Author Archives: Julian Coldrey

Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling 2004

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An instantly aromatic wine — one of those that fills its immediate vicinity with smells a few seconds after being poured. There are flowers and citrus zest and all manner of high toned things. Once this aspect of the wine settles, though, nascent bottle aged characters emerge and it is these that form the backbone of the wine’s aroma. Although just beginning its journey, this wine seems to be approaching maturity with determined elegance. There’s no disjointedness to the aroma. Rather, a layer of intense citrus fruit dovetails neatly into hints of toast and beeswax. It’s all quite seamless, surprisingly so for a wine that isn’t yet released to the market. I hesitate a little here because there’s also a slightly blunt character to the aroma profile, a lack of light and shade that, I hope, will appear with more time in bottle.

An explosion of intensity on the palate. I love Rieslings like this — they sneak up on you and smack your palate with intense fruit flavour and you know all you’re tasting is pure, terroir-driven fruit. Cool and sharp on entry, there’s plenty of acidity and structure without in any way overwhelming the fruit. This means flavour registers quite early on the tongue, straight away really, and zips down a straight line to the middle palate. There’s lime juice and fine honey and the most shapely cut of minerality one might wish for in an Eden Valley Riesling. Very impressive. Everything seems in its place and the flavour profile shows good detail. A lovely waxy mouthfeel accompanies more citrus on the after palate, and this smooth sophistication carries the wine through to an impressively long finish.
Sure, it’s still a young wine, and its best days are certainly ahead of it, but it’s bloody enjoyable now too. One to buy in multiples and sample every couple of years. A beautiful dry Aussie Riesling.

Domaine Robert Sirugue Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes 2006

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Wine, for me, has been an acquired taste, or rather a series of acquired tastes that continue to accumulate the more I drink. Funny thing is, an acquired taste can be the most stubborn, displacing attractions that, at first, feel easier and more natural. So it is with Pinot Noir in general, and Burgundy in particular. I’m far from the most erudite taster, yet my first smell of this wine had the same effect as (for me) the smell of a Hunter Semillon, or a Coonawarra Cabernet. In other words, at least at first, the recognition of something familiar has as much to do with one’s pleasure as the absolute quality of the aroma. The accumulated experience of tasting makes the smell of this wine the summation of all the Pinots I’ve smelled. It is most curious to me, and something I’d like to explore further. If only I knew where to start.

There’s a burst of flowers, bright red fruits, vegetal funk, dusty vanilla oak and some volatility on the nose, and it all strikes me as absolutely varietal. There’s another layer too, deeper and quite meaty with denser berry fruit. Altogether complex and cutting as an aroma profile. I keep sniffing this wine and getting more out of it.

Shottesbrooke Eliza Shiraz 2006

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This is Shottesbrooke’s premium Shiraz label.

Dusty Dutch cocoa and vanilla essence before all else, but with a deep vein of dark, savoury fruit running underneath. There’s real sophistication and complexity here, with bursts of licorice and spice adding detail to the aroma profile. It seems quite woody; happily, the oak is well matched to the fruit character.

In the mouth, a slow attack gives way to a rush of dense fruit flavour towards the middle palate. Quite a lot happening amidst the medium to full bodied palate, and it’s cleaner in flavour profile than the dusty nose suggests. A nice burst of dark, glossy and straightforward berry fruit defies the oak treatment and proves the latter isn’t, in fact, overdone. On the after palate, a seriously attractive lift carries berry fruit flavour right up into the back of the mouth, along with some vanilla that resonates through the lengthy, warm, cocoa finish.

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2007

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It’s especially satisfying to follow a label over time and observe how it varies with each vintage. Sometimes an especially good vintage will show extra depth, or unusual complexity, or a particularly intense perfume, all the while retaining an essential consistency with its siblings. There’s no doubt this is an excellent Hilltops, and it shows the trademark fruit density and character that I look forward to every year. But there’s a powerful something “extra” in this release — an almost flamboyant spiciness that is present both on the nose and palate — that has me smiling tonight.

