Cullen Chardonnay

One of the good things of having a wine cellar is that you can go down, on Black Friday, when the stocks are down, pick up one of your best bottles, and it is free.

I looked past Leeuwin and Giaconda and thought maybe I grab a bottle of the 2002 Cullen Chardonnay. It has always been in the shadow of Leeuwin or Pierro. Is it deserved?

The wine is not as tight or linear as some of the better recent Chardonnays. It has mainly peach flavours, quite a bit of oak, a good mouthfeel and length. Is it as good as Leeuwin? - No. It doesn't have quite the complexity or the lightness of it. But then, it is also not as expensive and it is a fine drink. It would match well with a richer fish dish, and will certainly hold a few more years.

Unison Selection

Not many would know about the Unison vineyard. I stumbled across it at a visit to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand a few years ago. The vineyard sits right on top of the Gimblett Gravels, the district where the bigger red varieties ripen well. It is truely a boutique operation, everything done by hand with the aspiration to produce world-class wines following European tradition.

The 2002 Selection is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Now this is something the French can't do (by law), yet it is an exciting blend of varieties. It provides the structure of the Cabernet, the strength and fruit concentration of the Shiraz, and the upfront fleshiness of Merlot. This wine does exactly this, but all in moderation and a gentle way. It tastes of redcurrant and loganberries, and has silky tannins, well integrated to a satisfying dry finish. The wine is still fresh at 6 years. The fruit is not as concentrated as an Aussie style wine would be, but has enough strength to be very satisfying.

Check out this winery. It is different and well worth it.

Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay

Not all of Coldstream Hills' Chardonnays would be on my list of favorites. However, the 2005 Reserve Chardonnay is very good. Made in the 'modern' style, it shows complex fruit flavours of citrus, pear and apple. It is crisp with excellent structure and length. It is still fresh and will go for many years. It would accompany many different styles of food. Just a bit pricey.

Castellare Chianti Classico

The first Chiantis of the acclaimed 2006 vintage in Tuscany have arrived. Last night I tried the 2006 Castellare Chianti Classico. It is certainly quite a substantial wine for a Chianti. The flavours are of black cherries, but not very differentiated. The wine is quite savoury, a little bit tart. It will benefit from a year or two cellaring to soften the tannins. I will be interested to try other Chiantis from this vintage, which might be a bit more 'user friendly' and interesting.

Penfolds Thomas Hyland Chardonnay

During the last 10 years, Penfolds increased their access to white wine vineyards significantly. However, the number of brands remains fairly limited. As a result, a lot of good grapes end up in the lowly priced ( around$15 per bottle) Thomas Hyland Chardonnay. It is terrific value for money and a genuinely good drink. The 2007 Thomas Hyland Chardonnay does not have quite the same strength of fruit which the 06 had, reflecting a generally weaker vintage for whites, but it is made in the 'modern' style, with pleasant citrus flavour, dry, zingy and very clean. It is as good or better than most Chardonnays at twice the price.

Brokenwood Semillon

The Semillon from Brokenwood is a reliable drink. The 2007 Semillon has a citrus and lime taste, it is crisp and clean, not very complex, quite dry. It is very suitable for lunch, because of its lower alcohol content and goes well with sushi. I suggest to drink it young.

Roberto Voerzio Cerequio

The Schild was the warm-up act for the 1997 Roberto Voerzio Cerequio Barolo. There is a bit of a parallel story to it. The 1997 vintage is widely hailed as the vintage of the century in Piedmont. Wine Spectator gave it a 100 point rating, I think a first for any vintage anywhere. They crowned Roberto Voerzio as the king of the vintage and gave its Brunate 100 points. This wine, from an adjacent vinyard, scored 95. I was in Piedmont after the releases to taste a range of these wines. To buy them, after the acclaim, was another story. I succeeded to take one bottle of the Brunate home. I finally managed to get a couple of bottles of the Cerequio in Australia. There probably is not more than one case in the country.

