Yalumba. 2008 The Y Series - Viognier

General: I am a big fan of Yalumba wines. They offer good wine at a reasonable price. This was a delight on a warm summer's night.

Variety: Viognier

Region: South Australia

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Tropical. Fleshy and white. Lychee was the main fruit I identified among the pungent, dense nose.

Flavour: Fresh, fruit driven and semi-sweet. I liked the lychee flavours.

Points: 83

Notes: An excellent wine, nicely chilled for this warm summer evening. At $9.00 (148 Kc) it's unpretensious, good quaffing stuff. I have checked the Yalumba website and the tasting notes describe the flavour as "honeysuckle" which I have never tasted before. Something for me to try. Also note that Marks and Spencer sometimes use Yalumba wines for their branded wines and they offer good value.

Mount Pleasant. 2004 Elizabeth

General: The Hunter Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in Australia is supposed to specialise in the unusual (and limited in the market) aged Semillon. This is my first attempt at this style.

Variety: Semillon

Region: Hunter Valley, NSW

Alcohol: 10.5%

Bouquet: Pungent. Bottleness and honey. (The deep rich yellow colour is also a giveaway).

Flavour: My first note was how short the taste actually is. There is almost a fizzy, sparkling feeling at the tip of your tongue with lemon and lime flavours. Good acidity as the wine moves down your tongue.

Points: 84

Notes: I am not a fan of aged white wine but this is well done. My only concern was that this wine lacks some length. This is an unusual style for a market dominated by young, fresh wine (see next entry). At $10.25 (circa 170 kc) it is worth giving it a taste.

Brookland Valley. 2007 Shiraz

General: A cooler night and a good time to try some Shiraz.



Variety: Shiraz

Region: Margaret River, WA

Alcohol: 14.0%

Bouquet: Earthy spice and a little vanilla in the nose

Flavour: A good balance of plummy fruit and spice in the mouth particularly at the start. This leads to a very good dry finish with pleasant tannins along the way. A little mint and some vanilla complement the flavours. Delicious.

Points: 85

Notes: This was a present. I guess it is around $14 (230 Kc). I am interested to try the other varietals in the Verse 1 range.

(Cleanksin) The Wine Point. 2008 Nebbiolo "Lot 33/148"

General: I've enjoyed "branded" cleanskins from wine shops with particular success with Vintage Cellars. I was interested to see how The Wine Point faired.

Variety: Nebbiolo

Region: Technically, the region is called Cowra. Sometimes known, as this label shows, as Central Ranges, NSW

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Wonderful. I got sour cherry conserve, some smoke and possibly a touch of blackcurrant. The bouquet is very rich.

Flavour: When first opened, the flavour was very fruity and gave a good, dry, tannic finish. The longer it was open the greater the feeling of tannins. In spite of the high alcohol, it did not dominate. Although light bodied, it packs a punch.

Points: 84

Comments: This obviously has potential to develop. Think of those wonderful Georgian wines and how they developed. I am guessing that this will do the same. Now I will get more to see how they develop. Not typical for the local market here. I can understand why they have trouble moving it. Cost was $ 12.00 (198 Kc).

Gunns Estate. 2007 Pinot Gris

General: I think Gunn's Estate is better known for its Sauvignon Blanc. This is an odd combination of sourced grapes.

Variety: Pinot Gris

Regions: NZ and Italy (!)

Alcohol: 12.5%

Bouquet: Very restrained. A faint hint of freshly cut apple (like Jonagold apples)

Flavour: Persistent apple as in bouquet, also with those wrinkly, hard green pears. Dry with good minerality, however the balance wasn't quite right.

Points: 82

Comments: I have not yet tried much Pinot Gris/Grigio yet. This had components of a very nice wine but they didn't gell together for me. Price was $11.00 (181 Kc).

Note that now using an exchange rate of 1 $AUD = 16,5 CZK

Tasting of Mount Majura wines - Saturday 6 February

Mount Majura Vineyards is in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and as such, is part of the Canberra Wine Region. We stopped and I did a tasting of some of their wines on Saturday 6 February. I tasted:

1. Woolshed Creek White. 2009 - Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. 13% alcohol.

This was charming. Semi-sweet with lots of lovely fruit. I thought it was peachy in flavour. Not pretensious. A good summer drinking wine. At $15.00 (225 Kc) something different to the endless Sauvignon Blancs on offer.

Points: 83

2. Riesling. 2008. 12.2%

I did not get much on the nose and the wine itself is very austere. I found the flavour artificial.

3. Pinot Gris. 2008. 12.3%

I found this without much character at all. I quickly moved to the Reds.

4. Dinny's Block. 2006. 70% Cabernet Franc, 19% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon.
13.8% alcohol

My favourite wine from my tasting. Surprisingly some mocha in the nose followed by fruit. Medium in length, smooth and well balanced. Dark chocolate one of the wonderful flavours shining through.

Points: 85

5. Merlot. 2008.

I found the nose and flavour too earthy and stringent. I quickly skipped to the next.

6. Graciano. 2008.

I could not recall ever having tasted this wine. It had a lovely freshly sawn timber and plummy tones in the nose. The flavour carried through with plummy tones and black pepper. My only problem with this wine was its short length. It was all over too quickly. A little one-dimensional in taste.

Points: 81

A quick search of wikipedia shows that this is a blending variety from Rioja. It has potential but I think it should be blended rather than left as a varietal. $21.00 (315 Kc)

7. T.S.G. 2008. Tempranillo, Shiraz and Graciano. 14% alcohol.

Again, I enjoyed some freshly sawn timber tones in the nose although this time they were accompanied by sour cherry more than plums. Good, gentle tannins add to the complexity. Medium bodied and possibly a little short in length, leaving Dinny's Block as my favourite for the day.

Points: 84

At $21 (315 Kc) very reasonable for an interesting blend.

I actually chose this vineyard to try as it has Tempranillo as a varietal. They were out of stock when I was there. I tasted alone so I definitely missed enjoying this with someone. Anyway, it was a good first tasting for the Canberra Region.

La Cantina. ? Dry Red

General: The description looked good, but . . .

Varieties: Not stated. Not guessed.

Region: King Valley, VIC

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Hints of overripe plum

Flavour: Medium length with harsh tannins. Something not right about the taste. Possibly some sour cherry in there but generally unpleasurable to drink

Points: 78

Notes: This was a gamble. I won't be getting this again. Even if it is at the cheap end of the market ($12/180 Kc), there is much better at this price point.