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
As Christmas 2006 approaches Australia’s wine industry finds itself undergoing a major mood shift. Thanks to drought and savage spring frosts, the domestic wine lake that appeared to be permanent just a few months back seems to be evaporating. By conservative reckoning – assuming continued growth in domestic and export markets — grape supply will … Continue reading My best value wines of 2006
Ravensworth Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2005 $30 Winemaker Bryan Martin works at Clonakilla Wines, Murrumbateman, helping Tim Kirk with the Clonakilla products and making his own wines under the Ravensworth label. Bryan’s first Ravensworth Shiraz Viognier blend improves significantly on the very good straight shirazes of recent years. It’s a seamless, seductive drop squarely in … Continue reading Wine review — Ravensworth, Eileen Hardy & Madfish
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 $19 to $25 Two years ago I was fortunate to taste the entire sequence of Wynns Coonawarra cabernet’s from Ian Hickinbotham’s inaugural 1954 vintage (still drinking well) through to barrel samples of the 2003 and 2004 vintages. Clearly the wine has an extraordinary pedigree. And, fittingly, we see in … Continue reading Wine review — Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Kingston Estate & Lillypilly
There’s never been a better time to buy wine. Equally, there’s never been a more confusing time for wine drinkers. For the very glut of producers and labels currently forcing prices down forms an intimidating wall of brands that confounds even professional wine judges. The diversity of choice and competition-driven low pricing is good, of … Continue reading There’s gold in them thar liquor stores
Australia’s great wine icon, Penfolds Grange, is in no danger of demise. But in my view it does have a quality challenger – albeit in a different style – from within its own cellar. The challenger goes under the name RWT, originally a prosaic acronym for ‘red wine trial’ – a mid nineties project led … Continue reading Penflds RWT 1998 — is this the perfect Barossa Shiraz?
Jacob’s Creek is a wine brand in transition. As the team behind growing, making and marketing it looks ten, twenty and thirty years into the future, they see – and have laid the foundations for –- a brand with a sense of place and history. And it’ll be led, in future, by benchmark regional varietals … Continue reading Jacob’s Creek goes upmarket as it eyes the future
Schild Estate Barossa GMS 2004 $19 Ed Schild and family own vineyards sprinkled between the banks of Jacob’s Creek and the village of Lyndoch in the southern Barossa Valley. A significant proportion of the vines are mature (up to 150 years old) and produces wines of stunning quality – like this gift made from vines … Continue reading Wine review — Schild Estate, Oxford Landing & Penfolds
‘You’ve never heard of a champion race horse with a bad name’. Attributed to viticulturist Vic Patrick during a prolonged, and at times rancorous, debate over the naming of Wrattonbully wine region. Wrattonbully, the biggest of several new wine regions on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, sprawls for forty kilometres along the Naracoorte Tableland, touching Padthaway … Continue reading The rise of Wrattonbully — unique new Aussie wine region
Whoever it was who called white wine foreplay, must’ve had a Langton’s Fine Wine Investment Guide at hand. As if to confirm that white wines are fun, but lead to something more satisfying, Langton’s classification cites just seventeen whites amongst our sixty-three highest priced, most frequently traded Australian wines in auctions. In what Langton’s call … Continue reading Langton’s Classification: Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay one of the few white elites