Whinging

Now guys, I am publishing wine reviews for your benefit, and I know a lot of you are looking at them, many on a regular basis. Is it asking too much to click a couple of boxes on my latest poll? These polls only make sense with a reasonable number of answers. So please, just do it, in particular my American readers who actually outnumber Australians at present.

Olivier Tricon Montee De Tonnerre Chablis

Montee de Tonnerre is a small, highly regarded 1er cru vineyard sitting between grand crus. It can deliver outstanding wines with typical Chablis character.

This 2010 Olivier Tricon Montee de Tonnerre, unfortunately, does not stand up to this reputation. The fruit flavours are rather bland. Minerality dominates. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the wine is not charming on the palate, not intriguing, and a little dull. On the plus side, the acidity in this wine is in nice balance with the fruit.

Score: 88/-

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Australian Pinot Noir 2012

This is not a review, but a purchase suggestion. I have never done this before, but it seems the 2012 Pinot Noirs from the half moon around Melbourne and from Tasmania are absolutely exceptional. I bought some Main Ridge, William Downie, Yabby Lake, Mac Forbes and Holyman. There are many other exceptional ones around. This is probably a once in a decade opportunity. I will also be looking for the second and third tier wines from Bass Phillip, which should be great in such a year.

Tscharke Tempranillo/Graciano

Damien Tscharke is making a name for himself with so called 'alternative' varieties in the Barossa Valley. The 2008 Tscharke Only Son is a Tempranillo/Graciano blend. This is a pretty full-bodied Son, I must say. The dark cherry fruit flavours are quite ripe. The Graciano element adds some tannin structure to the Tempranillo, and it works well in this wine. The tannins are fine grained and lead to a satisfying finish. Overall, however, the mouthfeel is not of a very refined wine - a bit in your face.

Score: 91/0

Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz

This unique Australian blend often works well, can be better than Cabernet Merlot in many cases. One of the classics is Penfolds 389.

I open the 2006 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz at seven years, my average cellaring time for Shiraz. This wine is full bodied and quite masculine, as you would expect. The flavours are of black fruit, blackberry and mulberry in particular. There is considerable depth of flavour, but not over the top. I remember the wine was quite harsh on release, but the tannins have now mellowed significantly. The wine has a very long and satisfying finish.

There are good elements in this wine, the fruit, the structure. But it is not a perfect wine. It is not as harmonious or elegant as it should be. This wine presents good drinking now, but should improve for another 2-3 years.

Score:92/+

Wynns Coonawarra Black Label

Wynns has made great strides during the last 10 years to improve its wines across the range. The 2009 Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon is loaded with dark blackcurrant fruit. It needs time to unfold in the glass and would benefit from decanting. There is a lack of fruit and mouthfeel on the mid palate.  The wine is still quite taut at this point and the tannins are coarse. This wine would definitely have benefitted from some more generosity.

I would recommend to keep this wine a few years longer, but the risk will be that the tannins will mellow, while the fruit weakens also.

This is not what I had hoped for from this good vintage.

Score: 88/-

Albino Rocca Duemilasette

The 2007 Albino Rocca Duemilasette Barbaresco is an elegant wine. Floral aromas start you off, before the depth of dark cherry fruit kicks in. The tannins are firm, but have mellowed. They lead to a sustained finish.

This is a serious and enjoyable wine, but slightly out of balance, as the tannins are too strong for the fruit.

Score: 92/+

Kirrihill Italian Varieties

Kirrihill is a fairly new, quite large winery in the Clare Valley. The range of Italian wines is produced in small volumes, though. Hamish Seabrook is its experienced winemaker.

When I tasted the range of the 2012 wines, I was confronted with a number of strange and unfortunate choices.

The 2012 Kirrihill Sangiovese tastes hot and alcoholic, not surprising given an alcohol content of 14.9%. This also masks the characteristics of Sangiovese flavour and is very unusual for this variety.

Score: 85/--

Montepulciano is a grape variety  originally from the Abruzzo region in Italy - not to be confused with the Sangiovese called Montepulciano, based on the Tuscan village -. It can handle heat well and is being talked about as a replacement of Shiraz should temperatures in hot regions like the Barossa or Clare raise further. However, the 2012 Kirrihill Montepulciano comes from the Adelaide Hills, a weird choice. The wine is clean and fleshy, but a bit harsh and not very forgiving in the mouth.

Score: 87/-

The 2012 Kirrihill Nebbiolo follows the unfortunate Australian trend of releasing this variety after one year. Nebbiolo is a small grape, with a high pulp-to-flesh ratio and intense tannins. This variety needs time to soften. This wine is very dry and dusty, and the fruit too thin for the tannins. The wine falls off somewhat at the finish.

Score: 86/-

Overall, an underwhelming experience, largely based on unexpected winemaking choices.

6 Mac Forbes Pinot Noirs

Sorry for being absent for a while. Opportunities for reviewing wine while trekking in Nepal do not really arise. I am now back, and I thought I start with a review of the 2012 releases of perhaps the currently "hottest" winemaker in Australia. The problem is, I was struck with a cold. Therefore the descriptions are not going to be detailed, but hopefully you will get an idea.

Mac Forbes explores the terroir in the Yarra Valley and apart from the entry wine, all wines are single vineyard, some owned, some contracted.

The 2012 Mac Forbes Yarra Valley Pinot Noir from declassified single vineyard fruit is not your typical fruit driven Australian version, but more European in style. Mushroom flavours dominate in this very dry wine, yet it is quite accessible now. Terrific value.

Score: 92/++

The 2012 Mac Forbes Coldstream Pinot Noir comes from the valley floor and is Mac Forbes' warmest site. The wine has appealing aromatics, quite feminine in the strawberry spectrum, well rounded and elegant.

Score: 93/++

The 2012 Mac Forbes Gruyere Pinot Noir, also from the valley floor, is one I struggled with. It has great texture and balance. At one point it is quite soft, then savoury mushroom flavours take over. There is a good tannin structure in the wine, but it may take a couple of years for everything to come together.

Score: 93/++

The 2012 Mac Forbes Woori Yallock Pinot Noir is the most celebrated wine of this line-up. Phillip Rich of the Financial Review called it his wine of the year. The wine is quite complex, with black cherry, floral and spice flavours and its main feature, the silky tannins, which lead to a long finish.

Score: 94/++

The 2012 Mac Forbes Wesburn Pinot Noir was my favorite. It is from an even colder site than Woori Yallock, in the hills of the eastern part of the valley. The palate is very complex, with more intense cherry flavours and a very steely structure. This wine needs to soften a bit, but the aromatics are beautiful.

Score 95/+++

The 2012 Mac Forbes Yarra Junction Pinot Noir was harvested last and caught a couple of heavy rain days. As a result, it is remarkably different from the previous wines. It is more forward and a little sweeter, yet displays beautiful aromatics, a bit similar to the Coldstream.

Score: 92/+

This is a terrific line-up. Over time, the different personalities of these wines, from different altitudes and soil types, will become more pronounced. I would love to do a vertical tasting of these wines to see these differences more clearly.

Bottega Gold

Many companies try to sway people with their labels or bottle designs. Only a few succeed. But look at this bottle! Eye-catching, but still classy.

The Bottega Gold is a high-end, but not so expensive Prosecco. It is attractive in the glass, quite pale, and with a lot of tiny lively bubbles. This is not a yeasty French Champagne, but a refreshing aperitif. This sparkling wine is on the fruity side and quite feminine, with a vibrant finish.

Tahbilk White Rhone Varieties

 Tahbilk has bottled Marsanne long before it became more fashionable to drink white Rhone varieties. There are three such wines in the current offering.

The 2013 Tahbilk Marsanne is refreshing on the front palate. It has pear flavours, and some sweetness on the back, but the wine is more about its balanced texture. This is a very clean wine. I would drink it well chilled and have it with Thai food or even desert.

Score: 90/++

The 2013 Viognier is equally clean, but I find the flavour profile a little nondescript. The acidity on the finish is pleasant, but otherwise there is not much of anything, really.

Score: 88/-

The single vineyard 2004 Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne uses some of the oldest Marsanne vines in the world. The style of this wine is different from typical Rhone wines of this variety. The wine is picked early and has more acidity than is common for Marsanne. The 2004 shows pear fruit, blended with toasty characters. The wine carries quite a bit of fruit characters, but finishes dry.

Score: 92/+