The Home of Renowned Tasting

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start

..and the message in this particular bottle is very good (cork excepted). It’s cooler and leaner than Stuart Copeland in a pair of Aviators circa 1979.

Light and delicate with green fruits, lemon, white peach, struck flint, a little butter menthol lift and fine clove spice oak. On the palate tight and refined with lime, white peach, hazelnut and a touch of butterscotch. Restrained and dry with a flinty texture and a little kiss of spicy oak. It has crisp clean acidity and a lovely sense of freshness and vibrancy. Finishes dry and crisp with a spice and crunchy green fruit aftertaste. Cool and classy.

Other vintages: 2005

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Todays mini theme is wines with pretty labels.

Quite perfumed with sweet dark cherry, bitter chocolate, pepper and dried herbs. A medium to full bodied palate with dark cherry, overripe strawberries, spice, dark chocolate and dried herb flavours. It has firm grainy tannins providing a bit of mouth traction and a good dry finish. Very drinkable and excellent value.

Other vintages : 2005

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The is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc and comes in a Burgundy bottle. This sort of thing always confuses me.

Aromas of blackcurrant, coal tar, bay leaf, fennel and green bean. Not one for those averse to green notes but I quite like the smell. On the palate medium bodied with cool blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, some gamey flavours and a strong herbal undercurrant. The tannins are somewhat hard and green too. Finishes with savoury black fruits and vegetal flavours. I’d say this is pushing the old green envelope a little too far for most.

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Snappy packaging. A blend of 96% Shiraz and 4% Viognier from Pemberton, Geographe and Mount Barker. Matured for 12 months in French and American oak. Quite a reserved nose: red berries, pepper, cinnamon bark, spice, smoke and with time hints of orange and dried apricot. The palate shows spicy fruits, peppercorns, red plums, candied oranges and apricots with a dry and slightly grainy finish. Full bodied and very young with firmish tannins that need a year or two. Not one if you are averse to Viognier characteristics.

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Better no oak than cheap oak and chips but better still … fish and chips…with a nice unwooded chardonnay.

Aromas of unripe pineapple, citrus, grass, green herbs and some sulphur. On the palate flavours of citrus, lemon pith, unripe pineapple and a strong herbal streak. Fresh and light but a little bitter. Finishes with citrus and herb flavours. All OK but I’d be looking for a SSB if I wanted these sorts of flavours - not chardonnay.

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Tonight the choice of opening a few 06 Chardonnays, 07 Rieslings, 07 Hunter Semillon or a brace of 07 Sauvignon Blancs for a quick run through. As per usual I took the easy option and went for the SB’s….

Very pungent and lively with passionfruit, banana, citrus and tomato plant. On the palate crisp and direct with sour edged grapefruit, guava, banana and herbal flavours. Razor sharp. Very precise and tight with flinty acid and an exceptionally long finish. This is a racy grassy herbal style but it is full of life and vigour. An outstanding Australian Sauvignon Blanc.

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Who flung dung? It often smells like a bit of it has been flung around when tasting some Bordeaux but this is clean and it does have more than a whiff of Bordeaux about it. I like this modestly priced wine very much. The fruit comes from various bits of the south west corner of West Australia.

A fragrant mix of blackcurrant and berries, cigar box, earth, vanilla and little mint. On the palate medium bodied with fresh red and black berry, spice, tobacco and vanilla oak. Fine light tannins and clean acidity. Good finish. It’s delightful and a true dinner claret style. I like this and I’d buy it too.

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I look at the bottle and feel like getting out my chain mail and jousting sticks…and then playing skittles. Love the packaging. I really fancied the standard pinot so it was not without a little anticipation that I opened the “Tete de Cuvee” which means something along the lines of ‘Top Brew’. More or less. I tasted this over two days and it is really singing now. I don’t need any more wine but the siren song is quite strong. I feel strangely compelled to order three of these and a few of the excellent 2005 Merlot blend..

Clear ruby red in colour with complex array of smells including cherry, red fruits, minerals, peat, a little forest, licorice and lovely pencilly oak. It’s medium bodied with flavours of crushed red berries, dark cherry, mineral, a bit of sap and top quality oak. Clean and fresh with firm fine grained tannins. Finishes dry and very long. Don’t expect a fruit bomb. This is subtle and restrained but it’s all there and it’s all class.

