Gary Walsh of the Wine Front has just published his tasting notes from our 2011 Winter Bench Mark Tasting

 http://www.winefront.com.au/faber-vineyard-reserve-shiraz-vertical-tasting/

  Faber Vineyard Reserve Shiraz: Vertical Tasting and 2010 Vintage.

 Posted on 26 November 2012.

 A bottle of 2010 Faber Reserve Shiraz arrived just the other day, acting as a catalyst to write up a vertical tasting of the Reserve Shiraz that was held at the winery on 5 June 2011. Better late than never, and still timely I like to think, eh Campbell! I don’t have too many details of the makings of this particular wine, though we did walk round the vineyard (pictured below), which was a mass of boulders that had to be, effectively, blown up before planting could commence, some time in the 90s. The Reserve is a barrel selection (100% Mercurey French oak, from memory) of the best few and bottled without too much messing about. Cork sealed, because winemaker John Griffiths believes it’s the best closure for his wine. I don’t, but hey – let’s not go there (again).

 2001
Mature, leather, ironstone, blackberry. Warmish, dry tannin, savoury and ferrous. Touch drying on the finish. Lovely wine. No warmth and a pleasing sense of composure. 93/100

 2002
Vanilla oak well folded in, plum, leather. Loose knit grainy tannin. More rugged and masculine than the 2001. Has length. Holding good fruit. Intense. Some slight porty notes on finish. Perhaps a bit too rough and ready for its own good, but genuine and good. 90-91/100

2003
Chocolate, raisin like Old Jamaica chocolate. Fine set of ripe tannin at the expense of freshness, perhaps. Savoury ferrous notes. Lots of impact and length. Brooding. Bitumen. Very good wine. Balanced. 94/100

 2004
Prune, chocolate, vanilla, like panaforte. Fresher acid – but not integrated. Has style but too much towards porty flavours. Big wine, and alcohol shows a little too keenly. Very savoury finish. Nice all the same. No bad reserves here. Ultra-earthy. 91+/100

 2005
Chocolate, cedar oak on top – almost Clarety. Cooler hints of raspberry and grippy tannin a little under-done. Still ferrous with some porty fruit flavour on finish. Grippy. 89-90/100

 2006
Choc-licorice, cooler, peppery, plum and fresher acidity – veering towards red fruit, musk and vanilla. Good tannin – ripe and fleshy, but with grip. Length with a slick of tannin on finish. A touch ‘austere’ but very good, though perhaps atypical. Cool year. 92+/100

 2007
Malty, perfumed, chocolate, spice. Rich but balanced, very seductive. Length. Mouth-filling, plum and vanilla. Ripe tannin. Classic warm climate Shiraz. Spot on. 95/100

 2008
Ripe, earthy, lots of flesh, warmish but lovely plum and blackberry fruit. Quality oak. Fresh. firmer tannins. 93/100

2009
Positive vanilla oak, boysenberry, bright, juicy, vibrant fruit. Nougat oak on finish showing as a young wine. Grainy tannins. Punchy wine. Much to love. 94+/100

 2010 (unfinished)
Hot vintage, warm alcohol, grippy tannin. Chocolate and raisin. Big but high amplitude. A mid-tier vintage.

 2011 (barrel sample)
Dry, fresh, red fruits, raspberry. Lively. Looks very good. Excellent vintage.

 2010 Reserve Shiraz – November 2012 tasting.

 Shows a goodly amount of quality oak and an equal amount of black fruit to match – lavender, clove and brown spices, licorice, ironstone and chocolate too. It’s full bodied, with fresh clean acid and a set of open weave, gritty and grainy tannin that shapes and controls its mass of flavour. Glimmers of raspberry freshness, nuts and spice, abundant length and, throughout, has a warm hearted, warm climate appeal of considerable persuasion. A wine with personality and a sense of ‘somewhereness’. Needs time. 94/100

 Rated : 94 Points
Tasted : Nov12
Alcohol : 14.5%
Price : $58
Closure : Cork
Drink : 2016 – 2030

Gary Walsh

Hi

we’ve added an app that links our website and our facebook page.  We hope this helps you keep in touch with where we are up to even better!

Faber and a bunch of other outstanding Swan Valley winemakers are supplying gold medal wines for the Dine For Life dinner on November 28th.  Buy a ticket and join in for a good cause.  Go to the Dine for Life website www.dineforlife.com for more details

Hello winelovers

Over the next 4 weeks we are running our short Saturday afternoon sessions for winelovers. Just 25 people at most -

come for fun, come to learn, come and share a couple of hours talking and tasting wine with us.

