The Home of Renowned Tasting

There is not much Australian gamay about. I can only remember trying Sorrenberg. Who else makes one I wonder? Anyway, after tasting this I think there should be more of it. A versatile wine and one that suits our climate. It can be served cool in summer or warmer in the cooler months.

Aromas of cherry, summer berry, sweet almond, spice and a nice meaty overtone. On the palate it is light to medium bodied with spicy flavours of cherry and summer berries. Fine dry tannins and a gamey dry strawberry finish. I am very taken with this wine. Interesting flavours and high drinkablilty.

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Vat 47 is one of my favourite Australian chardonnays and I think I may have been tight with the points on this one…that is one of the problems with reviewing wines that you choose to (and like to) drink…oh and hooray for the screwcap closure. Perfect for this style of chardonnay.

Aromas of peach, lemon, struck match, vanilla and a light veneer of spicy oak. On the palate flavours of peach, green banana, lemon and spicy oak. Vibrant and crisp with soft clean acidity and a very long fruity spicy finish. A very delicious example of Hunter chardonnay that should develop more complexity over the medium term. I’ll buy a six pack of this one.

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So this is our David’s chardonnay and I am happy to report that it is a beautiful wine. I thought about it for a bit and decided not to give it a points based score, just a word based one, as some might consider it a conflict of interest - however small that may be.

Aromas of citrus, melon, spicy cashew oak and matchstick with wild yeasty overtones. On the palate it is tight and fine with grapefruit and melon flavours backed with attractive spicy French oak and some savoury lees derived characters. Slightly creamy but very fresh and clean. Long savoury citrus finish. A very classy wine with nothing out of place. Tasted over two days it looked great right to the last sip.

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I went into town on Friday and stopped off at Vintage Cellars to get something to take to dinner. VC had a tasting of Shiraz on so I tried a few and bought another, more about that on a later post. I decided to buy the Yalumba Viognier because I have had several other vintages before and enjoyed them. This has apricot and peach aromas plus a little complexity that I couldn’t work out. However, on the palate despite having a little oiliness to add to its texture it seemed a little thin with a bitter/hard finish. Wendy described it as a metallic finish. The 14.5% could be the reason but it seemed like there was something else detracting. A pity, because the nose suggested it was on track. Heaps better than the French one of similar style I reviewed earlier but….. I await the responses of others who may help out.

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I had to try another Viognier on Saturday night as a reference to the Yalumba at dinner on Friday. I know the owners of this vineyard and thought they had a great site for Viognier. The wine was made by Sandro at Kooyong. It has a very perfumed nose that oozes apricot and peach. The palate seems to have either some residual sugar or lovely fruit sweetness. It delivers the flavours promised on the nose beautifully. A great wine to have chilled and solve the problems of the world with. No, it’s not as earth moving as a great Condrieu but it was one of the nicer viogniers that I have had.

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Black/purple in colour. A dark and brooding nose: black tannins, coffee beans, black liquorice, dark spices, vanilla beans, sweet red leather and a touch of eucalypt. A very impressive nose. The palate is firm, lovely fruits with coffee oak, warm spices and sweet black/red fruits. The tannins are meltingly soft, but at the same time still firm. Great length and a dry cinnamon bark finish. I wasn’t that impressed with this a year ago, but I really liked it tonight – top stuff. Still a pup at 7 years of age - I certainly would be interested in seeing it in 5-10 years.

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This was tasted in the South of France last year. I placed this first because I had a couple of Viogniers lately and this seemed relevant in terms of how the others show, ie NOTE its price. At about $11 it seemed the perfect thing for a picnic lunch by the sea. It had a tiny bit of apricot and a hint of peach. The texture showed a reasonable degree of oiliness. Pleasant quaffing with no bitterness but not much fruit either. Clean and well made but boring. Vin de Pays d’Oc , 30350 Savignargues, tel 04 66 83 42 83
Emmanuel Floutier at the Domaine du Grand Chemin at the foot of the Cevennes mountain range makes the wine in the appellation Vin de Pays d’Oc, a district that has more success than most on the export markets - in particular vin de cépage, wines from a single grape variety marked on the label. I couldn’t find its website but a Danish guy has more info and pics at the site I have provided.

