Swan Valley Wines

www.swanvalleywines.com.au
261 Haddrill Road
Baskerville WA 6056
Phone: +61 8 9296 1501

Our visit here started in the perfect way; no parking for coaches! A small vineyard that is a family concern, with the husband and wife administering the tasting and all other areas of the winery. The proud father was pushing his son’s first wine (he recently trained up as a winemaker) and we couldn’t but help wanting them to succeed.

The tasting area is intimate, accommodating a maximum of 10 bodies in comfort: with 7 tasters in attendance at the time it was getting a bit cramped. Swan Valley Wines is famous for their chocolate port and we will get to that shortly. They have a rather extensive range, including some fruity wines that we regrettably did not get round to tasting, but what an excellent excuse to return!

But which of the wines did we taste?

2007 Semillon $15
This wine is off-dry with good body, fruity and a relatively light 12.9% alcohol content. We found this a pleasing wine, good with food or on its own. Recommended.

2007 Unwooded Chardonnay: $15
An uncomplicated wine, this is a very decent offering with a good solid nose and an excellent example of the current fashion. The alcohol still dominates a bit, but give it another year to integrate.

2003 Grenache: $15
Grenache is one of those special wines that does not age well. It tasted and nosed arch-typical of the grape; but the wine was at the end of its shelf life and I cannot recommend it for that reason. I look forward to the new harvest.

2006 Shiraz: $18
Boasting a typical Shiraz nose, this wine had a good colour with definite hints of chocolate on the taste. I found the alcohol burning down my throat and checked the alcohol content on the label: a whopping 16%! I also found that this wine had a salty aftertaste, something I had never tasted before. An unusual wine!

2005 Reserve Shiraz $18
A very unusual Shiraz and not in the best meaning of the word. Very a-typical and not really something I feel comfortable recommending. The 15% alcohol gave it a mean punch to boot.

2005 The Road Bull: $20
This wine has a new label and is made in a completely different style. It is a blend of Grenache and Cabernet. The taste is clean and fresh, with definite hints of mint. This is a good wine, with good integration between alcohol and fruit, a balanced wine. Yes! The owners can be very proud of their son for producing such an excellent first wine.

2006 White Port: $15
This wine has a fruit-salad nose and despite its sweetness and hefty alcohol levels comes across as light and pleasant. Well priced too, and as such definitely recommended.

NV Chocolate Reserve: $23
Swan Valley Wines is famous for this blend of ports flavoured with a cocoa extract. The wine is lusciously chocolaty, nicely alcoholic and comes across full and deep. It certainly was popular with our fellow-tasters, who bought three bottles on the spot. Recommended.

Verdict: An unpretentious winery that makes no excuses for what it is. The winery should be making some exciting new inroads with the new winemaker on board and although it is understandable that they want to offload their existing older stock, it is not the best idea to advertise these as premium wines. The Road Bull indicates a new direction – that wine struck us as innovative, modern, unusual and definitely a reason for coming back. The ports are good drinking, but not for the purists wanting a typical Portuguese style. Overall: well worth a visit!