Marius News

At the end of this month the new novel by Booker Prize winning Australian author DBC Pierre, "Lights Out in Wonderland", published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, will hit the shelves. Myself, my vineyard and Marius wines are featured in the book as an integral part of the story and the wines are a recurring theme in the plot.

Fantastic vintage. All the Shiraz is now in barrel and I am very excited about it. Very early days but this could be the best we have done so far. The Mourvedre is looking great too and I am planning to pick it on Thursday 25th March. It is bloody good to have a year like this after the last three tough vintages.

I am pleased to announce that I am planning to release the 2007 vintage wines on April 30th. That is one day before the release of Penfolds Grange so you will have the opportunity of deciding between a couple of dozen Marius or a bottle of Grange!

The wines will be the 2007 Simpatico, Symphony and Symposium. 2007 was a very low yielding year and the wines are very good so I would suggest that you strike while the iron is hot!

Stocks of the 2005 Symphony and 2006 Simpatico are now down to just a few cases so act now if you want some for the cellar. I have decided to hold back a quantity of the 2006 Symposium for a cellar/museum release somewhere down the track as I think that it will be (even more) fantastic with a bit more bottle age.

I have decided to close membership at the current level and institute a waiting list system on 30th June. If you have any friends or family that are interested I suggest that they join before that date.

The reason that I have come to that decision is to ensure that I am able to look after the current members. It is likely that Marius will be receiving some positive publicity later this year which may result in increased demand for our wines and, if that happens, I do not want to be allocating bottle quotas to people that have supported me for years.

Once the waiting list system is operating there will need to be some culling of the membership list. There are a number of members who have never purchased any wine from us and they will be progressively culled to allow entry for those that do wish to buy. If you are in that category but you wish to remain a member just email me and I will leave you on the list. If you have previously purchased wine from us your membership will continue.

2000 Shiraz - This has really fulfilled its promise. The fruit is still centre stage with predominantly dark plum flavours and the French oak has folded in seamlessly. Still smooth textured with a lovely balanced structure. However, I would drink this now as there is a significant degree of bottle variation which I put down to the corks.

2002 Shiraz – Still incredibly youthful. A savoury bouquet of dark fruits, cedary French oak, charcoal and boot polish. Blackberry and blueberry fruits with spice, licorice and chocolate. Full-bodied and vibrant with savoury complexity, I reckon this still has its best years to come.

2003 Shiraz – A tough vintage but this wine never ceases to surprise me. Drinking beautifully now. Quite an earthy nose with blackberry, olive and herbs, A rich palate of plum, blackberry, licorice and chocolate with a twist of herbs. No hurry but I don’t see how this can get any better.

2004 Simpatico – Black and red fruits, earth, spice and leather on the nose. A rich, complex palate of black and red fruits, spice, leather and tobacco. This wine looks better, and more interesting, every time I taste it. Save a couple for the long term.

2004 Symphony – This is an absolute ripper! Succulent, sweet, rich fruit with a little cedar and cigar box on the nose. Rich, vibrant and intense red, blue and black berry flavours, tobacco, earth, chocolate and dried herbs fill the mouth. Really creamy tannins. Very difficult not to drink all of this now but if you have the required patience, restraint and self-discipline I am sure that it will be rewarded.

2005 Simpatico – Quite floral with cedar, blueberries, chocolate and leather on the nose. Real savoury complexity on the palate with dark cherries, raspberry, chocolate, coffee and aniseed. No sign of tiring but I would be tempted to drink this now, maybe with Italian food, while it is still juicy and grippy!

2005 Symphony – Rich fruit, chocolate and cedary oak jump out of the glass, This is a big wine with dark cherries, dark chocolate, coffee, blackcurrant, licorice, leather and a hint of oregano. This wine was a bit arms and legs in its youth but it is now all meshing together quite wondrously! Liberate a bottle or two now but keep some for later.

2005 Symposium – Aromas of rich, sweet, dark fruits, spice and earth roll out from the top of the glass. Flavours of black and blue fruits, cedar, vanilla, spice and savoury earthy characters fill the mouth. Rich, ripe mouth-coating tannins. Probably my most awarded wine, not hard to see why. Years of potential left in this.

2006 Simpatico – Spice and red fruits with earthy and cedary overtones on the nose. Raspberry, black cherry and plum fruit flavours with dark chocolate, black pepper and interesting earthy notes on the palate. Don’t be fooled by the price, this will make very old and interesting bones!

2006 Symposium – Those spicy earthy characters from the Mourvedre jumping out of the glass really set this wine apart. Dark cherries, spiced plums and chocolate clamber out of the savoury, spicy, earthy mystery of this wine. Close to being my favourite, a long and glorious road ahead.

