Tag Archives: Pinot Noir

Jalama “Carg” Pinot Noir 2010

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Forgive me, Julian, for I have sinned. It has been some ridiculous amount of time since my last confession tasting note. That being said, it’s a new year, a new site (thank you for your hard work), and it’s high time I pulled my own weight around here and contributed something. Right! Off we go: Last year, I was fortunate enough to have drunk several very, very good bottles of wine with this guy named Tom. Tom and I work for the same company, but at relative opposite ends of the totem pole: I’m a humble support tech, and he’s the capo di tutti support services at the company. Better yet, the guy has a seriously good sense of taste when it comes to wine… and he shares. Now, Julian, you may remember that we used to joke about how those of us in the colonies have an amusing habit of referring to anything exceptionally good as being world class or having European styling; this is of course also very, very true in the wine world. If a wine’s especially good, well, then of course it’s world class. To name one example, there’s a very fine, very exclusive winery called in the Santa Rita Hills AVA called Sea Smoke. Support tech that I am, I’d heard of them, sure, but I’ve never actually seen a bottle of theirs, much less tasted it, until Tom cracked one open. Sure enough, just as the <TITLE> tag of the Sea Smoke website claims, it’s world-class: rich, generous, unobtrusively oaked, with fine grained tannins and impeccable taste. There’s a reason it’s mailing list unobtainium and much sought after, and as much as I wanted to find fault with it (being so close to Los Angeles, surely it would have a touch of vulgar Hollywood surgical amplification about it, n’est-ce pas? But no, it’s pure class.)

But I digress. The wine I have in front of me is superficially similar and at the same time not the same thing at all. This is from a small, family-owned vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, not a larger, long-established, well-known winery. Although it’s presumably grown with the same care in a similar climat, and also raised in new French for quite a long time, it’s a relative steal at forty-six bucks, or about four times the price of an oak-chipped monstrosity from the California Central Coast. So: Is it worth it? The short answer is thankfully fuck yeah.

Let’s start with the look of this wine. As rock sage Nigel Tufnel once said, it’s none more black, reall. Unlike Oregon pinot, this one isn’t lacking in the anthocyanin department, no sir. This is the kind of manly pinot that screams Hey ladies, check out my excellent taste in wine as well as my bank balance, which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. On the nose, it’s got everything you could hope for in a pinot: soft, fragrant oak just hanging out like Neal Cassady at the Salinas Greyhound station, crisp saline air drifting in from the coast with just a touch of smoke from the Spreckels plant down the road. Mixed in with very pretty strawberry-cherry notes, there’s also just a little bit of something very Robert Smith in there as well, serious as a heart attack, nervy and tense, tightly coiled. It’s very, very groovy.

Finally, the taste of the stuff? Yeah, pretty much what you’d expect, but better. Magically, it’s light on its feet in the mouth, not heavy or syrupy as California pinot sometimes tends to be. The French oak is a bit more noticeable on the finish – for my taste, I could stand perhaps a touch less, but then again, this is very much a la mode and it’s absolutely spot on for the local style. It finishes with some very smooth, fine grained tannin and a lingering soft, cedary note that unfurls into a wonderfully refreshing, acid-supported vibrancy that has a real way of making you wonder why you don’t drink this kind of wine more often.

Really, why don’t you?

Jalama
Price: $46
Closure: Cork
Source: Winery

Yarra Yering Pinot Noir 2006

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Happily, I have found myself drinking well of late. The lead-up to Christmas affords many opportunities to open those special bottles, and I am availing myself of every opportunity to do so. Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with friends and we sampled a range of wines, all of which were excellent. This stood out as the wine that changed the most with air.

When it was first poured, it smelled musty and closed, and I worried a little for the condition of our bottle. That worry was entirely misplaced; this soon blossomed into a stunning wine. One thing good wine can do is constantly change in the glass, providing a great ride for the drinker. This seemed to shift a bit every time I smelled it, aromas sliding around as if constantly forming and reforming. First, blowing off the residue of its life in bottle and becoming sweeter, cleaner and less awkward. Then showing meaty notes alongside its relaxed red fruits, some minerality too, one element folding into another and producing something new before for my next smell.

