Fourteen-year-old Bill Redman arrived in Coonawarra in 1901with his older brother, Dick. They’d heard that work was available at John Riddoch’s cellars, says Bill’s grandson, Bruce. ‘Bill was small and they put him to work in the cellar (he could fit into barrels’, adds Bruce, ‘but his brother was bigger and was put to work … Continue reading Redman — 100 years in Coonawarra
Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2008 $27–30 Mount Horrocks Watervale Cordon Cut Riesling 375ml $35 Today’s selections are all top-end examples from the extraordinary Mount Lofty Ranges 2008 riesling crop – a vintage marked by 15 consecutive days of temperatures over 35 degrees. Fortunately, the riesling crop came in very early, ahead of the heat and … Continue reading Wine review — Mount Horrocks, Petaluma, Leo Buring & Grosset
Jacob’s Creek Shiraz 2006, Grenache Shiraz 2007, Shiraz Cabernet 2007, Merlot 2007, Cabernet Merlot 2005 $9–$11 My pick of these always-reliable reds is the shiraz, described in a breathless and silly press release as ‘a great example of a big hearty red’ but more aptly, on the back label, as ‘a medium bodied wine’. That’s … Continue reading Wine review — Jacob’s Creek, Oxford Landing & Climbing
Rochford Macedon Ranges Chardonnay 2006 $27, Pinot Noir 2005 $33, Pinot Noir 2006 $33 Rochford is one of the better signposted vineyards in the cool Macedon region. That’s a pity, because its cellar door is in the Yarra Valley. The wines show the region’s general suitability for chardonnay and pinot noir. The chardonnay is taut, … Continue reading Wine review — Rochford, Shaw Vineyard Estate & Heredos de Argueso
Petaluma Coonawarra 2005 $65 (cork sealed) The warm season produced a comparatively big, ripe Petaluma, albeit in the elegant Coonawarra mould. It’s a blend of 60 per cent cabernet sauvignon and 30 per cent Merlot with, for the first time, five per cent each of petit verdot and malbec – all from the Evans and … Continue reading Wine review — Petaluma, Brands of Coonawarra & Moss Wood
We recently lined up a dozen top-shelf Aussie reds in a Chateau Shanahan masked tasting. There were just two of us at the bench – forming our judgments without discussion, then, at the end of each bracket comparing our impressions, and later unmasking the bottles. In the few days following the sip-and-spit tasting, we consumed … Continue reading Sipping from the top shelf — Aussie wines that came our way
Pinot noir is but a blip in Australia’s wine consumption statistics. But it’s one of the most satisfying varieties to drink when winemakers get it right, as they increasingly do. And though style and quality vary enormously, my experience is that those at the top mercilessly test their own wine against global peers, especially the … Continue reading Armand Rousseau inspires Aussie pinot makers
With Christmas drinking in mind, the Chateau Shanahan team recently tasted a range of pinot noirs. It’s a great variety. And because it’s medium bodied, soft and supple, it suits the foods we eat at Christmas – ham, pork, turkey and even seafood, especially the more robust kinds like lobster and salmon. Our samples came … Continue reading Chateau Shanahan tastes Oz and Kiwi pinots
‘Although alcohol does not have a taste’, writes Professor A. Dinsmoor Webb (Oenologist, UC Davis, retired), ‘it has an effect, not just on the human nervous system, but on how a wine tastes. The alcohol content in a perfectly balanced wine should be unfathomable, but wines that are slightly too high in alcohol can have … Continue reading Alcohol and wine flavour
Look at today’s feature picture for an idea of how cool Macedon is – in both senses. What you see is Hanging Rock’s south-facing Jim Jim vineyard, one of the coolest wine-growing sites in Australia, covered in winter snow. And that’s winemaker John Ellis’s son, Robert, making the most of it. John and Anne Ellis … Continue reading Macedon Ranges — really cool