The Home of Renowned Tasting

I had intended to grab a bottle of 2003 Grand Puy Lacoste but I could not pry the wooden case open using only my bare hands - not for want of trying - so I grabbed this Haut Medoc instead. I am a bugger for trying stuff as soon as I can. I like to form my own opinion of them as young wines. It is costly and most likely foolish but sometimes someone has to take one for the team. The last Sociando I had recently was the ‘85 which at twenty years is still drinking very well.

Aromas of blackberry/raspberry, mineral, flowers, aniseed and toasty pencilly oak. Nice smelling wine. On the palate flavours of blackberry/raspberry, cedar, pencil and a handful of dried herbs. Fine but firm strong tannins and quite fresh and lively. Linear palate - no flush of fruit or fatness. Strong finish. This should turn out to be a beauty.

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I have been a bit tardy getting a note up on this wine. It has been in the inbox for a while and now it is in the outbox. I would have loved to have been a bureaucrat - especially if it involved using a big stamp that says ‘TASTED’ and then I could fill in the date and stuff. That would be exciting.

This has a certain cool blackcurrant/blackberry aroma with mint, cedar and tobacco. On the palate medium bodied with smooth fine grained tannins and flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate, tobacco and mint. Finishes with firm creamy tannins and a tobacco and blackcurrant aftertaste. This has excellent poise and balance. A lovely and very affordable cabernet.

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The fruit is from young vines with the first crop in 2002. If you are into these sorts of things I might mention that this undergoes a cold soak with about 10% whole bunches. No post ferment maceration. Oak maturation in mainly old French. Clones are 114, 115 and MV6. My problem is that when I think of Beechworth these days (as I often don’t) I usually find myself thinking of shiraz.

Full red colour. Aromas of dark cherry/plum, cola, earth and a touch of spicy cinnamon/vanilla oak. Attractive smelling wine - a bit like a lighter Central Otago number. On the palate medium bodied with dark cherry, spice and warm brandy snap flavours. Loose knit lightly sandy tannins and good length of flavour. This is a good wine and I like it a lot but in the increasingly crowded “I’ve got twenty bucks to spend and I want a good pinot” market it faces some pretty stiff competition.

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I have had a fair few vintages of the standard Montana pinot over the years and reckon that this is one of the better ones. Some years are a little tough and green but this one is pretty good. Contrary to the opinion of many I think that Marlborough does a good line in pinot - often better than some of the more glamorous NZ regions.

This is light red in colour and smells fresh and sappy with red fruit, tamarillo and light veneer of spicy oak. A light bodied palate with tart and tangy slightly herbal red fruit flavours, dry light grainy tannins and a dry finish. It tastes like a pinot and I used the word light at least four times (well five if you count that one) which I think is a rather good thing. I’d be pretty happy with my purchase if I grabbed a bottle to drink over dinner on a school night.

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I visited this domain last year and discovered that The Prince has some. The colour is lovely, bright and deep. The nose is oozing cherries and a little spice. The palate is BIG. The tannins are somewhat softer than I expected but the fruit is lovely. The alcohol suggests more than the 13.5% on the label and it does look a little flabby. The wine was consumed blind alongside a number of other Pinots from the new world and although it had lovely length and flavour it could have been mistaken for a Californian wine. Lovely, but not sure if it will last to the next decade, but I would be happy to consume over the next few years.

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Grown and produced by Rosehill Vineyards situated 3km southeast of Murrumbateman in the cool climate growing region of the Canberra district. The wine has 5% Viognier added during fermentation, and the winemaker is Bryan Martin.

After a 3 hour decant, an exotic nose, smelling of sweet florals, plummy fruits, with black pepper, raspberries, dried papaya and dried apricots, cinnamon quills. The palate shows savoury red fruits, punchy, a glove-full from Joe Frazier, fleshy without being too sweet, with underlying spices and a barky dryness that dominates the finish. Very good length – getting better and better with time.

