Latest Latta Reviews:
Latta Jurassique Blanc Ouille Chardonnay 2021
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 96 Points 17 July 2023.
So it’s a topped up chardonnay from Tarrington in Victoria, but the gist is there is influence from Jura-made wines that see more relaxed topping up to encourage positive oxidative influences in the wine. Also rests on unstirred lees for its time in barrel.
And it is indeed Jura-like, per se. Not as intense as many from there, but clear and clean chardonnay fruit characters of just-ripe stone fruit, lime, green apple, then this wash of sea spray and briny minerality that feels oh so moreish and refreshing. Tightly wound yet medium weight too, almost crunchy, salted peanut elements and a touch of fino sherry character. A sluice of juicy acidity to finish with a trail, again, of brine and saline character. Far out. I love this. Pitch perfect complex chardonnay of a distinct style.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling - Rated : 94 Points 7 July 2023
Chardonnay, wild yeast fermented in French and Austrian wood. A full malolactic cycle makes a refreshing change to the genteel, acid-retaining Aussie norm. I love this. Chew and mid-weighted chomp, a wonderful textural paradigm. Ginger, brulee, white fig, toasted nuts. A quasi, natty Meursault. A kaleidoscope of oxidation and reductive elements. A brilliant wine!
Latta Quality Release Grenache 2021
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 95 Points 14 July 2023.
From the Pyrenees and the (organic certified) Shay’s Flat Vineyard. Owen Latta, winemaker, does this wonderful thing of typing out his notes on each wine, often voluminous, and printing them and sticking the notes to the bottle. I love that. There’s 20% whole bunch here. Twelve days on skins.
It’s so fragrant, sour and sweet red cherries, rose hip tea, anise, fennel, white pepper, blood orange. Love it. The tension in the palate is fantastic, it feels so fresh, so refreshing, meaty, rose hip tea, cherry, those piquant anise/fennel notes again. Wow. Succulent texture, understated but superb, succulent tannin profile that shapes things and tightens it all so well. Multi-dimensional grenache. Some weight here, some richness, but geez, this delivers so, so well. Unreal.
Latta Landsborough Riesling 2021
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 95 Points 14 July 2023.
Organic farmed from a site in the Pyrenees. Whole bunch pressed and wild fermented. Left on lees to do its thing. Pyrenees and riesling doesn’t ring too many bells but in the hands of gun winemaker Owen Latta, why not?
Texture and drive, succulence and character. A riesling of depth and interest, lots of saline elements, green apple, ginger, tonic water, cashew and green melon. Slips along the palate with a gentle but pleasing cloying nature, has subtle savouriness, a cool core and a briny finish. In some respects it sits well outside classic characters of riesling, but then again, it reminds me of the ones I like drinking best, with personality distinct from the norm, and that savoury thing going strong. Very good. Drink : 2023 - 2030
Latta Headwaters Nebbiolo 2021
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 94 Points 14 July 2023.
Nebbiolo in Central Vic sounds like a hard graft but a row was planted at Eastern Peake in 1991 (wow!) and there was a few others who decided it might be worthwhile around there and hence we get this wine. Fermented in concrete, then hangs out in larger format oak barrels after. It’s been sitting in bottle a year too.
Scents of game meat, sour cherry, rosemary, undergrowth and turned earth. Go you good thing. Savoury, and so the palate follows, dry, a little dusty in crushed rock tannin, more game meat and sour cherry, rose hip tea, some prune, bloody things. I love it. Tannin is fine but firm, sweeps through the light juiciness of the palate, the length unreal with persistence of gamey things and pomegranate juice. Caveat of earth and bloody things maybe a quibble for some, no issue in terms of quality for me, a delightful thing to drink with its swashbuckling slash of fruit and savouriness.
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 94 Points, 24 July 2023
This is sangiovese from two vineyards, this year missing some nebbiolo that usually goes in. Whole bunch pressed stuff here. It makes a rose, per se.
Sheesh, good! Its textural and dry, sour cherry and tart cranberry, rose water and almond, some faint Campari notes too. Silky texture, fine, chalky texture in tannin and a squirt of blood orange. It rips along at pace and yet lingers with sweet-sour fruit and spice too. Very, very refreshing, very, very delicious. A superstar pink wine of energy and freshness here.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling - Rated : 94 Points 16 July 2023
Straight sangiovese, blaring hibiscus, rosewater, mandarin and crunchy red fruits down a barrel of jittery saline freshness, detailed phenolic bitterness and scintillating drinkability. Light-weighted and dangerous. Drink now with gusto. Screw cap.
Latta Ex Nihilo Pinot Gris 2022
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 94 Points 15 July 2023.
From Tarrington Vineyard which is regeneratively farmed by the Lacey family. Spends five days on skins and then ends up in a variety of sizes of older barrels. “Important to have portions of skin contact when producing pinot gris”, says Owen Latta, “it’s a light red grape variety, there’s so much texture, vibrancy and interest in those skins that needs to be captured to influence the wine”. Well said.
It’s a pale orange-pinkish colour on arrival. Muted scents of peach, red cherry, brown pear and sweet spice. Similar to taste with a textural appeal that sits somewhere between talc-like chew and glossiness. Nice one. Thirst quenching vibes too. Great persistence of flavour, a fine, tightening finish that delivers a great palate reset with each sip. A touch of marzipan and green almond character lingers. Maybe green mango. It’s a lovely wine, exotic enough, fine enough, delicious plenty.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling - Rated : 94 Points 16 July 2023.
