Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2009
The reason the Richters chose the particular plot of land in Glengarry, Tasmania, was so they could make a particular style of Pinot Gris, which as in the Alsatian style without being overblown or fat. They succeeded admirably and the 2009 is a wonderfully fragrant, yet quite dry wine. It starts off with aromas of quince, paw-paw and a touch of elder flowers. On the palate it's quite spicy with rosewater and allspice while the quince remains underneath; Finish is long and dry and moreish. A terrific expression of Pinot Gris!
Franz Scheurer; Wine Notes December 2011; Australian Gourmet Pages online.
Grey Sands 2009 Pinot Gris
Bottled in January 2010, this has all the hallmarks of the true gris style, with deeply ripe stone fruits, light spice, orange zest, savoury mealy complexity, banana, quince and more. The palate’s luscious and really takes it to the edge of a late-harvested style, with deep, oily texture and rich stone-fruit flavours, finishing creamy and long, with a trail of baking spices to close. 94
Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide 2011
Grey Sands 2009 Pinot Gris
Has to be the antidote to cynicism about this variety with its brilliant fruit flavours. 5 Gold Star Wine. 91
Robert Geddes, Australian Wine Vintages 2012
Grey Sands 2009 Pinot Gris
A fine powdery and rather funky young pinot gris whose deep presence of spicy varietal flavour easily handles its winemaking-derived complexity and artefact. Backed by earthy, meaty notes, its musky bouquet of pear, apple and minerals reveals undertones of apricot, clove and nutmeg. Long and smooth, underpinned by a fine, powdery backbone, its pristine palate of pear/apple fruit finishes with lingering hints of cinnamon and lychee and a taut acidity. 94
Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2011
Grey Sands 2006 Merlot
Fresh cherry nose and a generous chocolaty palate with spicy characters
and a good strong tannic backbone give this wine a great finish.
94 points
Australian Wine Showcase, USA Edition, May 2011
Grey Sands 2006 Merlot
Not as plump or fruit-driven plummy as the others, instead it’s elegant, mid-weight and finely structured showing its cool climate credentials in the purity and depth of its herbal/minty, black olive-like fruit, the drive and freshness of its balancing acid and the wine’s delicious life, vitality and food-friendliness. This is what a food wine is all about and, while great drinking now, it still has plenty of time ahead of it. 13.7 pc
The best and most versatile food wine of this lot is the Grey Sands which has the elegance yet sufficient power to grace just about anything from the finest roast beef to a lamb chop or tomato-y pizza. (5 bottles = fabulous)
Sunday Tasmanian, Graeme Phillips, August 2011. (tasting of 6 merlots)
Grey Sands 2006 Merlot
(Tasmania) $35; 13.7%
**** 1/2
Always on the lookout for good Australian merlot, I was really impressed by this. It’s five years old and is just hitting its straps. Alluring, lifted aromas of red fruits, rose petals and fine herbaceous notes lead to complex flavours of redcurrant, mulberry, rhubarb, plum and olive. These delightful flavours are finely balanced with grunty tannins and good acidity. There’s a persistent finish with long, spicy red and black fruit flavours.
Food match - Vitello tonnato
The Weekly Review Magazine by Ben Thomas, May 9th 2011.
Grey Sands Merlot 2006
Glengarry is roughly between Devonport and Launceston in Tasmania and Rita and Robert Richter grow some great fruit there, turning it into terrific wines. I don't think I have ever had a bad Grey Sands in the few years I have been tasting them and the 2006 Merlot is a cracker. The nose perceives savoury notes and bright fruit with overtones of dried, black olives. On the palate it is gentle showing moderate tannins and the fruit wins the battle. Stewed rhubarb and blackberries surface towards the end and the finish is medium long and moreish.
I would pair this wine with a plate of gnocchi or a lovely, crunchy, thin, classic pizza.
Wine Notes - December 2010 by Franz Scheurer, Australian Gourmet Pages spirited@australiangourmetpages.com
Grey Sands Merlot 2006
Good hue; the bouquet is very fragrant, and the palate has clear varietal fruit in a cool-grown mode, with strong olive and herb notes encircling the red fruits; by any measure, Tasmania's best varietal merlot. Not for lovers of McLaren Vale nebbiolo. Diam.
13.7% alc. Rating 94 Drink 2014 $35 Date Tasted Feb 10
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011
Grey Sands Pinot Noir 2008
A complex, savoury pinot with much of the emphasis on structure and texture rather than simple fruit; black cherry/plum flavours have a foresty/briary backdrop; good length. Diam.
14.6% alc. Rating 92 Drink 2014 $40 Date Tasted Feb 10
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2008
Certainly a category leader, this little Tasmanian vineyard is making a big
Impression with this stunning pinot gris. With deeper colour and convincing complexity on the nose, this delivers plenty of ripe fruit and richness, a steely edge as well – there’s honeyed melon and ginger, almost viognier-like. The palate has a smooth, creamy middle-palate texture, with flavours of poached pear and apple tarte tatin, some grilled nuts too. Very long spiced custard flavour at the finish and some fresh shortcrust pastry.
Truly complex and engaging wine – works a charm!
Score:96.
The only entry in the ‘Best of the Best’ Pinot Gris & Pinot Grigio Category.
Nick Stock, The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2010.
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2008
I didn’t visit Grey Sands – alas. At Mark Smith’s suggestion, Rita Richter has subsequently sent me a selection of characterful samples. This fully ripe, 14.6% wine is the most successful Pinot Gris I’ve tried yet in Australia. The scents have great classicism and charm: crystallised fruits and cream. Balanced, vivid, ripe flavours of nougat, dough and preserved citrus with a mineral-salt edge to lend definition and shape.
Andrew Jefford, University of Adelaide Wine Writer in Residence 2009
on line August 2009.
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2008
I'm in love! What a fabulous wine! I opened the bottle of Grey Sands Pinot Gris from Glengarry in Tasmania a couple of nights ago and couldn't believe the complexity, freshness and stunning, very slight effervescent (which I put down to a secondary fermentation in the bottle) that hit my palate. Now I admit that I grew up in Switzerland and all young Swiss white wines (mainly made form the Chasselas grape variety) have a faint aroma of cheese and shine with this slight effervescence that I encountered in this wine; so maybe this just takes me back to my roots. To make sure, I tackled the second half of the bottle last night and the sensation persists, and I still think this is a fabulous wine. On the nose there are aromas of Lilly of the Valley, the scent of a fresh field of flowers after the rain and, yes, it's there, a faint whiff of Gruyère. On the palate it's instantly mouth-filling, fruit forward with a long, very dry finish. This is a great wine, right now. I don't think it will age for many years, but I don't care; this wine will never get old in my house!
Franz Scheurer Australian Gourmet Pages, April 2009.
Grey Sands 2007 Pinot Noir
A promising young pinot whose heady perfume of dark berries, cherries and earthy, meaty undertones of mint, musk and animal hide precede a long, luscious palate whose slightly sour-edged flavours of plums, berries and currants overlie a fine chassis of dusty tannin. It’s savoury and meaty, with an emphatically rich and lingering finish. 92/100
Jeremy Oliver, author of the 'Australian Wine Annual ' Onwine, online
July ’09
Grey Sands 2007 Pinot Noir
Fragrant light, bright red fruits here, with strawberry and some lifted rose petal perfume. The palate has musky appeal and poached strawberry fruit flavour, ripe and sweet, with lightness and elegance, and a gentle play of oak through the finish. 91/100
Nick Stock , The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2010, Oct ’09
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2007
"If the 2007 Pinot Gris is not the finest, most perfectly varietal example of this grape made into Australian wine, I want to know what is!
Proof positive that some Australians can indeed grow pinot gris!
A meaty, gamey, smoky and rather funky bouquet of rosemary, rose oil, cinnamon and clove precedes a long, smooth and seamless palate whose spicy pear, apple and white peach-like fruit is tightly wrapped in a crystalline acidity. Underpinned by a fine chalkiness, it finishes with lingering nutty, savoury qualities and pristine fruit."
Jeremy Oliver, 2009 Australian Wine Annual
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2007
"This Pinot Gris walks the fine line between Alsatian and Italian styles and is one of the best of its kind coming out of Tasmania. Exclusively estate grown in Glengarry it reminds me of green melons and star fruit on the nose.
On the palate it is immediately mouth-filling with flavours of white peaches and hazelnuts, slowly fading to a dry and long finish. I really like this wine and think it might benefit from short-term cellaring to bring out some of the faint honey notes.RRP $ 35"
Franz Scheurer, Australian Gourmet Pages 31/5/08
Grey Sands Pinot Gris 2007
"A true gris style, weighty and rich with fresh pear and honeysuckle aromas and Subtle flavours spiced and filled out by subtle taosty oak. Already a cracker of a drop, will become even better."
Graeme Phillips, Sunday Tasmanian, 6/7/08
Grey Sands Pinot Noir 2006
Fragrant plum and cherry blossom aromas, clean and pure, the palate
likewise. Has perfectly expressed varietal character on the palate; great
line and length, and no green characters. Diam.
14% alc Rating 95 Drink 2013 $40 Date Tasted Jul 08
James Halliday , author of the 'Australian Wine Companion' on line review.
Grey Sands Merlot 2005
Good crimson-red; a spotlessly clean wine, with bell clear varietal fruit
in a cassis redcurrant spectrum, and perfectly judges tannis and oak in support. Diam
13.6% alc Rating 94 Drink 2015 $35 Date Tasted Jul 08
James Halliday, author of the 'Australian Wine Companion' on line review.
Grey Sands Merlot 2005
"Merlot seems to be the poor cousin in Australia and many wines are made to be light and forgettable or overblown and sweet. Grey Sands Merlot is different. Shades of Bordeaux have crept into the flavour profile and this is a substantial and rich wine. It's fruit forward on the nose with fleeting scents of violets (we become blind to the scent of violets very quickly) and fine grained with integrated tannins and instantly mouth filling. I would call this wine juicy but there are enough dark undertones to hold my attention. It finishes long and dry. This is an excellent expression of Merlot. RRP: $35"
By Franz Scheurer, Australian Gourmet Pages 31/5/08
2005 Grey Sands Merlot
"After years of dominating the red wine portfolio of Bob and Rita Richter’s
GreySands Vineyard, the property’s stylish merlot has been bumped aside somewhat by recent inclusions of Pinot Noir and Romanesque. That’s not to say the wine has been downgraded. The 2005 is just as good as ever – rich and berryish, with some savoury dimensions and a nice tight structure. Give it air or cellar time."
Mark Smith - The Examiner 21 May 2008
Chardonnay-Viognier 2007
"An unusual, and in this case, very interesting blend with an intriguing and complex nose, and equally complex palate reminiscent of burying your head in a belly dancer’s make up bag – face powder, nutty and spicy body oils, orange blossom perfume, sweet hints of body odour and strawberry lip jell. Yum, yum."
Graeme Phillips Wed Sept 24, 2007 Mercury “Taste”
Romanesque 2005
"A blend of shiraz, petit verdot and the Portuguese variety touriga francesa. Deep ruby and a powerful and attractive, slightly feral, earthy nose, the initial fruit sweetness on the palate coming as a bit of a surprise before the wine opens up in the glass to show more appealing savoury characters and a balanced, rich, earthy finish. Interesting, very different and quite lovely, especially with food.
12.6 per cent."
Graeme Phillips, Sunday Tasmanian, Sept 28, 2008
