Author Archives: Julian Coldrey

Schafer-Frohlich Bockenauer Felseneck Dry Riesling 2007

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I bought a selection of 2007 German Rieslings the other day from Eurocentric and will taste my way through them over the coming weeks. This is the first, and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Lovely nose; what strikes one first is the richness of fruit, sort of tropical and apricot-like in equal measure, and sufficiently assertive that it initially masks the floral, mineral aspects of the aroma profile. Some more sniffing reveals the full extent of this wine’s complexity, which is quite impressive and very well balanced. Once it has time to settle in the glass, it’s simply a wall of quite luscious, detailed aromatics; something to sniff repeatedly for sure.
The palate is equally rich, without being especially intense. Again, the vibe here is balanced, a number of elements combining with good harmony. The entry is sharp and glossy, like a well-honed Wusthof knife, acid cutting a clear path to the middle palate. While the fruit is quite generous in flavour profile, with just a hint of apparent residual sweetness, it’s curiously restrained and allows space for a range of flavours of a more pebbly nature to share the stage. The acid is lovely; prominent and shapely, a bit grainy even, without feeling coarse or out of control. Honeysuckle and mineral flavours flow through the after palate, whisked along briskly by an acid structure that here, more than at any other point, contributes sourness to the flavour profile. Talc-like aromatics on the finish with a squeeze of grapefruit for good measure.
Delicious wine on its own, and an admirable partner to awesome fish and chips from a renowned corner store down the road. I feel rather spoiled on this Friday evening. Totally worth the dosh.

Schafer-Frohlich
Price: $A60
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Dowie Doole Tintookie Chenin Blanc 2008

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I believe this is due for release in late 2010, so I feel lucky to get a sneak preview of one of the few adventurously styled Chenin Blancs in Australia. The 2006 was impressive, even though its vibe seemed in some respects unresolved. Hence, I’m keen to understand how Dowie Doole, with its second Tintookie release, has evolved its idea of Australian Chenin style.

This has been made broadly in the same manner as its predecessor; picked early, barrel fermented, left on lees, etc. Yet the balance is subtly different. The nose is quiet and seems more Loire-like than the 2006: intense minerality and an ephemeral fruit character that seems a cross between stewed apple and something much pricklier. I’m not getting an overt oak influence in the aroma profile, which isn’t to say it’s not there. Indeed, there are wisps of vanilla and spice that combine well with the other aromas and seem subservient to them. Overall, the nose is far from exuberant; rather, it poses little questions and scatters clues in equal measure. Very curious and quite compelling.
The palate is a lot more assertive. My key criticism of the previous release was its forthright, slightly simple fruit presence on the middle palate, which seemed at odds with the sophisticated architecture around it. Pleasingly, this aspect of the 2008 seems better balanced. The entry is immediate and flavoursome, with tight, controlled citrus and apple flavours riding a lovely wave of fine acidity. The shapeliness of the attack is reflected in a mid-palate of excellent definition, where fruit and tantalising minerality are joined by oak and lees derived flavours. Even though it’s very young, the flavours seem well integrated; especially slick is the way the minerality seems to turn subliminally into spicy oak then back again, neither dominating the other. Texture is another highlight; the acidity is fine and even, and there’s a deliciously chalky mouthfeel through the back half of the palate. Excellent drive and continuity of line through the after palate, through to a finish that is impressively long. 
Lots of superlatives here; I’m probably biased, as this is my kind of wine. It’s exceptionally dry, no doubt too severe for some tastes, and would seem well prepared for bottle age. A clear step up from the first release, then, suggestive of both smart handling and a firm view on how Chenin ought to taste. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
Update: a couple of nights in the fridge and this wine is showing a lot more worked complexity, in line with receding acidity. It retains the grainy, lees derived flavour and palate texture on the back palate in particular, but the whole is softer, funkier and more expressive. A really interesting wine. 

Dowie Doole
Price: $NA
Closure: Diam
Source: Sample

Undurraga Reserva Chardonnay 2006

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This wine starts with an over-the-top slap of vanillan, spicy, smokey, sexy, fuck-me-that-smells-expensive oak that it never entirely sheds. But it works, and here’s a lesson in ostensible imbalance tasting delicious and right. 

Not to suggest it’s all oak; far from it. There are lovely Chardonnay fruit flavours in the lean yellow peach spectrum, ripe but very well controlled. The aroma treads a nice line between full-on, quality oak and quite assertive fruit, neither of which is rich or fat. Rather, there’s a nervy freshness to the nose that belies its constituent components; when was the last time you tasted a heavily oaked Chardonnay with peachy fruit that was shapely and taut? 
The palate shows more spicy oak, delicious really, plus fruit that shifts between white and yellow stonefruit, and a bit of cantaloupe for good measure. The flavours are well-integrated and the wine is not massively worked, which shows good winemaking judgement; there’s quite enough going here as it is. The middle palate is intense and hints at opulence before fine, integrated acidity whisks away any hint of flab or excess. There’s an appealing freshness through the after palate and lingering finish, which is impressive considering the gold wristwatch oak continues to assert itself here as throughout this wine’s line.
I had this wine with a robust, Vietnamese-ish salad and it stood up well to pungent flavours, including a very salty, acidic dressing. Excellent, if oak-dependent, winemaking, and a very tasty wine indeed. Good value too. Imported by Southern Cross Wine Merchants.

