Wine without BS

Wirra Wirra Wines 2012 'Hiding Champion' Sauvignon Blanc

I have said before that Sauvignon Blanc is far down the list when it comes to white varieties that I drink regularly or look forward to drinking. However, I must confess that if more of them end up being as enjoyable to drink as this latest release from Wirra Wira Wines then that is likely to change.

Classic pale straw in colour what is not so 'classic' is the rather softer and restrained aroma. At some points I could smell almost nothing and at times troipcal fruits were clearly present. A very elegant drinking Sauvignon Blanc with evidence of passionfruit and many tropical fruits for which I am highly confident many would end in word 'berry'.

Everything about it is simply softer, more refined and more elegant than I've previously associated with most Sauvignon Blancs. I just loved it!

Wirra Wirra Wines 2012 'Hiding Champion' Sauvignon Blanc
Price - $22 available from many fine wine retailers.
Region - Fruit from Adelaide Hills, South Australia, winery is located in McLaren Vale.
Final Sip - For me this is easily up there with the best Sauv Blanc's I've ever had!

My Most Memorable Wines of 2012

(Islander Estate, Kangaroo Island)

Another year gone by, another few hundred wines enjoyed and a few not so enjoyed. This year saw my Odd & Rare Varieties event introduce me to dozens of totally new wine varieties that I had never tried before which without a doubt helped make this years list a little more interesting. My first trip to Kangaroo Island in the final days of 2011 also introduced me to the great wines of Islander Estate who, interestingly, impressed me far more with their cheaper wines than their flagships.

In no particular order here are the wines I will look back on most fondly from 2012

Primo Estate The Fronti V
Islander Estate 2009 Shiraz
Geoff Hardy 2009 Langrein
Chapel Hill 2011 Chardonnay
Islander Estate 2008 The Red
Eloquesta 2009 Shiraz Petite Verdot
Mandoleto 2009 Nero d'Avola
Best's Wines 2010 'Old Vine' Pinot Meunier
Brokenwood 2010 'Quail' Shiraz
Tertini 2010 Arneis
Martinborough Vineyard 2009 Pinot Noir
Torbreck 2010 'The Struie' Shiraz
Arizona Stronghold 2010 'Nachise' Red blend 
Arizona Stronghold 2010 'Tazi' White blend 
Outpost 2004 'Howell Mountain' Zinfandel
Zema Estate 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
Galafrey 2012 Dry Land Reserve Riesling
Lake's Folly 2011 Chardonnay
Te-Aro Estate 2005 'Two Charlies' GSM 

(The white varieties lined up at the Odd & Rare event)

Zema Estate 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

I'm going to keep this pretty short and sweet as not much more has to be said other than this is a bloody brilliant Cabernet from the ever consistent Zema Estate.

Clearly 2009 was kind to the Coonawarra region and this wine has a perfect balance of fruit, oak and the classic Cabernet Capsicum notes. For those wondering if I've gone all 'BS' with the Cabernet and Capsicum reference take note. Cabernet grapes and Capsicums actually share common chemical compounds that will lead to similarities in the aroma in certain cases. So on this occasion you can blame science and not wine writers :)

Zema Estate 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
Price - $28.95 and available in most good bottle shops
Region - Coonwarra, South Australia
Final Sip - Delicious now and I can't wait to try it in 8-10 years

 

Tertini Wines 2010 Arneis

This Italian grape variety, grown in the Southern Highlands of NSW and made by Tertini wines, is a great example of how tasting something at a cellar door doesn't always translate as the winery would hope. I tried this wine at their cellar door back in 2010 and thought it was good, but nothing beyond good. It was then recently and generously donated for an event I held that focused on alternative wine varieties. Having the chance then to enjoy the wine in the usual way with normal wine glasses and a normal serving I absolutely loved it! I'm not the only one either. This wine was picked by two serious winos at the event as their favourite white wine. Furthermore, one of the least wine knowledgeable mates of mine tried it recently and said it was one of the better white wines he'd ever tried!

