Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling 2008 $17.99 cellar door Penfolds have kept this delicious, retro-packaged riesling out of the retail scrum, offering it only at their cellar door outlets in Nuriootpa, Barossa Valley, and Magill, Adelaide, and in some restaurants (where it’s more like $35). They do this with a number of outstanding wines, so … Continue reading Wine review — Penfolds, Pizzini & Eperosa
Ken Helm and his supporters launched Canberra’s riesling challenge in 2000, opened it to New Zealand wines in 2002 and then to the world, as the Canberra International Riesling Challenge, in 2005. The number of entries grew from 137 in 2000 to 512 from six countries this year, a record. The results, announced on Friday … Continue reading Canberra international riesling challenge results
Mitchell Clare Valley – Riesling 2008 $22, Peppertree Shiraz 2006 $25, McNicol Shiraz 2000 $40 Keep the 2008 rieslings rolling. They’re delicious. And with Andrew and Jane Mitchell’s there’s always an extra textural richness to go with the pure, delicate varietal flavour. Lap it up while you can. The reds, too, are distinctive, combining Clare … Continue reading Wine review — Mitchell, Pikes & Teusner
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
There’s a buzz around the industry about the 2008 rieslings. It started during vintage and by April, many winemakers, including Chris Hatcher of the Foster’s Group (one of our leading riesling makers) rated the wines as the best since the legendary 2002 vintage. Quantities were up, too, as nature seemingly compensated vignerons for the harsh, … Continue reading Riesling — the Aussie buzz in 2008
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
The Cooper Coffman Wine Co leased the Kamberra winery at Watson shortly before vintage this year. By mid April, winemaker Martin Cooper and his young cellar team, mainly Kiwis, had crushed 2,800 tonnes of grapes – equivalent to about 210 thousand dozen bottles of wine. They’re by far the biggest producer in Canberra and almost … Continue reading Cooper Coffman’s first Canberra vintage a bumper
Wolf Blass Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz 2006 $30–$40 Wolf Blass Grey Label Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 $30–$40 They’re not quite peas from the same pod, but there’s a strong family resemblance across the new-release Wolf Blass reds. They’ve a pure, rich fruit flavour and a juicy, silky texture and softness that contrasts, for … Continue reading Wine review — Wolf Blass Grey, Black and Platinum labels
The Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans loved the muscat grape and spread it around southern Europe. From there it colonised the continent, and later the new world. Two millennia on, drinkers everywhere enjoy muscat in still, semi-sparkling, sparkling and fortified wines. Its full name is muscat-a-petits-grains and its colour ranges from white to pink to brown. … Continue reading Muscat — popular for 2,000 years
Nuragus di Cagliari (Argiolas S’elegas) 2006 $21 Melbourne’s Da Noi restaurant offers delicious Italian food, prepared by Sardinian owner Pietro Porcu. It’s a restaurant where you leave the food selection to the chef then enjoy it with Italian wine from an extensive list that included, on our visit, this Sardinian white, made from the nuragus … Continue reading Wine review — Argiolas S’elegas, Le Sughere di Frasinello, Pikes, Neagles Rock & Henschke