TAMING OUR BIG AND JAMMY DURIFS

David Ellis

BACK in the 1980s Colin and Malcolm Campbell of Campbells Rutherglen Wines decided to move their Durif away from the big, jammy, full-bodied and loads of tannin of Australian Durifs, and to give them a more refined structure and balance.

“Durifs in those days were so big, some used to joke that you really needed a knife and fork to drink them,” Colin says now. “We wanted a more refined expression of the grape, and so started in the vineyard in the late 1980s… Malcolm encouraging the fruit to grow more slowly, and to fully ripen before picking for greater refinement.”

Then in the winery Colin further “tamed” that resultant fruit by building layers of complexity and length, something he calls “thorough breeding,” and following this with slow extended barrel maturation using a mix of 3 year old French and American oak.

The first “new look” Campbell Durif was labelled The Barkly and released from the 1992 vintage; now the 2010 vintage has just been released, the 15^th The Barkly label (allowing for three vintages in which Colin and Malcolm felt fruit wasn’t up to The Barkly quality.) This one’s all about abundant and powerful dark cherry and blackberry fruit flavours, with added earthy and ironstone characters, and good oak.

At $54 its one to truly savour with a baked loin of venison, or slow cooked lamb or beef.

ONE TO NOTE: PETER Logan can be justifiably proud of the 2012 Chardonnay he’s released under his Logan label, and which he believes is “the most complete Chardonnay we’ve made in years… a wine with a long fresh palate, delicate texture and a mix of savoury and fruit flavours.”

The Orange region of NSW’s Central West where this one hails from is gaining a well-deserved reputation for Chardonnays generally, the cool climate in the 600 metre high ranges here really suiting the variety, and this Logan is a beautifully rewarding example.

At $25 it goes wonderfully with a Sunday chicken roast, or try it with crab cakes.

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