Oliver’s Taranga Brioni’s Blend 2022
- 91
- $35
- Drink by: 2023-2027
Share
What a quirky blend this is. You might be more familiar with Mataro being called Mourvèdre, a structured, earthy variety that thrives in southern France. Touriga hails from Portugal where it adds fragrant violets and elegance to vintage Port. These heat-tolerant varieties are part of Oliver’s Taranga Vineyard’s adaptation to the climate and offer great fun in experimenting with new blends.
The wine is inky purple in colour with Touriga’s violets leaping from the glass. From there it’s fruity and spicy with cherries and plums, cinnamon sticks and star anise.
With Mataro and Touriga leading the blend some bold tannin is to be expected and it’s beautifully handled – a lovely chalky texture and just a hint of mouthwatering chewiness. Baked rhubarb and blackberries shine on the palate with a savoury graphite minerality on the finish.
Nicole loves wine. So much so that she gave up a successful career in Pharmacy, perfected her spitting technique, and moved from sunny Queensland to the wine-drenched laneways of Melbourne. Stints in hospitality, wineries, retail, sales and marketing filled the next few years while Nicole built her knowledge and searched for the right path. She completed the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2016 and became a certified WSET Educator the following year. She now juggles a number of roles including teaching people about wine, curating wines lists for restaurants and bars, judging in Australian wine shows and, of course, writing. In 2016 she won the Negociants Working With Wine writing award and has since contributed to Gourmet Traveller WINE, Halliday Wine Companion Magazine and Nourish Magazine.
