Category Archives: Red

Bonny Doon Vineyard Old Telegram 2001

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Walking along the Sacramento River delta when I was younger, I found myself in a town called Locke. Locke, founded by Chinese immigrants who’d largely come to build the Transcontinental Railroad, still exists today as a ramshackle mud-bound town, known for peanut-butter hamburgers at Al the Wop’s and the secret whispers of opium dens long, long disappeared.

One summer’s afternoon, when I was younger, I found myself there, sitting in the cooling shade, looking out over sugar beet fields to the east, smelling the sweet mud drying a ways from the bent-pipe irrigation mechanics. There’s a fleeting smell of rich soil drying in the Delta sun, and there’s some of that to this wine.

A loosely purple color that seems too bright, watery at the edges somehow, this wine doesn’t look right, but who stares at the color of wine unless they’re remembering that all good tasting notes have a description of that? Dusty cedar shavings, cassia left in the pantry far too long, and dried Cape Town sausage distract from the violet pastilles somewhere on the other side of the room, long forgotten in Maman’s boudoir.

Still rich in the mouth, there’s a quick burst of crimson sweet and then it’s gone, with a dusty warmth on the return. Paying proper attention, it’s actually a delicate progression typical of an older wine, from sweetmeats and damson through to hints of pipe tobacco, shoe leather, and the part of the library where they keep the incunabulae.

Delicious.

Bonny Doon Vineyard
Price: $30
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2008

Ònix Priorat 2001

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In 48 hours (hopefully), we’ll have elected a new President. In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to keep a low-level buzz going so that I don’t have to think about it too much (I voted last Tuesday and really, really wish it were all over with at this point).

Anyhow: on to this bottle of wine. Right off, it smells like a somewhat dirty raspberry compote. That is, raspberry fruit cup with something like low quality cinnamon (er, cassia, not cinnamon). It’s surprising in that this wine is (a) Spanish and (b) seven years old; of course, I’m not complaining.Medium weight in the mouth, to be frank I don’t taste much for acidity until the flavor peeks on in the finish here; it reminds me of Himbeergeist, which is a fancy German way of saying “grain spirit with raspberry flavor.”Did I say raspberry? Oh, I did? Sorry.

So: Raspberry, acid, raspberry. Raspberry. More raspberry. I’m not sure what else I’m getting here. Ah well. Pretty bottle, though.

Vinicola del Priorat
Price: about $12
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2008

Moorilla Estate Muse Series Pinot Noir 2006

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It’s impossible to discuss this wine without, in the first instance, referring to its packaging. It comes in a rather heavy Burgundy bottle that seems oversized even as oversized Burgundy bottles go. Imprinted on the the very dark label are artily photographed people in various states of nakedness, lounging over one another and generally behaving as if they’ve already had a generous dose of the bottle’s contents. There’s a little poem to get one in the Pinot mood, too. I’m all for creativity in packaging, but I admit I had trouble finding information about the producer and the wine itself on the label. Perhaps I’m missing the point.

Really bright red colour, quite pretty. Initially, a strong whiff of fine vanilla oak. My intial disappointment subsided as the wine developed clean, simple Pinot fruit aromas over the course of a couple of hours. It’s no powerhouse. Rather, it’s subtle, not especially striking, though certainly varietal, showing a kinship with the Central Otago flavour profile I’ve observed in some other Tasmanian Pinots. There’s also a nice amount of stinkiness that adds some interest.

In the mouth, some herb and spice to accompany the light fruit flavours. A fleeting, nimble palate that shows definite oak influence (vanilla/caramel in character) alongside the fruit. It all seems to be in balance, though again on the light side in terms of body and intensity. Quite a clean, lively mouthfeel, with enough acidity to create sourness and some texture. It’s all moderately distinctive while it lasts. There’s a hollowing out on the after palate, and the finish is quite long but also feels insubstantial. Chalky tannins, quite abundant, create dryness on the finish.