Yet another compelling expression from this wonderful talent. Maker Owen Latta may be in Ballarat, but he sources far and wide. Aromas of crunchy red berries, tatami straw, persimmon, ginger, cardamon and further alluring hints of the souk. Curry leaf marks a gently gritty, yet plush finish. An extremely characterful wine demanding a place on the open-minded table. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
Latta Rattlesnake Contact Blanc 2022
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling Rated : 93 Points July 26, 2023
Firmly in the skin-inflected spectrum, the back label proudly proclaims that the brilliance in the bottle is 'crafted NOT using classic or any fine wine methods'. Love it! Lifted aromas of apricot chutney muddled with ginger and cardamon. The phenolics are so beautifully managed, that the finish is a smooth, saline glide across a groomed piste. Effortless drinking, be it for the well versed or the newbie. Drink or hold.
Latta Malbec Macedon Ranges Glen Hope 2022
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling Rated : 92 Points
Another delicious wine from this edgy and exciting stable. This is Australia living on the edge, in the very best sense! Malbec that tastes like purple pastille, violet, a slick of anise and strewn garden herb, pithy and emphatic across the finish more akin to a modern, pulpy, mid-weighted Cahors than anything of a more powerful Argentine idiom. For the better. Drink now. Delicious.
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front Rated : 92 Points, 16 July 2023.
This one is, take a deep breath, cabernet franc, mataro, grenache, sangiovese, nebbiolo, cabernet sauvignon, lagrein and shiraz. Phew. Fresher feeling thing.
There’s a lustiness to this. Dark fruit, ripe cherry, faint chocolate, fennel, woody spices and meatiness. Yummo. Slurpy texture, sloshy looseness and a fresh finish, does the trick for winter warmer while being fresh as. Very, very easy to drink kinda vibes. It’s a winner.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling Rated : 92 Points 16 July 2023.
A blend of mataro, grenache, sangiovese, nebbiolo, cab, lagrein and shiraz. Delicious. Scrumptious, savory and visceral, beaming sour cherry, anise, ume and licorice along a skein of gritty, moreish tannins. Real energy, grunt, grit and verve. Mid-weighted of feel, thirst-slaking and best with a chill. Dangerous gear. Love this! Drink now.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling Rated : 95 Points 16 July 2023.
Straight, lighter-weighted sauvignon borne of quartz over ironstone, over clay. This is Cotat, meets maker Owen Latta, meets local turf. Masterful! A minimally invasive style tuned to perfection. Cidery aromas of pear and apple. Lanolin, dried heather, nettle, Japanese pickle and a sumptuous waft of curry powder across the long, compelling finish. Rivets of skin contact, welded to a torque of juicy acidity. Wow! May be worth another point. Drink or hold.
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - 95 Points 14 July 2023.
Medium-light yellow colour, not filter-bright, and forward for its age, all adding up to a skin fermented wine. The bouquet is complex, with nutty, buttery, stone-fruit and subtle matchstick nuances of great charm and it has the complexity and character of a more mature wine. The palate is likewise rich and layered, but at the same moment it's refined and subtle, delicate and light on its feet. A gorgeous wine and a model for skin-fermented sauvignon blancs. Generous, lengthy aftertaste, seamlessly harmonious.
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - 95 Ponits 12 July 2023.
Medium-light straw colour with a complex fruit aroma of various stone-fruits, peach, pear and apricot; the taste is rich and fruity, layered and dry at the finish after a subtle suggestion of sweetness at its core. Spicy in a slightly gris-like way. Love the texture of this wine, the balance and persistence. A winner.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling Rated : Points 16 July 2023.
This is a riveting, highly idiosyncratic, lighter-weighted riesling. There is no dearth of intrigue, succulence or complexity, despite the imminence of the lo-fi style. A great nose! Granny Smith slushy, ginger, spiced quince, nettle, spa salts and finger lime. Best, the equation of stony, skinsy phenolic rails and crackling acid pulse. Lots to get the teeth into! Paradoxically, the core of the wine is so juicy and gorgeous that there is nothing overtly drying. A master class of the style. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front - Rated : 93 Points 15 July 2023
This wine now sees a blend of Grenache and shiraz, the latter from the home patch, well, next door more or less, and the Grenache from Lansborough vineyard, the Chapoutier site.
This is plush and soft, silky and smooth. A warmer, richer expression from Latta that finds good balance of sweet fruit, frisky spice, some alpine herb elements and gentle earthy notes. It’s a round, toasty kind of red, still vivid in its fresher notes but with this suppleness and opulence working with vitality and lift. A sloshy wine of exuberance and heaps of charm. So easy to get into. Fireside kinda feel.
Ned Goodwin - James Suckling - Rated : 93 Points 5 July 2023
A paradoxical wine of considerable intrigue and beauty. Syrah and grenache. Paradoxical, because as light and brisk as this feels, it boasts a core of molten raspberry doused with clove, white pepper and salumi, fanning across a long, chalky finish, more suggestive of something weightier. Yet it doesn't really matter as the contagious joy and moreish tannins, soft and detailed in the mouth, cannot be denied. Drink now.