So many drafts, not enough time.....

Just a short, sharp and sweet note to say, yes, I have lots of drafts of blog posts in the making - some from May this year, even. Watch this space over the coming weeks - the eagle has landed and the keyboard's about to get a pounding..........

Shortly, this actual post will be about something interesting:) Lots of changes to come, time permitting! Watch this space!

Our first review from the wild, wild west.....

For some odd reason, I have never had contact with anyone in the West in regards to our wine - with tastings or with reviews, so it is with great pleasure that I present the very first review of any of our wines from the Wild, Wild West, courtesy of the very dapper Jesse Lewis:) Thanks, Jesse! To check out more of his fine work, please visit his website: http://gooddrop.wordpress.com/

As a start, I sent Jesse a bottle each of our 2010 Eden Valley Riesling and our 2006 Eden Valley Riesling, just to show him our wares, as he had not tasted any of our wines before. He surprised us with this wonderful review of the 2010 rizza:

Karra Yerta Eden Valley Riesling 2010

July 25, 2011

I haven't been drinking a lot of Riesling of late. This one has reminded me that I should be, regardless of the wet and cold weather.

It's fabulous to smell - lime, mineral, pear, apple, even a bit of mixed lolly estery action. You can pick out each aroma like they're wearing name tags, fluoro vest, or very loud shirts. This is a wine that you can sniff at for minutes, before realising that you haven't even tasted it yet. I know this because it's the second time I have done so.

What strikes me about the palate is that it shows a typical Eden Valley delicacy - limes across mineral - but a ripple of flavours pass through on the finish, without the wine losing its cool. Acidity is integrated - part of the wine rather than a separate entity; so much so that I almost forget to consider it. Every spot of flavour clings tight in the mouth, and the wine makes a lasting impression both on your tastebuds and memory. A remarkably good dry Riesling.

Rated: 94 points

Closure: Screwcap

Source: Sample

2012 Wine Companion results

Karra Yerta Wines was rated a five star winery (for the first time, ever) in the James Halliday 2012 Wine Companion. Our wines submitted for this edition were scored as below:

Karra Yerta Wines 2010 Shiraz Grenache
Rating 93 Drink 2012 $20 Date Tasted Jan 11


Karra Yerta 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

Rating 94 Drink 2017 $25 Date Tasted Jan 11


Karra Yerta 2010 Eden Valley Riesling
Rating 95 Drink 2020 $25 Date Tasted Jan 11


To see the full reviews, you will need to become a member ($39.95 per year) at www.winecompanion.com.au or purchase a hard-copy 2012 edition of the Wine Companion. Copyright prevents me from publishing the entire reviews.

Finally, I'm back on the chain gang: 2009 Eden Valley Cabernet reviews

Whoa! I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog post. Indeed, it's been a crazy, busy year but I'm Back On The Chain Gang and writing again. Yes, we may have lost our entire crop from the Karra Yerta Barossa Ranges vineyard, for perhaps the first time in fifteen or more years, but we did manage to source tiny amounts of Barossa Cabernet and Barossa Shiraz to make a 2011 Shiraz Cabernet. It was a very difficult vintage, and such a wet summer proved too much for the incredible old vines to cope with, despite the best efforts by James. They fare much better in temperatures nearing the mid-forties.

Thus, I have been clearing our other Karra Yerta stock and working hard at Collective Barossa with not only our wines, but those of Gumpara Wines and Kurtz Family Vineyards. Most rewarding. If I thought I was in for a lazy few months until next vintage, I was mistaken. All good though; the great reviews keep coming and finally, I feel like we are making progress with our (Karra Yerta) brand recognition. There's nothing better than a midnight surprise of finding an email order in one of my inboxes:)

Our website is desperately in need of updating, and this will be tended to once our fabulous webmaster returns from a two month long holiday in the UK. In the interim, I'll be posting the past three months' reviews on here and also putting up some other posts that I have written in the previous months. The draft on the post about my trip to Brisbane in May is almost complete but I'm finding it hard to not write a novel! Yes, what an experience!

In the meantime, here are the swag of reviews that we have received since my last post in April. As always, thanks to the guys who continually give us such positive feedback regarding our wines. It really does inspire us, especially after (non)vintages like 2011!