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Boy did I go nuts when this wine was released late in 2002..bought 18 bottles. Interestingly I had a glass of this after drinking a Barbaresco and it looked like peppery fruit syrup with soft tannins…quarantine! I find that Australian wines often look like this after drinking European.

Strong full red colour. Aromas of dark cherry/blackberry, pepper, star anise, vanilla/cedar oak and some meaty overtones. Emphasis on the pepper and spice. On the palate dark cherry/berry fruit, pepper, spice with meaty flavours and fine dry tannins. Mouthfeel is quite hmmm well… I call it soapy and by this I mean it has an alkaline character. Chalky perhaps. Dry tannic spicy finish. A very good wine.

Re-tasted Dec06 - Very horsey bretty bottle with a distinct metallic tang. Not so impressive.

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Pol Roger vintage is an excellent style and very good value..although the price seems to have crept up by about ten dollars recently - which is probably pretty realistic considering the quality.

Aromas of brioche, white flowers, quince, citrus and spice. On the palate it has fresh citrus, mineral and hazelnutty toasty flavours. Slightly creamy. Fine persistant mousse. Crisp dry spicy finish. This is a lovely fine minerally champagne. A very good follow up to the excellent ‘96.

Other vintages: 1998, 1996

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Have been flat our like a lizard drinking in the sun recently (with work) so just some impressions on a few very good Italian and Spanish wines over the last couple of days. Official Winorama standard notes to resume this weekend.

Alion (Vega Sicilia) 1995 - Good colour. Rich dark fruit and aniseed/mint. Lovely smelling. Smooth creamy mouthcoating velvety tannins on a base of ripe blackberry/blackcurrant fruit. Very long. Very satisfying. Classic. 94 points.

Boroli Barolo 1999 - Typical flowers, spice, licorice, cow pat and dark berry nose. Rich but with masses of dry grippy tannin. Opened up very well. Certainly a palate spanking experience after the seductive Alion. Give this one at least another 5 years. 92+ points

Produttori Del Barbaresco Rabaja Riserva 1997 - Breezy floral scents, licorice root, cherry. Delightful. Fruit sweetness/acidity/grainy tannins all balanced very well. Fleshed out after an hour. Licorice root and cherry flavours. Clean long and refreshing. I like the Montefico a little better but this is a beauty. 94 points.

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Quite a pleasant nose, with minerals and spice, earth and loam, pretty florals, ripe black cherries, and maybe some rhubarb. The palate is also ripe and really quite sweet, with red cherries and stewed rhubarb – it also has some bright lifting acid. The length is pretty good, but there is a slight metallic and green stalky finish that is distracting.

To be honest, I was hoping for more; reminds me an innings from Michael Clarke; starts off well but disappoints in the end.

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I have been warned off the cheaper Chambers offerings by someone in the past (I cannot remember who), but I was in a wine store earlier this week and I needed something sweeter for post-dinner in the $20-$30 price range, so I choose this.

As a reference point, this smells a bit like the Peter Lehmann King Port – a raisined hot bitumen volatile nose, very sweet, red leather boots, green tea, a minerally earthiness, drying woody spices, and initially some volatility that settled with time. On the palate, sweet raisined fruit, sultanas, black fruits, but on the finish has some green tannins and bitterness. It also seems a bit thin – I think this is going to be a long 750mls…

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I think this is a record for Winorama - McLaren Vale 67%, Mudgee 24%, Alpine Valley 4.6%, Limestone Coast 4.3%, Pyrenees 3.3%, Hunter Valley 2.3%.

Crimson red. Aromas of red berry, spice and a light smoky earthy character - a bit like a Graves actually. On the palate it is only medium bodied with red berry, blackcurrant and those earthy characters again. Dry sandy tannins and a palate cleansing dry, somewhat abrupt, finish with some alcohol warmth. This is a serviceable dinner claret style and I like it for that. You can’t really complain at the price either.

