Austins Shiraz 2010

Austins Shiraz 2010 (Geelong, Vic)
13%, Screwcap, $30

Source: Sample
www.austinswines.com.au

It's normally Pinot that takes my fancy in Geelong, though wines like this remind that Geelong can, occasionally, be shit-hot Shiraz country.

Speaking of Geelong, this Shiraz is laden with typical Geelong pepper and spice - as acknowledged twice in one paragraph on the back label. The nose, particularly, is somewhat driven by (partly whole bunch derived) black pepper, clove and a spoonful of bacon bits. Sexy.

It's a bittersweet, savoury sort of Shiraz too, switching between slightly heavy richer mud cake fruit and quite firm, bitter tannins, everytying punctuated by a slick of berry sweetness to finish.

You can really grab onto that stemmy finish actually - no shirking away from structure! I like that chew really, its so utterly winey and dry and grown up. Perhaps a fraction too stemmy for some, but it's not hard or unripe, just long and real.

Yes. A proper cool climate Victorian Shiraz.

Drink: 2013-2020+
Score: 18/20, 93/100
Would I buy it? Yes

Austins Crue Syrah 2012

Austins 'Crue' Syrah 2012 (Geelong, Vic)
13.5%, Screwcap, $23
Source: Sample
www.austinswines.com.au

Crue = 'raw'.

Low sulphur, wild ferments, no oak and no filtration... nothing but fruit. Think Geelong Shiraz/Syrah done joven style. Apparently this is 'best enjoyed in the months after release', but I reckon it's got enough vivacity to carry on longer than that.

A lovely, bright purple coloured drink it is too, full of that carbonic maceration influenced, squished berry juiciness and just-bottled super freshness.

This is a deliberately light boned wine, with nothing profound but plenty of plum skin, Beaujolais-esque jubey purple fruits, topped off with a hint of Geelong Shiraz ham and white pepper.

The intensity suggests reasonable quality grapes though, so its not a ham-fisted, residual sugar driven, focus group concocted red.

Ultimately I can see a definite place for this in the wine world - you can just imagine drinking this out of highballs, like a grown up sangria (but not made with shit wine and cans of pineapple juice).

Entirely likeable.

Drink: 2013-2014
Score: 16.5/20, 88/100
Would I buy it? Perhaps a little 

Yellowglen Exceptional Vintage XV Piccadilly Valley 2002

Yellowglen Exceptional Vintage XV Piccadilly Valley 2002 (Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills, SA)
12%, Cork, $49.99
Source: Sample
www.yellowglen.com

A rather more evolved beast than its younger brother, I applaud the winemaking merit here, though think this might have been a more complete wine 12 months ago.

It's a sparkling driven by both bottle age and long lees ageing (seven years on lees), the wine full and generous through the middle, if just a bit cheesy and even a fraction decayed to finish, the acidity noticeably soft and gentle.

Noble intent, just needing a little more than just mid palate richness to carry the wine. Drink up.

Drink: 2013-2014
Score: 17.5/20, 91/100
Would I buy it? Not quite.

Torzi Matthews 1903 Old Vines Grenache Mataro of Domenico Martino 2012

Only one guess on the price

Torzi Matthews 1903 Old Vines Grenache Mataro of Domenico Martino 2012 (Barossa Valley, SA)
14.2%, Screwcap, $35
Source: Sample
www.torzimatthews.com.au

A mouthful of a name but I think you get the drift...

This red blend comes from the irrepressible Dom Torzi, utilising fruit from the low yielding old Moppa Hill vineyard of Domenico Martino in the Barossa Valley. Its specifically a blend of 50% Grenache 50% Mataro, the fruit hand picked with both varieties fermented together (30% whole bunch) using natural vineyard yeasts in open top milk vats.

Oh and once fermentation had finished, this was then basket pressed to 3-4yr old oak where it then spends 14 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

I like that handling. Modern handling, but with a gentle touch.

I like these words on the back label too:

'An ancient single vineyard planted in 1903, it lays upon hard melding shales of ironstone, quartz and white sands. Naturally dry grown with an easterly aspect, among the fruit orchards and wheat fields. A wine of purity, freshness and harmony.'

