Author Archives: Julian Coldrey

Christophe Vaudoisey Bourgogne Rouge 2005

Posted on by
Reply

What with everyone carrying on about 2005 red Burgundy, it would be remiss of me not to contribute a few notes. I have here a selection of Burgs, nothing outrageously expensive, Bourgogne Rouge to 1er Cru, various appellations. I thought I’d start with a modest Bourgogne Rouge from producer Christophe Vaudoisey, who is based in Volnay. Pretty ruby/orange colour, lightish, transparent. It was a bit reticent on opening, but just a few minutes in the glass has seen its nose reach a more satisfying expressiveness. There’s a touch of rubbery smokiness that, for me, does not detract from the pretty florals and fresh crushed red berries that form the major notes here. There’s a sharpness to the aroma that is pleasing and clean. The entry is slippery and focused, if not immediately flavoursome. The middle palate is where things start to get interesting. Light to medium bodied, there are more fresh, astringent berry fruits along with an almost citrus-like sourness, some herbs, and sweet florals. Straightforward, not especially complex, perhaps slightly thin. Mouthfeel is heavily influenced by rough acidity that creates a rustic impression. Flavour intensity is at its greatest as the wine moves into the after palate, where a nice fruit sweetness frames the sour fruit and helps it to sing. The finish is really quite long and satisfying.For the price, this wine is a bit of a bargain. What you get is an honest, very drinkable wine that combines attractive flavours with a slighty chunky, fun mouthfeel that begs for food. It’s not complex but it has character and charm. A good alternative to local Pinots at this price point.Christophe VaudoiseyPrice: $A22Closure: CorkDate tasted: February 2008

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2006

Posted on by
Reply

Two steps up from the Windy Peak Pinot Noir is this number, made from Estate grapes in the Yarra Valley. The 2005 vintage was excellent, so I snapped this one up to try this evening. A bright ruby, transparent, moderate density. The nose is controlled and delivers a hit of red fruits, both sweet and savoury, plus some minerals, sap and oak. Some good complexity, and just a hint of prettiness. It smells astringent, somehow, and this impression is confirmed on the palate. This light to medium bodied wine enters the mouth with good impact, both acid and sour fruit flavour registering immediately on the tongue. Intense, fresh red fruits mix with sappy flavours on the middle palate, mostly savoury in character but with edges of sweetness, in the same way that some Chinese teas register a delightful sweetness at the very edges of their flavour profile. The wine is well textured, due mostly to its acid, which is assertive without being lumpy or disjointed. The after palate does thin a bit, riding a wave of acid towards a finish that persists with good length.The structure of this wine, especially its acidity, suggest it may drink better in a few years’ time, when it has attained better balance. For now, though, it is a fresh, sophisticated wine of good complexity and notable texture that will match well with food. We had ours with gourmet pizza, to good effect.Update: I left it overnight and revisited a glass the next morning (spitting of course). The fruit opened up a notch, revealing additional layers of rhubarb-like flavour, and there is a spicier, custardy dimension too. It’s still very tight and structured, though. There’s definitely some life in this wine.De BortoliPrice: $A25Closure: StelvinDate tasted: February 2008

Unison Selection 2005

Posted on by
Reply

The flagship wine from Unison Vineyards in New Zealand. As with the regular Unison, this wine is a blend of Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, proportions unspecified. A spicy, peppery, dried floral, clean-fruited nose that keeps shifting from under my feet (nostrils?). It’s a forthright. slightly lifted nose that promises intensity and dexterity in the mouth. Fruit is deep and complex, moving between shots of cassis, sweet raspberry liqueur and other goodness. Creamy, custard oak adds plushness. As it sits in the glass, high toned spice is giving way, partly at least, to fruit and oak. I love wines like this, constantly changing and revealing layers of complexity. The palate is initially a bit disorienting, in that it is perhaps less momentous than indicated by the nose. Once you adjust to the scale of it, though, it vibrates with fascinating flavours. Entry is tingly and acidic, signalling the other principal pleasure of this wine: texture. Intense fruit flavour registers soon thereafter, flowing to a medium to full bodied mid-palate of clean, complex fruit and spice. Coffee-ground oak is a fairly prominent flavour influence, and is somehow appropriate given the acidic, extracted nature of the mouthfeel. The after palate leaves behind any plushness of fruit and progresses to a more oak-driven savouriness that suggests some time in bottle may be beneficial. Finish is long, slightly sweet and a little aggressive. I wish I had more bottles of this. It’s a different wine from the Unison, although clearly emerging out of the same idea of “wine.” It’s a bigger wine in most ways, built to drink slowly and examine closely. I love it. Start drinking in about 5 years. Update: I’ve been following this wine for two days (unrefrigerated) and it has really opened up to become almost voluptuous. Great balance, the after palate and finish filling out nicely. No signs of the wine tiring yet. Unison VineyardsPrice: $NZ48Closure: DiamDate tasted: January 2008

