Mike Press Wines: Full Range inc. 2005 Merlot and Cab. Sauv.

[Adair]

Like many, the 2005 Shiraz was the wine that made me aware of Mike Press Wines (Adelaide Hills, South Australia). Since then, the Mike Press range of wines have been my house wines, always not far away for when a guest drops in. Every Mike Press wine is good value, while some take value for money to a new level.

2007 Mike Press Sauvignon Blanc: Intense passionfruit and tropical fruits bound from the glass with hints of grassy complexity. Ripe, soft and mouth-filling, there are no sharp edges, aided by a hint of residual sweetness; totally harmonious with soft acidity giving life and freshness; a product of good fruit and excellent, New World, clean, winemaking. This wine offers the average drinker terrific value. 87/100 (16/20).

2007 Mike Press Chardonnay (Unwooded) – 12.5%: Over the past few months, this wine has lost its white peach and floral aspects, at which time this wine had me in raptures. I am pleased to have captured those moments. Now Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc and even Riesling characters are more prominent. Lemon, lime, melon, passionfruit, grapefruit, grass and a hint of nut, all very restrained and controlled. Smooth, richness to the palate with good weight and a fine, lively structure. Excellent drinking now with food but I am also going to keep a few bottles as they should age with interest. 88/100 (16.5/20)

2006 Mike Press Shiraz – 13.5%: Sweet aromatics. Medium/full bodied. Ripe red cherries, blackberry, red florals, red earth, sweet spices and generous yet harmonious vanilla oak. The palate has richness and depth with fine, integrated and slightly grainy tannin providing an elegant finish. A balanced wine with pleasing generosity that needs a little time to sort itself out, and will benefit from up to 5 years of cellaring. 89/100 (16.8/20)

I should point out that a number of other wine lovers, and wine guzzlers, have enjoyed and rated the Shiraz higher.

For those who thought that the Shiraz would be the best wine from Mike Press in the 2005 vintage, please note that Mike saved his best two 2005 wines for last! Impressively, both wines are 14.5% but neither display alcoholic heat.

2005 Mike Press Cabernet Sauvignon – 14.5%: Very intense nose, wow! Medium/full bodied. Wheatgrass oak dissipates quickly to allow violets and white flowers to highlight dark cherries, blackberries, red fruits, chocolate, sweet mint, dried herbs, coal dust and dark earth with hints of dust and blackcurrant, all on a savoury background, and with complimenting smooth caramel/vanilla oak. Serious wine! Rich, generous palate tightly controlled by ripe, chewy, slightly dusty, persistent tannins that provide elegance and focus to this powerful wine. 92/100 (17.7/20). No decline after four nights of being open. Drinking well now but its balance and elegance indicate it will be better in another 5 years.

2005 Mike Press Merlot – 14.5%: Gorgeous nose. Full/ medium bodied, the wine saturates the full expanse of the palate with rich, ripe, sweet fruits, primarily dark cherries, blackcurrants, mulberries and plums, and with layers of fruitcake, sweet musk, red and white roses, some liquorice and some mealy/wheat complexity. The wine opens and lengthens with breathing, its lusciousness controlled exceptionally well by supple, powdery, slightly grainy tannins, culminating in a very tight and focussed finish. Great now but better in 3 years. 93/100 (18/20)

And, although I have written about this wine before, I do so again because it is still available and is my favourite Mike Press wine in terms of value for money:

2004 Mike Press Pinot Noir – 13%: Medium/light bodied. Sweet musk and rosy floral aspects on a base of ripe cherries, strawberries and particularly tamarillo becoming more noticeable with age, with hints of cocoa and "strawberries and cream" confection on a background of savoury development and forest floor. Fully encapsulated, prominent but pleasantly pliant, clean, red berry pippy acidity and very fine, drying, cocoa-like tannins that open with air provide grip and control, and help drive a lingering finish. An elegant Pinot that has now reached its peak with aged complexities combining with mid-palate juiciness, good depth and excellent focus, balance and intensity throughout the palate. A charming Pinot Noir that laughs at its price. 90/100 (17/20).

