Tag Archives: South Australia

Jacob's Creek Reserve Merlot 2004

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There are a few notable Merlots on the local scene but I’d struggle to articulate (based on admittedly limited experience) what a regional Aussie Merlot should taste like. Is that a bad thing? I’m not sure; it certainly makes for unexpected, though often bland, tasting experiences.

This one is sourced from various regions in South Australia and forms part of the Reserve range of Jacob’s Creek wines. There’s often some pretty good value in this range and the wines are just that bit more “serious” than the standard label. In terms of aroma, there’s a lot of oak; the sort of hard, toasty, cedary oak that tends to mask easy fruit flavour. It’s very glamorous but kind of confronting too. Varietally, I’m getting some blueberry fruit but a wider, more dominant range of brambly notes. So, quite an austere aroma profile, really.
In the mouth, quite a hard, oak-driven wine. Maybe I’m being cynical but this wine feels built to a formula that is less about fruit character (and sympathetic treatment) and all about positioning. Quite a firm, powerful attack that showers the tongue with lean (not unripe) flavour and some underlying sweet berry fruit. The middle palate reveals this wine’s essential tension: a thread of firm oak runs alongside plush, quite attractive berry fruit and a hint of green olive. The oak character is akin to nutmeg that you haven’t yet grated. The flavours are large scale and very generous, but the whole feels disjointed, somehow, and unharmonious. Ripe tannins create a lovely texture that carries the wine through a somewhat hollow finish. A bit hot, perhaps, the wine finishing as it starts, with an essentially sappy, angular note that seems mostly oak-derived.
I’m not getting what I need from this wine. It’s extremely well made, clean and flavourful. But, for me, it is pretentious; its style is essentially mismatched to the underlying character of its fruit. I drank this wine with an outrageously inappropriate meal (Japanese curry) that, ironcally, tamed some of the savoury characters and allowed a softer, more feminine side to emerge. 

Jacob’s Creek
Price: $A16
Closure: Cork

Penfolds St Henri 2002

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I wish I knew why, but lately I seem to be over-sensitive to the difference between immaculately filtered wines and wines that are still soupy with debris left over from the winemaking process. Last week, I enjoyed a couple of bottles of Chinon with friends, and both of those bottles left you with a mouthful of residue. I wonder – is that the vinuous equivalent of bongwater? But I digress.Brilliant, sparkling, deep red, this wine is beautifully perfumed. It smells remarkably of damson jam or even German Zwetschgenkuchen, but it’s not the usual South Australian raspberry fruit bomb. Instead, there’s a strong note of freshly shined shoes and saddle leather backing it up, which gives it a much fresher, brighter dimension. There’s even a twinge of eucalypts and violets there somehow; it’s wonderfully complex and a real delight to smell this wine.Medium-full bodied in the mouth, the texture has been buffed to a glossy sheen; tannins, if any, appear to be fully resolved or so satiny that they’re not perceptibly there until the finish, which leaves just enough of a tannic impact to read as “serious.” Taste-wise there’s something like a Christmas cake effect, but again: it’s mostly dark red berries with a hint of blackstrap molasses and just the faintest hit on the onset of bottle age. My only complaint is that the’res incongrous acidity that peeks its head out on the finish, interrupting what’s otherwise a very smooth, elegant line with a rush of “ow, I hope I remembered to restock the antacids.” Even so, this thing is a wonderfully streamlined wine that seems to me a lot like a Chris Ringland Barossa monster Shiraz minus the pruney notes and overachieving alcohol. I like.That being said, my partner just chimed and said “uh, this sure seems corporate and bland.” He does have a point; there is something awfully same-y about this wine. Where is it from? Australia? California? There really isn’t anything especially distinctive about it, and that too is a drawback. Plus, what I’m reading as high acidity could just be high alcohol; it’s still just under 15%, and that does seem to throw the finish out of whack.Penfolds
Price: $40
Closure: Cork

d'Arenberg The Stump Jump Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre 2007

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Bright ruby colour, very clean and not very dense. Bang, we’re in commercial red territory with the nose, and I mean that as only half an insult. Let’s face it, there’s something comforting about the easygoing aroma profile of a well made, mainstream red wine. This one has pretty aromas of sweet red berry fruit, grilled meat, an interesting medicinal note and subdued brambles, along with a hint of gentle oak. Everything in its place.