A nice little milestone in the evolution of Marius. We are now rated as a 5 star winery by James Halliday in the 2010 Wine Companion and now included in the list of the best wineries in the region.

Another interesting development is that about twenty McLaren Vale small producers have got together as the Vale Cru. We will be showing our wines at a tasting day at the Victory Hotel at Sellicks on the 20th September 2009. Full details by clicking here.

A good article on Marius by Philip White in the Independent Weekly today. It can be seen here.

The vintage that wasn't! The heatwave hit us at exactly the wrong time during veraison so the normal ripening process was interrupted resulting in inconsistent ripeness of our fruit. I decided that I would not be able to make wines that maintained our standards so there will be no 2009 vintage wines from Marius. The vines are in excellent condition, it was not a case of heat stress and foliage loss, so we expect a return to normal service next year.

I am waiting for the leaves to drop so that I can start pruning. It takes a while as each vine is pruned by hand, according to it's needs, and I am a 'fair weather' pruner, you won't see me out there in the rain.

Our wines continue to get noticed, the 2006 Simpatico was recently awarded 94 points by James Halliday with a suggested optimum drinking time of 2021. It is good to see that the critics are now recognising not only the quality of our wines but also that they have the structure and balance to improve in the cellar.

The 2007 wines are now recovering from the trauma of bottling and are starting to look very good. I am actually quite excited about all the 2007 wines, they are wines of real character. I expect to release them some time later this year when I deem that they are ready.

It will soon be time to take a look at blending the 2008 wines which is also an exciting prospect as a lot of those barrels are singing!

Time for a brief update. The first signs of budburst in the vineyard always remind me of how quickly time passes, it seems only weeks since the last harvest! I have recently been running through the barrels of the 2008 wines and I am very happy. The wines are already showing very well with fantastic purity of fruit.

I shall be releasing the 2006 Marius Simpatico in about three weeks. This is the third Simpatico and I think that it will prove to be the best yet. I made the decision not to release a 2006 vintage Symphony so the Simpatico has the benefit of some of that premium Symphony fruit.

Well, the 2008 vintage is now behind us. Some weather! Fifteen days at 35° or more at exactly the wrong time. Fortunately we managed to get two thirds of our crop off before the hot spell took hold and the rest before too much shrivel. We had a couple of tricky ferments but I am pleased to say that the Shiraz wines in barrel are now looking fantastic with some really interesting flavours.

This year, for the first time, harvesting was done by volunteers, a great group of people who came along and bent their backs in the hot sun and filled lots of buckets. We had some great days and some memorable characters and some lubrication at the end of the day. Many thanks to all who helped, we'll be doing it again next year.

Unfortunately the Mourvedre was a casualty of the extreme weather so we will not be doing a 2008 Shiraz/Mourvedre.

The upcoming 2008 vintage is looking fantastic at this stage. Flowering and fruit set went perfectly, the rain a week or so ago was perfectly timed and the vineyard looks fresh and healthy without a drop of irrigation water so far this year. The bunches are incredibly long and open this year and I have attached a photo to show you all how good that looks. Veraison is probably not too far away with this warm weather we are having currently and then we just have to let them ripen and pick them!

The 2006 Symposium is getting noticed with great reviews from Campbell Mattinson, Nick Stock and Gary Walsh. It is also gratifying that both the 2005 and 2006 vintages of the Symposium were judged as the top wine in the 'Other Red Blends' class at the McLaren Vale show in 2006 and 2007.

I have recently tasted some back vintages of Marius and I am delighted with the way that they are travelling! The first wine under our label, the 2000 Shiraz is, in my opinion, quite stunning with the fruit having now soaked up the French oak. A wine of power and restraint, it is ready to drink now but should hold well for many years. The 2002 Shiraz is still amazingly youthful, it displays good integration and balance and I am confident that it will stand with the best in years to come. It is a pleasure to drink now but I recommend holding off for at least three years. In contrast, the 2003 Shiraz is ready to go. By that I mean that it is probably entering its optimum drinking window if you like some primary fruit but it is still fresh and vibrant with no signs of falling over.

The 2006 Symposium has recovered from bottling and is looking fantastic, it picked up a Silver medal at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show yesterday in Class 26, red blends, any vintage. It will be released in about a week. It is interesting that, at a couple of informal tastings, it has probably generated more excitement than any of my other wines.

There are some horror predictions out there regarding the 2008 vintage yields but, at this stage, our vineyard is looking good with average fruitfulness. It is early days, in a month we will have flowering and fruit set behind us but at this stage I am optimistic.

