Category Archives: Tasting Notes

Notes on wines I have tasted

September 4, 2013 · 4:28 pm

Ocean Eight – 3/09/2013

Pinot Gris 2012
Really tight quincy freshness. Very focused and sharp, dry dry.

Verve Chardonnay 2011
Very sulphury smoky struck match, sharp thin lacking power intensity character. Not so much a fan of this style, it appears under-ripe. At least it’s not overworked.

Pinot Noir 2012
Really bright pure lean aromatics. Right up my alley, lovely and long focused delicate fine but firm tannins. Exactly what Mornington Pinot should be.

Aylward Pinot Noir 2010
Kind of different notes on the nose, oak muting the fruit. Quite warm, brusque youthful tannins and heat.

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September 4, 2013 · 4:26 pm

Merricks Estate – 3/09/2013

Chardonnay 2012
Pretty old school ripe malo new oak. Broad fat flabby lacking focus and drive. In actual fact oak pretty well managed, but older style.

Pinot Noir 2007
Nice nature savoury bottle aged character. tight generous sweet tannins, round and savoury thanks to bottle age.

Shiraz 2005
Fat broad bretty ugly wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Tight oaky underripe. Pleasant dry red wine, nothing more.

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September 4, 2013 · 3:01 pm

Polperro – 3/09/2013

Pinot Gris 2012
Tight subtle spicy quince. Biting acidity, borderline tart, trying to tread too fine a line, harvested too early.

Even Keel Chardonnay 2011
Quite ripe and rich, leesy old oak. On the fat broad side, lacking in enough body or texture, unfocused.

Mill Hill Chardonnay 2010
A little minerality, jumps out of the glass, savoury rubbery ritz notes, some middle eastern spice. Full bright ripe intense, quite lifted on the palate, nice focus. Generosity and length.

Mill Hill Pinot Noir 2011
Quite subtle lean charcuterie red fruits. Light fresh bright intense yet subtle fruit and nice integrated savoury meat notes too. Levity and brevity.

Landividdy Lane Pinot Noir 2011
Fairly closed dark nutty red fruits. Tighter leaner but also lighter without the freshness. Lean, perhaps a little thin.

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September 4, 2013 · 2:59 pm

Dexter Wines – 3/09/2013

Chardonnay 2011
Fairly ripe stone fruit, lees and some new oak, a bit of sherbet fresh sweetness in there. Generous rich ripe fruit, sweet texture, broad, classic Mornington chard with contained malo and new oak.

Pinot Noir 2012
Bright pretty intense. Nice grainy tight stalky (subtle) hints of spice juicy light red fruit. Persistent, balanced savoury notes.

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September 4, 2013 · 2:52 pm

Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Roadshow – 3/09/2013

I think I’ve probably mentioned it before, but the Mornington Peninsula happens to be my favourite region in Australia for various reasons. The region is best known for the quality of its wines, particularly pinot noir and chardonnay. but it also happens to have some of the most beautiful scenery, exceptional golf courses, and fine dining in the country. For the last 30 years it has been one of the only bastions of small vineyard artisan wineries, with very little corporate presence and predominantly family owned businesses. 26 of the regions finest producers made the trek to Melbourne to show their wares both to trade/media and also to consumers. I have separated many of the producers into individual posts, but here are my notes on a range of older vintages that were also on show.

Miceli Rosé Brut 2004
Quite intense bright aromatics, cheesy red fruits. Density and weight on the palate, juicy red fruits, raspberry roll-ups, dried apricots.

Montalto “Eleven” Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2008
Quite prominent leesy buttered oak, peachy cream. Reasonably light fresh on the palate, dried peach/pear, fat and textured on the back.

Crittenden Estate Chardonnay 2006
Dried stone fruits, thin but hot at the same time.

Moorooduc Chardonnay 2005
Quite dense rich mineralic heat coming off, leesy ripe stone fruits and citrus. Quite ripe and rich but very balanced elegant, exquisitely long, holding together beautifully.

Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2008
Stalky floral musky lavender blueberries. Pure focused lean still very fresh, purity and finesse.

Phaedrus Pinot Noir Reserve 2008
Darker fuller on the nose, sweet briny earth. Denser fuller tannins, warmer rounder sweeter fruits.

10x tractor Judd Pinot Noir 2008
Quite pale in colour. Subtle but classic Mornington Pinot notes. Fresh light long and balanced. Ethereal length, balanced fruit and tannin.

Port Phillip Morillon Pinot Noir 2008
Darker more brooding nose. Quite warn and fairly extractive, a touch overworked, cooked okay fruit.

Quealy 17 Rows Pinot Noir 2007
Darker colour, more intense. Black ruby intensity, warm fruit ripeness. Broad fat juicy bland short.

Stonier Windmill Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007
Dark earthy clumsy oak. Hot maderised fat. Not what I think of for Mornington Pinot.

Hurley Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008
Bright pretty earthy savoury. Full dense concentrated structured. Powerful and generous.

Prancing Horse Pinot Noir 2006
Meaty oyster sauce soy. Old-world style with a touch of new world fruit. Very unique and excellent wine.

Paringa Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2006
Certainly big, plenty of oak still sitting over everything and making the tannins a little aggressive, pretty aromas but just a bit too much intervention.

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August 29, 2013 · 9:29 pm

Two Men in Mendoza – 29/08/2013

Dan Sims and Ben Edwards both had backgrounds as sommeliers and were omnipresent and popular men about Melbourne before they established their business as educators and consultants to the hospitality industry under their Wine Guide name. Having many years experience with assessing, communicating about and selling wine, they made the bold decision to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ by making their own booze. They decided to make a couple of wines from the malbec variety in its (now) home of Mendoza in Argentina. The fruit came from the Uco Valley in the southern parts of the region, and here are my notes on the first releases.

