Felsina Chianti Classico

Felsina is one of the stalwarts of the Chianti Classico style: you get the Sangiovese profile, high acidity, good with food, in particular tomato based dishes.

The 2013 Felsina Chianti Classico is very savoury. Actually, it is surprisingly tart and lean. Red cherry and olive flavours are drowned out by acidity and firm tannins. This still makes it a reasonable, but ultimately not very interesting food wine.

Score: 89/- 

  

Beyond The Standard White Wines

Do you belong to the 95+% wine consumers who only drink Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling, maybe Pinot Grigio when it comes to white wine? Well, there is a whole other world of white wine out there, which would make the experience much more interesting. Let me suggest four other varieties and styles to try.

1) Assyrtiko. This Greek variety from the island of Santorini, grown on volcanic soil, is crisp and fresh, with strong minerality. This full flavoured wine often tastes of apple or citrus, and the acidity is good. It is now grown in Australia as well. Drink it instead of Sauvignon Blanc. You find a couple of reviews in my index.

2) Gruner Veltliner. This is an Austrian specialty, and these wines are widely available internationally. The key feature are the spicy flavours in this wine. It is one of the few wines which goes well with Asian, in particular Thai food.

3) Alsace Riesling. These Rieslings are very different from German, Austrian or Australian Rieslings. They are much richer and emphasize the texture of the wine. They can have honeyed flavours, even though the standard wines are dry. There is often spice as well. I like these wines with rich fish dishes.

4) Roussane/Marsanne. This is becoming a favourite of mine. These wines, originally from the Northern Rhone - and highly praised there -, but now planted in many places, are all about texture, not the fruit. The colour is sometimes off-white. Pear, nut and honey flavours characterize this rich wine style. It pairs extremely well with all kinds of food.

If you have not tried wines from these grapes, I suggest you do so, and you will discover much more variety in white wine. And then, I have not even talked about the white varieties of Northern Italy, Northern Spain, Turkey, Georgia and so on.   

The Standish Wine Company Andelmonde Shiraz

Dan Standish is currently achieving something almost unique. He gets high ratings from the Parker reviewers, but also from those Australian reviewers who lean more towards European style wines. He seems to be the new star, following Peter Schell at Spinifex, who followed Dave Powell at Torbreck, who followed Rober O'Callaghan at Rockford. After all, winemaking is a fashion business, isn't it?

His operation is no compromise. All wines are Shiraz, mostly single vineyard. The wines are expensive - although maybe not for what they are - and there are no entry level wines. While I have not tasted the current releases so far, I thought I open an older bottle to see what this high praise is all about.

  

The 2012 Standish Andelmonde Shiraz comes from a vineyard in Greenock. The soil is ironstone gravels and schist over red clay. The label is white with nothing other than the name on the front.

In contrast, the wine in the glass is black. Blue and black berry aromas jump out. On the palate, there is the classic Shiraz dark plum flavour, but more so blueberry and blackberry. Spice and earthy notes add to the complexity. The fruit is pure, very dense and deep. The wine has a big frame, but surprisingly, it is not heavy. It has drive down the palate, and the intense fruit flavours deliver harmony and elegance. The tannins are firm, and velvety.

This wine is an amazing accomplishment. It delivers the unique intensity of Barossa Shiraz, but not at the expense of drinkability. This is a significant step forward for full-bodied Shiraz. 

Needless to say, the wine was fresh and will easily live another 20 years. As an aside, you would have noticed the wax seal. It was not difficult to push the cork screw through and in breaking the seal pull the cork out.  

 
Score: 98/+++

New Zealands Current Best?

I recently tasted a number of New Zealand's best wines at the 'Family of Twelve' tastings. This a a marketing organization of some of New Zealand's small and medium sized wineries.

