Tag Archives: 2006

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2006

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Two steps up from the Windy Peak Pinot Noir is this number, made from Estate grapes in the Yarra Valley. The 2005 vintage was excellent, so I snapped this one up to try this evening. A bright ruby, transparent, moderate density. The nose is controlled and delivers a hit of red fruits, both sweet and savoury, plus some minerals, sap and oak. Some good complexity, and just a hint of prettiness. It smells astringent, somehow, and this impression is confirmed on the palate. This light to medium bodied wine enters the mouth with good impact, both acid and sour fruit flavour registering immediately on the tongue. Intense, fresh red fruits mix with sappy flavours on the middle palate, mostly savoury in character but with edges of sweetness, in the same way that some Chinese teas register a delightful sweetness at the very edges of their flavour profile. The wine is well textured, due mostly to its acid, which is assertive without being lumpy or disjointed. The after palate does thin a bit, riding a wave of acid towards a finish that persists with good length.The structure of this wine, especially its acidity, suggest it may drink better in a few years’ time, when it has attained better balance. For now, though, it is a fresh, sophisticated wine of good complexity and notable texture that will match well with food. We had ours with gourmet pizza, to good effect.Update: I left it overnight and revisited a glass the next morning (spitting of course). The fruit opened up a notch, revealing additional layers of rhubarb-like flavour, and there is a spicier, custardy dimension too. It’s still very tight and structured, though. There’s definitely some life in this wine.De BortoliPrice: $A25Closure: StelvinDate tasted: February 2008

Mike Press Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

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I tasted this wine a few months ago and it was a bit raw and disjointed. A little time has been kind, and this wine is showing better now. For anyone not attuned to the the value priced end of the market, Mike Press Wines is an Adelaide Hills producer and makes a range of very inexpensive wines from Estate grapes. Not only has a few months helped this wine to settle, but a few minutes (ok, a couple of hours) in the glass has also enhanced the attractiveness of its expression. At first, it was a little bright and aggressive in flavour. Towards the end of the bottle, its profile has deepened and gained richness. So do let it sit for a while, or decant if you wish. Once you have done so, you will observe aromas of deep, clean berry fruit along with Cabernet dustiness. There is perhaps the slightest hint of foliage in there too, though it’s not nearly as prominent as in some Cabernets. The nose is slightly reticent and lacking in impact, but what’s there is attractive.Entry is gentle without any great rush of flavour or structure. Rather, the wine slips to the middle palate and it is here that some real intensity of flavour registers. Round, ripe Cabernet fruit of good depth is the primary feature, assisted by a little stalkiness and some sappy notes, perhaps oak derived. The fruit has a simple, sweet dimension that verges on the confected for my taste, but it’s only an edge to the otherwise attractive fruit character. Acid is relatively prominent and provides freshness and a nicely textured layer to the otherwise slippery mouthfeel. Subtle chocolate and coffee notes become more prominent as the wine moves through the after palate towards a lightly drying finish. This is a cracking wine, and at the price it’s a no-brainer for weekday quaffing and more contemplative moments alike. It’s a particularly good food wine thanks to that acid. I’m not sure whether it’s the style of Cabernet I would choose to drink all the time, but if you like the style, I doubt you could find a better value wine.Mike Press WinesPrice: $A10Closure: StelvinDate tasted: January 2008

Dan Aykroyd "Discovery Series" Cabernet-Merlot 2006

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At my local LCBO, two shelves below the Wayne Gretzky Unoaked Chardonnay, I found Dan Aykroyd’s wines dangerously close to the salt and snow stained floor.
One thing to be understood about Canadians is that essentially we are Marsha from The Brady Bunch. Just as in our cinema, when it comes to wines Canadians have to be coaxed into believing they’re good enough, smart enough and pretty enough. This means selling Canadian wines to Canadians is probably harder than it needs to be. In comes the recent rash of celebrity wines to lend a solution to that problem.
So I put on my Bill Murray Clothing Shirt and cracked a bottle of Dan Aykroyd Discovery Series Cabernet Merlot 2006. At $16.95 (+$0.05 bottle deposit) this prices it just about in the dead centre for an Ontario produced and cellared wine. Other than an iridescent microphone the label isn’t silly or kitsch. This wine wants you to take it seriously, so I did.
The nose has something in it. I think it’s strawberry? It’s faint. It could be blackberry or other berries. But it’s hardly present. Huge oak flavours and way too much sulphur. It’s retarded how sulphuric this stuff is. Afterwards some mouth feel and residual sulphur remains. And that’s about it. It’s like licking an oak tree while somebody farts in your face. The sulphur is very chemical, industrial even. Reminds me of the treated well water at my uncle’s farm.
I waited an hour for the sulphur to off gas. Eureka. Suddenly this is a different animal. The strawberries are gone and a little more typically berry flavoured. The bottle still smells like strawberries and sulphur. The tannic oaky flavour is still a bit strong for my taste but suddenly this is more like a bottle of cab-merlot that should cost $17, probably less. Not horribly remarkable but not bad at all. What was with the initial sulphur? Weird. It finished like a cheap date with that acidic feel on the teeth and not much of a taste other than, well, acid.
I’m glad Dan Aykroyd is investing in the wineries here on the Niagara Peninsula. But I think the whole idea behind the “Discovery Series” is to introduce people to wines they’ve never tried before. That makes sense. But I’m wondering if people who drink wine and buy $17 bottles at the LCBO have never had a really bold cab-merlot before? I guess that’s where lending a celebrity name comes into the picture.
If it had the Ghostbusters logo on it I’d review it better.
Dan Aykroyd [but really Lakeview]Price: C$16.95Closure: SyntheticDate tasted: January 2008

T'Gallant Juliet Pinot Noir 2006

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Last night the Pinot Grigio, tonight the Pinot Noir. I was surprised by the drinkability, if not sophistication, of the Grigio, so was interested to see what the Noir is made of. As with the companion wine, this one is priced keenly at $A14.


Pretty, relatively dense ruby red, good clarity. Upon opening, the wine’s nose was almost entirely mute. Some time in glass has helped it to express itself a little, but it’s not exactly screaming out of the glass, even now. The aromas are of sweet Pinot fruit and a little spice, thankfully not confected but also quite simple. The palate is a lot more expressive than the nose. Entry is quite immediate and leads to a middle palate of light to medium weight, showing varietal fruit and some more spice. The fruit itself, though identifiably Pinot Noir in character, has an unattractively

Unison Vineyard Unison 2006

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This wine is Unison Vineyard’s signature wine, along with the “reserve” level Unison Selection. It’s a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from Estate grapes. The proportions of the blend are not specified, and deliberately so. When I queried Unison about this, I was told it views the Unison wine as a style whose blend may vary from year to year, so the exact percentage of each variety is really beside the point. It’s nice to encounter a producer with such a clear, confident vision.


Red-purple colour, not massively dense, pretty. The nose immediately presents bright, sweet red fruits within a billowy arena of pepper and dried flowers. It’s striking and bold, full of character, if a little simple and gangly. There’s good intensity on the nose and it showed consistency through the evening, with perhaps each element calming a little with time in glass. The entry and middle palate are equally forward, showing great line from nose to palate. The same flavour profile of

Tulloch Verdelho 2006

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The things that make a successful quaffing wine can be quite different from those that make a wine rewarding to sip contemplatively. This wine is a case in point. We cracked it open last night to share amongst a group of people who just wanted some wine to go with food.


On the nose, there are aromas of tropical-ish fruit (perhaps some banana too) and a more astringent, herbal edge. It has impact (in that the flavours register easily upon sniffing) but is not a wine that dominates the moment. The palate is quite generous, surprisingly full in body, and shows a similar spectrum of fruit flavours as the nose, along with exceptionally well judged phenolics that contribute texture, freshness and the impression of astringent fresh herbs. It’s not a refined wine, but the very coarseness of each element is what makes this wine so easy to drink. It’s not a wine you have to work hard at, it gives what it has easily, and it’s balanced to encourage another sip, then another…

To return to my starting point, a good quaffer will often fly slightly “under the radar” insofar as it doesn’t stand out in any particular way, but that’s what makes one so good to drink. This wine is generous and tasty, whilst completely avoiding all the pitfalls of cheap wine — cloyingly simple flavours, lack of intensity, strange flavours, unbalanced structure (lack of or too much), etc. Great BBQ wine.

Price: $A14
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: December 2007

Craggy Range Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2006

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A single vineyard wine made from Martinborough grapes, made by a Hawkes Bay based winery. At cellar door, this wine smelled a bit one dimensional and fruit bright, but the other half latched on to it and suggested we get another bottle for more leisurely consumption. I’m glad I listened!A lightfooted nose of significant complexity, moving through an attractive spectrum of flavours. Bright red fruits (strawberry/cherry-like), stalk, earth, freshly baked things, a bit of vanilla, etc. There’s a lot in there, and it coheres well. The palate is similarly dextrous, and of good intensity despite being of light to medium body. Entry is slippery and fresh, leading to a middle palate full of bright flavour and interest. A good dose of acidity keeps things lively and adds impact to the wine’s flavour profile. I’ve sat with the wine all evening and it has reached a point of excellent balance between flavour components. Lots of bright fruit, but equally prominent minerality and herbal astringency, with subtle oak adding another dimension. Flavour extends well into the after palate, and the finish sings with very fine tannins and acidity. What a lovely wine. It’s both delicate and powerful, with a most attractive flavour profile. Craggy RangePrice: $NZ50Closure: StelvinDate tasted: December 2007

Te Mata Elston Chardonnay 2006

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I tasted another Te Mata Chardonnay, the Woodthorpe Vineyard wine, a couple of weeks ago and was quite impressed. So I picked up Te Mata’s premium Chardonnay eagerly at cellar door, and today had the chance to open it for a drink. Nice wine to finish off Christmas Day, I reckon.Youthful, pale hay colour, good clarity. The nose is quite tight, with some yeasty characters along with zingy citrus and some nutty oak. Balanced and subtle, with flavours showing excellent integration. The wine’s entry is very fresh due to prominent acidity, and marks the start of a very structured, driven line that shoots right down the middle of the tongue. The middle palate shows an array of flavours ranging from cooler climate Chardonnay fruit to yeasty/creamy characters and nutty/spicy oak. Fruit flavour is moderately intense and of good complexity. As with the Woodthorpe, the wine is really well balanced, each element contributing an appropriate amount of flavour and structure to the wine. Unlike the Woodthorpe, the Elston is much more structural, at least at this stage. This translates to an impression of astringency and suggests the wine might drink well in a couple of years’ time. An impressive wine that is all about harmony rather than impact and scale. Drink this with a creamy pasta dish and leave some in the bottle to ponder through the evening. Good value for what it is.Te Mata EstatePrice: $NZ37.20Closure: DiamDate tasted: December 2007