Tuesday 31 May 2011

Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC 2009

I love the idea behind these wines. Low or no oak, keep it fresh and doesn't burn a hole in your wallet.  It’s the sort of wine people turn to if the budget is under attack. Well they must be turning to it as domestic consumption is falling but European imports are up 1.5 to 3% this year and now make up 15% of the total wine consumed. Even though i want to say, you should support your local community, I think that variety has increased 10 fold as people are trying to find something that doesn't put them into an alcoholic stupor after one glass.

 

Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC 2009

 

So I seem to be on a bit of an import bender at the moment which is fine with me if they are priced like this and have quality and interest to burn.  It’s a wine my Calabrian uncle would slap down on the table with a bowl of olives, oil and crusty bread. Do I feel like I am solving world peace while i'm drinking this? No but I do feel a whole lot better after a glass or two.  The wine is light to medium bodied with chalky tannins, beautiful acidity and flavours of savory herbs, cherry balm, dehydrated cranberry’s, earth and burnt coffee beans.

 

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $10
Rated: 87
Drink: now - 2014 
Importer: Mondo Imports



Monday 30 May 2011

Pressing Sangiovese

It was time for the Sangiovese to leave it's fermentation home and travel to the land of oak.



                                                                       The Ferment

                                                                          The Press



                                                My girl and The Barrel about to be washed

Sunday 29 May 2011

Vigne del Vulture Aglianico Pipoli DOC 2008

This wine originates from Campania, near the bottom of Italy, which is rich in music, food and wine, my three favourite relaxation activities in life.

Vigne del Vulture Aglianico Pipoli DOC 2008

This is a wine for those who want to be taken on a journey that leaves you satisfied and content while expanding your horizons.  To start with the wine tastes like tree bark, earth, English gardens, coco encased plums and spice's galore, then the mouth puckering tannins embalms your mouth.  It reminds me of a Nebbiolo but with a distinctive flavour spectrum.  A bargain at twice the price!

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $15
Rated: 89
Drink: now - 2018 
Importer: Mondo Imports 

Saturday 28 May 2011

Massolino Serralunga D’Alba DOCG 2006

Friday I was willing to take on the world so I thought I’m in need of a Nebbiolo.  As the Aussie dollar is so high, imports are on the cheap and on my buying agenda.

Massolino Serralunga D’Alba DOCG 2006

If this was a horse it would be a bullet out of the gate! I normally find it tough going when it comes to Barolo but words like seductive and complete come to mind in relation to this wine.  Everything says balance.  The tannin structure is quite serious but the flavours of bitumen, boot polish, earth, 5 spice and perfumed roses intermingle on the palate.  Sophisticated and cerebral.   

Alcohol: 14%
Price: $80
Rated: 92 +
Drink: 2015 - 2030 
Importer: Bibendum

 

Expert Club Via Romana Costiers De Nimes 2009

I had no idea what to expect from this little number, as I have never had a wine from Nimes and didn’t know what variety’s they grow, as it turns out it's 100% Grenache. 

Expert Club Via Romana Costiers De Nimes 2009

I didn’t give this much time to come around but the flavour profile is rather nice.  At 3 euro I wasn’t expecting structure but that’s what I got.  What I was expecting was a little length of flavour but what caressed my tongue reminded me of a line out of the usual suspects where Verbal Kint is sitting in the police station and he says “And like that...he's gone”.


Alcohol: 14%
Price: 3 Euro
Rated: 77
Drink: Now 

Thursday 26 May 2011

Wild Duck Creek Estate Reserve Shiraz 2006

Wild Duck Creek Estate has been producing wine for a while now but generally I think they fly under the radar.  Predominately their wines go straight to the mailing list customers and even though they got great press from some U.S. wine scribes they don’t export to the country.

Wild Duck Creek Estate Reserve Shiraz 2006

There are some nights that I just feel like a fruit bomb but what I got with this was a wine with a degree of elegance and a hell of a lot of pizzazz.  It’s what my mates would call a reserved fruit slut.  Even though it’s the big end of town you get vibrancy from the acidity which keeps everything together and the fruit bounding out entombing your tongue. Plush flavours of plum, spice and eucalypt hide the pervasive fine tannins giving me the impression that I opened this way too early. 

Alcohol: 16.5%
Price: $70
Rated: 92 +
Drink: 2016-2026 


Wednesday 25 May 2011

Cirillo Semillon 2009

Now my mate served this to me against the 05 Tyrrells HVD Semillon (93 pts) and asked me to judge them so here it is.

Cirillo Semillon 2009

This wine is very different from what I expected from Cirillo as they normally are amongst my favoured Barossa wines. What I got was a mix of fish sauce, dog hair, limes, crushed ginger and bath salt on a very long palate.  To tell you the truth I struggled with the flavours not the texture or the length and I hope this is a bottle that is not representative of the norm.


Alcohol: 9.5%
Price: $17
Rated: 81
Drink: now


Chardonnay ferment


Today I decide to read a book on conventional wine making that I bought a few years ago.  Since I’ve been making a chardonnay this year I thought I should see if I’ve been doing it by the book.

De-stemming – yes
Addition of pectin or pectolytic enzymes – no
Temperature control – no
No skin contact – no
Use of starter yeast – no
Pump over – no
Fining – no
Stabilisation – no
Prevention of oxidation – yes

Maybe I’m mad but all I’m doing is tasting the wine and saying when I think it is ready.
I think it will sit in barrel for another week or two, them pressed and back into barrel but we will see how we go.


Cave De Tain Crozes Hermitage Blanc 2009


As with a lot of quality producers in France, Cave De Tain is a cooperative. The produce the entry level to the big boy end of town wine and after this wine it is a producer that I would like to get to know more.  


Cave De Tain Crozes Hermitage Blanc 2009

I’ve not had too many straight Marsanne’s so I was looking forward to the introduction. A bang of lemon balm, hickory smoked almonds, white peach and tinned pineapple juice bursts onto the scene on a vibrant twang of acidity.  My notes say an exotic wine with control, good value 

Alcohol: 13%
Price: 8 euro
Rated: 87
Drink: 2011-2015

Château Les Ormes-de-Pez 2002


I love Bordeaux bottles! They tell you absolutely nothing about the wine, google helped me out on that one, which happens to be a 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot blend.  Even though the wine ranks on the 9th level of the cru Bourgeois classification I’d be happy to serve this anytime.


What I first notice is the wine has very good length and bright fruit, well you can’t really call tobacco, green capsicum and gravel fruit but you get what I mean.  There is a sense of crushed violets, chalk and coffee beans coming into play, mixed with tart plums, which is only let down by a watery finish on the back palate.

Alcohol: 13%
Price: 18 euro per half bottle
Rated: 89
Drink: 2011-2016 

Le Club Des Sommeliers St-Emilion 2009

I've never heard of this winery buy it sounds like sommelier brings a certain air of sophistication to the wine.

Le Club Des Sommeliers St-Emilion 2009
Grand Vin De Bordeaux

This is the sort of wine that sneaks up on you as it is only medium weight.  I love the wines that don’t reveal everything on the first date as I want to become more intimate with them.  The wine brings dirty leaf and spicy red fruit to the table with a little plum skin action on a persistent front palate and fluffy tannins finish

Alcohol: 13%
Price: 9 euro
Rated: 85
Drink: 2011-2013 

Monday 9 May 2011

Coriole Soloist Shiraz 2009

When I think of McLaren Vale the first thing that pops into my head is grenache blends.  They are what I regard as the best performing group of wines from the region but I must say tempranillo, sangiovese and sagrantino are making their mark. So what did I reach for… a shiraz.  Now to the producer, Coriole first started 31 years ago, planted sangiovese 28 years ago and now has expanded into what I consider the next exciting movement, fiano.

Coriole Soloist Shiraz 2009

The wine feels like the first time I watched my 15 month old daughter meet a stranger.  It almost is aggressively shy, if you can say such a thing, but it is much better for it.  The wine is only just full bodied with very good length and flavours of bourbon soaked plums and chocolate covered liquorish, slowly meandering its way around my mouth.  I would say it’s most probably the best Coriole shiraz I’ve tried but it’s in need of a rest in a cave.

Alcohol: 14%
Price: $40
Rated: 91
Drink: 2015 -2025 

Saturday 7 May 2011

Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon-Milly-Lamartine 2008

Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon-Milly-Lamartine 2008

This wine was an essay in why judging a wine in 5 minutes can be worthless because this kept on getting better and better every hour.  At the moment the wine is very tight and taut, almost chiselled in it’s approach.  What does come through is dried flowers, smoked almonds, honey glazed grapefruit and crushed quartz on a beautifully long drive of acidity.   


Alcohol: 13%
Price: $50
Rated: 92
Drink: 2014-2020

Yalumba Y Shiraz Voignier 2009

Yalumba has been growing grapes and making wine for 160 years now which in itself is a great achievement but what is more spectacular is that they are still innovating.  They transformed viognier from the wastelands to a household name and they have set their sights on vermentino. 

Yalumba Y Shiraz Voignier 2009

Burnt plums, blueberries and apricot kernels burst from the wine but as it settles a huge elegant spicy flavour takes over.  While length and bitterness on the back palate is an issue this is a great introduction to the blend.  I’d be happy to lay down this sort of cash for this wine especially since the nose is quiet pretty and the wine has a sense of cool sophistication. 

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $12
Rated: 82
Drink: now - 2 years

Thursday 5 May 2011

Pearwood Wines Unoaked Chardonnay 2007

This wine was grown in the Piccadilly Valley with meticulous care taken to provide the best bunches.  That said when I looked at the price I thought this wine wasn’t going to be much.

Pearwood Wines Unoaked Chardonnay 2007

It started with nectarine and peach then moved to lime zest and grapefruit with a hazelnut complexity.  A good length and acid drive fills out the palate and for the price dare I say restrained coplexity.  Normally Mike Press is my bench make for value driven and quality but this wins hand down.

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $140 a dozen
Rated: 86
Drink: 2011-2017


Chardonnay Vineyard

As my Sangiovese wasn't looking too good i decided to make some Chardonnay.  The vineyard is much closer to my house which means i get to taste it more before i decided when to pick.




I was looking at the fruit yesterday and it tasted like limes, grapefruit and white peach with a pure and vibrant acidity, so I decided to pick. We will see how it looks once it goes into barrel. 


My daughter was helping so we picked ½ a tonne.  Hang on she ate most of it from picking to the start of the de-stemming!  


Tuesday 3 May 2011

Tyrrell’s Bin 91 Chardonnay 2009

Tyrrell’s has been around for a while in fact they are part of the first families of wine which includes Campbells, De Bortoli, D’Arenberg, Jim Barry, Brown Brothers, Hensche, Howard Park, Yalumba, Taylors, McWilliam’s and Tahbilk.  This is a group of family owned winery’s that have a long tradition and make a diverse range of wines that are typically regarded as being the contrary to brand Australia wines. In the case of Tyrrell’s they produce numerous single vineyard wines from ancient vineyards.  They offer extreme value for the quality and range and the Bin 91 is testament to that. If you are not on their mailing list you really need  to sign up.

Tyrrell’s Bin 91 Chardonnay 2009

I was thinking that since I’ve gone back to Uni to complete my honours I really need to start drinking something that is in my price range.  Well this little one bats well above its weight with melon, white nectarine and apple infused crème slowly unfolding upon my palate.  The wine is zippy with ok length and mouth feel but finishes a bit broad through the mid palate and looses focus toward the back.  A perfect little mid-week quaffer that won’t hurt the bank balance.

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $6.50
Rated: 84
Drink: now to 2 years


Sangiovese

I’ve decided to be creative this year so I’m taking the plunge and starting my own wine label.  I’ve just picked my sangiovese and its looks a little concerning to say the least.  I’ll take some photo’s of the ferment over the week end and post them early next week but below is some shots of the vineyard a month before we picked.  It took 3 of us 6 hours to pick 150 kg due to the botyris. In white wine this can be a very desirable character but in red wine is causes an oxidative enzyme called laccase to enter the berry and the end wine tastes flat.





Sunday 1 May 2011

Bodegas Muga Reserva 2006

 Bodegas Muga Reserva 2006

It’s a blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, with Mazuelo and Gracian bringing up the rear. When the wine opens it really starts hitting its straps with a mix of smoked meats, earth, black cherry and a spring bouquet of flowers. The tannin structure is what really brings up the enjoyment factor for me with a chalky coating running across most taste buds. There are layers of complexity that unfold through out the journey but I would leave it alone for 3 to 5 years and enjoy the ride even more.

Alcohol: 14%
Price: $45
Rated: 90
Drink: 2014-2018