Category Archives: White

Salo Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2010

Posted on by
Reply

Made in tiny quantities, lots of whole bunch action, an apparent passion project; this is practically collapsing under the weight of its own cred. What’s gratifying, therefore, is its relative subtlety. The nose, especially, starts almost mute, gradually releasing aromas of flint, oatmeal, linseed oil and, eventually, some white stonefruit. It’s never especially expressive, and I do wish for a bit more volume (in time, I think), but its complexity is undeniable.

The palate is powerful and quite masculine in character, as if a taciturn character gives way to a muscular bulk it just can’t hide. A sharp, clean entry broadens to a middle palate awash with fruit and savouriness. Peaches, herbs, minerals. The standout dimension is texture, and I love the way this wine moves over the tongue with a deliciously tangible, mealy texture. Intensity is impressive, but it seems to trade some definition for all its power and complexity. Everything here points to a focused articulation of flavours, but just before the money shot, it loses concentration and blurs its form. Reasonable people can disagree about whether this is desirable; personally, I yearned for it to go all the way and express each of its components with crystal clarity.

A very interesting wine.

Salo
Price: $A40
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Gift

Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Given it is one of the few producers in Australia serious about Chenin Blanc, Dowie Doole’s Chenins always get me extra excited when they arrive in the mail. Straight into the fridge for this and a tasting at the first opportunity.

Riesling is often championed as the most transparent of grapes, clearly showing variations in site and vintage. I’d argue that Chenin shares a good amount of this transparency, and certainly Dowie Doole’s regular label shows interesting variation year-on-year. Having said that, this shares a degree of stylistic DNA with its immediate predecessor, particularly with regard to a sense of tautness and a thread of minerality that runs through the whole.

The nose is cool and steely at first, a nice edge of flint leading to suggestions of fuller, almost tropical fruit. There’s a wild streak of overgrown weeds in the aroma profile, somewhat heady though not nearly as obvious as the grassiness one sometimes sees in Sauvignon Blanc, for example. The palate hasn’t quite come together yet, but it’s on its way. True to the varietal, acid is present in abundant quantities, lending a sandpaper texture as well as a sherbet edge to the lemon and stonefruit characters. There’s good impact and reasonable intensity, the wine’s weight counterbalancing its edgy structure.

I think a few months in bottle will help the individual elements to settle a bit, though for lovers of a more extreme style, the wine in its present state may be preferable. Either way, the flavours are extremely unusual in the Australian context, and I’m quite blown away by how daring this label has become for a mainstream $16 white. A curio for sure, but so much more too. This is one of the better alternative summer whites on the market.

Dowie Doole
Price: $A16
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Collina 2008

Posted on by
Reply

It’s hard not to engage in a conversation about style when tasting Australian Chardonnay, as the varietal is currently convulsing its way through various winemakers’ ideas of what it ought to taste like, not always happily. It’s disappointing to see ongoing comparisons to Old World styles; surely the point is for us to discover, through experimentation, the most appealing expressions of the grape within our various regions. In any case, it’s a process I am watching, and in a small way contributing to, with interest.

This wine struck me as particularly interesting when it arrived in the mail. A cellar door only release, its pricing marks it as determinedly up-market. And, more or less immediately on pouring, it justified its price point. Ultimate quality aside, this wine throws a whole lot at you without so much as a breather. Aromas leap from the glass: gunpowder, oatmeal, cantaloupe, waxed lemon. It seems a heavily worked wine, but one that expresses its complexity with tight, almost brutal, focus. This isn’t a wine to relax into; rather, it’s at the top of its game, demanding that you, too, stay on your toes.

The palate begins on a cool note, sharp lemon pushing through a luxuriously slippery mouthfeel. The middle palate is marginally wider in line, though one could never describe this as loose. Fine, tight acid supports a flavour profile that is one part lemon and three parts savoury complexities. Intensity is very impressive, a sharp lift of citrus fruit through the after palate particularly striking in this regard. Oatmeal, hessian and nuts take over as the palate moves towards its close, the finish itself showing good extension and an even, elegant diminuendo.

An excellent wine, full of quality winemaking and fruit in equal measure. This makes a very convincing argument for a particular view of Tasmanian Chardonnay.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A60
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Waipara Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Posted on by
Reply

I review a fair few Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, even though it is often difficult to see new and interesting things in what can be a fairly homogenous style. One path to further interest is to head down the terroir route, seeking variety and insight through specialisation. Another, and this wine is an ideal exemplar of what I mean, is to look for the essence of the style in the most mainstream context.

The wine that originally got me hooked on the style, many years ago, was the standard Geisen, a humble drop by any measure. It was explosive, full of flavour and immersed in the utter vulgarity that is, in my view, an essential ingredient of good Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We often celebrate delicacy and restraint in wine, but there’s a gaudy beauty in excess, and I believe we miss something if we choose not to engage these particular aesthetics.

