Various family events, into which I had some vinous input.
Not all these wines are from my cellar, I hasten to add.
- 2020 Maretti Chianti - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti (30/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Fading brick-like rim. Doing a nebbiolo impersonation. Nose is a bit dilute; dried herbs, cherries, oakless. Light/medium weight - seems to have more presence generally than actual flavour. Vague red fruits, low dusty tannins, medium acidity. Not sweet. Only thing really wrong with it is sheer lack of flavour. Light dusty finish with memories of texture, but not really taste. Blend this with some structureless, over-fruited, equally cheap local wine and you just might hit the jackpot! - 2022 Tahbilk Marsanne - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (28/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13%} Pale straw. Classic nose (and palate) of lanolin, olive oil, beeswax, hint of grapefruit. Slightly greasy texture, although not acid deficient. No oak, fairly even palate balance, medium weight, medium length finish. Not really an aperitif wine; works better with food. I do think - since the 1927 cuvee pinches the best grapes - that this is a shorter term (up to 8 years) cellaring prospect these days. - 2017 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (21/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.4%} Fairly gentle and fleshy example of this wine. Soft blackcurrant fruit, gentle dusty tannins, softly low acidity. Seems very drinkable at five years old; hardly seems to have the stuffing to suggest long aging will work here. Medium body, not sweet, little bit of a hole in the mid-palate. Medium length finish. Not easy to keep up the quality of this with so many other higher echelon Wynns (and Treasury) wines claiming the best Coonawarra fruit. They’re almost (but not quite) managing it…! - 2013 Caillard Cabernet Sauvignon Reynell Selection - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (20/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.4%} Ex-Penley fruit. Fine, beautifully-developed cab from Coonawarra. All the right aged currant flavours, tidy oak, firmly structural acidity, medium dusty tannins. Even palate, medium body, nicely balanced along the tongue. Pretty well perfect to drink now. Excellent. Thoroughly trumped the following night’s Wynns BL. - 2018 Paradigm Hill Riesling - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula (20/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.1%} Mid yellow. Advanced nose, plenty of petrol, tobacco, yellowing fruit. Dry, fleshy palate, seemingly low in acidity despite the back label advising 7.8g of TA and pH of 3.2. Medium/full weight with plenty of flavour, fairly even palate, medium length finish. It’s good, but unlikely to reward a lot more cellaring I think. - 2019 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Volratz 1573 - Germany, Rheingau (20/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12%, AP 014 20} Sound dry Riesling, with apple and floral characters. Not hugely Rheingau-like, rather tending towards a more anonymous trocken style. Medium weight, medium acidity. This is fine but lacks much personality, although for A$20 you really can’t complain. - 2007 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon Old Block - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (19/01/2023)
{cork, 13.5%} Dry, dusty wine. Subtle but aged and maybe fading black fruit. Soft dusty tannin, medium acid. A bit nondescript overall, but still OK. Not work keeping longer. - 2021 Boatshed Bay Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough (19/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Rather at the tropical end of Marlborough SB. The slightest hint of sugar just fleshes out the palate without tipping it over the edge. But it lacks much complexity. Short finish. - 2022 Giesen Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough (19/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%} The classic style of gooseberry and asparagus. Not too sweet. Medium acid, light/medium weight, zesty, pungent finish of short/medium length. Pleasant if monolithic sort of wine. - NV Hightide Vineyards Dunes & Greene - Australia, South Australia (19/01/2023)
Straightforward new world fizz – mild melon flavours, not much yeast evident, dry, largish bubbles. Short/medium finish. Serviceable. - 2016 Brand's Laira Cabernet Sauvignon 171 / The Patron Brand's Laira - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (18/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.5%} Yes, ticks the cabernet boxes. Currants, iodine. Low-key eucalyptus. Fine cedary oak, medium dusty tannins. Medium weight wine carrying the alcohol well. Medium length finish. Best Brands wine I’ve had in ages, but not better than “quite good”. I think this will improve up to ten years old. - 2022 Freycinet Vineyard Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Freycinet Coast (18/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13%} Youthful nose of talc, lime, hint of rosewater. A bit more earthy on the palate, but same flavours. Medium weight, dry body. Medium/high acidity. Fresh and vivid. Impressive stuff. - NV Jansz Wine Company Brut Rosé - Australia, Tasmania (18/01/2023)
