Greek Wines - Reds

As with the white wines, there are quite a number of indigenous red varieties in Greece. Unfortunately, the quality of the wines does not compare as well.

The most interesting grape I came across is the Mavrotragano grape, native to Santorini. Both the Hatzidakis and the Sigalas Mavrotragano wines are interesting. The wines have good weight, a sweet core, and quite a tannic finish. The grapes can be over 50 years old, and the wines have aging potential. The Sigalas was the more profound and elegant of the two. (Scores:88-90)

The viticulture for these wines is interesting. The vines grow near the ground and are protected by baskets. This protects the young grapes against vulcanic dust from the spring storms. The problem seems to be that the yield per hectare is quite low, but fairly high per grapevine. This means not the best for fruit concentration and poor economics at the same time. I will post some pictures when I have a chance.

I also had my worst red wine ever, made by the Koutsogiannopoulos winery. It was a five year old wine, not sure which indigenous variety it was. The wine tasted of foul apple and raspberry, I have never tasted anything like this. There may have been faults, but I could not tell what. This was worse than the worst corked wine I ever had.

I guess this is part of every new experience.

P.S.: Napa appointments are coming along nicely.

Greek Wines - Whites

There are a few things to like about Greek white wines at present.

1) They come from unique grape varieties with a long history

2) They are cheap

3) The flavours are quite different from what we are used to, and modern techniques achieve high quality.

In particular, the Athiri grape is interesting. It grows predominantly (I think) in Rhodos. There is a valley style and a mountain style available. The flavour has floral and earthy notes with nice acidity on the finish.

The star variety is probably Assyrtiko, grown in Santorini with a 2500 year history. A similar flavour profile to the Athiri, but more elegant. Fruit (pear) is very much in the background, which make these wines great food wines. I tasted the line-up of leading winery Domaine Sigalas and would happily drink their whites at any time. There are three on offer: an Assyrtiko-Athiri blend, very light and refreshing, the Santorini, 100% Assyrtiko, and the Santorini Barrel, which has more complexity.

I find these wines more interesting than their Spanish or Italian counterparts. The grapes are grown on heavy vulcanic soil, and have a lot of minerality in their character.

Score: around 90/++

Hill Of Grace is your favorite Australian wine!

I am pleased with this outcome. There are a number of things which stand out about Hill of Grace:

1) The Gnadenfrei vineyard is a special place. It has a similar soil profile to the Northern Barossa, but higher elevation, eliminating shut-down times for the grapes
2) The vineyard management, in particular the care for the grandfather vines and the replanting program are exemplary for Australia.
3) The flavour profile is very special: a full bodied Shiraz, but elegant, with not just pepper, but very exotic spices.

The one drawback is that being a single vineyard wine, maybe one in three vintages is outstanding, one pretty good, and one somewhat disappointing. However, if you look at other great wines of the world, e.g. Bordeaux, you would get a similar result.

Which brings me to one point which is different: the pricing remains the same (high), irrespective of quality. In France, you have the choice, if you want to pay medium, to pick a 1st growth from a weaker year, or a 2nd or 3rd growth from a good year for a similar price. Something to think about.

Overall a very worthy, very Australian winner.

Well done, and thank you, voters, sorry for the drawn-out process.

Tie-Breaker

Who would have thought? The more elegant Shirazes are winning, but which will be your favorite Australian wine? We need to do a quick tie breaker between Clonakilla and Hill of Grace. I will run it for 5 days, so be quick to vote.

If I would guess where the Grange, Rockford and Bass Phillip votes would go, I could predict the winner, but you never know.

This allows me to get to Europe before the end of voting. No Australian wine reviews in the next few weeks, but maybe an occasional report from the battlefronts in Greece, Italy and Germany, and more detail from Napa and Sonoma Valley, where the tastings will be intense (any particular questions or interests?).

Thank you for your participation and your final voting efforts.

One More Day To Vote

Do you really want Clonakilla to win? Or maybe you want to put it beyond doubt. Please vote, we should get over 20.

Audrey Wilkinson Dessert Semillon

I am not a very experienced dessert wine drinker, but this 2006 Audrey Wilkinson Dessert Semillon impresses. It is not as rich as a Noble One and therefore easier to drink. Yet the wine has a typical sweet core, which makes it a satisfying drink on its own or with dessert.

Score: 92/+

Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz

The 2001 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz is ok, but it is not a standout. The fruit does not match the firm tannins. As a result, the wine starts softly, pleasant enough, but then the palate gets hit with oak and tannin. As a result, the wine is somewhat rough and not well balanced. It comes across as old fashioned.

Score: 90/-

What A Tasting

A few days ago, I attended a pretty amazing tasting. These were the wines I tried:

Kumeu River Chardonnay 2007

Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2006

Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2006

Marchand&Burch Chardonnay 2009

Marchand&Burch Mt. Barrow Pinot Noir 2009

Marchand&Burch Shiraz 2007

Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet 2008

Te Mata Awatea Cabernet Merlot 2008

Te Mata Coleraine Cabernet Merlot 2008

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels The Gimblett 2007

Jasper Hill Cornella Vineyard Grenache 2008

Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock Shiraz 2008

Jasper Hill Emily's Paddock Shiraz 2008

Jasper Hill La Pleiade 2008

Kalleske Old Vine Grenache 2008

Kalleske Eduard Shiraz 2008

Elderton Command Shiraz 2006

Huntington Estate Block 3 Cabernet 2004

Interestingly, despite good standard, the Chardonnays could not match the red wines, which showed more complexity and were simply more interesting.

Three stand-outs for me: The 2009 Marchand & Burch Mt. Barrow Pinot Noir was brilliant. The wine has great finesse, and the sour kirsch flavours carry through to a fine finish backed by silky tannins. The 2008 La Pleiade stood out because it had good fruit concentration, but was not heavy (French influence?). And finally the new 2008 Kalleske Eduard Shiraz is quite a profound wine. Maybe a bit sweet for some, but great texture and elegance, and a long finish. Having said this, I would have happily drunk any of the tasted wines, if you had brought a bottle along.

Lawson's Dry Hills Gewuerztraminer

Gewuerztraminer must be the least fashionable variety in Australia. Only a few producers are left. Yet a good bottle, say from Pipers Brook or Delatite is the perfect companion to a Thai dish. Anyway, on this occasion I wanted to try something else and ended up with a bottle of 2008 Lawson's Dry Hills Gewuerztraminer from Marlborough.

The Lychee flavour is there, but it comes down to the fact that the wine is simply too sweet, despite its name. There is no noticeable acidity and the wine simply does not cut through the food, it sits unpleasantly next to it. Avoid!

Score: 83/---

Katnook Prodigy Shiraz

I have not had Coonawarra Shiraz for some time. Then I found this bottle of 1998 Katnook Prodigy in my cellar. It turns out to be a very big wine for Coonawarra, with good fruit concentration. Unfortunately it is one blob of undifferentiated plum flavour. The wine is also overoaked and lacks structure. The wine is maturing, therefore drink now, I mean: don't drink.

Score: 88/--

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon

I just opened a bottle of the 2001 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon. I thought I would like to compare it to the recently tasted 2007. This bottle was closed under screw cap, the oldest premium red under screw cap I have, I think.

Now this was interesting. After nine years, this bottle was incredibly fresh. Too fresh? Did I want to store this bottle for six years to taste the same as just released? There is no doubt, this bottle is in great condition and it has matured a little bit, but it is missing any suggestion of mellowing.

This wine is also very different from the 2007 release, which has concentrated black fruit character. The 2001 Moss Wood tastes of redcurrant and kirsch, it is impeccably balanced, quite elegant with tannins in the background and a fresh acidic finish. Slightly bigger mouthfeel would have lifted the score higher.

Score: 95/++

The Favorite Australian Wine, Final Poll

The challengers are putting up a good fight against the established two icons. This raises the question about which criteria to use in this poll. I left this entirely open. Some people may include value for money, others may judge simply the perceived quality of the wine. And then, do you take consistency, the best expression or the wine which did best in weak years. Does fashion of taste or variety come into it?

It is your choice, it is your favorite, but I need more voting to decide the winner.