To the wine at hand; what I like about this is that, without pretense, it exemplifies the drinkability and character of the style. It’s a great mainstream wine. The nose is tropical and heady, with passionfruit, some papaya, a bit of green. This isn’t the complex, edgy wine some producers are exploring in the region. But in its way, it is perfect, showing all that’s good about this varietal, including a degree of loucheness, without unattractive exaggeration or insulting timidity.

The palate is simply delicious, with well balanced acid supporting an array of simple but typical flavours. More passionfruit and lemon curd, tangy and moreish. The trick here is that it sidesteps the least attractive tendencies of the style: an excess of acid, too florid a flavour profile. The middle and after palates are of moderate intensity and good flow. The finish is short, as one expects, but clean, with a nice lift of grassy aromatics cleansing the palate.

A great, highly commercial example of why this is a classic wine style.

Waipara Hills
Price: $A21.90
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Domaine Pattes Loup Chablis 1er Cru Beauregard 2009

Posted on by
Reply

Drinking is better with company; not only can an exchange of ideas and impressions flow, but it’s a great excuse to break open some of the good stuff. Yesterday, in a Burgundy-inspired afternoon’s tasting with Jeremy Pringle, this wine stood out.

Don’t drink this too cold; as it has warmed in the glass, initial notes of sulfur and minerals have been joined by a dreamy squirt of lemon curd. There’s quite a bit of sulfur it seems; I’m alternately wheezing and smelling; just as well the aroma profile makes it worth my while. Good complexity and detail, bouncing between soft and sharp, like lemon juice dripping through clouds.

Firm attack, mostly comprising lemon juice with a hint of cut apple, perhaps left on the bench to brown for a few minutes. Excellent acid structure; bubbly, firm and excellently balanced, providing good flow and direction without overwhelming the delicacies of the flavour profile. There’s gentle nougat oak underlying layers of citrus, apple, unripe stonefruit and minerals. Intensity never overwhelms, but is strong enough to provide thrust and impact to the line of citrus fruit that is most prominent on entry and through the middle palate. While fruit drops off through the after palate, texture takes a front seat, a gentle astringency creeping in, reminiscent of lemon pith. A lingering impression of freshness and refreshment.

A really lovely wine.

Domaine Pattes Loup
Price: $A60
Closure: Cork
Source: Gift

Swinging Bridge Sauvignon Blanc 2011

Posted on by
1

Rightly or wrongly, I approach Australian Sauvignon Blanc with a degree of nervousness. Few would argue we do this varietal consistently well and I’ve struggled to identify regions with the sort of notable character achieved in other areas famous for the grape. Orange may yet surprise us. As with Pinot Gris, I’ve been impressed with the region’s ability to produce some Sauvignon Blancs with zing and freshness, hinting at a distinctiveness that makes a region/varietal combination truly shine. This is a great example of what I mean.

The aroma is pungent and forthright, showing a range of notes from tropical fruit to nettles via a good old backyard lemon tree. It’s utterly varietal and, if it doesn’t quite reach the distinctive heights of a Marlborough example, neatly avoids the insultingly confected vibe one still encounters way too often amongst local wines. I’d like to see this taken a step or two towards the edge; I feel there’s an angularity here that is being held back by conservative winemaking but which might make this something truly special.

Perhaps the level of residual sugar is the culprit, a component that is clearer on the palate thank on the nose. Entry is bright and vivid thanks to a decent whack of acid, backed up by a gush of sweetish citrus flavour. Things threaten to become disappointingly conventional until the middle palate injects all sorts of mineral, savoury complexity. All of a sudden, this looks like it’s punching well above its weight, a continuation of sizzly mouthfeel propping up an increasingly adult flavour profile. The after palate and finish die somewhat, as is typical for this varietal, though there’s a half-strength dose of sweet fruit that persists stubbornly well beyond the point at which this wine ought to have departed.

I think there’s real potential here; I’d love to see the style making fewer concessions to perceived popular tastes.

Swinging Bridge
Price: $A18.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Yelland & Papps Delight Vermentino 2011

Posted on by
3

It’s always disappointing to me when a particular style of wine becomes fashionable and, therefore, ubiquitous. To me, it misses one of the key joys of wine, which is its infinite variety. I’ll never tell anyone what they ought to like, but when people talk of drinking only a particular style of wine, it smacks of posturing or willful ignorance, or perhaps both. I truly believe to get the most out of wine, one needs to explore a wide range of styles and learn to appreciate what they have to offer, even if some end up being preferred over others.

Given that little rant, it may seem contradictory of me to suggest that I’m no huge fan of the fairly recent vogue for alternate varietals in Australia. Maybe it’s unhelpfully conservative of me, but I believe we have well-established regional styles that, collectively, show great variety and distinction. And, were I given the choice, I’d prefer for those styles to be mined and elevated even further, rather than see our efforts spread far and wide in the search for the next great varietal sensation.

I therefore approach this wine with both curiosity and dread, hoping to find an unusual style and, at the same time, wondering if I wouldn’t be better off tucking into a great dry Riesling. After tasting it, I’m still not sure on either front; it’s nice try to a Barossa Vermentino for completeness’ sake at least, as I don’t believe I’ve ever had one before. It’s a clean-smelling wine, the aroma profile somewhat neutral but showing hints of honeysuckle, bubble gum and something much more interesting, akin to overripe fruit that has begun to spoil in its opulent fleshiness.

The palate carries this rather challenging note through, but what stands out most here is structure. This wine is all about zingy acid and the sort of lively mouthfeel that will go down well during summer. Palate weight is fuller than many aromatic whites, feeling closer to Semillon than Riesling. Flavour is quite generous on the middle palate, with good intensity and impact. The after palate and finish taper away elegantly, never losing their acid backbone and sense of freshness. An unusual wine, then, with some flavour components that I enjoyed for their angularity.

Yelland & Papps
Price: $A19.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Flaxman Dessert Semillon 2010

Posted on by
Reply

A cordon cut style, this wine hails from boutique producer Flaxman Wines. It’s shot through with authenticity, at least as far as the back label is concerned: hand pruned, hand picked, old vine, dry grown, low yielding. It’s a veritable checklist of cred. What I like most about the packaging, however, is the exceptionally attractive label design, something it shares with all the Flaxman wines.

To what’s in the glass, an initially funky, almost musty, aroma gives way to unexpectedly savoury notes mixed with tinned peach and pear. The savouriness is, I suspect, somewhat sulfur-driven, so may blow off with some time. I hope it does, because the fruit here is quite lovely, and surprisingly subtle for what can tend to be a straightforward style. The key to its interest is that it’s not overwhelmingly sweet, it holds something in reserve, which makes the whole thing a lot more sniffable.

The palate shows good freshness and balance, thanks to a pleasing interplay between sugar, fruit intensity and acid. Again, the wine surprises with its subtlety, being neither too sweet nor too bracingly acidic. Entry splashes the palate with cool, structural refreshment, taking a while to build a level of fruit intensity that is ultimately satisfying without ever being especially impressive. The middle palate is awash with a range of fruit flavours: fresh citrus, candied peel, ripe stonefruit, some syrup. The after palate becomes more savoury and textural, with perhaps a hint of minerality edging in. A nice, gentle finish brings things to a close.

The back label also says of this wine that it has “no story.” While its provenance and production suggest otherwise, it loses nothing by being judged purely for what’s in the bottle. Nice wine.

Flaxman Wines
Price: $A20
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Angullong Fossil Hill Pinot Gris 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Although I’ve only tasted a few, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Pinot Gris from Orange has a lot of potential, and might be one of the most pleasing white varietals to come from this very cool region. This isn’t to be underestimated; I think in general we’ve struggled in Australia to produce interesting expressions of this grape.

This wine is no exception to the Orange rule. The nose starts by suggesting the neutrality that can plague this varietal, but quickly evolves to release quite rich fruit notes of candied peel, ripe pear flesh and some surprising savoury minerality. Sure, it’s not a complex aroma, but its character is fresh and appealing, quite juicily delicious in fact.

The palate is where this wine really shines, thanks to a tingly acid structure and impressive generosity of flavour. Entry is fresh and quite textural, leading to green pear flavours that carry through to a middle palate that is both expansive and lively; this wine proves that a lot of acid doesn’t necessarily translate to a tight, linear experience in the mouth, partly because there’s a nice viscosity on the middle palate that balances the wine’s acid structure and creates a really interesting tension between the two. More of that savouriness creeps in as the wine moves along, becoming more prominent through the after palate. A decent finish tapers gently away, leaving a residue of savouriness and an impression of fresh fruit.

Angullong
Price: $A22
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Peregrine Chardonnay 2009

Posted on by
Reply

Descriptors are unhelpful enough without having to endure the mangling to which we often subject them. The fruit analogues are one thing; “peach” is at least somewhat determinate; the stylistic descriptors are altogether more problematic, which is a shame, because they’re often the most telling words we use as wine writers. Describe a Chardonnay as tasting like grapefruit, and I sort of know what you mean. Describe it as elegant, however, and I’m much less confident I understand the wine’s style. Yet I reach for these stylistic descriptors often in my writing, because I feel they communicate much more of the experience of drinking a wine than fruit notes, or perhaps even structural descriptions.

Partly, the problem arises because we tend to use these descriptors interchangeably, or as euphemisms for one another. To describe a wine as elegant represents an enormous (positive) value judgement, but often it’s code for “lean,” which is, to me at least, less unequivocally good. Indeed, heavily worked styles can be elegant, and lean wines clumsy. Is elegant a worthless descriptor, then? Not at all, but something so abstract must be used with precision and perhaps even caution.

This wine is a case in point. It’s not a lean wine, nor is it nimble, or dainty, or even especially fine. It is, however, complex, worked, generous and, in its way, gaudily elegant. It’s Versace to Chablis’ Armani, a wine dripping with ornament, very much a more is more aesthetic. Yet this is somehow contained within a bright, firm-enough acid structure, so that it stops short of being overwhelming and remains simply a mouth full of pea

ch, butterscotch and herb flavour, slightly hot on the finish, lacking in intensity, making up for it with some fine detail and complexity. Peregrine
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Retail