Category: Wine review

Rave reviews from Huon Hooke for our new release wines

Nancy

Huon, we couldn’t agree more with your assessment of our wines. A couple of comments in particular caught our attention. Read on to find out which comments go with which wine.

– Drive and elegance
– Ripping shiraz
– Supple tannins and excellent balance
– Pretty and easy going
– Long, resonating finish

SubRosa 2019 Malakoff Estate Shiraz

95/100
Deep colour and aromas of fresh-turned earth, plum, spices and overtones of graphite and ironstone. The wine is intense and focused, taut and precise on the tongue. Lovely wine of real concentration and focus, drive and elegance, the stony mineral theme running throughout. A ripping shiraz, great to drink now and has a bright future.
Drink: 2022–2034

Top rank, #1 in 2019 Shiraz from the Pyrenees

SubRosa 2019 Grampians Pyrenees Shiraz

SubRsa 2019 Grampians Pyrenees Shiraz91/100

Deep colour; aromas of fresh-turned earth and plum and a whiff of star anise. Medium-full bodied shiraz with supple tannins and excellent balance. Good early drinking shiraz which will also keep well.
Drink: 2022–2031

SubRosa 2019 Pyrenees Nebbiolo

91/100
Medium-full red with a purple trim, bright and attractive. There are dried-herb, sweet berry and floral aromas, more fruity and aromatic than expected of nebbiolo, while the palate is medium-bodied and quite mild in its tannins. Gentle sweet berry fruit leads. It’s a moderately complex, fruit-driven wine, pretty and easygoing—just a mild kick of firmness lingering on the farewell to remind us of the grape.
Drink: 2022–2029

SubRosa 2021 Grampians Viognier 

94/100
Light, bright yellow hue leads into a creamy, talcy, nutty, savoury barrel-fermented style of bouquet, wheaty/mealy and quite complex. The spice/apricot fruit is a little hidden just now. In the mouth, it’s intense and medium-full bodied, with richness and roundness typical of this grape. Long, resonating finish. Very good, but it could benefit from another year to tone down the oak.

Purchase your new release SubRosa wine here.

SubRosa rated in top 10% of Australia’s wineries

Nancy

Real Review Top Wineries 2022 certificateSubRosa has been named as one of the Top Wineries of Australia in 2022 and awarded a Certificate of Excellence according to Huon Hooke and his team at the Real Review.

Rated at 226 (up from 307 in 2021) SubRosa is amongst the top 10% of Australia’s 4,156 wineries.

“We’re very proud that our small batch wines are receiving this recognition,” said Co-founder Nancy Panter. “It’s our aim to produce complex wines that can be enjoyed now or cellared for years and this rating by the Real Review shows we are on the right track.”

According to The Real Review, who review 10,000 wines each year, the Certificate of Excellence is awarded to a select group of wineries that consistently produce excellent wine. The Top Wineries of Australia list is a national benchmark.

Certificate recipients are determined by a proprietary algorithm, which takes into account the rating and recency of reviews by The Real Review team over the assessment period.

Recent reviews include our sold out SubRosa 2020 Grampians Viognier (96 points) and sold out SubRosa 2021 Pyrenees Nebbiolo Rosé.

SubRosa has been recognised in this list of impressive wineries since 2019.

Huon Hooke on our SubRosa 2020 Grampians Viognier:

There is elegance and restraint here as well as intensity and varietal authenticity, all delivered without any heaviness. There are nutty barrel ferment nuances, which are subtle while contributing to complexity. A lovely wine.

Shop our highly rated SubRosa wines here.

SubRosa named in Top Wineries of Australia list for third year

Nancy

SubRosa has been named as one of the Top Wineries of Australia in 2021 and awarded a Certificate of Excellence according to Huon Hooke and his team at the Real Review.

According to The Real Review, who review 10,000 wines each year, the Certificate of Excellence is awarded to a select group of wineries that consistently produce excellent wine. The Top Wineries list is a national benchmark.

