Wine without BS

Zonin Wines

Zonin family owned vineyards in Tuscany

Zonin Wines is Italy's largest, family owned, vineyard and winemaking facility and produces around 25 million bottles per annum and they export all around the world.

Recently I was recommended the Zonin Ripasso Valpolicella, which was fantastic. Then I started noticing other Zonin wines are being stocked in a range of major retailers so I began trying as many of their other wines as I could find.

To date I've had the pleasure of enjoying the following Zonin wines:-

2010 Ripasso Valpolicella
2011 Regions Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
2011 Regions Nero d'Avola Merlot
2010 Regions Merlot
2011 Regions Soave

NOTE: All except the Soave are red wines for those not familiar with Italian wines.

What excited me about these wines is that not only are they all very good, everyday quaffing wines, they are all under $8 with the exception of the Ripasso Valpolicella which comes in at $17! That is some amazing value for a very drinkable, imported wine. The Monetpulciano d'Abruzzo and the Valpolicella are my two favourites and the Soave was my least favourite, but it was still very respectable for the money.

In the under $10 category I'd be hard pressed to think of many wines I've had in Australia that are as good. In researching this post I also learnt that 'Ripasso' is a winemaking technique that sees grape skins already used in the making of Amarone put over the Valpolicella to start a second fermentation. The word Ripasso in Italian translates to 'review' or 'go-over'. The result of this process is additional complexity and body given to the Valpolicella.

Moral of the story! I never would've picked up a Zonin wine without the recommendation of someone else and I want to pass this recommendation on with my glowing endorsement for these great value wines! Enjoy!

 

 

 

Peter Lehmann - 2009 Layers White Wine

Well known Barossa producer, Peter Lehmann Wines, have released a set of new and affordable blended wines known as the Layers series. The Layers white table wine is a blend of Semillon, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat picked from different vineyards throughout the Barossa and Adelaide regions.

As with many blends, the aroma of this wine is not overly powerful but has hints of tropical fruits and floral notes and its colour is clean, clear and almost glossy in its appearance in the glass.

However this wine was not made to be studied in an obnoxious fashion, it was made to be drank, and that it does very well. It is very smooth, easy drinking and glass after glass never let me down.

Peter Lehmann Wines - 2009 Layers White wine
Price - $16 ($13 for members) from www.peterlehmannwines.com
Region - Multiple vineyards from the Barossa & Adelaide region, SA
Recommended - Definitely, as a quaffer or with a meal it delivers value for money. At the members price of $13 it has to be one of the better sub $15 white wines around!

Rockford - Alicante Bouchet 2008

There is some interesting debate on various internet sites on this wine and in one case I read that a couple found this wine under 'reds' on a wine menu. While visiting Rockford in February this year I queried them as to why that would be? They told me that technically speaking the Alicante Bouchet is made exactly as you make a traditional red wine without some of the techniques that some winemakers use when making rosé wines.

However, Rockford staff were not happy to hear it was appearing as a red on wine menu's as even Rockfords winemaker will say it is a Rosé! I personally think any restaurant sommelier that puts it under "reds" is being a bit of a smart arse!

But to the drink itself and it was one of the first rosé wines I've tried that I actually liked... and really liked! It's not overly sweet and when chilled it makes a great summer drink that pairs really well with lighter Asian dishes.

 

Rockford - Alicante Bouchet 2008
Price - $17 from the cellar door or $22 at www.Canterburywines.net
Region - Barossa Valley - South Australia
Recommended - Strongly recommended for rosé lovers and skeptics who may think rosé is often to sweet. This wine got me drinking rosé!

Pikes - 2008 Clare Valley Riesling

This is without a doubt one of my favourite white wines! Its clean, crisp and easy drinking with or without food. I now buy this wine by the case as at $16 if purchased by the dozen at my local Dan Murphy's it's a no brainer to make this a regular house wine. 

For me its better than the much more expensive Grosset Polish Hill of the same vintage!

Pikes - Clare Valley or "Traditionale" Riesling 2008
Price - $19 as a single bottle or $16 each with any dozen at Dan Murphy's
Region - Clare Valley - South Australia
Recommended - Definitely, best value Riesling I've had to date!

Lunar Wines Shiraz 2006 and the tasting notes that started it all!

My first Blog, my first web published review and the silly tasting notes that started it all centre around one of my favourite red wines, the 2006 Lunar Wines Shiraz. I was introduced to this wine via my wine broker john from a great and totally free service called WineIq.

I got a half dozen bottles at $25 eachand they all went pretty quickly so I will be ordering more directly from the winery. I started recording my own tasting notes in a diary in late 2008 and the Lunar Shiraz is appears in that diary as the eighth wine I recorded my thoughts on. I am getting more detailed in my notes as time goes on as I now have notes on over sixty wines however in keeping with my theme of plain english wine reviews my comments in the wine diary read exactly like this

"Good to Excellent! Great Flavour and velvet smooth. One of my personal favourite red wines"

Having been reading wine reviews and tasting notes from the likes of the great James Halliday, Robert Parker and regular columns in the Sunday Magazine from what was Stuart MacGill and now Campbell Mattinson I started to think my plain one liner above was unlikely to see me having any future as a wine commentator. In the interest of comparisons of my novice observations on a wine I really liked I went in search of a professionals review of the same wine. I found the following tasting notes on the 2004 Lunar Shiraz...

NOTE: I have bolded the parts of this review I have issues with.

"Lunar Wines Shiraz 2004

Mananga, Barossa Valley, South Australia 14.5% a/vol

The other Corey Chaplin wine. This one retails for $27 and it was the one wine in the line up that I wanted to take home and finish during dinner after that tasting. It’s an astounding Barossa Shiraz!

Colour: Very dark with sunset highlights.

Nose:  Earthy, cut grass, hot chocolate with a whiff of coconut.

Palate: Raspberries and creaming soda at first. Creamy mouthfeel with forest floor and horse stable undertones. Lots of chocolaty, briary aromas, tight, well-structured with velvety tannins.

Comment: Big wine, but gorgeously smooth, lots of sediment on the bottle already. We all loved it!"

My initial thoughts on this review where as follows
1. How you see"Sunset Highlights" in a deep coloured red wine is beyond me and seems to contradict the initial statement of "Very Dark"!
2. Earthy? Cut Grass? yet at the same time Chocolate and Coconut? WTF???
3. Forest Floor and Horse Stable undertones??? Double WTF??? To this day I have never seen this reference in any other tasting note and am still perplexed how this guy knows what a Horse Stable tastes like :)
4. How do you get Briary "Aromas" on the palate? Aroma's should be in the nose section shouldn't it?

I still wonder if the clown that wrote this is having his own personal joke with anyone that reads it and takes it seriously. However, without any suggestion the review is some failed attempt at humour it is to this day the reason why I started to think my simple one liner about the same wine would sell more Lunar Shiraz than being told it tastes like a Forest floor and Horse Stable!

To summarise

Lunar Wines Shiraz 2006
Price: $25 per bottle from winery direct. http://www.lunarwines.com.au/
Region: Barossa Valley, SA, Australia
Recommended? Definitely and remains one of my favourite red wines amongst peers more the twice the price!