TN: random wines from the last few months

[GraemeG]

• 2016 Georg Breuer Riesling Terra Montosa - Germany, Rheingau (27/07/2025)
  {cork, 11.5%, AP 2 17} Mid/deep yellow. Developing nose, but restrained, of pineapple, stewed apple, rockmelon. Palate has a stoney riesling purity about it, beyond primary but not much, with medium acidity. There's a honey/lemon loveliness to this, and at a solid medium weight body as well. Medium length dry but rich finish. Will hold/improve another five years easy.
• 2022 Majella The Musician - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (26/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 14.5%} Deep garnet. Lively nose of coconut, black fruit, hint of spice, good combination of the two varieties. An underlying shade of Coonawarra mint, too. Medium full weight, with some heat, it must be said, but with soft powdery tannin, medium if slightly hard acid, and a near-medium finish. Not obviously showing residual sugar, but it's still very ripe fruit. A decent crowd-pleaser which could do with 4-5 years in the cellar just to take the edges off a bit.
• 2020 Larry Cherubino Riesling Cherubino Great Southern - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Great Southern (25/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.5%} Just touching mid-yellow, no darker. Powerful, developing nose of strong citrus & detergent aromas. Powerful, full-bodied-for-riesling palate. Lemon, strong lime, a steely edge to the flavours. Luscious fruit, rich and ripe, but no RS here, despite the tangy flavours. Medium length finish. Will age further, although I'm not so sure about extra dimensions developing. But a powerhouse, impressive riesling.
• 2022 Hewitson Shiraz Ungrafted - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (23/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.5%} Deep ruby. Youthful nose of plums, blueberries; fruit-driven. Minimal oak apparent. Surprisingly reticent. Palate is dense, with lowish acidity. There's a tart cranberry edge to the flavours, almost green in fact. Little bit of olive or something. Only minimal gritty tannins. No fruit-bomb on the palate. Medium weight, but a bit diffuse somehow, with only a short/medium length finish. Odd, and a bit underwhelming to be honest. Perhaps time will help.
• 2023 Mandrarossa Fiano Terre Siciliane - Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane (21/07/2025)
  {diam3, 13%} Mid yellow. Machine oil and grapefruit nose. No oak. On the palate, an unexpected hint of tropical mango and pineapple flavours. Richly fruity, but also with some furry grape skin tannin-like texture. Medium acidity. On the heavy side of medium-bodied, with a medium length finish. Properly dry, although the fruit flavours are very rich. Intended for the shorter term, surely.
• 2018 Craggy Range Pinot Noir Martinborough - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (20/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13%} Garnet, with onion skin rim. Developed nose, some classic hard cherry fruit, blackish, but also with a faint meaty note. Palate is the same, minimal ok influence, some smoke and tobacco too. Hard, medium acidity, only low dusty tannins left. Light/medium body, but with lots of lovely aging pinot fruit, even if it does become a bit simple and fade rather quickly on the finish. Nice pinot, at peak.
• 2018 Warramate Pinot Noir - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley (19/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.5%} Colour is fine for pinot; gentle light garnet, a hint of fading at the rim. The nose has only the barest hint of deli meat and composting leaves. Too reticent, really. Palate is constistent; this is so dilute as to be almost devoid of detectable flavour. Faint acetic hint to the acidity, no appreciable oak, no tannins evident either. It just seems completely washed out. Not unripe, just far too dilute. No real length o finish at all, really. Quite unusual. But not too seek out and drink!
• 2021 Coppabella Shiraz Procella I - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops (18/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.5%} Lots of mid-garnet, solid but not over-the-top. Nose is a restrained blend of black pepper and mild plums. Palate has a glue-like flavour, barely any oak, medium acid. A clear cool-climate quality to it. Syrupy sort of fruit, but dilute flavours overall. Only the softest of powdery tannins. It's OK, but if you'd paid the $60-odd the winery wants for this you'd be disappointed I reckon. Can be kept, but would you bother though?
