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This wine was in a bracket of three sparklers put on by a friend a few weeks ago. They were all purchased from the French Wine Centre. I had never seen them before. The bracket was blind and we were given hints that there may be a range of varietals present. This had lemon and citrus aromas that caused me to think it was a Chardonnay based wine. On the palate it showed citrus plus pear and apple and a little dry biscuit. Very nice and it would seem, good value.

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My late mother in law was Betty and somewhat larger than life. So when I saw this wine at Carlton Cellars I had to take it home to Wendy. I have never seen the label before but assume its Timo Mayer from the Gembrook Hill winery. It opened a bit stinky but the sulfide did blow off with time. The palate had the cracked white pepper that cool climate shiraz has along with a bit of charry/sulfide/cola stuff. Maybe a bit of rhubarb and berry too. Love to see it in a year or 3.

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It’s hot in the city, hot in the city tonight…..so a pinot is ideal. Much cooler than wearing tight black leather pants..that’s for sure.

Aromas of cherry, redcurrant jelly, bark and spicy French oak. On the palate a lighter bodied style with redcurrant, raspberry conserve, spice and earthy leaf litter flavours. Nice and fresh with firm fine grained but rather assertive tannins. Good finish. This looks a bit unevolved at the moment, even a little dilute, but I think it should build up with time in bottle.

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Another multi-regional blend, this time from the McLaren and Clare Valleys. This is 80% Clare Valley and tastes like it.

Aromas of plum, mint chocolate, black olive, licorice and toasty oak. On the palate full bodied with flavours of plum, berry, black olive, mint and toasty mocha oak. Takes a good step forward on the front palate but then falls away a little too quickly. Firm dry tannins. Quite hard. Savoury leafy finish. Could need more time to sort itself out.

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This is 60% Clare Valley and 40% Eden Valley from a very good vintage. It does taste like the synthesis of the two regions and I can say that with confidence because I am not tasting the wine blind…

Aromas of lemon, lime, pineapple, fruit tingles and flowers. Soft and attractive with that mix of fresh citrus and candy character. On the palate juicy fresh squeezed lime, musk stick and more flinty mineral flavours. Gentle but well balanced acidity. Dry lemon candy finish. Very approachable now and very delicious it is too.

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From the slopes of the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux. I keep saying this because as a cyclist Mont Ventoux is one of the classic climbs of road racing. At 1909 metres above sea level it was last featured in the Tour de France in 2002 when Richard Virenque won the stage, but more famously it was part of the 2000 race when Marco Pantani was “gifted” the stage by Lance Armstrong.

It would seem that the wine was made by Jean-Pierre and François Perrin, of Chateau de Beaucastel fame. Red cherry fruit and earth, slightly candied, a bit of spice. The palate shows light red fruits, with a fair bit of sweetness and some spice too. Reasonably balanced, not challenging really, but that is not always a bad thing. Not bad value for money either.

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It smells grapey, with a bit of stink, bubblegum and peppery red fruits. The palate shows sweet cherry fruits, juicy fruits with a bit of savoury spice, cinnamon, and some sweet spices too. There is quite a bit of mid palate sweetness, and umm, the finish is sweet too. It is pleasant enough, but it is not satisfying, and I would like to see the saccharine characters toned down a bit.

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My last Gulf Station wine – all up a good range of wines at a fair price. The Chardonnay showed classic aromas of peaches, cream and nuts, with some citrus fruits and a bit of pineapple. There are lots of sweet fruits on the palate too, peaches, honeydew melon, with the oak firmly in the background, and sour fruits on the palate. Very pleasant – a good quaffer, indeed it is.

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Apparently contains 6% Viognier, not that I could see it on the nose or taste it on the palate. A rich nose with a fair amount of oak evident: coffee beans, mocha, raspberries and red plum fruits. The palate shows lovely ripe fruits with ripe tannins too, toasty oak and a comforting richness. Excellent length and very good balance. Now I am not particularly fond of the wine-food-match melarky, but this went superbly with a rare roast beef and a cooling Sunshine Coast breeze.

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This is a tiny make of only 180 cases. The fruit is in fact from a vineyard at Kalimna that is owned by Andrew Kalleske (a distant relation to the people at Kalleske Wines).

Aromas of cherry/berry, dark chocolate, grilled meat, pepper, spice and subtle vanilla oak. On the palate fresh and vibrant with cherry, raspberry, pepper, spice, dark chocolate and more meaty savoury flavours. Plenty of tight grainy tannins. Slight warmth from alcohol. Long spicy raspberry finish. Very smart wine with plenty of class and integrity.

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Well here is a wine that I really like for so many reasons. The flavour profile, the oak treatment (it seems much more subdued than the 2004) and the lovely grainy tannins. Problem is that I do find the alcohol a bit intrusive. If you are not so delicate and sensitive you will probably rate this a fair few points higher so bear this in mind.