There is so very much I like much about this wine really. High-five Dom Torzi (again). I had 'purity' written down before even sighting the back label, the wine showcasing the mid-weight, bright and fruity Grenache grapiness apparent from the outset.

There's a hint of carbonic tutti-frutti, and a veneer of vanilla bean oak, but otherwise it's just lovely bright fruit, layers of flavour and fine tannins. It's perhaps a little simple, a little warm but that wonderful pure red fruit is intoxicating (in more ways than one).

Delicious. I went back for more.

Drink: 2013-2020
Score: 18/20, 93/100
Would I buy it? Yes.

Ravens Croft Chardonnay 2011

Ravens Croft Chardonnay 2011 (Granite Belt, QLD)
13%, Screwcap, $35
Source: Sample
www.ravenscroftwines.com.au

Simple packaging. Unrespected region. Fully priced. From the outset it doesn't quite make a compelling case. Still, it's what inside that counts, which is a wild fermented Chardonnay sourced from a plot at 950m in Stanthorpe. Curiously, this sees both American and French oak, which is a very odd combination (American oak? For a Chardonnay?).

It smells and tastes like a half worked wine too. Half-worked, with that modern, white peach and grapefruit lean edge to the nose before fanning out into a peachy and quite broad (and oaky), mealy palate that just gets fatter to finish (and I'd question whether this should see any MLF - it looks soft enough).

A pleasant enough wine perhaps, but one that throws as much question marks as it does answers...

Drink: 2013-2015
Score: 15.5/20 85/100
Would I buy it? No.

Talking 'interesting' wines on the Food in Focus radio show

Talking 'interesting wines' on the Food in Focus radio show

It can seem a bit silly sometimes to single-out wines that could be called 'interesting', purely as it's such a subjective notion - that is, what interests me could be obscure/irrelevant/complete shit to somebody else.

Still, there are certain wines/wine styles/varieties etc that have enough of a 'story' to make them interesting, or at least enough to talk about.

Yesterday I was, rather randomly, tasked with finding 3 wines that might be counted as being 'interesting', as I ended up as a guest on the Food in Focus radio show. It was short notice, and the fridge was empty after a housewarming party last weekend (no beer either. I'm slipping), but I ended up with these three (happily) charismatic wines.

Better still, everyone on the show rather enjoyed this trio, which just made the discussion flow that little bit more effortlessly. Of particular note was the positivity towards the Blaufränkisch, which surprised even me at how delicious it was...

Rene Geoffroy Cuvee Empreinte Brut NV (Champagne France) $87.95 - 750ml
This is the last bottle from a case I bought a year ago and it's been an enjoyable ride to see how it has developed. A Pinot dominant style, that was fermented mostly in large oak foudres and looks quite mature and aldehydic as a result (only a light bead too). Still, it is fresh to finish, with that combination of weight and acidity means this works nicely as a richer, 'I'll drink this with dinner' style. I think this particular bottle would have been a better drink 6 months ago (as it's look a bit cheesy and developed), but still attractive and well complex enough. 17/20 90/100

Hahndorf Hill Blueblood Blaufränkisch 2010 (Adelaide Hills, SA) $35
I'm not sure how I missed this when it first turned up (some time ago), however it's still available from the winery and I think well worth a punt. What I really like is how varietal this looked - genuinely, surprisingly varietal. I'd perhaps a little less oak richness. but there is still that combination of blue fruits and notably prominent high acidity, the wine very much driven by its juicy mid palate, yet still an utterly savoury, fruit-and-acid-balanced (with a nice full-stop of dry tannins) wine.

I just liked drinking this, and if it is indicative of the potential quality of Hills Blaufränkisch, then let's get planting. 17.7/20 92/100

X by Xabregas Spencer Vineyard Syrah 2010 (Mt Barket, WA) $50
Conspicuously, this looked the least ready to drink of all the wines on the day, a thoroughly uncompromised, structured and very serious red that had a dryness and un-sweet power so often missing in Australian Shiraz, even those wines with 'Syrah' stylistic leanings. Meaty, cranberry and purple fruits, with more than a little leafiness and loads of black pepper and anise. So much spice! Dry, powdery tannins to finish and, looking at the numbers, topped off with strictly natural acidity.

