James Halliday Australian Wine Companion – 94 Points
James Suckling – 90 Points
Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition (USA) 2020 – Gold Medal, 91 Points
San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge 2020 – Gold Medal, 90 Points
“This is sophisticated sauvignon blanc, defying what is largely an oxymoronic concept in this country. More akin to a textural, herbal light to mid-weighted expression from the Graves. Thankfully, too, eschewing the usual bane of sweet/sour tropical fruit references in the name of an effortless flow of greengage, nettle, evergreen and strewn herb.” Ned Goodwin, Halliday Wine Companion
We picked our most distinctive Sauvignon Blanc vineyard, grown by Michelle Cox and John Good, in the heart of the Adelaide Hills, atop Charleston in the 3rd week of March in the cool of early morning. The fruit was destemmed, crushed and gently pressed.
Free run juice was then fermented in small stainless steel tanks between 11 and 14 degrees celsius. This Wishing Clock natural acidity, low pH, and alcohol of only 12.0% is light and dry.
This Wishing Clock of the Adelaide Hills was bottled directly with minimal filtration and no fining to capture the essence of the vineyard, a looking glass if you will, and is ready to drink immediately. Thanks Michelle and John, a wish come true.
Five Red Star Winery: James Halliday 2020 Australian Wine Companion
“This is a highly impressive partnership between Peggy and Carl Lindner, Elena and Zar Brooks and Fiona and Brad Rey. It brings together vineyards spread across the Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Fleurieu Peninsula. Elena is not only the beautiful wife of industry dilettante Zar Brooks, but also an exceptionally gifted winemaker. It may be a dauntingly competitive marketplace, but there can be few more promising new ventures than this one.”
Gourmet Traveller Wine 2010 Best of the Best Nick Ryan
“Brooks has teamed up with his winemaking wife Elena, a woman whose talents are outweighed only by her tolerance, in an exciting new venture called Dandelion Vineyards. The approach is remarkably simple and sees Elena making wine from a suite of beautiful old vineyards identified by Carl Lindner and Brad Rey across that blessed curve that runs from the Barossa, up through the Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills and down into McLaren Vale. The result is a line-up of wines that show the best in dedicated viticulture and sensitive winemaking, abandoning clutter and artifice for purity and poise.”
