Tag Archives: South Australia

Ngeringa J.E. Shiraz 2004

Posted on by
1

McLaren Vale Shiraz that clocks in at 13.5% alcohol? Yes, it does exist, as this wine from Ngeringa proves. I’ve been meaning to try more Ngeringa wines ever since I had a very pleasurable encounter with its Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. This wine shows an equally clear sense of style.Quite an intense, balanced nose that mixes savoury and sweet fruit, stalky brambles, plus some vanilla and spice. Altogether attractive and relatively complex. Entry confirms this wine’s true character as a rather Italianate, savoury wine of medium body and firm acidity. There’s good intensity to the fruit, which has a lovely “candied peel” edge. The wine is quite lightfooted, with flavours that dance on the tongue rather than smother or overwhelm. It’s really quite complex without being overly intellectual. Some green, undergrowth-like notes emerge on the after palate, reinforcing the savoury fruit notes. The finish trails off in intensity but retains good length. This style really appeals to me. Although it’s a quality wine that you could drink analytically, it’s the kind of wine to throw back with friends, marvelling at how delicious it is while you get stuck into dinner. An example of what the McLaren Vale is capable of when it is not pushed too hard. Brilliant value for money.NgeringaPrice: $A20Closure: StelvinDate tasted: March 2008

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2002

Posted on by
1

First off, there’s petrol here in spades: yes, this wine is six years old and counting. After waiting a few minutes, the wine warmed up enough to give off a hint of lime rind, field honey, wet stone, mineral, and something almost like peaches. There’s a real austerity here: this is not German (or even Washington) Riesling – it’s stony faced and unforgiving.In the mouth, this is a surprisingly full bodied Riesling – it’s rich, not fat, but definitely a surprise after the nose. The acidity is generous, and the length is as well; the finish is long, smooth, and delicious, with lime rind and honey notes counterbalanced by a sense of rain on warm stones (really, I know this isn’t a Moselle, but I couldn’t help myself). As it warms up, it’s beginning to veer over towards grapefruit; at any rate, this is an incredible value and an exceptional bottle of wine. In fact, there’s a savory note on the finish as well – I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s almost like venison somehow – almost gamy, rich and strange, with orange blossoms hovering around the edges. There aren’t many wines like this one: if you’ve never had a Grosset riesling, they’re well worth hunting down.GrossetPrice: US $25 [my best guess]Closure: StelvinDate tasted: March 2008

Petaluma Croser 2005

Posted on by
Reply

People drink sparkling wine for all sorts of reasons, and it seems even those who don’t like wine will go for a glass of bubbly on occasion. Personally, I often enjoy sparkling wine as an aperitif; perhaps its most common use. Dinner the other evening saw a bottle of Croser opened as we awaited our entrées. A fairly aggressive mousse and persistent, fine bead. On the nose, sprightly aromas of cut apple and citrus, with a hint of baked good complexity. So far so good. In the mouth, it becomes evident how fruit-driven this wine is, and I guess whether you like it will depend on how you like your sparking wine. Round, full fruit flavours of apple and citrus occupy the wine’s entry and mid-palate, before structure starts to take over and slim the wine down towards the after palate. OK finish. I haven’t had Croser for a while, but remember it being a leaner wine in its youth. It’s certainly lively in the mouth, and very approachable, but without much complexity at the moment.For my taste, it’s a simple wine, lacking the sort of savoury excitement I enjoy in other sparklers. I’m not sure it worked terribly well as an aperitif either, given the fullness of its fruit profile. Drink this one with your food, not before it.PetalumaPrice: $A35Closure: CorkDate tasted: March 2008