It has a colour of light gold and pale lemon yellow accompanied by an aroma of apple and pear-like fruits. I also get a faint whif of honey as well. It is very enjoyable to drink and as you'd expect the flavours flow on from the aroma with apple and pear with some citrus fruits also noticeable. However, I find with so many Italian white varieties and even blends  that it can be rather hard to describe, and define them into singular components for use in tasting notes. I think that may be part of why I enjoy them so much! 

 

Tertini 2010 Arneis
Price - $35 from Tertini Wines
Region - Southern Highlands, NSW
Final Sip -  I've had the pleasure of enjoying this wine quite a few times now and with a diverse group of people and as yet I have not come across one single person who didn't enjoy it! 

PS - The variety is pronounced 'Ar-Nay' 

Best's Wines 2010 Pinot Meunier

If you're a Pinot Noir fan then get ready to be blown away. Even if you are not a huge fan I strongly suggest you try this as while closely related to Pinot Noir, what I experiend while drinking this wine was unlike any Pinot Noir I've had to date! Pinot Meunier is more commonly used as one of the three grape varieties used in a traditional Champagne blend. Seeing it as a single varietal red wine is rather rare and Best's Wines are the only winery in Australia that I could find making such a wine. It is thought that their plantings of the variety in the Great Western region of Victoria are the oldest in Australia and possibly the oldest Pinot Meunier vines in the world! 

It has a nice, transparent cherry red colour that will appear similar to many Pinot Noirs. In the aroma I actually got a noticeable hit of olives, along with some fruits and oak. When it comes to describing the experience of drinking this wine below is word for word what I wrote in my notebook at the time I was drinking it.

"It's smooth, smooth, smooth, smooth. Did I say smooth? It is like nothing I have ever had before"

Another line that I will never forget came from a guest at my recent Odd & Rare varieties tasting event who took one sip and said "oh that is naughty... just so naughtily smooth" 

So we can pretty much summarise that this is an incredibly smooth wine. It has blended flavours of fruit and oak and is a wine that lovers of red wine simply must experience!

Best's Wines 2010 Pinot Meunier
Price - $60 from Best's Wines
Region - Great Western, VIC
Final Sip - 'Noir' may mean black, but once you go Meunier, you'll never go back!

Islander Estate Vineyards 2009 Shiraz

For the first time ever, my family decided to have Christmas away from home and Kangaroo Island was picked as the venue for a one week Christmas vacation. Unbeknown to me when we made the booking, that Kangaroo Island is in fact a wine region in its own right and boasts around 15 or so wineries with approximately half that number having cellar doors/tasting rooms. Kangaroo Island is a cool climate region that is unique because it never, or extremely rarely, experiences below zero temperatures. 

The Island is much larger than I had imagined and has over 500Km of coastline and driving from one end to the other takes around 2 hours or more. Driving from one winery to another can easily take an hour depending on which two wineries you are travelling between. Red varieties seem to be the most favoured on the Island but I did have some pretty decent Sauvignon Blancs and Islander Estate have some great white wines in their line-up as well, including a Semillon Viognier.

This particular Shiraz from French winemaker, Jacques Lurton, is actually made up just over half Clare Valley fruit at 52% with the remaining 48% coming from his Kangaroo Island vineyards that are located in a central northern part of the island that I am told is referred to as 'the heartland'.

The 2009 Shiraz has a nice cherry red colour with an attractive aroma of berry fruit and oak which carry over in the flavours which show great balance between fruit and oak elements and there is even a hint of spice. This is a very well made wine that is thoroughly enjoyable and I can see why Halliday has placed it in his Top 100 wines this year and why it has sold out. Islander Estate are the clear benchmark for quality wines on the Island and I look forward to seeing more from their wine maker, Jacques Lurton, who has clearly invested heavily in this great facility.

