Category Archives: White

Hoddles Creek Chardonnay 2008

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This wine smells and tastes like a pomelo. I know this because I was shopping at my local market this morning and one particular stall was selling nothing but enormous, yellow pomelos. I tasted one and would have bought some if my plaid Nanna basket on wheels were not already filled with other goodies. Wikipedia accurately describes pomelos as tasting like “sweet, mild grapefruit.” Pomelo. Like typing it, like saying it. 

I like tasting it too, but there are some other smells and flavours here as well. Spicy, toasty oak, for starters, evident on both nose and palate and needing some time to integrate further into the wine’s flavour profile. Maybe some white nectarine-like flavours, softening the pomelo and adding a bit of lusciousness. It’s all varietal and all there.
What I like most about this wine, though, are its bones. Even as a young’un, this packs a real punch, especially in the mouth, with fresh flavours that show inviting immediacy and impressive intensity. There’s a particularly good tangy sourness to the flavour profile that is absolutely mouthwatering, in the way a Sao with butter and Vegemite can be mouthwatering. A tight line straight through the mouth leads to a finish that vibrates with citrus fruit and lovely oak. 
It’s so very young right now and, although it’s tasty (and a great accompaniment to sardines on toast), I’ll be leaving my stash alone for a few months (if not years) to flesh out. Should be outstanding at the right moment.

Hoddles Creek
Price: $A18
Closure: Stelvin

Dowie Doole Tintookie Chenin Blanc 2006

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Considered in conventional terms, a more serious wine than its sibling, though to my mind this is an entirely different conversation from whether it’s better or worse. Indeed, I’m on the record as preferring many “second label” wines to their reserve partners, as what constitues a “reserve” wine for some producers strikes me as most unimaginative. Throwing oak, extract and a general exaggeratedness of scale at something does not automatically make a better or more worthy wine. Dowie Doole’s Tintookie poses the question of reserve wines rather differently. For a start, it’s made from Chenin Blanc, so the template for its elevated status isn’t so obvious as some. Indeed, what does a reserve Chenin Blanc look like in the Australian context?

According to Dowie Doole, it has a whole lot more winemaking for starters, and a price tag to match (though still rather reasonable when placed in context — this is a single vineyard wine made from seriously old vines). Interestingly, my initial reaction on smelling this wine was that it shares some characteristics with aged Hunter Semillon; specifically, a cheesy note along with a bit of toasty development. First impressions are where such similarities end, though. There’s marked minerality on the nose, along with high toned citrus and a general sense of control. I’m not sure that it smells terribly similar to its Loire models, but that’s a good thing in my book. This is its own wine.
The palate shows quite full, intense fruit flavours that nonetheless sit within a tight, textural, minerally context. Good impact on entry with immediate flavour and mouth-watering (natural) acidity. Bursting forth from this framework is juicy, slightly simple citrus fruit on the middle palate, almost painfully intense, and for me a little at odds with the restraint and complexity shown elsewhere. A lovely dry, textural after palate leads to a long, flinty and quite beautiful finish.
This is a really fascinating wine, though I’m not sure it coheres as a style from top to bottom. I am wishing for a more extreme expression of the fruit, less luscious and more ethereal, which I suspect would complement the character of the acid and the textural inputs. Perhaps some further bottle age is what I’m really looking for. A really worthwhile wine and one I’m glad exists.

Dowie Doole
Price: $A30
Closure: Diam

Seppelt Jaluka Chardonnay 2007

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Consumed last night out of dodgy glasses, in accompaniment to salty pizza. Despite the challenging circumstances, the wine showed quite well, though it took some time to find a semblance of balance and hence may not be the greatest quaffing Chardonnay right now.

Abundant spiced oak on the nose, along with a hint of milk powder and white stone fruit. I must admit, the oak was quite overwhelming at first, and remained powerful after an hour. Still, it seems of good quality, so one could do worse. The fruit is what interests me, though. It’s powerful and clean, with an attractively fleshy character that does not come at the expense of definition.
The palate is a virtual replay of the nose, with an added sensual dimension to the fruit. The style overall seems focused and tight, though not as reserved as I remember the 2005 being at around this stage of its evolution. Mostly oak on the first half, with clingy white nectarines from mid-palate onwards. The fruit isn’t shockingly intense but seems to adhere to the tongue and fill out nicely while in the mouth. To me, it’s extremely attractive in character. So attractive, in fact, I question the oak treatment overall. It may achieve balance over time, but I wonder the point of this relative imbalance in youth when the lovely fruit seems to call out for even more subtle spice and vanilla right now. 
No doubt this is quality; perhaps not one to drink over a rushed pizza dinner, though. Give it some time to flow through a whole evening. Either that, or whack a few in the cellar; at $A20-ish, it could be a cheap way to get your aged Chardonnay kicks. 

Seppelt
Price: $A21
Closure: Stelvin

Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc 2009

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There aren’t too many wineries in Australia who have made a speciality of Chenin Blanc. In the case of Dowie Doole, one can legitimately say it is a producer who is at the vanguard of Chenin in Australia, with two quite different wines in its range. The Tintookie (to be tasted soon) is a subjected to a variety of winemaking tricks, whereas this wine is a more straightforward expression of the grape. Both wines are made from old vines (70+ years) in the McLaren Vale region.

Being more accustomed to reserved Loire styles, I was taken by surprise when I sniffed the exuberantly expressive aroma of this wine. Very clean notes of cut apple, a hint of passionfruit and a general fruitiness that reminds me of Sauvignon Blanc or Verdehlo, but without smelling like either. There’s also a bit of minerality — just a bit — that adds some complexity and sophistication. Mostly, though, this has a fresh, pleasing aroma profile reminiscent of Summer picnics.
The palate is a big burst of fruit flavour, entirely appropriate and in line with the character of the nose. I could proceed to analyse it, and point out how unexpected is the racy minerality, how pleasingly textural are the phenolics on the after palate, how long is the wine’s thrust through the finish, but I suspect I’d be missing the point. Indeed, this is a wine to throw back by the dozen, a highly drinkable dry white whose aim is to quench thirst and lubricate lazy weekends. When looked at in this light, it is very well judged for immediate gratification, cleverly balancing soft fruit flavours and fresh acid structure. 
This label throws its hat squarely into a ring dominated by schools of Sauvignon Blanc and gaggles of Pinot Gris. At the price, and with this quality, it makes a strong argument for the battler Chenin Blanc.

Dowie Doole
Price: $A16
Closure: Stelvin

Di Rienzo Terre di Chietti Pecorino D'Abruzzo 2007

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Frustratingly, I bought this wine from a Web site that turned out to be located back East; this resulted in a lengthy transit time to my home in California, which has apparently resulted in it sitting around in some very hot places for an indeterminate amount of time, maderizing the wine beyond repair, dang it.If you can get past the weirdly sweet, somewhat metallic nose – cling peaches in a tin can, anyone? – then you get a sense that this might have been a good wine, with hints of sage and thyme. The mouth is similarly dumb, with a oddly flat appearance that disappears into (again) a strangely sweet, unwelcome finish that is vaguely fruity but not otherwise similar to anything you’d want to actually drink.Two out of the four bottles are cooked; the other two I’m giving to good friend but with the major caveat that the wine probably didn’t survive the cross country journey. Thanks, FedEx. :(Postscript, July 30: Much to my delight, the good folks at Wines ‘Til Sold Out graciously refunded my money; according to their staff, this wine should be just fine if it’s been stored correctly. Good to hear: one day, I’d love to know what this grape variety tastes like!Di Rienzo
Price: $9
Closure: Synthetic cork

Dopff Au Moulin Gewürztraminer 2007

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I’ll be tasting a range of wines under $A20 (retail) in the near future. Yes, the bank balance is looking iffy, so what better excuse to explore the value end of the market. Again.

Thick, syrupy aromas of lychees and white flowers. I struggle a bit with Gewürztraminer in terms of how it’s usually described. Lychee and rose petals I get, but these tend to be so obvious and dominant that I struggle to discern much else. In the case of this wine, there’s perhaps a touch of ginger cake baking in the oven, but more a suggestion than anything else. Distinctive and varietal without much complexity. 

In the mouth, good impact and immediacy thanks in part to a fullness of body that exaggerates the fruit flavours (more lychee and ginger cake). I thought at first this was presenting some residual sugar, but I think it’s just sweetly tropical fruit. There’s more and more flavour as the wine moves through the middle palate, again assisted by a round, pumped up mouthfeel that reminds me of a boob job one might have seen on the cover of People magazine. And then, all of a sudden, it deflates (just like many boob jobs in the 80s), flavour falling away precipitously through the after palate. The wine is quite long, but there’s not much there either, more a persistent echo of flavour than anything with substantial drive, with a bit of alcohol burn to boot.
It’s a wine that might alleviate the facelessness of many a Pinot Gris, if only to replace it with a sense of style akin to gaudy Tokyo street fashion. Your call.

