Category: Wine Red


PATINA WINERY, ORANGE NSW

Filed under: Fortifieds, White Wine, Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 2 Comments
June 20, 2010

Recently was at Patina winery in Orange. Stunning country and fresh air. All those who was there tasting Patina wines really appreciated the wines across their whole range. Gerald Naef and his wife Angie, both from California, own the winery, which is actually at their modern home. Angie Naef is an artist and creates stunning vibrant yet tranquil paintings that capture the beauty of things in our world (one of my favourite paintings pictured above).

First were whites, then a rose, then red wines, then dessert wine then a port. Personal interesting wines or favourites are in cyan/blue…

PATINA RIESLING 2008 – Fresh, grassy, lively. Fruit with some almond on taste. Great structure.

PATINA SCANDALOUS RIESLING 2009 – Sweeter style riesling, at 37g residual sugar per litre (a usual dessert wine could be at 180g residual sugar per litre). Soft, well rounded flavour. Perfect with crab, seafood or Asian cuisine.

PATINA PINOT GRIS 2008 – Tasty vanillin oak with fresh acidity. Also stocked at Fix St James in Sydney.

PATINA SAUVIGNON BLANC FUME 2008 – Just a Fume Blanc, done in oak. Restricted aroma on the nose with a hint of almond. Great well rounded taste, good fruit and acidity that balance each other out. More food friendly than a Sauvignon Blanc, as this Fume Blanc is not as powerful and doesn’t jump out of the glass as much when you smell it.

PATINA UNWOODED CHARDONNAY 2007 – Has good nougat type characters, which is usually more prevalent in oaked chardonnays. Bit restricted on the nose, with faint mineral acidity. Some stone fruit on taste and a good mineral acid structure, with vanilla lingering. An elegant wine.

PATINA OAKED CHARDONNAY 2007 – Lively acidity, nutty, more fruity style than chardonnay above, good length.

PATINA ROSE 2008 – Nice salmon colour which usually indicates a good rose wine. Tastes of astringent strawberries, but with low tarty type of acid (which I’ve often found in other rose wines, especially cheap ones).

PATINA PINOT NOIR 2004 – One of my personal favourites. Earthy, with a touch of alcoholic zing on the nose. On tasting, ripe small berries still with earthiness, oaky, good length with smooth tannin. Solid structure and deep (earthy) finish.

PATINA MERLOT 2004 – Cassis on the nose with a touch of mint and cool freshness. Good spice flavour.

PATINA CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2004 – Restricted on the nose but it’s also a big wine and needs more age. Good, powerful mouth feel, smooth tannins, strong cedar oak and plush plums (plush is my word for velvety fruit texture). At a very good price considering bottling age and future ageing potential.

PATINA SHIRAZ 2005 (MUDGEE) – Leathery, coffee, chocolate smell – lovely. On tasting, good fruit with non-overpowering spices, as well as big tannin and oak that lingers. Has a bit of mocha character.

PATINA CARBERNET MERLOT 2003 – Deeply perfumed bouquet. Plenty of fruit laced with spice, reminded me of the perfect accompaniment of a Christmas pudding. Good age.

PATINA STICKY TEA RIESLING 2009 - Very interesting. Really enjoyed this dessert wine even though I don’t drink dessert wines often. Unusual, and not quite as sweet and syrupy as a normal dessert wine. Melony with a little fresh lemon. Lighter than most stickies (dessert wines) with a slight tannin which finishes the taste really nicely, kind of cleanses the mouth. Can be described as “Guilt free sticky”.

PATINA PORT – Bought off a deceased estate in Mudgee, but good it has been saved, as the solera system by which it is aged is a very long process, and brings out in this wine a good complexity that includes toffee characters.

Also tried some raw Shiraz and Pinot in the making from some visitors at the time, tasted full bodied and good depth, I look forward to trying their wines when their winery progresses and I can put it on this site.

Will definitely drop in to Patina winery again when I’m near the area. Stunning place! Definitely worth a visit if you appreciate beautiful places and wines. Patina website: http://www.patinawines.com.au/

Comment

TWO HANDS TASTING, SYDNEY CBD

Filed under: Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — Leave a comment
June 16, 2010

Two Hands is a winery in Barossa Valley, established just in 1999. For the reasonable youth of this winery, they have done a large range of outstanding wines, with the philosophy “Quality without compromise”. Two hands is a unique winery, reflected in everything from the names of the wines, the way they are made and the way they look. Premium fruit is sourced by Two Hands, from the finest Shiraz growing regions in Australia with the aim to reach the full potential of each vineyard, and even the smallest parcels of fruit are handled and aged separately.

