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I’m having a couple of major problems with all these 2005 Margaret River Cabernets, namely those of limited funds and finite capacity. This year’s Heytesbury is all Margaret River with just a sneaky little addition of 5% Shiraz and is a barrel selection rather than a single vineyard wine (as per usual). There won’t be a 2006 vintage release so the intention is to stretch this out until the 2007 Heytesbury becomes available.

Flamboyant, complex and highly aromatic with a mix of ripe cherry and cassis, violet, dark chocolate and spice tempered by more herbal influences of peppermint, gum leaf and snapped green twigs. It’s also appropriately gravelly and earthy as is the way with the best Margaret River Cabernets. On the palate full bodied and flooded with ripe cassis and cherry fruit, dried herbs and mocha flavours - a wine of considerable impact, depth and drama. It has strong ripe chalky tannins, superb balance and a long dry finish. A wine that resonates in the memory long after tasting.

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A new label for the 2005 vintage (of which you can read more about in the excellent Moss Wood newsletter here), and while I miss the old one, the contents of the bottle more than adequately compensate for the loss of gold trim; this is easily the best since the mighty 2001 vintage. The oak is less obvious and it’s more refined and balanced (and less warm and chocolaty) than some of the more recent vintages. I tasted it alongside the soon to be released Vasse Felix Heytesbury of the same year, and while they are quite different wines and hard to separate qualitatively, it was the svelte charm of the Moss Wood that tipped the scale. A style preference in more ways than one.

A gorgeous smelling wine that immediately pulls at the purse strings of the Cabernet enthusiast - it offers mulberry and dark fruit, a violet perfume, spice, fine cedar oak and that gravel and wet cement aromatic that is so typical of the region (at least for me). In the mouth quiet authority and grace is the order of the day with ultra fine mouth coating tannins, ripe fruit, oak and alcohol all in perfect balance. It’s appropriately dry and savoury but not at the expense of bright fresh Cabernet fruit flavours. Long and satisfying this is a wine of rare balance and significant ageing potential. Certainly one of the finest Moss Wood releases to date.

Other vintages : 2001, 1999

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I was tasting through a few modestly priced reds yesterday (06 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz, 05 Wyndham Estate 555 Shiraz etc.) and it prompted me to quickly write something about this wine. I’m not sure if I have the rating correct, I was a bit rushed, but I liked the wine and it easily falls into my ‘good’ range of scores. It has integrity.

Smells of blue fruits, plum, mint and a bit of cedar wood. The medium bodied palate offers similar flavours with perhaps the addition of blackcurrant and a bit of an olive savoury edge. It has firm tannins, a bit aggressive perhaps, but I’d rather have a bit of grip in an inexpensive wine than a lot of sugar. It’s good and tasty and finishes dry. Authentic and good quality is my quick impression.

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It’s still sealed with a cork but a nice long cork, and one of excellent quality that will surely please the aesthetes amongst us. This year sees a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the introduction of two brand new grapey chums - 5% Petit Verdot (Evans Vineyard) and 5% Malbec (Sharefarmers Vineyard)

It’s fragrant, violetty and perfumed with aniseed and spice over blackberry, blackcurrant, cedar oak and mineral. Cool, calm and collected. On the palate medium bodied and fine - a wine of effortless sophistication that combines perfectly ripe fruit without excess sweetness or alcohol warmth, a flourish of savoury black olive and graphite with polished cedary French oak in support. It has fine smooth tannins, clean fresh acidity and feels fluid and calm throughout, finishing long and dry. Benchmark Coonawarra.

Other vintages : 2004, 1998

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Elderton are a carbon neutral winery which is great thing, especially considering the weight and size of the bottle in which this wine comes. Still sealed with a cork, while the top of the line Command comes in a Stelvin Luxe. I’d guess this is either because Mum likes cork or more likely that the bottle is a special shape that cannot be capped. Perhaps both. This year’s blend is 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Shiraz and 19% Merlot and I like it as much as last years, perhaps even a little bit more.

A great smelling wine, with its mix of sweet and more savoury characters, where blackcurrant, berry, liquorice and vanilla ice mingle with earth and coal dust. On the palate it’s medium to full bodied and again offers that delightful mix of sweet ripe fruit, earthy Barossa flavours and tasteful vanilla oak. It has lovely fine grained tannins, feels fresh and bright and finishes long and earthy. A refined and stylish wine (within context) that delivers top drinking now, though I am fairly sure it will cellar beautifully too.

Other vintages : 2004

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It says on the back label that the Cabernet Sauvignon (65% - Barossa Valley) and Tempranillo (35% - Adelaide Hills) is an unusual blend, and I think I have read a similar thing written locally about three times. So I have three big words to offer - Ribera del Duero.

It has more than a bit of a Spainish vibe about it with an intriguing nose of black jelly bean, blackberry, meat and black olives, violet and lavender. Following on is a medium bodied palate that’s quite fresh but also meaty with a blackcurrant/blackberry/cherry sort of thing going on and a floral mouth perfume. It’s touch jubey but not sweet. Not especially deep either but tastiness is the compensation. Light dry tannins and a dry finish complete the picture. Ultimate food style. It’s a really interesting wine too so bonus points for that. Very enjoyable.

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The other day I was musing over my unfinished tax return for the 06/07 financial year. I saw this and it was just the ticket I needed to complete the job. A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Cabernet Sauvignon. An odd nose, particularly the florals, showing liqueured cherries, liquorice, blackberry jam, red currants, wattle blossoms and sweet daises. The palate is sweet and sour at the same time, tomato sauce, red cherries, plums, cedar, herbs, stalks and some sweet confection. The tannins are pleasant and the mouthfeel rounded. Looking a bit clunky at the moment; leave another 6 months.

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The second bottle from the case. I have reviewed this before, but one of the delights of the cork is that it makes every bottle different. In this case we are welcomed into the House of Seppelt with aromas of small red berries, leather, cedar, malt, baked coconut, red currants and blackberries. Mmmm, quite engaging. The palate was rich and layered, seeming relatively youthful with red currants and red liquorice, but also showing some secondary and savoury characters. The acid is not as prominent as in the previous bottle. Looking good, and based on this bottle, should do 20 years I reckon.

Other vintages: 1996

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Now I would not normally bother writing this up if it weren’t for the distinct possibility that many might be inclined to try the new vintage based on the glories of past. And maybe you should try it too because there is also the distinct possibility that I have fluffed the review, or had an indifferent bottle.

It smells very good with violet, black and blue fruit, dusty wood, cocoa and an aniseed/ouzo lift. On the palate medium bodied with a mix of berry and cocoa, not much width and quite strong furry tannins. It starts well but much like the opening credits of Get Smart the steel doors slam shut as the wine travels along the mouth - hard, cold and final. Tasted over two days it remained closed and unforgiving, although perhaps time will be kind and unlock its charms.

Other vintages : 2004, 2003

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Gee this is good for $25. I suppose Cabernet Sauvignon is not the most fashionable variety for the Yarra Valley any more but it’s the one with the most runs on the board (so far). So if you are looking for a top cabernet, with an abundance of style, for not a lot money, then you’d be foolish not to take a punt on this.

It’s ripe and luscious but not overly so with blackcurrant, cedar, violet, earthy tobaccoey things, bayleaf and spice. On the palate medium to full bodied with a flood of cassis, briar, earth and spice - sweet fruit and savoury interest. It feels supple and fluid with fine grained powdery tannins and flows through the mouth in a most appealing and seductive manner. Good long finish too. Very highly recommended.

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This is a new ultra-premium that comes off a 70 acre vineyard located on Benbournie Road that was planted around 1964. The Shiraz that comes off it forms the basis for The Armagh, and I guess this wine is intended to be it’s sparring partner in the red grape fashion tussle between Cabernet and Shiraz, perhaps a bit like Derek Zoolander and Hansel. I’m not so keen on American oak and Cabernet but at least it’s very good oak used here. I also think that as a wine ages, the choice of oak (so long as it’s well coopered) becomes much less obvious. All cats are grey in the dark.

Rich and dark with blackcurrant and blackberry, mint, vanilla coffee, spice and tobacco - certainly quite minty but very appealing. On the palate full bodied with excellent texture and weight, fine grained mouth-saturating tannins and plenty of flavour - but not heavy or clumsy. Great line and flow with a very long finish. It still looks vigorous and youthful and could well prove immortal given its density and power. A very impressive debut.

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Jules (who is actually male most of the time) popped this into my box when I was picking up a few bottles of a certain wine that is not supposed to be sold retail, but is supplied to some retailers, but only if you don’t promote it or talk about it too much - let’s call it 06 Fight Club Cabernet Shiraz. Anyway, that’s not important right now (TNIRN) as we are talking about the Reschke Bull Trader, which Jules likes and I also like, after having tasted it. It’s a refreshing wine, and while it’s on the line when it comes to herbal characters, I’m pretty happy to call it in. I’d happily serve it any dinner time.

Attractive smelling wine with blackberry, chocolate, a cedar wood perfume, spice and a touch of green bean. On the palate medium bodied and fresh tasting with blackcurrant, red berry, chocolate, a bit of tomato and a menthol coolness. It’s dry, savoury and quite refined with fine tannins, refreshing acidity and good length of flavour. It’s an old school Bordeaux blend with a bit of class and naturally it complements food beautifully.

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Made from a 5 acre vineyard in Clevedon, about 40 minutes by car from Auckland, and blended to reflect the relative proportions of Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec in the vineyard.

A fascinating nose, showing red currants, tobacco leaf, not quite tomato leaf, dried herbs and faintly smoky stalks. There are also hints of blackcurrants, and some mulch and leaf. A glass swirler. A sensual and sensational palate, red currant, blackcurrant, blackberry, cedary dryness, herby and savoury, and some stalk on the finish (but it’s not green). Very tasty stuff, but it is the velvety tannins, the fantastic mouthfeel and the length that just goes on and on that makes this an outstanding wine. Well worth having a few in the cellar.