Certificate recipients are determined by a proprietary algorithm, which takes into account the rating and recency of reviews by The Real Review team over the assessment period.

Recent reviews include SubRosa 2018 Grampians Shiraz (96 points) and SubRosa 2018 Pyrenees Nebbiolo (93 points).

SubRosa has been recognised in this list of impressive wineries since 2019.

2021 Halliday Wine Companion SubRosa reviews

Nancy

SubRosa wine Halliday Wine Companion

Adam’s done it again, our new release SubRosa wines from the Grampians and Pyrenees have been highly awarded by the team at Halliday Wine Companion. And for the third year in a row, we’re thrilled to be named a five star winery.

Halliday Wine Companion 2021 SubRosa reviews…

2018 SubRosa Grampians Viognier, 94 points + Special Value 

Natural ferment, 15 months in French oak, no fining. Good winemaking presents the attractive characters of the variety, and avoids those less so. Apricot and pear provide the fruit driven input, with some almond-like nuttiness which is probably an oak/varietal synergy. It’s silky and textural but retains a feeling of crispness through the palate and finish. Drink by: 2023

Buy here

Nancy’s tip: Don’t drink our SubRosa Viognier too cold. If you drink our Viognier straight from the fridge the beautiful flavours, texture and aromas will be dulled. Let this wine come closer to room temperature to get the most out it (like a good soft cheese).

2016 SubRosa Pyrenees Nebbiolo, 94 points

Hand-picked fruit from the Malakoff Estate. Matured for 16 months in French oak. Authentically pale in colour, the bouquet offers aromas of cherry, floral perfume, liquorice and woody spice. A just medium-weight palate, quite supple in texture although edged with fine, savoury tannin, the flavours mostly in a slightly tart red berry vein, persisting through the finish. Drink by: 2029

Buy here.

Nancy’s tip: Our SubRosa Nebbiolo is a go-to in our house. Great with pizza or pasta (the variety is from Italy after all), a BBQ or a plate of charcuterie. Enjoy it as the first red of the night in Winter (before you enjoy our Shiraz!) or as your red of choice in Summer.

2017 SubRosa Grampians Shiraz, 92 points 

Shiraz from Great Western, 16 months in French oak. A gamey first impression on the bouquet, a touch of peppery spice, slightly herbal, the fruit a bit reluctant to show itself. More open on the palate with some sweetish, quite generous red berry flavours, lightening off towards the finish. Drink by: 2027

Buy here.

Nancy’s tip: Adam makes our SubRosa wines to age. They are great to drink now too – but we like to let them air a little (5-10 minutes). You don’t need a fancy decanter to airate your Grampians Shiraz. You can decant our wine in any china or glass jug.

SubRosa Monseigneur Grampians Cabernet Sauvignon, 92 points

Hand-picked fruit from Great Western, matured for 16 months in French oak. 70 dozen made. Blackcurrant, green herb and a touch of mint/eucalypt on the bouquet. It’s ripe and solid in flavour through the palate and with good length, the tannin mostly unobtrusive but providing some grip on the finish. A bit more bottle age will only do it good. Drink by: 2030

Buy here. 

Nancy’s tip: This is a special wine. Our only Cabernet. Adam has worked in the world’s best Cabernet regions (Margaret River, Bordeaux and Napa Valley) producing outstanding wines. It won’t be our last Cabernet.

Congratulations Adam for crafting our amazing SubRosa wines. It’s not easy working with small batches.

SubRosa rated in top 10% of Australian wineries

Nancy

The Real Review Top Wineries of Australia 2020SubRosa has been named as one of the Top Wineries of Australia in 2020 and awarded a Certificate of Excellence according to Huon Hooke and his team at the Real Review.

Rated #225 on the list, it places SubRosa (with only seven reviews) in the top 10% of Australia’s 2468 wineries.

We’re in good company in the Grampians wine region with Best’s (14), Mount Langi Ghiran (45), Seppelt (56) and ATR Wines (100) all featuring in the top 10%.

