The Home of Renowned Tasting

A boutique wine made by Troy Kalleske for Winestar proprietors Bert and Pierre Werden. A bold nose, with inviting aromas of vanilla, rich plum, red cherries, black cherries, nutty oak and dusted spices. The palate is expansive, with milk chocolate, rich sweet blackcherries and plums, nutty and spicy, with soft tannins. It’s a bit peaky on the finish, but it has undeniable quality and balance: lots of oak but also lots of lovely fruits. I would probably leave it another year to settle, and then it should easily go another 5 years.

No Responses »

A blend of 74% Grenache, 15% Mataro and 11% Shiraz. Strong aromas of black currants and red currants, confection and alcohol, spice, clean earth and red liquorce steeped in raspberry liqueur. The palate showed confected red currants and raspberries, boozy but not hot, soft tannins (almost no tannins), leathery freshness, spices and a bit of thump on the finish. An admirable wine, undeniably chipper, and though the alcohol shows a bit, there’s plenty of everything else to distract you; you will grin like a cheshire cat.

Other vintages: 2001

No Responses »

I don’t know when this is released. Maybe next year or the year after. The fruit for this wine is sourced from one of the great Hunter Valley vineyards – Old Hillside.

Opens up a bit meaty and reduced but there is plenty of cherry and berry fruit, pepper and subtle French vanilla oak. Earthy and fragrant. On the medium bodied palate it has red fruit, plums and earth, and with decanting, the added richness of some licorice and chocolate flavours. There is a touch of spicy cinnamon/vanilla French oak in support. The most significant feature of this young wine is the outstanding palate. It has velvety tannins, a seamless mouthfeel and great length of flavour. I’ll be waiting patiently for this one.

9 Responses »

The colour is quite red and enticing. The nose seems rather earthy and even reductive. I decanted it and let it breathe for several hours to investigate changes. It did change a little after some time in the decanter. The flavours on the palate seem a little flat but show plum and smokey bacon with a high acid finish. At this stage it is definitely a bit of an ugly child that may change for the better. In terms of value, I think there are many Aussie and New Zealand wines that have better fruit and are cleaner.

No Responses »

I have tried several vintages of this wine now and see a high level of continuity despite quite different vintage conditions. Central Otago has several subregions that produce different styles and the site of this vineyard appears to produce generous fruit flavours and good palate length. This wine opened with nice aromas of red fruits and a hint of cola. The palate showed cherry and some plum with oak flavours that have a bit of cola. The palate seems to last quite some time and the acid keeps everything together without leaving me wondering if its too much. Yes, the word balance comes to mind as does pinosity. Lovely wine and good value.

Other vintages: 2004, 2003

No Responses »

This wine is listed on the Chapoutier website but I noted that the capsule has the names Corinne et Michel Chapoutier and Elva et Ron Laughton (of Jasper Hill) on it; it must be a joint venture of some sort, but I cannot find any mention of it. And yes, it is a slightly weird name, but the vineyards are located on the slopes in the upper reaches of the Agly valley. My wife actually read the label as the “Ugly Brothers”. Sheessssssh.

A blend of 60% Carignan, 20% Grenache and 20% Syrah. A masculine nose, a bit meaty, red and black cherries, and loincloth of goat hide. The palate showed lovely savoury red fruits, plums more than cherries, blackness, and again some animal hide. Soft tannins and a slippery mouthfeel make it terrifyingly drinkable.

10 Responses »

We were discussing the merits of rating wines that are typical of their variety versus those that are just good wines. This is an example of the latter but it does present strongly regional minty flavours too.

Developed colour. Aromas of rich liqueur cherry and berry, spice, dark chocolate and peppermint, aniseed and plenty of oak. On the palate full bodied and packed with rich plum, cherry and berry, tobacco, dark chocolate mint flavours and spicy oak. Very ripe, bordering on stewy, but really very pleasant. Lots of ripe fine grained tannins and fairly low acidity. Excellent length of flavour. A wine for hedonists and peppermintists that packs the value in by the square inch. Looked good over a couple of days as well.

3 Responses »

In this case, dial ‘M’ for Merlot; a blend of 43% Grenache, 30% Shiraz and 27% Merlot. I was actually a bit annoyed when I found this out as I’m a card-carrying member of the Mourvedrista Party.

A Yuletide nose, red plums and raspberries, Christmas pudding, with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. The palate is soft and cuddly, red fruits and fine tannins. It also has some warming length, comforting but not hot, though if this is actually 13.5% abv then I’m a monkey’s uncle. Drink over the short term.

7 Responses »

They make 525,600 bottles of this wine; that’s almost 44,000 cases. Mind-boggling stuff. On the nose, liquorice and plums, blackberries, dull pepper and a bit of char. The palate is fruiter and deeper than expected, full bodied, rich sweet fruits, tasty and tangy with a touch of rawness. I didn’t really expect much so though it might sound like a backhanded compliment I really did find this to be very pleasant. If I needed any more I would buy 6 bottles and hide them away. Probably needs another year and then drink over the next 5 years.

17 Responses »

I needed a change of pace the other night so decided to tuck into a bottle of Chablis. A classically reserved nose, with oyster shells, hard green fruits, spice, and just a touch of ripe asparagus, but nothing herbaceous. The palate displayed wonderfully tight peaches and yellow fruits, a bit of musk and preserved lemon, all with a flinty and minerally finish. It is structured, possessing tremendous mouthfeel and persistence, power with restraint, purity and beautiful length. A wine for which time stops; I cannot recommend it highly enough.