In the mouth, outstanding coherence and line. Once settled, the palate was a seamless expression of dark berries, minerals, toast, meat and a myriad other notes. Bottle age is beginning to make a contribution too, easing the wine into a relaxed phase of its life and adding truffled leather notes. While the flavour profile is delicious, for me this wine’s most notable features are its detail and balance, traits that allow flavours to be heard without having to jostle for attention. I felt drawn into this wine and tasting it was an exercise in looking more closely.Very fine wine.

Yarra Yering
Price: $A148 (wine list)
Closure: Cork
Source: Other

Clos des Lambrays tasting

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I recently attended a tasting of Clos des Lambrays with a selection of vintages spanning 1990 to 2010. Thierry Brouin, longtime oenologist at Domaine des Lambrays, was a charming (though jetlagged) host and humbly provided a view of the domaine’s history and its evolution under his stewardship. This was my first time tasting Clos des Lambrays and I can’t think of a better crash course.

Clos des Lambrays 1990
Defiantly tertiary with a range of old red wine aromas: mushroom, leather, spice. Despite this development, it retains a vibrancy of aroma and is certainly not past it. In the mouth, light bodied with a seamless line, this tastes saucy in the brown sense. A light dusting of tannin arches over an elegant finish. There is still lively acid and freshness. Charming.

Clos des Lambrays 1993
Noticeably more full than the 1990, this wine’s stylings are more masculine and chunky. The flavour profile is quite developed but with an underlying fruit weight missing from the older wine and a sense of minerality that underlines the fruit. Structurally, a bigger, more prominent wine, with more tannins and less exposed acid. At first this dipped through the after palate but some swirling saw that right.

Clos des Lambrays 1995
A really distinctive aroma that shows a pine needle (Thierry suggested camphor) note missing from the other vintages tasted. Light, fresh, with bit more primary fruit, this also came across slightly closed. In the mouth, more masculine than expected with dark berries and a litheness of line, perhaps a bit simple but hugely drinkable and attractive.

Clos des Lambrays 1999
This has a heavy brow, much more inclined to brood than any of its older siblings in this tasting. Dark fruit notes dominate an aroma that is the first of the tasting to seem mostly primary in character. In the mouth, very structured, tannins still prominent and drying, great concentration of dark berry fruit. Oak is also a noticeable influence.

Clos des Lambrays 2006
Very primary, this shows a lighter shade of fruit, spiced oak, heaps of minerality and a slightly raw vibe. The aroma is heady, oak-influenced and quite intoxicating. Exciting. The palate unfolds with cherry essence, vanilla, luxurious richness and chewy density in a framework of powdery tannins. This is fresh, structured and was quite my favourite wine of the tasting.  I wish I had some in my cellar.

Clos des Lambrays 2008
There was quite a bit of burned rubber on opening that never quite blew off, though it did become less prominent after about fifteen minutes of swirling. Once past this, there’s a light, red fruited aroma profile that is pretty and delicate. On the palate, fleet of foot, fruit seeming sweeter here and red rather than black in character. Not sure if this is typical.

Clos des Lambrays 2009
This seemed a favourite amongst the group and I can understand why. Very dense and dark on the nose, but expressive too, and almost a little rustic in its lilt. In the mouth, prickly mineral acid, coffee spiced oak and dark fruit. Also a meaty, umami-esque edge. Quite tannic in a surprisingly loose-knit way, and with very juicy acid, this is screaming for more time, though it’s already reasonably generous. Thierry suggested this vintage clearly expresses the Clos des Lambrays terroir.

Clos des Lambrays 2010
Very tight for now. Even so, there’s great purity of fruit on the nose, along with nougat oak and a dose of adolescent brooding. In the mouth, structure is predictably raw, acid sizzling away and tannin equally firm, flavours tending as much towards coffee oak as dark fruit. Quite hard to assess but, despite its youth, seems of beautiful form and line to me, perhaps more refined, if less obviously characterful, than the 2009. I liked this very much.

Matison Wines The Kirk Pinot Noir 2010

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Some wines taste a bit wild, and I don’t use that word as a euphemism for faulty. These are the wines that leap from the glass with abandon and offer aromas that suggest the forest floor, freshly picked wildflowers and other, not-quite-tamed scents. While not always appropriate, I’ve always appreciated Pinot Noir that shows this character, and feel it can be a great red carpet to Pinot’s often heady show.

This is one such wild Pinot. The aroma offers a mix of slightly feral vegetal aromatics and fresh fruits of the forest. It’s sappy, pithy and shows sensitive oak input. The overall profile is high toned and chaotic, but for me its vibrancy outweighs any lack of composure.