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I asked a few people if they would like to come along and taste some sauvignon blanc and some of the responses were - ‘Yeah right!’, ‘Pfffffffftttt’ and ‘Enjoy yourself’
So from this I gather that the ‘wine cognoscenti’ don’t drink much of the stuff. On the other hand the people in the office were very enthusiastic about the grape. It would seem that the ‘punters’ still love it. Look at the way Oyster Bay flies out of the bottle shop fridge and off restaurant winelists. I like the odd glass myself when the weather turns warmer. I find a cold crisp glass with its simple and direct flavours often really hits the spot. Anyway I had a quick root through the boxes in my office and extracted the following wines to taste and review over the next day or two -

2005 Brokenwood Forest Edge (Orange)
2006 Secret Stone (Marlborough)
2006 Montana (Marlborough)
2006 Wirra Wirra (Adelaide Hills)
and Lincoln has
2005 Arrowfield Authors (King Valley)

Polls Archive

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A Hunter winery, but the grapes for this wine are from the high altitude Alpine and King Valleys. A pale straw in colour. Powerfully aromatic on the nose, with gooseberries, steamed asparagus spears and unripe lemons. The palate is clean and pretty well balanced: yes, there is the herbaceousness, the gooseberries and a few peas, but it is quite rounded. A lighter wine, with that herbaceous edge, and a nudge of acid that should help it slip down a treat with some fresh seafood.

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A single vineyard wine from Orange, NSW. Interestingly enough I actually think it smells like orange..which is probably better than smelling like teen spirit. Oh denial!

Very pale. Aromas of orange, lychee, bath powder and a light grassiness. On the palate a wine of some delicacy with zingy flavours of citrus, passionfruit, orange blossom, grass and spice. Fine balance and a clean long dry finish. Probably a bit expensive but a very fine example of the grape.

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Another sauvignon blanc from Marlborough and obviously 2006 looks like being a strong year. I tasted this alongside the Montana of the same vintage and it was neck and neck. Both excellent. Both same same but different!

Pungent aromas of pineapple, lychee, juicy fruit chewing gum, capsicum and a little sniff of the old kitty litter. On the palate plenty of punchy tropical fruit, grass and spice. Quite juicy and intense but it also has an attractive softness - not at all abrasive - it even has a light creaminess about it. Falls away on the finish a little but all in all a pretty smart wine.

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I must admit that I have probably drunk more than my fair share of Montana sauvignon blanc over the years but this is by far the best one I can remember (no obvious pun intended…). I think Montana must have been about the last NZ winery to get with the program and use screwcaps but they have fixed this now too.

Aromas of passionfruit, gooseberry, cut green capsicum, lime and sweat. On the palate very crisp and direct with spicy capsicum, passionfruit and almost peachy flavours. Excellent balance and flavour and a spicy grassy lime finish. A very good vintage with which to re-acquaint yourself with this Marlborough stalwart.

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Oh dear. I meant to open the 2006 Wirra Wirra Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc along with all the other SB’s but opened this by mistake. Hmmm. I thought it smelt a bit apricotty! Nice wine but.

Aromas of melon, pineapple, apricot and sweet lime. A real melange of fruit. Hints of honeysuckle and vanilla. On the palate it is clean and fresh but not overly acidic. There are flavours of lime and pineapple and a subtle spiciness. Touch of phenolics on the finish. Excellent flavours and very approachable. Pretty much has everything you could want in a cheap chilled out summer white.

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The same group of friends got into a lot of discussion over this wine. I suspect that the problem related to any type of white being inside the brown paper bag and that this wine was not in the friends normal taste experience. Comments ranged from Pinot Gris to a blend of traminer and viognier!! The nose opens with apicot aromas and some apple blossom behind. It then seemed to show some matchstick (stink?) characters. On the palate it delivered more or less what the aroma indicated. Some commented that it had a bitterness on the finish that they often find associated with Viognier. At the price it is worth a try for those of you who want to look at Arneis, but some will like it and some will dislike it.