That’s what I like about this winery, is that their whole range is mainly based on Shiraz wine, and the quality of every wine from their lowest to highest in price represent what Shiraz can offer in terms of great taste, mouth feel and length.

Anyway, the tasting was held with Michael (one of the 2 Two Hands wine owners) on 10th June at CBD bar on level 4 (has good function rooms by the way). There were a good number of people there and it was easy to talk with any strangers about the wines. Wines tried (the whole portfolio wasn’t on tasting, as the portfolio is not small). It was only $5 for the whole tasting night, which was for charity. Thanks http://www.winewithoutbs.com.au/ who was there. Wines Tasted Included:

Picture Series:
ANGEL’S SHARE Shiraz, McLaren Vale
GNARLY DUDES Shiraz, Barossa
SEXY BEAST Cabernet, McLaren Vale
Garden Series:

BELLA’S GARDEN Shiraz, Barossa
Single Vineyard Series:
ZIPPY’S BLOCK Shiraz, Barossa
Flagship Wines:
ARES Shiraz.
And their VINTAGE PORT, Barossa.

All wines tasted I really appreciated. The Ares Shiraz I really loved as it was the very best selection of Shiraz, really deep and powerful wine, but that’s the most expensive – will cellar very well. In fact, all the wines can cellar for a couple more years, and up to 10+ years with their high-end wines. All wines did truly reflect their terroir (regional characteristics). Highly recommended!

For further details about Two Hands, visit http://www.twohandswines.com/

Comment

Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1984

Filed under: Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 3 Comments
May 31, 2010

Had Penfolds Grange 1984 vintage on the weekend – DELISH!!! I just feel like melting with each sip – this is true seduction :-)

Absolutely smooth silky tannins but with a powerful body – imagine drinking fruity silk. Lovely fruit, that has no tarty-ness – wonderfully ripe blackcurrants, other “currants”, cherries and plums, melded with dark chocolate and mocha, and spice. Beautifully balanced body with warm oak tones. Delicious, but elegant too with it’s smooth tannins that are still firm, with a hint of mint and tobacco on the nose. Grapes are from South Australia, multi regional wine from the best crops.

Last tried this at Penfolds masterclass 3 years ago (with Peter Gago, Penfold’s chief winemaker - he was great), and was still delicious then, but could tell it was meant to be opened a little later. Can still go a few more years but no doubt this is fantastic right now too. http://www.penfolds.com/wines/luxury.asp Website has a good clip with Pete Gago about some of Penfold’s greatest wines.

Prics: approx $480 for 750mL (depending on seller)
Drinking: now-2014

Comment

Yalumba Wines

Filed under: Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
May 25, 2010

Yalumba winery (www.yalumba.com), orginally from Barossa South Australia, produces great drops from cheap to high-end price range, including their reds if you’re going the cheaper price range, or a common white such as Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. The winery itself is a great place to visit with the wine nursery and own cooperage (crafting their own oak barrels).

Some of their chepest wines start at the Y range, at $13 a bot, ranging of most mainstream varieties of wine such as well as more recently added international inclusions such as sangiovese rose and pinot grigio. Yalumba focus on producing wine with the same premium techniques as their high-end wines, but on a bigger scale, and more edgy in character, such as more fruit flavours and zestiness, and good to drink sooner, as opposed to for example deep smoky flavours and some wines that need ageing. For under $10 level, these are pretty good, eg. Viogner, Riesling, Merlot…

Moving up in $, there is definitely a change to a more elegant taste and generally more oak. One of my favourites is the Galway Vintage Shiraz – bought the mini plane-sized bottles once, and surprised how good it was, the best I’ve ever tried from one of those mini bottles. Plenty of plush fruit and spice up front, silky tannins and deeper flavours such as chocolate and aniseed, and length is long too. In normal size, it’s about $12 a bottle. Perfect with roast rosemary lamb, and other hearty meals.