Mild flavoured rose style, dry, with fairly coarse bubbles and low-key strawberry and rose-petal fruit. Medium weight, short/medium finish. OK, no better. - 2015 d'Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills (17/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 10.4%} At the luxury end of syrupy richness – befitting the rich gold colour. Apricot/copper semillon dominates the flavours, with plenty of decaying botrytis character. The acid is still holding this together nicely, but it’s so richly decadent that I’d call this at peak drinking now. - 2019 Dandelion Vineyards Shiraz Lionheart of the Barossa - Australia, South Australia, Barossa (17/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.5%} Rich, modern style. Jammy red fruit, hint of blueberries. Subtle oak though. Lowish acidity. Medium powdery tannins. A touch anonymous but a decent example of user-friendly drinking from the Barossa - 2019 Zonte's Footstep Canto Sangiovese Lagrein Fleurieu - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu (17/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14%} Sangiovese and Lagrein. A new world – which is to say quite sweetly-fruited and softly-structured – example of these grapes. A hint of spice, raspberries, low/medium acid, soft grape-skin tannins with minimal oak. Nearly medium weight, short/medium length finish. So-so. - 2021 Frogmore Creek Riesling - Australia, Tasmania (17/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13%} Dry, quite powerful Riesling of apples and musk flavours. Surely a tiny bit of RS too, giving it a rich sort of palate without ever troubling the ‘off-dry’ category. Medium acidity. Better in the short term I think – the structure isn’t quite there for aging. - NV Grant Burge Brut Rosé Chardonnay Pinot Noir - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (17/01/2023)
Faint floral/rose notes. Quite large if creamy bubbles. Not much yeast character. Dry but mild, low-key flavours. Light/medium body. Average stuff - 2012 Caillard Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (16/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.4%} Lovely Barossa shiraz combining chocolate, red fruit, subtle cedary oak, fading medium tannins. Rich fruit, but no sugar. At peak and a lovely example of the style at its best. - 2019 Sevenhill Cellars Riesling Sparkling - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (16/01/2023)
{plastic cap, 12%} Mostly apple. Properly dry, not sugary. But little autolysis evident. Light body. Rather like a sound Riesling with bubbles. Not sure this is even methode champagne, to be honest. - 2020 Azulejo Albariño Rías Baixas Denominación de origen (DO) - Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas (16/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12%} Seashells and brine. Perfect seafood wine. Medium acid, light/medium weight. Crisp, refreshing, dry. Even palate presence. Good stuff - NV Louis Auger Champagne - France, Champagne (16/01/2023)
{diam, 12%} Sound champers. Fairly vigorous bubbles, but not a lot of yeast character or fruit development. Medium weight. This tasted better when it was $20-something instead of mid-$30s - 2018 Tenuta Sant'Antonio Corvina Scaia Veneto IGT - Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT (15/01/2023)
{vinolok, 13%} Quite savoury, red berry, cranberry, some cherry. Spice too. Good balance, mild dusty tannins, medium acid. Tidy. - 2009 Keith Tulloch Sémillon Botrytis - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (14/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 11.5%} Deep gold. Advanced nose with just a hint of over-the-hill oxidation. Baked apricot, vanilla bean, artificial sweetener! Medium acid just giving way now. Lots of sugar, medium-sweet presence. Medium weight, at least. Even palate. But still, the end is in sight for this. - 2014 Twelftree Wines Grenache Schuller Blewitt Springs - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (14/01/2023)
Very soft. A bit faded. Mostly the structure has fallen away, leaving just gentle mature fruit behind. - 2016 Spring Vale Gewürztraminer "Louisa" - Australia, Tasmania, Freycinet Coast (14/01/2023)
{375ml, screwcap, 9.1%} Classic rose and pot-pourri. Medium/dry, nice enough fruit, medium weight. Late pick style. Finish compromised by lack of acid; wine sags on the finish. - 2020 Blackstone Paddock Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River (12/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14%} Aldi wine. Laced with sugar to a really unacceptable degree. Some nondescript red fruit, low acid, minimal tannin, but too much sugar. No good. - 2021 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Belford - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Belford (10/01/2023)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Still ultra-pale straw yellow. Mild nose; a bit of matchstick, hint of grapefruit. Yellow fruit flavours; squash, rockmelon, grapefruit. Tangy medium acid, some seasoning qualities from the 9 months in french oak. Medium weight, medium length, quite even and promising finish. Will likely improve over five years. - 2018 Delamere Vineyard Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (9/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.4%} Alarming brick/pale garnet colour -at least if you're expecting Rhone or Bdx. Developing nose of cured meat, tobacco, earth, compost; still, surprisingly advanced for just five years. Bone dry palate where the earth and tobacco and brown leaf characters certainly overwhelm a memory of dark red fruit underneath. Not hugely tannic or oaky though; softly dusty in texture, with subtle medium acidity, almost-medium body presence, and a medium length finish that's just not quite as complex and interesting as you'd hoped. Pretty nice though, and five more years' more cellaring time is unlikely to hurt. - 2014 Symphony Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - Australia, Queensland, Granite Belt (7/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.3%} Deep red garnet, but with a translucence now. Nose - and palate - is an intriguing mix of jammy red fruit and cool-climate green under-ripeness. Not very varietal in character, but enjoyable enough. Red fruit - blackberry jam - with mild toasty oak, but always a green edge too. Softly gravelly tannins, medium acidity. Patchy on the medium-weight palate, with not much presence beyond the middle of the tongue. Fairly short finish too. This is marginal climate for cabernet - 28 degrees lattitude! Can 1000m vineyard altitude make up for that, I wonder? Not really, on the evidence of this... - 2016 Tahbilk Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (7/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14%} Mixture of chocolate, rubber, liquorice. Ripe, warm. Blackberry flavours too; the alcohol is present as heft rather than heat, the acid is discreetly low. Tannins are low/medium, dusty, not especially oaky. It's medium weight, very dry, nowhere near a fruit bomb, but the flavours can't quite match what does turn out to be warmth on the finish. Medium length, slightly patchy and unsatisfying finish. Look, it's OK, just don't expect something wonderful. Keep another five years if you want to; no harm will be done. - 2016 Grosset Fiano Apiana - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (6/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Still a pale straw/yellow. Mildly developing nose, mostly of grass, but also with a woolly, lanolin character contributing. Some gentle pear-like character as well. Hint of spice. Palate is a replica of the nose, medium weight at least, with a steely-flavoured sort of backbone in addition. It's dry, with mildly medium acidity, fairly even balance along the tongue (a bit of a hole right in the middle of the tongue), and a medium/long finish which gently hints at citrus in a subtle way. Seems a better wine than the old S/SB blends that Grosset used to sell. - 2020 Bakkheia Graciano The Groszman - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Geographe (5/01/2023)
{screwcap, 14.2%} Vibrant garnet red. Youthful nose, big red fruit, raspberry but not sweet or jammy. Imperious, somehow. Little oak evident, despite 10 months in french oak. Medium weight palate, medium acidity. Increasingly strong dusty tannins, which somewhat overwhelm the finish. Definitely built for food. Savoury character, red fruit flavours. Probably too young by five years or so. Medium length finish. Good effort from a problematic or second-rate grape perhaps? Just 800 bottles made, so something of a rare bird. - 2019 Famille Bougrier Chinon Confidences - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (4/01/2023)
{screwcap, 13%} If this wasn't screwcapped, I'd have called it mildly TCA scalped in a heartbeat. I still think it might be, but with a more sinister, winery-derived cause. Musty, musty. A cherry bite on the palate, with medium acidity. But there seems little obvious fruit here. Low/medium gritty tannin, medium acid. Just needs less mold and more fruit. Disconcerting. - 2018 Baglio del Cristo di Campobello Sicilia C'D'C' Rosso Cristo di Campobello - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia (3/01/2023)
Bright garnet. Bright, oak-free (or neutral) nose. Flavoursome liquorice/anise with a bit of cutting cherry with an acid twist. No oak apparent. About medium weight - lifted by the syrah? Quite a new world blend, with Nero d'Avola, cabernet and merlot in there as well. So the palate does have a bit of an everyman character to the ripe flavours. Mild, grapey tannins, short/medium finish. A$24/glass at Pendolino Sydney. - NV Gallimard Père et Fils Champagne Cuvée de Réserve Blanc de Noirs - France, Champagne (3/01/2023)
There's just a hint of blush to the colour in this, but it's deceiving, because the dominant aromas are of green apple! Medium sized, fairly aggressive bubbles on the dry palate, still with apple-like flavours dominating whatever hint of strawberry there might be, medium acidity, and only a moderate lees influence. Medium weight, with a medium length finish. Decent, but not a must have. Costly at A$38/glass at Pendolino, Sydney. - 1990 Tollana Cabernet Sauvignon Bin TR222 - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley (31/12/2022)