13 Responses »

A wine from our benchmark night. It has been described as the New World’s Chambolle Musigny so it had to be in the bracket. The wines were consumed over 3 hours, including with food. I prefer Pinots with finesse and perfume and this wine has both. The nose was quite complex with cherry, oak and a hint of stalk or tomato leaf. The palate was elegant with great balance. The flavours are at the cherry end of the Pinot spectrum with a bit of cola from the well integrated oak plus some dried herbs. The palate has good, not great persistence. There was much discussion about this wine and also of the Simon Bize Aux Guettes. Remember, they were served blind and people suspected one was a burgundy and the other was a bit green. I don’t know about the Bell Hill but the Bize wine used some stalks.

No Responses »

I am not sure what OMK stands for: suggestions are welcome. I couldn’t find it out on the web, though I do now know heaps about Operation Military Kids and the Outtrim Moyarra Kongwak (OMK) Cricket Club.

A pale yellow in colour. Intense aromas of apricots and tropical fruits, oranges and spices and musk stick. The palate is textured, sweet oranges and apples, big fruited no doubts, lime and mandarins and orange sherbet. It is also a bit oxidative, with old orange rind and sour fruits on the finish. An interesting wine, though not particularly a style I would drink often.

No Responses »

This came and went (and sold out) in the blink of an eye, but it’s the second time I have tasted it, either entirely by accident or good fortune depending on how you look at things.

Outrageously perfumed and aromatic with cherry and raspberry jam, spice, pepper, sweet licorice and a little earthiness. On the palate full bodied with a whole punnet of mixed berries, raspberry coulis, earth, spice and cedary oak. It has firm powdery tannins and fresh acidity and feels tightly clenched even after being open for a day. Finishes with intense dried cranberry flavours. This needs a bit more time to relax …and don’t we all.

2 Responses »

This is a cheapie, bottom of the totem pole for Chateau du Cedre, retailing around the $25 mark I think. Chateau du Cedre is regarded by many as the leading estate in Cahors. The principal grape varieties of the appellation are Malbec (known locally as Cot) and Tannat, but I believe this has a little Merlot in it.

A bruising nose, with blood plums and blackberries, minerals and animal hide. The palate displays rustic red fruits, earth and muscular tannins that seem to grow and grow in the glass, almost uncontrollably. It also develops a bit of stink with time. Not one for the faint-hearted, and probably needs another 5 years or more, though I am not exactly sure what you’ll see in 2012, but I am prepared to experiment with my remaining bottles.

Other vintages: 2003

One Response »

This very nice map of all the Victorian wineries and wine regions just landed on my desk. I do like it a lot. There is one Yarra Valley winery that they have put in the wrong place..but you will have to find it yourself..or not as the case may be. You can purchase in several different formats from the website below. Now I am off to find a blob of Blu-Tack.

No Responses »

This wine was served masked as part of a benchmarking exercise. I had assembled the wines and knew it was somewhere in the group of 8. It has a sister wine, the Roosevelt that I was most impressed with and since this was a clonal selection based on the Roosevelt vineyard I anticipated something great. It was very good but the earth did not move. The nose has ripe red berry aromas and seems very clean without oak dominating. The palate had lovely ripe cherry flavours, a bit of oak char and lovely powdery tannins. All this is great but it finished a little quickly. The key feature was that the red berry fruit is bright and there is no bitterness or stalkiness, just lovely Pinot. If the finish had been longer it would have scored even higher.

No Responses »

This wine was served along with several other top Pinots in a benchmarking exercise, including the Picardy Tete de Cuvee. I was surprised by how fruity the aromas were as soon as it was opened. The aromas reminded me of many burgundies from 2004 and some present described them as green and dried herbs. I suspect that the wine had a lot of whole bunch that would result in these characteristics. I have tried several wines from this domain over the past week and see a whole bunch component in all of them. Reading the reviews of Allen Meadows it appears that the domain used between 33% and 100% whole bunch per batch. I am not a great fan of this style. The palate does show plum and a little mint behind the dried herb and licorice. If you want to see how an older style burgundy with a lot of whole bunches will age, stack some away for five to 10 years and make up your own mind. Young wines from Cristom in Oregon can look like this but five years later, like a chameleon, change into something rather different, usually very nice. At the moment though this is not my style.

No Responses »

This was served up blind at tonight’s little tasting and I thought …”hmmm this smells a lot like 04 Rockford Basket Press.” I hope I said it out loud because that would make me look really good…but I am not so sure. Anyway the wine comes from an old vine vineyard located in the Greenock sub-region of the Barossa and is made by one of the eight million Kalleskes that float round the region…

Aromas of plum, milk chocolate, rose, pepper, aniseed, mint and a little vanilla oak. Classic traditional Barossa wine. On the palate medium to full bodied with smooth plum, rose, aniseed, milk chocolate and cedar oak. Subtle fine grained tannins and beautiful balance throughout. Finishes long and creamy with a lingering rosy red berry and spice aftertaste. Well well well. This is quite a wine.

13 Responses »

Wow. This shone like a diamond in tonights 2007 Riesling tasting. It is exactly the sort of wine to make you fall in love with Riesling all over again…

Aromas of lemon drops, fennel, orange blossom, mineral and subtle spice. Superb. On the palate crisp lemon, orange blossom, spice and slatey mineral flavours. Perfect balance. It flows evenly through the length of the palate and culminates with an extra-ordinarily long slatey spicy finish. This is the best Petaluma since 2002. An outstanding wine and a shining example of a great Australian terroir.

15 Responses »

Made by Riesling master John Vickery and the experience shines through. Here is a wine that is not jacked up with aromatic yeasts; the fruit and the terroir doing all the talking.

Aromas of citrus, fresh pineapple, spice and mineral. Subdued and restrained. On the palate some youthful spritzy CO2 but highly focussed and fresh with tight mineral and lemon lime flavours complemented by a touch of spice. Plenty of bite with classic crystal clear Riesling flavours. Finishes long and minerally. Love at first taste.

No Responses »