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Well this wine had me thinking a fair bit, and although it usually hurts, I’m pretty sure it’s generally a good sign in a Chardonnay. Initially I thought it looked slightly volatile and oxidative, but when I re-tasted it the next day it tricked me and went backwards in time, looking noticeably fresher and cleaner. Points are for the second days tasting.

It smells of nectarine, a mix of citrus fruits, mineral, vanilla and pralines. It’s full bodied with big flavours of pear, peach and citrus that fan out through the mouth beautifully but there’s also a more serious flinty minerally element and strong penetrating acidity to balance. Finishes long and minerally with a touch of warmth on exit. It’s quirky but thoroughly engaging - an excellent wine of complexity and character I think.

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Nice wine this and a tiny make of about 80 dozen. It’s made by a couple of Indian heritage, Nirmal and Paramdeep Ghumman, hence the name ‘Nazaaray’, which means “beautiful visions” in Punjabi..and in a strange twist of fate that is also the name on the mirror in my bathroom. I had no idea…

It’s a lighter style, red cherried and red berried with a bit of undergrowth and cinnamon spice oak. There’s some bottle age showing which adds complexity and a touch of lift. In the mouth it’s medium bodied with fine but firm tannins and a graceful character that offers freshness and balance with good length. A subtle and charming wine of excellent drinkabilty.

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I’m sure this wine keeps getting tighter and more refined each year, in spite of hot early vintages. It’s one of my favourite Chardonnays at its price point too.

It’s a bit brassy but really energetic with the whole spectrum of citrus flavours (grapefruit, lemon, orange), fresh stonefruit, some matchstick, a bit of spice and a great deal of minerality. It’s dry and tight, a touch pithy and has a core of strong bright acidity providing freshness and drive. Good long dry finish too. A snip at this price with complexity and great drinkabilty - it provides us with yet another good reason to keep drinking Chardonnay.

Other vintages : 2006, 2005, 2005, 2004

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Waskly Wabbit. This is made by Port Phillip Estate from brought in fruit - hence the name Quartier - meaning neighbourhood or similar in French.

I like the smell of it - it’s a bit nutty with almond, pear, lemon oil, spice and snuffed candle. On the palate it has pithy and pulpy sorts of flavours with hard green pear, bitter lemon, spice and almond. It’s dry, textured and quite weighty (although fresh) with a good dry finish. Interesting wine. The more I taste it, the more I like it.

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I like DIAM cork (and indeed my own wine is sealed with the same closure..) but they are a bugger to get back into the neck of the bottle when you want to put them away for a re-taste…and they still require a corkscrew. Anyway, I digress, I was supposed to be tasting a raft of Grenache tonight but suddenly decided I had a taste for sampling a few Pinots, of which this is one.

It’s a fresh smelling wine with a mix of cherry and red fruits, plenty of spice, perhaps a sprig of mint and a certain invigorating foresty fragrance. On the palate medium bodied with spicy red fruits, a touch of sappiness and a ripe sweet tomato character. It has fine fresh acidity and equally fine tannin and feels very clean and energetic in the mouth. It has vigour and flow coupled with a long dry spicy finish that leaves you fancying a repeat experience. A lovely brisk Pinot that dances rather than clomps.

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It’s a joint venture between Champagne Veuve A. Devaux and Yering Station and is usually one of our better sparkling wines.

An aperitif style with complex and highly attractive aromas of citrus, spice, apple and wheatmeal. On the palate delicate and fresh with flavours of lemon sherbet, cracked wheat and a lightly creamy lees derived richness. It has fine foaming bubbles and feels dry, savoury and refreshing, closing with an apple cider aftertaste. An otherwise excellent wine spoilt by coarse acidity that bites down hard on the finish and refuses to let go.

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I popped into the office today to check on new sample arrivals and spotted a Kooyong box and, in amongst a few other things, I fished this out. Then I perambulated down to North Sydney Cellars to have a little sniff around. Imagine my surprise when I saw a whole new section of ’special things’ in an all new deli section. So I grabbed a few odds and ends like a packet of Strozzapreti from Antico Pastifico, a block of Quickes Cheddar, a round of Holy Goat “La Luna” from Sutton Grange and a block of La Tavoletta “Amedei” Cioccolato Fondante 63% Extra. It’s just as well I had to push the lot home otherwise I would be getting a bit portly by now….unlike this wine from Sandro Mosele which is bright, tight and lithe…well there had to be some sort of segue..surely…

It smells of grapefruit, nectarine, yeast, corn, mineral and spice - lively and fine with an equally energetic and jumpy palate following on. It’s medium bodied, bright and focussed with fine penetrating acidity and refreshing grapefruit and mineral flavours backed up with subtle spicy oak. Finishes long and dry with a fresh citrus and spice aftertaste. A vigorous and thoroughly enjoyable wine.

