By Jill Antonio
Our last zoom call wasn’t just another snore-worthy work meeting. In fact, we were treated to an exclusive virtual wine tasting by the team at Hardy’s Wines.
Over the course of the online week-night wine-sesh, Hardy’s Senior Winemaker Nic Bowen shared his favourites of the new release vintage selection.
Nic walked us through an interactive tasting of four of Hardy’s latest vintage wines: a unique multi-state Clare Valley/Tasmania Riesling 2020, Tintara McLaren Vale Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2018, Tintara McLaren Vale Shiraz 2017, and lastly, a brilliant mulberry Eileen Hardys Shiraz 2016 (worth a whopping $RRP $154.00).
If you’re like me, you enjoy a sophisticated Riesling. The Clare Valley/Tasmania Riesling 2020 is a best-of-both-worlds wine, displaying the best characteristics and qualities of both reputable regions – blending fresh fruit and florals over a lengthening mineral and acid structure that draws you in for the next juicy sip. I’ll be reaching for this all Spring and Summer long.
We moved on to a couple of wines crafted at the original home of the Hardys brand, the ‘Tintara’ winery. The Tintara McLaren Vale GSM 2018 is a soft and generously flavoured wine with vibrant red and black fruits, liquorice, spices, and savoury notes. The following Tintara McLaren Vale Shiraz 2017 was more complex and vibrant, with similar dark berry and chocolate flavours, but boasting considerable structure.
Make a mental note-to-self: when next attending a dinner party, bring anything from ‘Tintara’ (Mclaren Vale, SA), and it’ll be a guaranteed winner.
To round out the tasting, we savoured a splash of one of Australia’s most awarded wines: the 2016 Eileen Hardys Shiraz. This one is dark purple, with a crimson hue. The Eileen Hardy range showcases the pinnacle of Hardys’ winemaking philosophy and represents the significance and prestige of this incredible winemaking family. It’s juicy, smooth, dense – and worth every dollar.
Jill is a Sydney-based journalist who drinks by the logic: it’s five o’clock somewhere. Follow her on Instagram.
Photo Credit: Dialogue PR