• 2021 Argento Malbec Esquinas de Argento - Argentina, Mendoza (17/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.5%} Dark garnet, hint of purple. Confected and jubey, if a touch rustic as well. Exotic sort of jam flavours. Medium/high acid, low dusty tannins. Not very oaky. Medium weight, slightly hollow and simple finish of short/medium length. Not too sweet either. Not built for cellaring but seriously good value for under A$20; throws down a real challenge to the local wines at this price.
• 2018 Spence Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (16/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.8%} Plenty of rich garnet colour - no fading yet. Coconut and white pepper, but genuinely cool-climate, not unripe. Faint blackberries, perhaps, also on the palate. Soft powdery tannins, medium weight, with diffuse but ripe fruit. Just-medium acidity. Even palate. Slightly low-key medium length finish. This is tidy without being exciting. Another five years in the cellar won't hurt at all. A name new to me, I must say.
• 2019 Tyrrell's Shiraz Lunatiq Heathcote - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote (14/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 14.8%} Still deep garnet. Nose of iron, blood & bone, dark blackberries. Iodine. Palate is gentler, but in tune with the nose. Ripe black fruit, not quite toppling over into fruit-bomb territory. Soft powdery tannins, medium acidity. Warm presence on the tongue, brambly sort of black fruit flavour, always dry though, even if slightly low-key palate presence, medium length finish. Obviously new world, but discreet enough in that context. Medium weight wine of the soil that's about ready for drinking.
• 2021 Craigow Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (13/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.3%} Straw yellow with a grey tinge. Developing nose of brine, lime and sherbert. Palate is verging on off-dry with honey sweetness to the citrus fruit and a quite rich, medium-bodied texture, but then settles to a dry dusty finish. Drinking nicely now I think.
• 2009 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Shiraz V & A Lane - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (11/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.5%} Not decanted. Just the second vintage of this cuvee. A little lightening of colour at the rim. Nose is still quite fruity, blackberries and currents, with some coconut oak, but there is clear development present. A hint of gum tree comes through on the palate, but it's not intrusive. Nor is the medium/high acidity, given the medium weight of the wine. There are low/medium finely gritty tannins to act a framework. Perhaps befitting the winery's heritage, this seems very much dominated by the cabernet, with shiraz just offering some background peppery spice. Oak not obtrusive on the palate. It's very fine and impressive, and even at sixteen there's a reclusive, sullen aspect to it; it's not charming by any means. My only real caveat is the slightly hollow and bit-too-short finish, otherwise it's a lot of wine for the money
• 2017 Normans Shiraz Chais Clarendon - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (10/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 14.5%} Bricking pale garnet. Looks older than 8. Aromas say the same. Leathery, five-spice, coconut, some vanilla. Grainy American oak dominates vague red strawberry fruit. Flavours are the same as nose, it's medium weight, with low/medium acidity and fading powdery tannins. A bit washed out and dilute on the tongue, and it's short/medium length on the finish at best, lacking concentration and complexity. Could have been badly stored, but I'd be inclined to drink now in any case.
• 2022 Lethbridge Wines Sauvignon Blanc - Australia, Victoria, Strathbogie Ranges (9/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.4} No region specified, barely 140 dozen made. It's mid-straw, quite dark for something so young. The nose is more brine-like than anything else; I suspect just a little oak, which is not just (possibly) subduing the nose but also gives the wine a slimy sort of texture, rather like liquified oysters. So, seafood and seashell flavours, vague white fleshy fruit but never sweet or tropical. It actually has more of a savoury quality than anything, but with quite low acidity that hints faintly at apricot on the finish, but never really slides into anything other than dry on the medium length finish. A nice wine if you don't like the grape (or if you do) but not built for aging in either case.
• 2021 Tyrrell's Sémillon Pokolbin Hills - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin (8/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 11.5%} Light yellow. Nose still a touch reductive. Grass, straw, suggestion of vanilla bean. Palate is very light, with soft low/medium acidity and no oak, of course. Fairly underwhelming all round; nothing wrong with it though, just feels still sleeping. Juicy bit of lime fruit in addition to the straw. Medium length finish. Probably best kept.
• 2010 Handpicked Cabernet Sauvignon Signature I Peter Douglas - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (7/07/2025)
  {cork, 14.2%} No decant. Aging garnet. Developed nose of caramel oak, rich currant fruit. Medium weight, soft dusty tannins, hint of acetic presence. Leather, compost, rotting red fruit, coconut. Medium weight, fully mature, even but gentle presence along the front palate. Dry finish, short/medium length. Nice effort, but on the downslope, even if still pleasant. Does fall apart quite quickly once opened so don't dally. Moderate sediment.
• 2021 Camille Cayran Côtes du Rhône Le Pas de la Beaume - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (5/07/2025)
  {diam, 14%} Bright garnet. Some spice, dirt, tobacco. Bright raspberry fruit, but in a savoury style. Light/medium body, medium acidity, light grape-skin tannins. Oak-free type of texture. Short, dry finish, in a simple bistro style. Too much carignan, perhaps?
• 2018 Pipers Brook Vineyard Chardonnay - Australia, Tasmania (4/07/2025)
  {screwcap, 13%} Pale straw still with a flash of green. Tinned peas, hint of grapefruit, barely a wisp of oak in the background of the aromas. The palate is transparent for chardonnay, nodding more at sauvignon in its grassy freshness. Light grapefruit flavours, faint cashew richness, tart yellow fruit. Medium weight only, dry but ripe medium length finish. No rush to drink this - it does feel that another 5-8 years cellaring will only add dimension.
• NV De Bortoli Muscat Show Liqueur - Australia, New South Wales (3/07/2025)
  {500ml, screwcap, 18%} Tawny brown with a suggestion of green olive at the rim. Burnt caramel, molasses and honey on the nose and palate. Medium acidity, fully sweet palate. Medium/full body. A luscious wine, with only a medium finish letting it down a bit, but for the price this might just be the best value local muscat I've had. Misses real complexity but the value is still extraordinary.
• 2016 Bakkheia Cabernet Sauvignon Priapus - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Geographe (30/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 14.3%} Nicely maturing curranty cabernet. Little oak and soft dusty tannins, but medium acidity, medium weight. Nice wine, but needs a bit more structure to it. Short/medium finish, black-fruity but not sweet. Best over the next few years.
• 2021 Château du Cartillon - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc (28/06/2025)
  {cork, 13%} Tidy stuff for A$30. Very Bordeaux-ish, with currants and cedar. Soft oak, true to style, medium acidity low/medium finely gritty tannins. Blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, hint of cola. Medium weight, medium length, fairly simple drying finish. Tidy and authentic wine for a decent price, good for 5-8 years gentle development in the cellar I'd think.
• 2022 Lethbridge Wines Sangiovese Mavis - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills (27/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 13%} Just a hundred dozen made of this tartly spicy and transient Adelaide Hills effort. Light-bodied, with only the barest of grape-skin tannin, medium acidity and no apparent oak, it's savoury, with bare cherry fruit of a dilute nature. There's a hint of some black liquorice or something underneath, but it never quite comes through to the finish. Which is dry, savoury, and rather on the short side. Will lift with food, but it is very light for fruit overall. Might be better with some years, but I wouldn't bet on it.
• 2014 Seppelt Riesling Drumborg Vineyard - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Henty (26/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 11.5%} Still a pale straw yellow, even at ten years. Lightly developed nose, quite restrained with a custard/apple/cinnamon aroma to it. The palate has a hint of spritz framing a gorgeous honeyed sweetness of fruit, although there could only be a few grams of RS at most. Very light citrus flavours, apple, luscious honey. Medium acidity. Crisp, clean, dry finish to what is only really a light-bodied wine, despite lots of flavour. Very drinkable now; full maturity may be a fair way off, but I'm not quite sure how it would look, so delicious is this now.
• 2015 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (25/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 11%} Mid-straw, still with a green flash. Hardly-developed nose, of cut-grass and tinned vegetables. But also some developing yellowing citrus underneath. Tasty palate, mid-aged, a bit more citric than the nose but otherwise consistent. Hint of smoke coming through. Light weight, bone dry, even but low-key palate. Even on the tongue, but barely medium-length finish. It was a terribly wet vintage (no premium reds made by Tyrrells this year) which used to bode well for semillons (after twenty years) but there's no real sense that this will bloom magically in another decade. That said, it's perfectly fine, if not exactly exciting, but also in no danger of falling over any time soon.
• 2013 Clos Beauregard - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (21/06/2025)
  {cork, 13%} No decant, clean cork. Right burnish for age. Mature nose, all cedar and a hint of leather too. Fruit is faded, to be honest; plummy reds fading into gentle astringency. Lots of fine gritty tannin, lowish acidity. Medium weight, but short finish. Auction buy - may not be in peak condition therefore.
• 2014 Andrew Thomas Wines Sémillon Cellar Reserve Braemore - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (19/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 10.6%} Bottles in May-15, then released in Sep-19, I don't believe this is a different assemblage than the immediate release version, just cellared (& differently labelled) by Thomas. At eleven, it's still a pale yellow colour. Nose of smoke and honey. Palate is similar - there's a lot of classic Hunter semillon grass and straw as but it does have that 'browning-with-age' quality to it. It's light-bodied still, but there's a tangy hint of citrus on the medium length, bone-dry finish. There's no hurry to drink this, although I'm yet to experience a Braemore sem that's truly developed nuance and depth with aging, as opposed to just a gentle bronzing. Back label suggested best 5-10 years after release, so it's only just into that drinking window.
• 2019 Seppelt Shiraz Arrawatta Hill Great Western Vineyard - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Grampians (18/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 14.5%} Dark garnet, a little aging evident though. Dark nose, with malt, pepper, liquorice, black fruit. Palate is dark-hued too, with an inky sort of texture. Blackberry fruit, a bit raisiny, with spice and an earth blood-and-bone character. Low/medium powdery tannins, medium acidity. Medium/full weight. Finishes a little warm, with a slightly confected character. I do think this may have been built for the very long term (special 170th anniversary label, never made before or since), but it does seem to have a bit of a mid-palate dip in presence, and only finishes medium length at best. A decent wine, but not quite top shelf.
• 2021 Lethbridge Wines Pinot Noir - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (15/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 13%} Correct pale garnet colour for pinot. Mildly developed nose of beautifully rotting strawberries with a hint of cured meat. Very much fruit-driven, but not a cordial by any means. Medium acid, low dusty tannins. Gentle red-edged fruit, strawberry, faint raspberry. Tangy citrus edge to the palate. Light-bodied, perhaps a fraction heavier. Short/medium finish is the only disappointment; it's just a little simple, but very beguiling none-the-less. Can be kept, but no need.
• 2000 Château de Pez - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe (14/06/2025)
  {cork, 13%} Fully mature Bdx. Dusty palate, fine cedary tannins. Faint currant fruit, fragrant on nose and softly mature on the medium-bodied palate. Moderate complexity, slightly astringent finish of just-medium length. Decent wine, no need to keep further.
• 2019 Campbells Riesling - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (13/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 11.5%} Quite some kerosene character here, and lime aromas. Fragrant. Medium acidity, slightly broad palate, with brown leaf flavours, rockmelon. Tastes warmer than the alcohol suggests, and at least medium weight. Always dry on the palate, with a medium length finish. Still, I think this is about ready to drink now.
