Salomon Estate

Bert and Gertrud Salomon are full-time travellers when it comes to wine. In Austria's Kremstal region on the Danube they manage their seventh-generation family estate, Salomon Undhof. Then once vintage is complete in the northern hemisphere, they fly south to Australia to manage Salomon Estate.

Salomon Estate was founded in 1995, originating from great ideas and passions. The first being Bert and Gertrud’s love for the landscape around the Finniss River vineyard. Second, their enjoyment of great red wines and last but not least the enthusiasm they both have for diverse cultures.

The wines here are produced off a single property located on the Finniss River, about 20km southeast of McLaren Vale, where the Adelaide Hills run into the Fleurieu Peninsula. The soils are typically gravel and sand over red and orange sandstone and the vineyard falls gently away towards the northwest providing ideal exposure, warm days ensure ripe fruit flavours while the cooling breezes which roll off the Southern Ocean in the late afternoon ensure excellent acid retention. Here, Australian robustness meets European elegance in a most convincing fashion.

2021 Fleurieu Peninsula Viognier Amphora
100 % Viognier from Fleurieu Peninsula de-stemmed and crushed, fermented in terracotta amphorae, with 45 days on skins, followed by 6 months maturation on fine lees in stainless steel. 13.5 % alc/vol.

2019 review ’Chewy, tight and chalky, lean in a way but great in that respect too. Dried apricot, mandarin, blood orange characters here and all of this shot through with a kind of garrigue and white pepper character. It’s an intriguing, wonderful, delicious wine of great personality and finesse. Yes thanks.’ 94 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, August 2020.

2016 Fleurieu Peninsula The Verve Free Red
50 % Syrah & 50 % Mataro from Fleurieu Peninsula given 42 days skin contact to enable bottling with lower SO2. Soft and juicy.

‘Interesting wine: 42 days on skins has extracted all the tannins from the shiraz and mataro grapes, but any harshness has long since gone. Tannin is a form of natural antioxidant, and this has enabled the wine to be made with no sulphur addition until bottling, when a small addition was made after the wine had spent 12 months in used oak. It is fresh, and has attitude on the finish.’ 91 points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2023.

’The gist here is ‘free’ as in liberating the wine production team from more conventional methodology. There’s a reference to ‘traditional fermentation’ on the back label, but I don’t know what that means. Anyway, that aside, the wine has a good vibe to it. Packaging is bistro friendly too, though I can’t find a picture of that either. Jammy, sweet and ripe scents and flavours. Soft and supple to taste offering raspberry jubes, white pepper and toasty notes. A little extra tangy through the finish, but you could say ‘fresh’ too. Easy drinking, lively red of ready appeal.’ Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, November 2017.

2020 Fleurieu Peninsula Syrah-V. Wildflower - due 2024
92.5 % Syrah and 7.5 % Viognier co-fermented, barrel-aged for 20 months in 300 L hogsheads (primarily French oak, with a small percentage of American oak). A cuvée in the tradition of the northern Rhone Côte-Rôtie region. A deep ruby hue with a bouquet of floral tones, dark berries, tobacco, and soft leather. A lush fruitiness on the palette, with well-meshed tannins. A wine with depth and the utmost elegance, finely fruity and complex in finish. This wine blooms when decanted.

‘7.5% viognier lift the floral notes of the bouquet and takes its vibrant colour right through to the rim. An opulent wine that coats every corner of the mouth, outside the more elegant restraint of some of its siblings. 14.5% alc, screwcap.’ 94 points, James Halliday, The Weekend Australian, February 2022.

2019 Fleurieu Peninsula Syrah-V. Wildflower
94 % Syrah, 6 % Viognier, co-fermented and barrel-aged for 20 months in 300 L hogsheads (primarily French oak, with a small percentage of American oak). A cuvée in the tradition of the northern Rhone Côte-Rôtie region. A deep ruby hue with a bouquet of floral tones, dark berries, tobacco, and soft leather. A lush fruitiness on the palette, with well-meshed tannins. A wine with depth and the utmost elegance, finely fruity and complex in finish. This wine blooms when decanted.

‘Shiraz co-fermented with 6% viognier. The colour is excellent, the bouquet likewise with sultry black fruits that are mimicked by the palate. Dark chocolate and licorice also emerge. Drink to 2039.’ 94 points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2023.

2019 Finniss River Braeside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
100 % Cabernet Sauvignon, matured for 18 months in 300 L hogsheads (50 % new), the oak substantially French, with a small proportion of American. Australian richness combined with elegant Cassis notes. Deep red in color, with a expressive aroma. Fine, concentrated blueberry and blackcurrant on the palate, with hints of dark chocolate. Well-structured and velvety, with fine tannins and a long, nuanced finish.

‘Matured for 18 months in French hogsheads (33% new). Blackcurrant fruit is joined by notes of oak and a whisper of olive tapenade. The mouthfeel of this elegant and medium-bodied cabernet is superb, its freshness doubtless amplified by its modest alcohol, the tannins likewise as the long finish lingers in the mouth. 13.5% alc, screwcap. Drink 2025-2038.’ 95 points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion, March 2022.

‘The 2019 Finniss River Sea Eagle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is earthy, meaty, exotic and very good. This has lashings of mortadella, Szechuan peppercorns, salted pomegranate and star anise, coupled with a robust roll of flavor in the mouth. Like an ocean swell, there is power here, but it never breaks into an outright wave. The warm, dry 2019 vintage has pushed this wine into a compressed and powerful space; it's still vital, though.’ 94 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, November 2022.

2018 Finniss River Sea Eagle Vineyard Shiraz
100 % Shiraz, matured for 18 months in 300 L hogsheads (50 % new), the oak substantially French, with a small proportion of American.

‘Deep savory nose with stacks of ripe red and some blue fruits. Delicate spice, too. Impressive tannic power that’s wrapped around plenty of ripeness, but this stays clearly on the dry side of taste spectrum. Long, savory and spicy finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.’ 94 points, James Suckling, October 2022.

2019 Finniss River Sea Eagle Vineyard Shiraz - due 2024
100 % Shiraz, matured for 18 months in 300 L hogsheads (50 % new), the oak substantially French, with a small proportion of American.

‘Matured for 18 months in French barrels (33% new). A very expressive bouquet yields waves of licorice, dark earth, leather and black fruits, with oak peeping through the curtains; a wine of finesse and elegance. 14% alc, screwcap.’ 95 points, drink to 2039. James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine.

2018 Alttus
The highest portion of the vineyard and the best barrels, bottled separately from the Finniss River Shiraz bottling and only released in very limited quantities in exceptional years. Matured in 100 % new French oak for 18 months though in style is more reminiscent of an old school northern Rhone Syrah.

'Such impressively bright, ripe red and dark fruit on offer here with really fresh wild raspberries and blueberries. Lots of primary intensity here. Wow. The palate has silky and roundly fleshy fruit impact. Very intense and smooth. Velvety texture. Drink or hold.' 96 points, James Suckling.com, November 2022.

2013 Alttus - last bottles
'Tasted blind. Deep purplish crimson. Round, fresh and lively. Very opulent but not heavy. Slightly salty and reminiscent of treacle toffee. Great balance. Powerful and long but not an aggressive blockbuster.' 18.5 points (97/100), Jancis Robinson MW, November 2018.