TZIMMUKIN

A few years back I had the pleasure of spending some time with Geoff Hardy of K1 by Geof Hardy. We had a good night at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide South Australia and a couple days later a day at the beautiful Cellar door in the  in the Kuitpo region in the southern Adelaide Hills. in the southern tip of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

 Geoff showed me around the vineyards and the property and the new home he was building overlooking one of the spectacular lakes on the property. This was all followed up by a comprehensive tasting of the current release wines.  His son Sebastian took me through the wines in
their beautiful tasting room.

When you visit the K1 cellar door you can experience their wines in a spectacular lakeside tasting room, the centerpiece of which is a hand crafted tasting bench made by Geoff from a 400 year old red gum from his Limestone Coast vineyard.

Finding many great wines, a few were purchased for sharing with family and friends. One that did not get shared and came to be carried back to California was the 2007 TZIMMUKIN.

So here it was early 2017, 10 years after bottling and the temptation to drink it was more than I could take and the bottle was opened.

Tzimmukin is made from slightly raisined grapes. This style goes back to Babylonian times and the Tzimmukin was one of the more popular styles of wine created back then. Geoff has followed that ancient technique and style of producing the wine from air dried grapes. Using the beautifully elegant cool climate grapes of the Adelaide Hills Geoff basket dried the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon and produced a spectacular wine that has to be tasted to understand.
When I first tasted it in 2013 this wine really caught my attention with its beautiful full silky mouth feel and wonderful blackberry and blueberry fruits with a hint of stewed fruit character that you might expect. What I did not expect was the lovely balance and incredible complexity. Seb recommended that I sit on it foe a few years to really get an understanding of how this wine will evolve. Well as I mmmm'ed (technical term) my way through the bottle I was really annoyed at myself for only purchasing the one bottle. The dark, intense Tzimmukin, full-bodied, with notes of black cherry, plum, eucalyptus and cinnamon undertones, has a lovely palate weight and with silky tannin's combine to surprise the palate in the best possible way.
Note to self - when you come across something special, get more than one!

Must head back for a visit the next time in Adelaide.

Happy Tasting Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout