Castagna Un Segreto 2009 plus eggplant lasagna

Castagna walks to the beat of his own drum as he was one of the first in the Beechworth region to plant an Italian variety and was also one of the first to adopt a biodynamic approach to vineyard management. The vineyard is 500 m above sea level and there are herbs and wild grasses speckled throughout the vineyard which attract bees and other positive wild life. If there is something that is attacking the vines these positive wildlife, such as birds, come in to eat those little nasty things. You really have to take your hat off to the people that can think outside the box and adopt a life style that is both good for their own health and good for the health of the vine. Julian is one of those guys and he has a clear vision about what variety should be planted where! I think this wine is the future for blends in Australia as it combines food friendliness and drink-ability in one.

I made this meal to match with Julian's wine and it did so superbly. Watch out that you don't reduce the tomatoes too much as this increases the level of richness in the dish.

Eggplant Lasagne

2 x boxes of fresh Lasagne sheets.
200 g pecorino
5 large eggplants, sliced
flour
oil
3 large tins of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed

Place tomatoes, onion and garlic in large pot and simmer until reduced. Heat pan and add oil. Roll eggplant in flour to cover and then fry in oil until tender. removed from heat and set aside. Heat oven to 180 degrees. In a large baking dish cover the bottom with tomato sauce and then layer lasagne sheet, eggplant, tomato and pecorino until you have reached just inside the top of the dish. Add another layer of lasagne sheet and then over with tomato sauce and pecorino. Cover with foil and place in oven for 20 min and then remove foil and cook for a further 15 min.

Castagna Un Segreto 2009

Medium bodied wine goes perfectly with medium bodied food so this match works perfectly. The Un Segreto is a 60% Sangiovese and 40% Shiraz blend that is lip smackingly dry and savoury with its perfume aromas and wild blueberries bouncing around before light red-fruits and spice take a strangle hold. At this stage the wine is holding is cards close to its chest but it still shows great flavours and mouth watering acidity. The best thing about this wine is the tannins! They are some of the best tannins in the country as they are light yet perfectly balanced with the favours and they spread out on my tongue like a fan that has opened out for the first time. Furthermore the wine is totally balanced with a little extra funky town action that is happening on the back palate.

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $75
Rated: 92 +
Drink: 2015 - 2024

Brokenwood Regional Blend Shiraz 2009

Brokenwood make a variety of wines from fruit from all over the country. When I first opened the box and noticed the label I was immediately felt a glow of joy as I thought I was in for some Hunter Valley magic but alas on closer inspection this wine comes from McLaren Vale and from a very warm vintage.    This wine is 70% McLaren Vale with a touch, 30%, of Beechworth thrown in.

Brokenwood Regional Blend Shiraz 2009

When I normally taste I have at least five bottles open at one time so I can track their development over three to seven days but with this wine I just kept on wanting to go back to this over all the other wines.  This wine does have richness, through the flavours of tar and chocolate, woven through it but it never gets a head of itself.  There are even elements of glazed cherries and spice mixed with dark plums that freshen the palate right up. In fact I wrote down elegant in a lighter full bodied style across the top of my notes.  In the end I thought a lot of this wine and even though there was a little alcohol warmth on the back palate, for the vintage this is spectacular. I guess that one of the things that takes it up the quality spectrum was the fact that I drank more of this wine that the other samples combined as it was so appealing. 

Alcohol: 14%

Price: $32

Rated: 89

Drink: Now or over the next 7 years

Michael Hall Roussanne 2011

Roussanne can pair so well with so many different foods, especially if it is made in a chiseled and sculptured manner like this one. There is not much of this variety in Australia, which might be due to the fact that it is difficult to grow well and if handled incorrectly will oxidise quickly. Roussanne loves to be paired with any sort of root vegetable and bird even if there is a thick creamy white sauce lathered on top. It is the sort of wine that would be perfect when it starts to get a bit cooler, like it is now.

