The Home of Renowned Tasting

I recently saw a comment from tannin suggesting this wine is a freak, a wine “walking the line between genius and madness”. I had to try my last bottle; it had to be done. Initially, this wine was looking like a candidate for the sink: stewed plums and spice, stalks, white and black pepper, compost, full and rounded, herbal, soft fruits, a wild feral Heathcliffe character, a bit of varnish, rank vegetables and an acetic finish. I was not really sure what to make of it; did I like it or not? After a couple of hours it had settled down, with juicy fruit emerging, and a lovely texture, stalk, raspberries and plums, almost meaty like a steak freshly cooked on the barbeque, but was still a bit vegetal and stalky. The finish is dry; an odd wine indeed but very enjoyable.

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I have no idea where the grapes for this wine come from. The front label provides no assistance, nor does the back label or the website. Interestingly, there is a description of the vintage conditions on the website that is vague enough to allow re-use every year and is really quite useless. Anyways, enough preamble…

A vibrant yellow in colour, with a nose showing clean melon, creamy oak, lemons, hay, vanilla and a sprinkle of sawdust. The palate showed a sweetness, with melons and tropical fruits, but also some sour lemons. The wine has good length, but there was a certain rawness that I found distracting; perhaps this will disappear with some more time in the bottle, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Not bad value for money.

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I like ginger beer, musk sticks, Thai food and lychees. All good things. Tasty things. Nice things. No suprise then that I also like a good gewürztraminer given the right occasion. Better for me than pinot gris.
I think I am very close to never reviewing them ever again……

Aromas of ginger beer, lychees, tropical fruit and musk. On the palate flavours of ginger, ruby red grapefruit, musk sticks and light tropical fruit. Dry and distinctly spicy. Slightly lacking in focus but not at all heavy or flabby. Dry ginger spice finish. This is really very good. I just need someone to bring me a nice spicy stir-fry and I’ll be set.

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We had this at dinner last night at a local Italian restaurant. Not the most formal of tasting environments but I will write it up anyway. It was served alongside a 91 Muga Gran Reserva and 00 Prunotto Barbaresco. Good company (the wines at least).

Intensely peppery with pepper steak spread, blackberry essence, dried herbs, flowers, apricot and vanilla bean. One taster noted a distinct whiff of bandages. On the palate very tight with firm smooth grained tannins. Medium to full bodied but not heavy.There are flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant, sweet dried herbs, pepper, meat and vanilla bean. Finishes dry with meaty peppery flavours. Ideally I would like to get this in a decanter and a dirty great big Riedel glass in order to do the right thing by the wine. Maybe I will. I should. I’d also note that if you don’t like peppery wines then steer well clear of this because there is more pepper floating about here than at a convention for demented Italian waiters. All in all a very enjoyable wine.

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I like Alsatian rieslings but the long bottles are a bit of a pain because it forces me to write longer tasting notes to accomodate the longer picture. This is just the generic AC riesling from this producer but it’s very good. I’d love to see more Alsatian rieslings sealed with screwcap.

Aromas of lime, orange and cumquats. Slightly floral. On the palate dry and crunchy with some grainy phenolic grip. It has intense lime sherbert, orange and spice flavours with a good dry spicy finish. Palate cleansing and very tasty. I think I might be being a points miser with this wine so I’ll use that as a good excuse to buy another bottle. Just to be sure.

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This is the second wine of Château Pichon-Longueville Lalande. It is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot, with a smidge of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. A lurid red/purple in colour, with aromas of red currants, creamy oak, savoury black olives, spicy cedar and some smoke. The palate is fleshy, leaning more towards black currants, with woody spices and a leathery complexity. And just like Shrek and Sara Lee, the wine has layers, and the fruit sweetness is in harmony with the savoury characters. The finish is drying. Super value Bordeaux.

