2005 has been a most anticipated vintage - and it does not disappoint.
The Castagna Genesis Syrah is as good as we have made and with the vines reaching
their 10th birthday, perhaps the best yet - rich, complex and sumptuous yet
still fine and elegant. Simply delicious.
2005
also sees the first release of a new wine 'Castagna Un Segreto' - primarily
a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah - a blend that has beguiled me since we started
playing with it, our 'Super Beechworth' if you like, to compare favourably,
I think, to many 'Super Tuscans'. In my opinion very much a wine style of
the future.
On Closures
The continuing and increasing problems with natural cork have sparked a huge
debate, especially in the New World, on finding appropriate, alternative closures
for wine and there is little doubt that screw caps seem to be becoming the
closure of choice.
I am not convinced.
I am not convinced that the emotional side of drinking fine wine is satisfied
by bottles sealed with screw caps; I am not convinced that it's best for the
wine in the long run. Fine wines need to age and develop in the bottle over
time - part of this process is a very small ingress of oxygen through the
cork allowing the wine to age successfully. Perfect gas barriers don't allow
this to happen and the wines will age in atypical ways. I am also not convinced
that the majority of our customers want fine wine bottles sealed with screw
caps, I certainly don't. What I want and what I think all of our customers
want is a wine to be as the winemaker intended when they come to drink it.
Those of you who bought wine from us last year will have noticed that all
Castagna wine is now sealed with Diam.
Diam is a technical cork. Natural cork is reduced to powder then washed with
super critical Carbon Dioxide - a process which removes all measurable levels
of releasable TCA from this raw cork material. This process has undergone
many tests by independent organisations using laboratory equipment which can
detect TCA at less than 0.5 parts per trillion. The powder is then reconstituted
using the same polymer that contact lenses are made from. So the guarantee
is100% TCA free - a near-perfect seal with virtually no random cork oxidation,
which in itself has proven almost as big a problem as TCA.
A deep crimson hue - never black nor purple, always alive; the colour of blood. The bouquet is rather difficult to describe - so much is happening here; violets, rose petals, smoked meats, black cherries, damp earth and musk. Equally as intriguing is the palate with its fresh, crunchy red to black cherries sidling up alongside notes of graphite, Szechuan pepper and tingling fresh acidity seasoned with exotic spices. It finishes powerfully with bitter dark chocolate laced with subtle smoke from the oak. At present, the wine sits delicately balanced on the knife's edge. In a few years the briar and undergrowth will emerge and the fruit will build the palate even further.
Deep crimson hue with an aroma of black cherries, exotic spices, cedary
wood notes and earthy extract creating a bold impression. The palate delivers
an earthy, black-fruited impact with textural richness coming from the fine
tannins and integrated oak.
It has a sizeable midrift with a long, clean,
savoury finish which is refreshed by the acidity. Deliciously rich with
fruit being the master, yet avoiding sweetness, and by doing so, making
it quite moreish.
A striking colour of raspberry or red cherry; the
bouquet delivers a savoury dried herb character formed around a core of red cherry fruit. A touch of nuttiness and earthy notes meander in and out of the bouquet as the wine opens up with breathing. The palate is a compote of anise, red cherry that is ripe and textural yet not cloying nor sweet. The ultimate test is if a wine is still alive and fresh twenty four hours after opening. If anything, this rosé
looks better and demonstrates that this wine, like past Castagna rosés, will develop further complexity over the next few years.
The bouquet literally explodes: sandalwood, pepper, whiffs of apricot, graphite, lead pencils, and as it opens up briary notes and an inky black fruit note that gives the impression of wonderful extract and a sense of
brooding blackness. The bead is fine, persistent and elegant. A rich, savoury texture is augmented by fine drying tannins and
exotic background notes of wood spice. Both acid and dosage counter-balance the fruit and tannin to deliver a long savoury finish that is neither sweet not cloying to one’s palate.
A note on our other wines.
There a few boxes of Castagna 2004 Genesis Syrah and Castagna 2003 Sauvage,
which were destined for export still available, should anyone have missed
getting their allocation earlier. We will maintain last years prices on
these wines for a month or two.
Tasting Notes - Previous Vintages
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