The 2005 Simpatico and Symphony are now released. The Symphony is a velvety and intense beast.

An incredible vintage. It is hard to believe that all the Shiraz is now bubbling away in the fermentation tubs and we are still in February. The Shiraz yielded 1.5 tonnes per acre which is certainly on the low side but much better than some of the horror stories I have been hearing. I am very pleased with the quality of the Shiraz; it is early days but the flavours from those tiny berries this year look very promising.

The Mourvedre is looking good and I expect to pick that in about ten days, which is about a month earlier than last year.

The 2005 Simpatico and 2005 Symphony have been bottled and are currently resting. They are wines of structure and are currently scheduled for release in June/July this year.

The January prize draw was won by Mark N of Leura, NSW. Mark will receive a bottle of each of the 2005 Marius Symposium Shiraz/Mourvedre and the 2004 Marius Simpatico Shiraz. The next draw will take place in July 2007 and the winner will receive a bottle of each of the 2005 Marius Simpatico Shiraz and the 2005 Marius Symphony Shiraz.

The 2005 Symposium has been very well received by the critics who have seen it and I just heard today that it was awarded a Gold medal at the McLaren Vale Wine Show. The wine won its class and was the equal highest pointed wine in the show.

The vineyard is looking great with the most consistency across the vineyard that we have ever seen. We are just starting flowering so I have my fingers crossed for some fine weather over the next 2 - 3 weeks.

The 2005 Shiraz/Mourvedre blend, the 'Symposium', has now been bottled. I think that it is a very exciting wine and I shall tell you more about it closer to release, probably in early September.

The winner of the July prize draw was Don J of Nairne in SA. Don has received a bottle of each of the 2003 Marius Shiraz and the 2004 Marius Simpatico. The next draw will take place in January 2007 and the winner will receive a bottle of each of the 2004 Marius Simpatico Shiraz and the 2005 Marius Symposium Shiraz/Mourvedre.

The mail-out for the 2004 vintage wines, the Symphony and the Simpatico, has now gone out to members of the Marius Wine Club. When we have satisfied that demand the wines will go on general release. The wines are very good, I think that they are the best wines yet to carry the Marius label. The response from the critics and others so far has been terrific and I think that both of these wines will attract a lot of interest.

The 2006 vintage is now behind us with all of our wines now in barrel. Everything seemed to go very smoothly this year and the wines look fantastic!

Our 2004 wines were bottled in the first week of February. We are now producing two single vineyard Shiraz from our home block - Marius Simpatico and Marius Symphony. We are very excited about these wines. They are now resting from the ordeals of the bottling line and I shall tell you more about them later. I am planning to release them in May.

The 2006 vintage will start for us in three or four weeks. At this stage the fruit is looking fantastic and slowly ripening in this benign weather we are experiencing this year. Fingers crossed.

I finally got around to drawing the winner of our January prize draw for a bottle of each of the 2002 and 2003 Marius Shiraz. The winner is Catherine B of Fullarton in SA. The next draw will be in July for a bottle of each of the 2003 Marius Shiraz and the 2004 Marius Simpatico. All Australian resident members of the Marius Wine Club are entered in this free draw twice a year so if you are not already a member sign up here.

Budburst is now upon us. I love this time of the year in the vineyard; a sort of re-birth, a new year with the opportunity to do it even better this vintage!

I recently tasted the 2004 Shiraz wines in barrel and they are looking very good. We shall probably bottle in January or February and again the numbers will be small, probably less than 500 cases as 2004 was a prolific yielding vintage and I was probably a little over-enthusiastic in my crop thinning. I would guess that we will be releasing our 2004 vintage wines in May or June next year.

The 2005 vintage may be our best yet. The 2005 in barrel seems to have everything that we strive for. We also decided to stretch our wings a little and we purchased some Mourvedre from a local grower. Mourvedre is also commonly known as Mataro or Monastrell. It is a grape that I like very much which produces wines of meaty and gamy complexity but it is a tricky blighter to grow as it is a late-ripening variety so the baume tends to get up a bit in our climate before those seeds get ripe. Unripe seeds means green tannins so we got them ripe and we may have a 16% alc. wine in 2007! The intention at this time is to release our Shiraz, the Mourvedre and a Shiraz/Mourvedre blend so 2007 will be very interesting for us.

This year has been a tricky one for most people in the wine industry as there is a global wine glut of terrifying proportions. We are ticking along pretty much to budget but I am afraid that we shall see the demise of many small and medium producers over the next couple of years.

I hope that you are all enjoying your wines, whether it has a Marius label on it or not, and please consider joining our wine club, there is the chance to win free wine and you will be guaranteed an allocation of our wine in future years. One day the list will close.