Yalumba Octavius Shiraz is on the high end of their range, and absolutely stunning benchmark wine of theirs. Grapes are used from extremely old vines in the Barossa, and aged in American oak which generally gives fuller fruit flavour and warmth in red. It’s about $95 a bottle, ages really well, 10-15 years. The Yalumba Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, made from Coonawarra grapes which produce excellent structure in their wines, is also a fine wine, only made on exceptional vintages in 20 of their finest fermenting barrels. $39 a bottle.

There are also other good wines such as Yalumba Scribbler (rrp $19), Barossa and Eden Valley collection, Hand picked series, The Signature, and Menzies (rrp $42), but the aboves are my personal favourites, although I haven’t tried their entire range.

So, if you’re choosing a fruity to hearty red, or zesty to smoky white, Yalumba has the full range to suit many tastes and palettes, as well as being Australia’s most oldest family owned winery, over 160 years. “Yalumba” is aboriginal word meaning “all the land around”.
Cheers!

Comment

Great Value Aussie Reds Under $20

Filed under: Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
May 16, 2010
Here are a few widely available, good quality red wines for under $20 a bottle (medium-full bodied reds):
WYNNS – CABERNET SHIRAZ MERLOT:
With so many wineries in Australia, sometimes it is easy to overlook the old favourites. So if you have not had a bottle of Wynns in a while, it would be great to revisit the brand as a reliable and traditional wine, such as their Cab Shiraz Merlot – three classic grape varieties. Great body, flavour and length – Typical elegant Coonawarra character, Cabernet provides the flavour, spice, length and structure, with shiraz imparting a spicy complexity and richness, and the Merlot adds softness! It is a finely structured and supple wine, smelling of crushed leaves and a touch of mint, then showing ripe plum and spicy fruit flavours combined with soft, understated oak. It has a traditional structure and the gently drying tannins make it a great partner to roast lamb, beef or any red meat dishes, and even to a creamy earthy-style mushroom risotto. They can be consumed when relatively young, as well as ageing well up to 5-7 years – I usually buy these and cellar them for a few years, and it’s great value and worth it to see the extra flavours develop and whole mouthfeel soften.
Coonawarra. RRP: $19.00
http://www.wynns.com.au/ 

YALUMBA - Y SERIES SHIRAZ VIOGNIER:
Good shiraz viognier blends are very hard to find under $12. Medium body but on the light side, good plush fruit flavour, oak and tannins. Good pairing with game meats, even stretched to accompanying tapas. Try to find the older years, 2004 vintage was outstanding value for money.
Southeast Australia. RRP $11.95
http://www.yalumba.com/ 

HARDYS – OOMOO SHIRAZ:
Being under $15 a bot, this represents more value than the De Bortoli Shiraz.The wine has exceptionally rich and luscious red and black fruits, the tannins ripe, and well-balanced and integrated. Can be consumed soon, but I prefer cellaring as it really has a lot to develop over the next 2 years from the current release. If consuming soon at least let the wine “breathe” for 1/2 hr or longer.
Southeast Australia. RRP $12.95

GEOFF MERRIL – McLAREN VALE SHIRAZ GRENACHE MOURVEDRE:

Lovely texture, with the full flavoured body of the shiraz, with spicey notes from Grenache and underlying deepth of flavours from the Mourvedre (pron: moo-verh-druh). Plush and supple but focused palate; spicy/savoury components to the fore, and impressive length. Drinks very well for 5 more years from current vintage.

McLaren Vale. RRP $19.99
http://www.geoffmerrillwines.com/

INNOCENT BYSTANDER – SANGIOVESE (+MERLOT):
Innocent Bystander is a successful contemporary producer of wine who is not afraid of doing things a little differently. Their Sangiovese Merlot blend is impressive and good value. The Sangiovese component gives the blend its bold character where as the Merlot adds flesh and depth to the mid palate. On the nose, earthy character and spice with hints of cinnamon. Vibrant ripe fruit flavours and tannin on the palette, sour cherries and blueberries, but with spicy and oaky complexity, and underlying tones of dark chocolate. The wine had a pleasant dry finish making it an excellent partner to food – Authentic Italian Osso bucco or braised wild boar, Spaghetti bolognaise or calabrese pizza.

McLaren Vale. RRP: $20.00
http://www.innocentbystander.com.au/

Happy drinking! Cheers

Comment

Metala – Great Value Red

Filed under: Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — Leave a comment
May 11, 2010

Metala is an icon of Australian wine, winning the first ever Jimmy Watson Trophy in 1962. Standing the test of time with its timeless label and exceptional quality, it answers today’s pretenders with knowing authority – every single vintage.