The top wine for me was the 2016 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir. This wine is quite steely, and a bit edgy. It has an ethereal texture with very fine and silky tannins and an expanding finish. Ata Rangi seems to be able to produce this character year after year. Is it due to the clone they stole from Romanée-Conti? Maybe it is. The 2013 Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir is made from the Dijon clone and does not come near it. But also, the vines for this wine are a lot younger.

The surprise second best wine for me was the 2015 Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir. I enjoyed its deep fruit set, and again an elegant, silky structure.

In third place came the 2017 Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir. The dark cherry flavours were quite smooth, and the tannins silky, a bit bigger than the previous wines. In contrast, the 2017 Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir, a blend from three vineyards, was not as differentiated, with a slightly flat patch on the mid palate.

So there you are: three different vintages from three different regions, but a trifecta for Pinot Noir.

Grenache, Four Ways

A few days ago, it was World Grenache Day, whatever this means. At least, Grenache is grown in many parts of the world. It is most famous as the dominant blend in Chateuneuf-du-Pape, but as a single variety, Spain would be its most famous origin.

The winery Capcanes has come up with a fascinating exercise of producing in the same manner 100% Grenache wines grown on different soils: there is sand, limestone, slate and clay. If you are skeptical about the influence of terroir, I suggest you try these four wines.

The key are the crosses at the top showing different soil types

I tried these wines over the last few days. The Grenache grown on sand was beautiful:  pretty raspberry fruit, flavoursome, but not sweet, lush, fragrant and aromatic. I had more trouble with the limestone wine. The minerality was very strong and not matched by the fruit flavours. This wine lacked some balance. The wine grown on slate was very different: dark fruit, muscular, with great intensity and a long finish. The Grenache on clay was also concentrated, but this wine lacked some definition. It was quite broad and a little fat in the mouth (like the soil is).

The outcomes were what one would expect from the soil. Was I biased? I wish I had tried these blind, but even so I am confident of my descriptions. My favourite soils were slate and sand. Clay was a little boring and the limestone soil did not seem to work with this wine.

Most wine is grown on clay and limestone, I think. Makes you wonder. 

Giaconda Chardonnay

Giaconda produces the most complex and Burgundy-like Chardonnay in Australia. I get hot and cold over it, find it sometimes too overworked. In 2014, Rick Kinzbrunner got it right.

The 2014 Giaconda Chardonnay delivers a complex flavour profile of ripe stone fruit, in particular yellow peach, almond and vanilla. The wine has good intensity, but is not heavy nor too big. New oak and malolactic fermentation deliver a wine round in the mouth, yet with good drive and cereal type minerality on the back palate. The finish is nutty rather than acidic.

Score: 96/++

Castel Rift Valley Chardonnay

Ethiopia’s claim to fame is its invention of coffee. When monks threw wild growing coffee beans into the fire, they were pleasantly surprised by their pleasant aroma. The rest is history. What is less well known is that wine has also been made here since the 16th century. It is grown in the famous Rift Valley ( famous for its runners) at 1600m altitude.

The number one winery is French owned Castel. They produce an astonishing two million plus bottles each year after they imported 750,000 vines from France in 1997. The vineyard is unusual, as it is surrounded by a two metre high wall to deter pythons, hippopotamuses and hyenas - not your average environment for grape growing. I tasted the Cabernet Merlot and the Syrah from their red grapes. These are not wines that would succeed internationally as fine wine, although 50% is exported.

The Chardonnay, only 10% of total production, is a different cattle of fish. The 2017 Castel Rift Valley Chardonnay is a crisp wine, with citrus and passionfruit flavours. The fruit is finely balanced by an attractive level of acidity. This wine is not complex, but perfectly suited to equatorial climates. It finishes dry.

Score: 85/++

Domaine des Senechaux Blanc, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

95% of the grapes grown in Chateauneuf-du-Pape are red, and this is what the region is known for. However, there are also some interesting white wines made there. In keeping with the philosophy of the region, many varieties are blended together.