Initially this seems mid weight and a little lightish to start, but the closer you look the drier those tannins become and the firmer and deeper the wine looks. Further, I think this carries its 'Syrah' tag quite successfully - you can see a little Cornas in there for sure (in the best possible fashion).

Guaranteed to be an impressive wine with bottle ageing, I was really impressed. 18.5/20 94/100

Michael Hall Chardonnay 2011

Michael Hall Chardonnay 2011 (Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills SA)
12.8%, Screwcap, $40 

Source: Sample
www.michaelhallwines.com

After spending much of this week in Coonawarra (and drinking largely Cabernet, with the odd Shiraz or blend for good measure) this was a lovely palate refresher. A wine sorbet, if you like, in the best possible fashion. Grand wine for the vintage too.

This particular wine was sourced from from the Garden Block, located in the beautiful Piccadilly Valley, with a little fruit included from the cool and steep 'Hill Block' (3km up the road) blended in for good measure.

Speaking of the Adelaide Hills, if I was forced to pick any South Australian wine region to make wine, Piccadilly makes a strong case - it's both beautiful, amazingly close to Adelaide and an exciting place to grow grapes (particularly Chardonnay).

As ever with Michael's whites, this 2011 Michael Hall Chardonnay is precisely made: it's whole bunch pressed and fermented wild in barrel, with 40% of the wine going through malo and all of it spending 11 months on gross lees in (10% new) barriques.

There's an unquestioned finesse on the palate too - a cool, sexy classiness with peach juice and cream, solids enriched palate weight, further weighted by banana cream oak/yeast richness.  It's a very fine richness though, like carefully whipped cream. A real delicacy to the finish too, with no shortage of fine acidity.

Fresh, very cool and just on the right side of ripe, this is a model of carefully made, refreshing Chardonnay. Perhaps a little lean and grapefruity for such 'work', but the wine ultimately drinks very well.

Delicious.

Drink: 2013 - 2018
Score: 18.5/20 94/100
Would I buy it? You bet.

Clyde Park Pinot Noir releases

Clyde Park Pinot Noir releases

A pleasure to check in on these Clyde Park Pinots, which I remember once being exciting Geelong vinos. Feels like checking on a long lost friend.

Overall the quality looks much improved in these Clyde Park wines, the flat spot in the noughties now a thing of the past. Still plenty of vintage variation, but certainly getting there. A recent change in ownership, with Terry Jongebloed and Sue Jongebloed-Dixon taking control, has apparently the quality improve greatly, though you still don't see the wines all that often in retail/restaurant land, suggesting that the distribution side has a way to go yet...

Clyde Park Locale Pinot Noir 2010 (Geelong, Vic) $27
Produced from Geelong region, rather than estate, fruit. Still minimal handling ala the more premium wines.

Beautiful bright open fruit here that is utterly varietal, all plum and cranberry red fruits in an expressive, gentle form. It tastes general too, real, soft, red fruited and round through the middle. I love the gentle touch of this, and although its a bit short and ill-defined to finish, the fruit joy is truly lovely. I'd drink a bottle for sure. 17.7/20 92/100

Clyde Park Estate Pinot Noir 2009
The only dark spot in this range. Kept back as it was such a big wine, with an admission that this may well have been left too long on the vine.

Caramel oak, browner colours and a sense of advancement. A heavier, headier wine with a real, gritty punch but otherwise not much joy. Feels a bit bogged down in its ripeness, without the vivacity of the Locale. Not much joy for mine. 15.5/20 86/100

Clyde Park Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Serious. Red fruit with a suggestion of stems, the nose a little volatile but otherwise condensed, firm and very serious, the acidity seemingly higher, the finish undulating and long. There is pinosity here, it just needs to jump over the structure, with a decent swirl revealing the hint of fruit loveliness. In 3-5 its going to be a star, though nowhere near as drinkable as the Locale today. Score represents a compromise (and the plus signs are very important).
17.8/20 92/100+

Brilliant Priorat: Vall Llach 2006

Brilliant Priorat: Vall Llach 2006 (Priorat, Spain)
15.85%, Cork, $180
Source: Tasting
www.vallllach.com

It's wines like this that make me wish I was a wealthier man. Wealthy so that I could afford to buy cases of this, rather than just snaffle the odd small glass to taste...

The Vall Llach old plantings. Woah

Simply put, this is a special wine.

It's when you look at pictures of the Vall Llach vineyard (above) that the reason for this 'specialness' becomes apparent. It looks amazing. Wild amazing. Think gnarled, highish altitude, old (100 years+ for the mature plantings) Carinena and Garnacha bush vines, all planted on unforgiving, 25-85%(!) schist slopes, with the ancient vines complemented by more modern Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah planted on special rock terraces.

It's an incredibly unique environment that sits at the very edge of achievable viticulture (with not a tractor in site. Hand-everything required here) and delivers sublime wines to match.

This wine, the flagship, is a blend of 65% Carinena (Carignan), 15% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot, the wine fermented long, slow and coolish with maximum pre and post-ferment maceration in French oak barriques and hogsheads for 12 months.

What's most remarkable about this red blend is that - despite the hostile rocky soils and slopes, roasting climate and the obvious ripeness of the style - this retains minerality and freshness. It's hugely rich and massively concentrated, all braised meat and dried black fruit, the flavours ultra compact and firm, yet also with a sparkling minerally finish. The ultra firm, multi-layered palate has a chewiness to it and also a sense of liveliness, the sign of vines in balance.

Simply put, I was compelled. Seems more like 14.5% alcohol rather than 15.8%. Further, I struggle to describe the perfect shape of those tannins. They're refreshing tannins actually, dry and firm yet lively. Come-back-for-more tannins that are too wide and broad to be Bordeaux and probably closer to Amarone tannins if anything. But brilliant.

Obviously this is not a wine for the faint hearted, yet it also feels rather perfect in its expression of sandy, rocky soils, ridiculous slopes and altitude, ultimately making for a bloody delicious and wonderfully intriguing wine. I'd love some of this in my cellar so very very much.

Drink: 2013-2025
Score: 18.7/20 95/100
Would I buy it? I'm thinking about buying some in the UK as it is that much cheaper over there..

BEER: Endeavour Pale Ale 2012

BEER: Endeavour Reserve Pale Ale 2012

5% alc, 32 IBU

Each year the Endeavour Pale Ale gets better, and this 2012 iteration is probably the best yet. I liked drinking more than the 2012 Amber Ale too In fact, I'm switching sides and calling myself a Pale Ale Man instead of an Amber Ale man as of now. Drastic steps...

Much of the appeal here is the balance of hop aromatics and bitterness vs malty richness. As the boys from Endeavour explained to me recently, hops need to be used like oak i.e. judiciously. 

As ever with the Endeabour beers this is a vintage ale, so its age-worthy, though why wouldn't you drink this now? Certainly refreshing, the malt a little more dominant this year, the hops evident yet not sappy.

I likey. Would happily make a daily drink. 4/5

Taltarni T Series Victoria Shiraz 2009

Taltarni T Series Victoria Shiraz 2009 (Victoria)
14%, Screwcap, $17
Source: Sample
www.taltarni.com.au

A blend of Shiraz with a little Mourvedre and Viognier, the fruit sourced from Pyrenees and Heathcote. The clever use of a little extra residual sugar (just 4g/L which is barely perceptible)
only helps the drink now appeal of this Shiraz, and given that it is available from Taltarni for under $13, seriously good value drinking too.

It smells ripe and juicy, with red fruit and mocha fruit, obviously ripe and generous. There is a bit more of the traditional Taltarni dry tannins and 'French' structure but otherwise it looks utterly modern.

Plump but not excessively, confected with a very solid, meaty black fruit heart, this is exactly what you want in a $15 Shiraz. really. 2010 should be a step up again.

Drink: 2013-2017
Score: 16.5/20 88/100
Would I buy it? Not personally, but I'd recommend it with gusto.

Vigna Cantina Negro Amaro 2012

Vigna Cantina Negro Amaro 2012 (Barossa Valley, SA)
13.9%, Screwcap, $22
Source: Sample
www.torzimatthews.com.au

Sourced from the Koonunga dunes, this is a variety that many predict could have a future in South Australia. This particular wine isn't there yet, the cinnamon spice and raspberry flavours light, confected and a little shapeless, the diffuse palate largely a sign of young vines rather than anything else.