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We do get out and about occasionally. Otway Estate has nice cottages that you can hire which we investigated on a day out. I was particularly taken with the Chardonnay so got this to have with friends (of the non winemaker variety) and masked bags of wine. The colour has a slight golden hue but its quite bright. For all of those going ballistic over the Curly Flat 2004, try this for size. Restrained nose that has Chablisesque like flinty tones moderating nut and citrus. The palate is light and complex. The flavour keeps rolling around for some time. This was a hit with all present except for one mate who likes heavier oak.

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I offer you without any commentary the media release for the re-launch of the Rosemount brand. The picture is of the new diamond shaped bottles - now closed with screwcap.

‘The new proprietary bottle will be used to package Rosemount wines across all tiers in all markets across the world. It will be available in Australia in November this year. Mr Marton said it will be a carefully phased rollout, with the heartland of the Rosemount portfolio - the Diamond Label range - the first wines to appear. This range is the largest selling bottled wine range in its price bracket in Australia. Diamond Cellars – formerly known as Diamond Blends – with Show Reserve and Flagships to follow next year.’

Click here for the media release

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Gary said to me recently that he thought all 2003 Southern Rhone wines were robbish. I am sure he wasn’t serious, and coincidentally I had a quick look at this wine at an in-store tasting on Saturday morning, and I thought it was a worth a try, so I bought a bottle.

A fine opening, with gorgeous aromatics, raspberry stones, chewy fruit tannins and pink florals. The palate shows savoury raspberry fruit, a touch of pepper and spice box, medium bodied, with a grippy and crunchy tannins. Pretty good length, finishing drying. Not an overly giving wine, but it has good bones, not what I was expecting from such a hot vintage. Drink now and over the next 5 years.

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Olssens are in Watervale in the Clare Valley, and this Riesling comes from a block of 30 year old vines in the Watervale district itself.

Pale straw in colour. A pure nose, limes and lemons, wet slate and lemon blossom, very engaging. The palate is very good too, lemons and limes again, with a touch of orange flesh, faint dried herbs, sweet lemon zest, and a firm acid handshake (without being crushing). Good length too – a very enjoyable wine.

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Ah the mysteries of wine (or humans). I reviewed this wine a while ago with a not so favourable outcome and dead set it really looks like a different wine tonight. We tasted this at the same time as the excellent 2004 Reserve Syrah and gave that wine a whopping 95 points. On the first tasting this wine looked like a pretty sound but uninteresting Yarra pinot…and now..well it is just mighty. One of the best Australian pinots I have tasted.

Aromas of red cherry, plum, spice, sap, undergrowth and subtle creamy toasty oak. The palate shows red cherry, plum, spice and more savoury sappy flavours. It is fresh and vibrant with a silky yet firm tannic backbone. Beautifully balanced and very fine with a finish that fans out in the most enticing manner. Benchmark stuff.

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For the 800th review on Winorama the wheel of fortune has spun and landed on The Hunter Valley and the 2005 vintage. Jackpot! Everyone is running around squealing and throwing their hands in the air. Well at least I am!

Lovely clear bright red in colour. Opens up very earthy and savoury but builds to reveal aromas of red fruit, pepper, smoke, earth and a little Dutch licorice. Medium bodied palate with earthy cherry/raspberry fruit, dark chocolate and bitter herb flavours. Fresh acidity and grainy loose knit tannins. Herb and cherry finish. A very stylish classic Hunter shiraz that should gain further complexity with a few more years in bottle.

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This is a 100 percent grenache based rose named after (or for) the winery cat.

Very pretty watermelon pink colour. Aromas of strawberry, bubblegum and spice. On the palate this is an off dry rose with plenty of sweet spicy red fruit and watermelon (subliminal?) flavours. Fairly crisp with a dry spicy finish. I find this too sweet for my own tastes but I have no doubt it would be very popular with many. It is clean and well made too. Would be at its best with spicy asian food I think.

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