2021 Edenflo ‘Lemon Krush’ Eden Valley

With semillon taking the lead, the 2021 ‘Lemon Krush’ is an essay in citrus, from a lemon-scented fragrance to the refreshingly drying pucker of lemon barley water gifted by Wardlaw’s masterly hand with skin contact.

Producer
Edenflo
Region

Eden Valley
RRP

$35
Vintage

2021
Variety/Varieties

Chardonnay Semillon Viognier
Alc./Vol.

10.5%

Andrew Wardlaw was making lo-fi wines well before the term entered the winemaking lexicon, and his subtle mastery is evident in what is becoming his flag-bearing wine. With semillon taking the lead, the 2021 ‘Lemon Krush’ is predictably an essay in citrus, from a lemon-scented fragrance to the refreshingly drying pucker of lemon barley water gifted by Wardlaw’s masterly hand with skin contact.

Tasting note

Semillon with a splash of chardonnay and viognier, this is a hazy pale gold, with aromas of lemon barley water, lemongrass, wild grasses, quinine and orchard blossom scents. There’s a pucker of lemon barley water, or lemon juice in water, on the palate, a subtle saline note and a gentle web of skinsy tannins, giving this plenty of quenching and thirst-making appeal all at once, yellow and orange citrus flavours fanning out on the finish.

Themes of this wine

Semillon

In league with sauvignon blanc and muscadelle, semillon is responsible for the dry whites of Bordeaux, as well as the great sweet wines of Sauternes, Barsac et al. In Australia, semillon found its own unique niche in the Hunter Valley, making low alcohol, super-bright and zippy wines that age for decades, while in Margaret River it is more often than not blended with sauvignon blanc to make the region’s signature aromatic white.

Chardonnay

With an explosion of interest over the last few decades, chardonnay is now the world’s most planted white grape. With its ability to grow in varied conditions and make everything from sparkling wine, to lean and mineral whites, to full-bodied textural expressions, it is perhaps no surprise to see Burgundy’s key white grape become so dominant.

Viognier

A highly aromatic grape, viognier is very distinctly scented with apricot, which can vary from the flesh, to the kernel, to apricot blossom, and those characters can be extremely exotic when quite ripe. It is also a grape that is quite phenolic but with low acidity. So, ripe examples will tend to be luscious and rich with high alcohol. Picked earlier and the apricot notes are more delicate, with acidity more of a feature.

Skin contact

The skins hold the colouring matter and lots of tannin. Leave them in contact with the juice/wine and you’ll extract those elements. Most conventional white wine sees no skin contact, rosé a little bit to get a blush, and red wine plenty to get the colour and structure. Skin-contact whites… well, they have some skin contact. Yep. More colour, more tannin and a different flavour profile.

Eden Valley

Eden Valley is the higher altitude section of the Barossa zone, nestling up against the Adelaide Hills and being meaningful cooler than its neighbour, the Barossa Valley. Riesling and shiraz are the key varieties, both typically being cast in an elegant light, with shiraz fragrant and lifted, though still with plenty of power, while riesling is characterised by race and verve.

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The ‘Fresh Prince’ marshals a quartet of red varieties with decent crossover on a Venn diagram but are rarely all seen together, offering a fragrantly floral and spicy nose, with earthy notes, red and dark fruits and a palate of chewy, grapey tannins and fresh zip.

Producer
Edenflo
Region

Eden Valley
RRP

$32
Vintage

2020
Variety/Varieties

Cabernet sauvignon Grenache Pinot noir Shiraz (Syrah)
Alc./Vol.

12%

Edenflo’s Andrew Wardlaw turns out classically fragrant expressions of Eden Valley syrah, but it is perhaps his eccentric approach to blending and guerrilla winemaking that is making the biggest waves. The ‘Fresh Prince’ marshals a quartet of red varieties with decent crossover on a Venn diagram but are rarely all seen together, offering a fragrantly floral and spicy nose, with earthy notes, red and dark fruits and a palate of chewy, grapey tannins and fresh zip.

Tasting note

A blend of pinot noir, grenache, syrah and cabernet sauvignon, with no variety dominating, rather the whole meshes neatly, with notes of red fruits and earthy dark ones, dusky blue and red florals, cassia, star anise, plum skin, woodsy herbs and a leafy lift to close. This is midweight, with pithy, grapey tannins, giving this a charmingly chewy feel, with bright acidity providing a fresh lift. Unadorned with oak or other trappings, this is a natural-feeling wine of bright purity and fresh drive, layered with spicy detail.

Themes of this wine

Eden Valley

Blending

Most wines are a blend of some sort. It may be a blend of the same variety from the same vineyard, but with different blocks, clones, aspects, picking dates, ferments and then barrels (if barrel aged), each batch is a little different. Sometimes everything goes back in, and sometimes a winemaker will select the parcels to make a particular style of finished wine or just the best wine they can. This principle is used across varieties, too, with many traditional regions in the Old World blending across varieties to make a complete whole, with some grapes adding fragrance or fruit depth, some tannin, some acid… the art of the blender is to get the balance right. Increasingly, winemakers are breaking the established rules of these classic blends, making surprisingly new expressions from varieties that have rarely shared a bottle prior.

Pinot noir

Pinot noir is one of the wine world’s most revered grapes. Notoriously fickle to grow and make, it makes what many see as the pinnacle of red wine in France’s Burgundy, but it’s also found many happy homes around the world, and none more so than in Australia across our cooler viticultural regions.

Grenache

The great grape of the Southern Rhône, grenache, has also found many homes around the world, from Spain, to Italy, to California, while Australia is home to the world’s oldest productive grenache vines, planted in 1948. Today, a renaissance is seeing the grape championed, with makers in McLaren Vale arguably turning out the most compelling examples.

Syrah/shiraz

Shiraz dominates the Australian wine industry, accounting for nearly a third of this country’s vines. The grape’s traditional home is in France’s Northern Rhône, with wines that combine elegance and power, while Australia is perhaps best known for the muscular styles from warmer areas. Today, drinkers of Australian shiraz are spoilt for choice with expressions ranging from the elegant and spicy to the monumental.

Cabernet sauvignon

The world’s most prolific wine grape, cabernet sauvignon has been planted in Australia since the first days of viticulture here. Today, its prime homes are arguably Margaret River and Coonawarra, but the Yarra Valley and even the Hunter Valley also mount very convincing cases. It’s spiritual home, though, is in France’s Bordeaux region, where it is responsible for some of the world’s most famous and expensive wines.

2021 Edenflo ‘Lemon Krush’ Eden Valley

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Semillon

Chardonnay

Viognier

Skin contact

Eden Valley

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Eden Valley

Blending

Pinot noir

Grenache

Syrah/shiraz

Cabernet sauvignon

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