By Christine Salins.
Bill Shrapnel
Colmar is one of the prettiest towns in France, and it’s not just me saying that. Look it up and you’ll see that many agree. Located in the Alsace wine region, Colmar has many attractions including a wonderful museum honouring the work of Jean-Jacques Waltz, better known as Hansi, whose charming illustrations of village life are on products in every shop window in Alsace.
That Colmar also happens to be the name of a winery in Orange, NSW, is no coincidence. Bill Shrapnel fell in love with the wine regions of France, including Alsace, during a cycling trip there years ago. He and his wife Jane founded Colmar Estate in 2013 when they bought an established 6-hectare vineyard on the slopes of Mt Canobolas.
At 980 metres above sea level, it is one of Australia’s highest vineyards, the cool but sunny days enabling the slow development of flavours. The result is pristine, high-quality fruit. Having grafted many of the vines over to varieties more suited to the site, their plantings are now predominantly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. Smaller amounts of Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Shiraz are also grown.
Bill believes 2022 was their best Riesling vintage to date and if the wines tasted here are anything to go by, he certainly has plenty to crow about.
“2022 was the latest harvest we have experienced,” he says. “Whereas we normally pick our Riesling in March, in 2022 we started picking on the 19th of April, and finished on the 3rd of May. Ultimately, we harvested the most beautiful Riesling we have seen – clean as a whistle, beautifully ripe and with scintillating acidity.”
The great thing about the Rieslings here is that they vary in style, which makes things really interesting, yet there’s a common thread in their gentle elegance.
“It is an exciting time in Orange for Riesling,” says Bill. “In nine years, we haven’t seen the quality of the 2022 vintage — wonderful aromas, strikingly beautiful flavours, great purity, and sizzling acidity. Taking inspiration from the best European Riesling producers, we are exploring new styles with the objective of producing distinctive, regional wines.”
Colmar Estate 2022 Reserve Riesling, $55: Sleek and delicious, this is one classy wine. So much effort has gone into building complexity: a component of early-picked fruit had extended skin contact, another component was matured in seasoned French puncheons, a later-picked component was fermented in stainless steel. Flavours of green apple and lime blend harmoniously with a touch of lemon meringue at the finish.
Colmar Estate 2022 ‘Block 5’ Riesling, $45: The grapes for this were grown barely 100 metres from the Reserve wine, yet they are very different. For starters, this is a lot lighter and finer. It was fermented in stainless steel, with the fermentation arrested just before dryness. Still, it’s not sweet, just missing the mouth-puckering acidity and minerality that you might expect. Instead, it’s more like a lime cordial or lemon sorbet type of sweet. This is my pick of the three: outstanding.
Colmar Estate 2022 Riesling 2022, $35: This ‘entry level’ Riesling is not entry level in price, but it has loads going for it if you want to begin your Riesling journey here. Most of the fruit was fermented in stainless steel, with a small amount fermented with extended skin contact for more complexity. The result is medium-dry with appealing flavours of pine/lime splice.