{cork, 12%} Still into the neck! Bricking garnet. Sweetly oaked nose; very sweet really, but not sugar of course; US oak is working its magic. The palate has sweet, stewed jam flavours; strawberry compote, raspberries. No real tannin left, but it's not volatile with acidity either. Medium weight, simple but luscious and beguiling. Pointed finish, with acid competing with compost fruit flavours. Perhaps the finish, despite its medium length, is a bit cloying. But really, for a dirt-cheap red @ 30+ years you couldn't dream or hope for anything better than this. Level was still into the neck, despite a 40%-wet cork. I expect that makes the difference. - 1999 Mildara Alexanders - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (31/12/2022)
{cork, 13%} Gorgeous old red. Brick turning tawny hue. Muted nose, just a little leather and forest floor/compost. But always Cabernet. Palate is medium weight, mirror-smooth, with a touch of Coonawarra mint. Mature, leather, moderate acid, beguiling; a lovely old red without aspiring to the top echelons of Bdx. Level still in neck, a swift double-decant just before drinking revealed a fair bit of sediment. Drink now, unquestioningly. Excellent (if short!) cork. Was this the last Alexanders before Mildara killed it off I wonder? - 2017 David Lowe Wines Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot - Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Mudgee (29/12/2022)
{screwcap, 13%} Advanced looking garnet red. Rotting berry nose, sweetly composting. The palate is similar, but with such sweetness of fruit I began to suspect some RS. This is emphasised by almost total absence of tannin. Acid is there, not volatile, but giving it a tangy, hint-of-vinegar quality. Shortish finish, big hole in the mid-palate. This is an odd wine, kind-of pleasing until you pay real attention to it. Mostly it's the fruit sweetness that dominates everything. Maybe there is oak that adds to the sweetness? At any rate, I can't see it improving from here. - 2019 Pazo Pondal Rías Baixas Leira - Spain, Galicia, Rías Baixas (28/12/2022)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Mid-straw yellow. Seashells and brine, hint of lychee. Firm acidity framing a steely sort of structure, mild fruit flavours, tending almost to grey in character, medium weight, with an even palate that speaks of salty sea air. For just A$22, this is great stuff. Probably better young, I get the sense it'll turn to seaweed if you leave it too long. - 2020 Bay of Fires Pinot Noir - Australia, Tasmania (27/12/2022)
{screwcap, 13%} A little evolved, or at least a bit more tobacco-like than you'd expect from a young wine. Pretty floral hints to the aromas too. Just medium weight, with low dusty tannins, even palate, medium length finish. Good stuff, more aging will be good. - 2021 Pooley Pinot Grigio - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (27/12/2022)
{screwcap, 13%} Mostly stewed pear. Nicely dry though. But a very mild wine, even if nicely balanced and medium weight. I just don't find the flavours terribly interesting. - 2003 Mount Mary Quintet - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley (25/12/2022)
{cork, 13%} Lowish but still in the neck. No decant. Colour was a glowing-if-brick-tinged garnet. Beautiful nose of aging cabernet fruits, seemingly with little oak. Medium weight (just) polished palate, subtle and gentle, with sweetly black maturing fruit, fine-grained powdery tannin, perfect palate balance, medium/long finish. Just lovely. Probably around peak now I suspect. Really good. - 2010 Doc Adams Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (25/12/2022)
{screwcap, 14.5%} Pretty much as you'd expect from a glance at the label. Big chocolate, liquorice, blueberry and plum fruit. Greasy tannins struggling to keep up, lowish acidity. That all said, it wasn't too sweet, and it was still fairly well structured, medium/full in weight, with a medium length finish. Decent example of this style, probably at peak. - 2015 Tahbilk Marsanne Cane Cut - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (25/12/2022)
{500ml, screwcap, 12%} Nougat and honey sweetness; about medium dry - not quite luscious. Medium weight, little oak; does seem to have a hint of metallic hollowness that just detracts from the overall satisfaction rating. Short/medium finish. OK, but more interesting for the fact of a dessert-focussed marsanne than any intrinsic quantity. - 2018 Oakridge Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyard Series Barkala Ridge - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley (24/12/2022)
{Screwcap, 13%} Solid ruby red. Initially fairly closed nose; some hours open it up a bit to currant fruit, raspberry, quite intense and not too oaky. The palate is pretty austere I have to say, chalkily tannic with plenty of astringency which overwhelms the fruit somewhat. Reticent flavours, black jam-like but struggling. Medium/full weight but becomes increasingly hollow on the finish, which manages medium length at best. Time may help a bit, but it's not quite convincing. Doesn't seem to quite have the fruit richness necessary to balance it all out.