The Home of Renowned Tasting

No introduction, I am in a rush and Blackboard is telling me to “hurry up”.

Glacé cherries, a roundedness, stalk and pepper, soda water, mint tea and a touch of dried meat. The palate showed red fruits, dried stalks through the mid palate and fleshed out on a finish that included a touch of sap too. There was some sweetness of fruit, with some game and dried meat characters, but there was also an underlying stalkiness that might disconcert some people. A lovely light mouthfeel, good length, dry and perhaps a bit shy, lightly weighted with a feminine edge. Short term drinking I would guess.

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A dinner where a couple of us tried to bring wines from 1999. This had lovely aromas of bright cherry fruit. The palate was supple and very long. The fruit was clean and expressed ripeness with a spectrum of flavours from dark cherry thru to raspberry. I could see oak but it was well integrated and did not stand out. The wine was very popular and a lot better than a few other ’99s I had a week earlier. Alongside the 99 from Bernard Dugat-Puy it shone.

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In between tasting a whole raft of other things I grabbed this from the fridge in order to refresh the old palate, and what a refreshing change of pace it made. It’s made from Chardonnay and Aligoté (no skins) and offers a refreshing bubble of difference. Imported by Marcus Gniel at Ce Soir Wine of smouldering James Bond style B&W photograph on the back of business card fame.

It opens with indistinct fruitiness, possibly apple and lemon sherbet with a little complex smoky sulphide and a round of cream biscuits. It has a big creamy foamy mouthfeel with lots of bubbles that’s both dry and charming, light, fresh and rather fluffy. A bit like stuffing powder snow into your mouth (although no need to get up after the experience here unless you drink too much). It’s wheaty and delicious. Flavour. Expression. Difference. Style. Drinkability. I love it. Do it. DO IT.

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A dinner with Pinot producers looked at quite a few Bourgognes from 2005 and one from this maker looked very reduced and seemed extractive so the question was posed about how they age. Fortunately an example from the great vintage of 1999 was at hand and although we didn’t have any other Bourgogne from ‘99 we did have a Nuits Saint George to act as reference point. The colour of this wine quite dark with little sign of development. The nose had cinnamon, plums and maybe a little bacon. The palate was rather tough, a lot of tannin and very tight fruit at the plum end and some oak flavours of cinnamon spice and nutmeg. It may well open up in a few years but for now it was not a wine I would choose to drink. I had a bottle of my ‘99 and also the Kooyong ‘99 the next day and both showed more development but were more approachable. Some of you may have experience with how this level of tannin and fruit resolve with time but for now I reckon it would probably be loved by Bob Parker and his followers.

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One from the cellar. A light red in colour, no browning but no vibrancy either. Red cherries, leather, clean earth on the nose. The palate showed red fruits and some secondary development, a bit of gloss and a brief moment where the wine seemed to have some weight and mouthfeel. But really, it is starting to dry out and leaves a watery impression. And the finish evaporated quite quickly in the mouth. Dry. Drink up.

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I bought a dozen of these recently because the combination of handy half bottles and affordable Burgundy from a top vintage proved irresistible. We test drove one last night over dinner with a bit of Chinese roast duck and I am very happy with its performance. Don’t mind the sketchy note, I was not really concentrating, so it’s more of a general impression. I’ll be back for more sultanas I think..

Nice and fresh with raspberry, red cherry, rose and a bit of mineral and spice. On the palate quite richly fruited with raspberry, mineral and spice flavours. It has fresh acidity, but nothing intrusive, and firm smooth tannin. Really good weight and texture - it delivers lots of mouth satisfaction without heaviness. Grippy tannins on exit and good length of flavour. I’d be happy (and was) to drink it now with food but this certainly has its best days ahead of it. Just lovely.

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I had this on New Year’s Eve with some wine and food oriented friends. It was given 2 hours in a decanter before being approached. An elegant and quite lovely nose, showing jubey purple violets and pure red fruits. The palate is rich, but not overripe, nicely weighted, with a wave of red fruits pushing through to a lovely dry finish. With time, some dry spices emerged and some tannins awoke, so the wine seemed to toughen up a bit. Needs a few years before trying again, but certainly showing great promise.

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What a whopping backlog of wines I have to write up. Something from the cellar this time and two years on from Lincoln’s last note.

Interesting mix of smells with candied fruit, white peach, dirt floor and mineral with some toasty nutty development. On the palate medium bodied with white peach, lemon butter, fresh pineapple and a nutty toffee flavour. Surprisingly ripe and tropical, yet still flinty and dry, with bright clean acidity being a bit of a highlight. Finishes with toast and lemon butter flavours. Very nice and for my tastes probably at its best about now.

Other vintages : 2002

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I have only had one other wine from this producer so others might enlighten me on how they age? Certainly this looks like a wine made to last and appears to have a high proportion of whole bunch and prolonged skin contact. Oh and I checked in the mirror this morning, and no, I have not turned into Lincoln…

Dark in colour with a beautifully perfumed nose of rich raspberry and sweet dark cherry and a whole swag of other interesting things such as smoke, peat moss and iodine (like Talisker), rose petal and vanilla, bark and spices. A wonderful wine to smell. On the palate medium to full bodied and full flavoured with dark cherry and raspberry fruit, earthy peaty flavours, vanilla spice and some stalks. It has quite phenomenal extract with mouth gripping black tea tannin and a touch of bitterness on exit. The tannins settled down somewhat on the second day of tasting but still dominated the (excellent) fruit. Absolutely not for drinking now although I am betting it will come good.

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Writing tasting notes with a baby strapped to my front is a new and interesting experience and occasionally it can feel like having a backpack full of explosives instead… At the moment I am composing this work standing up at the computer, Kraftwerk style. Now I just need to nip into the bathroom, slip on a red shirt, apply some Brylcreem and fix my hair with a severe side parting to complete the picture..

