random things:
2012 Cullen Wines White Margaret River - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River (2/5/2014)Every bit as consistent as last November's bottle, which is to say; totally bland! Biodynamic fruit, 'natural fermentation' according to the label - is that wild yeasts? - have produced a wine as vacuous as any anonymous Italian white DOC you care to name. The barest hint of smoke and steel make up a largely acid-free, light-bodied, dry palate; if the water where you live is undrinakble, this would make an ideal substitute, especially in light of the sensible alcohol level ($12). But as a wine? forget it...
2011 Capel Vale Shiraz Whispering Hill - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Mount Barker (2/3/2014){screwcap, 14.5%} Big oaky nose. Sandalwood, chocolate, vague blackberries. The palate has gentle but fake-tasting acid, fairly soft gritty tannins, a rather open-knit, almost over-ripe fruit quality, and a warm but still rather short finish. If only this was less alcoholic, it would srely be a more interesting drink. It's just got a bit too much shrivelled-grape quality to it to really hold your interest. Medium/full-bodied on entry, but the finish lets it down a bit. Yeah, it's young; maybe things will improve with age, but there's an inherently unbalanced quality to this which I doubt time will cure. So near, and yet so far.
2011 Sisters Run Cabernet Sauvignon Bethlehem - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (2/1/2014){screwcap, 14.5%} Fairly deep garnet red. Nose is rather closed; smoke, faint herbs, dilute currants maybe. The palate has far too much alcohol for the fruit; it's not green or unripe, it just struggles to make much flavour inpression. Low acid, soft dusty tannins, vague black berry fruit; the texture is pretty loose and there's not much depth or intensity here. It feels like the winery has been very professional in the crappily wet vintage of 2011, but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear as they say. A light/medium-bodied early drinker.
2012 Rockburn Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago (2/1/2014){screwcap, 13%} Seems all aspargus and tinned vegetables at first, but then some flinty steel and minerally stoniness emerges. It's still pretty fruity in an austere grapefruit way, but that inner earthiness keeps it much more interesting than your average Marlborough quaffer. Still only light-bodied (and oak-free), and the finish isn't terribly long, but the bright acid and earthy/flinty qualities make it a sauvignon you're happy to have a second glass of.
2010 Di Giorgio Emporio - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (1/31/2014){screwcap, 14.5%, A$25} In a new world context, rather closed on the nose. The palate is a different matter. There are strong undercurrants of, well, currants, beneath some slippery sort of oak. The palate has almost too overt sweet fruit, but it feels like it's trying to settle down somehow. Overall, this is simply too young. The tannins are all rather raw and open; it's medium-bodied, and does suffer a little from heat on the finish. I've spent ten years reading "14.5" alcohol on Australian bottle labels, and frankly there have been way more misses than hits. Is it fashion or climate change? Dunno, but I feel a lot better when I see 13.0%. This probably worth a few years in the cellar, but it ain't going to imrpove beyond 6 or 7 years.
cheers,
GG
