Exploring the fruit-forward wines of Kurtz Family Vineyards
Kurtz Charlie’s Grenache 2022
Grenache may be a varietal most frequently used for blending, but as a single varietal is typically brash, bright and berried! It probably originated in Spain, but shows its best side in hot, dry continental climates like the Barossa Valley in South Australia. There are plenty to choose from, but if you prefer the turbo-charge, beefed up style, you can’t step past the Kurtz Charlie’s Grenache, 2022.
Ripe, rich and robust, the Kurtz version of the Spanish staple is all about fruit. On the nose, raspberry and black cherry characters emerge before a cavalcade of boysenberries, pomegranate and a hint of cranberries caress and cajole the mid-palate, as if daring you to put the glass down and walk away!
The ripeness of the fruit makes taking another sip inevitable, but it’s the plush, spice-laden conclusion that has you reaching for a second bottle. Liquorice, Redskins (remember them?) and the balance of an earthy tobacco herbaceousness restrains the ripeness of the fruit and adds elegance to a powerful wine that wants to rev its throaty engine and chase the V8’s. The equilibrium of acid, spice and tannin is fortuitous – though more likely a product of artisan winemaking than pure serendipity.
At $45 a bottle at cellar door, it’s pretty good value and a jubey, berried alternative to a jammy Barossa Shiraz.
If ever there was a wine made in the likeness of John Cena, this is it. Muscular, stylish and rich, the 2018 Schmick is a masculine style that epitomises classic Barossa shiraz. Deep crimson in the glass, the purple hues on the edges are a foreboding clue to the power of the wine within. Give it a splash and a swirl and scents of purple fruit pastilles appear alongside blackberries and an all-spice edge. Take that first fateful sip (you won’t be able to stop at one!) and mocha and cassis flavours dominate the mid-palate before concentrated blood-plums, ripe black cherries and anise mingle with complex vanillan oak characters across an elongated finish, ably supported by benevolent tannins.
This is the kind of wine that made the Barossa the world’s go-to region for fruit-forward, plush and ripe shiraz. The only downside is the price – when you use only the best basket-pressed barrels from small parcels at the family’s Light Pass vineyard, it can’t be made cheaply. But even at close to $100 a bottle, the elegance and quality more than justifies the price. If it’s not John Cena, then it must be Arnold Schwarzenegger!
Lunar Block Shiraz 2021
Twenty-nine and a half days is the duration of the (synodic) lunar cycle and to my palate, that’s about the length of the finish of the flagship Kurtz red, the Lunar Block Shiraz! A stunning wine that is typically Barossa but which is all about the conclusion where the gravelly tannins seem to lengthen stride and do their best work past the proverbial post.
It’s the classic bookend approach with the real appeal of the Lunar Block being the beginning and the end. Apart from prettiness and mint, the nose gives little away but take a sip and your senses will be greeted by sage and olive tapenade before being overwhelmed by ripe red and black fruits – blackberry, plums, black cherries and dark chocolate. And don’t get me wrong, there is nothing disappointing about the fruit, or the cassis and savoury nuances that congregate on the mid-palate; on the contrary, it’s classy. But the layers, the complexity, the vibrancy of fruit and the elegance of ripe berries are overshadowed by the sophistication of the balance of tight acid and gritty tannins that allow the spices to briefly take centre stage on the front palate, before re-appearing in the encore.
At $85 cellar door, it may be priced a tad below the Schmick Shiraz, but to my unsophisticated palate it’s every bit as good. A worthy contender for wine of the stable!
Wines from Kurtz Family Vineyards will be featured at the Travis Schultz Winemakers Master Class 2025, a fundraising event in support of SunnyKids.