According to The Real Review, who review 10,000 wines each year, the Certificate of Excellence is awarded to a select group of wineries that consistently produce excellent wine. The Top Wineries list is a national benchmark.

Find out more here.

2018 SubRosa Grampians Viognier rated #1 Viognier in Australia*

Nancy

SubRosa 2018 Grampians ViognierLeading independent wine writer Huon Hooke has rated the 2018 SubRosa Grampians Viognier #1 in Australia. He awarded the wine 94 points along with Top Value and Top Rank for The Real Review in April 2020.

SubRosa winemaker Adam Louder appreciates the accolade for the little known variety in Australia.

“Viognier is a great white variety for red wine wine drinkers. It’s more full-bodied and has complexity that evolves over time,” said Adam.

SubRosa prides itself on making delicious wines that are value for money, and it’s wonderful to see reviewers like James Halliday, Huon Hooke and Mike Bennie recognise this.

Viognier is a very versatile wine, it can be paired with white meat, seafood and with even lamb.

Huon Hooke, The Real Review, April 2020:

Medium yellow, bright colour, with a complex and expressive aroma of spiced honey and poached stone-fruits, the oak component evident in the spiciness of the palate as well. There is richness and body, texture and fruit, but also delicacy and refinement. The varietal character is well in evidence but not overpowering. A superb viognier, the finish long and elegant.

In 2019, SubRosa was awarded a Real Review Certificate of Excellence and named in the Top Wineries for Australia.

A complete list of the top 20 Australian Viognier’s (2018 vintage) is available at The Real Review.

Buy SubRosa 2018 Grampians Viognier here.

Find Nancy’s recipe for Chicken Pesto Pasta paired with SubRosa Grampians Viognier here.

Want to know what temperature to serve your Viognier? Find out here.

*On 29 April 2020.

The Real Review The Real Review SubRosa Grampians ViognierThe Real Review silver ribbonThe Real Review Top ValueThe Real Review Top Rank

Winter news: Rave reviews, guilty pleasures + changing nappies

Nancy

Winter in the Grampians. Green grass, cool sunny days and wood fires. Hearty beef stew, lamb shanks and ragu…all with a glass of award-winning SubRosa shiraz.

Sounds relaxing, but there’s no time to hibernate at SubRosa HQ this winter – we’re busy bottling, exporting, hosting tastings, oh, and changing nappies. More about our bundle of joy later…

We’re also celebrating! It’s official, James Halliday loves our wines. We’ve got great big silly grins plastered all over our shiraz stained faces because James Halliday awarded our wines fantastic scores in his 2020 Wine Companion. You can buy all the wines featured in our online store or search for stockists here.

This is a big deal for our small winery, but wait, there’s more: we’re also thrilled to be named in The Real Review’s Top Wineries of Australia 2019 list; and have our humble 2016 SubRosa Nebbiolo declared by one industry expert as his “guilty pleasure wine”.

Winemaker Adam is out and about with tasting events in Sydney and Melbourne but before he heads off, it’s time to throw another log on the fire and pour ourselves a nice glass of shiraz while we have a quiet moment. Join us? Order our 2016 SubRosa Malakoff Estate Shiraz now!

Stay warm x

Nancy and Adam

Read the latest enews from SubRosa here.

2020 Halliday Wine Companion scores released!

Nancy

The eagerly awaited James Halliday Wine Companion 2020 scores are out and we’re pretty happy.

2017 SubRosa Grampians Viognier – 95 points

Hand-picked bunches held in the press for 2 hours for phenolic extraction, cool, wild ferment in barrel, 9 months on gross lees with stirring, 80 dozen made. Great label design. A remarkable achievement: full flavour on a medium to full-bodied palate without any oily phenolics. Buy here

2016 SubRosa Nebbiolo – 94 points

Light, clear colour; perfumed violets and spices, all is calm on the tannin front, a lingering assembly of scents, silky texture. Buy here

2016 SubRosa Grampians Pyrenees Shiraz Viognier – 95 points

A 70/30% regional blend matured for 10 months in French oak, 240 dozen made. The Grampians gives the wine more stiffening – not of tannins or extract, but of fruit flavour, black cherry and blackberry acting in concert. The label design and printing is worth extra points, as is the splash of viognier. Terrific value. Buy here

2016 SubRosa Malakoff Estate Shiraz – 95 points

Hand-picked, matured for 16 months in French oak, only 80 dozen made. The colour is much lighter than expected, and it’s on the lighter side of medium-bodied – but it’s well balanced, expressing its variety and region, its fruit spicy and juicy. And yes, it’s a great drink. Buy here

These excellent scores mean we retain our five star rating.