Gnadenfrei Estate "The Waldemar" 1999

Posted on by
1

I began by peeling wax off in tiny flakes, trying to get to the cork, before I remembered that I probably should’ve just attacked with the corkscrew, which worked a treat. The bottle signed a quick whiff of nail polish remover, which dissipated quickly; the cork seemed in relatively good shape for an oldish bottle like this, still intact (albeit well stained).The color of the wine is definitely old: decrepit, even, a mouldering shade of dark rust brown, not particularly appealing (but then again I’m American, right, so I’m never supposed to drink wine that’s any older than a year or two, right?). The nose is, well, old. Really old. It smells like smoked meat (think Montréal) with a side order of truffles and old shoe leather. Overall, it kind of seems like a one-note wonder at this point, and I’m wondering if I was a fool to buy this (more on why later on). In the mouth, it’s surprisingly full-bodied for such an old wine, but the taste is not particularly attractive, tasting of not much more than “old wine” with no complexity. The finish is a bit better, though, with fairly fresh red fruits, a bit of sourness, and a fairly long finish of tobacco leaves with a sweetish edge to it.To be absolutely honest, I’m not sure how to feel about this wine. Is this normal? Is this the kind of thing the English drink and enjoy? I think I’m going to set this aside for a few hours and come back to it later on to see if it’s become something that I innately enjoy; as it is now, it seems more an intellectual exercise than something I’m going to drink with my supper.Gnadenfrei EstatePrice: US $19.95Closure: CorkDate tasted: February 2008—I first heard of Gnadenfrei back in 2001, when the local bottle shop (K&L Wines) carried this exact wine. At the time, I was working for Netscape Communications Corp., and I had a coworker by the name of Waldemar, so I always thought it’d be a hoot to give him a bottle of this. I didn’t – I wasn’t even sure if he drank wine – but I did have the pleasure of visiting Gnadenfrei in October 2002. The experience was entirely unlike any other Barossa winery I visited: Malcolm Seppelt himself poured the wine, rambled on about importing to Pennsylvania, and his wife was upstairs with more tourists. It was decidedly odd, standing there in that dingy basement drinking wines I didn’t know much about at the time.—Even coming back to this wine thirty minutes later, it’s very much improved, and I think I’m almost enjoying it now. If anything, it’s a welcome antidote to the drink-me-now 16% Barossa reds we get in these parts; there’s a definite oddness to this bottle that makes it stand out.

Skillogalee Chardonnay 2005

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t remember trying a Chardonnay when I was last at cellar door, but the empty bottle in the recycling bin proves there is indeed one in the Skillogalee range. According to the winery’s web site, there were 400 cases made from 1ha of mature (25 year old) vines. The nose is a throwback to the (some might say bad) old days of quite generously oaked Chardonnay, expressing as it does a whack of spicy, slightly varnishy oak ahead of more subtle Chardonnay fruit. I sat with the wine all evening and the oak continued to show prominently and ahead of any fruit-derived aroma. The palate is a continuation of this theme, with spicy, smoky and broad oak dominating reticent Chardonnay fruit of the yellow peach variety. I’m not opposed to a more worked style of Chardonnay that uses oak as a key flavour component, but a certain intensity of fruit needs to be present to provide balance, and I didn’t feel it was quite there in this wine. There’s some buttery richness that is, I presume, derived from malo, and acid is pretty soft. Finish is unremarkable.I wasn’t super impressed with this wine, as I kept wishing the fruit would step up more assertively to the oak treatment. As it is, a wine for lovers of spicy oak rather than Chardonnay fruit.SkillogaleeCost: $A20Closure: StelvinDate tasted: February 2008