Malbec Rosé 2012
Nice subtle nose, a touch of savoury spice, lots of raspberry. Juicy full on the palate, lovely and fresh, generous ripe red fruits, nice balance.

Malbec 2012
Juicy rich dark sweet fruits but nice and dry with just a hint of savoury. Just enough warmth and earthiness.

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August 29, 2013 · 8:33 pm

Best’s – 29/08/2013

Established in 1866, the Best’s Great Western estate in the Grampians region is seriously old, even for Europe. They have some of the oldest plantings in the country, including such varieties as shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and even pinot meunier. The Thompson family have owned the winery and vineyards since 1913 and they recently celebrated their 100th year of ownership. They also celebrated the current custodian Viv’s 52nd vintage. They have once many accolades including the illustrious Jimmy Watson Trophy, and their top shiraz wines are some of the most collected in Australia. I had the opportunity to taste some of their new releases, and here are my notes.

Riesling 2013
Lovely crisp zesty sherbet orange blossom. Nice depth and body, not heaps of texture, just enough viscosity to add an extra element. Lovely clean fruit.

E.V.T. 51 Riesling
Richer denser earthier and more concentrated. More weight and viscosity from higher residual sugar. Generous fruit, stone more than citrus.

Dolcetto 2011
Very light in colour, subtle aromatics, ripe fresh dark berries. Light fresh easy drinking, pleasant table wine but a touch thin in the mid palate.

Old Vine Pinot Meunier 2011
Extremely savoury meaty earthy ripe Indian spice. Silky elegant but consistent with the aromatics. A singular wine without parallel.

Bin 1 Shiraz 2012
Dark cassis very subtle, ruby red fruits. Excellent balance, well contained, slightly maderised fruit, on the fresh yet jammy side.

Bin 0 Shiraz 2010
Settled down, exceptionally long, a little retired for now, will develop exceptionally. Great wine from a great vintage.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Very dark and lacking focus, a little too juby and fruity. A touch dirty and burnt, but not too heavy or hot. Pleasant but fairly varietal in nature.

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August 21, 2013 · 10:19 pm

Vinteloper – 21/08/2013

David Bowley gave up his day job. When you meet him you’ll understand what that was. Suffice to say he is very very tall. Whilst pursuing this career he worked for a number of years for Wine Australia in a technical role which meant he got the chance to see a lot of vineyards in regions around Adelaide, his home town. Back in 2009 he decided to start making his own wines from key varietals in four regions. The wines are made in multiple locations, including at the Waite campus of Adelaide University, and even an urban winery in Adelaide CBD. They are attempts to be limited-intervention expressions of variety site and vintage. With wines this good it’s exciting to think what they will be like in future vintages.

Watervale Riesling 2012
Bright tight lean and crisp. Really steely and focused, fresh pure, bright citrus acids. Mouth-puckeringly fresh.

Odeon Riesling 2010
A little more expressive but less vibrant. More mature structure and slightly earthy savoury complexity, building towards something.

Pinot Gris 2012
Tight focused crunchy quince. Quite a savoury edge to it, a nice structured palate, good weight without being fat or flabby.

Pinot Noir 2012
Very complex earthy Asian spice whole bunch character, mature fruit. Juicy and plump but light and fresh, a tad disjointed at the moment. Not all primary fruit.

Adelo 2012
Robust bold juicy warm but earthy dirty spice, not hot or heavy, well contained and excellent balance.

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August 21, 2013 · 10:04 pm

Knights Granite Hills – 20/08/2013

Riesling 2012
Lovely bright fresh floral sherbet citrus. Nice mid-palate weight and texture, a Riesling if actual personality.

Riesling 2005
Slightly more closed on the nose, protective state. Starting to show some oily texture, developing a little bit but still tight fresh and holding fruit.

Chardonnay 2012
Very delicate crisp citrus pith. Nice clean pure bright fruit, not much oak or malo character, just beautiful bright fruit.

Tor Chardonnay 2009
Very quite subdued lees derived complexity, very delicate toast. Quite robust and rich, tight bold and a little brooding smoky for now.

Pinot Noir 2010
Black cherry, a little too simple, lacking finesse/structure. Earthy.

Tor Pinot Noir 2009
Darker sweeter black fruits, generous earthy but not aggressive. For the style is exceptional, soft yet robust, dark yet fresh.

The Gordon Cabernet blend 2007
Tighter jubier cassis florals. Core of earthy dark fruit, perfect sweet spot.

Shiraz 2006
Dark olive, blackberry, a little hot and tannic, possibly from oak, surprisingly dark for the region. On the warm and sweet side.

Tor Syrah 2006
More perfumed aromatically vibrant, sweet black pepper. Bright fresh vibrant on the palate, expressive generous tannic but rounder and softer tannins.

Winemaker Llew talks about his wines

Winemaker Llew talks about his wines

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August 21, 2013 · 8:05 pm

Domaine Epis – 20/08/2013

Rosé 2013
Quite intense robust, a little tight and reductive, good juicy red fruit. Robust red cherry strawberry, good length, done bright cherry tomato, some savoury texture too.

Chardonnay 2012
Pure flinty round ripe citrus notes. Dense concentrated quite earthy rich yeasty texture, fairly savoury but light restrained.

Chardonnay 2011
Riper rubenesque cheesy tight focused. Round generous not heavy or fat but broad.

Pinot Noir 2012
An interesting spice cardamon clove turmeric herb note, tight dark fruits. In character somewhere between syrah and pinot noir. Very light and bright.

Cabernet 2010
Lean tight bright. A touch underripe. Region not right for the variety/style in my humble opinion.

Domaine Epis wines

Domaine Epis wines

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