Some notes from a tasting last night...
2002 Hardy’s La Baume Viogner £4.99
Vin de Pays dÂ’Oc, France
Clear bright lemony green, thick legs. Clean youthful nose of ripe peach/apricot and pineapple. The palate is slightly off dry, verging on full bodied, driven by ripe peach and cumquat fruit, touches of spice, good fine acidity. Unfortunately, the wine finishes hot although the alcohol wouldn’t stand out so much if drunk with food. Definitely a drink now proposition. Not as good as the Yalumba Y Series Viognier which is available at £5.24 a bottle by the 6-pack at the moment.
1999 Henschke Tilly’s Vineyard £10.99
Eden Valley, South Australia
Clear bright yellowish gold with green tinges. Clean developed nose, surprisingly petrolly, there is also a strange tinny character. Dry, full bodied palate, slightly oxidative, lanolin over citrus (the Semillon coming through), slightly nutty. On the whole the wine comes over a bit too fat for my taste. I canÂ’t help thinking it would have been a better wine on release when fresh and vibrant.
2001 Zinck Gewurtztraminer £7.99
Alsace, France
Clear bright medium yellow/green in colour. Clean youthful perfumed nose of rose petal, touches of lychee, quite a restrained nose for a Gewurtz. The palate is off dry, medium-full bodied, showing lychee and rosewater. Not a bad wine, but a bit too fat and blowsy for my palate – better on the nose that the palate.
2000 Wither Hills Pinot Noir £13.99
Marlborough, New Zealand
In the past, I have not been a great fan of this wine, finding to be a Shiraz drinkers Pinot, so I approached it with some trepidation. Here goes. In colour, clear bright medium violet, fading slightly at the rim. The nose shows some development and is quite Pinotesque – dark cherry, chook poo and meat – I’m interested. On the palate, dry, medium bodied, lots of tarry dark cherry fruit, charcoal and licorice; slightly tart on the finish. This wine showing quite well!! Unfortunately, left in the glass for a while, it changed in character to emerge quite simple and confected. Some people love this wine but I’m still not convinced.
1998 Sebastiani Merlot £4.99
Sonoma, California, USA
Clear bright deep crimson. The nose is clean and quite youthful for its age dominated by strawberry/blueberry jam. On the palate, ripe sweet fruit, too sweet for my palate – jammy damson and strawberry. It’s OK commercial stuff, but certainly nothing to write home about.
2000 Chateau St Cosme Cotes du Rhone “Les Deux Albion†£12.00
Rhone Valley, France
From a good producer, I was interested to see how this wine showed, particularly after having invested in some of the 2001 Gigondas. The colour is deep almost impenetrable purple verging on black; a good sign. Good clean nose – gamey/animal fur, damson and violet – this wine screams Syrah – in a Cotes du Rhone? Dry, full bodied, lots of fruit in this wine – blackberry/blueberry – and touches of spice. Still very young indeed, damned fine stuff – more please. A very interesting wine indeed – 90% Syrah and 10% Clairette.
2002 Angove’s Stonegate Petit Verdot £5.99
Riverland, South Australia, Australia
The only varietal Petit Verdot I’ve tasted and really liked is the Pirrammimma, and this wine ain’t about to change that. Clear bright deep cerise in colour. The nose is a clean as a whistle, but the first word that comes to mind is confected – jam, jam, jam – blueberry jam. This is reflected on the full bodied palate – lots of ripe jammy fruit, again in the blueberry vein.
2001 Heartland Shiraz £??
Limestone Coast, South Australia, Australia
Clear bright deep purple verging on black. A clean youthful nose dominated by mint and eucalypt. The palate is dry and full bodied – this is 15% ABV wine and you can feel the glycerol. Lots of fruit – dark plum and blackberry – together with tar and licorice. A heavily extracted and generously oaked wine. It’s well made, but is almost too much for me – for those who like hedonism.
1995 Chateau Doisy-Daene £25-£30
Sauternes-Barsac, Bordeaux, France
Clear bright medium-deep yellow gold. Clean developed bouquet with pronounced honey and butterscotch characters, hints of vanilla. The palate is sweet, full bodied unctuous, honey and lemon curd underpinned by fine zesty acidity – 100% Semillon but not fat in any way. This is really good wine.