 

Islander Estate Vineyards 2009 Shiraz
Price - It was around $18 but has sold out. If you find it, buy it! 
Region - Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Final Sip - A great wine at a fantastic price that shows Kangaroo Island wines are worth taking as seriously as anything on the mainland. While you may find it tricky to get your hands on this Shiraz, the 06 Malbec would be my next pick in their lineup and you can still get some from Islander Estate On-line.

(One of the more unique things I've ever seen at a winery are these open top cement wine fermenters at Islander Estate Vineyards. They were actually sourced from a french tomb maker and what you see in the picture is a modified version of an 8 person tomb!)

Primo Estate Joseph The Fronti V

I owe this wine discovery to a particular cellar hand at Primo Estate who, as I was paying for my order and just about to walk out the door, said 'Did you try the Fronti?'. I had just completed the 'Joseph Experience' tasting at Primo Estate in McLaren Vale and the Fronti V wasn't in the line-up on that occasion, but luckily I was given a quick taste and immediately added two bottles to my order.

This unique wine is a blend of old fortified wines from around Australia, however the base wine is from a 1981 vintage of Frontignan that I am told by Primo Estate insiders was found by accident in a shed years after they pulled up all their Frontignan vines in the mid 1980s. Other wines in the mix come from Rutherglen and Barossa Valley and the average age of the wines used is said to be at least 30 years. 

The wine is a darkish, nutty brown colour and is slightly cloudy. I generally don't waste much time with aroma on fortifieds so let's skip straight to taste. It has the elements I expected, being toffee, sultana/raisins etc but also shows a very slight hint of vanilla and a noticeable, but pleasant, warm alcohol finish. I expected it to be similar to muscat, and while it no doubt has muscat in it, it does have a character all of its own that is unlike any fortified I've tried to date. A truly enjoyable wine that no doubt will appeal to most wine lovers.

Primo Estate 'Joseph' The Front V
Price - $50 from Primo Estate
Region - The base wine is from McLaren Vale, blended wines come from Rutherglen and Barossa Valley.
Final Sip - It's a pretty dangerous wine... because I find myself going through my supply far too quickly!  

(The very cool and modern cellar door at Primo Estate) 

By Jingo Wines 2006 Montepulciano

 

Before I start, I need to confess that I somehow lost my tasting notes for this wine but am pressing ahead anyway as this wine more than deserves a spot on my blog and easily earned its place in my 'Most Memorable Wines of 2011'

Australian made Montepluciano's are few and far between but coincidentally I had recently tried another Aussie Monte's a week or so before trying the By Jingo. It took but one sip of the 06 By Jingo Montepulciano to know I was drinking something pretty bloody awesome. There was definitely a 'wow' moment after sip number two and the bottle didn't last as long after that! It has such a gorgeous flavour that I can't relate back to any other wine I've tried before. It was completely different to the other Montepulciano I had the week before that is also from a South Australian producer. 

Being lucky enough to have a bottle of the 08 also around at the time I took it along to a staff tasting I held for Google Australia, as part of Google Wine Week+. I remember a staff member yelling out to me 'What is this?' pointing to the bottle of By Jingo 08 Montepulciano, then saying 'It's fantastic!'.  I only got a tiny taste of the 2008 vintage before the staff polished it off, but it would seem the reaction to it from several Googlers meant they had just as high an opinion of the 2008 as I do of the 2006. As a result of that tasting I'd also like to ad that this wine is vegan friendly and apologise to the staff member who missed out given I only learnt of this fact the day after the tasting.

I should add that it was actually days after I had tasted it that I learnt it's price and admit to being somewhat surprised to see it was over $100. After pondering the price point for a while I realised that I've had plenty of $100+ wines that I cannot even remember... but I'll remember this one for a long time to come I am sure!

By Jingo 2006 Montepulciano
Price - $120 from By Jingo Wines
Region - Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Final Sip -  Do yourself a favour and try this wine before the 30 cases made have sold out. If the price is still getting in the way then try the 2008 as it is less than half the price! Alternatively keep an eye out for my upcoming Rare and Odd varieties wine dinner, as you can bet your Montepulciano it'll be there!

