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A lovely fine bead with light gold in a bright wine. The nose had fresh bread/yeast plus a citrus edge. The palate shows wonderful balance with nice biscuit and chardonnay flavours boosted with a little berry like richness. The dosage is not noticed but I suspect was more than 8g/litre. After much recent discussion over dosage and a Roderer I have sent a bit more off to the lab to get a more precise figure. Overall impression is of a great Champagne, crisp acid and nice finish. I should have a glass now as I type this whilst watching a bit of the footy but I’d probably ping me tractor when I get back to work at three quarter time. Tempting.

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This wine has won a heap of medals and gongs and I had to try it. I am not a great fan of cool climate shiraz but this wine won me over. It is not cheap and compared to the Seppelt wine recently reviewed by GW one would have to question that many $$$. But, it had gorgeous fine tannins that gave it delicious texture. The fruit and its cracked pepper were in perfect harmony with nice spicy oak. The palate rolled around for some time. I am very cynical of wines with great show success and after all the hoo ha between the Aussie wine Mafia and Parker et al just before this wine got all its awards I was ready to be underwhelmed. But no, its a ripper. Well done Lindsay.

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A great mix of fruit: 86% Barossa, 10% Adelaide Hills and 4% Barossa Cabernet. Yes, I am drinking Cabernet! This was pretty good stuff, straight off the bat. Medium to dark red colour that is very attractive. The nose has a tobacco like oak that is really well matched with the ripe and rich plum flavours of the merlot. Some spices evident on the finish, a touch of cinnamon and a little white peppper. But the overall impression is of lovely fruit.

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This wine was sent in by the importer - Monsieur Olivier Gallut of Old Bordeaux Wines (03 9625 1101) and I must admit that I am not very familiar with the style. It is from the Loire Valley - AC Sevre et Maine and made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. The ’sur lie’ refers to the fact that it is kept on lees for a period before bottling. Anyone who loves bottle aged Hunter semillon would be instantly familiar with the style. In fact, they should be all over this wine like a nympho on a plate of oysters. It’s wonderful stuff.

Pale yellow green. Aromas of green apple, citrus, hay, soap and funky salty minerally overtones. On the palate it is light and bone dry with flavours of citrus, toast, apple, dirt and minerals. Distinctly salty and savoury too. Soft acidity and excellent slightly soapy texture. Finishes nutty dry and long. Delicious stuff. One of the most interesting wines I have tried in many a month.

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I’d guess that this as all been snapped up by now at retail but a sample bottle arrived this week, which is great, as it saves me opening one of my two bottles. Opps. I wish I had bought a few more now. I think this is the bestest St Peters ever.

Deliciously savoury aromas of blackcurrant/blackberry, pepper steak, spice, white flowers and licorice. More complex than Westfield. On the palate a medium bodied spicy little number with meat, spice, pepper and subtle dark berry fruit. Slinky fine grained tannins. Perfect weight and balance and excellent length of flavour. This could be one of the greats.

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Bit of a kerfuffle regarding this wine of late with regards to retail allocations. Looks like it has all been sorted out now though. Messy messy messy. Anyway this is a new addition to the Seppelt family, and a good one, and also one that fits logically into the excellent Seppelt portfolio. They are all Victorian wines now you know.

Aromas of boysenberry/raspberry, black pepper, creamy spicy oak and a little licorice. Give it time in the glass and some mint/menthol characters emerge. On the medium to full bodied palate vibrant summer berry fruit, aniseed, pepper, spice and mint. Fairly firm tannins of the fine powdery kind.Tart acidity sends the wine off balance at the moment but this might sort itself out with further bottle age. Dry spicy finish.

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Scarborough blue label chardonnay is my favourite of all the Scarbies wines. It is a style that relies on lees for complexity rather than oak. Good. I popped into the cellar door the other week and tasted through the range and this was the wine that really tickled my fancy. The dessert style semillon did too but you can’t have too much fancy tickling in one day. I think this is the best blue label release since the cracking 2002 vintage.

Aromas of citrus, lemon rind, nectarine and savoury yeasty overtones with the barest hint of spicy oak. On the palate there are intense flavours of citrus, preserved lemon and stonefruit backed with sour yoghourt and savoury lees derived characters. Penetrating bright yet soft acidity. Very long sweet and sour finish. It’s a beautiful wine. It’s a winner.

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I opened a 2004 Seppelt Mount Ida shiraz to taste this afternoon but I don’t think I’ll write the note on it just yet. It needs a bit more time and anyway it’s not a Friday afternoon sort of drink. This Moscato is though. It is made from Muscat a petits grains rouge grown sourced on a single vineyard at Swan Hill. The ferment is stopped by chilling the wine and it has 120g per litre of residual sugar. I have no idea why they chose to seal it with a cork.

Very pale pink colour. Aromas of peach, grapes and flowers. On the palate juicy peach and green grape flavours with hint of green herbs. It’s frizzante and fresh with a good acid to sugar balance that allows for rapid tippling action. The finish is clean and very refreshing. Lovely stuff. No idea how to rate it really but I do think it most excellent.

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The fruit for this Rhone valley blend is sourced from the family’s Winery and Wilcadene blocks. You don’t see Cinsault credited on wine labels very often - it’s a bit-part actor, an extra.

Initially quite shy. Leave it in peace for a moment. And then, aromas of raspberries & red plums, pepper and spices wafted up from the glass. The palate is cuddly and loveable, that teddy bear you discarded when you left home, raspberries and rhubarb, five spice, dry spices and a little slippery. Good savoury flavours and balance across the palate, with a drying finish. Drink now and over the short term.

