Tag Archives: South Australia

clos Clare Riesling 2002

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First of all, this wine should definitely not be served straight from the refrigerator. Give it half an hour to warm up, and only then give it a try.

This is one of the most elusive wines I’ve ever tasted: the nose had all kinds of things to smell, and almost none of them are anything I could name off of the top of my head. At first I figured I’d just cheat and say it smelled of kerosene or petrol or diesel or whatever, but it really didn’t: it briefly smelled like a fresh peach, and then suddenly like dulce de membrillo, and then it smelled like some unidentifiable white flowers, and then it moved on to something vaguely like what mesquite smells like after the rain in the Sonoran desert… but by then it had skipped along to something else vaguely like stale oregano. Who knows? Let’s just say that there was a lot going on in there, and without a gas spectrometer or an afternoon with Le nez du vin, this is the best I can offer you.

I was hoping it would settle down some in the mouth to give my powers of association a rest, but alas, no such luck. First off: the mouthfeel is sublime. There’s a lovely fatness to it that isn’t built on sugar; there’s also striking acidity that nicely balances everything. Is there any residual sugar? If there is, there’s very little: this is a classic Australian style. Upon reflection, the usual hints of lime peel offered themselves up as well, and the finish was sleek and simultaneously angular as they come, all sophistication and elegance. This is definitely what you Aussies would call moreish: my partner and I found ourselves in a competition to see who could get more of the wine more quickly before the bottle was finished (never an easy task, that fine balance between enjoying it leisurely while also peering over to the other side of the couch just in case their glass starts emptying itself before you have a chance to refill your own).

Overall, wines like these just don’t come around very often. Nearly six years after harvest, it still seems relatively fresh and I’d venture to guess it’s got a few useful years left, although I’ll probably leave one bottle to try again in 2022 just for the hell of it.

clos Clare
Price: US $14 (current vintage is 2006 at US $18)
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

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I’ve never been to find reliable information about who makes these wines, but my best guess is Jeffrey Grosset may have prior to 2006, and now it’s someone by the name of O’Leary Walker.

One additional thing I’ve been thinking about this evening harks back to an interesting series of confrontations in wine school – the professor had been educated in Burgundy, although the school (and nearly all the students) was very much located in Washington state. I was docked a point or two on an examination for suggesting that one could enjoy a glass of sherry before dinner, and a few weeks prior to that I had been told that I was quite wrong to suggest that a Clare riesling could perhaps age successfully for five or maybe even eight years; her French education had apparently insisted that dry Riesling must inevitably be consumed within a year or two lest it fall apart, especially with the high acidity Clare rieslings tend to display. Both times I wanted simply to say “well, you know, I’ve had a few dinners in Spain and very much enjoyed a copita before my meal, and I’ve had a few bottles of aged Clare riesling (a fairly old Taylors St Andrews came to mind immediately) and loved it – so why are you privileging your French university education over my personal experience and other nations’ traditions?” Of course I didn’t, which is how I probably escaped without failing the course. It’s still frustrating, though.

Wirra Wirra Mrs Wigley Rosé 2007

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Dinner last night was enjoyed outdoors, accompanied by balmy weather and appropriate wines, of course! We had this wine as an aperitif, without food. It was served straight from the fridge and had a chance to warm during consumption. It is made from 100% Grenache.

Bright, happy, lolly shop aromas leap from the glass with the sort of eagerness that one looks for in a wine of this style. Having said that, it’s not overly sweet or cloying, and the bright fruit aromas are balanced, a little anyway, by hints of savouriness, and complemented by more floral, rose petal type overtones. In the mouth, this wine immediately presents fruit flavours along the same lines as the nose, perhaps lacking the intensity promised, but attractive nonetheless. The floral element is slightly stronger on the palate.

Served cold, though, the wine starts to go a bit awry at this stage, structurally. There are surprisingly firm tannins from about mid-way through the palate that rob the wine of its fruity fun just a smidge too soon, and carry the wine off to a premature finish. Mind you, the tannins are fine and ripe, just a bit too eager. As the wine warmed up, the tannins receded a little, and enabled the wine to present a more rounded palate profile, which I enjoyed. But I also found the wine started to lack crispness at this warmer temperature, owing to a fairly relaxed acid structure, and edged towards flabbiness.

I’m probably being super critical of this wine, and really it’s a juicy, tasty rose that will make most people happy at Friday afternoon drinks.

Wirra Wirra
Price: $A18
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Marquis Philips Shiraz 2006

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On the nose, it’s hard to move beyond a sort of “21st century rich Australian wine made for an American market” kind of smell. There’s a bit of rich jammy road tar, lots of dark indifferent fruit, a certain sweetness, and finally a sort of menthol-eucalyptus smell. It’s all vaguely like those old-timey cherry flavored throat lozenges with the two bearded men on them – almost a 19th century home remedy effect. But I’m half joking here; it’s actually deeply inviting and all very comforting somehow.

In the mouth, the first thing that hits you is the humongousosity of the wine: it feels like you’ve just filled your mouth with the most Brobdingagian thing that’s ever sat around inside of a bottle. Rich and sweet, swallowing really doesn’t get you anything other than a sense of alcohol burning – I do occasionally drink bourbon, and this stuff holds its own, mouth-on-fire-wise, with many bourbons. Coming back to it again, other than a lovely, smooth, silken mouth feel, there just doesn’t seem to be a whole lot going on in terms of actual flavor – although there is just a tang of salty sourness there which adds an interesting note. With time, it starts to mimic a sort of dark raspberry liqueur – it’s so strong and so thick that it’s occasionally hard to believe that this is supposed to be a table wine.

So how do I feel about this sort of thing? Well… against my better instincts (and four months of wine school), I like it just fine. It’s huge, rich, jammy, alcoholic, and trashy in the best possible kind of way. It’s kind of like going to a kegger wearing a toga and then finding out that it’s Duvel on tap (and not Milwaukee’s Best). Sometimes the thing that hits the spot after a hard day at work is booze, plain and simple, and if you’re going to be drinking, you might as well be drinking something that feels good and tastes like it wasn’t cheap to produce. Save your intellectually satisfying Hermitage and your ethereal Côte Rôtie for another time – this wine is all about getting your freak on with a stylish bottle that probably got a bazillion points from The Bob.

Marquis Philips
Price: US $11.89
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

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I had to cheat and look, and yup, Bob likes this stuff, having given it 92 points. Apparently it’s barrel fermented and then raised in American oak, but I swear I can’t tell: all that alcohol (15.5%) tends to deaden my palate. For you obsessive types, it’s interesting to know that the Marquis in the name is no longer relevant: Sarah and Sparky Marquis, who used to make this wine with US importer Dan Philips of The Grateful Palate, have departed for Mollydooker – the few of their wines I’ve tried seem to follow the same template of huge alcohol, huge fruit, huge Bob scores, and good after work drinking satsifaction.

Mike Press Wines Merlot 2005

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It’s late on Saturday night, I’ve raided the cellar looking for something to keep me company as I settle down to relax and watch a DVD. Hmm, Merlot, that sounds good. I’ve been meaning to try the Mike Press version, relatively hyped as it has been in online discussion fora and wine press. So: how good can $A10 Merlot be?

The answer is: pretty bloody good. Lifted nose of black fruits and leafiness, along with supporting caramel/mocha oak. Not explosive, but balanced and elegant. The wine slides smoothly into the mouth, whereupon flavours of black fruit and olive build and spread over the tongue. This isn’t a fruit bomb, although the fruit is delicious and ripe. Rather, there’s a nice dialogue between fruit, savoury flavours, somewhat resiny oak and a firm acid/tannin structure, all within a medium bodied palate. The wine’s line is quite focused. Finish is puckeringly tannic, but not unapproachable, and of decent length.

In absolute terms, this is a good to excellent wine that shows varietal character and a sense of style. The oak is sticking out a bit much for me at the moment, but that’s a matter of taste as much as anything else. For the price, I just don’t see what else one could ask for. I’m off to pour myself another glass.

Mike Press Wines
Price: $A120/dozen
Closure: Stelvin
Tasted: November 2007

Mesh Riesling 2006

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Second tasting for this wine. The first bottle was a bit disappointing — correct, but somehow generic and uninteresting. I’ve had positive experiences with this wine, the 2002 and 2005 vintages in particular, so I was hoping this bottle would show the wine to greater advantage.

And it did, sort of. The wine’s regionality isn’t in dispute: typically Eden aromas of slate and citrus flowers emerged enthusiastically from the glass soon after pouring. It’s a lovely, pretty nose, perfume-like in its profile and delicacy. The palate didn’t live up to the promise of the nose, at least initially. The entry is tightly focused, leading a mid-palate that at first presented intense but broad, simple fruit flavours that seemed to fight against, and almost overwhelm, the wine’s acid structure. It’s bone dry but the fruit presented as unattractively full, even overripe and slightly oxidised.

After sitting with the wine for an hour or so, though, it has warmed to almost room temperature, and a significant improvement is the result. The palate now presents more complex flavours, with prominent mineral and spice dimensions, that are a true reflection of the wine’s aromas, and that sit better alongside the wine’s quite focussed structure. Flavours persist well through the after palate and ride the bright finish for some time. The lesson being: don’t serve this one too cold.

Despite the improvement, there’s something missing with this wine. Perhaps the flavours are a bit broad for my taste, combined with a structure that is clear but somehow dull. It’s not a bad wine (far from it — were more wines of this quality) but it does lack the “x factor” that I’ve experienced with previous vintages.

Mesh
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Ngeringa J.E. Chardonnay 2006

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Ngeringa is a new biodynamic producer located in the Adelaide Hills. This is the first of its wines I’ve tried. It won’t be the last.

Pale green/gold colour of exemplary clarity. Straight out of the bottle, the nose was moderately expressive and showed high quality fruit and equally high quality, though perhaps overabundant, oak, plus a hint of sulfur. A little while in glass allowed the wine to gain its true balance. Exceptional focus, good intensity and real complexity make this wine a pleasure to sniff over and over. Fruit flavour is squarely in the cool climate spectrum, showing typical grapefruit flavours, etc.

The entry prompts flavours to widen quickly and spread through the mouth, without losing focus or elegance. Mid-palate is marked by genuine intensity of flavour that leads seamlessly to an after palate of excellent persistence, flavours stubbornly clinging to the tongue. Finish is crisply acid-driven. Mouthfeel has a creamy dimension but not to the detriment of the wine’s structure or line. I love this wine for the character and intensity of its flavour. It is a wine of sophistication, and accompanied our chicken dinner well.

Ngeringa
Price: $A25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007

Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Malbec 2005

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I’ve had many enjoyable bottles of Bin 56 over the years, and I especially love how it develops with some bottle age.

Expressive, bright nose of jammy red fruit and oak. On entry, it’s apparent how intense and generous this wine’s fruit is. The mouth fills with sweet, jammy red fruit that tapers off just as assertive yet fine tannins emerge to dominate the finish. Despite the generosity of fruit flavour, the wine is of medium body and is, structurally, quite focused. At the moment, though, it’s all youthful arms and legs. With some time, I hope this wine will obtain balance between its elements and improve substantially.

Leasingham
Price: $A20
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2007