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I was lucky enough to cover most of the current Picardy wines pre-release, which is good because I love a bit of a scoop, but I when I saw a merlot dominant blend on the recent newsletter I wasted no time in touching them up for a bottle. The 2001 merlot blend was a brilliant wine but somehow I never got round to ordering any. This vintage looks pretty smart too, I might add, and not just because it is packaged in a super thick top quality Bordeaux bottle.

Aromas of plum, raspberry, briar, licorice, smoke, earth and cedar/vanilla oak. Magnificent exotic aromas that whisk me across to the Right Bank. On the palate medium bodied with plum, raspberry, tobacco, earth and cedar flavours. Some lovely sweet fruit here. Tannins are loose knit and little grainy and acidity is clean and fresh. Not a heavyweight or a show pony but a delicious food friendly style - either now or later. Suffice to say I am a very big fan of this style.

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It says on the front label

This is not a Picardy wine. In preparation for the Picardy’s first sauvignon blanc, semillon harvest in 2008, the Pannell family have made this trial batch of sauvignon blanc, with fruit from a neighbouring vineyard.

When they do make their first one I hope they do a white Bordeaux style. I don’t think we have enough of them in Australia. I must also say that they must be cork enthusiasts of the highest order over there because this is sealed with one.

Pale colour. Aromas of tropical fruit (banana, passionfruit, guava etc), grass, musk and spice with a rub of blackcurrant buds. Nice. On the palate crisp and fresh with grassy gooseberry, guava, blackcurrant and musk stick flavours. Quite light and subdued. Dilute, perhaps, but I prefer to call it subtle. Finishes with herbal blackcurrant flavours.

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This wine was bought by the crew at the Wine Emporium as a cleanskin and sold as a store wine. An appealing and classy nose, showing lemons and gooseberries, and a pod of green peas. There is some herbaceousness, but nothing feline or sweaty. The palate is beautiful, picturesque in fact, with supple fruit, ripe and textured, lemony acid, green grapes and a bit of unripe pineapple. The acidity is crisp - a real winner, and very refreshing. (Sorry about the blurry photo).

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I was hugely impressed with the 2005 Picardy Chardonnay that I reviewed a couple of months ago and this wine continues the trend. What a stylish, sophisticated and subtle wine. This bottle is my second tasting. Not so impressed with the first one but that may be due to travel shock, cork, me or goodness knows what. Anyway, I am glad they sent two bottles in! Patience is a virtue.

Aromas of red fruit, mineral, earth, smoke and light spicy vanilla oak. On the palate light to medium bodied with red fruit, mineral, earth, sap and a touch of spicy oak. Light fine dry tannins and fresh clean acidity. Perfect balance and weight. Finishes dry and spicy with excellent length of flavour. This tastes (to me at least) a lot like premier cru Burgundy and at twenty five dollars a bottle represents obscenely good value. Really.

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I have many chardonnays to taste over the coming weeks and it is always good to start things off with a bang. Bang!

Aromas of melon, white peach, citrus, nuts, spicy oak, a little buttered popcorn and quite a few struck matches. Rather wild and most attractive. On the palate excellent intensity with nutty savoury oatmeal flavours and bright white peach, melon and grapefruit. It is lightly buttery but backed with a very firm spine of acidity. Powerful and seamless. Dry distinctly savoury finish that goes on and on. I am very enthusiastic about this wine. It’s an absolute beauty!

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I thought there was a distinct imbalance of WA wines reviewed on this site and decided to address it starting with the Pemberton and Great Southern regions. Picardy came to the party quite quickly and sent a range of wines for review. I loved their 2001 Merlot Cabernet. An excellent wine that I forgot to order some of. I think their wines are a bit outside of the mainstream Australian style..but I like that.

My this is a Rhoney little fellow. Aromas of raspberry, dark cherry, pepper, smoke, aniseed, game and white flowers with a touch of cinnamon oak. Quite exotic and very attractive. On the palate medium bodied with flavours of dark cherry, raspberry, spice, pepper and game. Very supple with fine soft tannins and a spicy meaty finish of good length. I’d be inclined to drink this sooner rather than later. It is very approachable and very delicious. A wine of considerable style and finesse.

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