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Primo Estate Joseph Moda Cabernet Moda – The Evolutionary Road
Joseph Grilli, when not being a petrol-head, is one of Australia’s pioneering modern winemakers. In the old days, when he was just out of Roseworthy Agricultural College, he would fancy himself as a latter day Juan Manuel Fangio. Years back, when the first Australian Formula One Grand Prix was organised in South Australia, many believed it was specially put on for him. Nowadays he drives a bright red Maserati, designed like most Italian cars for small people, but which goes like a bomb. It is hard to imagine Joe driving anything else. It’s not quite as fancy as a Ferrari, but it is sheer Italian elegance and power. And it is red; the colour of real wine and revolution.
Joe Grilli is actually something of a prodigy. His boyish enthusiasm and self-effacing nature belie a highly intuitive and brilliantly focussed winemaker. At the age of 20 he graduated as Dux of Oenology at Roseworthy Agricultural College. His experiments with double pruning, cordon cutting and botrytis are legendary, yet he instigated many of these projects while still in his late teens and while studying.
In the 1980s he trialled Amarone and Ripasso-type wine styles associated with highly prized Valpolicella. The release of 1987 Primo Estate Moda Amarone Cabernet Merlot blazed a strong mark on the Australian fine wine landscape. The wine and subsequent vintages captured the imagination of collectors on the secondary wine market, resulting in Classification by Langton’s in 1996. By 2005, the world had changed; the cult wine scene and Shiraz were well and truly on the ascendancy.
Grilli’s revolutionary wines of the 1980s seemed to have lost their way or be caught in a vacuum. A recent 20th anniversary tasting, however, illustrates that fashion and marketing can reshuffle the cards at the expense of genuine progress. Primo Estate Joseph Moda is simply one of Australia’s finest Cabernets. These are wines that reflect a very personal articulation of old world heritage and Australian high-tech skills.
Initially Joseph Moda was a multi district blend drawing fruit from primarily McLaren Vale and parcels from Coonawarra and Langhorne Creek. Nowadays the Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Primo Estate’s Clarendon and McLaren Vale vineyards. After handpicking, the fruit "is placed in small crates for around 12 days to partially air dry. Merlot is left to ripen fully on the vines at Clarendon and is not air dried. The separate parcels of fruit are then crushed and fermented in traditional open fermenters with daily manual pump overs. Following gentle pressing the wine is racked into mainly 1/3 new French and American oak barriques for 18 months ageing before blending and bottling." A small percentage of German oak is used to maximise blending options.
In many respects the Joseph Moda fulfils and models the aspirations of Max Schubert. It is very much an “ethereal and buoyant” house style based strongly on McLaren Vale fruit. These incredibly satisfying fruit rich wines purr and hum like an incredibly well tuned engine. They age beautifully and classically. You simply should not drink them for at least five years after release.
1987 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium crimson. Intense mocha/leafy/paneforte/ mint aromas with some vellum notes. Obviously cabernet with cassis/ paneforte flavours, fine leafy looseknit tannins, plenty of mid-palate richness, finishing chalky form. Drink now – 2012. 87 points
1988 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium crimson. Fresh lovely redcurrant/ plum/ dark cherry aromas with some roasted/ bitumen/ earthy notes. Well concentrated wine with plenty of sweet fruit, dark cherry/ plum flavours and some capsicum/ paneforte notes. A beautifully proportioned wine with deep-set plum/ cedar/ paneforte flavours, chalky looseknit al dente tannins and underlying savoury oak. Finishes long and sweet. Drink now – 2020. 93 points
1989 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Deep colour. Dark Chocolate/ paneforte/ sweet fruit aromas with complex nutty nuances. A very seductive wine with superb richness, flavour development and concentration. Lovely dark chocolate/ paneforte flavours, leafy dry tannins and superb length. Completely transcends the reputation of vintage. Drink now – 2015. 95 points
1990 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Intense espresso/leather/roasted/ baked earth aromas and flavours with some herb garden notes, firm slinky, almost muscular tannins and some savoury oak notes. Drink Now – 2015. 89 points
1991 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Intense dark cherry/ leafy/ chocolate-mint aromas with evolved leather/ amontillado characters. Sweet and more concentrated than the 1990 with deep set dark chocolate berry/ paneforte flavours, some vanilla/ malt oak notes and looseknit grainy tannins. Finishes firm but extends with a tannin plume. Drinking really well now but on a plateau. Drink now – 2018. 92 points
1992 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Lovely complex sweet fruit/ paneforte/ dark chocolate aromas and flavours; some earthy notes. Well concentrated wine with superb fruit sweetness, chocolaty form tannins and plenty of flavour length. Drink now – 2020. 94 points