Simple fruits, but not enough convincing varietal characters as yet to really impress. Fell apart in the glass too, another indicator of some young vine fruit.

Drink: 2013-2014
Score: 15/20 84/100
Would I buy it? No.

Taltarni Three Monks Fumé Blanc 2011

Taltarni Three Monks Fumé Blanc 2011 (Victoria and Tasmania)
12.5%, Screwcap, $25
Source: Sample
www.taltarni.com.au

An awful lot of winemaking goes into this Taltarni Sauvignon Blanc, especially given the price, with half wild fermented in tank, the rest in barrel (where it was stirred weekly and matured for eight months).

It looks well made too, the vanilla bean oak a little obvious on the nose, though not enough to be offensive, the palate rather natural and pure, the oak and lees an adornment rather than the dominant character. Maybe a little unclean through the finish (hint of diseased fruit), but the acidity is still naturally clean. Rather satisfying Aussie fume really, clean and well made and aas taut as you'd want to keep that winemaking in check.

Nice.

Drink: 2013- 2016
Score: 17.5/20 91/100
Would I buy it? On the list, at a sufficient price, this would be a pretty easily attractive drink.

Taltarni T Series Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011

Taltarni T Series Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011 (Pyrenees, Vic)
12.5%, Screwcap, $17
Source: Sample
www.taltarni.com.au

A quick internet search reveals that the Taltarni 'club price' for this wine is just $12.75. Smart drinking for that price.

Light lemon butter and parsley nose, with a palate fattened by lees ageing before what is a dry and minerally finish. Great acidity. Fresh, simple, lightly textural and with enough of that fennel and cream lees/fruit action to make it sort of like a good AC Bordeaux Blanc (which is clearly the intention). Good.

Drink: 2013-2014
Score: 16.5/20 88/100
Would I buy it? No, but I'd recommend it for $12.75/bottle.

Bollinger La Grande Année 2004

Bollinger La Grand Année 2004 (Champagne, France)
12%, Cork, $300
Source: Sample
www.champagne-bollinger.com

Oh yes, this is seriously fine fizz. Easily on a par with the sublime 02 and needing only bottle age to really come together and count amongst the absolute best Champagnes on the planet.

The 2004 La Grande Annee is a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay, sourced from 16 crus (88% Grand Cru, 12% Premiers cru), and aged entirely in barrel. This particular bottle was disgorged in July 2012, which means is spent about 7 years on lees.

With a typically fine bead, this certainly looks the part too, with vanilla bean oak evident on the full and quite overt nose. Plenty of autolysis richness, but not quite the brioche laden, heavy (and more complex) autolysis nose you see in Bollinger RD. Shows the Flor-like barrel influenced softness through the mid palate, finishing with the sort of taut and forceful acidity that marks this as a wine in progress.

In some ways a more delicate wine than the 02, yet also backwards too. Initially I thought it a bit too acidic and twangy, but the closer I looked, the more I loved the sublime length, the linear nature of that acidity and the almost grapey Pinot elements.

Ultimately, the superb length marks this as a wine of brilliance, though I'd be waiting for the wine to catch up with the length myself. Buy it, cellar it for a few years, whatever - it's shit-hot booze regardless.

Drink: 2014-2040
Score: 18.7/20 95/100
Would I buy it? Want!

Raidis Mama Goat Merlot 2010

Raidis Mama Goat Merlot 2010 (Coonawarra, SA)
14%, Screwcap, $25
Source: Sample
www.raidis.com.au

There isn't enough focus on Merlot in Coonawarra. There should be. Better clones, tighter canopy management, more focus. Pity no-one wants to pay for premium Merlot (and it isn't as reliable as Cabernet or Shiraz) so very few producers are pushing the variety. Still, I hold out hope..

This is a pretty attractive rendition of the grape actually. A genuine Merlot from the ever genuine Steven Raidis (who I'm incidentally visiting in Coonawarra next week. I'll question him about why Merlot isn't more popular and report back). It spends 18 months in barrel, though never looks oaky, instead spicy and lightly volatile, with blood plum aromatics and a fleck of mint. Much the same on the palate, which is open and generous, if a little warm, with wonderful Coonawarra red dirt and cedar plus even, medium weight dry tannins.

