Date: 29 March 2013
What: 2009 Alvario Palacios Les Terrasses, Priorat, Spain
Purchased: Langton's Wine Brokerage; retails for around $90-100
Food: nothing yet, but pasta with leftover peperonata and pancetta to follow and it should be a cracker with it!
Comments: Ripper gear. It is a blend of garnacha (grenache), carinena, cabernet and shiraz and with all the depth and variety such a blend might suggest. Spicy nose and deep, bright colour. This is a great combination of textures and flavours - layers upon layers upon layers! Quite the Sarah Lee cheesecake in that regard, but without the poxy 80's connotations. Quite tannic (come hither, my inner cheeks! They really get sucked in, which is something I associate with grenache and enjoy heaps when it is part of a package) but not so dominant that you miss the rest of the fun. What I love most, I think, is the fact this is such a combination - spices, darker red fruits (so, to this point, we have the hallmarks of a great shiraz), cigar box/tobacco (thank you my Italian friends) and my favourite wanky term of all - sous bois*. So you can see why this is such a ripper in my view....length, texture, spicy/fruity gear and the ability to reference old world wines and bullshit wine terms. Giddy up! Have grabbed half a dozen of the 08s to go to the cellar. Interested to see the progress.
*Google it. I am not going to do all the work for you!
Friday 29 March 2013
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Mac Forbes Yarra Junction Pinot Noir
Date: 16 October, 2012
What: 2010 Mac Forbes Yarra Junction Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
Purchased: $46, cellar door
Food: pork and fennel sausages, summer coleslaw
Comments: Acquired last year at Mac's urban cellar door, along with all his other single vineyard pinots. Beautiful, crisp colour is the first observation. Neither dark nor light but with a clarity that makes it come alive. Palate is equally crisp but also quite assertive in an elegant way. This is not a muscular wine, rather it has a very determined sort of refinement. Kind of like the quiet person in a meeting who says very little but nonetheless has everyones' attention, and they all wait for his lead. Some cherries and a cranberry tartness to go alongside a hint of spice/herbs. A bit of vanilla rounds it out. Yeah, quite like this one. I think it is a very confident expression of PN.
What: 2010 Mac Forbes Yarra Junction Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
Purchased: $46, cellar door
Food: pork and fennel sausages, summer coleslaw
Comments: Acquired last year at Mac's urban cellar door, along with all his other single vineyard pinots. Beautiful, crisp colour is the first observation. Neither dark nor light but with a clarity that makes it come alive. Palate is equally crisp but also quite assertive in an elegant way. This is not a muscular wine, rather it has a very determined sort of refinement. Kind of like the quiet person in a meeting who says very little but nonetheless has everyones' attention, and they all wait for his lead. Some cherries and a cranberry tartness to go alongside a hint of spice/herbs. A bit of vanilla rounds it out. Yeah, quite like this one. I think it is a very confident expression of PN.
Friday 14 September 2012
Gapsted Saperavi
Date: 14 September,
2012
What: 2006 Gapsted Saperavi, Alpine Valleys, Victoria
Purchased: $25, cellar door
Food: after pizza
Comments: I bought this one a few years ago when we were on holiday in the area. It wasn't available for tasting but I was intrigued about a grape I had never heard of (my knowledge of things vinuous in the former Soviet state of Georgia is scratchy to say the least). It has been sitting there untouched as a quaffer that I nonetheless wanted to have a wine wank about but have never found the moment; I almost didn't go there tonight as for some reason I have had it in my mind as a lighter style - so there was some surprise when I poured it! Nice dark colour but with a bit of vibrancy. Savoury and foresty nose. It drinks like a hybrid of a bigger Italian wine (nebbiolo, a solid Chianti perhaps) and a shiraz. Dense, with dark fruits (plums, blackberries) and that leathery, tobacco thing that makes me think Italian (Italian wines; I don't mean to say that I start thinking in Italian). And then there's a savoury, spicy bit alongside which is all cool climate shiraz. Has a very grippy, softly tannic feel that adds an appealing chewiness. It actually reflects the area it comes from pretty well - the Alpine and King Valleys are highlighted by Italian families and grape varieties, and next door is Beechworth which has some cracking shirazes. Good gear.