WINE CONVERSATIONS

Wine Conversations are a great chance to join John and a small group of winelovers to

take a closer look at 3 of our most popular wines – Swan Verdelho, Riche Shiraz, and

Liqueur Muscat. Come and join in a conversation about what is special about these

wines.

SWAN VERDELHO – SATURDAY 24TH NOVEMBER

For Verdelho John will highlight the beauty of Swan Valley Verdelho and the wonderful

match it is with Jane’s summer food. Verdelho is all about sweet aromas, full flavour

and drinkability. Our 2012 Swan Verdelho won the People’s Choice at the recent Viva Verdelho as the best wine with

food. Come and see why!

RICHE SHIRAZ – SATURDAY 17TH NOVEMBER

With Riche Shiraz we will look at how past vintages have aged and discuss the merits of these wines. Got a few old

bottles of Riche stashed away? Come and see how they are travelling! Why do they keep so well and just how long will

these wines age and improve?

LIQUEUR MUSCAT – SATURDAY 8TH DECEMBER

Blending our Liqueur Muscat is one of the year’s highlights. John waited 8 years until he had the perfect blend. Come

and taste what went into that blend and also what is in the pipeline for the next few years. Then of course there is the

really special wine John is planning to keep back for 25 years!

WHEN: All tastings run from 2.30 pm – 4.30 pm

WHERE: Faber Vineyard cellar door studio

HOW MUCH: $40 per head

RSVP: john@fabervineyard.com.au or 9296 0209 asap!

Grab a mate, come as a couple, bring a few friends. Book someone you know in for an early Xmas gift! Have lunch in

the Valley and make a day of it!

Look forward to seeing you in the sunny Swan Valley

John Griffiths & Jane Micallef

Our 2012 Frankland Cabernet after pressing out 28 April – the “end” of vintage

Pressing out the 2012 shiraz

THE SYDNEY MORNING HEARLD/SMH.COM.AU 

Swan Valley braces for bumper harvest

by Rania Spooner

January 16, 2012 – 5:00AM

The first grapes are expected to be picked from northern parts of the Swan Valley this week.

The nation’s early-bird wine region is braced to start harvesting this week with big hopes for a bumper season as the year’s fruit and wine export prices look ripe.

The value of Australian wine exports increased by 1 per cent to $2.69 per litre in 2011, according to Wine Australia figures released last week, marking the first value rise in five years.

But the volume of exports was down 10 per cent, which Wine Australia attributed to production falls over recent years from 1.42 billion litres in 2005 to 1.07 in 2011.

Stock levels have also fallen, reducing the availability of wine to export.

However, Swan Valley Winemakers president John Griffiths, who owns Faber Vineyard, remained optimistic about a fruitful season for the Swan Valley, north-east of Perth.

Wines of Western Australia general manager Aymee Mastaglia said Mr Griffiths was not the only Swan Valley producer poised for a good year based on the strength of the fruit flavour.

Despite early concerns about disease in the WA winemaking sector following a wet spring, the warm dry summer with cool nights and sea breezes has created beautiful fruit, according to Mr Griffiths.

“Our grapes are in excellent condition, ripening very evenly with plenty of flavour development,” he said.

The first grapes are expected to be picked from northern parts of the region this week.

“There’s nothing better than going into harvest when you’re a wine maker or a grape grower,” Mr Griffiths said.

“You’re just full of optimism, it’s a great time of the year, it’s battle stations and we get to really put our imprimatur on the year.”

The Swan Valley is one of the first regions to start harvesting across the country. In the coming days the region will begin picking, pressing, crushing and fermenting.

By March the harvest will be turned into wine. Most white wines will have hit the shops by winter, while many of the red wines will sit in barrels for about a year, appearing on the market in about 18 months.

As an export-orientated industry, many wine producers have struggled through the global financial crisis and ongoing global debt instability, as well as the appreciation of the Australian dollar, Mr Griffiths said.

“That’s made it very difficult for our industry coming off what was a very big boom through the 1990s and early 2000s,” he said.”

“It’s been four or five very difficult years in the wine industry where it’s been incredibly competitive.”

The internationally renowned WA wine region of Margaret River usually begins harvesting a couple of months after Swan Valley.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/swan-valley-braces-for-bumper-harvest-20120113-1pz72.html#ixzz1ja65OZdb

From http://www.smh.com.au/wa-news/swan-valley-braces-for-bumper-harvest-20120113-1pz72.html