Holidays leave little time for blogging and, interestingly, for drinking too. However, a few items have been consumed along the way so far, brief impressions of which follow.

Continuing on my supermarket wine odyssey for a moment, I had a bottle of ASDA’s 2009 Montagne Saint-Emilion (£6) last night. there are precious few details on the bottle as to it provenance, but the wine itself turned out to be very drinkable, slightly simple and confected red fruit flavours forming an appropriately light layer atop a well balanced platform of acid and tannin. A really nice bistro-style wine that I could happily throw back by the carafe-full at lunch.

Rather more spectacular was a bottle of Morris Grant Liqueur Tokay NV ($A35). Morris’s house style is typically fuller and sweeter than other Rutherglen producers, and this wine was a powerhouse of coffee, tea-leaf and toffee flavours. Incredible length and drive, exciting intensity, complex flavours. Not the most elegant Tokay I’ve ever had but oh-so satisfying.&

I wasn’t, and am still not, sure what to make of a bottle of 2005 Glaetzer Godolphin (£30), more from a stylistic perspective than a quality one. There’s no doubt in my mind this is the wine it sets out to be, with gobs of dense fruit and oak on both nose and palate. The fruit’s character is typically Barossan too, with the kind of warm juiciness fans of this region will value highly. If it’s not my cup of tea, being a little garrulous and brutish as a style, then perhaps that’s simply my loss.

A few wines over the weekend; brief impressions follow.

Starting with the best of a decent bunch, a 2006 Crawford River Riesling totally wowed me on Friday evening. It’s ageing slowly and superbly; nuances of toast and honey starting to intrude on thrilling, precise citrus, floral and mineral flavours. In the mouth, a clean thrust of green apple acid and dry phenolic texture, not ultra-fine so much as perfectly rough. Surely this and Seppelt’s Drumborg label are all we need to proclaim Henty one of our very best regions for this most intellectual of white varietals.

A 1990 St Hugo Cabernet did not fare so well. The bottle was in good condition, and the nose promised heady aged characters, but I’m afraid to say that, for my taste, the oak has taken too prominent a role, unbalancing and ultimately overpowering what are correct, umami-infused aged Cabernet notes. It’s great oak for sure, there’s just too much of it at this point.

I found a glass of the 2008 Clyde Park Chardonnay provocative, if not totally convincing. It’s a heavily worked style, with funky aromas sitting alongside plenty of oak and tight Chardonnay fruit. In the mouth, complex and somewhat cacophonous. I have a soft spot for worked Chardonnay, but this seems to fall between stools; the fruit did not strike me as ideally suited to this treatment.

A 2008 Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz demonstrates the best and worst of a certain winemaking context (large company, large scale, quality end of the market). This is so well made and regional in character that on first sniff I was tempted to start waxing lyrical. Yet a few minutes with this wine reveals a level of calculated perfection that is, ultimately, unattractive. This is a fashion model of a wine; perfectly put together but kind of faceless and not half as interesting as someone with a few well-placed flaws. Still, very solid and, in a sense, critic-proof.

Lastly, the 2005 Zema Family Selection Cabernet. This is self-evidently a good wine, with powerful fruit and clean winemaking. So why wasn’t I bowled over? There’s something about the scale of this wine that seems outsize to me. The fruit is so ripe, the mouthfeel so full, the oak so present. Clearly, some will go nuts for this style, and in a different mood I might too. But I was eating a nice steak and wanting a Cabernet with structure and a measure of elegance. This was simply de trop. Perhaps as much my fault as the wine’s.

My life and this blog have not coincided as much as I would have liked over the past week, which isn’t to say I haven’t tasted some nice wines. It’s been more about enjoyment than critique, though, with no detailed notes taken. Hence, the following impressions are broadly evocative rather than precisely descriptive.

Mesh Riesling 2009 ($A30, retail)

One of those astonishingly austere Rieslings we do so well in Australia. This is the archetypal dry Eden wine, completely focused and unswerving in its progression over the palate. Flavours at this stage are typically straightforward, mostly lemon-lime and flint on both the nose and palate. It lacks the floral lift one sometimes sees, expressing instead a sense of muscularity and power. Intense flavour and acidity in the mouth, this is almost too much to drink on its own. I’d pair it carefully with food now or just leave it alone for a decade.

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2008 ($A45, retail)

This label usually impresses me with its sense of poise and balance while still showing a fair bit of winemaking. At the very least, it proves Chardonnay doesn’t have to be either/or in character. This is a good M3, with plenty of tight white peach flesh and mealiness, nicely textured in the mouth and sensible in proportion. The oak is used exceptionally well, I think, adding some subtle spice and warmth (emotional, not physical) to the flavour profile. It just tastes very right and is immediately complex. This is the dinner party guest who manages to do and say all the right things. No need to wait for it to settle.

Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2006 ($A65, retail)

This, by contrast, isn’t ready to drink (without a good decant, anyway). Quality isn’t in question, though, and what impresses me most at this stage is the wine’s immediate, unforgiving power. It’s like a punch in the mouth with a feather, mixing light bodied styling with quite brutal acidity and a detailed, etched flavour profile of red fruits, cedar, sap and general pinosity. Fabulous length. Despite its muscularity, there’s something alluring and seductive about it too; feminine, but in an angular, slightly severe mode. I can’t quite pin it down, but I love it just the same, and smile at the thought of how it might fill out in time (say, four to five years). Fascinating wine.