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This wine is a blend of 75% Sangiovese and 25% Merlot. And first thing you should do if you happen to have a bottle of this is to put it in to a decanter for a couple of hours.

The nose is bright – black plums and red cherries, warm tar, raspberry candy, but with a certain savouriness, spice and fresh leather. The palate is fine and soft, with savoury cherry fruits, drying cinnamon bark and a cleansing acid finish. Perhaps the palate lacks a couple of cylinders and a few kW, but it is very good and enjoyable.

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A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The grapes were picked in late March, fermented warm in open fermenters and run into new and seasoned French oak barrels for 15 months before bottling.

Initially a fair whack of reduction on nose, but this dispersed with time. The nose showed black cherries, a dustiness, cedar and smokey green olives, and a touch of struck match, but just a touch. There is savouriness on the palate, black fruits and green olives, cedar, slightly coarse tannins, and a very drying finish. Seems a bit unevolved at the moment – perhaps a couple of years will see it flesh out (and score higher).

ps. On the second night, at moments I could see some cork taint on the nose, and at other times there was no taint – it is quite elusive – if there is some taint then perhaps this could explain the muted fruit characters.

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Gary reviewed a Frescobaldi recently; my turn for a Negro - another fine import from Arquilla. This one is reddish black and a bit sulphurous on opening. It rests. The nose shows delicious red/black fruits, smoky cured meats and animal hide/hair, tar, mossy stones – quite stinky – this could be a Southern Rhone if served blind. The palate is all about texture and structure, showing lovely fine and slightly animalé tannins, savoury ripe blackcherry fruits, with a long drying finish. Drink now or over the next few years.

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This wine has a great reputation but since it is the most expensive Beaujolais that I have ever seen it seems to rarely appear in tastings. It is 100% Gamay but great Gamay has much in common with Pinot Noir. I had two tries, the first was corked but the kind people at The Prince Wine Store in Melbourne replaced it. The next attempt was at a dinner with friends who had also invited another Pinot maker. The evening featured a Premier Cru Burgundy and a great Aussie Pinot. This wine stole the show. It opened with rich red berry fruit flavours and was very supple across the palate. A hint of spice but more like stewed plums. Great length and lovely fruit. I am about to buy another bottle.

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The last bottle that was sent in for review was corked but those excellent people at Wirra Wirra are on the ball. They sent in another bottle. Happy days! This is 85% McLaren Vale and 15% Coonawarra fruit..although given the strength of the ‘02 McLaren vintage I am not sure they needed any Coonahaha in the blend.

Aromas of blueberry/blackcurrant, mint, cigar box and bay leaf. A hint of gluey oak too although not unattractive in this mix. A lovely most varietally correct smelling cabernet. On the palate there are flavours of blackcurrant, blackberry, mint, cedar/tobacco oak and dark chocolate. Although this is a big wine, there is a certain coolness here that I find most pleasant. Dry ripe grainy tannins. Quite linear - very much again, a cabernet profile through the palate. Dry dusty blackcurrant and tobacco finish. As the Americans are fond of saying - ‘I think there is a fair bit of upside in this deal’. Cellar it a bit longer for the big payout.

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Well it was just shy of two months ago that we clocked up 200 tasting notes. So at this rate we are averaging over 100 tasting notes per month. It seems only fitting that the 400th review belongs to David as the process will now gain even more momentum. I am predicting about 1500+ comprehensive tasting notes by the end of this year. Choo choo. The Winorama train is gathering steam….right on track!

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I had this wine at a tasting with some really good Pinots. It nearly stole the show from a great Grand Cru and the Evesham Wood from Oregon.

The first impression is one of fruit power heading towards the dry red end of Pinot styles. It has a beautiful dose of oak that gently embraces the wine without adding extra tannin grip. The ripe berry flavours soon glide across the palate leaving the impression of a classy wine. The fruits range from plum through to blackberry with only a hint of beetroot to detract. There was little between the top wines this night style variation giving all present a favourite. This was one of the best as it has been on a few other occasions that I have seen it.

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