Other vintages : 2005

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The colour and clarity are great. The nose bursts with blackberry/cherry style fruit, really excites the taste buds in anticipation. The palate does not disappoint, the blackberry and cherry flavours dance across the palate with a lovely crunchy/zingy acid to keep it all together. At this stage the palate is a little short but I reckon on the short term this will fill out a little, hence the little + sign. I like this bright and clean style.

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It’s often a funny business reviewing or trying to form an opinion of a particular wine. Sometimes, even after only the first sip, you have a firm one (opinion that is) and think you have it sorted, other times it’s hmmm well…more elusive and you dither a bit. What am I trying to say? Not quite sure but there’s certainly no certainties when it comes to this sort of thing - especially with Pinot Noir. And am I dithering again?

The light bright red colour that says Go! rather than Stop leads on to complex, multi-faceted aromatics of spicy red fruit/cherry, liquorice root, decaying leaves and some vanilla toffee oak. It’s just medium bodied, clean, light and fresh. Lithely tannic with spicy red fruits, fine oak and a long expansive finish. It’s another excellent example of just how good we are getting with this variety.

Other vintages: 2005, 2003

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I attended a blind tasting of Pinots the other night and was blown away by how good this wine looked. My initial reaction was that it was New World with lovely red berry fruits. However, like many young Pinots it changed quite a bit over the 20 minutes that I tasted it. The colour was reasonably dark and the nose had a hint of sweet and sour style fruit flavours that I often associate with Central Otago. A few minutes later these aromas resolved into cherry and a bit of blackberry. The palate showed superb length with the cherry of the black, intense flavour type. The tannins were firm suggesting this will continue to deliver for some time. A very impressive wine.

Other vintages : 2005, 2004

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You don’t see so much MLF (no that’s not a rude acronym …but it’s awfully close) in Australian Chardonnay these days, but I think it benefits the brightly lit Mornington style. So just as some quite fancy a bit of cream in their coffee, others may find it off putting. In our house, and with this wine in particular, I fall into the former, and JP the latter category.

It smells of nectarine, grapefruit, orange, butter and subtle spicy oak. On the palate medium bodied with intense fruit offering flavours of grapefruit, pineapple and nectarine on a cushion of cream and cashew nuts. The acidity is tight, flinty and penetrating, neatly offsetting the creamier malolactic influences so that the overall impression is of a lean dry wine rather than a big fat wet one. Closes clean and dry too with good length. It’s all very attractive.

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Well I had to. It’s such a pretty bottle….

Nice and interesting to smell with its pretty plum and strawberry fruit, a bit of spice and a cosmetic lipstick note - although perhaps a little stewed. On the palate light to medium bodied with flavours of slightly sweet red fruits and spicy blood plum sauce offset by tamarillo tartness and supported by a lick of spicy oak. It has dry lightly astringent tannin and a sappy spicy finish of moderate length. It’s not a great wine by any stretch but it has personality and drinks well. I really quite like it.

Other vintages : 2005

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It’s an interesting and unexpected trend this sudden rush of Moscato style wine. Everyone seems to be getting in on the act and putting one out. Naturally some are better than others and I particularly like this one. Really pretty bottle too…one of those things that make you go..oooohhhh.

Smells peachy and grapey with a very attractive fresh kaffir lime leaf top note. On the palate sweet and spritzy with flavours similar to stuffing your mouth full of ice cold sultana grapes drizzled with a squirt of lemon juice. It has a refreshing acidity providing vital cut and a clean but sticky ending. It’s tart fuel all right but can be enjoyed equally by tarts of both sexes…. at any time of day. How do you logically rate such wines? I don’t know, I just give the ones I like a 90!

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Here is a beautiful wine that will appeal to the chardonnay drinker looking for a bit of richness and depth. It’s a bit ‘old school’ but Mornington delivers this style perhaps better than any other area in Australia?

