Ruggabellus - Eden Valley
We have just received the new releases from store favourite Ruggabellus. Always a great time when we receive these, though always few and far between. Very limited stock of the premium wines as usual. - FWC.
"Emma and I are grateful to do what we do. We love seeing our wines offered in good places. To see them contributing to memorable dining experiences has been a foundation upon which our style of wine has been built. This year we have made the decision to release well before the Spring. A few years experience has taught us how valuable it is to be in our vineyard at that time of year, and a string of low yielding years has driven home that importance. This tricky period has provided a good time for us to reflect. We’ve come a long way. The vision is still much the same - to make small amounts of thoughtful, age worthy wine - to be enjoyed with friends and food in their youth, and as they age - evoke a sense of wonder for those who have made the effort to cellar them." - Abel Gibson, Ruggabellus.
Ruggabellus Quomodo 2019
310 bottles made. This is from our home block, Eden valley, planted in the 1930’s, 500m above sea level. A single barrel. Early on it didn’t look like this wine would get there. It simply lacked the balance we seek. I grappled with the reds from 2019 also. If you recall, we only released an Efferus in that year with the seriously dry Spring. Many hours of thought and blending has resulted in us using a little bit of our ‘special aged’ Riesling in this Quomodo blend. Since 2012 we have been carefully building a reserve of long aged Riesling from our home block as a base to draw upon for a sparkling wine (yet to be released). This small addition to the Quomodo (from the same vineyard - about 11%) has lifted it into a zone that we are extremely proud of. Abel Gibson.
Sheesh, this is serious orange wine. And in that, welcomed. It’s deeply umber in colour. Scents like hazelnut, ginger biscuits, dried apple, quince and tonic water. Flavours similarly set but with green apple, peach, faint white balsamic in tow. It’s intense, it’s deep and chewy and dry, it’s a feast for the senses and wonderfully so. It demands attention (and probably food) and asks the drinkers to sit up straight. It feels textural and interesting and complex. It does refreshment factor and potent, layered wine in a breath. It is really fantastic. If not, a lot, so go with friends and share. Drink 2023-2035, 96 Points – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Ruggabellus Fluus NV
This year sees the return of Fluus, albeit not quite as it used to be. With the reality of low yielding harvests sinking in, our good friend Dave offered us the opportunity to purchase a few small parcels of Syrah and Gamay from the Adelaide hills. We gave it a go. I'm glad we did. It was a real treat to guide some Gamay grapes into wine (it is one of our favourite varieties to drink here at home). The Fluus is a blend of 71% barrels from 2021 and 29% from 2022. It is a blend of Adelaide hills Syrah 43%, Barossa Grenache 22%, Barossa Cinsault 18% and Adelaide hills Gamay 17%. It’s important to us that the Fluus is aromatic, succulent and a food friendly red. The inclusion of Syrah and Gamay from the hills (for this release only) has helped us achieve that. Abel Gibson.
So Fluus has shifted a few gears with this release. Small yields over the years have forced the hand and sparked creativity. Exciting. This is 71% barrels from 2021 and 29% from 2022, as a start, it is also a mix of syrah (Adelaide hills) 43%, grenache (Barossa) 22%, cinsault (Barossa) 18% and gamay (Adelaide Hills) 17%. There ya go. Cork sealed now.
It’s such a delight. Such. Slurpy but with cool threads of alpine herbs, peppery spice, sleek tannin and red and black cherry fruit characters. The tension is there too, tannins sweeping through and holding the juiciness in, a slight chomp through the finish lending authority. It feels elegant in a way, but the drinkability is all charm. A pinosity of sorts emerges, despite the depth of fruit and spice. Energy is another word to be thrown into the mix here – it feels very alive and vibrant with each sip. Jeepers. Too good. Drink 2023-2028, 95 Points – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Ruggabellus Timaeus Grenache 2022
670 bottles made. From two tiny little vineyards, both on sandy soils and one in particular is very close to the defining waterway of the Barossa valley - the north Para river. As a result, the sand here has a long history of deposition from a intriguing diversity of sources upstream. The old vines have been tapping into this interesting resource for many years now. This is the reason they continue to provide fruit laden with beautiful, subtle complexity and layers of flavour. Abel Gibson.
Gosh I liked this. Mea culpa, I drank the bottle with friends. Wonderful to touch base with these wines again. Feels like ages. Ruggabellus has shifted back to cork and heavier glass bottles now.
It drinks with a freshness, an edgy crispness that could unsettle the traditionalists, but once you settle into the wine, mellow, soft, dark fruited, licked at with alpine herbs, mintiness, game meat, the world feels right. It’s wonderfully balanced in its brighter framework and yet there’s depth and richness in tow. It’s fragrant, supple, moreish, sour-sweet and so strongly herby. I utterly love it, and it feels classy. Well, well done. Drink 2023-2030, 95 Points – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Ruggabellus Efferus 2019
Usually the wine that speaks loudly of Mataro and from vineyards around the Barossa. Gosh, Ruggabellus wines have such charisma. Fresh and dark fruited, inky and potent yet lifts on game meat, clove and cinnamon spice. a blood orange juice slosh and light, herbal detail. Lots of perfume, a fog of dark berries, woody spices and fresh turned earth and undergrowth. Lovely stuff. Long in flavour, sappy and then a building rumble of silty tannins to conclude the wine with nutty, gamey characters lingering. Not a heavy wine, but one with lots of presence, savouriness and depth. Very good. Drink 2021-2029, 93 Points – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