Most Memorable Wines of 2011

2011 will forever be etched in my memory as one of the worst and best years of my life, the latter sentiment largely due to a five month stint in the United States where I lived in Los Angeles over their summer and spent part of the US spring time touring California and visiting the East Coast for the first time where I saw Boston, New York and Washington DC.

It meant I had a vast array of US wines that are not available in Australia and for this reason I have separated those wines from the wines available or made in Australia. It is sad to see the lack of US wine labels available in Australia given the fact that they have access to good Australian wines in almost every wine store and some of our cheaper, but not always bad, brands are in their major supermarkets like Ralph's and Wholefoods. America makes many fantastic wines at all different price points and if you love Cabernet Sauvignon and haven't had some of Napa Valley's finest you are really missing out. I was told before I left that Napa had Australia beat when it came to ultra premium Cabernet. I'll admit prior to my trip I was sceptical but now having had my second trip to Napa I must confess that many of the Cabernet's on my list below are amongst the best Cabernet's I've ever had. If given the choice, I'd take a $70-$100 bottle of Napa Cabernet over anything of a similar price made in Australia.

However, upon my return in September I was very impressed with the quality of a number of wines I tried from right here in Australia. So, without further adue the below, in no particular order, are my most memorable wines of 2011.

Made or purchased in Australia

Primo Estate 'Joseph' 2008 Nebbiolo
Xanadu 'Reserve' 2008 Chardonnay
Taltarni 1977 Cabernet Sauvignon
De Bortoli Gulf Station 2008 Pinot Noir 
Grove Estate NV MCB (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon & Barbera)
Thomas Wines 'The Kiss' 2007 Shiraz
Oak Works 2008 Tina Molle
Logan Wines 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Chapel Hill 2011 Il Vescovo White blend
Two Paddocks Picnic 2009 Pinot Noir
Lowe Wines 2009 Zinfandel
Logan Wines 2011 'Hannah' Rose
ByJingo 2006 Montepulciano
Henschke 1992 Hill of Grace 

American Wines

J.Lohr Monterey 2009 Valdiguie
Phiffer Pavitt 'Date Night' 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Kelly Flemming Wines 2009 Sauvignon Blanc & 2007 Cabernet
Wolffer Estate 2006 Fatalis Fatum red blend
Bridlewood Reserve 2007 Syrah
Corison 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Red Tail Ridge 2008 Sparkling Teroldego
Opus One 2007 Bordeaux Blend 
Seghesio 2009 'Home Ranch' Zinfandel
Smith Madrone Chardonnay (Vintage not noted)
Kenneth Volk Vineyards 2008 Negrette
Rancho Sisquoc 2009 Sylvaner 
Andrew Murray Vineyards 2008 Esperance Red blend

(The barrel room at Opus One. The centre of each barrel is painted with red wine so that spills as a result of topping-up the barrel do not make the barrels look messy! This is just one example of the kind of attention to detail I saw during my tour of this amazing facilitiy.)

 

 

 

Chapel Hill 2011 il Vescovo White blend

With summer having just begun many of us will be heading more and more to the fridge to grab our wine and I would like to urge all of you to try more white blends just like this Chapel Hill il Vescovo this season. Many great Australian wine makers are producing more interesting blends of three or more varieties and the more of them I try the more I find myself wanting them regularly in my collection.

This particular example from Chapel Hill is a unique blend of Savagnin, Verdelho and Roussanne. It has a very light, almost clear colour showing just hints of pale lemon/lime colours. There is citrus in the aroma mixed in with other elements that I failed to place... probably because I am not a botanist like so many other wine writers appear to be. I also didn't want to waste too much time sniffing at the stuff as it drinks too well to stay in my glass all that long. This was a real joy to drink and I really cannot fault it at all.

Chapil Hill il Vescovo 2011 White Wine
Price - $22 from Chapel Hill Wines and assorted retailers
Region - McLaren Vale, South Australia
Final Sip - One of the most enjoyable and well priced white wines I've had in recent times, blend or no blend!