In an international context the latest Penfolds red releases, led by Grange, look very attractive. Grange 2005’s $550 price tag, or St Henri 2006’s $90, seem modest in comparison to Bordeaux heavyweight Chateau Latour 2005, a cabernet blend, at $US1,250 a bottle in New York; or next to it on the shelf Domaine de la … Continue reading Penfolds reds in a class of their own
Shingleback Red Knot McLaren Valley Shiraz 2008 $13–$15 d’Arenberg McLaren Vale The Footbolt Shiraz 2008 $16–$20 Chapel Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008 $27–$33 Yum yum yum – there’s flavour galore in these shirazes from the uber-hot McLaren Vale 2008 vintage. They share ripeness, liveliness and a regional savoury undertone. Shingleback’s Red Knot displays the brightest … Continue reading Wine review — Shingleback, d’Arenberg, Chapel Hill, Brokenwood and Voyager Estate
Montana South Island Pinot Noir 2008 $18–$22 Vintage Cellars Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008 $12–$17 Montana – Marlborough pioneer, New Zealand’s largest wine producer and now part of France’s Pernod Ricard group — set its sights on large-scale pinot noir production in the late nineties. They planted broad acres of the variety and developed winemaking … Continue reading Wine review — Montana, Vintage Cellars, Michel Chapoutier and Penfolds
Australia owns shiraz – not just in the generic sense of making juicy, soft, affordable quaffers (which we do very well) but in expressing a wide spectrum of styles across our dozens of regions. We’ve arrived at an amazing diversity of extraordinarily good shirazes. And the quality we’re now enjoying seems to be drawn from … Continue reading Savouring the shiraz spectrum
Can a wholesale import business focussed on sweet Italian wine succeed in Australia? Canberra’s Brian and Carol Keil, with Italian based Imogen McNamara, will soon know. With the first shipment of their Pilgrim Wines now in Australia, the Keils paraded their sweeties, and a few dry wines as well, in front of the Canberra trade … Continue reading Canberra importer finds Italy’s sweet spot
We’re all familiar with the idea of regional wine specialities, like Coonawarra cabernet, Barossa shiraz, Marlborough sauvignon blanc and Mornington Peninsula pinot noir. And with a growing focus on regions, we’ll enjoy increasing numbers of intra regional specialties – like Andrew Seppelt’s wonderful shiraz-grenache-mourvedre reds of the western Barossa reviewed here two weeks back. As … Continue reading Near and yet so different
In the mid eighties Penfolds released the first edition of The Rewards of Patience, containing reviews of Grange Hermitage (as Grange was then called), and the rest of the Penfolds red family, back to the earliest vintages, including the experimental Grange of 1951. Grange was moving into a purple patch at the time, gaining international … Continue reading Brats mellow to greats
A visit to Tasmania highlighted the huge contrasts in Australia’s wine industry. Just two weeks before Foster’s set a price of $150 tonne for Riverland chardonnay, Tasmanian growers were boasting prices of up $5,000 a tonne for theirs. Assuming production of 70 dozen bottles a tonne, that’s a per-bottle grape cost of 18 cents for … Continue reading A wine vignette of Tasmania’s Derwent Valley
Brindabella Hills Canberra District Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $18 Riesling 2009 $25 Shiraz 2007 $25 These are beautiful, reasonably priced new releases from Roger and Faye Harris at Brindabella Hills, Hall. The riesling is intensely aromatic, with lime and lemon-like varietal character; an intense, lime-like palate backs up the first impressions, finishing long and bone dry … Continue reading Wine review — Brindabella Hills, Capital Wines and Kyeema
In the nineties as Australian wine regions agonised over their boundaries, Tasmania got smart. Its winemakers saw that as small, comparatively homogenous producers, their interests would be best served by promoting the island as a whole. In opting for ‘Tasmania’ as their only entry in the register of protected names they neatly avoided the distraction … Continue reading Tasmania rolls Burgundy and Champagne into one