A few more random tastings, on the whole very pleasant indeed. The first two were consumed at Brisbane’s 5th Element wine bar, which is not a bad place to soak up both the afternoon breeze and a few nice wines. Prices are as per the venue’s list – do the usual adjustment to determine approximate retail.
Flaxman Riesling 2008 ($A44, restaurant list)
Showing some nascent signs of bottle age (a bit of toast, mostly), this is a wonderfully gentle drink. Unlike the driven, juicy 2009, this wine is a laid back expression of Eden Valley Riesling, with pastel fruit colours and a precise presence in the mouth. This wine reminded me of feathers and clouds and everything that suggests delicate beauty. Will no doubt continue to age, but I’m glad I caught it as a relative youngster.
By Farr Saignee 2008 ($A44, restaurant list)
How interesting. In terms of how this wine drinks, as opposed to what it tastes like, it reminds me most strongly of Chardonnay. Like a worked Chardonnay style, this wine is all about texture, mouthfeel and presence. On the nose, creamy notes alongside fresh berries. There’s nothing overty fruity about this wine, though; rather, the berry notes present as evasive, almost hidden. The palate is full of winemaking in the most positive sense; it’s quite unexpected, blending a creamy, mealy mouthfeel and flavour with fresh fruit; all totally dry and well balanced. A really exciting style.
Kreglinger Vintage Brut 2003 ($A40, retail)
Had trouble with this one. I found this a heavy style, with a lumpen presence in the mouth and little of the fleet delicacy I enjoy with sparkling wine. It’s undeniably flavoursome, and the dosage seems more or less well-judged (perhaps a bit high for me). But it never takes flight through the middle palate, and seems to get stuck half way, the fruit being too broad to maintain movement and flow.

I’ve been slowly accumulating cheap red wines — mostly samples — so thought I’d sit down to a few this evening. In a sense, I enjoy the challenge of tasting inexpensive wines, as they prompt an adjustment not only of one’s expectations, but one’s understanding of the role of wine. I like to think the intent behind such wines is to add a bit of luxury to a weeknight meal, something that is too often a purely functional ritual of nourishment.

The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($A16.99, sample)

A few glasses consumed over the past few nights. Very casual drinking; vintages mostly, shamefully, not observed. The best of them was a small pour of Crawford River Nektar. I wouldn’t call this wine elegant, but it’s fascinating for its structure and flavour profile nonetheless. Opulent and perfumed on entry, it proceeds down a sweet path before a range of crystalline flavours fan out through the middle palate. It then turns wonderfully dry, flinty almost, and quite textured through the after palate and finish. Very refreshing, complex and flavoursome, and quite excellent with tiramisu.
By contrast, a glass of the Dal Zotto Arneis seemeda bit tired. Still crunchy and relatively crisp thanks to some bouncy acidity, the flavour profile nonetheless came across as ever so slightly oxidised. Perhaps the bottle had been sitting out a while. There was enough here, though, to suggest a pleasant, full-flavoured white in the right circumstances.
From Gippsland comes the 2008 Narkoojee Pinot Noir. Pinot’s one of those varietals that, to my taste, doesn’t wear a confectionary flavour profile well, seeming to cheapen quickly. This treads a fine line, with a robust, quite characterful entry turning to simpler, rounder boiled lollies through the mid-palate, though it retains a pleasant rusticity to the end. There’s enough complexity here to sustain some interest but, unlike a few years ago, my expectations at this price point ($20 retail) have risen to desire a level of finesse not present here.

Frog Rock Rosé 2009 ($A15, sample)

A Mudgee rosé made from Merlot. Alas, not my preferred style of rosé. The nose is quite restrained, with muted aromas of dried cranberries, undergrowth and sweet basil, curiously attractive but lacking the level of expressiveness I would have liked to see. In the mouth, I’m not convinced by the balance of residual sugar and intensity, the former being too high and the latter too low. The acid also seems restrained, such that I find this wine lacks the essential quality of refreshment I seek in a rosé. The back palate is a little dryer than the mid-palate, which seems to tighten the latter part of the wine’s line to good effect.

I’m not sure if I’ve been let down by the wine or my expectations of it; it’s certainly clean and would no doubt taste good at cellar door after a hard day’s sampling.

Tahbilk Chardonnay 2008 ($A15, sample)

Fruit seems on the riper side, with a nose of Golden Queen peaches and a savoury, almost minerally, note too. It’s pretty rich and nostril-filling, if not overly refined. That savouriness translates on the palate as a steely, slightly hard acidity that seems at odds with what is quite plush stonefruit. If the two halves never quite meet in the middle, they nevertheless achieve a wine of decent flavour and refreshment. In particular, the wine moves quite briskly through the mouth, retaining liveliness while offering decent weight and generosity too. I’m liking this more and more as it sits in the glass. A bit jingly jangly, but in the end not bad at all.

Charles Melton Nine Popes 1996 ($NA, retail)

After a moment of mustiness passes, masses of tobacco and sweet, pure fruit. Indeed, this seems to be drinking well at the moment. I last had a bottle of this over two years ago, and at the time I remember thinking it still relatively primary in some respects. And although there’s plenty of fruit left, the wine seems more resolved than at last tasting, with a cleaner mouthfeel and greater complexity. Lots of savouriness whirls around that core of brilliant red fruit which, while simple on its own terms, is a nice foil to leather-like bottle age and general maturity. Very enjoyable.

Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2005 ($NA, gift)

Wow, a big mouthful of complex Pinot. This wine has a lot of impact and is a dense, chewy expression of the variety. A fair bit of chocolate oak, but the fruit’s character and intensity make the wine, showing a range of moods from mineral and sous-bois through to dense plum. So it’s not the most subtle wine; sometimes, a big smack in the face is exactly what I need. Quite a masculine style while retaining sufficient Pinot elegance throughout. Yum.