Metala Wines come in a Black label (around $50 a bot, around same release price as Penfolds Bin 389, another iconic Aus wine) and White label (around $20 a bot). Both from Langhorne Creek, South Australia, which is excellent for giving smooth tannin that’s not too harsh, plus plenty of plush yet bold flavour of a typical Australian red wine – A blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both black and white labels are excellent and good value, and cellar well too – 5-7 years at the best time for White label, but can do further especially in Black label. All bottles are individually numbered in White and Black labels.

Vintage Cellars stores currently have a sale of 2 Metala White label bottles of wines for $22. Excellent with a good steak and chips, beef stroganoff, or Czech cuisine, or by itself to warm you up well in winter :-)  The more recent releases that are currently sold in stores/restaurants do need some air and “breathing” before thoroughly enjoying it (as in when you open the bottle, the wine needs contact with oxygen/air for a little while to take the edge off a reasonably young wine), but even 20 mins takes off some of the sharpness – it is a big flavoured wine.

Great value! Both my Black and White label wines are doing really well and are delish! The Black labels are only released on exceptional vintages. Cheers!

Comment

Barbera

Filed under: Wine, Wine Info, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 1 Comment
May 6, 2010
Barbera, an Italian red variety of wine, has quite a lovely taste that goes splendid with tapas or Italian style cuisine (Creamy pastas, Pizzas, Tomato herb based dishes, Prosciutto…), as well as fatty foods such as Duck. Also grown in Australia this has turned out quite well and may improve even further.

Barbera has reasonably high amount of acid in the fruit and therefore taste, making it excellent to go with Duck and Orange sauce, without being overpowered by the orange sauce for example. It has less tannin than big red wines, but can get a beautiful oakiness from barrel fermentation, resulting in nice acid, fruit and underlying oak which can also give some smokiness and/or vanilla tones. Kind of like, spicy but luxurious in taste.

It’s a good varietal to try and is not as well known in Australia such as Sangiovese red wine. In fact it may also be dismissed from being a good wine, due to it being too acidic and “cheap”, but with good winemaking and oak fermentation in Australia this can be an Excellent wine. The grape is naturally acidic, and this can be a great feature, especially if it has some oak or tannins (from oak fermentation) to balance it out.

The one I tried recently was mentioned before from the Southern Highlands, Centennial Vineyards, and it was quite enjoyable and could be seen to go splendid with some foods. I was surprised at how it turned out considering the cool climate, as it also grows well in warmer climates.

Will be trying more barbera wines for sure.
Cheers!

Comment

Southern Highlands Wine Trip

Filed under: White Wine, Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
May 3, 2010

SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS WINE TRIP – Sunday 2nd May 2010, a wine trip to Southern Highlands organised by Ben @ http://www.freerunwineevents.com/

Great to try some unusual wines that actually reflect Southern Highlands terroir very well. Due to the cool climate and altitude, this area tends to grow a lot of European style grapes and white varietals extremely well with stunning clarity. Went to four wineries with over 40 wines tasted on this day which provided More Than Enough on interesting tastings and we were thoroughly busy on the tour. Out of about 20 of us, many hadn’t been to Southern Highlands before so it was interesting. Great lunch too at Berrima. Strongly recommend Magpies cafe, Berrima Pub and Bakeries – although I’m guessing the other food places are great too!

Below are the wines tasted (although I’m not sure if I’ve included all!), and my personal description/opinion of the wines. Most were very enjoyable, pleasant, and elegantly structured due to the cool climate and grapes chosen to be made into wine. Wines in italic are less-common or lesser known Australian wines.