Undurraga
Price: $A23
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample

Ishtar Pinot Grigio 2008

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Yet another hot, humid Brisbane day. My little Queenslander is as open as it can be, windows gaping wide on every side in a rather futile attempt to catch the occasional wisp of breeze. Some liquid refreshment is surely in order. 

This is the first time I’ve seen a wine sealed with a Novatwist closure, which strikes me as a simultaneously downmarket and more user friendly version of the metal Stelvin closure. Certainly did the job here, in any case. I had this wine open last night but it proved disappointingly vague, so I whacked it back in the fridge for later tasting. This rest overnight has certainly improved things and I suspect in its likelier context — lunchtime, restaurant, probably al fresco — it will present to its greatest advantage immediately.

An attractive, straw-like colour, clear as a bell. The aroma is straightforward in a typically Pinot G way; it’s grapey and pear juice-like, with an attractive side of aromatic brown spice. One can’t expect an excess of complexity with this wine style (at this price point), and on that score this wine utterly lives up to expectations. It is, however, well balanced and clean, weighty enough but stopping short of love handles.
The palate shows a full, slippery mouthfeel alongside easygoing fruit flavour. Entry is fluffy and fun, with pale fruit flavours upstaged by the pumped up, viscous mouthfeel. The fruit never gains enormous intensity, settling for a watercolour expression of pear and spice, while the mouthfeel continues on its merry way, slipping and sliding across the tongue, underlined by just enough acidity to provide some shape. The after palate is quite fresh, with really well-judged phenolics roughing up the tongue and adding a twist of bitterness to the flavour profile. Soft finish.
Not bad really; it’s very well made and, while it doesn’t push the variety forward in any respect, should provide good drinking at many a Summer lunch.

Balthazar of the Barossa
Price: $A19.50
Closure: Other
Source: Sample

Domaine du Prieuré Savigny-les-Beaune Vieilles Vignes 2005

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I tasted this inexpensive red Burgundy a few months ago at a dinner party, and remember enjoying it. Last night, I had the opportunity to taste it at leisure, so am able to provide more concrete impressions.

Nice, savoury expression of Pinot Noir. The nose shows dark aromas of sous-bois and only a hint of the beetroot-rhubarb fruit that can dominate some New World Pinot styles. There’s perhaps a bit of rubbery reduction too, which blows off after some of air. As with a number of other wines I’ve tasted lately, I’m interested in the tension between sweet, seductive fruit and savouriness or even a degree of challenging funkiness. It seems an especially difficult thing to pull off successfully, but I like watching wines (and winemakers) try.
The palate seems quite resolved and approachable. It shows a similar balance of sweet and savoury to the nose, and is moderately intense. What I like most about it its sense of balance and easygoing drinkability, which it achieves without being at all simple. In fact, given its price and provenance, it’s surprisingly sophisticated, with well integrated flavours and a finely textural mouthfeel that helps it to cut through food (ok, take-away pizza) one may not naturally pair with this kind of wine. 
A very drinkable, well-priced Pinot, ready now. Quite sophisticated too.

Domaine du Prieuré
Price: $A25
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Collector Reserve Shiraz 2007

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I burned my mouth on soup today. Aside from causing me to wonder why on Earth I chose to drink hot soup on an almost-Summer Brisbane day, my tongue is now less than sensitive to the more subtle, textural nuances of this wine. I find the more I taste it, however, the more discerning I become (a fact not unique to this wine, or so it often seems).

It takes a few minutes to get going. On the nose, considerable complexity of spice-like notes overlaying rich, plummy fruit and sleek oak. Somehow, I’m reminded of modernist Californian residential architecture; think Richard Neutra. Clean, spatial and coherent, but with a sense of warmth missing from some harsher intepretations of the International style (and, in the vinous context, of cooler climate Shiraz). This is certainly well-formed and harmonious, and keeps getting better in the glass.

The palate is all class, showing a particularly compelling texture thanks to some bloody good tannins. Totally controlled on entry, dark plum fruit flavour leaps forward first, followed by a gush of spice and more of the cedar oak. It’s medium bodied at most, and presents as both delicate and confident. Everything comes together on the middle palate, which shows a unified flavour profile underlined by a blanket of sweet, ripe, powdery tannins. There’s also what seems to me like a thread of minerality running through the core of this that is fascinating. Fruit takes a liqueur-like turn through the after palate, and the finish is both dry and fruit-sweet at the same time.

Very Canberra, very classy. Just like me.

