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Wine Reviews
Woodstock McLaren Vale
Woodstock Riesling
Vintage 2006
- Ross Noble, The Courier, January 24, 2007
“
Mates Ben Glaetzer and Scott Collett were joint winemakers of the Woodstock McLaren Vale Riesling 2006. The vineyards on Douglas Gully Road at McLaren Flat are now of an age when they are producing terrific fruit which is evident in this lively wine to enjoy with a feed of tommy ruff or whiting. Lemony, with a crisp finish.”
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Woodstock McLaren Vale Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage 2007
Vintage 2006
Woodstock Five Feet Viognier Riesling
Vintage 2005
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, June 19 2006
“
86 points.
I like this wine! It's not going to woo the traditionalists because it's not a traditional blend, but it's got style and life and length in a way that most viogniers crave: there's still plenty of spicy, sweet, melony, apricotty fruit but it's lengthened and trimmed by lovely, musky acid. It's almost traminer like - in a good, sweet way. Bang it on with Asian food.”
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Woodstock Five Feet Viognier
Vintage 2006
- Peter Forrestal, Gourmet Traveller Wine Dec-Jan 2007 Issue
“
I’ve not seen the wines of the McLaren Vale’s Woodstock looking as good as they do at present under the guidance of Ben Glaetzer, especially this wine, an excellent 2004 shiraz and a good, if sweet, rosé. They are well priced too. The Five Feet Viognier is a blend of fruit from the Adelaide Hills and the McLaren Vale that is clean, fresh and bright, with attractive, delicately rich stone-fruit flavours - apricot and nectarine - and pleasing viscosity. An excellent summer white.”
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Woodstock McLaren Vale Chardonnay
Vintage 2006
Woodstock Frozé (frozen rosé)
Woodstock McLaren Vale Rose
Vintage 2007
Woodstock McLaren Vale Rosé
Vintage 2006
- Tony Love, The Advertiser, Australia's Top 100 Wines
“
92 points.
Heading towards crimson, this is getting to light dry red territory, with quite a palate presence. Just off dry, there's a squirt of plum sauce character here, too, balanced well with squished raspberry. Try it with Chinese roast pork and Peking duck.”
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- Peter Forrestal, Quaff 2007
“
This is a good example of the sweeter style of Rosé. It is a blend mainly from McLaren Vale and predominantly from Grenache. It has attractive ripe berry flavours, is soft, round and finishes clean and sweet.”
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- Nick Ryan, Australian Table Magazine October 2006
“
When the tastebuds glow red, it's time to think pink. Rosé-style wines, particularly those with bright, fresh acid and a touch of sweetness, can make ideal comparisons for ferociously spiced foods. This McLaren Vale marvel has plenty of slick red berry fruit, notes of baking spice and a crisp finish.”
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- Tony Love, The Advertiser Food & Wine, Wednesday Sept 13 2006
“
4 stars.
Wild pink cherry and marzipan notes to begin from this free-run grenache that gives more complexity as it lolls around in the mouth - some adult crispness, a little herbal twist of flavour through the middle, and a drying finish. More-ish.”
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Woodstock McLaren Vale Grenache
Vintage 2002
- Ken Gargett, Brisbane Courier Mail, Q Magazine, June 10 2006
“
88 points.
Top producer, cracker vintage and proven region - what more could you want? Aromatic floral, spicy and milk chocolate notes in this attractive mid-weigh; offering. One for drinking soon. Would be a star at any barbecue.”
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- Max Allen, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 28 February 2006
“
Known and well loved for producing solid, rather old-fashioned (chewy, oaky) McLaren Vale red wines, Woodstock is undergoing the gentlest of facelifts, with cleaner-looking labels, a new website and slightly more modern-styled wines such as this bright, spicy, earthy grenache. Far from being thick and heavy, it's delightfully easy to drink.”
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Woodstock Five Feet McLaren Vale Cabernet Shiraz
Vintage 2004
Vintage 2002
- Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, 27 January 2006
“
Woodstock provides honest, well-made examples of McLaren Vale wine. The flagship, Stocks shiraz, expresses the region's best modern style, but don't ignore lesser Woodstock wines such as this one. It has briary, blackberry-like fruit with subtle oak in appealing balance. The palate is succulent with friendly texture and tannins. Great value.”