Aromas of plum, raspberry, cocoa, leather and vanilla with a some alcohol lift. On the palate full bodied with flavours of plum, raspberry liqueur, leather, dried herbs and meaty oak. Firm fine lightly grainy tannins and excellent length of flavour. The fruit is fresh and vibrant with lovely flavours, not at all dead or porty, but I can’t help but notice an alcohol sting which does detract. Marvellous wine but somewhat of a Faustian bargain (at least for me).

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This wine won a trophy for ‘Best Chardonnay All Vintages’ at the 2006 Hunter Valley wine show. I have a bottle of the 2005 vintage still to review.

Aromas of pineapple, peach, light spicy oak and strong smoky barrel ferment characters. On the palate peach and pineapple fruit, a little spicy oak and again those smoky savoury flavours. Lacks focus but still has clean acidity to compensate. Savoury finish. I think perhaps the fruit has been worked too hard in the winery here. Nice wine though and good value.

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Red stinky leather on the nose, quite stinky really, with raspberry fruits, earth and dry savoury spices. The palate is lighter bodied, with sweet red fruits matched by spice, leather and black earth. There is also a fair amount of acid, but the length is good, and though obviously rustic in nature, it is pleasant and well suited to food and lively conversation. Drink now.

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Black cherries and white pepper, earth and sweet liquorice, it even smells concentrated, almost like cordial (but not in a bad way). The palate shows black fruits, red currants and plums, a real richness, cloves and five spice, a lovely savouriness, finishing with an acid edge. Well there were no problems getting this wine ripe; a nicely balanced wine but on the riper side of things.

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A lovely nose: green fruits, salt, lemon, minerals, a bit of cream, and dare I say it, some steamed asparagus tips. Now this is not meant to imply anything herbaceous, but more a continuance of the green fruits. The palate shows lots of concentration, green fruits, nicey built and shaped, grippy fruits with some faint grapefruit, and a sappiness on the finish. An excellent wine, and a bargain in the mid 50s.

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Pale yellow in colour. Lemon, green fruits and minerals on the nose. The palate showed stoney lemons with a streak of racy minerals running through the wine, and restrained but ripe green fruits. The length, weight and balance was good; there was nothing tropical about this wine – a more traditional Chablis I suppose. Don’t serve too cold – I actually found it perfect at about 16 degrees, which might seem a bit warm but I think it shows the wine in a more expressive mood.

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As you might know, I always like to have a bottle of dessert wine or fortified open in the fridge for a nightcap. This one has been open for over 2 weeks now and when I checked it last night it was on its last legs. A promising nose: crème caramel, raisins and sultanas, malt, orange peel and some woody spices. The palate was underwhelming, sweet and non descript, with some sweet warm spices, but the sweetness was too sickly and syrupy, and there was no complexity. Pretty ordinary for the money.

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I think St Henri is about my favourite Australian shiraz. This bottle was cliniced in 2001 and had perfect fill and colour. It was opened up at a friends 30th dinner where there were no wine bores in attendance (apart from me) but certainly some who have an apprecation of good wine. Some other interesting older wines were opened including 2001 Lakes Folly Chardonnay, 94 Seppelt Dorrien, 98 Moorilla Estate Pinot Noir and a fair old slosh of champagne and other odds and ends.

Strong colour. Very complex and inviting with aromas of black and red berry, licorice, molasses, spice and lovely aged wine characters. Medium to full bodied palate with sweet berry, licorice, chocolate and slightly earthy flavours. Luxurious. It still tastes fresh and lively and has kept it’s shape beautifully. Seamless palate and extraordinary length. Interesting to hear some comments along the lines of ‘it tastes like an old wine’ and others ‘it tastes so young’. I think it is a combination of both which is what the best old wine is nearly always about. This was a perfect bottle of an Australian Icon.

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House guests from Sydney for the weekend brought this fizzy starter. It is made by Lanson and was Highly commended at the Sydney International Wine Competition this year. I suspect it like a style known as “BOB”, buyers own brand. Champagne houses can move excess stock whether it be below their standards or a special deal. This had a nice bead and a little citrus and biscuit but quite high acid. There is a tiny bit left so I may get around to testing the sugar but I didn’t notice it past the high acid. Not a particularly grand wine, even at the price. We had it before and then with tucker.

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Amazing what I find in the cellar sometimes. When we moved here many years ago the records got a little mixed up. We used to get Rothbury and Tyrrells regularly until we shifted to Pinot. This wine is 85% Shiraz and 15% Cab. It was in really good condition and had a Burgundian like texture and even that ethereal nose you get in older burgundy. There was an overlay of vaguely tar like flavours that I had trouble describing. The problem was that most adjectives have negative connotations but the wine was lovely. So maybe I will just leave it at that.

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