Jester Hill 2016 Touchstone Sangiovese

Sangiovese has a slightly different relationship with The Granite Belt than most other varieties grown there. You won’t find much of it on the Belt. I remember a conversation a few years back at Boireann with Peter Stark, Peter told me he wouldn’t recommend to anyone to grow sangiovese on The Granite Belt. The comment surprised me as I had just tasted an excellent La Cima Sangiovese made by Peter. When I remarked about this Peter said, “It’s a lot of trouble”. In October 2019 I was talking to Mick Bourke from Jester Hill Wines, I told him of my conversation with Peter and Mick said Sangio on The Granite Belt demands your attention and often so, if some vines are going to need something then it’s always likely to be Sangio, it can be a lot of trouble so many people may not want to expend the effort/resources. Perhaps the word that captures the relationship between Sangiovese and The Granite Belt is ambivalent. Mick said in years that the Sangio requires too much nurturing he makes a Rosé.

2016 was obviously the love side of the ambivalent relationship. This is 100% estate fruit, the colour is a mix of red/black cherries, the wine is just a little reluctantly redolent but given enough time shows spice and berries and a hint of oak (European Oak according to the back label). The palate is in the savoury/dry spectrum red and sour black cherry fruit, hints of raspberries, a particularly enjoyable smooth texture glides along from early to the late palate with accompanying spices, gentle oak support and finishes with a lick of tannin/acid drive. The wine is light, but not weak, it has complexity and interest, it’s a great food wine. All in all this is a very clean, dry, fruit expressive example of the variety with surprising length as the wine is given time and really opens up and it displays what is an almost trademark Granite Belt minerality – I’m enjoying this one immensely.

Out of interest I opened a 2015 Pikes Premio Sangiovese and did a side by side comparison with this Jester Hill. The Premio is only made in exceptional years and it’s a wine I have often enjoyed. The colours at depth and meniscus of the two wines match well. The Premio is 14% a/v, it certainly has similarities but is a little sweeter, the tannin profile is pretty much the same but the mineral qualities aren’t evident. These are both good wines the Premio would be better suited to Brisbane winters whereas the Jester Hill works well all year round. Regardless both myself and my wife, at this stage of the wines development, have a slight preference for the Jester Hill, so kudos to Mick Bourke.

Tasted: Saturday 25th January, 2020 without food and then with over several hours.  Re-tasted the next day after breathing in refrigerated bottle overnight.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Suggested Drinking Window: Now to 2025

Posted by Peter Pacey

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