Woodstock Shiraz Cabernet
Vintage 2002
Woodstock McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage 2004
- Peter Forrestal, The Sunday Times, April 29, 2007
“
From an excellent year for cabernet in McLaren Vale: opulent, plum and cassis flavours, generous fleshy texture and supple fine tannins. Approachable and delicious.”
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- Winestate, Wine of the Year Awards 2006 Top 5
“
Woodstock McLaren Vale vineyards enjoy cool nights to maintain natural acids, the cool sea breezes and evening gully winds help preserve the green bean Cabernet flavours, whilst ample sunshine fully ripens the Cabernet grapes. The Langhorne Creek component adds a hint of plum to the chocolate and mulberry centre. Patient cellaring will be rewarded, if you have the will power.”
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- Winestate Magazine, Sept-Oct 2006 Issue
“
5 stars.
Delightful coffee and chocolate aromas on top of sweet berry compote. Attractive leafy palate - rich in the middle with a good mix of red and black fruit flavours. Excellent fruit expression.”
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- Jeremy Oliver, The Australain Wine Annual 2007
“
90 points.
A supple, pliant and approachable cabernet whose minty, briary fragrance of cassis, plums and blackberries overlies cedary oak, cloves and dried herbs. Its long, dusty palate delivers vibrant, confiture-like dark berry fruit neatly meshed with cedar/vanilla oak and framed by fine tannins, finishing with undertones of dried herbs and peppermint.”
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- Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine, 100 Top New Release Wines, August - Sept 2006 Issue
“
4 stars.
Dense colour and peppermint nose, essence-like concentrated blackcurrant flavour, deftly handled oak and a hint of leafiness. Power with elegance. Made by Ben Glaetzer and Scott Collett.”
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- Stuart Gregor, Don't Buy Wine Without Me Magazine, August 7 2006
“
4 1/2 stars.
These guys have been producing terrific traditional full-flavoured wines in McLaren Vale for years. Recently, they brought in young gun winemaker Ben Glaetzer to assist and it really has helped add a lift to things. But as this chocolatey, fleshy, ripe cab will attest, they have wisely remained true to the generous style that made them so popular in the first place. Best of all, they have not used this as an excuse to jack up prices.”
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Vintage 2002
- Phillip White, The Advertiser, Top 100 Wines, 23 November 2005.
“
92 points.
The screwie has perserved this wine's fruit so well that it smells as tight and alive as a blackberry bush in a lightning strike: some of those sweet, wholesome berries have begun to head towards conserve, and the leaves have an acrid ozone whiff. It's a vibrant, complex, highly entertaining wine: wickedly slick for current slurping, but just as suited to the cellar.”
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- Winestate Magazine, September – October 2005 Issue.
“
4 stars.
Reserved dark fruit aromas peaking through the earthy nose. Sweet cherry fruit on the palate, with nice texture and length and well-balanced sweetness.”
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Woodstock McLaren Vale Shiraz
Vintage 2005
Woodstock McLaren Vale Shiraz
Vintage 2005
- Ralph Kyte- Powell, The Age, February 12, 2008
“
4 stars.
The Woodstock name has been synonymous with honest McLaren Vale shiraz for decades, as this '05 example shows. Ideal for current consumption, its nose is rich in sweet dark berries and plums, hints of herbs and pepper, and a light seasoning of vanillian oak. It's smooth and satisfying in the mouth with medium body.”
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Vintage 2004
- Lester Jesberg, Winewise, February 2007
“
If you consider The Stocks a tad too expensive, you'd do well to consider it's "little brother". It's a very attractive wine, overflowing with dark berry varietal flavour. The tannins are fine and quite savoury, and the oak is restrained.”
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- Grant Dodd, Australian Golf Digest Top 10 Wines of 2006
“
Twenty dollars buys a lot of wine these days, as evidenced by this succulent McLaren Vale Shiraz, begging for the company of a medium rare beef fillet.”
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- Winewise, October 2006 Issue
“
This is a very well made, freshly-scented red with abundant blackberry and spice. It's rich but not too ripe and the tannins are not aggressive. Excellent value, highly recommended.”
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- Winestate Magazine, Sept-Oct 2006 Issue (McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek & Fleureiru Tasting)
“
4 1/2 stars.
