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Updated - Thursday, February 2, 2012
A few excellent wines came out of our recent sparkling wine and riesling tasting and have made it in to my wines of the week.
I did not include any from the recent White Burgundy & Champagne tasting due to their limited availability. (You could try Lamont's in Cottesloe).
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Cheers,
Barry Weinman
Events
The Wine and Food Society of Western Australia is hosting its next dinner at Petit Ardois. Please click here for details
East End Cellars in Adelaide in conjunction with The Store Bistro is hold what promises to be an excellent event on Monday the 20th of February. Click here for details.
Wines Of The Week
The best of this week's blind tastings.
Jete - Chardonnay/Pinot Noir - Sparkling - NV (17). Clean and fresh, with some Granny Smith apple and some autolysis notes. Bready finish with plenty of acid to keep the balance. Sympathetic dosage adds to the enjoyment with good length to boot. A touch of bitterness on the finish works well. (Reviewed 18 January 2012)
Frankland Estate - Riesling - Isolation Ridge - 2011 (18.5). Perfumed talc on the nose, with musk, pear and a hint of sherbet. The palate is superb, with fresh citrus and beautiful balance. The length is excellent and the finish near seamless. A lovely wine that will age gracefully.
Howard Park - Riesling - Porongurup - 2011 (18.5). Very pale colour, this is very undeveloped. Seamless, restrained, taut and balanced, this is a sublime wine of real class. Superb mouth-feel with great intensity and length. This will live for a very long time, developing character and richness as it goes.
Lillypilly - Noble Blend - 2008 (18.2). Restrained on the nose, this is very youthful and has remarkable lavender aromas. There is, again, that lovely balance of apricot and orange, with a freshness that makes this a delight to drink. Superb length and mouth-feel with the finish fanning out and evolving for more than a minute. Excellent wine! (Reviewed: 2 January 2012)
Lillypilly - Noble Blend - Family Reserve - 2002 (18). Richer colour suggesting more bottle age. A bigger, richer wine with more complexity and greater length. The palate is viscous and mouth-coating, with lovely acidity preventing the finish from becoming cloying. Apricot jam and marmalade fruit to close. A lovely aged wine. (This is still available from the winery). (Reviewed: 2 January 2012)
Tyrrell"s - Semillon - Brookdale - 2011 (17). Straw and lemon on a reserved and restrained nose, this has lovely poise and balance. Needs a few years to open up and show its fruit. (Reviewed: 2 January 2012)
Yering Station - Marsanne/Viognier/Rousanne - MVR - 2009 (17). Complex nose with apricot, orange peel, honey and cashew nut. Very complex, yet refined palate that is long and has well judged phenolics and viscosity. The best wine here from a textural component and European in style. Drink now. (Reviewed: 2 January 2012)
Just Added
Riesling and Sparkling Wine
New Release
Reviewed: 18 January 2012
I was most surprised when the covers came of the sparkling wines from Jete during our panel tasting. Well made wines with enough interest to make for excellent drinking.
The highlights of the tasting came from the riesling brackets. The wines from Howard Park were superb, whilst the wines from Frankland Estate were the best that I can remember from this producer.
In both cases, it was fascinating to see how the different vineyards expressed themselves in the glass. If you are interested in holding an interesting tasting, then get the team from Frankland Estate to send you one of each of their current releases.
White Burgundy and Champagne
Current Release
Reviewed: 17 January 2012
I had the privilege of sitting in on this high quality tasting of white Burgundy and a few champagnes. There were some tremendous wines, and a great value champagne in the Brut Origine from Tribaut Schloesser.
These wines have limited availability, so try your local fine wine retailer.
New Release - Mixed Whites
Reviewed: 2 January 2011
This was a fascinating tasting with a large variety of grapes and styles. All of the reviewed wines represent an interesting alternative to the mainstream wines that dominate the market.
The highlight for the panel was the three wines from Lillypilly. These are high quality desert wines that possess a degree of lightness and balance that makes them a delight to drink.
Shiraz
New Release
Reviewed: 30 December 2011
Another smart tasting, with over half the wines tasted making it to these pages.
Cabernet Sauvignon
New Release
Reviewed: 27 December 2011
The highlight for me of this tasting was the O"Leary Walker cabernet. An excellent wine that should be widely available for around $20.
Pre Release – Mixed
Reviewed: 12 December 2011
I had a call from my good friend John Jens asking for help. In short, he needed to assess some imported wines quickly to see if it was worth buying some of the remaining stock. No problems I said, so I threw in a few locals to keep the French honest and we were in business.
Riesling - New Release
Reviewed: 8 December 2011
You get what you pay for – well most of the time anyway.
This was a fascinating tasting. Firstly, the Yalumba range (Heggies, Pewsey vale, Yalumba) and the O'leary Walker range demonstrated that the good things in life cost a little more. All wines in both ranges were very good, it is just that the more prestigious wines, (read more expensive) turned out to be the ones the panel preferred. (Tasted blind of course).
Red Burgundy
Reviewed: 30 November 2011
When I was asked to help out at a Burgundy tasting hosted by Loren White, I was happy to oblige. The fact that I was in Adelaide on the morning of the tasting when I was asked was a minor hurdle, but I made sure that I was back in time. Loren is one of the true intellects of wine. Not only does he have a superb palate, he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Burgundy (and wine in general). I would go as far as to say that he is probably the best that I know.
Recent Additions
Champagne – Non Vintage
1 December 2011
I love champagne! So this was one of the most anticipated tastings for the year.
One of the challenges of reviewing NV champagne is that there is no way of knowing how old the bottle is. Like every other wine, champagne evolves as it ages, (often for the better in the short term). To get around this, all wines in the tasting were purchased within a few weeks of the tasting.
SB/SSB
New Release
Reviewed:15 November 2011
A variety of styles, from the super textural SRS to the cheap and cheery Vat 2.
Red and White Burgundy
Reviewed: 23 November 2011
Some smart young wines on show here. For a list of stockists, contact Lamont's in Cottesloe.
Cabernet (and Rose)
New Release
Reviewed: 20 November 2011
I have been lucky enough to drink some superb wines of late which has had me questioning the scores I give. To that end, I have adjusted my points for the lower end of the range.
A Boot-full of Wine
Of Three Hills and Aussie terroir
19 November 2011
Last year I visited Erl Happ, of Happs and Three Hills wineries, in Margaret River. I was holidaying in the area, and, long being aware and admiring of Erl’s efforts to expand the varietal repertoire in the region, was keen to meet him.