happy.
It just so happened that we received this news a day before flying to Melbourne so while we were away, we celebrated the win, along with the birthdays of two special friends, by drinking french champagne and of course, some Karra Yerta Riesling:)
We have also had two other reviews written recently - one on the 2010 Riesling, and one on our 2007 Shiraz Cabernet. Both reviews are written by our Sydney friend, Andrew Graham, who we have been sending wine to for years now. As you will read in Andrew's reviews, he prides himself on his honest appraisals. He's a true wine lover, and integrity must be his middle name. Please read his thoughts below, and then go to the links to his page to see further comments, from Andrew and myself.
Please note that our website is still to be updated with this wine (and in fact our recently released 2010 Shiraz Grenache), however both wines are already on the website order form. It is an understatement to say that I have a huge to-do list!
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Sunday October 17, 2010 
Karra Yerta Riesling 2010 (Eden Valley, SA)
12.5%, Screwcap, $25
Source: Sample
www.karrayertawines.com.au
This picked up a gold medal over the weekend, which prompted me to pop some in the fridge. Second time I've had this actually and it looks even better now with an extra month in the bottle. Definitely an opulent wine this year, but in a very correct fashion. Again excellent stuff. Maybe a little fuller than the 09?
It's green in the glass this. Water green and neutral looking. But the smell! What wafts out is Eden Riesling perfection. Lots of lime juice, wet pavement and more lime juice in a big, nose-filling dose of Eden awesomeness. Palate is dry and pithy, showing some banana ferment characters, grapefruit and soft (though powerful) acidity. Long. Very long. Interesting to note that 'soft' acidity, for I tend to think that Eden and Clare Riesling acidity can sometimes be a little hard and clunky (which I often wonder whether that's due to injudicious additions). Not this wine.
All in it's a lovely, powerful, concentrated Riesling in classical form. For mine this is what Eden Valley Riesling is all about, and it's a style of wine that I absolutely dig.
The glass in front of me appears to be leaking.... 18.7/95
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Friday, October 8, 2010
Karra Yerta Shiraz Cabernet 2007 (Eden and Barossa Valley, SA)
Screwcap, 14.5%, $25
Source: Sample
http://www.karrayertawines.com.au/
Dear Flaxmans Valley,
I love you.
Or at least I love the wines that are produced from the grapes grown upon your rolling rocky hills. What's more, my love is stoked by just how consistent these wines are. Year in, year out, I am surprised by just how good your wines can be, like a warm and generous embrace that never loses it's intensity.
But this wine is not wholly sourced from within the confines of your vineyards. Oh no, this includes some warmer Barossa Valley fruit, contributing some different flavours to your elegant intensity.
Thankfully though, this cross blended red does your reputation good justice. It smells of ripe, briary red raspberry fruit, beetroot and sleek chocolate oak. It's a warmer nose than shown by some of the previous vintages of this wine, with a warmer palate to match, but it still feels... vital. Full of life. Soft and languid, polished and generous. It's still a little harder, a little more meaty, stewed and chewy in the context of the typical Karra Yerta style, but it never crosses over into desiccation.
In short, it is another good wine from a superb vineyard. It's not the greatest wine of the lineage, but it's - again - an enjoyable drink. 17.2/90
Screwcap, 14.5%, $25
Source: Sample
http://www.karrayertawines.com.au/
Dear Flaxmans Valley,
I love you.
Or at least I love the wines that are produced from the grapes grown upon your rolling rocky hills. What's more, my love is stoked by just how consistent these wines are. Year in, year out, I am surprised by just how good your wines can be, like a warm and generous embrace that never loses it's intensity.
But this wine is not wholly sourced from within the confines of your vineyards. Oh no, this includes some warmer Barossa Valley fruit, contributing some different flavours to your elegant intensity.
Thankfully though, this cross blended red does your reputation good justice. It smells of ripe, briary red raspberry fruit, beetroot and sleek chocolate oak. It's a warmer nose than shown by some of the previous vintages of this wine, with a warmer palate to match, but it still feels... vital. Full of life. Soft and languid, polished and generous. It's still a little harder, a little more meaty, stewed and chewy in the context of the typical Karra Yerta style, but it never crosses over into desiccation.
In short, it is another good wine from a superb vineyard. It's not the greatest wine of the lineage, but it's - again - an enjoyable drink. 17.2/90
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