What: 2006 Gapsted Saperavi, Alpine Valleys, Victoria
Purchased: $25, cellar door
Food: after pizza
Comments: I bought this one a few years ago when we were on holiday in the area. It wasn't available for tasting but I was intrigued about a grape I had never heard of (my knowledge of things vinuous in the former Soviet state of Georgia is scratchy to say the least). It has been sitting there untouched as a quaffer that I nonetheless wanted to have a wine wank about but have never found the moment; I almost didn't go there tonight as for some reason I have had it in my mind as a lighter style - so there was some surprise when I poured it! Nice dark colour but with a bit of vibrancy. Savoury and foresty nose. It drinks like a hybrid of a bigger Italian wine (nebbiolo, a solid Chianti perhaps) and a shiraz. Dense, with dark fruits (plums, blackberries) and that leathery, tobacco thing that makes me think Italian (Italian wines; I don't mean to say that I start thinking in Italian). And then there's a savoury, spicy bit alongside which is all cool climate shiraz. Has a very grippy, softly tannic feel that adds an appealing chewiness. It actually reflects the area it comes from pretty well - the Alpine and King Valleys are highlighted by Italian families and grape varieties, and next door is Beechworth which has some cracking shirazes. Good gear.
Saturday 4 August 2012
Mount Mary Pinot Noir
Date: 4 August,
2012
What: 2008 Mount Mary Pinot Noir, Yarray Valley
Purchased: probably $85, I think
Food: Braised lamb, roast potatoes, sauteed cale
Comments: Two observations - plenty of structure, plenty of time required. Quite concerned at the start - very flat. Light colour but a bit murky. Had little on the palate early and took a couple of hours to open up. Nose is a bit spicy and has a hint of the tightly coiled anger that emerges later. Gets a bit more friendly in the mouth, with an underlying smoothness with some fresh cherry and a sort of lighter version of forest fruits adding to the spice. No shortage of length, and good structure with the underlying fruit that will provide some elegance with once the tannins that rattle around the gob grow up. Just seems like an energetic, edgy young colt that catches the eye when running a maiden (starting in the city, of course, given good breeding, trainer and money spent on it) - might not be a cup runner just yet, but there is a significant future here, and you can see some of the class (great sectionals) but just needs a season or two to really hit its stride. Pleasingly, I have a couple of these bad boys snoozing in the cellar. See you in five (years), kids!
What: 2008 Mount Mary Pinot Noir, Yarray Valley
Purchased: probably $85, I think
Food: Braised lamb, roast potatoes, sauteed cale
Comments: Two observations - plenty of structure, plenty of time required. Quite concerned at the start - very flat. Light colour but a bit murky. Had little on the palate early and took a couple of hours to open up. Nose is a bit spicy and has a hint of the tightly coiled anger that emerges later. Gets a bit more friendly in the mouth, with an underlying smoothness with some fresh cherry and a sort of lighter version of forest fruits adding to the spice. No shortage of length, and good structure with the underlying fruit that will provide some elegance with once the tannins that rattle around the gob grow up. Just seems like an energetic, edgy young colt that catches the eye when running a maiden (starting in the city, of course, given good breeding, trainer and money spent on it) - might not be a cup runner just yet, but there is a significant future here, and you can see some of the class (great sectionals) but just needs a season or two to really hit its stride. Pleasingly, I have a couple of these bad boys snoozing in the cellar. See you in five (years), kids!
Friday 13 July 2012
Sevenhill Cellars Inigo Grenache
Date: 13 July,
2012
What: 2010 Sevenhill Cellars Inigo Grenache, Clare Valley
Purchased: n/a; around $25 I think
Food: Chilli con carne (followed by chocolate)
Comments: I have had a mixed relationship with grenache - too often it seems sweet and cloying. So it was with a bit of trepidation I hooked into this one, but need not have feared. Just after pouring it is nice but without being special to look at. Bit of mixed fruit and spice on the nose. But this is all about the mouth. Just really good quaffing gear. Nice fruits (a bit darker than the red fruits and almost sweet plum thing I sometimes associate with grenache) and some good spice to balance it. Sort of verges on the too sweet but those spices rein it in. Probably has a couple of years left in it, but no need to wait. Will go with a bunch of different foods - various meaty/tomato casseroles, roast lamb, good barbie stuff. Put it on the midweek quaffer rotation and you won't be disappointed.