Why aren't there more tasty, just-minty-enough-to-be-interesting Coonawarra Merlots like this? Thumbs up here. More thumbs up expected with further bottle.

Drink: 2013-2020+
Score: 17.5/20 91/100+
Would I buy it? A glass or so would hit the spot. Probably not a bottle buy as yet.

Raidis The Kelpie Sauvignon Blanc 2012

Raidis The Kelpie Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (Coonawarra, SA)
12.7%, Screwcap, $19
Source: Sample
www.raidis.com.au

I've never understood the rationale behind growing Sauvignon Blanc in Coonawarra and then  make it into unwooded, herbaceous, one dimensional wines. No appeal there. Probably sells well, but where is the interest?

Sour, lemon grass nose, open and quite short palate, finishing a little sour. Simple and a teensy bit dull to finish. Varietal but not quite defined enough, if clearly crisp and well made. Still not convinced.

Drink: 2013
Score: 15.8/20 86/100
Would I buy it? I don't think I'd buy any Coonawarra Sauvignon Blanc that I've ever tasted.

Barossa Mataro. No apologies... Soul Growers Defiant Mataro 2009

Soul Growers Defiant Mataro 2009 (Barossa Valley, SA)
15%, Cork, $50
Source: Sample
www.soulgrowers.com

Heavy bottle, serious price-tag, wonderfully dense and unapologetic Mataro. That's the drift here.

Drawn from ancient old vines, the style savoury, warm, alcoholic, typically Mataro reductive, a little leathery, perhaps a little dried at the edges, hearty, warm and utterly satisfying. A cool night and lamb shanks wine, of blackness and roaring fires and dark chocolate. A wine derived from rough hands, open fermenters and tiny, intense, black grapes on twisted old vines.

I drank this (drank, not tasted) out of a thermos at the AFL on a rainy night last weekend and then brought the remnants home to look at again over the next few days. It didn't budge much. Still uncompromising in its Mataro gruffness, still dry, still a little boozy, still wonderfully effortless in its Barossa-ness and its Barossa Mataro-ness.

Yes please. More. Could it get better? Perhaps a little less warm, but otherwise, don't fuck with it.

Drink: 2013-2023+
Score: 18.5/20 94/100
Would I buy it? Yes. The 2010 is current release and may be even better again.

Raidis The Kid Riesling 2012

Raidis The Kid Riesling 2012 (Coonawarra, SA)
12.6%, Screwcap, $19
Source: Sample
www.raidis.com.au

This Riesling is named after the kid Boer goats that can be found playing alongside the Raidis vineyard and are known to provide a little entertainment. It's pruning season in Coonawarra now, so any entertainment that doesn't involve pruning snips is a good thing...

Open, limey, generous, easy and languid. There, my job is done. Languid is a good word actually, for Coonawarra Riesling is typically such a beast - the flavours soft (and particularly soft given just how 'cool' Coonawarra is) the palate open-knit and often developing toasty bottle age richness quite early.

What marks this as a better example of Coonawarra Rizza is the lemon squash freshness through the finish, which stops the toast getting beyond the mid palate stage.

Hardly a profound wine this one, but heartfelt and actually much better structured than it may look. Likeable.

Drink: 2013-2018
Score: 16.8/20 89/100
Would I buy it? Probably not. Would drink a glass if handed to me though.

Church Road Chardonnay 2010

Church Road Chardonnay 2010 (Hawkes Bay, NZ)
13.5%, Screwcap, $25.99
Source: Sample
www.churchroad.co.nz

Lovers of old school, 'buttery' Chardonnays rejoice, for the Kiwis still make a wine just for you.

This Church Road Chardonnay is picked ripe, barrel fermented and matured on full lees for 10 months, the style unashamedly biased towards low acidity and full rich flavours.

In the modern Chardonnay context this looks to be a very dated style, the colour rather gold already, the wine showing plenty of oak, plenty of rich fruit and plenty of lees weight. I found it a bit too broad, heavy and wobby to really enjoy, but I can fully appreciate that there is a market for this sort of wine. Reasonable fruit length too.

Fashions be damned, this is a wine of weight and richness. Personally, I couldn't drink much of it, but that's just me.

Drink: 2013-2015
Score: 16/20 87/100
Would I buy it? No.