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Fosters Wine Empire sent this one in for the 2004 Coonawarra cabernet feature, and although I wish it was a 2004, I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Aromas of red fruit, flowers, a touch of red capsicum and light cedar oak. Quite fresh and aromatic. On the palate red and some black fruit, cigar box, spice and sweet red capsicum. Refined and shiny for a modern era Riddoch. Medium bodied even. Fresh and tight with fine tannins and a spicy red fruit aftertaste. The fruit looks a bit underdone and raw to me at the stage but I expect it will settle down to become a distinguished wine in the long term.

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I have been unable to procure some of the tasty Chardonnays reviewed recently by Linc and GW so I decided to give this a try when I saw it on the shelf of the local IGA supermarket. The first Taylors wines I tried were great Cabs in the mid seventies but their Chardonnays have rarely nudged my wine tasting radar. If this is anything to go by, it shall be a big blip on the radar in future. It opened with lovely clean aromas of citrus/melon, a little peach, a spice note that I couldn’t put words too and maybe a little oak. The palate was very creamy with cool climate style and warmer climate richness. Yes, the citrus was there, but so was the peach and stonefruit with a lovely soft oak embrace. I know the alcohol police will read the label, taste the wine and whine but I had no problem with it, a great package at an excellent price.

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It has been very interesting tasting this wine alongside the Killian vineyard from the same vintage. From what I can gather they both get a similar treatment in the winery but taste quite different. Both wines have been tasted over two days and boy are they wriggling about! The descriptors I wrote last night keep getting scratched out, new ones written in, then scratched out again. My writing pad is a right old mess (not including all the wine stains and other muck on the page). The reserve has been wriggling round a fair bit more than the Killian though. I do wish it would behave. This is from vineyards located in central Coonawarra and has a production of 1000 cases.

Aromas of plum, raspberry, fruitcake, mint, chocolate, aniseed and vanilla oak. There are some gamey characters lurking around the periphery too. On the palate leaning more to full bodied with rich plum, raspberry, chocolate, tobacco and slightly gamey flavours. Firm fairly grippy tannins. Finishes slightly tinny with sweet red fruit and tobacco flavours.

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I don’t know a great deal about Ladbroke Grove but I can tell you that I have been to the tube station in London of the same name. This wine comes from a single vineyard called Killian which is located in central Coonawarra. 800 cases made.

Aromas of black and red berry, licorice, tar, earth, spices and cedar vanilla oak with a touch of eucalypt. Splendidly dark savoury smelling wine built on a base of ripe sweet fruit. On the palate medium to full bodied with black and red berry fruit, tar, earth and spicy oak. Dry fine grained powdery tannins and fresh crisp acidity. Tight and balanced. Finishes with savoury tobacco flavours. A beautiful and very refined cabernet.

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I have heard and read good comments on this wine so when I saw it on a list at a restaurant possessing a very modest list it seemed to be the only choice. It was $40 on the list but I suspect its closer to $20 around the traps. I tried searching the usual sites but none had it listed. Sort of like the Lilydale Chard I have been searching for in vain. Anyway, back to the wine. It opened with a chocolate/cola type aroma that was not unpleasant but not enticing either. The palate showed similar flavours with a nice dose of dark cherry in back. It did breathe up over the meal and the “pong” side seemed to either be ignored by my senses or it disappeared. The dark cherry fruit with a hint of blackbery was quite pleasant. A very good but not great Pinot Noir.

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This is a label owned by Bob Lindquist and made at a facility shared with Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat fame. Bob gave me this bottle when I dropped in July 2006. Wendy asked for a “Different” chardonnay so I thought it time to try Bobs wine. It had a slightly developed colour which I will put down to the cork. The nose was quite buttery and had nice peachy aromas with a little citrus. The palate had great balance, maybe needing a tad more acid to balance the fruit power, but the flavours of peach, oak and butter go together quite harmoniously. A good way to prepare for an upcoming chardonnay benchmark evening.

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Michael Kerrigan is another winemaker whose gib I like the cut of. He is gone from Howard Park/Madfish now but this would be one of his. I don’t know who the new winemaker is but they have big boots to fill. MadFish is a bit groovy and lifestyley but the wines are nearly always excellent and usually over-deliver on price.