There’s no denying this is a lot of product for the money. It’s also an identifiably varietal Pinot Noir for under $A20, which until recently was a hard thing to find. Despite all this, I felt disappointed with the wine’s simplicity and lack of palate depth. What’s there is tasty and clean, but drinking it is like having a conversation with someone who is standing a hundred metres away — after a while, you tire of straining to hear, and simply stop listening.

Moorilla Estate
Price: $A17.95
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: October 2008

Tar & Roses Heathcote Shiraz 2007

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I bought this on the combined basis of a good write-up at the Wine Front site and my ongoing desire to spend less money on wine (it clocked in at a modest $15.20 at the local Dan Murphy’s). Ever in search of a bargain, we wine lovers. Let’s face it, though, wine is an expensive pastime. Sometimes I feel I’d be better off getting my kicks from composting or decoupage or, really, anything fundamentally inspired by recycling.

Happily, this Shiraz provides a lot of pleasure. There’s a lot going on in the glass and, if I were to provide a two word description (through brevity, for better or worse, isn’t one of my talents), it would be “well judged.” Everything clicks into place and feels right. It would seem overly calculated if it weren’t so tasty. The aroma profiles straddles sweet and savoury with aplomb, showing equal doses of sweet dark fruit, pepper, moist leafiness, minerality and bubble-gum oak. It’s hedonistic and inviting. As nice as it is, though, the palate takes things up a notch. Perhaps too much sweet fruit for my taste, but no-one could accuse this wine of lacking flavour. Medium bodied, this wine’s flavour registers early and flows elegantly to a mid palate awash with sweet fruit and savoury complexities. Delicious ripe blackberry takes over on the after palate and lingers through a satisfying finish. There’s something rather beguiling about the way this wine feels in the mouth. It’s elegant and beautifully supple and just tannic enough.

A bit of a fruit bomb, then, but just the wine to provide some relief after a hard day’s work. Drink now with comfort food and much pleasure.

Tar & Roses
Price: $A15.20
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: October 2008

Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge 2006

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The year ticks over and it’s Burgundy season again, this time the 2006s. Apparently a less admired vintage than 2005, some 2006 wines have nonetheless garnered appreciators, especially the whites. I’ll be tasting a few over the coming weeks.

Right now, I have a glass of Faiveley’s 2006 Bourgogne Rouge next to me, and the soundtrack to this tasting is the “jiggle jiggle” of my pressure cooker as it pulverises some lamb shanks into submission. I’m hoping this wine doesn’t do the same to my palate, as the previous year’s version threatened to do.

A pretty colour of ripe strawberries. On the nose, equal parts red fruit, funky earth and iron. Nice ingredients for sure, though it comes across as quite masculine and “hard,” which won’t necessarily be to the taste of those who enjoy a measure of sensuality in their Burgundies. Good continuity onto the palate. There’s a distinctive taste of iron that reads perhaps as blood and, as distasteful as that may sound, provides a nice backbone to the wine’s more fruit-driven notes. Good presence in the mouth, with sour and reasonably complex red fruit largely yielding to the wine’s wilder side. It’s quite a hard flavour profile, but there’s beauty in its firm, confident stance. Tannins create volume in the mouth with minimal astringency. Certainly a lot to think about for a lowly Bourgogne. Good intensity and line through to a satisfying finish.

Not bad at all, especially considering the price.

Update: the dregs, tasted one day later, had been abandoned by the touch of magic that had graced this wine on initial tasting. Less aromatic and complex, overall.

Faiveley
Price: $A25.65
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2006

Josef Chromy Pepik Pinot Noir 2007

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I picked up a few Tassie wines on my last visit to the alcohol shop, including this reasonably priced Pinot.

A pretty, fruit-sweet nose that shows simply but with decent varietal character. There’s a noticeable whiff of barnyard, which prevents a complete descent into blandness, plus nuances of spice and leaf. It is all attractive enough, though straightforward.

