Tag Archives: 2008

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

Unison Rosé 2008

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I have previously tasted the 2006 version of this wine and, swirling this more recent edition tonight, my earlier note remains relevant to a large extent. This is a savoury rosé style, quite full and somewhat angular; in other words, a more challenging wine than some. 

On the nose, a funky meatiness mixes with flowers, spice, red fruits and vegetation. It’s a serious aroma profile, not blowsy or even particularly expressive. But there’s a nice clean fruit character underlining the whole thing that I like very much. The palate has an unexpected thrust of fruit sweetness that is both sympathetic and a little surprising – the effect is akin to the North African habit of adding fruit to elaborately spiced, savoury dishes, in that it is organic but also creates tension in the flavour profile. Aside from this rounded, sweet red fruit, there are florals and peppery spice and a general masculinity (in the context of rosé style, anyway). It’s fresh and with a good slippery yet somewhat grainy texture. Nice medicinal finish.
Not your usual rosé, then, and perhaps a provocative drink to those who like more outré pink styles, sweet or dry. Personally, I like it a great deal.

Unison Vineyard
Price: $A20
Closure: Stelvin

Dowie Doole Merlot 2008

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A less-than-ideal tasting at the recent Brisbane Fine Wine Festival nonetheless left me intrigued by this wine, and I’ve been keen to try it again in more relaxed circumstances. At the time, in a lineup of McLaren Vale reds, this stood for the clarity and freshness of its flavours. Picked “before the heatwave,” the fruit going into this wine is mostly Merlot, with 7% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

Pretty lean and tight initially, a good deal of swirling yields dividends in the form of dark berry fruit aromas, some spice and the sort of herbal notes that remind me of raindrops on young foliage. It’s a straightforward aroma profile in some respects, perhaps deceptively so, as its coherence tends to mask (in a positive sense) reasonable complexity. A bit of vanilla ice cream oak rounds things off nicely.
The palate is full of clean fruit which, happily, confirms my initial experience of this wine. Like the Teusner Riebke, this is all about fresh, delicious fruit flavour, and this it delivers in the context of a style that manages to be distinctive and approachable at the same time. Quite bound up on entry, it takes a few seconds for flavours to burst onto the tongue. Mostly savoury dark fruit, spice and a bit of dark chocolate flow well through the middle palate, becoming slightly lighter as the wine moves to the back of the mouth. It’s is only just medium bodied, so the decadent vitality of its flavour profile is especially pleasing. Powdery tannins provide a nice foil to the directness of the fruit, leading to firm, dry finish with a cheeky kick of sweet fruit at the last minute.
It could do with a few months’ rest to unlock the full potential of the fruit, but I am enjoying this wine tremendously for its balance, freshness and easy charm. A great example of the triumph of drinkability over contrived style.

Dowie Doole
Price: $A21
Closure: Stelvin

Tulloch Verdelho 2008

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I opened this wine tonight because I was looking forward to drinking a 1997 Château de Besseuil. Clearly, Hunter Valley Verdelho isn’t white Burgundy; the Tulloch is also different in that it’s not corked to a nostril-shocking degree. After smelling the tell-tale wet cardboard on my Besseuil, I reached for the wine in my immediate vicinity least likely to be faulty. And here we are.

Perhaps not a very generous way to introduce this wine; the reality is, this label has been most consistent over the past few years, and the Hunter Valley does a solid line in Verdelho more generally. So there’s some pedigree at work here. 
The nose is really friendly and almost joyously perfumed, with bubblegum fruitiness alongside floral notes that remind me of my favourite outmoded “French whorehouse” fragrances. It’s also very, very clean. It’s a very commercial style, but in a way its flavoursome anonymity is refreshing in a sea of Sauvignon Blanc on the one hand, and Pinot Gris on the other. 
The palate seems to be a step up from previous vintages, with a sense of calm sophistication that I wasn’t expecting. Mostly this is due to a full, slippery mouthfeel that carries a whole fruit salad of flavour over the tongue. The acidity is notable, as it’s both lively and very fine at the same time. In character, this wine is fruity with a high toned powderiness that recalls perfume and a persistent sense of levity that is, finally, quite convincing. It’s not complex, intense or long, but who cares? 
A really fun wine that would be perfect Summer afternoon drinking. 

Tulloch
Price: $A13.30
Closure: Stelvin

Margan Semillon 2008

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After a few vintages (2005-7) of relatively forward Hunter Semillons, it’s nice to open one that is clearly a leaner style, perhaps more suited to delayed gratification. As such, this wine presents a challenge to the taster in that much of its interest is projected rather than immediate. But I’m enjoying it a great deal, even if this enjoyment is related to a sense of anticipation around what it will turn into. Sort of like a slightly measured date you know will end in fantastic sex. I keep visualising how its fine structure and flavours will fill out and change, with honeyed opulence and (I hope) the slippery mouthfeel that my favourite aged Semillons have.

But back to what’s in my glass now, which is by no means unenjoyable on its own youthful terms. The nose, while lean, is strikingly perfumed, with powdery citrus notes and more astringent, grass-like aromas. It actually reminds me a bit of Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, but without the outrageous herbs and tropical fruits. There’s weight, too, some juicier lemon and mandarin perhaps. All in all a fresh, vibrant nose with tremendous focus and just enough weight to encourage a sip. 
The palate delivers the full promise of the nose in all respects. It’s taut, with shards of intense lemon and lime piercing the tastebuds alongside more grassy flavours. Good impact and volume initially, tapering smoothly through the mouth to a finish that is ultra-lean but terribly persistent. Mouthfeel is a highlight even at this young age, with fine acidity and excellent form. It’s a great framework for the wine to develop its mature flavours. 
It’s a cheapie ($A18) and I think it will turn into something very special. Next bottle in about five years’ time, I reckon. 

Margan
Price: $A18
Closure: Stelvin

Karra Yerta Eden Valley Riesling 2008

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Lately, I’ve been thinking about wine styles and how some come to be defined as classics over time. In a way, it’s more complex than the literary canon, for example, in which a single, unchanging artifact is evaluated and re-evaluated over time. With wine, a particular combination of variety and region remains static but a whole set of variables — everything from particular vintage conditions to winemaking to long term climatic variations — ensures a constant evolution. So, how to pin down the essentials?

This wine poses the question because it seems to present atypically at first. The nose is heady, hinting at tropical richness without feeling at all broad. There are wisps of paw paw, honey and the sort of spice that would feel at home in a Gewürztraminer. These elements are at the fore, and for a moment mask a backbone of fine, detailed minerality and a curl of lime rind that are all about the Eden Valley.

Stefano Lubiana Primavera Pinot Noir 2008

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Visiting Central Otago with Chris late last year was instructive in many respects, not least in the opportunity it afforded to taste many producers’ second label Pinots alongside their premium offerings. As much as I’d like to believe in the romanticism of wine and winemaking, more often than not I am struck by how calculated a particular range of wines can be. A simple, fruity second label, a heftier mainstream wine, an excessively extracted and oaked reserve label. Very much by the numbers, and quite uninteresting as a set of implicit assumptions around what constitutes quality and value. 

Wine, for me, should be anchored in a sense of context and appropriateness. Some wines facilitate a casual weekday meal, others challenge the intellect, and yet others can create a sense of occasion. Variations in structure and flavour profile reflect these roles, rather than a perceived hierarchy of quality. I’m not a relativist when it comes to quality, but I do believe the question isn’t simply a matter of “more” or “bigger.”
I mention all that in passing because this Pinot challenges the idea that a second label wine should be an easy, straightforward drinking experience. It’s a little different from some previous vintages of the Primavera which, while rarely being simple, have sometimes shown to more immediate advantage. The aroma here, by contrast, strikes one with depth and savouriness. It’s almost a difficult aroma profile, with odd notes such as sweet foliage (not quite tomato vine), juicy yet savoury cherry fruit and oak that seems smokey, sappy and a bit raw. Some attractive five spice notes on top too. Some of this angularity is no doubt due to its youth, but this wine seems to have a fundamentally dark aroma.
The palate confirms the density of this wine’s fruit flavour. It’s quite sombre, full of crushed black cherries and plums, sweet and sour sauce, chocolate and some sappiness. Entry is immediate, packed with fruit flavour and pushed along by a good dose of acidity. The middle palate is full of flavour but manages to avoid feeling heavy thanks to the acid and a framework of tannins that are loosely defined yet quite assertive. The flavour profile seems somewhat medicinal at this point, showing mostly in savoury terms and turning in a sappy, slightly oaky direction on the after palate. The finish is clean, long and full of fruit flavour. 
I’m not at all confident I have the measure of this wine, and that in itself pleases me. It’s a tasty, deeply fruited, sophisticated Pinot, packed with fruit flavour and happy to exist in a spectrum of flavour that might be regarded as difficult. I understand 2008 was a warm growing season in Tasmania, and the level of fruit ripeness here seems higher than in some previous vintages. In any case, it’s very distinctive and perhaps even brave. I suspect given a few months in bottle it will be even better. A pleasure to taste such complexity and distinctiveness in a second label wine.

Stefano Lubiana
Price: $A27.55
Closure: Stelvin

Frogmore Creek FGR Riesling 2008

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With respect to the apparent fashion towards wine labels that consist of cryptic collections of letters and, at times, numbers, I’m not a fan. To be honest, it reminds me too much of the sort of corporate-speak that surrounds me every day; when I come home, I’d rather sit down to something vaguely romantic and aspirational instead of a label that describes the result of a scientific trial.

Teusner The Riebke Northern Barossa Shiraz 2008

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The nose is a riot of licorice allsorts, intense fresh plums, baking spices and marzipan. There’s a vibrancy to the fruit character that is startling in its clarity and directness. It’s the kind of aroma that playfully invades your nostrils before you’ve made a concerted effort to inhale. Quite voluminous, primary and delicious.

Innocent Bystander Moscato 2008

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I’m a bit late to the Moscato bandwagon, not often craving this style of wine. But tonight, after a rather odd weekend, I felt like an uncomplicated drinking experience, so here we are. Certainly, the packaging makes me smile. Crown seals are quite snazzy-looking in their way, and the pink of this wine reminds me of rouge on the cheeks of an old china doll. So far so good.

A nose that is moderately expressive, fresh and, most of all, grapey. It’s grapey in the manner of overripe table grapes, with a couple of raisins thrown in for good measure. No great complexity worth pulling apart, so one is free to enjoy what is a straightforward aroma profile. Very much more of the same on the palate, with grapiness taken up a notch and accompanied by well balanced fizz, light acidity and enough savouriness to cut through the residual sugar. In fact, there’s a lovely clean after palate here, very much on the savoury side, that reminds me of high quality confectionery. A clean finish that somehow echoes orange juice.