Aromas of stonefruit, lemon, almond meal and some smoky barrel ferment characters. On the palate mouthfilling stonefruit, citrus and honey almond with some savoury lees characters. It is juicy and fruity yet still retains a sense of refinement and elegance. Clean fresh acidity and a fruity yet crisp finish. A wine with such a sunny cheerful disposition you can’t help but love it.

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Big Cliff Royle is on fire with these latest Voyager releases. So hot he must be smoking and we all know that is bad for your health but with great wines like these ‘We don’t need no water let the mother*&$*$# burn. Burn mother*&$*$#. Burn!’

Aromas of gooseberry, passionfruit, lemon, cut grass and herbs with a wisp of smoke. On the palate delicate and crisp with passionfruit, lemon, fresh pineapple and grassy flavours. Intense crystal clear flavours balanced with refreshing lemony acidity. Long lemon and herb finish with a slightly chalky grippy exit. A wine of great purity and finesse. MR SBS at it’s thirst quenching best.

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Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me; I do think you’ll agree that I deserve something a bit special for my birthday. It was either this or a Leroy Pommard village wine, and as it turned out the Jadot got the nod. Quite a dark colour really, and matched by plums and black cherries, earth and spice, all very inviting aromas. The palate also showed the red and black fruits, balanced by spice and maybe a bit of meatiness too. The tannins are fine, and the oak was in perfect harmony. Perhaps I had my Burgundy-tinted glasses on, but everything looked fine and dandy with a glass of this in my hand.

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I had not heard of this winery until last night, not that I have my finger on the pulse of the Granite Belt, but I suspect like many other people, I just don’t buy or drink much wine from this area. And you thought the Hunter had an image problem! Well the wine was uncorked and revealed aromas of red plums, vanilla, animal hide, dried meat and dried spices. The palate showed red cherries and red plums, leather and creamy oak with a touch of carbon/graphite. Good length and quite tasty. A very nice wine, though not particular Cabernetish in character, and it did taste a little bretty to my palate.

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And yet another cheap Chardonnay. This one didn’t grab my attention as much as the Annie’s Lane. It was yellow in colour, with hints of green. The nose was dominated by lemons and limes, with gooseberries and a creaminess, but nothing nutty at all. The palate seemed relatively thin, with minerals, gooseberries, preserved lemons and a hint of tropical fruits. The finish is distinctly odd, with a funny moldy fruit character and some steel. Okay but not great.

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My brother-in-law was feeling jaded with the whites he’d been having recently, so wanted to try something different, and he certainly got it with this wine. A change is as good as a holiday. It is a blend of 70% Viognier and 30% Marsanne, with one third of the blend being aged in new and used American oak. The nose was odd, and I struggled a bit trying to identify the aromas but as I edged sideways I did see pineapple and minerals, lemon pulp and some herbs – an odd combination. The palate showed savoury tropical fruits, a full and viscous mouthfeel, but not fat at all, and then a mineral finish. An interesting wine.

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The wine spent 21 months in 4 year old French barriques. A reddish brown in colour – looks older than 4 years. A pleasant nose, with nutmeg and stewed rhubarb, earth and old coffee beans. No tar, nor any roses either. The palate is very smooth and rounded, coffee and mocha, earth and olives, sweet red fruits and a dry finish. Probably not a textbook Nebbiolo, but an excellent accompaniment to homemade pizzas on a Friday night, or any night that pleases you really.

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I must admit I’ve taken an aversion to overly acidic whites recently, so a friend steered me in the direction of New Zealand Rieslings. For those that are technically minded, this wine has 30g/L of residual sugar, a pH of 3.05, 10.7g/L of acid and a refreshing low alcohol content of 9.9%. I was greeted by aromas of sweet lemon and blossoms, and a palate showing obvious sweetness, with some sherbet lightness and zing, oranges, peaches, stewing apple, almost tropical. The finish is crisp and it had very good length. A lovely aperitif.

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