Château de Montfaucon Baron Louis Côtes du Rhône 2004

Posted on by
3

I like a good Côtes du Rhône and, of all French wines, they are often the best QPR option if you are looking for something Old World to add variety to your choice of local quaffers. This one is an excellent example of the genre.Transparent ruby with purple edges, moderate density. The nose here is really interesting. It’s pretty but also rustic and savoury in character. Licorice allsorts, clean raspberry, dried herbs, pepper and earth wrapped in a subtle but enticing package. There’s a lot going on in here and it’s quite seamless and lightfooted. There’s good depth of flavour, which is increasing the longer the wine sits in glass, but it’s not a forbidding wine by any means. The other half suggested a bit of mould/wet hessian character that I wasn’t picking up. The entry has good impact, with flavour kicking in towards the front of the tongue and spreading sideways to coat generously. The mid-palate reveals a medium bodied wine of gentle acid and real generosity of flavour. Here’s a trick: the wine is full of flavour, yet balanced and easygoing too, with genuine complexity. Notes on the palate are very similar to the nose, with the red fruit asserting itself more prominently, and the pepper gaining impact via very fine yet drying tannins that kick in quite early on. There’s also a bit of coffee/vanilla oak that subtly supports the fruit flavour. The wine’s structure is nicely sorted, with the acid dovetailing into the tannins very elegantly and creating an excellent frame for the fruit. The after palate becomes progressively more spicy, and ends in a drying finish of good length. What a lovely wine. It’s exotic and reminds me of warm turned earth and flowers. We had this wine with barbecued meats and it was an excellent match. A very good value for what it is. It’s drinking well now but I’m going to leave the remaining bottles for a few years to see how the wine shows with softer, more integrated tannins.Château de MontfauconPrice: $A28Closure: CorkDate tasted: January 2008

Lindemans Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by
Reply

As I was handed a plastic picnic cup full of Verdelho yesterday, I reflected that not all wines are intended to demand the full attention of the drinker. A lot of wines are crafted and marketed for their lifestyle value. The new Lindemans “Early Harvest” range is a good example. From what I can tell, it’s the vinous equivalent of low carb beer, “30% less alcohol, 30% less calories” trumpeted proudly on the front label and through the back label text. Fair enough, I could stand to lose a kilo or ten, and I do enjoy lower alcohol wines for their practicality.Very pale green colour, good clarity. The nose is of adequate intensity and presents simple aromas of passionfruit, tropical florals and a bit of capsicum. Nothing challenging, but at least it smells of something pretty. On entry, two things become apparent: there’s not much acid, and the lower alcohol is presumably due, in part, to a moderate amount of residual sugar. These two factors create a rather flabby experience on the middle palate, the sugar propping up and adding body to the wine’s dilute aromatic fruit and slightly grassy flavour profile. The after palate slips away to an interesting, not entirely pleasant, chalky finish. I’m not sure the value in considering this wine in terms of absolute quality, as it will be chosen, I suspect, on the basis of its other attributes. Fair enough. Just don’t think about it too hard as you’re drinking. If this wine works well in the market, I wonder if it’s naive for me to suggest the time for quality off-dry Riesling styles could be near? I wish.LindemansPrice: $A14Closure: StelvinDate tasted: January 2008

