Rymills. 2004 MC2

General: Wow! I'm a fan of this style of wine and was suitably impressed at this wonder.

Varieties: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

Region: Limestone Coast, SA

Subregion: Coonawarra

Alcohol: 13%

Bouquet: A non-aggressive blackcurrant nose with hints of spice

Flavour. Complex. Berry fruit and nettles/brush are complimented by gentle tannins and some vanilla. Smooth with a long, satisfying finish. Lovely.

Points: 88

Notes: The best red blend since I returned. Now madly trying to find where I can buy more.

Pikes. 2007 The Red Mullet

General: This is the second time I have tasted this wine. I am a fan.

Varieties: Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvedre, Tempranillo

Region: Clare Valley, SA

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Mild. Brush. Hints of Red currants.

Flavour: Very smooth with good length. Debated whether hints of red currant or sour cherry were stronger. Surprising that the alcohol is not noticeable given its strength.

Points: 84

Notes: At $14.00 (210 Kc) a very good ready to drink wine. Very good value.

Matua Valley Wines. 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

General: Another from the huge range of Sauvignon Blanc here. This one tasted on 14 January 2010.

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Marlborough, NZ

Bouquet: A very typical gooseberry bouquet

Flavour: A straightforward wine, balanced, dry, with a citric finish.

Points: 82

Notes: I followed this with a Cloudy Bay 2009 Sav Blanc which had more complexity. A good version of this wine. Nothing extraordinary about it. At $13.60 (204 Kc), there is much on the market which is similar.

Grape variety: Chambourcin

Tasted on Saturday, 9 January 2010 at the Shoalhaven Food and Wine Show, Nowra

The Shoalhaven Coast wine region has its "wine of the region" the wine variety Chambourcin, which is apparently a hybrid (fungal resistant) variety available since the 1960s. A number of local wineries were presenting at the SFWS and almost all had a Chambourcin on offer.

The wine in almost all cases was dark purple, light to medium bodied with a lacklustre flavour of watery plums with a pepperish finish. The finish was pleasant. Excluding this finish, I am clearly not a fan of the variety. It reminded me of pub-variety wines from Prague times, which at least were cheap whereas bottles of this stuff started at $19.00!

Locally, I found the Verdelhos to be done very well.

Coolangatta Estate, which had a wide variety of wines, had an excellent Tannat. This estate is one of three earmarked for KLD's visit to Oz :-).

The other two were Cupitt's Winery (best Verdelho tasted on the day) and from the neighbouring wine region of Southern Highlands, Bluemetal Vineyard which had a stunning Petit Verdot amongst a fine selection.