Wood Park Wines. 2006 Wild's Gully

General: I have enjoyed wine from the King Valley region so bought this for a try

Varieties: Shiraz 70%, Cabernet Sauvignon 30%

Region/G.I.: North East Victoria, King Valley

Alcohol: 13.5%

Bouquet: Plum on the nose with some nice dusty (nutmeg) aromas and a little oak

Flavour: Very nice and smooth. Not young and brutish which is what I expected for the price. Deep plum fruit moves ever so gently to a long, dry finish. Nice tannins linger on the tongue. Quite a good drop.

Points: 82

Notes: This is a cheapie. I will have to try more from the range. Undiscounted $12 (215 Kc)

Taylors. 2007 Shiraz Malbec

General: A random buy as I wondered about the combination

Varieties: Shiraz, Malbec

Region/G.I.: Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Plummy, mulberry, some oak and something I couldn't place. (The label claims licorice which could be right, but I am not 100% sure)

Flavour: Lighter bodied than I expected and moves quickly to a dry, tannic finish. Relatively simple. OK but not great.

Points: 80

Notes: Undiscounted $14 (c 245 Kc). Will skip in future.

Bodegas Martin Codax. 2008 Burgans Albarino

General: Given the controversy of Albarino in Australia (- apparently the Spanish exported us the wrong grape which turned out to be Carigne), I was keen to try the variety and this is one I picked up at the end of summer

Variety: Albarino

Region: Galicia, Rias Baixas

Alcohol: 12.5%

Bouquet: Ripe, fleshy fruit - I detected pineapple but there was some peach there as well

Flavour: Wow factor. This is semi-sweet providing a rewarding mouthful of fruit, as detected by the nose with excellent acidity and some minerality as well. If tasting blind, I would have guessed this was a full-style Pinot Gris. A lovely drink that went well with our Sunday baked chicken lunch

Points: 85

Notes: Full price, this is around $20 (360 Kc) here but waiting for a six-bottle buy and 30% discount makes the $13 (233 Kc) I paid a bargain . More now!

Henry's Drive Vignerons. 2006 Red Pillar Box

General: Yes, I bought this as the label caught my attention.

Varieties: Shiraz 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 42%, Merlot 8%

Region/G.I.: Limestone Coast, Padthaway

Alcohol: 15.0%

Bouquet: Very juicy fruit - round, dark plums and some cedary tones. Animal (wet cow) undertones. Nice complexity

Flavour: Medium bodied. Flavour is more toward red-current than plums but the cedar is still there. Good dry finish and the tannins balance well. A very pleasant drink. It seems to get better and better

Points: 84

Notes: Undiscounted, this is $13.00 (234 Kc). A good buy and preferable to the Red tasted last week.

Rutherglen Estates. 2007 Red

General: I enjoyed this earlier in the year and bought a bottle to enjoy with family last weekend when we celebrated Fathers' Day

Varieties: Shiraz c.85%, Durif c.15%

Region/G.I.: North East Victoria, Rutherglen

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Plum with black pepper

Flavour: Medium bodied with the flavour reflective of the nose. Nice and dry with decent tannins. A good drink.

Points: 83

Notes: A good wine for casual drinking with some grilled, red meats. Undiscounted at $14 (c.250 Kc) it's worth a go. I see they make Nebbiolo so I'm now looking for it in the shops.

Bleasdale "Bremerview" 2007. Shiraz

General: Another from the Bleasdale range.

Variety: Shiraz

Region:/G.I.: Fleurieu. Langhorne Creek

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Rich, plummy nose - not jammy, more of a dried plum smell with some fresh wood savoury tones.

Flavour: Medium-Full bodied plum fruit (and some sultanas? other dried fruit perhaps) with some spiciness as well, moving to a very nice tannic finish. Very nicely balanced.

Points: 84

Notes: A very good example of Shiraz. Not young and silly, this provides a lovely drink. I will investigate more of the Bleasdale range. This one was $1 more than the Malbec at $16 (287 Kc). Back to the bottle shop for me...

Bleasdale "Second Innings" 2008. Malbec

General: I am always interested to try Malbecs as I am a fan of tannins. In addition, I recently enjoyed a wine from Bleasdale

and the winery has received positive reviews from wineweek.com.au.

Variety: Malbec

Region/G.I.: Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

Alcohol: 14.5%

Bouquet: Very good combination of dry, earthy spices with sour cherry in there as well. Notes of other fruits (juicy plums?) also lingered

Flavour: Great body and long, dry finish. The initial fruit is rich and true to the nose. It lingers and gently recedes to a smooth tannic finish

Points: 83

Notes: Very enjoyable. This is younger than some of the recent drops that I have had so its "youth" was evident. A lovely drink and I am now a fan of Australia's second oldest family winery. Suprising that alcohol is not evident, given it is 14.5%. At $14 (250 Kc), this is a slightly different alternative to the regular reds on the market. I'll buy a couple to cellar. I have one of their Shiraz' to try soon.