Only 1000 cases were made of the 2016 Domaine des Senechaux Blanc. The property is owned by the Cazes family of Chateau Lynch-Bages, so you can expect good quality. The main varieties in this wine with about a third each are Roussane, Clairette, and Grenache Blanc. The first two undergo a cold soak before fermentation to extract more fruit.

On the palate, this wine has grapefruit, pear, and hazelnut. The wine is quite fresh and has more acidity than many Rhone whites. This gives the wine a bit of drive while retaining food friendliness. The year was very successful. This shows in the smoothness and balance of the wine, and the good line to the well-rounded finish.

Score: 93/++

Grenache Blends

Ýou get what you pay for' sometimes works in the wine world, sometimes it doesn't. In this line-up of attractively to medium priced Grenache Blends it worked, although not perfectly. 

Here are my results for three price groups with very brief comments:

1) $20-$30 per bottle

- 2017 Kalleske Clarry's: a light wine, a little sweet with a soft finish (87 points)
- 2017 Teusner Joshua: unoaked, fruity, but good fruit (88 points)
- 2016 Torbreck Juveniles: unoaked, raspberry, earthy, more complex, one year older, barnyard flavours (86 points)

2) $30-$35 per bottle

- 2015 John Duval Plexus: medium weight, good varietal integration, good length (92 points)
- 2015 Teusner Avatar: excellent fruit, good intensity, vanilla flavours, but will integrate well (92 points)

3) $40-$45 per bottle

- 2015 Penfolds Bin 138: raspberry fruit and firm tannins (90 points)
- 2015 Marius Michaud Chateauneuf-du-Pape: fragrant, smooth, fine grained tannins (90 points)
- 2014 Torbreck The Steading: medium body, darker fruited, well balanced with smooth and dry finish (94 points)

The middle group excelled, largely because of the skill of two outstanding winemakers; John Duval and Kym Teusner.   

Kooyong Meres Pinot Noir

The Meres Pinot Noir is the most fragrant and feminine of the Kooyong single vineyard Pinot Noirs, maybe because the vineyard is surrounded by water. I reviewed the 2012 Kooyong Meres Pinot Noir some years ago, and on trying my last bottle, I still like it a lot.

The fragrant bouquet is still strong. It has the smell of spring flowers on the nose. Red and black cherry flavours offer an attractive mix on the palate. This is an elegant wine in an ethereal style, not overly concentrated. The flavours are long on the palate. Smooth tannins coat the tongue before a persisting finish leaves you very satisfied.

Score: 95/+++ 

Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon

Wynns is one of those producers who make wine for the long term. I was therefore not too concerned to open a 2006 Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon. John Riddoch gets the best fruit from Wynns' substantial Coonawarra holdings. It also means big and concentrated.

As it turns out, this wine is very dry, and 80% of the primary fruit is gone. I can still taste the concentration, but the wine is now quite meaty and vanilla flavours from the oak are strong. This wine is 12 years old, but should be fresher and more balanced.

For my money, I prefer the latest Black Label offerings, which are terrific drinking styles.

Score: 89/- 

Two Classic Tasmanian Chardonnays

Chardonnay from Tasmania does not grab the headlines quite as much as Pinot Noir, but recently I tasted two Chardonnays which are very good, indeed. They are made in quite different ways.

Derwent Estate make quite a big deal of their Chardonnay release dates, and the 2016 Derwent Estate Chardonnay deserves this. This wine is made in a fresh style, with lime and pear flavours. There is malolactic fermentation, but you would not know it. Lemony acidity glides down the palate, not aggressive, but always present. This wine has power and elegance at the same time (94+ points).

The 2016 Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay is made in quite a different style. There is more new oak, more cream (80% malolactic fermentation), and more complexity on the palate. There is grapefruit and white peach, hazelnut and spicy oak. Acidity is strong, and the flavours are very long. Everything comes together in a balanced fashion (94+ points).