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This was my first Burgundy after a heap of US Pinots. It was served blind by a friend with no hints. It had ripe fruit characters that suggested…… yes a Californian Pinot! It had a nose that screamed high toast oak with a dose of coffee/moccha as well. On the palate the oak was still pretty strong but there was some nice ripe fruit behind it, maybe tooooo ripe. It had a dry tannic finish. I have ordered some more from this domain to see how it performs alongside new world Pinots and how they perform in a more normal Burgundian vintage.

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This was blind alongside some really left field wines. It opened with a floral, riesling like nose. I immediately thought it was an Italian wine. On the palate it showed tropical fruit salad with a rich honey finish. There did seem to be a hole in the middle. When it was revealed I tried it again and concluded that it was a reasonable Pinot Gris but not great. It was good enough to get me interested in searching for more from the Domaine.

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Too much flavour can be very bad for you. I have heard that it can lead to premature baldness (amongst other more alarming side effects). To this end I consider myself a Grigio rather than a Gris man. I’m playing it safe and keeping my hair on. Don’t say that you were not warned.

Aromas of green herbs, hay, green pear and apple with light spicy smoky overtones. On the palate this is fairly lean but it does have presence and good texture. There are lively flavours of citrus, green pear, herbs and spice with a cheeky little squirt of lemon juice on exit. It’s mouthwatering refreshment and alarmingly easy to drink.

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This comes off vines planted in the 1950’s. Talk about flavour! No wonder Domenic Torzi is a bit light on in the hair department. This nearly blew my toupee off! I nearly always spit the wine when tasting but found this one very hard to resist. It’s that sort of wine.

Lifted aromas of blackberry/raspberry, cassis, pepper, bitumen and sweet toasty vanilla oak. The palate is power packed and positively rippling with flavours of plum, blackberry, raspberry, tar, vanilla and spice. Tannins are buffed, polished and smooth yet still appropriately grainy and mouthcoating for a wine of this size. No doubt hidden to a certain extent under the weight of all that luxuriously fat fruit. A golden glow of alcohol is present throughout. Dry savoury finish of great length. If you like them big, bold and beautiful then look no further for this could well be the wine of your dreams.

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A well deserved win for Bill Downie - a very talented winemaker. The Henschkes won winemaker of the year. Not quite as convinced about that one though…

This press release just in (more…)

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The importer of this wine contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would like to taste a couple of his French imports. Does Depardieu have a grand nez? Too right I would as it makes for a very pleasant change in diet. This is a Vin de Pays de l’Herault from the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the south of France. It’s 60% syrah, 26% carignan, 6% merlot, 4% cabernet sauvignon and 4% mourvedre.

Aromas of raspberry, dried herb and smoky coconut oak. On the palate this is medium bodied with red fruit, dried herb and earthy flavours. Dry and savoury with lightly raspy tannins and a dry herb and red fruit finish. Very refreshing and easy to drink. It’s a lovely week night wine. Very good with food and fairly priced.

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This is a blend of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon in equal proportions and the rest is 15% merlot. All Barossa fruit. The picture shows cork but the wine is screwcapped.

Aromas of blackcurrant, stewed plum, mint, twigs and pepper. On the palate raspberry/blackberry, mint, chocolate and more savoury olive/tobacco flavours. Medium to full bodied. Fine ripe tannins. The fruit is straying towards the cooked flavour spectrum but it’s really pretty tasty and delicious. Very easy to drink. I like it a lot.

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For this evenings entertainment I decided to taste three 2006 vintage semillon blends from South Australia. I should probably be doing some of the more exciting samples but it’s nice to give a few utility wines a bit of a trot round the park. This is a blend of semillon and sauvignon blanc. The semillon is thrice picked at different ripeness levels which seems to work very well in the blend.

Lovely aromatics here. A complex salad of all sorts of fruit with a hint of grass, a squeeze of lemon and a little dollop of cream. On the palate it has excellent weight and texture with fruit salad, pine-lime and citrus flavours. No hard edges. It’s slippery smooth and very delicious. Pretty clever stuff. If function precedes form when scoring such wines then this is excellent.

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This is 50% semillon and 50% chenin blanc and it’s all estate grown fruit. It’s also certified organic. You know it really irritates me when the little responses icon is not underneath the bottle shot. Not quite as much as those wines with extra-ordinarily long names though. The ones that spill over to two lines. I think I have just fixed that now by typing in some meaningless drivel. I promise to think of something original to say next time this happens.

Aromas of fruit salad (with apples), juicy fruit chewing gum and green herbs. It’s fruity and has a pleasant intensity. On the palate there are flavours of green apple, rockmelon, citrus and dried herbs. Fruity and fresh but also slightly phenolic with a little hardness on exit. A good wine and one with a bit of originality and interest to boot.

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This bottle is designed by Collette Dinnigan (I believe the elegant JP to be quite familiar with her work) and the charity this time is the Children’s Hospital Randwick. The spelling for Dinnigan looks wrong but I double checked which means I have been saying it wrong for quite some time.

Aromas of spice, grass, passionfruit and other tropicals and a light sheen of sweat. On the palate flavours of pineapple, passionfruit, spice and grass. Acidity has some hardness and the flavours are a bit dilute - which is not necessarily a bad thing all things considered. Ghostly finish. It’s OK and i’d drink it but $15 is an ambitious price tag in the current market.

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An unexpected nose: unripe tropical fruits, lemons, with a touch of minerals and a dash of rosewater. Also quite lean on the palate, but with pure fruits and comforting length: sweetish white peaches, but not sticky or cloying, musky with a lovely texture, and a splash of vanilla undertones. Lemons and acid on the finish, a bit of a tart. An excellent wine, and very good value-for-money too.

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