First stop, TERTINI WINES   http://www.tertiniwines.com.au/
Really outstanding wines, far exceeded my expectations. Have a good range, although not produced on a large scale, in fact quite small, but the effort, hand picking, and selection that goes into making the wines really shows. Each wine showed some great characters, mainly well structured and elegant character with clean finish. Tertini wines have also won many awards and high ratings in blind wine competitions etc. TERTINI RANGE tasted:
Riesling Reserve – Honestly one of the best riesling wines I’ve ever tried. Very elegant structure and much less sweeter than many rieslings available in Australia today (which is also why many turn away from it). Had a squiz at the site, awards for this wine as below (and this is a lot of recent awards for one wine from a small winery :) ):
4.5 glasses – James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2008 Edition. 91 points
Gold & 2 Trophies – 2009 National Cool Climate Wine Show
Gold & Trophy – 2010 South Coast Wine Show
Gold & Trophy – 2006 South Coast Wine Show
Gold – 2010 Sydney Royal Wine Show
Gold – 2009 Australian Small Winemakers Show
Gold – 2009 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards
Gold – 2008 South Coast Wine Show
Gold – 2008 Southern Highlands Regional Wine Show
Riesling 1855 2006 – Another stunning riesling. Beautiful complex fruit balanced with fresh mineral acidity.
4.5 Glasses James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2010 Edition. 91 Points “Well-made wine, with a complex, yet unified, mix of lime, apple and mineral aromas and flavours, finishing with lemony acidity.”
Arneis 2009 (Stainless steel) – ARNEIS is a very finicky grape and even when it looks like it’s going well in production it can suddenly change. A European grape, but even there, there were times when it was given up as a grape to produce because it was so unreliable. Now, Southern Highlands is doing it pretty well!! One of my favourite wines, although never tried an Arneis previously. I was surprised about how non-astringent in acidity this wine was for being racked in steel tanks as opposed to oak. With a powerful, yet not overpowering nose, it had a significant amount of fruit rounded by white grapefruit and peaches (on the palette too with almonds or something wholesome and luxurious of character). Approachable and complex at the same time.
Arneis 2009 (Barrel fermented) - Less fruit than previous, and still well rounded acidity and fruit with a slight hint of herbs. Lovely.
Pinot Grigio – Good, well made.
Rose – Good structure. Deep ruby in colour, on taste very lively and crisp.
Pinot Noir Tertini Reserve – Perhaps a little young, but had full structure.
Pinot Noir1855 2005 Berrima Valley – Really enjoyed this. Great drinking now. Earthy nose, deep well rounded character with smooth finish.
Pinot Noir – 2006 Southern Highlands – Really enjoyed this. Earthy with ripe, bright fruits.
Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot - Southern Highlands 2008.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – blend of Southern Highlands and Barossa – beautiful wine, except may be phased out as Tertini want to specialise in the wines’ reflection of the region/terroir.
Noble Riesling Reserve 2008 – Dessert wine, not as sweet as many, which was nice and refreshing to taste.

2nd: CENTENNIAL VINEYARDS   http://www.centennial.net.au/
Stunning area, building and gardens. Large scale winery in Southern Highlands. Huge range of wines with over 30 wines available. Beautiful restaurant adjoined with a warm feel to the whole place. Many of their wines were full flavoured with acidic structure, most with cellaring potential, especially for the reds. A great focus on single vineyard wines.
Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot - Basically as dry (less sweet) as you can get in Australian sparkling whites. Well made with aromas of hay, yeast and crisp acidity, tastes very dry with great mineral acidity.

Sauvignon Blanc Woodside 2008 (single vineyard): First tried while it was still in it’s tank and cloudy – acidity at start of the palate was almost fizzy, but on the nose everything was of a completed Sauv Blanc.
Chardonnay Woodside Winery Block 2008 – Grassy and fresh open citrus on the nose but with baked yeasty bread or even nuttiness. Good mineral acidity and stone fruit combined well on taste with custard tart, with pleasant length. Elegant.
Savagnin 2009 Woodside – Previously hadn’t tried a Savagnin before, was pleasantly surprised! Temperamental white wine grape to grow, with relatively low yield. Lovely acidity, fruit and nuttiness.
Bong Bong Sparkling Shiraz – Quite a vibrant, zesty red wine. Medium body, but intense on nose and palette with strong blackcurrant and spice. Great at Christmas! Perfect with Turkey etc…

Pinot Noir Woodside Unfiltered 2008 – Light, perfumed and delicate but slightly restrained fruit (such as small berries and blackcurrants), with spicy characters, smooth tannin. Dark  crimson in colour.