And finally, the 2003 Merlot is still available and is a wine I still enjoy for its serious structure, although probably a little too unyeilding for most. My wife cooked with it last week and I thoroughly enjoyed finishing the bottle with the dish.

Kind regards,
Adair

[Gavin Trott]

I see where Campbell at Winefront has just reviewed the 2005 Mike Press Cabernet and 2005 Shiraz.

Pretty good ratings he gave them, and his notes were pretty well spot on.

[Vickie]

thanks for the reviews Adair.

I'm waaaaaaaaaay late on the Mike Press scene and have just asked Gav if there's any left.

fingers crossed.....

[rednut]

Just had a 2003 Mike Press Cab Sav with Roast Lamb for tea and it was exeptional....

[Daryl Douglas]

Like many, the 2005 Shiraz was the wine that made me aware of Mike Press Wines (Adelaide Hills, South Australia). Since then, the Mike Press range of wines have been my house wines, always not far away for when a guest drops in. Every Mike Press wine is good value, while some take value for money to a new level.

2006 Mike Press Shiraz – 13.5%: Sweet aromatics. Medium/full bodied. Ripe red cherries, blackberry, red florals, red earth, sweet spices and generous yet harmonious vanilla oak. The palate has richness and depth with fine, integrated and slightly grainy tannin providing an elegant finish. A balanced wine with pleasing generosity that needs a little time to sort itself out, and will benefit from up to 5 years of cellaring. 89/100 (16.8/20)

Kind regards,
Adair

I'm revisiting this wine with a view to getting some more. Initial impression, admittedly after some Windy Peak chard 06 and after just opening this bottle was ugghh, massive charry, vanillin oak dominating sour red cherries with some musk lolly and chalky, sappy tannins in support. With a little air time in glass, more sweetish fruit, licorice has become apparent but there's also an unattractive medicinal note. Cinnamon appears but the high-char oak never goes away.

I'll taste the rest of the bottle after a day or so in the fridge - I suspect the the oak will be even more noticeable. It is an interesting wine for ~$15(including freight) but there are significantly better wines available at the price - Taylors comes to mind. On this tasting it's acceptable with **value.

Cheers

daz

[Adair]

Like many, the 2005 Shiraz was the wine that made me aware of Mike Press Wines (Adelaide Hills, South Australia). Since then, the Mike Press range of wines have been my house wines, always not far away for when a guest drops in. Every Mike Press wine is good value, while some take value for money to a new level.
2006 Mike Press Shiraz – 13.5%: Sweet aromatics. Medium/full bodied. Ripe red cherries, blackberry, red florals, red earth, sweet spices and generous yet harmonious vanilla oak. The palate has richness and depth with fine, integrated and slightly grainy tannin providing an elegant finish. A balanced wine with pleasing generosity that needs a little time to sort itself out, and will benefit from up to 5 years of cellaring. 89/100 (16.8/20)
Kind regards,
Adair

I'm revisiting this wine with a view to getting some more. Initial impression, admittedly after some Windy Peak chard 06 and after just opening this bottle was ugghh, massive charry, vanillin oak dominating sour red cherries with some musk lolly and chalky, sappy tannins in support. With a little air time in glass, more sweetish fruit, licorice has become apparent but there's also an unattractive medicinal note. Cinnamon appears but the high-char oak never goes away.
I'll taste the rest of the bottle after a day or so in the fridge - I suspect the the oak will be even more noticeable. It is an interesting wine for ~$15(including freight) but there are significantly better wines available at the price - Taylors comes to mind. On this tasting it's acceptable with **value.
Cheers
daz

Yes, I have had good and some quite ordinary bottles. I have also read some great comments about the wine from people with more experienced palates than I, such as Tyson. I too have found it to be a bit rich, front palate dominant. However, the wine has lengthen over the past few months as the structrure takes better hgold of the fruit. The simple fact is that it has only been bottled for a few months and the impression I get is that it is getting better and there is potential to burn. I put a case away.

