The Home of Renowned Tasting

Quick note on this one. Today I’m feeling economical.

Sour cherry and red berry, almond and vanilla essence and a minor leathery character. In the mouth medium bodied and really quite tasty with choc-almond, berries and a touch of spice. A bit warm and slightly dilute, seemingly a little wobbly, but with a good cherry and spice finish. Nice wine, good drinking, fully priced.

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Happy Birthday Coriole Sangiovese. Twenty one today. Tried to fit a yard of ale into the bottle to celebrate but it all gushed out of the neck… obviously the wine is far too civilised for that sort of thing.

Rich and dark with cocoa, licorice, dark cherry, earth, flowering herbs and a slight menthol character. Medium to full bodied with good weight and extract, toothsome chalky tannins and attractive nutty dark cherry flavours. Balanced and long. It’s a more robust expression of Sangiovese but none the worse for it. Tasty stuff.

Other vintages reviewed : 2006, 2005

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I have the 2006 Coriole Cabernet and Shiraz in and the good news is that they are now closed with a screwcap, but meanwhile an older vintage first. It is available through distribution (and probably cellar door) as a museum release - a fine initiative from Coriole.

Excellent colour and equally excellent to smell - it’s a marriage of the savoury, earthy and ferrous to ripe blackberry, licorice and nougat with a feathering of mint and dill. In the mouth full bodied with strong berry fruit and some more leathery bottle aged characters coming into play. Smooth ripe tannins offer appropriate grip and it still feels nice and fresh. Good long finish. A lovely semi-mature Shiraz.

Other vintages: 2005, 2004

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They spelt plum as plumb on the back label, but other than that everything else comes to you in perfect working order.

Impressive colour leads into a fine regional wine - plum, chocolate, a bit of black pepper, some earthiness and a dab of coconut/vanilla oak. It’s medium to full bodied but, refreshingly, is neither heavy nor sweet. Nice and fresh with a light fine grained tannin grip and clean dry finish of good length. Great drinking - an excellent savoury dry red.

Other vintages : 2005

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I’ve never had a wine from Olivers Taranga before but I’ve certainly heard of them. This is a small batch make of around 250 dozen and includes a splash of Shiraz (5%).

Appetising to smell with milk chocolate, raspberries, a touch of earthiness and some cinnamon oak spice. It’s just medium bodied with flavours of milk chocolate, raspberries, nuts and sort of gentle earthiness. With light sandy tannins and good freshness it has a degree of elegance and finesse and yes, there’s a slight warmth from alcohol on the finish, but it closes dry and long. Sensitively made with plenty of interest - a fine interpretation of Grenache.

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This is an interesting blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Tempranillo and 20% Shiraz and it works very well.

It smells of cherries, spice and old wood (slightly dusty) and a pleasant meatiness. On the palate good grip and extract - a wine that lets you know you are drinking it with flavours of cherries, malt, musk and spice. It’s dry rather than sweet and finishes with a lick of tannin on exit. It’s got character and oomph. I like it.

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I’ve always thought that Cadenzia sounds more like something in which you might put your important papers and the like than the name of a regional wine style, but there you go.

Rich and full to smell with plum, chocolate, earth and spice leading on to an equally rich and full bodied palate with the same plum, chocolate and pepper/spice flavours. It’s warmish and quite sweet but pulls it off with aplomb (and possibly a plum). Good texture, a hearty drinkability and a surprisingly dry finish round off an excellent wine.

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I don’t know why, I’m not that old really, but I always think of the smash hit album ‘Tapesty’ by singer-songwriter Carole King whenever I see this winery name…and shortly after that I think of the Bayeux Tapestry which explains the events leading up to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, but sadly not my odd word association crazy mind….

It’s not particularly confected and offers more of a sniff of the drawing room with leather, spice and a raspberry lift. On the palate medium bodied but light and fresh (although also a little oxidative) with a mix of raspberry, rhubarb, leather and spice flavours. It has fine tannins that rasp lightly on the finish and overall offers a delightfully moreish drinking experience. A very attractive wine.

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I’m a bit tardy getting round to this (it came in November 2007), and it’s even more surprising because I really like McLaren Vale Grenache. Maybe I was just saving it for a rainy day (edit: and in a weird bit of synchronicity I just popped downstairs after writing that, splashed a bit in my glass, and read the back label for the first time..which suggested drinking now or saving for a rainy day). Anyway, it came in a box of six “Cadenzia” (being the name that McLaren Vale producers are giving to their Grenache dominant blends) from different producers, and I decided to open the 2005 vintage wines first, of which this is obviously one - the other being a GSM from d’Arenberg.

It smells of raspberry rope, cherry blossom and spice - sweet but rubbed back with a bit of minerality and polished leather. On the palate just medium bodied with raspberry cordial and cranberry juice, spice, a sprinkle of dried herb and some ferrous characters. It has powder fine tannin, clean fresh acidity and excellent line and shape through the mouth, closing with a juicy strawberry aftertaste. Delicate, attractive and very friendly.

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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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I have reviewed this wine at yearly intervals since release (2006) and I’ll continue for the next few years. I’m doing it to show that red wine under screwcap ages gracefully just like it would under an exceptionally tight and taint free cork. There’s no reduction here either, and if the proof is in the pudding, then all the screwcap proponents (and clearly I’m one) are going to become fat as pigs as they drink their taint free wines in the years to come. Because I’m lazy I’m just going to post my unformatted tasting note straight in..

Showing development and complexity - new leather, light clean earthiness, chocolate, dark berries. Full bodied with super fine smooth tannins that caress but offer grip - bottle age softening and elongating the palate. Some pleasant warmth. Chocolate/mocha, cherry and earthy McLaren flavours with length and freshness. Top wine. I had a night off and drank the lot.

Other vintages : 2005, 2004, 2004

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I’m not sure McLaren Vale shiraz gets any better than this..

There’s a whole spectrum of fruit splashing about with blackcurrant, blackberry and assorted red fruits, liquorice, spice, new suede leather and equally complex layers of oak seasoning. It’s all just really very beautiful and the overall impression is of a seamless wine that is silken, yet appropriately tannic, fresh and clean with oak and fruit in perfect harmony and a delicious chocolaty character thrown in for good measure. It drinks fabulously well know, and I’m pretty sure it will age a treat too. It’s all about balance and finesse. I tips me hat to Hewitson.

Other vintages : 2005

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Very nice packaging. I like the 2006 vintage in McLaren Vale and I’m thinking it’s generally better than 2005, although maybe not 2004 which produced wines with more balanced alcohol. Anyway, I’ve a fair old swag of them accumulated so I’ll be letting myself know fairly soon..

It’s spicy and blackberried with a bit of liquorice and it leans over to the savoury meaty/earthy side rather than the sweet, which is no bad thing in my opinion. On the palate full bodied, but not monolithic or heavy, with quite sharp acid (at this stage) and peppery blackberry fruit. It has dry tannins and decent length of flavour. A good balanced tasty wine that’s savoury and toothsome and sure to improve with a bit of bottle age.

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Hmmm well I thought a bit about whether I would review this but then decided I would as it fits into what I call the ‘banana skin’ category.This can be loosely defined as a wine where all the credentials are good (in this case top vintage, excellent producer, fully priced, high quality region for variety etc.) and you’ll be walking safely to the checkout counter, bottle in hand, and all of a sudden you slip and land on your arse once you get out the door. This, of course, comes with the caveat that banana skins can be insidious and highly selective little creatures, and while I might be going A over T, you might stroll safely along, delighted with your purchase.

It smells pretty good with its blackberry jam, plum, prune, chocolate, meat, tobacco and pine needle aromas but the palate is off the pace. Blocky and lumpy with a ball of sweet fruit and savoury meaty flavour that lands on the middle palate with a splat and then bounces quickly off into the distance. It’s by no means a bad wine, but I don’t think it’s a particularly good one either. May improve with further bottle age, although I’m not sure.

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I don’t know too much about this wine but I do know it won the trophy at the McLaren Vale show as best red under $20. Fair enough too, you’re certainly getting a lot of bang for your buck here!

Opens a little charry and then comes chocolate, black plum and cherry brandy. On the palate full bodied with saturating long smooth tannins and flavours of chocolate, earth and plums. On the first day’s tasting no hint of alcohol warmth - it’s all neatly folded and hidden in the velvet folds but on the second day the heat was on so I’d suggest drinking young rather than cellaring. Points are for drinking now..and at cool cellar temperature rather than room temperature.

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The trade label on the back says $20 which seems not only awfully cheap, but also a considerable reduction in price from last years model. It’s a cellar door and on-premise only jobby but well worth seeking out.

It smells of cassis, berries and liquorice but it’s also nice and meaty rather than sweet - the Viognier having been taken up beautifully and adding floral interest rather than overt apricotiness. Full bodied with firmish tannins but oh so smooth and well balanced. It has flavours of meat juices and juicy berries and presents as a sumptuous, classy and thoroughly delicious wine. Long too…and if the price is right..then come on down.

Other vintages : 2005

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Grange eh? A wine that requires no introduction.

As with all Grange the aromatics are layered and complex with this vintage offering a whole raft of interesting things to smell. It’s showing a touch of char, brown spices, blackberry, coconut, liquorice, aniseed, soy sauce, camphor and fruit cake in and amongst other things. Seek and ye shall find but the overall impression over three days tasting is of a rich darkly fruited wine backed with liberal high class oak that smells terrific. On the palate full bodied and bulging with powerful dark tarry fruit, mince pie, dark chocolate, dry spices, aniseed and plenty of perfumed cedary oak. It maintains a good level of freshness and has layers of open knit very firm chalky tannins that make their presence felt from start to long finish. The tannins receded and softened over three days but still felt a little raw and blocky at the end. Young wine, no doubt, but I’d suggest it will always be a more rustic example of Grange, although a good one. A remarkable wine considering the vintage too.

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I bought this when we visited McLaren Vale in May last year. I am a fan of the way they handle Grenache and this blend is a good example. The sweet fruit of the Grenache blends really well with a bit of cherry from the Tempranillo which in turn gains some body from the Shiraz. It does show some heat from the alcohol but I love the fruit flavours. We had it with some pasta and it was a perfect match and will probably be good for the shorter term rather than long. It seemed even richer after 24 hours. Yes, it is an old TN but I have quite a backlog.

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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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I worked my way through a quick flight of white tasters the other afternoon and this popped up up its hand and topped the class. Not a teacher’s pet though I assure you. A blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, and made by Brian Light.

A delicate and gently grassy nose, with ripe gooseberries and tropical fruits, melon, pear and a bit of banana. The palate is elusive, showing honeydew melon, hard green fruits, gooseberries and a chalkiness, particularly on the finish. Not too fruity, nicely balancing the fruity and the herbaceous elements, all with a long dry finish. Excellent short-term drinking.

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