Mike Press Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Posted on by
1

I tasted this wine a few months ago and it was a bit raw and disjointed. A little time has been kind, and this wine is showing better now. For anyone not attuned to the the value priced end of the market, Mike Press Wines is an Adelaide Hills producer and makes a range of very inexpensive wines from Estate grapes. Not only has a few months helped this wine to settle, but a few minutes (ok, a couple of hours) in the glass has also enhanced the attractiveness of its expression. At first, it was a little bright and aggressive in flavour. Towards the end of the bottle, its profile has deepened and gained richness. So do let it sit for a while, or decant if you wish. Once you have done so, you will observe aromas of deep, clean berry fruit along with Cabernet dustiness. There is perhaps the slightest hint of foliage in there too, though it’s not nearly as prominent as in some Cabernets. The nose is slightly reticent and lacking in impact, but what’s there is attractive.Entry is gentle without any great rush of flavour or structure. Rather, the wine slips to the middle palate and it is here that some real intensity of flavour registers. Round, ripe Cabernet fruit of good depth is the primary feature, assisted by a little stalkiness and some sappy notes, perhaps oak derived. The fruit has a simple, sweet dimension that verges on the confected for my taste, but it’s only an edge to the otherwise attractive fruit character. Acid is relatively prominent and provides freshness and a nicely textured layer to the otherwise slippery mouthfeel. Subtle chocolate and coffee notes become more prominent as the wine moves through the after palate towards a lightly drying finish. This is a cracking wine, and at the price it’s a no-brainer for weekday quaffing and more contemplative moments alike. It’s a particularly good food wine thanks to that acid. I’m not sure whether it’s the style of Cabernet I would choose to drink all the time, but if you like the style, I doubt you could find a better value wine.Mike Press WinesPrice: $A10Closure: StelvinDate tasted: January 2008

Picardy Shiraz 2005

Posted on by
Reply

Shiraz shiraz shiraz — it always amuses me to read accounts of Australian Shiraz as if it were a single, monolithic entity. If nothing else, the Hunter version will always be sitting out there on its own, stylistically. My point is that it can be misleading to talk about Australian Shiraz as a single wine style. Take this Picardy wine from the Pemberton region in Western Australia.


A transparent ruby colour, moderately deep. Striking nose that shows bright red cranberry-like fruit alongside pretty dried flowers (lavender) and peppery spice. The fruit is remarkable in that it mixes edges of intense sweetness with the sort of savoury character one encounters in dried fruit. It’s not very complex, but it is characterful and attractive. There’s a subtle undercurrent of vanilla oak.

The medium bodied palate shows a good continuity of flavour profile from the nose, but kicks it up to a slightly higher register. It’s bright, pretty and delicious. Entry is gentle but does deliver flavour quickly to the tongue. The mid-palate is full of more bright red fruit, and the floral/spice elements are more prominently balanced here than on the nose. As bright and high toned as it is, the wine’s palate shows an elegant smoothness that encourages drinking. There’s no harshness here, and it’s achieved through balance and harmony of flavour components. Acidity is present and supportive, yet very soft in character. Fine tannins are equally soft, and gently dry the acceptably long finish.

Wirra Wirra Church Block 2005

Posted on by
Reply

This wine’s full subtitle is “Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz – Merlot;” 47%, 35% and 18% respectively. 


Red-purple in colour, moderately dense. Nose bursts forth with sweet, ripe fruit of the blue and black variety. It’s very ripe, perhaps overripe for some tastes (there’s something almost spirity about it), but there’s no doubting how generous and up front is its flavour. There are also elements of spice and chocolate that squeeze in alongside all that fruit and add some savoury interest. The palate is dominated by more ripe fruit, quite sweet, and again perhaps too big for some tastes. Wines in this style succeed or fail almost entirely on the quality and interest of the fruit’s flavour profile and, in this wine’s favour, there’s at least some complexity of fruit character. But it’s unchallenging and, I suspect, designed for consumption without too much analysis. Acidity is soft and fine. Tannins prickle the finish but aren’t especially prominent or drying. Rather, still more fruit gushes through the after palate and sticks around for a little time on the finish. 

You have to admire a wine style that is so sure of what it is, even if it’s not entirely to your taste. We had this with dinner and it’s not a very food friendly style, lacking the structure to truly complement a meal. Instead, I would drink this on its own, perhaps even after dinner, to warm your insides and satisfy that craving for a McLaren Vale fruit bomb we all feel from time to time…
 
Price: $A21
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: January 2008


Tyrrell's Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon 2007

Posted on by
Reply

Is there anything more terminally daggy than the Semillon Chardonnay blend? Perhaps the mullet, but even that seems to enjoy periods of resurgent popularity. Which is a shame, because the mullet really does deserve a good, long rest. This wine, however, is bloody nice. According to the back label, the Chardonnay and Semillon were separately vinified, then blended prior to bottling.