Rich in both colour and smell with nectarine, lemon butter, peach, yeast and some smoky barrel ferment characters. On the palate medium bodied but intense and powerful with nectarine and citrus fruits on a creamy texture that is shot through with bright clean acidity and a touch of flintiness. Excellent length of flavour. Worked yes, but very tastefully done. This delivers a big and balanced mouthful of chardonnay flavour at a very modest price. Really impressive.

Other vintages: 2004, 2005

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Trust ace winemaker Sandro Mosele to turn out such a sophisticated Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a bit Euro and a bit of all right (two words as JP points out).

Light in colour and light in aroma with fresh pineapple, gooseberry, dried herb, a touch of cream and a bit of flinty funk. On the palate again fresh, light and pretty with flavours of gooseberry, passionfruit, mineral and a sprinkle of dried herbs. Clean and delicate with a long crisp finish. A wine of subtlety and refinement. It’s also a great food style.

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I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain

That’s what I have been trilling (mainly in my head thankfully for poor JP) while tasting this wine. Saturday Night Fever was the first album I ever bought. This is a make of only 485 cases, not a big production like SNF, and I really like the stylish packaging. Now I’ll leave you to ponder the big question of who does the best version of “If I Can’t Have You” - Yvonne Elliman or the Bee Gees? And did the Tavares trump the Bee Gees on “More Than A Woman”? I know what I thought when I was seven.

Spicy and fragrant with strawberry conserve and raspberry, some earthiness, mixed peel and light vanilla oak. On the palate quite full but still medium bodied with flavours of red fruit, spice and some mulchy earthy characters. Sweetly fruited, conserve like perhaps, but in a positive way. It has light dry fine grained tannins, a little warmth, soft acidity and a good long fairly expansive finish. Tasty and highly enjoyable.

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Following the traditions of his family in Italy’s Veneto region, in the year 1995, aged 70, Mario Toniolo hand-planted our vineyards.

I think there is something in that for all of us. So next time you see an OAP having trouble getting about tell them to stop being so bloody mard. Tell them to go and do something useful - like planting a vineyard!

Subtle and complex with lemon, fresh pineapple, stonefruit, mineral and fine spicy oak. On the palate fresh and clean with grapefruit, mango pulp, mineral and light spicy vanilla oak. It combines good flavour with delicacy and has a fine crisp acid backbone. Could do with a bit more weight on the back palate but finishes well with a dry citrus and spice aftertaste. A stylish, fine boned and most refreshing Chardonnay.

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Sometimes I feel like King Canute trying to stop the tide coming in. I popped into Winorama HQ today to find about ten dozen samples piled up from the last week or two. I am not complaining though; space (being the final frontier) constraints aside it is an excellent position in which to find oneself. Choice is choice! Getting back on topic, I’d also add that since gun winemaker Sandro Mosele took over at Port Phillip Estate, quality has never been higher.

Aromas of grapefruit, nectarine, spice, vanilla and a good few strikes of matchsticky complexity. On the palate tight and focussed with grapefruit, fresh mango and almond meal flavours backed with fine spicy oak. It has penetrating bright acidity, a dry lightly grippy texture and feels energetic and lithe. Finishes dry and long with a spice and grapefruit aftertaste. Complexity, refreshment and great value.

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This was recommended to me so I sourced a bottle to check it out. I tasted it over three days and it looked better the longer it was open which is a good sign.

Light cherry red in colour with red fruits of cherry and raspberry, some floral characters, a bit of spicy vanilla oak and something like the smell of the Australian bush after rain (if you don’t mind me being a little esoteric). On the palate medium bodied with tangy red fruits and spice with a little vanilla oak and some foresty flavours. It has quite high acidity and tannins that are firm - verging on hard at this stage. Finishes with some sour edged citrussy acidity and foresty red fruit flavours. Could turn into something pretty good but I am not quite sure.

Other vintages : 2004, 2004

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This is the second release of the Michael Méthode Champenoise. It is a blend of 38% Chardonnay, 31% Pinot Noir and 31% Pinot Grigio.

A pale straw in colour, with a nose displaying yeast, a touch of twiglets and marmite, biscuit and preserved lemons. The palate shows lemon fruits and some complex secondary characters, finishing with dry fruits. The fruit flavours are quite strong through the palate, providing excellent weight, and the balance is nice, quite soft really and not overly acidic. Drink over the short term.

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