Michael Hall Roussanne 2011

It is amazing that this wine is so together and complete at such a young age.  The mouthfeel is creamy and slippery with a line of acidity running down the centre of the wine. As the wine travels down my tongue it moves from lightness to a rich mid-palate and then finishes with a lightness which is both invigorating and mesmerising at the same stage. I'm not going to even worry about the flavours but I will say that complexity is not an issue.

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $35
Rated: 90
Drink: give it 5 years before opening your first one.

Dawson & James Chardonnay 2010

I always get excited when I see bottle of wine from a new winery come across my tasting bench.  This wine is the first release from two gentlemen that have been in the industry for donkeys years. In fact they have retired many times from different wineries.  The vineyard that this wine comes from used to make it's way into the top wine from Bay of Fires.

Dawson & James Chardonnay 2010

Massive barrel ferment characters yell from the bottle as soon as I open it but they soon mellow out and allow the bright flavours of grapefruit and peach skin to take the stage.  On day one, the entry of the wine was a little too sweet but by day five everything was humming along. This is a beautiful wine with huge amounts of flavours like toffee, gunpower, smoked spice and nuts woven into the fabric of the wine. At 42 bucks it provides very good value for a wine of this quality.  The only thing that let me down from moving the wine into stupid value territory was the weak mid-palate but I would still happily stash these away for a while before I pulled them out at a party.


Alcohol: 12%
Price: $42
Rated: 89
Drink: 2017 - 2025

Brash Higgins Single Vineyard Shiraz 2010

Brash  Higgins is a label that people must get to know!

Brash Higgins Single Vineyard Shiraz 2010

Pepper and spice and all things nice is where Brash it at. He himself is a jovial and bouncy type of guy and this is how his wine comes across. He talks the talk and from this wine walks the walk.  The wine is loveable and cuddly but there is a tightness to the tannin structure that will open up with 5 or so years in a cave. From a flavour perspective there are dangles of plum and chocolate mixed with licorice but everything is encrusted in spice. I am transfixed by what this wine tastes like and how it makes me feel. Bravo!

Alcohol: 14.5%
Price: $37
Rated: 88 +
Drink: 2017 - 2030

Cedric Bouchard Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Brut NV

This Champagne is made by one of the rising stars from Aube in Champagne. Cedric own a tiny 1 hectare plot of top quality vineyards with the average age of the vines sitting at a mature 30 years of age. In 2008 he was awarded the prestigious award of finest winemaker in Champagne by the most influential wine guide in France. This wine comes from vines owned by his father but is treated the exact same way as his own label.

Cedric Bouchard Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs Brut NV

Made from 100% Pinot Noir, disgorged in 2010 and doesn't it taste exotic and artisan. The fruit was picked by hand and crushed by foot but there is no taste of tinea, instead it is fresh as a daily. The wine starts out with morello cherries but soon a razor sharp fresh picked raspberry mixed with lemon rind takes over. It the sort of wine that you could get lost in the complexities and forget about the mouthfeel but as i'm obsessed with mouthfeel I sit back and take notice. It draws every inch of my mouth in sucking it dry and leaving in bouncy.  I would have to say that this would be the best drink to serve people as they arrive at you place for dinner or lunch, just to spark conversation amongst the group. This wine balances lovely minerality, chalkiness and brillaint flavours from start to finish.

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $99
Rated: 95
Drink: Now or later
Importer: Eurocentric Wine

Shingleback Unedited Shiraz 2010

Here is one of the companies that heavily invested in the US market.  Up until now they have not bothered with marketing and selling their wine in Australia but due to the US market dropping out they now are thinking of setting up a cellar door down in the Vales.

Shingleback Unedited Shiraz 2010

This is another big and in your face wine but it does have a little elegance in the mid-palate that takes it up the quality level. There are also some nice chalky tannins that seduce and mingle with your tongue but the level of warmth from the mid-palate on is a little too much.  Did someone say too much hang time? All in all it is a wine that is built for a purpose and that is to wow you into submission. Did it wow me? No but it did get me thinking which is something I enjoyed.

Alcohol: 15.7%
Price: $70
Rated: 87
Drink: Now - 2020