The palate shows a similar flavour profile, with quite masculine, blocky fruit flavours and some forest floor. Structure is firm and attractive, acid juicy and tannins fun and a bit unpredictable in profile. Although it lacks some intensity, this is a charismatic wine in the mouth.

Not a wine of great refinement, but it is compelling and fresh and I like it a lot.

Matison Wines
Price: $A35
Closure: Diam
Source: Sample

Eldridge Estate PTG 2012

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Language is rarely as tortured as it can be in the hands of wine enthusiasts. I suppose this happens in any field, but one of the more interesting features of language in wine appreciation is the evolution of subtext. Drinkability is a particularly interesting word in this regard; for me, to describe a wine as highly drinkable is an entirely positive thing. And yet drinkability is often code for a simple quaffer, something not worth much thought or respect. As if good wines are somehow above being drunk.

So when I suggest Eldridge Estate’s latest PTG is outrageously drinkable, please take a moment to erase all subtextual baggage. I mean drinkable in the most positive, forthright way — this is a wine that fairly leaps down the throat.

And not because it’s simple or dumbed down, either. Here, drinkability is a matter of style. As you can probably infer from the age of it, this is released as a young wine and, to my palate, is designed to be drunk fresh. There’s an acid sourness to the wine that may sound like a negative but which, in fact, is the key to its moreishness. Flavours are bold, with prickly herbs and spice, bright red fruit, some meaty depth. Tannins are loose knit and well managed. So it’s not subtle, but who wants subtlety in a wine like this? No, this is about vitality and verve and, most of all, food.

Quite a brilliant early drinking red style and, on the strength of this, something other Mornington makers may well wish to consider.

Eldridge Estate
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mitchell Harris Sabre Vintage 2008

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This has been a long time in the making. I remember talking with John Harris about it a couple of years ago and, even though it was a long way off release, I sensed his excitement. And I feel excited too, because his tenure as sparkling winemaker at Domaine Chandon creates what I feel is a reasonable expectation of quality to this tasting. Mr Harris should know what he’s doing, a fact his still wines have amply demonstrated to me, but to which this wine brings an extra frisson of anticipation.

The nose keeps me excited and shows evidence of the wine’s three years on lees. There’s a clean, pure vibe to the aroma that absorbs bready notes into a matrix of bright fruit, clear juice and the sort of lean florals that aren’t heady so much as piercing. It’s the integration of notes that impresses most – this aroma profile is quite coherent. In the mouth, good texture and relatively fine spritz pave the way for a surprisingly generous set of flavours. The aromatic citrus fruit is as much pulp as rind, and there’s a sense of weight that carries this wine through a few levels of complexity. It’s not the most aggressively savoury wine I’ve ever tasted, and there’s enough sweetness to soften and swell the palate. The sweetness is never intrusive, though, and does not mask an inherently funky streak to the flavour profile. Notes of crusty bread and tropical fruit alternate, vying for first place. Neither wins, but it’s awfully fun to taste them fighting it out.

A very impressive first sparkling release for Mitchell Harris. The maker is serious about this style, and I look forward to the next release.

Mitchell Harris
Price: $A40
Closure: Diam
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Estate Pinot Noir 2010

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There are all sorts of lovely wines coming out of the 2010 vintage, which is always a fun thing for a wine lover (though perhaps not for his or her wallet). To my great shame, I don’t taste all that many Tasmanian wines, so when this arrived in the mail I got straight into it.

A very masculine style. I’m aware that masculine and feminine are two of the more contested, and potentially meaningless, terms in the wine lexicon, but that’s the first impression this wine gave when it threw its aroma, and one that persists on tasting. The nose is firm, dark, brooding, with a firmly savoury profile and an uncompromising stance. This is light years from seductive, pretty Pinots and, for me, asks quite different questions. Not to suggest there isn’t perfume here; far from it. It’s actually quite expressive, but its aroma is well built, full of mighty columns and firm oak.

The nifty thing about this wine is that it takes a more challenging stance, flavour-wise, without losing its suppleness in the mouth. This has delightful flow over the tongue and a voluptuous mouthfeel that caresses with its fullness and fine texture. Savoury red fruits are more in evidence here than on the nose, showing a medicinal character as well as the influence of some stalk (though I was surprised to read only five percent whole bunches went into this). Acid brightens the after palate and keeps the finish vibrant and fresh. A hint of caramel closes each mouthful.On the downside, this tastes exceptionally young and its elements are not as well connected as they will be in a little while. Hardly a flaw; more like a promise.