I decanted the wine during the rugby match and then served it with a rib-eye fillet. The bouquet in the glass was fantastic. Aromas of flowers and many fruits combined to enormous intensity and complexity. The taste continued this theme. I mainly tasted strawberry and lively red cherry fruit. Roberto Voerzio belongs to the 'modernists' in Piedmont. This means that the fermentation period is short, and his focus is on meticulous treatment of the vineyards. As a result, the fruit stand out, the tannins which are often so dominant in Nebbiolo, play second fiddle. The wine is medium bodied, very lively, and elegant and balanced. It will go on for many years. If I am asked what was missing, probably from an Australian perspective, a bit more depth in the fruit without losing finesse would have made this perfect. Beats me how this scored less points than the Schild (but see below).

Schild Shiraz

The 2004 Schild Barossa Shiraz caused a sensation during the Wine Australia show, I think in 2005, when it became known it scored 96 points from the Wine Spectator, the leading US wine magazine. This was for a A$24 bottle, quite unheard of. A huge crowd tended to gather around the Schild stand, everybody wanting this wine, not the Reserve. The power of the wine press! It sold out within a week.

The wine starts with a core of sweet fruit, plum and berries, and follows through with serious tannins. It tastes actually similar to the high scoring Napa Cabernets, with good fruit concentration and a lot of ripeness (sweetness). This explains the high score. I had the wine during today's fairly cold afternoon, and while watching on TV the rugby grand final, a sport I am not overly fond of.

The tannins save the wine from a lollywater taste, but in the end, it is a bit rough and tumble - a wine better suited to a barbeque meal than on its own.

Charles Melton Nine Popes

The 'Nine Popes' is pretty much the original serious 'GSM' in Australia. Nine Popes is of course a play on Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Tonight I opened the 2002 Nine Popes. This is a great wine. It starts with a sweet, fruity core (the Grenache), but then develops into a savoury profile with mulberry flavours hanging on. The wine has great mouthfeel and length, finishing off with well structured tannins. This wine will go for many more years (and I have 11 bottles left).

Many vines had trouble to fully ripen in the cooler 2002 season, but those that did have a terrific flavour profile and structure. Clearly, Charles Melton managed to ripen the fruit for this wine. It is a top example of a Southern Hemisphere take on the Southern Rhone blend.

Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz

Dalwhinnie is without doubt one of my favourite producers and the maker of probably the best cooler climate Shiraz. For those who like visiting wineries, this is a must. The winery is situated in a cul-de-sac location at the end of a valley, probably the most picturesque vineyard site in Australia, with vines covering the steeper and flatter parts of this amphitheatre. The tasting room is pretty good, too.

The Dalwhinnie Shiraz is always very refined and elegant. This 1998 is no exception. The fruit tastes of blackcurrant and plum with white pepper and spice. The tannins are soft and the aftertaste is long and very satisfying. A top wine.

Pipers Brook Gewuerztraminer

Gewuerztraminer is not a popular variety in Australia, I know only about half a dozen producers of this variety. But when it comes to accompanying Thai food, this is the wine of my choice. I find Pinot Gris and Viognier too complicated in the flavour profile (which gets lost) and reds mostly too tannic.

This 2004 Gewuerztraminer is not shy, though. It displays strong citrus flavours and a strong spice flavour, which for people not used to it may take some time to get accustomed to. This wine is a perfect match for curries, in particular green curries. The similar flavour profiles don't fight, but actually blend into each other pretty well.

And if you don't like this, there is always Singha Beer.

Umani Ronchi 'Villa Bianchi' Verdicchio 2006

The Villa Bianchi has been recommended in a number of newspapers as good value for money white at about $14/bottle. It is quite widely available.

I really enjoyed this clean, crisp and dry drink. It reminds me a bit of a Pinot Grigio in a light style, but I am not sure what grape varieties are involved. If you belong to the ABC club (Anything But Chardonnay), but want something a bit more interesting than your standard Sauvignon Blanc, try this wine.