Castelli Estate is located on Mount Shadforth in Denmark in WA’s Great Southern and was purchased by the Castelli family in 2004. They had a commitment to sourcing the best fruit available and appointed Mark Garland as winemaker to bring a philosophy of balance and structure to cool climate winemaking. The results are some highly recommended wines.
The Wines
2018 Castelli Riesling
This Riesling is a blend of Great Southern vineyard fruit picked in March during an almost perfect season. Floral aromas of blossom and lime with a full palate of fruit, peach, sherbet and medium acid. Young and lively, ready to appreciate now but will keep nicely.
2017 Il Iris Blanc
Here is a single vineyard Chardonnay from Denmark picked during a challenging year for winemakers. It was hand-picked, pressed into barrels and left to ferment naturally. A light straw in colour with aromas of new French oak, gunflint and melon, it has a very tight structure. An acid backbone with medium weight fruit and oak. A complex wine which will improve with further age.
2017 Pemberton Chardonnay
I found the 2017 Pemberton Chardonnay more to my liking with a lot of Burgundian wine-making techniques and a mix of inoculated and wild yeast. This wine is what cool climate Chardonnay is all about with restrained, clean, limey fruit. Some elegant apricot flavours with soft oak and minerality. Highly recommended with a medium-bodied style and good short-term cellaring.
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
The Castelli Estate reds took me on a tour of the best fruit in the Great Southern as well as wine styles from Bordeaux to Hermitage. The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is Frankland River fruit cold soaked for 10 days to extract flavour and fermented on skins for a month. This has resulted in some amazing flavour extraction with blackberries, tobacco, chocolate and liquorice combining with fine tannins. A nicely balanced wine ready to drink or cellar.
Empirica by Castelli 2016 Uvaggio
This is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Shiraz picked from dry-grown bush vines. The parcels were fermented in open fermenters with whole bunches, gently plunged and aged in large oak casks. Massive fruit flavours driven by the Grenache combine to produce aromas of berries and spice with a bold palate. The tannins are very soft and let the smouldering fruit drive the palate. I had to finish the bottle to appreciate how close this wine was to Rhone Valley perfection.
2016 Frankland River Shiraz
The final bottle was the 2016 Frankland River Shiraz and it did not disappoint. In the glass, the wine is a deep purple with a nose of berries, spice and blackcurrant. A full-bodied fruit driven palate with soft tannins, great length and balance. All the finesse of a Syrah but with more bold fruit characters. Still a young wine and will surely gain more complexity with ageing.
For further information about Castelli Estate, visit their website: www.castelligroup.com.au
These wines are available at Castelli Estate’s Urban Cellar door: 58, McCoy Street, Myaree.