Black cherries and anise aromas jump out of the glass. The big sweet fruit on the palate tends to dominate the oak at the moment but put it away for a while and be rewarded.”
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- Winestate Magazine, Sept-Oct 2006 Issue (World's greatest Shiraz challenge!)
“
4 1/2 stars.
Lifted, ripe varietal fruit aromas enhanced by lashings of sweet, 'sexy' oak. Oak prominent on a palate that has tight structure, great length and cooler climate characteristics.”
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- Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2007
“
91 points.
Charmingly smooth and silky, this vibrant, spicey and intensely fruity young shiraz has deep aroma of dark berries and plums backed by mocha and dark chocolate-like oak, with undertones of spearmint. It's supple, approachable and tightly focused, with deliciously vibrant palate of small berries, tight oak and fine tannins, finishing with lingering nuances of cinnamon, clove and licorice.”
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- Paddy Kendler, Herald Sun, City Style
“
4 stars.
Typical McLaren Vale generosity of ripe-fruit flavour and a smooth, even texture within a medium body are on offer here. Woodstock is one of the stalwarts of the region and consistently produces traditional and modern styles to a commendable standard.”
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- Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, June 6 2006
“
4 stars.
Woodstock's McLaren Vale red wines offer honest regional personality and drinkability in youth. This Shiraz is a good example of the house style with plum, spice and sweet vanillin aromas that are clean and intense. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent blackberry and mint flavours, gently seasoned with oak and backed by balanced tannins.”
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Woodstock The Stocks McLaren Vale Shiraz
Vintage 2005
- Kylie Fleming, The Sunday Mail-Wine Vibe, January 20, 2008
“
A seriously good, single-vineyard McLaren Vale shiraz with plenty of oomph, elegance and dominant plum and red berry fruits. Make sure to decant if drinking now, otherwise cellar for a few more years. A mighty fine drop for Australia Day barbies.”
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- Huon Hooke, Sydney Morning Herald, November 6, 2007
“
93/100.
This single vineyard, old-vine McLaren Vale shiraz is very rich, dense and powerful, with minty, oaky and earth aromas dominating plum, mocha and spice flavours. It has great depth and concentration, ample tannins and impact.
Drink from 2009 to 2020.
Food: Reggiano cheese”
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Vintage 2004
- Philip White, The Independent Weekly, May 5, 2007
“
94+ points.
Lush and complex, with mulberry and prune, seasoned by lovely spicy oak, this fresh, lively black wine comes from old vines grown in the southern edge of the awesome Blewett Springs Sands, which have given their distinctive peaty vegetal decay flavours. Woodstock's best red yet, it's a huge, complex wine for the cellar, but it's scrumptious now with mutton shanks and shiitake, porcini, oyster and ordinary field mushrooms.”
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- Bert Werden, The WineStar Journal, Wednesday February 21, 2007
“
No prizes for guessing the vintage and region of the latest 'must-have' Shiraz that is on everyone's lips. If you said 2004 McLaren Vale, you would be spot on. The Woodstock ’Stocks’ Shiraz is this winery's finest effort yet and will eclipse the awesome 1998 which I was fortunate enough to enjoy recently and is holding up very well. This 2004 has yet another dimension. It is the type of wine that all and sundry will tell you to cellar and forget about, advice I will no doubt find myself giving but that is not going to stop me sneaking the odd bottle out (to sample of course) over the next year or two. It is a big, cuddly, gorgeous Shiraz. It is hard to know which of the numerous accolades it has received is the best. I always think a Trophy (and Gold medal) at a wines' native wine show is a good gong, and The Stocks scored trophy and Gold at the McLaren Vale Show. A rating of 'Outstanding' in Winewise is also rare, yet this wine has achieved that distinction twice. Perhaps most telling is Jeremy Oliver's score of 96 points. Jeremy is not always kind to the bigger McLaren Vale Shiraz wines, though to be fair to him I suspect when a wine, such as this gets it spot on, he scores it appropriately. In this context, his is a massive score. Huon Hooke and Ralph Kyte-Powell are others impressed by this. What everyone should be impressed about is the price. This will be something most special in a decade - I'll be looking up friends that bought it in 10 years time and being nice to them because mine will undoubtedly be gone!”
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- Lester Jesberg, Winewise, February 2007
“
Outstanding.
