Tag Archives: Australia

March 16, 2013 · 3:18 am

Mornington Peninsula – 10/3/2013

When I was young my grandparents owned a holiday house that our family made use of at least twice a year, particularly during summer. The house was pretty old, the beds weren’t very comfortable and worst of all there was no television. In spite of this I always looked forward to holidays there. The house was in Rye on the Mornington Peninsula between Rosebud and Sorrento, and I have fond memories of beaching, fish & chips and the summer carnival. They sold the house when I was in my early teens and suddenly there was a hole in my heart where those experiences used to be. Once I became interested in wine that hole was filled in a different way when I discovered it as a wine region. Over the years I was introduced to many other wines and regions in Australia, especially in the Yarra Valley where I worked for quite a while, but Mornington always remained my favourite region in Australia. So it seems fitting that the first region I visited since my return was to the Mornington Peninsula.

At Main Ridge Estate, my favourite producer in the world

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March 10, 2013 · 9:23 pm

Eldridge Estate – 10/03/2013

Chardonnay 2010
Bright citrus melon peach, clean leesy ripeness. Tight dense ripeness, not warm or heavy. No malo character, heavier texture. Varietal.

DRL 2011 (50/50 Pinot gamay)
Quite pale in colour. Nice slightly spicy red fruit nose. Quite savoury in character, spice rosemary and bright red fruits. All on the front food wine, pleasant and most importantly different.

Gamay 2011
A little darker in fruit, a sharpness on the shoes, pomegranate turnips, medicine(?). Full yet fresh and bright, nice extension of fruit on the palate, round soft tannins, plenty of spice to it.

Pinot Noir 2010
Nice dark fruit with some good mature stalk elements. Very tight on the palate, focused linear, a product of location, focused and fresh, dense fruit.

MV6 Pinot Noir 2010
Soft pure quiet, focused dark cherry notes. Dark soft round but building on the palate, very late dark sweet spice savoury edge. Tight acids.

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March 10, 2013 · 11:49 am

Ocean Eight – 10/03/2013

Pinot Gris 2011
Piercing sharpness, very citric. Lovely soft unctuous texture, good warmth, a little savoury oiliness, really good integration.

Verve Chardonnay 2010
Soft rich slightly creamy almost floral notes, hints of lees. Focused sharp bright, a little green, clean and solid acidity with some minerality to boot.

Pinot Noir 2010
Soft clean nice savoury red fruits. Pure fresh focused acids, supple yet tight and brisk tannins, a sharpness that will soften with some age.

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March 10, 2013 · 11:15 am

Yabby Lake – 10/03/2013

Red Claw Pinot Gris 2011
Very light and thin on the nose. Solid balanced textured yet fresh. Looking a bit tired though.

Single Vineyard Pinot Gris 2012
Blossomy honeyed lychee peach notes. Warmer fuller mouth feel, Moore concentration of fruit, lacking in acidity somewhat.

Red Claw Chardonnay 2010
Clean light fresh citrus, not much else. Dense warm fruit, nice and clean from malo oak and lees, nice and ripe with good concentration.

Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2011
Much bolder and riper on the nose, a little leesy and curdy. Dense texture and phenolics, little green and lacking in depth, worked in terms of lees and oak, Mornington Chardonnay has changed.

Red Claw Pinot Noir 2011
Bold vibrant fruit nose, a tad reductive, a little savoury. Hot and reductive, not aggressive or hot but forward and bold.

Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010
Quite closed and young at the moment, very solid though, tight and focused ripe red fruits. Full balanced and soft, silky tannins, well structured with exceptional length.

Block 6 Pinot Noir 2010
Amazing purity. Soft supple and slightly spicy, gentle extraction but really builds on the palate travelling back. Extraordinarily young.

Block 2 Pinot Noir 2010
Denser and more concentrated. Much warmer and more tannic, a little aggressive for now. Needs a lot more time.

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March 10, 2013 · 10:59 am

Main Ridge – 10/03/2013

Chardonnay 2010
Bright mineralic crisp flinty and citrusy. Lovely texture, very supple, focused fresh and intense, wonderful balance, integrated oak and alcohol.

Chardonnay 2008
Showing a little more richness depth and lees character. Fuller rounder and riper, a lot more character, excellent flavour and texture maturity.

The Acre Pinot Noir 2010
Light bright but not at all varietal. Tight lean and focused. Wonderfully delicate fruit, supple and long tannins, wonderfully balanced alcohol.

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February 22, 2013 · 6:21 am

February tastings

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 1998
Subtle dried coconut, lemon butter, creamy oily nuts. Subtle rich and creamy texture, oily and dense. Soft mid palate, exceptionally long.

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 1998

Cloudy Bay Late Harvest Riesling 2004
Very oily and keroseney, kumquat quince and orange blossom. A little closed flat and thin, creamy oily lanolin, lemon butter.

Cloudy Bay Late Harvest Riesling 2004

Josef Chromy Pinot Gris 2012
Light crisp and spicy on the nose, a little orange rind and cinnamon. Full oily and a little sweet, warmish and a little aggressive, not enough fruit to support the weight.

Josef Chromy Pinot Gris 2012

Teusner ‘The Empress’ Riesling 2011 (Eden Valley)
Lovely crisp fresh citrussy lime and lemon, hints of white peach and green apples, slight flicks of minerality. Very vibrant fruit, juicy and full, bold in flavour and lacking in zingy acids compared to European examples, nice breadth and extension on the palate.

Teusner The Empress Eden Valley Riesling 2011

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March 9, 2012 · 8:57 am

Prowein 2012, aka "The Business" – Dusseldorf, Germany

I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a Wine Trade Fair virgin. Way down in Australia we don’t have anything like this as it is not a big enough market for such a trade fair, and most of the market is dominated by six wine companies. The closest thing we have is individual distributors inviting their producers to show new release wines either once a year or every other year. Having visited Prowein 2012 I can say that this is preferable, as there are far less producers to see and I am familiar with them all. There is also the fact that I know many other attendees and can chat about the wines with them. Attending Prowein is a little bit like the edible room scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except in that scene they knew what everything was and what they wanted to taste. I spent most of my time wandering around not knowing many of the producers and not knowing which were good enough to visit. It is amazing to see all of these big bright shiny stands, and the layout is generally clear and makes sense. There are a lot of stands for negociants and importers, so you sometimes stumble on Australian wines in the German hall, or French wines in the Spanish hall.

Shiny Prowein 2012

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September 22, 2011 · 10:22 pm

Voyager Estate Benchmarking Masterclass and More

Although I have now finished at King & Godfree and am frantically making final preparations for my trip, I am still making time to head out to some trade activity around Melbourne. It’s good to get out and try some wines before I go as it will be awhile before I drink Australian wines again. It’s kind of why I’m spending time in South Australia around my graduation ceremony in Adelaide next week. Not having visited the Barossa or the Clare I thought it pertinent considering I am about to travel around the world! Posts will follow about the jaunt next week (assuming I have time before I go).

Decant, decant, decant

Decant, decant, decant

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August 22, 2011 · 11:26 am

Is this the most exciting winemaker in Australia?

I think it is only fitting that my first official wine post be about a producer in my spiritual wine home – the Yarra Valley – as I started my wine career working in the cellar door at Chandon before moving into the marketing department. Having worked in the region for over three years and driven over most of it, this was pretty interesting… On the 15th of this month I was lucky enough to be invited to a day exploring the Mac Forbes stomping ground, including a harrowing micro-flight over the region to see each of the many vineyards he sources from. It’s been awhile since I suffered motion sickness – as a child I couldn’t be in a car for more than 4 hours without throwing up – but this flight certainly brought something back up (pun intended, though not literally thank god!) Whilst it was extremely interesting to see the extent and diversity of this misunderstood region from such a height, I struggled with the turbulence and was pretty quiet for the second half of the flight, glad to be back on solid ground once we landed. The helicopter  flight above the McLaren Vale a few months ago was slightly more relaxing.

Quite a view from high above the valley

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