1993 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Pretty typical of the vintage with prune/ silage/ liquorice aromas and flavours with some malty oak notes. The tannins are quite gritty and the acid pokes out. Drink now with food. No point keeping although it will hold. Now. 80 points
1994 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Very refined dark chocolate/ cedar aromas with grilled nut/ herb nuances. Well balanced, beautifully complex wine with chocolate/ cedar/ cassis flavours, smoky nuances and lacy dry tannins. Finishes firm and long. Drink now – 2022. 94 points
1995 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Silage/aniseed/espresso/dark cherry/ almond aromas. Sweet generous dark chocolate/ nutty flavours with dense tannin structure. It tastes quite soupy and contrived. It finishes firm with plenty of flavour length, but it is distinctly odd in this company. Will definitely hold for a while but won’t improve. Now – 2018. 83 points
1996 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Well developed and complex but fresh praline/ earthy/ plum aromas with touch of cedar. Beautifully concentrated sweet-fruited wine with dense chocolaty tannins and underlying malty/ vanillin oak. Finishes long and sweet. A rich strong wine with superb balance and potential longevity. Now – 2025. 95 points
1997 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Intense liquorice/ burnt chocolate/ prune/ herb aromas with some earthy notes. Fresh but muscular wine with deep-set dark chocolate flavours and leafy firm drying tannins. Finishes chalky firm but long and sweet. A very moderate vintage but still holding up. Now – 2016. 83 points
1998 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. This is an exceptional wine with intense deep set blackcurrant/ roasted/ cedar aromas and flavours with some complex truffle notes. The palate is richly concentrated with dense fine chocolaty tannins, plenty of fruit sweetness and underlying savoury oak. This is a classic Moda vintage which will probably last another 20 years if you can bother waiting that long. It’s drinking superbly now. Now – 2030. 97 points
1999 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Quite restrained compared to 1998 with milk chocolate/ stewed fruit/ vanilla aromas. The palate is medium concentrated with cassis/ redcurrant/ chocolate flavours and fine grainy tannins. The wine losses fruit towards the finish leaving a firm tannin slick. Now – 2020. 87 points
2000 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour with intense red currant/ red cherry aromas and savoury/ bisquity oak. Sweet slightly cordial- like red cherry flavours and lacy firm tannins. Not a wine to cellar for the long term. Now. 81 points
2001 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Fresh classical – almost Bordelaise in style – with black currant/ tea leaf/ cedar/ liquorice aromas. The palate so sweet and brambly with cassis flavours and fine grained compact tannins. Finishes a touch firm/gritty but excellent volume of fruit. Now – 2020. 88 points
2002 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Deep colour. A spectacular vintage with intense dark chocolate/ cherry/ herb garden/ garrigue aromas and savoury/ malt oak. Richly concentrated and beautifully proportioned with deep-set dark chocolate/ red cherry fruit flavours, grainy tannins and bisquity/ ginger oak notes. It finishes chalky firm but long and sweet. A very successful wine. Now – 2035. 98 points
2003 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Deep colour. Earthy/ silage/prune aromas with a touch of mint. Concentrated sweet prune/ silage flavours and firm granular/ gritty tannins. Finishes firm and leafy. Unlikely to age gracefully but with enough fruit stuffing to last another decade. Now – 2020. 82 points.
2004 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour. Intense redcurrant/ cranberry/ plum aromas with underlying cedar oak. Sweet redcurrant/ cranberry/ plum fruit on the palate with underlying savoury oak, plenty of mid-palate richness and fine lacy dry tannins. Finishes leafy firm and tight. Now – 2025. 88 points
2005 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep crimson. Intense almost floral wine with mint/ herb garden/ violet/ dried plum aromas and flavours with marked new oak and leafy tannins. Finishes hot, but long and sweet. Still very elemental and could improve. Best to wait a few years. 2010 – 2025. 85 + points
2006 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour with intense deep cassis/ chocolate/ cedar/ garrigue aromas. The palate is very elemental but beautifully balanced with fresh cassis/ chocolaty flavours, cedar/spicy oak, fine grained tannins and plenty of flavour length. A superb wine with the balance and class for long term aging. 2014 – 2035. 96 points
2007 Primo Estate Joseph Moda
Medium deep colour with sour cherry/plum/ blackberry/ brambly aromas and flavours with fresh ginger/ malt oak. The wine is intensely concentrated with brambly/ chocolaty flavours and pronounced leafy firm tannins. A touch soupy but long and flavourful. This is a very elemental wine. Tannin quality suggests a medium term proposition. 2012 – 2025. 86 points
Andrew Caillard MW
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