The palate shows moderate intensity and continues the nose’s line with admirable consistency. There’s a greater emphasis on sweet fruit here counterbalanced by a good dose of sourness, the latter moderating confectionary tendencies but doing nothing to fundamentally alter the fruit’s simple flavour profile. Not a lot of textural interest at the mid-palate, although overall it’s slick and supple. Sour acidity washes over the after palate, deliciously in my opinion, and the wine closes with a soft, fairly brief finish.

An ok quaffer that is straightforward and flavoursome. Not a bad way to get your Pinot fix, but for my money I’d rather spend a few dollars more and take a definite step up the quality ladder.

Josef Chromy
Price: $A14.25
Closure: Stevin
Date tasted: October 2008

Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2005

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What with a couple of Barossa Grenache/Shiraz blends under my belt in the last few days, I thought it was time to return to the source with this reasonably priced wine. For a large production wine, the Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge seems to attract its fair share of enthusiasts’ attention. It has a reputation for over-delivering at its price point, and of responding well to some bottle age.

I tasted over two nights, as it was somewhat impenetrable initially and remained so through the first evening. Tonight, it’s still quite dense and brooding, but is revealing enough of its character to facilitate enjoyment and, more pertinently for me, explication. A nose that is both floral and inky, with black fruits, some very ripe black pepper and prickly, appealing minerality or perhaps tar. It’s all very tight and coiled, yet seems to me well balanced (for what it is).

The palate initially promises more generosity, and in a sense delivers this, but fundamentally remains quite tight. Wisps of sweet black fruit escape the wine’s predominantly savoury flavour profile before being dragged back into a mêlée of tar, pepper and puckeringly dry tannin. Before the tannin takes over, though, a silky smooth mouthfeel briefly registers and promises fine textural development. Flavour is reassuringly intense, and the structure seems especially well sorted, with good continuity throughout the wine’s line, and a lengthy, dry finish.

Despite its youth, I’m enjoying the quality and elusiveness of this wine and am contemplating the purchase of a few bottles to cellar over the medium (to perhaps long?) term. I want to see what unfolds with the persuasiveness of time.

E. Guigal
Price: $A19
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008

Grand Cru d'Antsirabe Cuvée Rouge Viala

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[This wine was drunk as a special birthday wine whilst on vacation in Madagascar earlier this month. I may have mistyped the name – I still haven’t found the picture I took of the label, so bear with me for now if I got it wrong!]

On the way into Antananarivo from the airport at Ivato, I somehow convinced our tour guide to stop the bus at a Jumbo hypermarket so that we could do some souvenir shopping. Unbelievably, there was an absolutely humongous wine selection available, so I grabbed the most expensive bottle of Madagascan wine I could find, hoping that it would turn out to be OK. Having already spent a week in country at the time, I’d drunk enough Madagascan wine to know that it was pretty dire, ranging from absolutely undrinkable (Ch. Verger) to not entirely awful if you were already kind of pissed on beer (Clos Malaza).

Anyhow, for just over £3, you can buy a bottle of Grand Cru d’Antsirabe’s very finest red wine, which is produced from 80+ year old vines growing a few hours south of Antananarivo, the capital. Here are the tasting notes I took at the time:

Very fruity on the nose, more at Hawaiian Punch than wine. A hint of camphor or perhaps allspice. With some time, fine wild strawberries. Thin with a nasty green edge… slightly tannic, astringent finish. Sort of a white pepper edge. Better as you drink it. “Kind of like a Beaujolais that’s gone off” – this from Jeremy, one of the Englishmen who made up the bulk of our tour group (we were the only Americans). Really, this isn’t bad. Quite an accomplishment to have made a wine of this quality given the circumstances.

After we finished the bottle, it was kind of fun to note that the bottle was as thin and light as bottles used to be back in the days of the USSR. I wonder where they bought the bottles? The cork itself was a short, but high quality agglomerate cork. The label was, well, ugly, surprisingly so given that the “regular’ Grand Cru d’Antsirabe bottles don’t look half bad (we had one with dinner at the Hotel de France in Tana later on that week).