O'Leary Walker Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

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In a nice nod to sub-regionality, the back label identifies this wine’s fruit as having been sourced from Armagh and Polish Hill River. Work was a slog today, so much so that I just had to swing by the local Dan’s Choice and pick up a bottle of something I haven’t tried before. Usually, my wine purchases are a lot more deliberate. The obsessive side of my personality, if I can be so euphemistic as to call my defining characteristic a “side,” usually demands my choice of beverage be the result of some consideration. But I just grabbed this at the shop without much thought. And here we are.

I guess I should rely on chance more often. This is a really honest wine, well-made and flavoursome. Swirly, rather high toned aromas of spice and mint encircle dust and moderately well-defined Cabernet fruit. We’re a long way from Coonawarra or Bordeaux with this wine, but that’s alright because it’s a comfortable, even slightly plush place. The aroma profile seems warmer, somehow, cuddlier than more restrained Cabernet styles, even as it challenges with a bit of savoury tar, cooked meat and slightly sharp oak.

Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

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Interesting bunch, these 2004 Coonawarras. It was obviously a good vintage, but what’s fascinating to me is how each maker interprets their fruit in the context of an acknowledged Australian “classic” style. So far, three wines (Leconfield, Wynns, and this), three quite different interpretations. Perhaps it’s misleading to discuss regions in terms of a singular style. Sure, there are common elements, but it’s the differences that tell the most compelling story.

Initially wild on the nose, and a bit hot, but settling quickly into classic Cabernet notes of leafiness and cool dark fruit. There’s vanilla/cedar oak too, a fair bit of it actually, but the fruit has the scale to contain it. This isn’t a shy wine at all — the nose is quite expressive and the whole thing feels generous.

The palate continues this theme with immediately accessible fruit flavours wrapped in a textured, chunky mouthfeel. Although not quite full bodied, we’re squarely in “big red wine” territory here, fruit-driven and mouthcoating. Notes of red and black fruits (with perhaps a prune or two thrown in) dominate the middle palate before giving way to more astringent flavours like brambles, black olives and tartly unripe berries. I like this progression. Really good consistency through the palate, with no dips or dead spots. Fine, ripe tannins start to blanket the tongue towards the finish. Pretty good length.

This is the kind of wine you’d want to pull out in the middle of a convivial dinner party, perhaps just as you’ve dragged that lasagne from the oven, piping hot and rich with béchamel and Bolognese. You’ve worked your way through some sparking, a riesling or two, and you’re ready for the main event. Crowd-pleasing.

Zema Estate
Price: $25
Closure: Cork

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

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Quite a savoury, complex expression of Cabernet, totally different from Leconfield’s 2004 effort. This wine shows a classically leafy aroma profile, lean and a little angular, with some graphite and smokey cedar in amongst lithe blackcurrant fruit. There’s an interesting (and slightly odd) earthy note, plus a light edge of confected red fruit too. A lot going on here for a young wine.

In the mouth, equally lean but with a sour thrust that I find delicious. The entry is deceptively smooth, as it’s not until the middle palate that both sourness and fruit weight begin to register. It never reaches any particular heights in terms of presence, and at times it tastes a little dilute, but I enjoy the fact that this is a light wine, nimble and sprightly in the mouth. Tannins are firm and start to take over on the after palate. They’re a little raw at the moment and feel unevenly distributed, but add a welcome rusticity to the mouthfeel. Reasonable length.

If you must drink this now, make sure you accompany it with food, as this will smooth out the structure and fill the wine in to an extent. I think it will drink better as a more mature wine, and suspect it will transform into one of those ephemeral 1970s Coonawarra Clarets that, as aged wines, sparkle with decaying delicacy.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate
Price: $25
Closure: Cork

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 1998

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Mentholated violets dominate the nose, which is straight out of a heritage candy shoppe of the sort you’d find in the California gold country (or Ballarat, I suppose). There’s a very rich, liquid smoked chocolate, coffee nose as well; it somehow doesn’t smell particularly old. It also strangely reminds me of waterblommetjebredie, a South African stew with a peculiar indigenous plant in it that’s vaguely like weak spinach or strong cress; it’s a watery, slightly meaty, slightly green smell that’s appetizing for sure.

Initially disconcertingly acidic, length isn’t so great at this point in history, tapering off quickly to a sort of stewed prune aftertaste. It’s weirdly like dealcoholized port, not particularly delicious; if I had some inexpensive brandy around, I’d probably add some to the glass in hopes of creating something more palatable. Still, it’s interesting enough for what it is, not entirely dead yet, and oddly flavoursome. Over time, you get used to the shock of it and what you get is almost a lamington sort of deal: bright, rich red fruits, a certain coconut aspect, and the dark toasted chocolate from the barrels as well.

OK, ten minutes later and I’ve changed my mind: this is delicious.

Penfolds
Price: about US$16
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: December 2008

Fun fact: This was one of the first bottles of wine I ever bought; back in the early days of eVineyard.com (the company that eventually took over Wine.com), they had a ridiculous deal where you could buy bottles of wine for a penny each or something (I really should go find the receipts and scan them), so I lined up a dozen coworkers and we all ordered discount wine. Given a business plan like that, it’s a miracle they’re still in business in 2008!

Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

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On the nose, dry woods and black olives. There’s also a subtle hint of lilac perfume that sneaks in past the relatively standard smell of an older Cabernet, but only just. Ultimately, it reminds me of salt caramels abandoned in the dusty hallway of a grand Swiss hotel, snowy pines just outside.

Fairly rich and full in the mouth, the taste is lithe, young, round. Barely perceptibly sweet, the wine trends upwards, increasing in brightness and freshness, ending on a bright note of soft cedar and rich bramble fruit.

Delicious.

Penfolds
Price: $20
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: November 2008

Pewsey Vale Riesling 2007

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A little late to the party with this one, I know. 2008 Rieslings have hit the shelves in a big way by now, but 2007 editions are still widely available.

Pretty aroma of soft talc and lime juice. For those allergic to our aggressively aromatic Rieslings, this may well please. Still, there’s something simple and marginally disappointing about the aroma profile. It comes across as compromised, somehow, even a little bland. In the mouth, quite full with some minerality clawing its way into a core of lime juice. It’s quite full and tends towards tropical fruit on the sides of the tongue. For all that, it’s generously flavoured and undeniably tasty. A softer acid structure encourages the impression of full, round fruit character, but there’s still some sizzly acid to keep things lively. Things die a bit on the finish.

Very much a “drink now” proposition, this one. In its own way quite drinkable, but lacking a bit of bite for my taste. Would be a good choice to serve to a casual, mixed crowd.

Pewsey Vale
Price: $A15.20
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: October 2008

Teusner Joshua 2007

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Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz but no oak. This Barossa wine is made from old vine fruit in a fresh, approachable style. Tradition meets fast food, you might say, but in a good way.

Penetrating nose that, initially, is all about sweet red fruit, but that quickly gains complexity and savouriness. It ends up being a fresh, somewhat sharp amalgam of fruit, spice and something akin to fennel. Slightly feral or meaty, too. There’s an impression of good detail as well as some fruit depth to back up what is quite a bright aroma profile.

In the mouth, lots of flavour quickly delivered to the taste buds. The entry shows quite bright, almost aggressive acidity that builds as the wine moves through the palate. Although there are fairly relaxed tannins down the line, structurally this wine revolves around its acid. It provides sizzle and good flow, but also balances out the wine’s considerable fruit sweetness to the extent that one’s overall impression is of a savoury flavour profile. Crunchy red fruits, herb and aniseed all vye for attention here. It’s almost medicinal in a Dr Pepper sort of way, and some hints of dried fruits also emerge. A nice crescendo of intensity that peaks at the middle palate. If there’s a fairly sudden drop-off on the after palate, that’s ok, because all that acidity and bright fruit verges on abrasive, especially without food. It continues in this more subdued, plummy key and delivers a pretty decent finish, with perhaps the slightest glow of alcohol heat.

A good food style that’s certainly a lively drink. Try it with pasta or a robustly flavoured meat dish. Wines like this often strike me as “picnic” wines in that I can well imagine drinking it in accompaniment to bread, cheese and charcuterie.

Teusner
Price: $A24.70
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008