This is a beautifully crafted red packed with regional and varietal flavour. The palate is substantial, but balanced and supple, and the ripe tannins are quite fine. Toasty oak complements the fresh blackberry fruit.”
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- 2006 Commonwealth Bank McLaren Vale Wine Show
“
Trophy & Top Gold.
The carefully nurtured single vineyard, century old Shiraz vines at Woodstock consistently create unique flavours from modest yields and careful winemaking. The plush aromas and flavours grow with breathing in the glass, and with cellaring for up to 15 years. Powerful, yet soft in youth, further cellaring will enhance the classic McLaren Vale old vine flavours.”
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- Winewise, October 2006 Issue
“
This is a single vineyard wine made from 100+ year old vines. It has more concentration than the "standard" shiraz, but doesn't sacrifice any freshness. The vibrancy of varietal fruit is a very strong point as are the fine, ripe tannins. Cellar this one. Outstanding.”
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- Winestate Magazine, Sept-Oct 2006 Issue
“
4 stars.
A fine, silky-smooth wine with a leathery, spicy oak nose that has a very good sweet berry lift. The palate is brimming over with sweet raspberry fruit flavours.”
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- Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2007
“
96 points.
A superb modern shiraz that marries explosively flavoured and sour-edged fruit with smoky, mocha-like oak and velvet tannin. It's heady and ethereal, with a spicy, peppery fragrant of blackberries, blueberries and cassis backed by meaty, gamey, leathery and chocolate-like undertones. Easily soaking up its showy and charry new oak and a lavish array of spices, it's opulent expression of perfectly ripened berry flavours finish long and smooth, with just a faint hint of currant. Give it time.”
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- Ralph Kyte-Powell,The Age, August 8 2006
“
5 stars.
Woodstock’s McLaren Vale range is headed by this substantial shiraz, now bottled under a screw cap. It’s a voluptuous red, brimming with lush, liqueurish blackberry shiraz character, with touches of sweet spice, dark chocolate and bacony oak in harmony with the essency fruit. It’s dense and profound, with good backbone.”
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- Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine, 100 Top New Release Wines, August - Sept 2006 Issue
“
4 stars.
A robust, oak-driven flagship shiraz from Woodstock. It’s dense, thickly textured and very rich, with loads of smooth, rounded tannins surrounding a core of rich, ultra-ripe fruit. A seductive style.”
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- Ralph Kyte-Powell, Sydney Morning Herald, August 8 2006
“
A substantial shiraz, now bottled under a screw cap. It’s a voluptuous red, brimming with lush, liqueurish blackberry shiraz character, with touches of sweet spice, dark chocolate and bacony oak in harmony with the essency fruit. Age two to 15 years.”
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Vintage 2002
- Winewise Vol21 No 2, June 2005
“
This is a typical big, ripe McLaren Vale red with lots of flavour and oak. The flavour is fresh and the tannins suggest a few years cellaring will produce positive results.”
- Winesate Magazine, July – August 2005 Issue.
“
5 stars.
A big oaky / porty / prune-like nose. Dense layers of black fruit, oak and spicy flavours on a long, structured and complex palate that has ripe tannins, rich oak and great depth.”
Vintage 2000
Woodstock Botrytis Sweet White
Vintage 2004
- Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2007
“
94 points.
A lightly spiced fragrance of white peach, apricot, custard crème and citrus reveals nuances of marzipan and brulee. Luscious, sweet and very intense, its pristine and vibrant palate reveals undertones of lemon tart and marmalade. It has good but not great length, and finishes with lingering flavours of citrus, melon and stonefruit neatly wrapped by a clean and refreshing acidity.”
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- Charles Melton, The Advertiser, 7 January 2006.
“
92 points.
Pale and fresh, with lemon and green tints. Just a hint of gold coming in. Some botrytis on the nose, but generally fine and restrained. Just a touch of sweet toffee aromatic. Beautiful balance. Some botrytis complexity evident in the flavour, with a delicious sweetness but not cloying. A great amalgam of acidity, richness and sweetness. Excellent value.”
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Woodstock Barbera - Recioto Style
Vintage 2003
Woodstock McLaren Vale Very Old Fortified
Woodstock Vintage Fortified McLaren Vale Shiraz
Vintage 2005
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