Top Pinot.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A50-55
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mud House Pinot Noir 2010

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Today sees me tasting Mud House’s standard Pinot, at $29 priced only slightly lower than the shimmeringly named Golden Terraces wine. Whatever the imperfections of the single vineyard bottling, it stands in proud stylistic contrast to this wine, which is a much more seductive, polished expression of Central Otago Pinot.

The nose here is much denser and darker in profile, hinting at the twiggy, herbal edges of the Golden Terraces but focusing more intently on luscious fruit. It’s immediately appealing for sure, and whether that appeal lasts is mostly a question of taste; I suspect many will find it lengthily engaging.The palate is full and chewy as expected after such a buxom nose. Entry flows smoothly, widening quickly and communicating generosity and luxe more than quirkiness or edge. Acid seems lower and tannins less prominently textural, all of which fits perfectly with the character of the fruit. The middle palate lifts with bright red fruit and a core of sweetness that anchors it firmly on the tongue. The effect reminds me of mainstream Barossa Shiraz, a style known for its broad appeal. The after palate is a bit more chiselled and lean, and the finish is decent.

I find it interesting — and laudable — that this is so different from the single vineyard wine. It’s a Pinot built for broad appeal, although personally I’d prefer to drink the Golden Terraces for its sharp distinctiveness.

Mud House
Price: $A29
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Mud House Golden Terraces Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

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I remember a most productive visit to the Central Otago Wine Company (a contract winemaking facility) in late 2008 which, because of its diverse production, clearly revealed sub-regional differences amongst Central Otago Pinots. I was interested to explore this further, but have since found myself too lazy to pursue it with any vigour. Nonetheless, that memory has stayed with me and, hence, I was excited to see this wine, whose fruit was sourced from a single vineyard in the Bendigo sub-region, just north of über dump Cromwell.

The nose is certainly Central Otago in character; what interests me about this wine, though, is its relatively subtle expression of the fundamentally powerful berry fruit that marks the region’s Pinots. Whilst fruit is at its core, the aroma profile draws in a range of dustier, more herbal nuances, and I like how these add texture and dimension to what might otherwise be a fat profile.

The palate begins promisingly, with a continuation of the aroma’s dusty spice and texture, expressed through an attack that bristles with acid. The middle palate, fully-fruited and quite generous, disappoints me a little because its fruit seems too sweet to sit easily against both the wine’s structure and its other flavours. It’s like a slightly too obvious boob job on an otherwise attractively imperfect figure, trying too hard to be something it’s not. Of course, others may disagree on this point, but for my taste I would have preferred a more confidently savoury expression of fruit. Moving past this, the after palate shows attractive, dusty tannins and a return to the dark savouriness of the aroma and entry. The finish is adequate in length and pleasingly mouthwatering in effect.

Does that flash of sweetness on the middle palate unbalance the wine? A little, perhaps, but it’s not distracting enough to rob me of the enjoyment of drinking an otherwise highly distinctive Central Otago Pinot.

Mud House
Price: $A36
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Brut Reserve NV

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The world of moderately priced Australian sparkling wine can be mouth-puckering in its disappointment, so I’m always on the lookout for good wines at prices cheaper than low-end Champagne. My go-to wine for a while has been the regular Brown Brothers NV, but this slightly more expensive wine is also an attractive proposition.

On pouring, an alarmingly abundant mousse that settles quickly to a subdued, spare bead. The nose is initially savoury, with hints of mushroom and yeast, though this could never be described as a style that is heavy on these elements. Rather, they are an accent to fine, crisp fruit notes, part apple and part strawberry, delicate and bright. The palate is stirring while, thankfully, avoiding the edgy acid that can plague our affordable sparklings. Entry is lively and surprisingly full, rounded fruit flavours becoming more prominent as the line progresses. This fullness does come at the expense of defined incisiveness; whether this is a good or bad thing is, I imagine, a matter of taste. For me, it robs the wine of that last ounce of freshness. No matter; there’s plenty of flavour and a well-balanced amount of spritz. Dosage seems restrained. The after palate is brighter, tilting towards a citrus sharpness that becomes bleached as the wine moves through its ultra-clean finish.

This is a cleverly made wine that privileges drinkability above clarity of articulation. A real crowd-pleaser.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A34
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample