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letuffeau.com
(Link)
UPCOMING EVENTS
T H I S S A T U R D A Y
05/09
2.00-4.00pm
-
A Very Special Tasting
with
Bridget Mac
Werkstatt
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Launching the Limited Print Run
of
N O I R
on labour, love and loss.
— — —
S. Caica
Caica Family & Co. Wines
McLaren Vale
“In late may, I wrote,
Simon Caica makes some of the most gustatory wine in Australia.
That is not to say his wines lack for seriousness of intent or structure, just that they have such an easy charm and quality of ‘drinkability’ that one thinks of just enjoying the glass and hardly notices the bottle is gone.
&
No matter, the wines are excellent. Simply crafted to reflect their vineyard. Simon uses old oak, favouring time on skins and long pump-overs to give texture and weight to the wines as well as positively expose the juice to oxygen. This extraction turns gentle with time to ensure the wines are no ‘too big’. He mirrors my terminology in that he wants to keep the tannins ‘sandy’ rather than ‘blocky’. In short, he is striving for a faithful representation of the region with influences coming from his wide-ranging benchmarking. A day job at the top wine cellar in Adelaide makes this process of benchmarking easy!
These opinions still stand, especially since Simon has been persuaded to release a few remaining bottles to me … including the Cabernet Sauvignon which, previously, I kept all for myself.
I need to stress here: I shit you not, dear Readers. I kept the entire case of Cabernet Sauvignon that I was previously allocated for home drinking. It became our house Claret.
I have 12 further bottles now on which I have penned for you and release below. Have at them.”
— David
~ please note : discounts are automatically applied at checkout ~
I
the newly available
S. Caica 2025 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Tea Tree Hill Vineyard’
limited - 12 bottles available only
(Shelf Price: $52.00)
Offer: $40.00
“I remain as steadfast as when I first tried this wine a few months ago. This is an unreasonably delicious wine that will win even the most diehard roundhead over to Cabernet Sauvignon/Claret.
A wine that I consistently attempt to think of as a wine of erotics, not poetics … and yet it keeps bringing considerable complexity.
A wine that brims with character, the 2025 Cabernet Sauvignon from Simon Caica bursts from the glass with a generous salt-trimmed bouquet of crushed blackberries, dark cherries, cassis, broken oyster shell and liqueur of same, rusty ore, roasted herbs, and warm loamy soil. The wine is, alongside being most alluring overall, filled with both plumply rich fruit tones and fascinating mineral and herbal inflections. Small echoes of wet rock and split wood lend complexity to a wine I am trying my hardest to not think about and just enjoy. The palate is silken, creamily textured on opening with immeasurably refreshing acidity and salinity underlining the fulsome fruit profile. Slightly bucolic yet fully ripe tannins engage in the final third and the wine tapers out with further salty and herbal touches. Ripe, slightly naughty blackcurrant and blackberry, salted plums, thyme and tarragon along with vine-roasted red capsicum, and little touches of vanillin and earthen nuances. St.-Julien in the
McClaren Vale. Very fine.
Once again: unreasonably delicious.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
the last bottles
II
S. Caica 2025 McLaren Vale Rosato ‘Willunga’
very limited - 3 bottles remaining
Offer: $35.00
“Simply delicious. I need not write much more …
… other than that you, dear Readers, should not miss on on sampling this Rose (Rosato).”
— David
Order here
(Link)
III
S. Caica 2025 McLaren Vale Cinsault 'Glenville Vineyard'
very limited - 4 bottles remaining
(Shelf Price: $45.00)
Offer: $36.00
“I challenge anyone who professes to love the oft-faulted wines from Domaine l’Angalore not to love this wine. Need I say that this is not just lacking in faults, it is an exceptional Australian nod to Tavel?
Stunning translucent ruby without ever seeming pale or washed out. Rosehips, sweet cherries, citrus peels mingle as the wine unwinds; time and concentration reveal sea spray, watermelon, peony, and fennel seed. Fragrant; as if a bottle of Campari waft’d past the cellar during elevage. There is a real sense of depth here not belied by the wine’s light colour. Initially silken on entry; buoyed mid- and back-palate by fine and slightly sandy phenolics, then silken again on the sneakily long and narrowing to a point close. Further pale red cherry, this time with ripe strawberry; fresh orange and blood orange; discreet trim of herbs. Chill or room temperature. It is the utter finesse of texture here that is simply breath-taking. On this point the wine over-achieves. Fine.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
IV
S. Caica 2025 McLaren Vale Mourvedre 'Shetland Pony Vineyard'
limited - 12 bottles available only
(Shelf Price: $45.00)
Offer: $36.00
“If we are completing the trifecta of nods, then I feel that South-East France is in Simon’s sights here … mineral echoes call to mind Domaine Tempier.
Wonderfully close to being opaque at its core, the 2025 Mourvedre bursts from the glass with aromas of violets and mulberries trimmed in bark, cassis, turned black earth, and Maduro cigar wrapper. There is light in the dark, however, with the chiaro to the scuro arriving in the form of orange zest, thyme, sweet fat, and that signature Vale sea spray/salty seaside rocks. Effortlessly alluring. The palate is silken and flowing throughout with slowly rising, fairly massive yet still fine tannins emerging from the fruit to reveal themselves with great subtlety at the back palate. Dark couverture chocolate wraps around plums and cherries (black forest cake?), baking spices, and dried orange peel; there is a touch of freshness with macerated strawberry on the close. Mineral touches add complexity to the back palate. Very fine.”
— David
Order here
(Link)
…
Please join us for a drink soon. Reservations preferred.
Bookings and after-6.00pm access: (03) 9419 3867
Tue. 11.00 am–6.00 pm
Wed.–Sat. 11.00 am–11.00 pm
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If you would like any of the above, would like to come by for a private appointment, or just have some questions — please let us know.