In a brief biography of Sinclair Wines, Darelle Sinclair writes, “We are a micro-sized winery with big aspirations and a non-existent advertising budget. In order to introduce our product to the market place we have kept our margins tiny. You can see our prices are lower and the quality is right up there. Do keep an eye on the 2000 wine show results.”
Wearing a Thylacine-like creature on the label, the six Sinclair products include 1998 and 1999 cabernet sauvignon, a 1999 chardonnay, 2000 Rose of Glenoran, a straight 2000 sauvignon blanc and a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon from the same vintage.
The 1999 chardonnay is excellent value. Winemaker Brendan Smith (formerly Goundrey Wines) has crafted a smart oak fermented dry white, which was obviously picked fairly ripe and boasts a plucky 13.4% alcohol. On the palate there are nuts everywhere, this is a muscle-bound, big wine, in perfect balance. The tastes are attractive, even slightly warm-climate-like butteryness, which tells a tale of rich, ripe grapes at harvest.
Of the reds, the 1999 cabernet sauvignon came out of the same gymnasium as the chardonnay and represents a full-bodied, mouth-filling dry red. This wine has the ability to go places while lying still in your cellar for five or six years. Sinclair Wines have invested in good new oak, which is obvious from the flavours that back up big round fruit with excellent and accurate varietal characters.
Look for the inebriated Thylacine on the label.
