DURIF

Campbells The Barkly Rutherglen Durif 2006

$39.90; 14.5% alcohol; cork(!); 92+++ points

Dr. Durif isolated this variety from the obscure peloursin vine family in the Ardèche, in southern France, in the 1880s. The tough skin that made it highly resistant to downy mildew gives it a very dense polyphenolic structure, almost like vintage port. While there’s zilch left in France, the grape survived at Rutherglen in the Murray Valley, where Campbells release a Barkly in those occasional vintages when the durif doesn’t go simply porty. This is a beauty, offering a better tannin structure than, say, your portish Barossa shiraz. It smells moody and sullen, with emergent twists of fennel, aniseed, mint, and musk. It’s lovely velvety drinking now, but will cellar majestically. Pork belly and beans with artichoke poached in porkstock, white wine and chanterelles. JAN 09