High toned raspberry, cherry, earth and spice aromatics lead into a light to medium bodied palate with flavours of raspberry, cherry, mineral and undergrowth with subtle oak. Ripe but not fruity with light firm tannins and fairly strong backbone of clean fresh acidity. Good clean finish of fair length. A youthful wine of some delicacy and restraint that should blossom with bottle age. I’m pleased to have a few to pop away in the cellar.

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Are New World wines becoming more Old World or are those of the Old World becoming more like the New? I think the answer may be, much like David Bowie, that it goes both ways…

Golden in colour with a open floral come-hither nose of peach, melon rind, honey nougat and mineral with quite a bit of spicy oak showing. On the palate medium to full bodied with flavours of melon, peach, citrus, hazelnut and spice. It is full flavoured and has a creamy texture but with dry flinty characters to tighten things up and plenty of fresh acidity. There is a slight warmth too but nothing intrusive. Good length of flavour finishing dry and flinty. Highly enjoyable. It reminds me of Leeuwin Art Series a fair bit.

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2006 was a difficult vintage in Chablis, and it was reported in Burghound that one of the producers, Jean-Marie Guffens, said only half jokingly that, “There were two ways to miss making good wine in 2006 and that was to harvest before the 16th of September or harvest after the 17th!”. This wine was more at the yellow/hard green fruits end of the Chardonnay spectrum, with restrained aromas of glossy lemons, pineapple, hard melons, a touch of musk and some ginger spice. The palate showed sour fruits, with again unripe pineapple and lemony fruits, nicely weighted and it did seem improved as it got warmer and with some food. Pretty good length and a good value Chablis.

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I have been looking at a few imports brought in by Hoddles Creek Estate over the past few days and this is my pick of the whites. Santenay sits just below (South West of) Chassagne-Montrachet and ‘Sous La Roche’ (meaning ‘under the rock’) adjoins a couple of Premier Cru vineyards. The cork on this wine was soaked through, the colour slightly developed, but it still looked good. Perhaps it might be even better with a good cork?

Lightly creamy aromas of white nectarine, lemon, flint and a wisp of smoke. On the palate medium bodied and dry with citrus, peach, oatmeal and flinty mineral flavours. Nice and lively with a little creaminess and bright penetrating acidity. Finishes clean with good length of flavour. Really fresh and attractive. This goes all right.

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The Clos des Mouches from the same producer was quite pleasant, but this is a step up in quality. Strong aromas of musk and red cherries, with a thick streak of minerals and some barky spices. The palate is rounded and sweet, with red fruits and minerals and a dry finish. Balanced with good length and though quite understated I am left with a lingering feeling of some engaging fruit sweetness. Should drink for a few more years, maybe longer.

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I was fortunate to have this at a dinner but I gather it is not available yet. In my humble opinion it is one of the better red wines in the Bouchards 2005 line up. The aromas are clean and start with some licorice moving on to plum. The palate is rather complex and starts with a lovely spice mix of licorice and oak that supports a strong line of plum with a little cherry on the side. The palate seems to last for quite some time. This wine is still evolving and I suspect it will take a few years to reveal its true potential.

Other vintages : 2002, 2002

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I tried this wine last year and thought it was one of the better results from 2004 that fell within my budget so I decided to see how it was going. In my humble opinion it has developed well and I believe will continue to do so for a few years yet. The nose has Morello cherry and a bit of earth. The palate was showing balance and length. Flavours are sharp cherry, a little raspberry and some cinnamon stick. It was better than expected and the six people I had over to dinner polished it off all too quickly. This is one of the best 2004 Burgundies that I have tried especially in the sub $70 price bracket. I wanted some 2005 but alas was too slow to go looking.

Other vintages : 2004

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Gary is going to hate the name of this wine: it must be close to the longest on winorama. Anyhoo, this was an auction purchase, and I think for the most part Burgundies from the 2000 vintage are drinking quite well now. Aromas of dried cranberries, red cherries, minerals, smoky stalks and a bit of stink. The palate showed red fruits and steely tannins, minerals and cherries, and a dry finish. A bit hard and tannic, the length is okay, an understated and quite lightly bodied wine. Drink now-ish.

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I have written about the Charmes vineyard before and this confirms my thoughts that the vineyard can produce some lovely wine. In my opinion the aromas of this wine show the house style which has a little matchstick/sulfide pong along with a hint of fennel. The fruit slowly pokes it head through this and after some time in the glass the peach, citrus shine through. On the palate the flavours build beautifully, the fruit flavours seem to have a little blosson or apple character as well as the citrus and a bit of peach. The length is great and the whole thing is kept in balance with a nice crisp acid finish.

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I had some lovely chardonnay from this house last year, from 2002 as I recall. It left me wanting to try some more so I jumped at a dinner opportunity featuring this wine and some others of the domain. The aromas were at the sulphur/reductive edge but after some time in the glass they opened up to reveal some peach and oak. The palate was very powerful and very long. Initially flavours were at the citrus side of chardonnay but moved along a steady path to show peach, a hint of fennel and some lovely clean oak in the back, all held together by good acid. A wine that needs time to evolve but it should be worth the wait.

Other vintages : 2002

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Well Gary has done the front lawn with the old Victa, so I think I’ll do the back lawn and around the cubby house. A pleasant nose, with red fruits, red cherries, a bit of spice and mineral, some ripe tomato flesh, though still quite savoury. The palate is lightly bodied but medium flavoured, with red fruits and minerals, some richness though a bit on the rough side. A bit rustic perhaps but it does have some appeal, and offers reasonable Burgundy value at $50.

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