Scarce Earth 2012 - McLaren Vale

Scare Earth is a project created by the McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association.  It was created to explore the diversity of the region to better understand Shiraz, the interaction with the weather as well as the geology, toplogy, etc.

The general idea is:

100% Shiraz
Not too much oak influence
Reflection of the Terroir

Many different wineries submit their wines to be part of the Scarce Earth project, some are made especially for it.  They're then selection each year by a panel for that years Scare Earth Single Block Shiraz.  They're not selected for quality but for how they're reflecting that part of the region...but that said...

Pretty much every wine in this project is going to be good...As much as they say it isn't about quality, I feel quality would be impossible to pass up.  These are all obvious labors of love...more so than their normal wine because in a lot of cases, they're not making money on these wines..these are their fun projects.

Here are the wines for the McLaren Vale Scare Earth 2012 Single Block Shiraz.

Battle of Bosworth 2012 Braden's Single Vineyard Shiraz.
Coriole 2012 Galaxidia Shiraz
Coriole 2012 Willunga 1920 Shiraz
Chapel Hill 2012 The Chosen House Block Shriaz
Chapel Hill 2012 The Chosen Road Block Shiraz
d'Arenberg 2012 Tyche's Mustard Single Vineyard Shiraz
d'Arenberg 2012 The Eith Iron Single Vineyard Shiraz
d"Arenberg 2012 The Amaranthine Single Vineyard Shiraz
Dowie Doole 2012 The Fruit of the Vine - The Architect Shiraz
cradle of hills Mclaren Vale 2012 ROW 23 Shiraz
Five Views Vineyard 2012 Creepers Cut Out Shiraz
Gemtree Vineyards 2012 Stage 7 Shiraz
Fork in the Road 2012 Shiraz
Hugh Hamilton 2012 Black Blood I Shiraz
Hugh Hamilton 2012 Black Blood II Shiraz
Hugh Hamilton 2012 Black Blood III Shiraz
Haselgrove 2012 The Ambassador Single Vineyard Shiraz
Maxwell Wines 2012 Eocene Ancient Earth Shiraz
Mr. Riggs 2012 Scarce Earth Shiraz
Kangarilla Road 2012 Alluvial Clays Shiraz
Penny's Hill 2012 Penny's Hill "Footprint" Shiraz
Shingleback 2012 Unedited Shiraz
Vinerock 2012 Shiraz
Wirra Wirra 2012 Whaite Old Block Shiraz
Shottesbrooke 2012 Single Vineyard Shiraz Blewitt Springs


The wines that stood out to me were:

d'Arenberg 2012 Tyche's Mustard
d'Arenberg 2012 The Amarathine

Both of these exhibited really good acid...firm tannins...very complex fruit and mouthfeel.  Relatively big wines but well structured.

Gemtree Vineyards 2012 Stage 7 Shiraz
Good acidity, dark fruits, good overall structure.  The RRP on this is only 35 which makes this a very good buy.

Wirra Wirra 2012 Whaite Old Block Shiraz
I'm not really a Wirra fan...I'm still waiting for that RSW that I think is good..but this wine IS good..very good.  Good acid, firm but fine tannins, layers of dark fruit, a lot of complexity, great mouthfeel...This wine is very good.  RRP is 130 though.

One thing I noticed was a lot of the wines exhibited really good acidity...but I'm pretty sure a lot of them were adding acid...I got to the point where I ended up just asking..some sort of dodged the question, some said they did acid adjustments but wouldn't say if it was done on this wine..just that they will do acid adjustments...Some just said they don't do that at all...*shrug*.  I'm a bit iffy on the whole subject...On one hand, it can allow them to make a better wine..on the other, I don't want to see wine turn into a can of coke...

Overall I love the concept of this project...I do wish they put a bit more restrictions around the wine but I'm sure this has to do with the fact that these places still need to make money so they need to make wine that they believe they can sell..fair enough.  The other issue is you might have a similar block of land with similar geology and weather, etc....but the wines can be completely different...it becomes very difficult to get a history and understanding without keeping some variables somewhat constant...Or if not that, I'd love to see these guys/gals, who are obviously all fairly good friends with each other, split up some of these blocks and have another winemaker make wine from it...Probably not as easy as it sounds but it would definitely be something fun, something interesting..a great comparison....In any case, they're gathering a lot of data and getting a very good understanding of what they're working with, the material, the geology, etc, and how it may impact their wine or wine that will be made in the future...and I think they're enjoying themselves too which is great to see..