Posted by Jeremy Pringle on Tuesday 3rd May 2011 on his website Wine Will Eat Itself:

Karra Yerta 2009 Eden Valley Cabernet
Eden Valley 14.0% Screwcap $25

Flavours and aromas first; Blackberry, boysenberry, cigar leaf, mocha and spice with just a touch of mint on the finish. It's very bright and the fruit gets lighter in colour as it moves through its line, reaching raspberry coulis by the end of the road...but the intensity never wavers.

Love the structure here. The acidity and tannin are spot on ensuring that it not only drinks well now but will hold together as it improves over the mid-term (at least). Truth be told, I'm not generally a fan of Eden Valley Cabernet but I am a fan of this. Not unusually for Karra Yerta, it over delivers for the price.

Only 32 cases were made so you might want to move fast on this one. Drink it young or drink it with some age. Either way, you can't lose.

Winery website-www.karrayertawines.com.au/

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Next, is Andrew Graham's review of July 4th, 2011 from his website Australian Wine review. (http://www.ozwinereview.com/2011/07/karra-yerta-eden-valley-cabernet.htm)

Karra Yerta Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (Eden Valley, SA)
14%, Screwcap, $25 Source: Sample www.karrayertawines.com.au

This comes from High Eden (which is the only official Barossan subregion by the way, the rest are unofficial. That's David Wynn's doing) and, with only 32 cases produced, it's a rare beast indeed. I don't think it's as dark, concentrated and sinewy as the 'estate' Shiraz, though no doubting the appeal.

The core of that appeal is just how bright it is. Bright and juicy, looking ripe if somewhat simple in style. There's a nose of blackberry, etched in sweet and easy French oak, and then more light sweet blackberries. Palate too is all easy openness and light, with bouncy blackberry fruit and even, soft tannins.

I actually thought this might be a little too simple real enjoyment, but considering that it still looked vibrant (and surprisingly serious) the next day, I'm erring in it's favour. 17.1/90

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Finally, here's the review from Gary Walsh of The Wine Front (http://www.winefront.com.au/karra-yerta-cabernet-sauvignon-2009/) which was posted on his website on July 1st, 2011:

Karra Yerta Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
It’s labelled on the front as Barossa Ranges, but comes from High Eden, which sounds like a really nice sort of place – somewhere you might eat apples in the nude, play with snakes and smoke spliffs – guilt free preferably. This is a total production of 32 dozen and yet the winery is professional enough to have a bottle image available.

A brown sauce like spice along with some mint and lavender perfume lends it immediate interest. There’s dark fruit flavours along with something fresher, like wild strawberries, and a dried herb savouriness. Medium weight, yet fleshy, with firm silty tannins and excellent pitch and carry. Not over-made and charismatic too. Think it’s going to age very well and most likely improve (more importantly). Sort of want to rate it higher, but I’ll hang the plus sign on the front door for this one instead.

Rated : 93+ Points
Tasted : Jun 11
Alcohol : 14%
Price : $25
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2012 - 2019+

And the Riesling Rocks On.....

It's near the end of Vintage 2011 for Karra Yerta Wines, and that is a story in itself. This post though, is about yet another glowing review for our 2010 Eden Valley Riesling. I look forward to my trip next month, to Brisbane, to showcase many more of our wines to a small group, and plan a Collective Barossa roadtrip after pruning.

This review, by The Wine Wankers, was posted on Monday May 28, 2011. You can read it on their site here: http://www.thewinewankers.com/2011/03/karra-yerta-eden-valley-riesling-2010.html

Karra Yerta Wines 2010 Eden Valley Riesling

If it was the reviews of this wine from Messrs Graham and Pringle that brought Karra Yerta to my attention and thus purchase the wine, it was an even more recent review from Chris Plummer that prompted me to pull it out from storage and crack it open.....

From the get-go the aromas on this wine were escaping out of the bottle - before I'd even managed to get any into my glass the floral notes, accentuated by some varietal lime were luring me in. Supported by a typical minerally edge - think pebbles smoothed by the flow of a river - and some chalkiness adding further interest and edginess to the wine.

In the mouth, more lime, a touch of talc and all checked in balance by some decent acid that has your cheeks puckering up for more. The wine feels like it will go on forever. In two senses, for leading reviewer Philip White has given this wine something in the region of a 30 year life-span, but on the more immediate horizon it keeps coming at you...wave after wave.

I had the wine open for two days and it barely shifted. The only reason it survived this long is I wanted to see how it held up. Do yourself a favour, acquaint yourself with this wine whilst you can.

Source: Retail
Price: $25
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.karrayertawines.com.au/