2025 Oria-Riff Old Vine Grenache Dry Red
2025 Oria-Riff Old Vine Grenache Dry Red

2025 Oria-Riff Old Vine Grenache Dry Red

Oria-Riff |McLaren Vale |Grenache
A thrillingly eccentric, savoury, sandy-soiled Blewitt Springs Grenache.
Price:
$45.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Cooper David-Draper is carving out a seriously interesting niche with Oria-Riff. He's throwing back to old-school Australian naming conventions with the "Dry Red" moniker on the label, but the liquid inside is pure new-wave McLaren Vale. The fruit comes from Fiona Wood’s prized 1960s vines planted in the classic deep sands right on the Blewitt Springs border.

Cooper uses a double harvest to balance early-pick vibrancy with deeper ripeness. He leans heavily on whole clusters and extensive skin contact before putting it into old wood. Give this a bit of air or a decent swirl in a big glass because it’s got a wild, slightly feral streak that needs a moment to shake loose.

Once it settles, it's a beautifully eccentric drop. Think dried botanical herbs, tart red currants, and an earthy, gamey undertone. It’s medium-bodied and drives on an assertive, gravelly tannin profile rather than sweet fruit plumpness, hitting a savoury, structural finish that feels totally Italianate. Cooper is pushing boundaries here and we love the direction he's heading.

94+ points
"There’s an Italianate quality to this – freisa echoes perhaps – with a coolness through it, though flavours are certainly ripe."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

94+ points - "From Fiona Wood’s vineyard on the edge of Blewitt Springs planted to deep sands in the 1960s; 70–80% whole bunch across two picks, about three weeks or so on skins, then old barrels. Relatively pale in the glass, with lifted perfume in a savoury tenor. Dried cherry and rose, raspberry leaf tea, rosehip, whole fennel and caraway seeds, goji berry, barberry, white pepper, bay laurel and sumac. There’s an Italianate quality to this – freisa echoes perhaps – with a coolness through it, though flavours are certainly ripe. It's on a medium-weight chassis, with linearity and tension key, the tannins assertive but not strict." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

91 points - "The 2025 Old Vine Grenache, like the Semillon, has "McLaren Vale Dry Red" on the label (and "Dry White" in the case of the Semillon), and this harks back to the "old days," when wines in Australia were frequently labeled this way. It captures a certain style, in the same way that "Claret" tells you things about certain styles of Cabernet wines. Here, I must admit to being glad that this wine had some time in the glass prior to tasting and writing about it, as it has allowed the wine to open up and some of the more volatile aromas to exit the glass. So, a gentle decant or a large glass is recommended here. Still, there is a lift present, yet it sits now within the fruit notes of watermelon, Campari, pepper, orange and graphite. The tannins shape the wine on the palate, and the finish is both gritty and chalky, elements I admire in light- to medium-bodied Grenache. There is a sandiness to this wine that is very attractive. This is a lean, spicy style of Grenache, with more tannin length than fruit flavor, yet it remains an engaging wine. 13.2% alcohol, sealed under Diam and wax." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

87 points - "An exciting producer making a mark with distinct, idiosyncratic but well done wines of the region.

Chewy texture, dusty in a way, but in that a core of coolness. Awesome aromatics, rose hip tea, dried rose petals, red cherry, sweet spices. Tart cherry, dashes of sandalwood, rose hip tea, the front and mid palate a ride of savoury, dry red small berries, a prettiness, the finish falls away to grip and ferrous, game meat and bloody notes with some walnut paste characters. Indeed, the conclusion, that firm, dry, earthy-game meat-nutty finish a bitter, big quibble. A juggle." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

Price Bracket $41 to $50
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Grenache
Country Australia
Region McLaren Vale
Australian State SA
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 94
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure DIAM Cork

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