Smelling this wine is like inhaling the potpourri jar on the coffee table in front of your grandmother’s overstuffed, slightly faded floral lounge. I trust that experience isn’t unique to me.

Langhorne Creek Area Red Blend 2003

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Only this afternoon I was listening to Max Allen’s Crush podcasts, which briefly discuss various Australian wine regions in Mr Allen’s typically fanciful style. The episode on Langhorne Creek discusses at some length the relative invisibility of this South Australian region, although plantings there are extensive. Fortuitously, I came across this wine when rummaging through the “cellar” at home. Not only is it a Langhorne Creek wine, but (according to the back label, anyway) is made expressly to showcase the region’s qualities. “Created” by Cellarmasters but made at Bleasdale, the wine was assembled from several growers’ grapes;

Kalgan River Riesling 2007

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Forever the underdog is Riesling, at least in Australia. In a way, though, it parallels our most successful grape, Shiraz, in its diversity of regional expressions. Within the generally dry style in which it is made here, there is a range of worthwhile variations across the country. Most enthusiasts have added (at least) Tasmania, Canberra and Great Southern to the Clare and Eden Valleys as regions of note for Riesling. In this case, we have a Great Southern example from the 2007 vintage.

A nose that is all about citrus flowers and talc sprinkled on a bowl of more tropical fruit. This latter, richer aspect takes a while to emerge from an aroma that, at first, seems typically austere and very much of the region. It’s one of the things I like about Great Southern Riesling — it can be so uncompromising. 
This is definitely a softer expression of the grape, though,  and one that is confirmed on the palate. Here, notes of mandarin and paw paw-like fruit flow over a chalky mouthfeel and a structure that is very much about steely acidity. An interesting contrast, I suppose, although there’s something a little jarring about it too. Perhaps it’s a matter of balance; the fruit here lacks the sort of intensity to do the acid justice, so structurally the wine does overreach itself a little. However, the individual elements are attractive and the whole is refreshing and terribly easy to drink. The finish in particular is long and precise. 
As it sat in the glass, it seemed to tighten a little, and I found fascinating how this wine’s more generous fruit notes began to interact with its strongly textural mouthfeel. If it’s not quite coherent at this stage, the general style points in an intriguing direction.

Kalgan River
Price: $22
Closure: Stelvin

Jacob's Creek Reserve Merlot 2004

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There are a few notable Merlots on the local scene but I’d struggle to articulate (based on admittedly limited experience) what a regional Aussie Merlot should taste like. Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure; it certainly makes for unexpected, though often bland, tasting experiences.

This one is sourced from various regions in South Australia and forms part of the Reserve range of Jacob’s Creek wines. There’s often some pretty good value in this range and the wines are just that bit more “serious” than the standard label. In terms of aroma, there’s a lot of oak; the sort of hard, toasty, cedary oak that tends to mask easy fruit flavour. It’s very glamorous but kind of confronting too. Varietally, I’m getting some blueberry fruit but a wider, more dominant range of brambly notes. So, quite an austere aroma profile, really.
In the mouth, quite a hard, oak-driven wine. Maybe I’m being cynical but this wine feels built to a formula that is less about fruit character (and sympathetic treatment) and all about positioning. Quite a firm, powerful attack that showers the tongue with lean (not unripe) flavour and some underlying sweet berry fruit. The middle palate reveals this wine’s essential tension: a thread of firm oak runs alongside plush, quite attractive berry fruit and a hint of green olive. The oak character is akin to nutmeg that you haven’t yet grated. The flavours are large scale and very generous, but the whole feels disjointed, somehow, and unharmonious. Ripe tannins create a lovely texture that carries the wine through a somewhat hollow finish. A bit hot, perhaps, the wine finishing as it starts, with an essentially sappy, angular note that seems mostly oak-derived.
I’m not getting what I need from this wine. It’s extremely well made, clean and flavourful. But, for me, it is pretentious; its style is essentially mismatched to the underlying character of its fruit. I drank this wine with an outrageously inappropriate meal (Japanese curry) that, ironcally, tamed some of the savoury characters and allowed a softer, more feminine side to emerge. 

Jacob’s Creek
Price: $A16
Closure: Cork