Adair

[Daryl Douglas]

[I'm revisiting this wine with a view to getting some more. Initial impression, admittedly after some Windy Peak chard 06 and after just opening this bottle was ugghh, massive charry, vanillin oak dominating sour red cherries with some musk lolly and chalky, sappy tannins in support. With a little air time in glass, more sweetish fruit, licorice has become apparent but there's also an unattractive medicinal note. Cinnamon appears but the high-char oak never goes away.
I'll taste the rest of the bottle after a day or so in the fridge - I suspect the the oak will be even more noticeable. It is an interesting wine for ~$15(including freight) but there are significantly better wines available at the price - Taylors comes to mind. On this tasting it's acceptable with **value.
Cheers
daz

Yes, I have had good and some quite ordinary bottles. I have also read some great comments about the wine from people with more experienced palates than I, such as Tyson. I too have found it to be a bit rich, front palate dominant. However, the wine has lengthen over the past few months as the structrure takes better hgold of the fruit. The simple fact is that it has only been bottled for a few months and the impression I get is that it is getting better and there is potential to burn. I put a case away.

Adair[/quote]

Hi, Adair,

There's still half of the bottle in the fridge - my note was constructed over about 1.5-2.0 hours. If you read it closely, the ugly was increasingly less so over that period from when it was tried immediately after opening from the 12C wine cooler. I may try another glass this evening, then the rest tomorrow evening. The high-char oak was a lingering impression and I'll obviously be looking for it to see if it's merged more with the fruit that was starting to show towards the end of the second glass. The wine does offer interest but I'd certainly recommend a good, lengthy decant at this stage of it's development.

I don't think it's in the same class as the 2005, all two cases of which I almost literally swilled through.

Cheers

daz

[Daryl Douglas]

Just out of the fridge, the nose is constrained by the low temperature but shows dominant vanillan oak with some underlying fruit, perhaps very ripe plum. The palate after considerable sloshing around the gob is still dominated by the vanillin oak, the char not quite so noticeable but still there, some plums moving to sour cherries on the finish with unpleasant greenish, stalky characters with talcy, drying, sweet oak tannins. As the wine warms, the tarry, charry American oak becomes more overt and objectionable.

I'm not sorry to have only one bottle of this left - it'll remain at 12-13C until 2011 but I suspect that the fruit will forever remain subsumed by the oak and stalkiness. This is still an interesting wine, perhaps a bit of a curio, just not enjoyable for my palate.

I'd rather a nice quaff such as St Hallett Faith 05, or as previously mentioned Taylors 05 at similar cost. I hope your stashed case of the MP shiraz 06 is as consistently as enjoyable as the good bottles you've had,
Adair.

I'll try the second last bottle of the Cab 05 soon, perhaps compare it to my last bottle of Forest Hill Vineyards Mt Barker cab merl 04 - I need to make some room in the wine cooler for some 04 Zema Family cabs and more Zema standard cabs as well as some Polleter 05.

Cheers

daz

[griff]

Just out of the fridge, the nose is constrained by the low temperature but shows dominant vanillan oak with some underlying fruit, perhaps very ripe plum. The palate after considerable sloshing around the gob is still dominated by the vanillin oak, the char not quite so noticeable but still there, some plums moving to sour cherries on the finish with unpleasant greenish, stalky characters with talcy, drying, sweet oak tannins. As the wine warms, the tarry, charry American oak becomes more overt and objectionable.

I'm not sorry to have only one bottle of this left - it'll remain at 12-13C until 2011 but I suspect that the fruit will forever remain subsumed by the oak and stalkiness. This is still an interesting wine, perhaps a bit of a curio, just not enjoyable for my palate.

I'd rather a nice quaff such as St Hallett Faith 05, or as previously mentioned Taylors 05 at similar cost. I hope your stashed case of the MP shiraz 06 is as consistently as enjoyable as the good bottles you've had,
Adair.

I'll try the second last bottle of the Cab 05 soon, perhaps compare it to my last bottle of Forest Hill Vineyards Mt Barker cab merl 04 - I need to make some room in the wine cooler for some 04 Zema Family cabs and more Zema standard cabs as well as some Polleter 05.

Cheers

daz

While I think it oaky and forward and perhaps even disjointed at this early stage, I have yet to see green characters.

IMHO don't think the 06 quite up to the 05 but still a great value wine for under $12. I don't mind the oak as much on a shiraz it seems.

cheers

Carl