Dopff Au Moulin
Price: $A17
Closure: Stelvin

Marof Chardonnay 2007

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Surprisingly light inthe glass, this wine looks like riesling and smells like malvasia bianca, at least briefly – it’s probably just Slovenian prejudice on my part, but I really did think for a second that this was malvasia. It’s not, but there’s something about the bright, cheery fruit here that smells very different than other chardonnays. The smells is reminiscent of poire, or pear eau-de-vie, or whatever the proper name for pear brandy is in English; there’s just a hint of heavy alcohols (but not noticeably) plus very light, fresh Bosc pear layered on top. At times, the smells seems to be teen-aged cosmetics – think Miley Cyrus perfume – and then suddenly there’s just the tiniest hint of burnt match before heading back to the fruit meringue pie, less citrus than stone fruit.Surprisingly, the wine isn’t weightless in the mouth; although the color suggests inoffensive whatever, it’s got a bit more heft than that. At first offering all of the charm of pears preserved in neutral brandy, it moves on into something that’s frankly close to circus peanuts, bubblegum, and other children’s candy. There’s a little bit of residual sugar here, acting as sort of a vinuous Wonderbra, and the overall effect is vaguely nasty: it comes across as deeply unserious, slightly vulgar, and pretty damned tacky. The finish does firm up just a bit, though, and you do have glimpses of regional character that could I suppose be described as slightly flabby key lime pie in a graham cracker crust: there doesn’t seem to be enough supporting acidity here, but there is a pleasant bready characteristic that makes it all come out somewhat okay in the end. On the whole, though, this wine is a huge disappointment to me; if the grape had been malvasia, then it probably would’ve been just fine. However, with chardonnay it just feels cheap and lame, especially at this price. C’mon, Slovenia, you can do better than this. I’d suggest you start by inhibiting malolactic fermentation next time, fermenting the wine completely dry, and (maybe?) experimenting with large oak casks, preferably local ones. Please?Marof
Price: $16
Closure: Stelvin

Louis Latour Montagny 1er Cru "La Grande Roche" 2006

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The first impression is of the circus: hot sawdust, popcorn, leather, saddle soap, and a hint of sulfur – hey, you need something to shoot a midget out of a cannon, right? There’s also a light dusting of minerals and chalk; there’s also a distant yeastiness, the smell of bakers just getting out of bed in the morning. Finally, there’s an overtone of pineapple, lychee, and soft white flowers, a soft halo of freshly baked brioche steaming next to freshly-cut fruit – exactly the sort of thing you’d expect at a French beach resort in, say, Tahiti. It’s all impossibly genteel, subtle, and elegant.Surprisingly, the wine turns out to be pretty substantial in the mouth, landing with the thwack of pizza dough slapped against a cool marble slab. Somewhat akin to butterscotch glaze on a Parker role, the wine is big, chewy, and supported by a thin, steely wire of subtle acidity that sets off the fruit to great effect here. The finish is lacy, hazy, lovely; it begs to be drunk outside in the long days of summer, shared with friends.Louis Latour
Price: $16
Closure: Cork

Leo Buring Eden Valley Riesling 2000

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I have absolutely no idea how this bottle found its way into my cellar, but I suppose it was bought in Australia as there doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the USA where I can buy another bottle of this, which is a shame.Wonderfully honeyed gold in the glass, there’s a squant of orange tint here as well; it’s clear that this wine is old, beautifully so. The perfume is subtle and hints at dessert wines; it’s eerily, subtly orange and vaguely reminds me of liqueur muscat, but of course it’s terrifically dry. Surprisingly young in terms of taste, the aged kero characteristic are upstaged by what I suppose are textural quirks; this wine has a novel mouth feel, strangely full, offset by a sort of white-flower effect that is reminiscent of a previous generation’s floral perfume.The line here is also somewhat odd; relatively straightforward, the wine eventually peters out into a subtly spicy finish which largely hides the acidity here, which briefly makes an appearance well after the wine has been drunk. In terms of flavor profile, it’s really much more like a delicate Belgian lager than anything else, with hints of orange blossom and spice. Probably not drunk best on its own, this seems to be crying out for spicy stir fry which is sadly lacking in my house at the moment.Incredible value for money, it seems to me that this wine still has a long life ahead of it. If you’ve got it, drink it, but it likely wouldn’t hurt to hang on for a few years yet.Leo Buring (but really Fosters)
Price: $10
Closure: Cork

Best's Great Western Riesling 2007

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A nose that shows some development, with typically honeyed, toasty, almost kerosene-like aromas. There’s also a thrust of powdery minerality, savoury and strident, perhaps slightly sulphurous, pushing up from below. What little citrus fruit there is sits delicately within this mix, more floral than fleshy in character. As an overall aroma profile, I found it initially cumbersome and loud, but have warmed considerably to its charms through the evening.

The palate is totally consistent with the nose, with some bottle age sitting alongside assertive bath salt-like flavours. On entry, rough acidity makes a rambunctious first impression, before fruit and mineral flavours take over. The fruit is quite full, edging towards an interesting rockmelon note, all the while maintaining satisfying generosity and good focus. I thought at first there was some residual sugar here, but it seems dry, just ripe and buxom. The aged flavours are, to me, most interesting. Sweet honey is slinking its way across the palate in a subtle, elegant way, and there’s enough softening of acidity on the after palate to suggest a happy transformation may well be in store.
Funny wine, this one. It presents a noisy flavour profile, full of elements that are close to clashing with each other, yet the whole comes together and is deliciously drinkable. I know that’s a highly subjective judgement, and I should note the other half did not like this at all. But it ticks a lot of boxes for me: distinctiveness, magnetism, food-friendliness (it stood up to roast pork quite well). To be sure, it’s not an elegant wine, but it’s very fun and, noting the manner in which it is developing now, I suspect it will be quite sensational in five years’ time.

Best’s Wines
Price: $A20.89
Closure: Stelvin