It’s not easy making amazing wine in small batches. Well done Adam.

Spotlight on Nebbiolo Panel Tasting

Nancy

The team at Young Gun of Wine recently brought together a panel of experts for a blind Australian Nebbiolo tasting and every panelist rated our 2016 SubRosa Nebbiolo in their top six wines!

Here’s an except from the Young Gun of Wine Spotlight on Nebbiolo Panel Tasting.

Nebbiolo. It’s one of those revered words. The lights dim. Eyes widen. The chatter quietens to a murmur. Well, metaphorically at least. For those held in its thrall, nebbiolo holds a grip like no other grape.

Nebbiolo is a paradox, a combination of elements that shouldn’t make sense. But they do. It tends to higher alcohol, but rarely becomes rich and sweet fruited in doing so. Even at high ripeness, it maintains nervy acidity, set against profound tannins. It can be fragrantly pretty and floral, as well as ruggedly mineral and dry toned – and often simultaneously so. It conveys nuance of site like few varieties, and it can produce staggeringly long-lived wines. It is like no other grape…

Our panel was made up of: Jane Lopes, Beverage Director at Attica; Leanne Altmann, Beverage Director for Andrew McConnell’s restaurants; winemaker Ben Haines of Ben Haines Wine; Kayleen Reynolds, manager of the City Wine Shop; Gavin Cremming, Group Sommelier for the Van Haandel Group; and Christian Canala, director of Vinify wine Co. All wines were tasted blind…

2016 SubRosa Pyrenees Nebbiolo

Canala called this his “guilty pleasure wine,” remarking on the “sweetly fruited core, and a tight packaging of the tannin, just a pleasure.” Cremming enjoyed the depth and commented on the “Well-layered red cherry and wild red fruit, classic dried herb,” while Canala saw “wizz fizz, cherry ripe and some baking spice.” “Tannins are present as expected, but a vibrant acidity gives freshness to the wine,” concluded Cremming.

You can read the entire article here.

Buy SubRosa Nebbiolo

SubRosa named in The Real Review’s Top Wineries of Australia 2019 list

Nancy

We’re excited to be one of Australia’s top wineries according to Huon Hooke and his team at the Real Review.

With four wines reviewed, we feature at position #194 and were awarded a Certificate of Excellence.

According to The Real Review, who review 10,000 wines each year, The Real Review Certificate of Excellence is awarded to a select group of wineries that consistently produce excellent wine. The Top Wineries list is a national benchmark.

Find out more here.

Mike Bennie – The Winefront, scores SubRosa new release reds 93-95 points

Nancy

 

Adam Louder (L) and Mike Bennie
Adam Louder (L) and Mike Bennie

Mike Bennie’s one of a kind. Wine writer, critic, host, presenter, judge and entrepreneur, he’s an encyclopedia of wine knowledge. If you get the chance, go to an event hosted by Mike, you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous time and walk away a little more knowledgeable about wine and many other things!

We love showing our wines to Mike. He’s a straight shooter and Adam responds candidly to his direct questions. Mike has a way to capture and share Adam’s winemaking thoughts, ambitions and processes in his reviews.

Adam showed Mike our wines on a recent trip to Sydney, here are a few review highlights.

2016 SubRosa Pyrenees Nebbiolo – 94 points

“…Style-wise it reminds me a bit of Olek Bondonio’s wines of Barbaresco.

It’s a vibrant, pure-feeling expression, loaded with perfume, lashed with savoury, iron-filing and graphite-tannins, bright in fruit flavour, dusted with attractive spice. There’s also a distinct vibrancy here, a cheery, cherry-kissed feel that’s easy for earlier access, despite there being cool, amaro-like acidity and a sheath of building tannin. It drives assertively then lingers with sappy fruit and minerally feel. It’s such a pleasure. It’s great.”

2016 SubRosa Grampians Pyrenees Shiraz – 93 points

“Beefy kind of wine but still holds a dedicated freshness and vitality, despite the rich, darker fruits, sense of earthiness, strong lick of dark choc-liquorice. The glossy texture is lovely, a light burr of tannins adds more grunt. It’s not a huge wine, per se, but it is memorable in the way bolder flavour can stain the palate and mind. It’s done well.”

2016 SubRosa Malakoff Estate Pyrenees Shiraz – 95 points

“… if you haven’t cottoned onto SubRosa, you should. You’ll be thanking yourself down the trail when these start commanding higher prices and generally being difficult to find. No doubt.

Svelte, seamless, succulent wine. Dark cherry, sarsaparilla, lavish spice scents, with all this doubling back into the palate. It slips softly over the palate leaving a slick of that spice and blackcurrant fruit character, with tannins just gently holding shape. If you like ‘syrah’, let’s say, with some concentration, this is excellent.”

New release: 2017 SubRosa Grampians Viognier scores 94 points

Nancy

SubRosa Viognier ice bucketOur first Grampians Viognier, released in November 2018, is delicious. Adam sourced Viognier grapes from the Grampians region in 2017 and has crafted a “complex, highly drinkable” wine according to Winefront’s Mike Bennie.

Viognier is an aromatic white wine that has plenty of texture, acidity and flavour and pairs well with almost anything! It’s a very versatile variety for sharing with friends and family. Try pairing it with seafood, spicy Asian dishes, pork, chicken or even lamb.

Red wine drinkers often enjoy SubRosa Viognier as it is a fuller-bodied white wine, has plenty of texture and has had some time in French oak. Viognier is sometimes used to blend with Shiraz to provide additional aroma, texture and complexity.

“Viognier is similar to Chardonnay, but more exotic,” says Adam. “Our 2017 Grampians Viognier has flavours of ripe stone fruit, spicy notes and a touch of citrus.”

Order today to have a bottle on hand for your next gathering.

Top Tips:

  1. For greatest flavour, make sure to take your Viognier out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before your first glass as it should be served at 11-13C.
  2. If you have the willpower, try cellaring a few bottles and observing how the wine evolves over the next five – six years.
  3. Viognier is known as one of the most versatile food pairing varietals as its acidity can complement a wide variety of foods – especially those with a high fat content. Surprise your guests by pairing it with your next lamb roast.

Mike Bennie – Winefront 94 points
Slick texture but keeps things fresh and the finish is surprisingly tight, saline and peppery, at once. Has plenty of pear and apricot going on, but never teeters into nectar or overt, instead, tight and heightened with light nutty-woody spice. It’s awesome. Complex, highly drinkable, should also cellar well.

Points : 94 points
Tasted : NOV 18
Alcohol : 13.5%
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2018 – 2022

SubRosa – named one of the 10 best new wineries in Australia

Nancy

Halliday Wine Companion 2019 front coverThe annual Halliday Wine Companion is out! And the team at SubRosa is excited to be recognised by James Halliday in his list of “Ten of the best new wineries”.

Excerpt from: Halliday Wine Companion 2019, 10 of the best new wineries

“Each of these wineries achieved a five-star rating for its first appearance in the Halliday Wine Companion guide – no small feat.”

“SubRosa – When Adam Louder and partner Nancy Panter were trying to come up with a name for their winery-to-be, a dictionary fell open at the page reading, ‘happening or done in secret – origin Latin “under the rose” (the rose an emblem of secrecy)’. Cryptic crossword fare, and more wines like those of their first release will steal the limelight.”

Join the club

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Rave reviews from Huon Hooke for our new release wines