Halliday 2020 Wine Companion Results

Clairault Streicker Wines continue their 5 red star streak in the 2020 Wine Companion. This rating indicates an outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity.

It was the whites that took the big wins for 2020.

The Clairault Estate Chardonnay 2017 rated highly, with a score of 95/100 and notes including “…it all feels completely natural and unforced.” 

The Streicker Bridgeland Block Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2017 was a winner with “a winning combination of intensity and length of flavour with penetrating acidity” – 95 Points & Special Value Star. - To be released.

Another great value result that’s currently available is the Clairault Margaret River SBS 2018 which scored 94/100 and a Special Value Star. 

Clairault Estate Chardonnay 2017
Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed. Barrel ferment in 40% new French barriques, aged in oak for 9 months with batonnage. This brims with aromas of grapefruit and white stone fruit enhanced by nutty oak complexity, the palate replete with long and lively citrus-tinged flavours and creaminess of texture. It all feels completely natural and unforced.
95/100

Streicker Bridgeland Block Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2017
90/10%, blend. Hand-picked fruit, cold-settled juice, fermented and aged for 9 months in French barriques, one-third new. Highly aromatic, with lifted characters of passionfruit, snowpea and gooseberry jumping out of the glass. Juicy and textural on the palate, there’s a winning combination of intensity and length of flavour with penetrating acidity.
95/100 & Special Value Star

Streicker Ironstone Block Old Vine Chardonnay 2016
Barrel-fermented, 33% going through mlf. Aged for 9 months in oak with fortnightly batonnage. The barrel work has made its statement on the bouquet, with aromas of struck match, flint, and grilled nuts as prominent as the peach and green apple varietal influence. Ripe and textural on the palate with lingering, grapefruit-like acidity. Very good now, better in time.
95/100 

Clairault Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2018
Around 80/20% in the blend. A riot of varietal aromas on the the bouquet, with snow pea, gooseberry and passionfruit (amongst others) all jostling for attention. The 20% barrel ferment component comes through on the palate, providing dimension to the mouthfeel, that being enhanced by lees ageing also. It finishes with fresh, juicy acidity.
94/100 & Special Value Star

Clairault Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
About 5% cabernet franc included in the blend. Aged for 18 months in French barriques, 50% new. A perfect snapshot of the regional-varietal nexus, with blackcurrant, black olive, bay leaf and cedar providing unmistakable markers. This release is supple and approachable as a relatively young wine, with quite gentle tannin. Further ageing will confer complexity.
94/100

Streicker Ironstone Block Old Vine Chardonnay 2017
Fruit from the Ironstone Vineyard at Wilyabrup. Similar vinification to the Estate Chardonnay, except one-third of the barrels underwent mlf. Seems to lack the freshness and drive of its Estate stable mate, although the malo has contributed to the texture and complexity. The fruit source is different of course, and it might just need more time to really come into its own.
94/100 

Clairault Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
As ever, rock solid Margaret River cabernet, ticking the boxes for all the right regional and varietal qualities as it goes along. Just on the full side of medium-bodied, the flavours of cassis and cedar build on the palate, escorted along by the fine but firmish tannin that rolls on through the finish to linger in the aftertaste. Enjoyable now or for years to come.
93/100

Streicker Ironstone Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Hand-picked, destemmed with gentle crushing, ferment finished in oak. Aged in 45% new French barriques for 18 months. Cassis-like fruit is the dominant character in this wine, the most obvious character on the bouquet and palate, the oak adding some cedary, pipe-tobacco complexity. It’s dense and flavoursome, with its best days ahead, no doubt.
93/100 

Clairault Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2017
Cabernet at around 77%, merlot 20%, the balance petit verdot. Cool, slow ferment, aged in French oak for 10 months. Pronounced leafiness on the bouquet, with regional bay leaf and varietal characters perhaps accentuated by the cool ferment, ‘80’s-like. Black olive and cedar also in the mix. A good wine with high quality fruit evident, but it is in a certain style.
92/100 & Special Value Star

Streicker Bridgeland Block Rosé 2018
100% shiraz, crushed and cold pressed immediately to minimise extraction. Low temperature ferment in barrel. Pale salmon-pink in colour with aromas of redcurrant and watermelon. Quite full in texture on the palate as shiraz roses tend to be, that accentuated by the time in oak no doubt. A long, gently persistent finish provides the necessary balance.
92/100

See the full summary of results here.