2021 Coates The Touriga Nacional, McLaren Vale

Pointed aromas of Earl Grey tea, a waft of menthol, spearmint, aniseed and macerated dark cherry. The mid-palate, bumptious on one hand, fresh on the other. A very easy wine to like, such is the intensity of flavour and freshness. Drink to 2028.

92 points Ned Goodwin for Halliday Wine Companion, August 2023

Duane Coates likes to say that he applies a heart-over-head approach to winemaking, but his deep technical expertise is undeniable. His emotional instinct is backed by exacting standards and a highly deliberate approach: the use of indigenous yeasts and the avoidance of fining agents and filtering are all choices that require care and attention to detail in the cellar.

The range of wines on offer under his negociant label has grown slowly over the years, through relationships with South Australian growers cultivating vineyards that for Duane express the purity of flavour and clearly articulated regional characters he is looking for.

Touriga Nacional is a potentially ancient variety from Portugal. It is early budding and late ripening, needing a long, warm growing season to ripen properly. The traditional backbone variety of port wines, varietal table wines made from it are often of excellent quality and with potential for extended cellaring. The better wines have captivating floral aromas, and typically medium-bodied at bottling, but gaining body, complexity and a darker character with time in bottle.

2021 provided McLaren Vale growers with a generous harvest of excellent quality. The grapes for this wine were fermented in open stainless steel, followed by 14 days of maceration. It was matured for 15 months in French oak barriques of which a third were new before bottling unfined and unfiltered.

Lifted floral aromas with minty and savoury notes framing the red and black fruit on the nose. Medium-bodied with a dark character to its intense, fresh flavours.

Touriga marries well with intense, aromatic flavours: Bahian Moqueca de Pato or a kerisik-crusted lamb rump glazed with lemongrass and galangal infused jus.