What: 2010 Sevenhill Cellars Inigo Grenache, Clare Valley
Purchased: n/a; around $25 I think
Food: Chilli con carne (followed by chocolate)
Comments: I have had a mixed relationship with grenache - too often it seems sweet and cloying. So it was with a bit of trepidation I hooked into this one, but need not have feared. Just after pouring it is nice but without being special to look at. Bit of mixed fruit and spice on the nose. But this is all about the mouth. Just really good quaffing gear. Nice fruits (a bit darker than the red fruits and almost sweet plum thing I sometimes associate with grenache) and some good spice to balance it. Sort of verges on the too sweet but those spices rein it in. Probably has a couple of years left in it, but no need to wait. Will go with a bunch of different foods - various meaty/tomato casseroles, roast lamb, good barbie stuff. Put it on the midweek quaffer rotation and you won't be disappointed.
Saturday 23 June 2012
Box Stallion The Enclosure PInot Noir
Date: 23 June,
2012
What: 2008 Box Stallion Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
Purchased: Cellar door, around $30, I think
Food: Shepherd's pie
Comments: "Be in the game, but not of the game." This is tasty, knock it down gear. Has a light colour, with the slightest brown tinge. Goes savoury, fruity and then savoury - nose is savoury if non specific, then onto an initially classic (as I see it!) Peninsula flavour of stewed cherries and background red fruits but then gets quite savoury as it ends and finishes quite long. It has a sort of refined muscularity. Has some Central Otago qualities in that regard. "From the Peninsula, but not of the Peninsula". Ultimately, this a fun, quaffing pinot, not a wine wanker one (although far more than a bbq red, for sure). I would happily tuck into this again.
What: 2008 Box Stallion Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
Purchased: Cellar door, around $30, I think
Food: Shepherd's pie
Comments: "Be in the game, but not of the game." This is tasty, knock it down gear. Has a light colour, with the slightest brown tinge. Goes savoury, fruity and then savoury - nose is savoury if non specific, then onto an initially classic (as I see it!) Peninsula flavour of stewed cherries and background red fruits but then gets quite savoury as it ends and finishes quite long. It has a sort of refined muscularity. Has some Central Otago qualities in that regard. "From the Peninsula, but not of the Peninsula". Ultimately, this a fun, quaffing pinot, not a wine wanker one (although far more than a bbq red, for sure). I would happily tuck into this again.
Friday 1 June 2012
Clonakila Hilltops Shiraz
Date: 1 June,
2012
What: 2010 Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz, Hilltops Region, NSW
Purchased: Gift (many thanks, A!)
Food: Chorizo, prawn, chilli and porcini pizza
Comments: Possible ripper. Deep, dark colour. Sort of tight nose although has a bit of spice to it; kind of there but not. Enough of the preliminary garbage. This announces itself in the mouth. Dense, chewy tannins with a brambly, blackberry flavour with almost an deep, angry Christmas pudding thing. Bit of spice to add depth. Finish is interesting. It is sort of like there is an aria being sung and then it drops an octave straight away. That said, it continues to belt out solid tune, albeit slightly softer. Think I need to put some of this in the cellar to have a snooze for say 3 years and it will be outstanding, although quite enjoying it now. Good stuff.
What: 2010 Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz, Hilltops Region, NSW
Purchased: Gift (many thanks, A!)
Food: Chorizo, prawn, chilli and porcini pizza
Comments: Possible ripper. Deep, dark colour. Sort of tight nose although has a bit of spice to it; kind of there but not. Enough of the preliminary garbage. This announces itself in the mouth. Dense, chewy tannins with a brambly, blackberry flavour with almost an deep, angry Christmas pudding thing. Bit of spice to add depth. Finish is interesting. It is sort of like there is an aria being sung and then it drops an octave straight away. That said, it continues to belt out solid tune, albeit slightly softer. Think I need to put some of this in the cellar to have a snooze for say 3 years and it will be outstanding, although quite enjoying it now. Good stuff.
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