[SOLD-OUT] Castagna Allegro Rose 2013

Phillip White 94+++ Points!
"A little more primarily pink than some of its accomplished onion skin/pheasant eye predecessors, this Shiraz sets the bar a few notches higher for dead serious Australian rose.

The wine hasn't happened by accident, as an afterthought, or as a convenient outlet for weaker-flavoured red juice bled off ordinary red to concentrate the rest, as often occurs elsewhere. As Julian Castagna writes: "I continue to tinker in the vineyard and winery to unlock further complexity and intrigue that can be created with this most interesting of wine styles; it serves me no purpose to doctor my rose with red wine to give it a deeper hue; I need no residual sugar to create the illusion of texture and weight " I just leave it alone to mature in old French oak to allow it build texture and complexity in a natural environment."

Inspired by the winemakers of Bandol and Tavel, Castagna has wrought a wondrous thing here, a complex and rewarding drink unlike anything else in Australia. It has that glorious crushed hardrock prickle that makes the nostrils flare and the juices flow, over a welling bowl of Turkish delight and maraschino cherry, aspects which serve as a sort of primary fruit gift-wrapping to the more complex and weighty aromas of cooked taro and sweet potato that make up its soul. It's an austere thing to savour, being more slender and elegant than that complex fragrance would signal. Which is not to say it's supple " its tannins and form are almost brittle, like a young Grand Cru Chablis. It doesn't taste particularly red, either, but is more along the lines of a long, persistent, palate-teasing massage of the sensories, total."
Phillip White, InDaily Adelaide

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  Biodynamic   Vegan-friendly   Sustainably-made  

Country:

Australia

Region:

VIC- Beechworth

Variety:

Wine Rose

Size:

750mL