A bunch of recent reviews

We've been receiving reviews for our Peninsula, Kangerong and The Zumma ranges that we'd like to share with you. We've popped them into a PDF for easy viewing....

www.crittendenwines.com.au/assets/client/File/Reviews/CE_Reviews_08Jul22.pdf

10/07/2022 at 2:49 PM Permalink

Comté and vin jaune: An Australian winemaker's tribute to Jura

Read Max Allen's article published in The Australian Financial Review on Friday, 8 July 2022.

Read the full article here.

You will enjoy reading the full article, but we'd like to share a few snippets with you prior to the release of our Cri de Coeur wines in August 2022.

The first vintage of the Sous Voile savagnin at Crittenden Estate was in 2011, and it came about by accident - or rather, by expedience.

Back in the early-2000s, the Crittendens - like dozens of other Australian winemakers - had planted a few rows of a promising alternative Spanish white grape variety called albarino at their Peninsula vineyard. Except it wasn't albarino. In 2009, a visiting French grapevine specialist broke the news to them at what they had in their vineyards was in fact savagnin. From the Jura.

But Crittenden Estate assistant winemaker Matt Campbell knew what to do with the now correctly identified grapes.

"It was serendipitous," says Campbell. "I'd tasted vin jaune on a trip to France a few years before: visiting a friend one day. I was sitting on the swing in the back garden when her in-laws brought out this Comté and a bottle of vin jaune. I tasted them together and thought holy crap, what's this?"

...

Which is why, in 2011, Campbell left a barrel of the Crittenden dry white savagnin un-sulphured, which encouraged a veil of flor yeast to grow on the surface of the wine inside the cask.

...

Not surprisingly given its unusual character, Sous Voile [savagnin] is a wine that took time to build a following. But recent vintages have attracted serious critical acclaim. The 2016 was named Best Drink in Australia at the 2021 Drink Easy Awards in Adelaide, judged against other wines, spirits, beers, etc - and it now sells out every year, with demand outstripping supply.

“It’s been amazing,” says (Rollo) Crittenden. “Absolutely amazing. As a wine that started out as a mistake, it’s one of the greatest mistakes that has ever happened to us.”

2017 Crittenden Estate Cri de Coeur Savagnin Sous Voile
Despite the extended ageing "under veil", this wine is still bursting with plenty of gorgeous grapey, tangy savagnin fruit, all intense fleshy yellow peach and a line of citrus, with the yeasty flor notes more a background hum than foreground feature. Beautiful now, but will also age gracefully: the 2013 is slowly becoming more savoury, more complex, developing layers and layers of yeasty flavour, with years ahead of it, and I see the 2017 maturing in a similar way.

2020 Crittenden Cri de Coeur Chardonnay
It wasn’t only savagnin-based wines that we tasted with Jacques Reymond’s food: this vivid, lemony chardonnay was also exquisitely paired by the chef with a dish called La Pôchouse, from the chef’s village of Cuiseaux in Jura – a perfectly baked piece of John Dory in a sorrel sauce, the just-set richness of the fish proteins and tanginess of the sharp-tasting sorrel a perfect match with the wine.

Crittenden Estate Cri de Coeur Macvin #3
This is the third release of the Crittenden version of Macvin, a sweet-yet-savoury wine served as an apéritif or with dessert in Jura. The Crittendens make theirs by blending dry, flor-aged Cri de Coeur savagnin with fresh golden savagnin grape juice, adding a little neutral spirit, and ageing the resulting blend in barrels before bottling. Raisiny and caramel-rich, but also a little briny and yeasty, thanks to the flor component, it was lovely with Reymond’s Macvin-flavoured crème brulée. It’s also great with a Vache Qui Rit toastie.

08/07/2022 at 9:15 AM Permalink

Top 100 Australian Wines

Our Cri de Coeur came in at number 76 out of his top 100 Australian wines.

Pretty good! James Suckling is a US wine writer - and is very well respected. To make his top 100 is a great achievement. This is what James had to say:

Rollo Crittenden is not afraid to play the long game, and so he nestled this wine under flor for three years in untopped barrels, a mode known as “sous-voile” in France’s Jura region.  The result is a wildly complex yet precise white that has clear, savory, flor-derived characterwith lemon peel and toasted almond. Fragrant dried brown spices, too. The palate rings  clear with a fresh flush of acidity and briny, mineral tones to the zesty lemon flavors, aheadof a smoothly nutty twist to close. So much to like here. Drink now. 96 points

James Suckling

TOP 100 Wines of Australia 2021

17/02/2022 at 2:02 PM Permalink

BEST DRINK IN AUSTRALIA

On Friday October 15th, at a virtual ceremony for the 2021 Drink Easy Awards, our Cri de Coeur 2016 Savagnin was announced overall winner and Best Drink in Australia. 

"We were absolutely delighted and a little bit stunned to be the recipients of this award. What made this award even more humbling was the fact that the competition spans all beverage genres – from non-alcoholic through to spirits and everything in between. The team at Crittenden would like to thank everyone who has supported us on this crazy journey in producing such a challenging and obscure wine style and in particular to acknowledge the Drink Easy team for championing emerging drinks of all makes and models which may not have a home in conventional circles."

Rollo Crittenden, on behalf of everyone at Crittenden Estate. 

For a short four minute video showing the presentation of the award click the following:

https://youtu.be/Z_246P2H1OU

18/10/2021 at 10:22 AM Permalink

Catto in the media

This is a new wine from retired-but-you-can’t-stop-him winemaker Garry Crittenden. Garry Crittenden is of course the person responsible for bringing Italian varieties to the masses, so to speak; his work with these varieties was pioneering in this country to say the least. It turns out that, unbeknownst to him, and only recently discovered, his (sadly, late) wife Margaret has Italian ancestry. Her ancestral surname is Catto. This wine is something of a dabble and yet it’s also heart and soul stuff, almost by accident.....

This is part of Campbell Mattinson's write up in The Wine Front in October 2021 just after Catto has been released. We think it sums it up beautifully. Read on for the second part of his review:

And what a delightful wine it is. Truly delightful. I’d say that it’s arrestingly good save for the fact that it’s quieter than that. It has an elegance, unusual for this variety. Leather, raspberry, earth and sweet meat characters flow charmingly throughout, fine fingers of tannin then dancing through the finish. It’s the kind of wine you want to buy by the case. Campbell Mattinson The Wine Front

Juicy, spicy, red cherry, kirsch, Righteous start. Flesh and crispness in the palate, tasty lil number with vibrancy and clarity on its side. Very nero vibes. It’s a ripping drink. Mike Bennie The Wine Front

The colour is youthfully bright, medium to deep purple/ red, and the nose has peppery, dried-spice savouriness, while the palate reveals sour cherry flavours of good intensity and mouth-filling properties. A scent of raspberry milkshake later. The tannins are present and slightly gritty but do their job discreetly. There’s an exotic feel to this wine. It’s different. Huon Hooke The Real Review

Click here for links to reviews in full and to purchase Catto.

18/10/2021 at 10:03 AM Permalink