Collector
Price: $A46
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Shameless self-promotion #1

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The other day, the Courier Mail newspaper’s lovely food writer, Natascha Mirosch, asked Jeremy Pringle (of Wine Will Eat Itself) and I if we might provide a list of ten wines under $20 we thought to be suitable for consumption on Christmas day. As a normal, well-balanced person, I imagine Natascha was expecting a straightforward list plus, perhaps, a concise introduction.
Ah, but neither life, nor wine, is that simple. In response, we produced a dialogue fit to try anyone’s patience. To my great delight, Natascha has most generously published our missive in its entirety on her blog.
Jingle bells, jingle bells…

Simply Sunshine Red 2008

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The companion wine to Simply Sunshine’s White, and made in the same mould. The challenge, it seems to me, at this price point is to deliver something with a bit of character within the constraints imposed by production costs, margin and the presumed taste of consumers. With regard to the latter, I have a horror of wines that are cynical and hold their drinkers in contempt; this attitude is by no means limited to cheaper wines, either. 

There’s no doubt this red wine is, stylistically, in value mode, but what makes it interesting, and hence why I’m writing it up, is that it adds a bit extra to the mix that helps elevate it beyond the usual sub $A10 bottle. The nose is quite rich and plummy, with a whiff of the confectionary fruit character that, in excess, sinks some cheap wines. But it’s held in check by some unexpected aromas: turned earth, dark spice and the smell of plum skins that, together, add savouriness and complexity. 
The palate sticks to this pattern, sweet fruit certainly dominant, just falling short of cloying simplicity by an undercurrent of sophisticated savouriness and well-handled oak. A soft, subtle entry that takes a bit of time to get going. Fruit flavour builds at the top of the mouth towards a very generous middle palate. There’s quite a bit happening at this point; plum fruit, boiled lollies, vanilla oak, an undercurrent of crushed leaf and sweet earth. The balance, it should be said, is tilted firmly towards the first three flavours, but there’s enough of the latter to suggest loftier objectives. A subtle after palate and finish.
A well-made wine with plenty of flavour; I feel like an attempt has been made to pack in as much as possible at this price, including a bit of “real wine” sophistication. 

Simply Sunshine
Price: €5.45
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Offcuts

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Yelland & Papps Grenache Shiraz 2008 ($A19.95, sample)Although priced lower than most other wines in the Yelland & Papps range, I enjoyed this a great deal and feel its style is suited well to the sweet, plush fruit that went into it. It’s a wine designed purely for enjoyment, with luscious, dark fruit in the context of a smooth, easygoing structure. Not a hint of mass produced confection. This would be a nice house wine for pleasurable consumption on weekday evenings.
Clonakilla Semillion Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($A25, retail)As with the 2009 Riesling from this producer, a broader wine than usual, presumably a reflection of vintage conditions. The flavour profile itself is attractively fresh, with the sort of high toned, aromatic flavours typical of this blend. But underlining it all is a richness that seems lazy and fat, and out of place given the style. Certainly not unpleasant, and definitely well-made (as one might expect of this producer), but needs more incisiveness. Tahbilk Riesling 2009 ($A15, sample)I’m not intimately familiar with this label, in fact I believe this is the first Tahbilk Riesling I’ve tasted. Perhaps it’s a style thing, but I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t click with this wine at all. It’s certainly got plenty of flavour, yet the structure here seems coarse and phenolic on the palate, leading to a rough mouthfeel and excessive bitterness. Having said that, may improve with well-matched food that could smooth its rough edges. 

Balnaves Chardonnay 2008

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It’s interesting to note this wine’s up-market position in a range, indeed region, known almost exclusively for its red wines. At $A28 retail, it’s hardly bargain basement territory, and the label goes to some effort to impress the drinker with the care (hand picked!) taken here. 

The style is opulent, with fruit flavour in the yellow nectarine spectrum and no shortage of winemaker input. On the nose, rich aromas of ripe stonefruit and cream, soft cashew nuts and lightly smoked vanilla. Wannabe Chablis this is not, and for that I’m grateful, because it offers, instead of second-hand style, a balanced interpretation of heavyweight Chardonnay that seems to suit the character of the fruit. 
The palate is as expected, combining a similarly rich flavour profile with a slippery-slide mouthfeel and what appears to be a bit of alcohol heat too (label says 13% abv).  Nicely flavoursome entry, with subtle acid and a hint of minerality underlining nectarines that aren’t quite as squishy as on the nose. The middle palate is where it’s at, though, presenting a wash of quite complex flavour, including a decent contribution from spicy oak. There’s a bit of crème caramel too, cushioning the assertive fruit and oak elements. Things start to fall apart a bit through the after palate, as all that rich, bold flavour becomes too much for the wine’s architecture to contain. But it’s a pleasant sort of disintegration, leading to a long, quite powerful finish of peach tarte tatin. 
I’m wishing for a tad more minerality, structure and thrust through to the finish, which would make this wine’s voluminous flavour profile nimbler and more elegant. Still, it’s a solid wine and will be pleasing to those of you (like me) who enjoy bustier Chardonnay styles.

Balnaves
Price: $A28
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample