Chapel Hill Chardonnay 2011

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

To be cruel for a moment, this is most unpromising on paper. Mixing Chardonnay, affordability and more than one region doesn’t usually get the wine lover’s heart racing, with some justification, at least historically. And before you get excited, this isn’t Giaconda Chardonnay hiding out in the McLaren Vale. However, it’s a good example of the sensitivity with which this sort of mainstream wine ought to be made, and makes a case for the relevance of cheap Australian Chardonnay in a world where such wines are the very definition of undesirable.

Its trick is to combine relative restraint with a certain flow and softness. This is a watercolour wine, one whose definition is hazy but whose colours are quite charming in a lazy, easy way. On the nose, some fresh citrus alongside soft peach and rockmelon. There’s a bit of nougat oak too, and perhaps some caramel. Complexity isn’t a word that springs to mind; there are several flavours but to see the wine on these terms is to miss its point.

The palate has such a relaxed flow over the tongue. It’s quite voluptuous and mouthfilling in a breast implant sort of way: fleshy but also a tad hollow. The fruit lacks sufficient intensity to fill out the wine’s ambitious dimensions, and one is left tasting flavour at the edges and a slight absence of such in the middle. The flavours that are here, though, are balanced and easy, with more white peach and nougat, and just a hint of butterscotch. It’s far from the perfect wine and undoubtedly made to a price point. There’s a sophistication of approach underlying this wine, though, which is easy to miss. How many cheap Chardonnays show vulgar dimensions, a lack of freshness, easy oak, or a reliance on malolactic fermentation? This wine avoids all these pitfalls and, in so doing, manages to be a very pleasant, pretty wine.

Not bad at all.

Chapel Hill
Price: $A16
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2007

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

Somewhat of a showstopper. To be sure, this is in some respects a no holds barred wine, with what appears to be plenty of winemaking contributing to its flavour profile. The nose shows an enthusiastic cascade of aromas, ranging from popcorn and butter through stonefruit, more tropical fruit notes, lemon, minerals, and plenty of toasty oak. I list this number of descriptors to give a feel for the amount of stuff going on here; there’s genuine complexity in both fruit and winemaking inputs, and as I smell this I’m reminded of why Chardonnay is often considered the greatest of all white grapes. Few varietals could take this treatment and come out looking good.

The palate is an absolute powerhouse, but what I like most here is that all its flavours are so cleanly, precisely expressed within an frame that is as contained as it is impactful. There’s something beautiful about power so tightly focused, and the way this wine unfolds in the mouth is its primary pleasure. As much sophistication as there is by way of individual flavours, there’s also a surprisingly louche side to the fruit here, pushing against a tropical, pineapple note that I found amusing in this context.

This will surely polarise drinkers, and that’s okay, because there’s great value in an unapologetic style made with skill and integrity.

Cullen
Price: $A110 (restaurant wine list)
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Windowrie The Mill Verdelho 2011

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

To the extent that one thinks at all about Verdelho, I’m willing to bet most people in Australia associate it with the Hunter Valley. I’m somewhat partial to a good Hunter Verdelho actually; their simplicity and robust flavour can be charming. So I was quite disappointed the other night to taste an almost undrinkable example of the genre. Luckily, I had a couple of other Verdelhos in the sample pile, though from regions other than the Hunter.

This one, for example, is classsified Central Ranges but, from a comment left on my review of the 2008, the fruit is sourced from Cowra. Re-reading my impressions of the earlier wine, I found it lacking compared to my favourite Hunters, but the current release suggests I may need to re-evaluate. Granted, it’s hot and slightly phenolic — two classic Verdelho traps — but its boisterous character and generous flavour more than compensate.

The aroma is bright but not sharp, expressing citrus and richer tropical fruit in equal measure. The palate has a particularly good acid structure, firm and a bit edgy but well balanced with respect to the weight and richness of the wine’s fruit. There’s a thickness to this wine’s flavour profile that reminds me of tinned things; not so much a lack of freshness as a slightly blunt opulence that, I must admit, I quite enjoy. The after palate and finish are unremarkable, but for that burst of alcohol at the tail end.

As an affordable quaffing wine, this succeeds well.

Windowrie
Price: $A16.99
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Domaine de Roally Mâcon-Village 2004

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

A humble Village Burgundy from the also-ran Mâconnais region of Burgundy. What makes this a bit interesting is its link to vigneron Jean Thévenet, who tends to employ unconventional techniques in the growing and vinification of his wines, including the occasional oddball inclusion of a portion of botrytised fruit.

This is the very opposite of a showstopper. It’s tendency towards self-effacement almost had me writing it off when I first smelled it. It’s not a matter of blandness, or lack of presence, but rather that its aroma and flavour profiles sink immediately into the kind of deeply comfortable place I associate with home cooking. For a cheap Burgundy from 2004, this still has plenty of fruit swirling around in its aroma, alongside some prickly honey and other evidence of the time it has spent in bottle. It’s round and gently inviting, possessing just enough freshness to present an edge alongside its plushness.

The palate is, as with the nose, surprisingly youthful. The entry is fruit-sweet and almost prickly in mouthfeel, playful if a bit simple. Intensity builds towards the middle palate, where complexity becomes greater and overall presence is more impressive. This really is a good wine given its age and price point. There’s a full spectrum of flavours, from intensely sweet to oddly savoury, all expressed with a relaxation that gently ushers the palate along. There’s too little light and shade as the line moves through the after palate and finish, although the flavour profile tilts more towards savouriness the further it moves along. Structure remains firm and drags satisfying texture across the tongue.

This wine could be plenty more — more intense, more complex, more varied — but its confident relaxation is very appealing and belies its lowly provenance.

Domaine de Roally
Price: $A28.05
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Louee Nullo Mountain Chardonnay 2011

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

I’ve tasted a couple of Louee wines in the past (a 2010 Riesling and a Pinot Grigio from the same year) and neither floated my boat, as interesting as are some aspects of the Nullo Mountain vineyard. I gather I’m in the minority in not clicking with these wines, so it’s all no doubt a matter of taste. At the very least, the vineyard’s extremely high altitude should present a singular view of the Mudgee region, in which it is located.

On first sniff, I was a bit disappointed, as the wine initially communicates a worked character of the sort that, to my mind, better suits warmer climate fruit. It’s an altogether more interesting wine than this first impression suggests, though. What I at first thought was simply a whack of oak is in fact, I think, a mixture of some oak combined with fairly extensive handling, certainly some lees stirring and perhaps malolactic fermentation too. Which is to say, there’s a range of non-fruit aromas in addition to a core of white peach and melon. Some good complexity, then, even if the whole comes together with a hazy sense of definition, never snapping into focus or offering its aromas in an especially structured manner.

The palate shows some decent acid that helps to give the wine’s pastel flavours some zing and freshness. The entry, in particular, is a very exciting mix of sizzle, rounded fruit flavours and slightly challenging savouriness. The middle palate is more harmonious and becomes more defined, clean citrus fruit taking centre stage and pushing the oak and caramel flavours to one side. They creep back in though the after palate, especially the caramel, which is enlivened by a sense of saltiness that is very adult. The finish is decent and slightly herbal.

Overall, the effect is a bit cacophonous, flavours darting this way and that, lacking the ultimate poise that might elevate this wine further. But I like its character and structure, and the fact that it offers something really different in a local context. Good price too.

Lowe Wines
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2011

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

A lot passes through my mind as I sit down to this wine tonight. My palate — indeed my whole being — is in need of significant refreshment, and Riesling is the grape I most often reach for at these times. It may seem flippant to open what is arguably Australia’s most prominent example of the varietal on such a weeknight, but quality refreshes as much as character, and I’m hoping this has plenty of both.

The nose is firmly pretty, completely untouched by marks of age, either premature or well-earned. It brings to mind nothing so much as the fragrance of early spring, flowers not yet fully ripened, mixing their adult fragrance with the vegetal crispness of unfolding leaves. Which is to say, this still tastes shocking young, illicitly so, though its profile already hints at the chiselled physique of adulthood. There’s little flesh here; notes exist in a powdery, minerally spectrum.

The palate is most striking for its intense cut and thrust. It sizzles on entry and a strong acid line really dominates the experience of this wine right now. Falling off this acidic freight train are a range of detailed, etched flavours, encompassing lemon juice and slate via an almost musk-like note. I can tell there’s great order and rigour to the arrangement of each component, but it’s hard to tear one’s self away from that thrilling, firm structure. Flavour, right now, is simply a well constructed accompaniment, worthy of admiration but playing the role of textural harmonic to the acid’s melodic line. When it settles a bit, whether that’s in five, ten, or more years, I’m confident this will sing with complex, adult flavours.

I’m feeling better already.

Grosset
Price: $A42
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

The Scholium Project the wisdom of Theuth 2010

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Christopher Pratt

Here in San Diego, it’s a balmy 25.7°C – sure, it’s technically winter, but it sure doesn’t feel like a good time to bust out the high octane Zinfandel that goes so well with a fireplace (bearskin rug optional, of course). Instead, I’m splitting the difference with a heavy white wine.

On an aside: I’m even more confused about the whole verdejo-verdelho thing after a recent trip to Spain; I came home with a bottle of godello, which is apparently the same as verdelho, which is apparently distinct from verdejo. Go figure. Anyhow: Australians and Californians say verdelho just as surely as we say mataro, so verdelho it is.

You could easily mistake this wine for Asturian cider if you served it in the wrong glass: it’s got that fat, rich, flat sparkling wine color to it. As is usually the case for this winery, there’s obviously a metric ton of alcohol involved, with the kind of legs that would be banned in Utah. The nose is wonderfully complex, with an initial hit of cucumber cold cream, lemon zest, bitter almonds, and empty, waxed wooden floors in a cold German hallway in the countryside, with traces of hay and old leather bookbags.

Unctuous and slippery, the wine is bone dry; all of the texture is strictly alcoholic. There’s a fine-grained acidity that works well against the bitter chalkiness of the wine; there’s an elegant tension between a sense of fresh baked bread with slightly green edges on the nose and the bottom-heavy, quince marmelade of the wine. Finally, apparently only to drive home the point that this wine is serious business, there’s a seductive hint of stony minerality.

Should you age this wine? No, probably not. What you should do is obvious (and a categorical imperative): buy some, cool it (but don’t chill it), and serve it to friends with marzipan or strong cheeses. I know it’s a vanishingly small category, but The Scholium Project is (I believe) far and away the finest producer of verdelho in North America. If you don’t know what verdelho tastes like, this is your best introduction to the genre.

The Scholium Project
Price: $28
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Domaine Dublère Puligny-Montrachet 2006

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

On reflection, I was rather too dismissive of this wine on first tasting for, although I clearly enjoyed it, I pegged it as a “drink now” wine, something it certainly was, but it’s now showing some bottle age to distinct advantage too. A wine not to be underestimated, then.

My earlier note stands, except now there’s both more volume and better integration. Any hint of restraint on the nose is gone; this is a minerally delight, complex and distinct and etched all at the same time. It’s still a lean wine in terms of its aroma profile, preferring angularity to flesh. There’s also a depth to it, in the way layers of glass can have depth as well as brilliance.

The palate remains powerful but has lost the boisterousness of three years ago that suggested a slight clumsiness of flow. This is now very much in the groove, with strong, clear melon fruit tumbling over firm acid and a range of savoury notes. The winemaking is here most evident, with a range of oak and lees derived notes, from oatmeal to cashews and more. The after palate fans out most pleasingly, and the finish is well extended.There’s no obvious bottle age here. The wine has simply relaxed and learned to express itself without angst, earning a sense of poise it lacked as a youngster.

Quite delicious.

Domaine Dublère
Price: $A63
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Grosset Springvale Riesling 2011

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

It was remiss of me not to review the 2010 Grossets, though I did purchase some as usual. I’ll remedy that soon. For now, I’m tasting the newer wines, starting with this Watervale-sourced number.

In some years, this wine can be explosively aromatic (see, for example, the 2008). 2011 isn’t such a year, though it’s far from reticent. No, this remains an expressive aroma, but its apparent restraint comes from the particular notes to which it tends. Rather than gobs of citrus juice and flowers, this presents citrus rind, talc and herbs. Still relatively full in profile, it shows good presence and immediacy, without perhaps the etched detail one sometimes sees in this style. Very much a chiselled profile, though, and somewhat more intellectual than usual for this label.

The palate totally reinforces these impressions through alignment of flavour and sympathy of structure. The citrus element comes across more strongly here, and there’s a strong run of lemon juice on the middle palate. The dominant notes are, though, more minerally; talc and flint are the best analogues I can muster. The structure is lovely and contributes to the powerdery impression given by the flavours. Acid is firm and textured, drying the after palate in particular. It’s very moreish and pleasingly angular.

Given the peculiar vintage conditions, this is something of a surprise and is certainly a very fine wine.

Grosset Wines
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail

Domaine Gautheron Chablis 1er Cru Vaucoupin 2005

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Julian Coldrey

If old wines in general are an acquired taste, then surely old white wines in particular are especially so. Without suggesting one must like these wines, I do feel there’s value in at least understanding how a wine ages over time, whether it adjusts its balance and flavours and, ultimately, whether it tastes better at some points than others. This well-priced Chablis is a good example of a wine that has really come into its own over the last three years. When previously tasted, this came across as tasty but awkward and clumsy, fighting within itself for poise and balance. What a transformation. I believe it’s delivering maximum pleasure right now.

The nose is highly expressive and distinctly honeyed, floral and mineral. In other words, showing a range of aromas from primary to tertiary. What I like most, though, is that it presents as a single, complex note rather than a series of discrete ones, no matter how complementary. The sign of a wine in its prime.

The palate’s greatest feature is its multifaceted texture. The acid has folded back into the wine, allowing its fullness of mouthfeel to present unobstructed, yet it’s a still firm, shapely wine in the mouth. Flavours are again tightly integrated and complex, with more mineral notes, honey and citrus. Intensity isn’t outrageous, nor does it lack flavour; just enough, I’d say. Good extension through the back palate.

This is drinking far better now than three years ago and, although it’s not a blockbuster style, it’s an extremely enjoyable, sophisticated wine.

Domaine Gautheron
Price: $A38
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

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