Seabrooks was a Melbourne wine merchant, 1878-1976, and the Seabrook bottlings of Roly Birks wines from the Clare Valley in the 1960s live in my memory. Wines from the Clare display the rich, riper flavours to be expected from any warm climate region. Yet they often have another layer of complex interest which is hard to describe which is why I retain memories of obscure Clare reds from long ago. I’ll try to describe this by using Riesling as the proxy in comparing the Clare with the Barossa Valley.
The Barossa Valley has grubbed out most of its Riesling as customers believe it serves no useful purpose as more interesting wines come from the Clare Valley or Eden Valley. It is that difference that interests me as the Rieslings from the Clare have a delicacy that is akin to a much cooler region while the acid structures are also different. Somehow this Riesling difference moves into the reds which in other ways are akin to the Barossa Valley.
There is something about the geography of the Clare Valley and how this reacts with the climate that finds its way into the Shiraz and Cabernet. They bring to the glass an additional and unusual fragrance, a minty delicacy, which is quite thrilling.