• 2018 Tyrrell's Vat 8 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (11/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 14%} Still quite primary. Plums, blackberries. Hint of cola, chocolate. Fruit-driven in the best sense - oak is a cedar seasoning only. Medium/full in weight, medium acidity. Low/medium dusty tannins. It's a fairly gentle sort of wine on the palate, with plenty of flavour, and the sense that it will slowly evolve over many more years. No rush to drink - this has another decade at least.
• 2021 Lethbridge Wines El Matador - Australia, South Eastern (8/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.9%} As for last year. Mostly savoury, slightly confused backberry flavour, seemingly more Tempranillo than Grenache (which is from McLaren Vale). Medium weight, soft tannins, short/medium length finish. Fair.
• 2023 Bakkheia Chardonnay - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Geographe (7/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.9%} 250-odd dozen. For all the barrel-ferment and (short) aging, it's not very oaky. Lean nose, almost citric, hint of smoke, brine. Palate's a touch scant, light/medium body, a bit more oak here, some rockmelon fruit. Medium acidity. Quite even palate, but fairly low-key overall. I doubt this has the stuffing for real aging & development, but it's fine for the next 3-5 years.
• 2019 Cherry Tree Hill Pinot Noir MV6 - Australia, New South Wales, South Coast, Southern Highlands (6/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 13.5%} Fairly deep garnet for pinot. Quite restrained ripe cherry/strawberry note. Not very meaty. A touch of cedar oak. Light-bodied. Medium dusty tannins, mostly skin-derived rather than oak. It's only moved a little off primary, with fairly dilute but not unripe flavours of faint red berries, some musk. It's very subtle (code for doesn't really impress, maybe?) but it might pick up flavour and depth with time. Although, it's already six years old, so I wouldn't really count on it. It's not what I'd call fading though, so the gamble might be worth it.
• 2022 Lethbridge Wines Shiraz MR - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong (5/06/2025)
  {screwcap, 12.7%} Crimson edge/garnet. On opening I thought this very black pepper, but with time a real cool-climate, quasi-spearmint note came through. MR is Moorabool Ridge in Geelong, so likely to be pretty cool. It's still freshly youthful on the palate, with spiky low level gritty tannins, medium acid. It's all pepper and spice, with minimal oak. Light/medium weight, medium length finish. Not quite green underneath, but it's very lean generally. Not sure how age will help this, to be honest. Best over five years or so I think.
• 2015 Ellena Giuseppe Langhe Nascetta - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (2/06/2025)
  {scxrewcap, 13%} Deep gold. Salt and honey. Even a nod to an apricot/botrytis character. The palate is resolutely dry, though, but with lowish acidity. Coppery sort of flavours, not oxidised (thanks screwcap) but tasting well beyond their expected lifespan. Like a dilute but dry mango. No oak. Finish is very short though.

[phillisc]

Thanks for the notes Graeme.
Not surprised with the Drumborg, think it waxes and wanes over a 10-20 year window. I had a 2012 last year...brilliant, yet as a younger wine less so.

The 170 celebrations of Seppelts and the one off Arrawatta potentially diluted the vintage overall.
I am not universally convinced that the sum of the parts is better than the whole, is it just an opportunity to see how far things will be stretched and how much can be sold?
I will give it more time and then compare with the St Peters.

Incidentally, I received an email today from another Victorian winery of a stack of single vineyard offerings...only so many wines one can buy.

Cheers Craig

[darellk]

Thanks for the notes Graeme.
Not surprised with the Drumborg, think it waxes and wanes over a 10-20 year window. I had a 2012 last year...brilliant, yet as a younger wine less so.

The 170 celebrations of Seppelts and the one off Arrawatta potentially diluted the vintage overall.
I am not universally convinced that the sum of the parts is better than the whole, is it just an opportunity to see how far things will be stretched and how much can be sold?
I will give it more time and then compare with the St Peters.

Incidentally, I received an email today from another Victorian winery of a stack of single vineyard offerings...only so many wines one can buy.

Cheers Craig

Certainly was a stack - going for the Fortified this time around