Pinot Noir Reserve Single Vineyard Unfiltered 2006 – Beautiful dark earthiness (“forest floor”) on the nose with underlying old fashioned oak. Full plush flavour with spice such as cinnamon, herbaceous characters, tobacco and hints of dark chocolate. Smooth leathery tannins accompany. Crimson-brick red in colour.
Babera Reserve 2008 Single Vineyard Unfiltered – Really enjoyed this. Pleasant with good body and not-too-heavy spice – Complex nose with many berry fruits and dark chocolate, Great rich flavour, well structured but soft, Velvety but clean finish. Fantastic with tapas or other food where the wine and food would make each other stand out more. Nice clear rim/edge on the wine.
Shiraz Viognier Reserve 2006 Single Vineyard - highly perfumed nose. Pleasant.
Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2004 – Aromas of ripe small berries and mint, rich mouthfeel with a touch of leather, can cellar further.
Autumn Late Harvest Chardonnay 2008 – Dessert style wine, made well.
Tempranillo – Would love to try theirs on next release.

3rd: JOADJA WINEYARDS   http://joadjawinery.com.au/
The oldest winery and vineyard in Southern Highlands! Humble. Friendly and enthusiastic. Husband and wife both run the winery. Beautiful and unpretentious cellar door. They often also have bands that play there such as Jazz music (info on their website) on a relaxing afternoon with food such as real wood-fired pizza and wine.
Sauvignon Blanc – Tropical fruit characters and fresh acidity.
Chardonnay – Lightly oaked with some stone and citrus fruit, and lime zest. Slight fragrant vanillin aroma and straw on the nose.

Fume Blanc Southern Highlands Reserve 2009 – Enjoyed this, fresh, zesty, lightly oaked and vanillin base notes that laid nicely on the palate as well as elegant French vanillin oak on the nose, with tropical stone fruit on the nose also. Good body, but refreshing and reasonably complex characters for it’s “zestiness”.
Malbec Reserve 2006 – Made strongly keeping in mind the principles of weather, climate and timing on the wine and winemaking – and you can taste great characters that are well developed for a cool climate red, and generally smooth (not too acidic) but full body in this wine. Fragrant cherry and small berries on the nose and light oak, followed by a much more intense body of firm tannin and deeper more plush fruits and spice. Great drinking now but will cellar well also.

Autumn Sauvignon Blanc – Dessert wine, in a normal 750mL bottle! About time! All those puny 375mL dessert wines run out by the second pouring and so if there’s a group of people drinking/eating, you may need to buy several bottles to get everyone served up properly, and that’s just a waste of glass/space/carry effort etc.
Boysenberry Liqueur – Interesting and rich… Some said it would go well with ice cream, but I thought it possible to blend it in an alcoholic milkshake-type beverage (or” cocktail”). Would make a good mixer. At 20% alcohol it’s a significant dose, and you can get a lot out of it from using only a little amount as a mixer etc…
Apple Cider – wanted to try this but they sold out :)
Christopher Tawny Port.

4th: BLUEMETAL VINEYARDS   http://www.bluemetalvineyard.com/
The lady who conducted our tasting was confident and knowledgeable about the wines. Wine labels are attractive and clean but distinctive – Great wines that also look great in any restaurant or wine bar/dinner etc. Lovely cafe adjoining with good food.
Sauvignon Blanc 2007.
Sauvignon Blanc 2009.
Fume Blanc Signature 2008 – Enjoyed this one. Didn’t know Southern Highlands could make this varietal so well. Great structure with lemon and grassy tones and good length.

Sangiovese Rose 2008 – beautiful pink salmon colour – a sign of a good rose, as opposed to many cheap ones that are almost fluoro highlighter pink (and would give a nasty hangover too). Great stucture and lively acidity and bright berry fruit such as strawberries, laced with some spiciness. Good dry finish.
Petit Verdot Signature 2008 - Nice, dark but transparent crimson in colour. Fragrant nose. Great body – concentrated flavour, but lifted. Significant spice and berries.
Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot “The Cabernets” 2008 – Good structure and well chosen blend of wine, particularly for a cooler climate red.
Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc “Lava One” 2008 – Beautiful dessert wine, elegant structure and complex palette.
Comment

Leeuwin Estate Cab Merlot, Balthazar Shiraz & Capel Vale Chardonnay

Filed under: Shiraz and Blends, White Wine, Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 3 Comments
April 18, 2010

last Sunday - lunch…
LEEUWIN ESTATE 2004 CAB MERLOT

Bought a bunch of these from Kemeny’s Bondi, only a month ago. First time opened one now, and What Fantastic Value!! This is a great wine, and especially since it’s so hard now to find 2004 Vintages in wine stores under $30, and even above $30 there aren’t many 2004s. Really good balanced body, more elegant taste, with plenty of herbaceous characters on the nose, and on taste, good spice, black pepper and some fruit. Well rounded, good structure, good finish. Perfect with the roast beef.

BALTHAZAR SHIRAZ 2002 BAROSSA

Great Shiraz. Great drinking now, a little crimson in colour as opposed to darker red which was surprising for an 8 years old wine. Could even still do with 2 more years of age. Plenty of fruit and spice on the palette but balanced. Good silky oak and smooth tannins, yet firm… What else do you expect from a good Barossa wine… (http://www.balthazarbarossa.com/)

CAPEL VALE 2009 ‘PEMBERTON’ CHARDONNAY

Surprisingly, very fruit driven for a Chardonnay, plus really good/non overpowering vanillin oakyness that’s smooth and sits on the mouth quite well, and lingers for a good length of time. Aroma was quite light, with the usual citrus characters but also with some peach and tropical fruit scents. Elegant structure as usual with Chardonnays, however not too acidic at all… A Pleasant Chardonnay from Margaret River…(http://www.capelvale.com/about/vineyards/pemberton)
Nature photo – just thought I’d include, was a nice view from lunch, from Vaucluse looking over to North Shore.
Comment

Rockpool Bar and Grill, Sydney

Filed under: Food, Restaurant Reviews, Wine, Wine Red, Wine Reviews — 4 Comments
April 17, 2010

4 of us had Dinner @ Rockpool Bar and Grill (Sydney) last weekend (http://rockpoolbarandgrill.com/). Service was great, attentive, warm and knowledgeable. High ceilings and architecture were a major plus. Food was Good, up to expectations of a Neil Perry restaurant, and really liked the Extensive and Clear menu with Plenty of Interesting Options. Also genorously received more than enough complimentary dishes/meals which filled us way more than we were expecting. Would also like to come here next time just for dessert…

Started w Drinks in the bar – really enjoyed the ambience and dark decor, although took a little while to receive drinks we ordered.
The bottle of red wine we ordered for Dinner was 2005 Drouhin-Laroze ‘Les Craipillot’ (Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru), $194 a bottle, apparantly one of the least marked-up-in-price wines in the restaurant, and was a spectacular wine. I thoroughly enjoyed it, for it’s length and elegant, very refined, but not tight (due to some age of 5 years?) structure. Some fruit and a touch of spice although mainly oak driven on palette. Although, in the end, the bold blousiness of Australian Red wine from South Australia is always going to have a stronger place in my heart - But of course every country has it’s great unique style of winemaking.
To start, a mixed platter of cold meats such as Prosciutto, Wagyu and Chorizo- tried a few unique things, and quite liked it. Came with Pickled vegies (carrot, cauliflower etc) which I loved – Tasty and very crunchy.
Had the Blue Eye fish for my main. Came with a lovely herb/red onion salad that complimented perfectly. Was a very small serving but I have a big appetite and there was plenty of food overall. Also this small serving surprisingly had some filling capacity as it was a thick, fleshy meat.

Barramundi Fillet. Also came with Herb Salad. 
Mushy Peas with slow cooked egg – I enjoyed this combination, and it has a noticeable amount of spice.
Warm Salad of Wood Fire Grilled Quail with Smoked Tomato and Black Olive – Stunning. Loved it.

Wood Fire Grilled Pork Sausages with Grilled Peppers and Soft White Polenta.
Seared King Prawns with Goats Cheese Tortellini, Burnt Butter, Pine Nuts and Raisins.
House Chopped Salad – Good basic salad. Sweet style dressing.
Potato and Cabbage Gratin – Looked attractive for a potato/cabbage dish. Tasty cheese layer.
Pavlova was good, but could do with some more fresh fruit as I found it too sweet and needed more refreshment after a large meal, although perhaps they steered away from this so as not to be ‘typical’.. After dessert, came encrusted nuts and some fancy marshmallows.
In the end, was pleased with the restaurant - extensive wine list, food, attentive service, and the knowlegde of the waitpersons and sommeliers was impressive. But as I said I would like to come here just for a dessert session next time, you can do that :)
Comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.