All in all, this stuff was like a cheap Beaujolais and really not too bad. Still, if you’re going to Madagascar, don’t expect delicious local wines. Try the beer. Three Horses Beer Light isn’t bad.

Grand Cru d’Antsirabe
Price: 10,800 Madagascar ariary, or about $6.50 US
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008

Teusner Joshua 2007

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Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz but no oak. This Barossa wine is made from old vine fruit in a fresh, approachable style. Tradition meets fast food, you might say, but in a good way.

Penetrating nose that, initially, is all about sweet red fruit, but that quickly gains complexity and savouriness. It ends up being a fresh, somewhat sharp amalgam of fruit, spice and something akin to fennel. Slightly feral or meaty, too. There’s an impression of good detail as well as some fruit depth to back up what is quite a bright aroma profile.

In the mouth, lots of flavour quickly delivered to the taste buds. The entry shows quite bright, almost aggressive acidity that builds as the wine moves through the palate. Although there are fairly relaxed tannins down the line, structurally this wine revolves around its acid. It provides sizzle and good flow, but also balances out the wine’s considerable fruit sweetness to the extent that one’s overall impression is of a savoury flavour profile. Crunchy red fruits, herb and aniseed all vye for attention here. It’s almost medicinal in a Dr Pepper sort of way, and some hints of dried fruits also emerge. A nice crescendo of intensity that peaks at the middle palate. If there’s a fairly sudden drop-off on the after palate, that’s ok, because all that acidity and bright fruit verges on abrasive, especially without food. It continues in this more subdued, plummy key and delivers a pretty decent finish, with perhaps the slightest glow of alcohol heat.

A good food style that’s certainly a lively drink. Try it with pasta or a robustly flavoured meat dish. Wines like this often strike me as “picnic” wines in that I can well imagine drinking it in accompaniment to bread, cheese and charcuterie.

Teusner
Price: $A24.70
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008

Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz 2005

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The cellar is well stocked with Tyrrell’s wines and a fair few make it through to this site. I can’t think of too many producers in the Hunter Valley with an equivalent portfolio of fine wines. It probably shouldn’t matter, but there’s also a lovely connection one feels when drinking the wine of an historic producer (or region). I guess that’s why retro labels live on and, in some cases, are enjoying a resurgence in (presumed) prestige.

None of which has much to do with the liquid in the bottle. Thankfully, it’s rather good. After tasting a few new release 2007 Tyrrell’s reds lately, I gave in to the urge to try a recent back vintage of the Vat 9. As an aside, I was at Dan’s the other day and saw bottles of the 2006 on sale. Didn’t this used to have more time in bottle prior to release?

A pungent, forthright nose that has changed considerably through the evening. It started off quite stinky, with perhaps some sulfur in addition to strong regional dirt and a dash of tart cherry fruit. Two hours later, there are cooked meats, almonds and more savoury red fruits, slightly liqueur-like in character. It’s like Chianti via Burgundy, but with freshly turned soil that’s all Hunter. Good detail.

A flavoursome entry that shows consistent line from nose to palate. There’s an edginess here, which is a function of structure tilted firmly towards acid. Not to suggest there are no tannins; in fact, they are a highlight, being fine, ripe and sweetly rich. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The fruit character, as per the nose, is quite liqueur like in its intensity and (contradictorily) its tart sweetness. Very much in the cherry spectrum, without the plummy depth of the 2006 and 2007 models, the fruit shows excellent complexity. Medium bodied, this wine seems to throw itself at all corners of the mouth with the intention of sticking around as long as possible. Acid sizzles along through the after palate, with a seamless segue into the aforementioned tannins. A long, long finish.

Bloody nice wine. The 2007 version is probably better, but I like this one for its transparency and detail. A fabulous wine with food. I’m going to leave the rest of my stash for a few years before retasting.

Tyrrell’s
Price: $A30
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008