The Home of Renowned Tasting

I find it a bit hard to get into the swing of tasting (young) Rieslings in winter, but there you go. The press release for these Leo Buring Rieslings emphatically states that the wines have all natural acidity and that the fruit came off the vines before the furnace was fired up for 2008.

It smells of bath salts and white lillies, citrus zest and fresh lemon and the palate is tight and highly acidic, bone dry and flinty with squeezed lemon and lime juice and a long tart, but juicy finish. It’s a very good, if not rather austere Leo Buring Clare - I might even be under-rating it. Regardless, drink next summer and over the next couple of years, or pop it in the cellar and drink 2013 onwards.

Other vintages : 2007, 2005, 2003, 1999

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I ended up tasting this alongside 2005 Yalumba “The Menzies” in amongst a few other things - not sure why, it just sort of happened that way, tough competition anyway..but this plucky little Cabernet looked pretty good all the same.

It’s typically Cabernet with red berry and blackcurrant, tobacco, a little mint and sensible cedar oak and offers a medium bodied palate that’s neither dense nor particularly concentrated but does have freshness and charm as compensation. There are fine grained but firm tannins, and with extended airing, an increased fleshiness and length of palate emerges. It’s good value, most likely cellar worthy and really pretty good to drink.

Other vintages : 2005

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I have instituted a new practice. I have 3 or 4 dozen samples, tasters and bottles from the cellar in boxes, and have a bottle chosen at random and served to me blind. I think this is a good idea because it forces one to think about the wine, instead of using preconceived ideas drawn from the label.

This one is a cellar release from Dan Murphys. Initially closed, but with hints of gunsmoke and dried apricots. Yes, weird. Luckily it settled down after a hour or so and showed gentle aromas of plummy fruits, spice, red liquorice and some secondary leathery characters. The palate continued the red liquorice theme; in fact there were lashings of it, accompanied by mulberries, plums and spice, clean earth, acid, and a soft tomato stalkiness. A pleasant drink, perhaps still a bit unidimensional, so hold for a few more years before trying again. I would have bought a few more but when I went to Dans today they had sold out.

Other vintages: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2005

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It’s a blend of Grenache, Cabernert Sauvignon, Shiraz, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo but no kitchen sink.

It smells spicy, meaty, floral and red fruited (with a little slice of raspberry pie thrown in). Light, lively and hinting at a more European style the medium bodied palate is soft and dryish combining spice and red fruit with some more meaty nutty flavours. It has length, drinkability and character - I think it’s a very successful wine.

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If you happen to have a child born in 2007 (as I do) then I’d suggest this may well be one of the better local bets to snap open at a 21st. The little buggers probably won’t appreciate a twenty one year old Clare Riesling mind you, so I’d suggest you drink this quietly in the corner as a warm up, before tucking into a bevy of Hunter and Margaret River reds of the same vintage. I had this open in the fridge for, I think, about 5 days and it hardly budged at all.

It’s clean, pristine and precise with lemon, grapefruit and mineral flavours on a fine boned flint-edged palate. Tight, refined and ultra-dry it’s beautifully balanced and very long but not for drinking now unless you are an acid freak. A great wine where patience should be richly rewarded.

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I’d say the packaging of these wines really detracts from what’s inside the bottle, which so far has been really pretty good. Then again I’m not in marketing, or more specifically targeting a specific market, although I guess delivering a good product is ultimately what’s most important. This is made by Neil Pike from fruit coming out of the Sevenhill sub-region of the Clare Valley.

Sweet fresh limes, a little toasty development, herbs and mineral make for a very attractive smelling wine. It offers juicy limes, toast and mineral flavours with a good clean acid cut that’s also not without a certain approachable-drink-me-now-and-quickly softness and sweetness. Fine balance and flow throughout closing with a long sweet limey finish. Very tasty and probably at it’s best right now.

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This is a bit of a surprise. You’d not normally expect too much of an Australian Tempranillo but this made me double take (or sip). Big Tim Adams has an association with Muga and I’d say a little bit of Rioja magic has rubbed off here, although obviously hard work, top winemaking and quality viticulture are the real factors. What most impressed me here are the silky smooth tannins, almost RODAesque if you are familiar with that wine, that coat and caress the mouth. With regards to rating it, I’m dithering between an excellent and outstanding rating, so I’ll probably decide on a number when I finish writing the review. I tasted it over two days (with no sign of tiring) and have two different scores.

A fine smelling wine with a mix of black cherry and red fruits, cola, creamy spicy oak, liquorice (with extended breathing) and wafting above it all a very faint citrus leaf perfume. On the palate medium to full bodied with ripe black cherry and red fruits, brown spice, mineral, nuts and very slight mintiness. Good flavour but it’s the texture here that wins you over - a velvet fog of plush smooth tannins that coat the mouth and extend all the way through to the back palate. Excellente.

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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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I like to review Rieslings but when you are feeling a bit short on verbiage they can be slightly tricky. The long bottles take up a fair bit of space and I can’t have a messy looking review. The 2007 vintage is seen by many to be equally tricky, and while the wines may be fairly short term propositions generally, I think they have a distinctive and appealing quality. More so than either the 2004 or 2006 vintages which I found to be a little El Blando…

It’s flowery and packed with assorted citrus fruits and spice with an intense palate offering lime, grapefruit and apple flavours. On the palate dry and minerally with squeaky acidity and a lightly chalky texture closing with a good long tangy citrus finish. It offers an abundance of Riesling flavour, delivered with precision and grace. A very convincing wine.

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The year nineteen seventy six is significant for (at least) two reasons. It was the inaugural release of Penfold’s Koonunga Hill and also the year that our family emigrated from England to Australia. Surely both momentous occasions and events of equal significance in the history of Australian wine. Now if only Koonunga Hill were still this good….

It smells of toast, rich berry fruit, liquorice, coal and menthol. It smells like an old Penfold’s wine. On the palate medium to full bodied and deeply fruited with dark berry, plum, spice and aniseed with toasty oak in support. It has light tannins that are charmingly loose and slightly gritty, fresh clean acidity and excellent weight and length of flavour. Drink it whilst wearing a pair of flared trousers and a tight T-Shirt to get in the mood. It’s a retro ripper.

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White Spider instantly puts me in mind of the restaurant of the same name down at Perisher, on the road up to Charlotte’s Pass. Drinking a bottle of this, however, is a little more inexpensive than a nosh up at the restaurant of the same name. Anyway, I cracked this because I think that the synergy that Semillon and Chardonnay have is often under-rated.

It smells of peaches, brown apple and candle wax with some redeeming lime and green herb. On the palate a fruity mix of peach, apple and citrus that is tangy, slightly flinty but certainly fruity. It’s fairly wide and unfocussed and tails off mid-palate but finishes dry and clean. Uncomplicated and easy to drink - it’s a good solid wine.

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This is thought to be the first commercial release of Carmenère in Australia with a production of 150 dozen. It tastes like Carmenère too although better than some of the Chilean examples I have had recently - a little cleaner and fruitier. I also admired the bottle for an unusually long time too. Very nice packaging.

A typical mix of dried herb, spice, ash and volcanic rocks with bright red fruit and some vanilla oak. On the palate medium bodied with fresh red cherry, spiced red jelly, dried herb and subtle oak in support. It has fine light dry tannins, clean acidity and feels nice and airy in the mouth. Good juicy finish. No heat or heaviness. I think this is a really good drink.

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This won a gold medal at the 2007 Royal Perth Show but I can’t see 94 points here based on this bottle (which may or may not have seen heat). It’s a bronze from me (just). The first batch of Taylor’s summer whites came to me courtesy of Australia Post re-packaged into a handy flat pack of crushed glass and soggy cardboard. I think an Elephant must have sat on it and hope his bum is OK.

Aromas of sweet lemon, apple skins and bath powder. On the palate round and soft with plenty of flavour and mix of apple and citrus fruit. Slightly sweet with gentle but somewhat coarse acidity and a dryish finish. Lacks focus and subtlety but drinks well enough. A popular style.

Other vintages : 2005

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I have listed this as a winery sample even though I have no record of having received it as such; it is just that I don’t tend to buy Rieslings for some reason or other. A lovely balanced nose, with lemon/lime aromas, lemony straw and a touch of toasty development. The palate is quite fresh but also showing some complexity, preserved lemons, juicy fruits but with a mineral edge, and a bit of apple. The sweet fruits sweep through the palate providing a refreshing and invigorating drink, super stuff, I am impressed, a most excellent wine.

Other vintages : 2007, 2005, 1999

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Yet another lovely Riesling (and did you know you are supposed to pronounce it ‘Reece-ling’) from the 2007 vintage and this time from the Clare Valley. It is my birthday today so I am off out any tick of the clock to eat Italian and drink Bordeaux. I just thought I would add that because these Reece-ling bottles take up so much space. I like things neat.

Slatey, perfumed and aromatic with lime and lemon barley fruit. On the palate a fuller style with lemon barley, lime, slate and a slight gin and tonic flavour. It has soft acidity and a light grippy mouthfeel finishing dry and lemony. Very nice wine. Lots of flavour and charm.

Other vintages: 2006

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I don’t get round to drinking (or tasting) much Clare Valley red one way or another. Not sure why.

Jumps out of the glass with cassis, blackberry, raspberry, liquorice allsorts, mint and some spicy toasty oak. Beautiful smelling wine. On the palate full bodied and intense with flavours of raspberry coulis, cassis, blackberry, mint and licorice. Really good vibrant fruit with some leather/bitter chocolate characters adding interest and spicy toasty vanilla oak in support. It has fine grained tannin, a nice fresh mouthfeel and some warmth from alcohol that’s a bit intrusive but not over-bearing. Finishes with spice and liquorice flavours. Packs a magnum of flavour into 750ml without looking clumsy.

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Some wines just really grab you and all the cool technical appraisal bits just go flying out the window. This is so juicy and charming I am going to have it large and throw ya points in the air, and wave it around like ya just don’t care..

Jumpy and juicy with intense lime, grapefruit, talc and mineral aromas. On the palate explosive lime and grapefruit, dried herb, mango and lemon sherbet flavours. Ripe, round and juicy with clean crisp acidity and great length of flavour. It’s a joyous wine and one of the best young Rieslings I have had in a long time. I’d not bother cellaring it either because it’s just too good not to drink right now.

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Collect the set. This contains all the Bordeaux varieties in one bottle and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (39%), Merlot (24%), Cabernet Franc (18%), Carmenere (8%), Malbec (7%) and Petit Verdot (4%). I tasted this over three nights (or was it four) and must confess I did not fancy it much at first, but it just kept getting better and better, and in the end I was completely won over.

Aromas of cassis, melted licorice, camphor, roast macadamia nuts, spice, white chocolate and dried herbs. Stratified; a rich seam to mine nasally. On the palate distinctly full bodied with black fruit, chocolate, spice and a cool mintiness that is most appealing. It has mouth coating firm fine grained tannins and, although thick and rich, feels supple and does not lack freshness or vibrancy. Finishes very long and creamy with a mint chocolate aftertaste. Could develop into something special.

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Well my name’s John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He’d buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine

Whenever I review a wine with the word ‘copper’ in it (and there are only two to my knowledge and the other one will be reviewed real soon so y’all come on back now) I think of the song above. Just one of those things I guess but most certainly (and mercifully) my name is not John Lee Pettimore… Anyway, I tasted this alongside the 2002 Foundation and on the day it was the Foundation that got the nod.

Rich and dense offering blackberry, Old Jamaica chocolate, mint, oyster shells, pepper and plenty of spicy toasty cedar oak. On the palate full bodied with a powerful mix of red and black fruits, mint, pepper and rum and raisin backed with spicy toasty oak. It has plenty of firm fine tannins, a little warmth and prominent slightly astringent acidity. A powerhouse that demands further cellaring.

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Orlando and Jacobs Creek are knocking out some excellent wines at the moment and it is fair to say that if I plonked down $15 on the counter and came away with a wine of this quality that I’d be a pretty happy punter. I am sure I should have put some commas in that last sentence but I am in a bit of a hurry.

Aromas of plum, black fruit, mint, mocha and vanilla. Quite plump and fragrant. On the palate medium to full bodied with plum, berry and mocha with a mint and vanilla perfume. It has powdery lightly chalky tannins, balanced acidity and good texture but looks just a little thin. Finishes with a plum and vanilla aftertaste. Very nicely put together.

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