Pernod-Ricard, who amongst other wineries own St Hugo, sent me some samples of three 2013 reds from Barossa Valley and Coonawarra fruit. Here are my impressions.
St Hugo 2013 Reds
Tag Archives: Red Wine
Let’s Taste – Yarra Yering 2006 wines
You may have heard me recently mention the re-birth of the Yarra Valley in the 1970s as a wine-producing region. Yarra Yering was in fact the first of these estates that was established in 1969, by Dr. Bailey Carrodus. When he passed away in 2008 the property was sold and has gone through somewhat of an evolution since then, whilst still retaining its core. These 2006 wines were purchased by myself while I was working in the Yarra Valley, and if I remember correctly it was after Dr. Carrodus passed away. I actually bought them well before they opened their cellar door, on their then annual open days. So I thought I would open them both, and talk about them. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Yarra Yering Pinot Noir & Dry Red No. 1 2006
May 11, 2016 · 1:45 pm
Let’s Taste – Port Phillip Estate 2005 Reserve Wines
Two wines from my cellar for this video tasting, that I bought from the cellar door many years ago. Port Phillip Estate, based on the Mornington Peninsula, opened a new facility in November 2009 that incorporated all their functions, including the cellar door. I bought these bottles from the previous cellar door just before the new one opened. At the time they were the top red wines (Morillon and Rimage), made from (respectively) pinot noir and syrah. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Port Phillip Estate Rimage & Morillon 2005
May 11, 2016 · 9:59 am
Let’s Taste – Sally’s Paddock 2012
Neill Robb, owner and founder of Sally’s Paddock Redbank Winery, was my guest on Episode 90 of The Vincast, my wine podcast. He talked about why he chose the site in the Pyrenees region of Victoria, and why he chose to plant the grape varieties he did. He generously brought me a bottle of the 2012 Sally’s Paddock, the top wine from the estate, and I was very excited to open it and share my experiences here on Let’s Taste. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, please like and subscribe!
Sally’s Paddock 2012
May 10, 2016 · 6:48 pm
Let’s Taste – d’Arenberg 2013 reds
Let’s make this clear, d’Arenberg Wines in McLaren Vale make more than a few products. Here are three of the best known red wines, all with a recommended retail price of $18, all from the 2013 vintage. let me know what you think in the comments below.
d’Arenberg The Custodian 2013
Filed under Tasting Notes, Videos
Domaine Catherine & Pierre Breton – an Intrepid Wine Tasting
Catherine & Pierre Breton farm 11 hectares of vines organically and biodynamically, just outside of Bourgeuil in the middle-Loire Valley. They produce Chinon & Bourgeuil wines from cabernet franc, and some Vouvray from chenin blanc as well. All the estate was founded in 1982, they introduced organic viticulture in 1991 and biodynamics in 1994. The wines are being imported by George McCullough Imports, who I bought these bottles from and am happy to share my notes.
La Dilettante Vouvray 2014
Creamy pithy melons leesy pear, quince tart, oxidative vanilla. Warm apple pie, some savoury custard notes, fresh but not crunchy, quite creamy in texture.
La Ritournelle Bourgueil Rosé 2014
Sharp stalky savoury celery tomato leaf herbs, raspberries. Brisk and tight, nice crunchy tannins, fresh and focused, compelling and delicious savoury rosé.
Avis de Vin Fort Bourgueil 2014 Clairet
On the funky side, raw wild stinky, very vibrant aromatically, sour plums, blackberries and middle eastern spices. Crunchy again, darker but lighter in style, some earthy black fruit expressions, a fresh but wild finish.
Nuits d’Ivresse Bourgueil 2013
Black olive tapenade, syrupy balsamic, black cherries, wild herbal notes, brambles. Crunchy fresh, dancing tannins, wild acids, oxidative savoury bitter almonds.
Les Perrieres Bourgueil 2011
Dark pomegranate blackberry sour blood plums, earthy undergrowth, sweet carob notes. Soft but tight, lithe light crunchy, broad and mellow on the back, very long, dense but lively.
Domaine Breton wines
Filed under Tasting Notes
Let’s Taste – Tahbilk 2013 reds
Tahbilk Winery in the Nagambie region of Victoria sent me samples of their 2013 Reds for my appraisal. You may have seen previous Let’s Taste episodes looking at Tahbilk wines, and you may have heard my episode of The Vincast with owner Alister Purbrick. If you haven’t, head to the Intrepid Wino website.
Tahbilk 2013 red wines
April 26, 2016 · 11:40 am
Let’s Taste – Yeringberg 2005
Yeringberg is one of the most historic viticultural sites in the Yarra Valley, and is also one of the oldest family owned wineries in Australia. The de Pury family have been in this part of Victoria since the 1860s, and have an incredible connection with their land, farming a number of different agricultural products. They make a number of outstanding wines, and the Yeringberg sits at the top. I opened the 2005 vintage from my cellar and shared my impressions, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Yeringberg 2005
April 26, 2016 · 10:29 am
Intrepid Winemaking 2016 Part Three – Pressing
Part three of The Sangiovese Project is all about pressing the two bins and transferring them into their vessels. If you haven’t already seen part one and two, I recommend watching them before this video.
Bin X of the Heathcote Sangiovese that was foot-stomped and plunged daily, took about 10 days to finish its fermentation on skins. The skins were quite broken down and plenty of colour had been leached into the wine. The original 500kg of grapes fit into one basket press, and produced just over 300 litres of wine. It settled in a tank for two nights then was transferred into a seven-year-old hogshead (300L) barrel for its elevage.
Bin Y was left as whole berries after de-stemming. It went through a mostly carbonic maceration, and was not handled until pressing. Any juice in the bin was fully fermented, but there was still a lot of juice inside intact berries that was not fermented yet. Pressing included two top ups of the press, as the berries took up much more space. The wine was darker and fruitier. It was transferred into a 300L stainless-steel tank and a 34L demijohn to finish fermentation, and it will stay there.
Please note that the memory card was full towards the end of pressing so I missed a bit.
I hope you enjoy this next part of my first winemaking journey, thanks again to Alex for the advice and the help processing the wine. If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments below.
Bin X Wine Cake
April 16, 2016 · 10:50 am
Let’s Taste – Le Timbre Syrah 2015 (magnum)
Good friend and wonderful Melbourne-based sommelier Jasmine Wakely is studying winemaking at Melbourne Polytechnic in Epping. In 2015 she made her first wine, a cool-climate syrah named Le Timbre. She only bottled the wine in magnums, and she generously gave me one to open here on the Intrepid Wino channel. Let me know what you think!
Le Timbre Syrah 2015
April 15, 2016 · 1:37 pm
The Intrepid Wino 