Monthly Archives: November 2007

The Big Kahuna Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz NV

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On the nose, this wine is your basic generic bistro red, with a vague fruity flavor combined with an even vaguer wood-esque kind of smell (shavings? chips? powder? an unfortunate accident in a pallet manufacturing plant?), with a definite hint of sucrosité. The color’s a fresh, young purple; it looks rich, just like “real” wine.

In the mouth, the first thing that hits you is an overwhelmingly jammy-sweet, Smucker’s Grape Jelly flavor, with a strange, off-putting note of fake something there as well; on the run-out, acids take over for a second, and it all ends on a badly jumbled, utterly fake note that’s quite a disappointment.

On the other hand, compared to other wines in this price range, it isn’t really all that bad. Sure, it’s not particularly pleasant, and it doesn’t taste at all varietal, but if it were lightly chilled and served with a nice greasy pizza, it just might work.

The Big Kahuna [but really fresh&easy]
Price: US $1.99
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Kellerei Cantina Terlan Terlaner 2006

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This wine is a blend of 60% Pinot Blanc, 15% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Chardonnay, from the Alto Adige region of Italy. Unusual blend from an Australian perspective. Fermented in stainless steel and left on lees for six months, but with no lees stirring.

I served this a bit cold, so the nose wasn’t really able to express much when first poured. After some time in glass, the wine started to give off attractive, ripe fruit aromas and yeasty notes. The real action, though, is on the palate.

The wine’s entry is immediate and generously delivers bright flavours to the tongue, along with a nice dose of lively acidity. The middle palate sings with tasty fruit — citrus peel and pineapple and an almost overripe muskiness — underpinned and driven by really lovely acidity. Flavours drop off perhaps a little precipitously towards the after palate, but not entirely, so that a subtle echo of the wine’s flavour profile continues to ride the wine’s acid structure for a good amount of time on the finish.

I must say, I’m attracted to this wine very much. It’s not a wine of great sophistication, but it is generous and has a structure that is entirely complimentary to its flavour profile. Recommended.

Kellerei Cantina Terlan
Price: $A29
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2007

MonRedon Côtes du Rhône 2003

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Generic Côtes du Rhône reds can often make a nice change to the usual mid-week wines. Here’s one from the problematic 2003 vintage, coming in at the $A20 mark.

A transparent garnet, bright, attractive, with some signs of bricking at the rim. The nose is extroverted and fruit driven, if a bit simple. Bright, somewhat confected red fruits and floral notes are the dominant theme, with some  gamey, meaty characters adding complexity.

The entry is a little weak and it’s only on the middle palate that flavours really expand and become generous. The wine is medium to light bodied, again with bright, sweet and slightly confected fruit flavours. Mouthfeel is soft and easy, with enough structure to keep the wine from lapsing into flabbiness, but only just. Alcohol heat pokes out a bit. The after palate thins out fairly quickly, and the wine’s finish is not truncated, but neither is it remarkable.

This wine’s a bit middling in most respects, but it’s also flavourful and very easy to drink. Value for money is always a bit hard when it comes to wine, as it can be difficult to put a price on variety and difference. If you’re bored of local quaffers and would like a change, this certainly fits the bill at a reasonable price. In absolute quality terms, though, there are any number of local wines that beat the pants of this wine at the same price point.

Château Mont-Redon
Price: $A20
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2007

Ogio Primitivo 2006

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At first smell, this wine offered up sour black cherries and shoe leather, with a very small amount of mousiness (or is that honeysuckle?). Dark, dark purplish red in color, the wine is surprisingly light in the mouth for a Zinfandel, with simple black cherry fruit complicated by that same slightly off-putting animalistic character reminiscent of Brettanomyces (but is it? I can’t really tell). It seems sweeter than most zinfandels I’ve had before and definitely tends towards flabbiness. The finish is surprisingly long, but not particularly complex, ending on a sweet, raspberry Lip Smacker note. There’s a potentially appetizing sourness about this wine that seems distinctly Italian, but on the whole the sameness of every sip quickly grows tiresome.

Ogio (but really fresh&easy)
Price: US $3.99
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

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I was originally going to allow my native Californian out to whinge at great length about the, ahem, chutzpah of importing Italian zinfandel to California of all places given our state’s long history of quality Zinfandel wine production – and then I double-checked my receipt for this wine and dropped the idea. $3.99? Never mind. The best California zinfandel I’ve had in this price range (Three Thieves) ran $10 per liter, so this is a steal. It’s perhaps not correct (in that it’s frankly too sweet), but it has definite potential as an easy drinking party wine. Caution: may result in unintended pregnancy.

The Big Kahuna Chardonnay NV

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Extremely pale, flaxen color with an obviously watery rim. Slight aromas of pear and fresh sugar cane combined with a slight dustiness on the nose. In the mouth, medium bodied with slight residual sugar and a taste reminiscent of pineapple Jell-O, but with an attractive flatness there that is a subtle compliment to the bright tropical fruit (oak chips?). Thankfully, there’s a decent level of acidity that makes the slightly sweet finish more than acceptable.