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This arrived yesterday, in amongst a couple of dozen other samples, and because I am a Cabernet man I wasted no time in tucking in. Too much Margaret River Cabernet is barely enough if you ask me. Anyway, I really like this and I have 92 or 93 scribbled on my pad, but as we all know (I hope) the score is only a small part of the story, so just to make it perfectly clear, this comes with my emphatic approval in all departments - value, quality, style etc.

It has a delightful violet and gum leaf perfume over mulberry, blackcurrant and chocolate with a handful of gravel thrown in for good measure. On the palate medium to full bodied with perfectly ripe fruit offering blackcurrant, mulberry, chocolate, some more earthy flavours and a touch of leafiness. It has fine firm tannins and feels beautifully balanced from start to finish. A delightful wine of considerable grace and sophistication.

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It’s a tricky one to rate - the Australian fruit is excellent but its married to an entirely unsympathetic and very loud American partner. I tasted it next to the 2004 vintage (a more subdued medium bodied style with the oak looking more settled) and the 2005 is the superior wine. For my tastes I’d love to see some better oak in this - but then maybe it would not be the same wine.

It smells of Peppermint Crisp, coconut, dusty wood, dark berry and blackcurrant with a ferrous earthy aspect. On the palate full bodied with strong open weave tannins - chunky and muscular, it’s a wine of considerable impact and density. It has flavours of blackberry, dark chocolate, peppermint and earth with just a touch of bitterness. Excellent weight and structure with a strong finish. I find the overt peppermint character more than a little distracting but others might not. It’s old school but high quality.

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A most curious wine this one, and quite unlike so many others, which I tend to think is a good thing. Questionable value at $45 mind you.

Highly perfumed and fragrant with cherry jam, blackcurrant pastille, raw meat, cedar wood and plenty of eucalyptus leaves and green twigs. It’s sweetly ripe and green all at once and really quite strangely compelling. On the palate medium bodied with sweet red fruit and blackcurrant, briar, eucalypt and twiggy flavours - sweet and sour. It has fine sappy tannins and fresh acidity with a redcurrant and leaf finish. Ultra outré or as Dick Emery might have said “Ooh you are awful…but I like you”.

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The old grey mare, she ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be. The RRP for this wine is supposed to be $20.99 but I’m pretty sure you’ll see it around the traps for considerably less, at which point it becomes something of a good buy, hence the review. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot, which via drawing a long bow, becomes Traditional. *twang*

It smells of flowers, fresh berries, nougat, basil and clean earth which makes for an attractive smelling wine. On the palate medium bodied with a mix of juicy berries, dried herb and aniseed. It has light dry tannins and clean fresh acid - easy going and refreshing although fairly shallow, finishing clean with a light earth, black olive and spice aftertaste. Solid good quality wine.

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Our first review of a Shottesbrooke wine, but first a history lesson. Nick Holmes purchased a small grazing property at Myponga in the hills of the Fleurieu Peninsula in 1981 to establish his first vineyard and launch the Shottesbrooke wine label. The winery is names after the Shottesbrooke church in Berkshire, England. The church was built in 1337 as part of a monastic complex and Nick Holmes’ grandfather, Richard Holmes, was the rector from 1905 to 1926.

A delicious red with purple trim. Quite aromatic, with blackcurrants and black cherries, some creamy oak, nuts and a bit of leaf. The palate is full bodied palate, as you would expect from a wine from McLaren Vale, showing plums, red cherries and red currants, tobacco and as with the nose, a touch of leafiness. Full flavoured and ripe, a classic dry red style but with some cabernet traits; a wine with some class. Drink over the next 5 years.

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I was up for buying a few bottles of this the minute it hit my chops. Those bottles, of course, will be screwcap sealed as that is my preferred option but hooray for Penfolds for giving the consumer the choice; cork, screwcap…or both!

Oh lovely with it’s mix of blackcurrant, plum and blueberry fruit, licorice, bay leaf, cocoa and dusty vanilla oak. On the palate a wine of immediate impact and strength, striding through the mouth with purpose and grace; and it’s that combination of balance, power and structure that clearly sets it apart from most of its contemporaries. It has a wide spread of powder fine tannin, clean acid to balance and superb length of flavour. A great (and thoroughly Australian) wine.

Other vintages: 2005, 2004, 2003

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I always wonder about using some of the more esoteric descriptors but after tasting this wine I thought “mmmm sarsaparilla” and on checking the official tasting note (for regional composition mainly) I see winemaker Peter Gago has used the same word. If it’s good enough for Gago then it’s good enough for me. You could get a song out of that for sure…

Something very nice to sniff here with aromas of blackcurrant, dark chocolate, violet and a minty mentholated lift. On the palate full bodied with strong tannin, pronounced acidity and excellent shape through the mouth. It has flavours of blackcurrant, sarsaparilla and some more meaty savoury characters with cedary oak well in the background. Long finish with a bit of acid poking out at the end. It’s all arms and legs at the moment but looks to be a super example of 407.

Other vintages : 2004, 2004, 2003, 1996

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