Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2007
Date: Tue, Aug 19, 2008 Wine Tasting
M3 vineyard (Martin Shaw, Michael and Matthew Hill Smith), Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Chardonnay (3 clones including Bernard 95 and Bernard 76). 13% alcohol. Screwcap. Approx $A40.
Tasting context: Sally McLellan, the unheralded Aussie, and the youngest in the field for the womens 100m hurdles final, holds her nerve and wins a surprise silver medal. Her post race interview is refreshingly honest and delightfully ebullient.
Note: An excellent chardonnay. Complex and crystalline, with a lovely balance of acid, texture and restrained power. Tasted over some hours I could find grilled peach, flint, mustard fruit, melon and peanut skins. To start and finish, this is sour edged, whilst in between it is silky and slippery, with the impression of butterscotch and cream.
Excellent.
94.
Now - 2011.
Image: Behind the wine, is a terrific and recommended cookbook by Justin North (A kiwi who owns Sydney's acclaimed Bécasse). It's part of my fortnightly stack of library books, which is usually dominated by junior fiction (bedtime reading for the kids).
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Vinea Marson Syrah 2006
Date: Sun, Aug 17, 2008 Wine Tasting
Heathcote, Victoria, Australia. Shiraz. 14.5%. Diam. Approx $A40.
Context: Usain Bolt emphatically wins the mens 100m Olympic final, setting a new world record, of 9.69 seconds. The race was the most extraordinary thing I've seen this Olympics. Whilst the rest of the field was pensive and focused before the race, he was playful and silly. Much taller (6 foot 5) than any other runner in the field, the race was over at the 50 metre mark, and amazingly he started celebrating and gesticulating well before the end, whilst still smashing the world record.
Tasting note: Heathcote Shiraz is not for the faint hearted, the wines tend to be curvaceous and dangerously full. This black wine is no exception. Scented with peppercorn, blueberry and cherry, this is caressing and disarmingly hedonistic. Creamy and lush, there is a kaleidoscope of flavour (cherry pip, cream, vanilla, dark chocolate, malt, tea leaf. . .) and a cascade of texture and terrific tannins.
Excellent.
94.
Now - 2018+
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Kumeu River Village Chardonnay 2006
Date: Thu, Aug 14, 2008 Wine Tasting
Kumeu, Auckland (Northland), New Zealand. Chardonnay. 13%. Screwcap. Approx $A20
One third is barrel fermented in French oak, the rest undergoing its transformation in steel. The resulting wine is a bargain priced beauty. A lean Chablis like beauty, rather than a fleshy creamy one. This smells of white peach flesh, slate and river stones, for the imaginative there might even be a puff of smoke. It's tight, pure and gripping, with notable butterscotch, which is countered by citrus pith bitterness and pulsing acidity.
Very good - excellent.
91.
Now - 2011.
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Recycling wine bottles. . .
Date: Wed, Aug 13, 2008 Wine Tasting
William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot noir 2007
Date: Tue, Aug 12, 2008 Wine Tasting
Tasting context: The Beijing Olympics has started (hence the cover of last weeks Economist), and ordinarily I would be glued to the TV watching the swimming finals. Thanks to a commercially motivated decision to move the interesting bits to the mid morning (when I am at work), to cater for larger viewing audiences in the USA, there is nothing to watch at night. Which of course is quite a good thing, because it means I can drink, blog and read novels. . .
Very attractive and well proportioned. Classically scented with cherry, earth and stems, along with a trace of creaminess and reduction, which I found very appealing. There is notable acidity and a taste of stalk and stems (again a positive) which gives the wine an edge and tightness. This is more savoury than the Mornington edition, and in time I suspect this will be the more rewarding wine, as the elements integrate and become more alluring.
Very good - excellent.
93+
2010 - 2015+
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Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2008
Date: Sun, Aug 10, 2008 Wine Tasting
Clare Valley, South Australia. Riesling. 12.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A25.
From a hot, dry and truncated growing season, comes a wine that seems to lack it's customary piercing line and zest. It still smells enticing and radiant, with blossom and talc, but there is also a ripeness which reminds me most of pineapple. Whilst still citric and fresh, this is more rounded, short and textured than usual.
A fair effort from a difficult season.
Very good.
88.
Now - 2013.
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Teusner Avatar 2005
Date: Sat, Aug 9, 2008 Wine Tasting
Barossa Valley, South Australia. Grenache 55%, Shiraz 25%, Mataro 20%. 14.5% alcohol. Cork. approx $A35.
Satisfying and comfortable, this feels like home. It's rounded and inviting, like a velure cushion. Much softer and richer than it's French cousins and smelling of plum, spice, dried herbs and malt. It's generously endowed with flavour and creamy texture, whilst still having persistence and line.
Excellent.
94.
Now - 2012.
technorati tags: wine, australian wine