Skillogalee Riesling 2007

Posted on by
2

Another from the variable (for Riesling, at least) 2007 vintage in the Clare Valley. Skillogalee tends to sit a bit “out there on its own,” stylistically, and I happen to enjoy many of its wines a great deal. This wine may come as a surprise to those who are more accustomed to the style of neighbouring Mitchell, for example, or any number of other more austere Rieslings from the area. A relatively rich colour; hay with a bit of light green, excellent clarity. The nose is equal parts lemon juice and sweeter, tropical fruit (tinned pineapple springs to mind). You don’t need to work hard to get smells from the glass, and the aroma profile is indulgent rather than crisp and piercing. The entry shows sizzly, textured acidity and slightly fuller body than one might expect.  The mid-palate is as much textural as it is flavoursome, with more rustic acidity and some phenolics sitting alongside citrus and pineapple fruit, plus some bitter herbs. Acidity is  a tad unintegrated. Flavour isn’t the most intense I’ve ever experienced, nor is there significant complexity, but it’s present and tasty. The after palate brings a focus on the fruit, which drives a nice line through the middle of the tongue. The wine dies a bit on the finish.Not everyone will like this wine, I imagine, especially if your taste runs to the dryer, more austere Clare Rieslings. And it’s not the best Skillogalee Riesling I’ve had, being perhaps a tad obvious in fruit flavour and coarse in acidity. But it’s a tasty wine, fresh of mouthfeel and with easy fruit flavour. I’d pair this with Chinese food, as I’m about to on this Chinese New Year’s evening.SkillogaleePrice: $A22Closure: StelvinDate tasted: February 2008

Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz 2006

Posted on by
2

OK, so I opened the bottle and did the marketing-recommended Mollydooker Shake, and then dumped some of this stuff in a glass. The nose is largely some kind of unidentified sweetness – it’s not unlike circus peanuts (for you Australians, these are strange large marshmallow-like pinkish orange candies that you still sometimes see in the USA). There’s also a bit of what smells like oak barrels gone slightly off, a sort of butterscotch note, and then something like menthol, eucalyptus, mint, and camphor. There’s even sort of a fusty, earthy, moldy note here as well; it’s not that it’s unappealing, it’s just that it seems at odds with the overall penny candy sweetness of the wine.In the mouth, ther’es a real savory edge to the tannins, some supporting acidity (almost too little; it’s almost flabby), a kind of dark, dour note that I can’t place, a fair amount of sucrosité, and then a sort of nondescript finish that really doesn’t go anywhere before fading out on a sort of Kendal mint cake sweetness that I’m frankly not a fan of.With more time and air, it started to taste like pink popcorn balls or perhaps even Luden cough drops; all bright, neon pink fruit, signifying nothing.All in all, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to make of this. Compared to the Chris Ringland variants on the style (huge, alcoholic Shiraz from South Australia), this seems less rich, less complex, just plain less. What this wine needs is some bacon fat, some toasty, charred barrel notes, some violets or perfume – anything to offset the huge, hulking, bland sweetness of it all.Color me unimpressed.MollydookerPrice: US $20Closure: StelvinDate tasted: January 2008

Lindemans Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by
Reply

As I was handed a plastic picnic cup full of Verdelho yesterday, I reflected that not all wines are intended to demand the full attention of the drinker. A lot of wines are crafted and marketed for their lifestyle value. The new Lindemans “Early Harvest” range is a good example. From what I can tell, it’s the vinous equivalent of low carb beer, “30% less alcohol, 30% less calories” trumpeted proudly on the front label and through the back label text. Fair enough, I could stand to lose a kilo or ten, and I do enjoy lower alcohol wines for their practicality.Very pale green colour, good clarity. The nose is of adequate intensity and presents simple aromas of passionfruit, tropical florals and a bit of capsicum. Nothing challenging, but at least it smells of something pretty. On entry, two things become apparent: there’s not much acid, and the lower alcohol is presumably due, in part, to a moderate amount of residual sugar. These two factors create a rather flabby experience on the middle palate, the sugar propping up and adding body to the wine’s dilute aromatic fruit and slightly grassy flavour profile. The after palate slips away to an interesting, not entirely pleasant, chalky finish. I’m not sure the value in considering this wine in terms of absolute quality, as it will be chosen, I suspect, on the basis of its other attributes. Fair enough. Just don’t think about it too hard as you’re drinking. If this wine works well in the market, I wonder if it’s naive for me to suggest the time for quality off-dry Riesling styles could be near? I wish.LindemansPrice: $A14Closure: StelvinDate tasted: January 2008

Mike Press Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Posted on by
1

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