Drink this puppy with spicy Asian noodle dishes or maybe even mole poblano – the sweetness and acidity should stand up just fine to any culinary onslaught you can think of.

The Big Kahuna (but really fresh&easy)
Price: US $1.98
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

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Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, entered the US market last week with the opening of their fresh&easy stores in southern California. The Big Kahuna is their low end entry-level wine brand, produced in Australia. It competes with Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw line, better known as Two Buck Chuck. The differences? The Big Kahuna is packaged in attractive bottles with well-printed labels and high quality screwcaps (as opposed to shabby, trailer park-appropriate bottles with low quality corks). Plus, what’s in the bottle could easily pass for [yellow tail] at a third the price. It’s well considered, decent quality wine that isn’t at all disappointing considering the price.

Most importantly, this wine strikes me as being right on target when it comes to American consumers’ taste preferences. It’s attractively packaged, keenly priced, and has enough residual sugar to keep its audience’s interest. My only complaint would be that it’s not an American wine – surely Tesco could source this sort of thing locally instead of hauling it up here from the Southern Hemisphere?

Clonakilla Riesling 2007

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The 2007 Clonakilla Riesling was made from non-Estate fruit, after Clonakilla’s own was lost to frost. Still Canberra region fruit, though.

Expressive nose that shows fruit blossom and juicier fruit aromas, framed by a powdery mineral edge. The entry is lively and delivers flavour quickly onto the middle palate, which is surprisingly dense and juicy, with more citrus, herb and mineral flavours. Acid is abundant and balanced, though is perhaps a little coarse (less so as the wine warms in the glass). A slight phenolic bitterness asserts itself as the wine progresses towards the after palate, building flavour intensity as it goes, and the wine’s finish is long. A small amount of residual sugar boosts body and helps the wine’s attractive and moderately complex flavours to assert themselves.

Part of me wished for the wine to have been made in an even less dry style, as the flavours respond well to the residual sugar that is there, and there’s certainly plenty of acidity to maintain balance. As it is, a lovely wine, enjoyable and well priced.

Clonakilla
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Ngeringa J.E. Chardonnay 2006

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Ngeringa is a new biodynamic producer located in the Adelaide Hills. This is the first of its wines I’ve tried. It won’t be the last.

Pale green/gold colour of exemplary clarity. Straight out of the bottle, the nose was moderately expressive and showed high quality fruit and equally high quality, though perhaps overabundant, oak, plus a hint of sulfur. A little while in glass allowed the wine to gain its true balance. Exceptional focus, good intensity and real complexity make this wine a pleasure to sniff over and over. Fruit flavour is squarely in the cool climate spectrum, showing typical grapefruit flavours, etc.

The entry prompts flavours to widen quickly and spread through the mouth, without losing focus or elegance. Mid-palate is marked by genuine intensity of flavour that leads seamlessly to an after palate of excellent persistence, flavours stubbornly clinging to the tongue. Finish is crisply acid-driven. Mouthfeel has a creamy dimension but not to the detriment of the wine’s structure or line. I love this wine for the character and intensity of its flavour. It is a wine of sophistication, and accompanied our chicken dinner well.

Ngeringa
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Malbec 2005

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I’ve had many enjoyable bottles of Bin 56 over the years, and I especially love how it develops with some bottle age.

Expressive, bright nose of jammy red fruit and oak. On entry, it’s apparent how intense and generous this wine’s fruit is. The mouth fills with sweet, jammy red fruit that tapers off just as assertive yet fine tannins emerge to dominate the finish. Despite the generosity of fruit flavour, the wine is of medium body and is, structurally, quite focused. At the moment, though, it’s all youthful arms and legs. With some time, I hope this wine will obtain balance between its elements and improve substantially.

Leasingham
Price: $A20
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 1996

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These were on special at cellar door a year or so back — apparently there’s an issue with sticking corks. No such problem last night; in fact, the cork came out a little too easily and was quite wet. There were signs of leakage under the capsule, so I was prepared for the worst.

I remember having a bottle of the 1995 Lovedale some years ago and finding it at an excellent stage of its development. Gloriously waxy mouthfeel, flavours of lanolin and honey, just gorgeous. What’s amazing about the 1996 is how relatively undeveloped it is, at over ten years of age.

On the nose, toasty notes betray some bottle age, along with hints of sweet honey, and that peculiar cork (as opposed to “corked”) flavour that a lot of aged Semillons have. Relatively reserved, but complex and beautiful. The wine’s entry sizzles with spritzy CO2 and leads to a focused mid-palate of delicious, complex flavours that echo the nose. More toast, caramel and delicate honeyed notes sit alongside residual signs of the wine’s youthful citrus flavours. It has the beginnings of that distinctive waxy mouthfeel that so pleased my palate with the 1995 wine. The wine’s sweet, aged flavours linger with satisfying persistence.

Acid, though, remains a defining feature of this wine’s structure and it is still a fairly dominant presence. I can only imagine what this wine was like as a youngster. I prefer to drink aged Semillons in the full flower of their maturity, and am eager to experience this wine again in a few years’ time, when the aged flavours will, I hope, display greater intensity and complexity.

McWilliams Mount Pleasant
Price: $A30
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2007