Why the hell not?
White Box Heathcote Shiraz 2006
White Box apparently refers to a particular variety of eucalypt that exists in some numbers on the vineyard property. Being a design geek, I can’t help but reflect the label, far from encapsulating a “down home” environmental message, is stuck in a characterless aesthetic that would feel more at home on a Web site circa 1999. Am I the only person who thinks this?
Thomas Braemore Semillon 2008
There have been some exciting write-ups of this wine in the blogosphere and, because I require only the slightest excuse to invest in Hunter Semillon, I ordered a few right away. This is my first bottle. The aroma shows citrus blossom, hay, wax and soap. It combines delicacy and a sense of considerable weight. There’s an underlying complexity of flavour that is unusual in young Hunter Semillon in the austere mode and, though it merely lurks in the background, this detail makes it a challenging wine to untangle. In the mouth, an explosion of acidity backed by considerable palate weight. It’s all very dry — in a chalky, minerally sort of way — creating an impression of high toned, detailed fruit flavours. There’s really good thrust through the palate, the wine almost leaping onto the middle of the tongue. With young Hunter Semillon, it can be revealing to taste one slowly, straight from the fridge through to room temperature. This one, for example, avoids becoming fat or flabby, and retains its essential character as it warms, but adds an extra dimension of power and nuance, even a little fruit sweetness, and a slippery edge to the mouthfeel. The whole remains firm and shapely, though. Impressively, persistently long.To my taste, this is definitely one for the long haul, and I’m glad I have a few stashed away. I’ll be trying this again in about five years’ time. If you’re drinking it now, do as I did and try it with something moderately greasy like a potato, bacon and onion tart.Update: on day two, all the elements are amplified, with very intense citrus flavours, a greater sense of weight and finer acidity. This is pure quality. I suspect its mouthfeel in particular will develop beautifully with time.Thomas Wines
Price: A$25
Closure: Stelvin
Swedish Hill Cabernet Franc-Lemberger 2006
Noticeably light when poured, this wine doesn’t offer up much in the way of anything to smell other than suggestions of tomato leaf. Taste-wise it’s a real dog, with unpleasant, leafy, green, underripe flavors leading to a flat, almost sour, disappointing finish; with aeration, it improves somewhat to offer up something like a synthetic cassia and wild strawberry combination, but it’s still just not quite there.Let me at least praise the winemakers’ decision to leave well enough alone and not drown this wine in residual sugar; it is decidedly dry in and could be passed off as a lesser Loire red in a pinch. However, it doesn’t strike me as possessing any sense of place or even much of a reason for existing: at sixteen bucks a bottle, this wine is redonkulously overpriced. If you’re going to spend this much on wine, might as well get two bottles of Washington lemberger instead (which tends to be much more enjoyable thanks to the warmer climate) or an actual Loire wine (which at least will probably have some minerality and perfume there as well). I really, really don’t see the point of this wine at all – at least not at this price point.Swedish Hill
Price: $16
Closure: Cork
Two Georgians Tsinandali 2004
This wine smells like overripe pears and heavy white flowers. There’s a somewhat overwrought perfume here reminiscent of cheap floral perfumes dusty from neglect, stashed behind the counter of a small town drugstore. There’s almost a slight citral note here, too, but ultimately what is there isn’t there for long; this wine doesn’t smell fresh or old, just reticent.Somewhat medium bodied in the mouth, the entry of the wine is unremarkable, but blossoms strangely into something resembling a weak tisane of elderflowers and mint. It’s all tinged by what I’ll describe as the taste of cheapness: it’s got that strange, overcropped feel you get in developing countries that have yet to rejoin the world of modern winemaking techniques. It reminds me of cheap Slovene wines or indifferent mass-produced French ones.There’s good, well-judged supporting acidity on the finish, and the flavor – such as it is – does linger for a while. Ultimately, this seems to be a case of wasted potential; everything here could be good given reduced vineyard yields, but someone went for quantity, not quality, and what we’re left with is a bottle of wine that’s good enough to make me sad for what could have been, but nothing more than that.
Yahhr Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
I’ve previously reflected on varietal correctness and how, ultimately, a specific
Domaine Chandon Carneros Chardonnay 2005
At first glance, this wine should be roughly the same as the Gloria Ferrer from last week. Both wines cost $14, both wines are from Los Carneros AVA, and both wines are produced by European companies that have a fair amount of history between them (at least in terms of producing sparkling wines).In the glass, everything seems to be the same as last week: this is a very bright, polished wine in the glass, if slightly more pale and less green than the Gloria Ferrer. Thankfully, there was no cork involved, so opening the bottle was a cinch… but I find I’m regretting it.The nose is basically stale movie butter popcorn with just a skosh of floor wax. There’s also just a hint of fresh green apple as well as a musty oakiness lurking around the corners; it smells just a little bit tired and more than a little bit boring.In the mouth, I can’t decide if this just tastes like flat sparkling wine (yuck) or a McDonalds-style sweetened My First Wine type product produced especially for the now-failed wine attraction at Disney’s California Adventure. It’s, well, gross: the sugars hang around in an irritating, louche manner better suited to Jean-Paul Belmondo than the bright California sun. Flavors are not overtly complex; a good jug of Odwalla organic orange juice is more interesting in terms of flavor profile. Worse yet, there’s a feckless whack of acidity that sneaks up on you at the very end of it; it all feels like you’ve just hired an inept hooker who just ran off with your wallet while you were still unlocking the hotel room door.I am not a fan. Avoid.Domaine Chandon
Price: $14
Closure: Stelvin
We are not amused
Nice one, guys!
Annie's Lane Copper Trail Shiraz Grenache Mourvèdre 2004
I was hoping for a robust, rustic Clare Valley red in the traditional mould, but what I’ve got in front of me is something quite different. There’s no shortage of flavour here. On the nose, a complex mix of eucalyptus, dark fruit, slightly sauvage vegetal notes and black pepper. It takes some teasing apart, and on first sniff I comprehensively failed to understand its nuances. I’m not sure whether I actually like the aroma profile, but there’s no denying its interest and complexity.